Summary
Aleppo appears in the McMahon–Hussein correspondence in three distinct roles: as one of the four districts (with Damascus, Homs and Hama) west of which the portions of Syria are excluded from the Sherif’s limits in McMahon’s No. 4; as a vilayet the Sherif Hussein of Mecca holds, with Beirut, to be purely Arab and refuses to concede, deferred by McMahon for French interests; and as one of the Arab regions from which forces were expected for the son commanding in Syria (Correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca, July 1915–March 1916, PDF p.8, 9, 11-12, 15).
Details
- No. 4 (24 October 1915): the portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo cannot be said to be purely Arab and should be excluded from the limits demanded (PDF p.8).
- No. 5 and No. 6 (5 November and 14 December 1915): Hussein holds the vilayet of Aleppo, with Beirut and their sea coasts, to be purely Arab; McMahon defers both vilayets because the interests of France are involved in them both (PDF p.9, 11-12).
- No. 9 (18 February 1916): the forces awaiting Hussein’s son in Syria are expected especially from the people of the country and the surrounding Arab regions such as Aleppo and the south of Mosul, estimated in total at not less than 100,000 (PDF p.15).
Related pages
Correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca, July 1915–March 1916, Beirut, Damascus, Syria, France