1918 Time-line


January
February

March - British Eastern Committee begins meeting to consider possible means of altering the terms of the Sykes-Picot Agreement to increase British influence in Syria, an area given to the French in the earlier Agreement.  At this point the recommendations of the committee are purely theoretical, but following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire it becomes possible for Britain to attempt to enact them.  Therefore, the Eastern Committee will meet six times between September and December in an attempt to dismantle the Sykes-Picot Agreement for the benefit of Britain's position in the Middle East, specifically to gain Syria as an area of influence.

April
May
June
July
August
September

October - Lloyd George tells British War Cabinet that the Sykes-Picot agreement is out of date because it does not take into account British military efforts in the Middle East in 1917.  Therefore Lloyd George states the agreement no longer applies.  Click here to learn more about British justification for demanding an alteration in the terms of the Sykes-Picot treaty.  The British goals for the ensuing negotiations with France were to obtain rights to the oil-rich city of Mosul and the adjustment of the northern borders of Palestine.  Greater influence in in Syria would be nice but the British were also willing to use Syria as a bargaining chip to gain concessions from the French regarding Mosul and Palestine.

November - 7th - Anglo-French declaration promising a representative Arab government in Syria (not Palestine or Mesopotamia)

December - Anglo-French settlement is arranged by Lloyd George and Clemenceau concerning the Middle East.  French Premier Clemenceau agrees to give Palestine and Mosul to Great Britain, even though such concessions go against the conditions set down in Sykes-Picot.  In return the French received some territory formerly belonging to Austria.  Clemenceau was willing to make this trade for a couple of reasons.  In the first place, French public opinion valued increase security against future German aggression above territorial expansion in the geographically distant Middle East.  The French also lacked the resources to exploit the oil reserves in Mosul and so were only sacrificing a potential and not an actual resource.  This was a verbal, non-written agreement but both leaders remained faithful to it and this verbal agreement laid the foundation for the British claim concerning Palestine.
*Hughes, 1999, 113-28.