1993/10/01 by Frank W. Brecher · 3 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact #Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies #Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics
paper · doi:10.1080/00263209308700971
openalex publication_date 1993/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
In March 1915 France was unable to secure England's agreement 'to begin discussions on French and English interests in the Ottoman Empire'.2 However, by 21 October of that year it was England which proposed to France that they discuss settling spheres of influence in the Middle East.3 France accepted with alacrity and prepared to enter into a negotiation that would eventually produce the Asia Minor Agreement of 1916 better known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement. The present article focuses on the following aspects of this negotiation and attendant events: what did France know of England's parallel, ongoing contacts with Sherif Hussein of Mecca, and when did she know it?4 What was the French policy perspective on the Sykes-Picot negotiation as it related to the Levant?5 How did France respond to the Zionist question and to Britain's 1917 issuance of the Balfour Declaration? In addition to these questions, the following pages will provide details on Nahum Sokolow's dealings with the French government in 1917 and 1918,6 and they will outline the full diplomatic career of Francois Georges-Picot.7