In their capacity as
Caliphs, the
Sultans of the Ottoman Empire would appoint an official known as the Sharif of Mecca. The role went to a member of the Hashemite family, but the Sultans typically promoted Hashemite intra-familial rivalries in their choice, preventing the building of a solid base of power in the Sharif. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the Sultan,
Mehmed V, in his capacity as Caliph, declared a
jihad against the
Entente powers. The British in particular hoped to co-opt the Sharif as a weighty alternative religious figure backing them in the conflict. The British already had a series of treaties with other
Arab leaders in the region and were also fearful that the Hejaz could be used as a base to attack their shipping to and from
India. The Sharif was cautious but, after discovering that the Ottomans planned to remove and possibly murder him, agreed to work with the British if they would support a wider Arab Revolt and the establishment of an independent Arab Kingdom the British
implied they would. After the Ottomans executed other
Arab nationalist leaders in
Damascus and
Beirut, the Hejaz rose against and soundly defeated them, almost completely expelling them (Medina remaining under Ottoman control throughout). In June 1916, Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, declared himself King of Hejaz as his
Sharifian Army participated with other Arab Forces and the British Empire in expelling the Ottomans from the
Arabian Peninsula. The
US State Department quotes an
aide-mémoire dated 24 October 1917 given by the
Arab Bureau to the American Diplomatic Agency in Cairo confirming that The British, though, were compromised by their agreement to give the
French control of Syria (comprising modern-day Syria and Lebanon) and did not, in Hussein's eyes, honour their commitments. Nevertheless, they did eventually create Hashemite-ruled kingdoms (in
protectorate form) in Transjordan and in Iraq, as well as Hejaz. The changing boundaries of the Ottoman Hejaz Vilayet contributed to uncertainties between the neighbouring Hashemite kingdoms, particularly the
competing claim with Transjordan over the inclusion of the sanjak of Ma'an, including the cities of Ma'an and
Aqaba. King Hussein refused to ratify the 1919
Treaty of Versailles, and in response to a 1921 British proposal to sign a treaty accepting the
Mandate system stated that he could not be expected to "affix his name to a document assigning
Palestine to the
Zionists and Syria to foreigners." A further British attempt to reach a treaty failed in 1923–24, and negotiations were suspended in March 1924; within six months the
British withdrew their support in favour of their
central Arabian ally
Ibn Saud, who proceeded to
conquer Hussein's Kingdom. The
League of Nations Covenant provided for membership to the signatories of the
Peace Treaties; the Hejaz was one of two (the other one was the
United States) that failed to ratify
Versailles. ==Politics==