When Britain Almost Lost WWI and Chance of 30 Year Mandate over Palestine

Nadene Goldfoot                                               

    British soldiers in  WWI July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918

Great Britain was with its Empire the most powerful of the major belligerents, the most politically and socially stable, and the best able to endure the strains of the war of WWI. 

Britain nearly lost WWI due to unpreparedness for large-scale land warfare, immense casualties from early battles like the Somme, and a stretched economy struggling to supply both the British army and its allies. The initial strategy of relying on a small professional army against a large conscripted German army, combined with the immense logistical and financial strain of maintaining the war effort, put Britain in a precarious position.                        

If Britain lost WWI, it would likely have faced no land losses in its home islands, but could have had to cede some of its colonial possessions to Germany, depending on the terms of a negotiated peace. Some historians speculate Britain might have been forced to accept German control over areas like Belgium, leading to greater German influence on the continent, though significant territorial gains at the expense of the British Empire are considered less probable. 

The Arab leader who fought for Britain to help win WWI was Hussein bin Ali, the Sherif of Mecca, who launched the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire with his sons, including Faisal I. Supported by British forces and guided by T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), the Arab Revolt helped disrupt Ottoman supply lines and contributed to their defeat on the Palestinian front.  

King Ali ibn Husayn of the Hijaz on an Arabian steed

Hussein bin Ali did not join the British army; instead, he launched the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire on June 10, 1916, in alliance with the British. His revolt was supported by the British military's Egyptian Expeditionary Force, and his forces fought alongside them against the Ottoman military. 

The Ottoman Empire had held Palestine since 1516.  The Ottoman Empire took over Palestine in 1516 after defeating the Mamluks at the Battle of Marj Dabiq. This marked the beginning of approximately four centuries of Ottoman rule in the region. They were from Turkey .

     Dr. Chaim Weizmann at the University of Manchester

Chaim Weizmann gave his acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation process to Britain in 1in  1915, the same year he patented it. The process was rapidly developed and began large-scale industrial production in 1916 to supply acetone for smokeless gunpowder during World War I. 

Then there was Chaim Weizmann, Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) 78 when he died, was a Jewish  Russian-born  biochemist.  He developed the acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation process, which produces acetone, n-butanol and ethanol through bacterial fermentation. His acetone production method was of great importance in the manufacture of cordite explosive propellants for the British war industry during World War I.  Weizmann's process for producing acetone through corn fermentation was crucial for Britain's WWI ammunition because it solved a critical shortage of acetone, a key ingredient in manufacturing cordite. By providing a domestic and large-scale supply of acetone, his invention enabled Britain to significantly increase its production of cordite propellant, which supplied its ammunition and ultimately helped sustain its war effort. 

                    Weizmann and Feisal in Aqaba with British

Both the Arab and the Jew were indispensable to Britain in winning  WWI. Jewish leaders had been negotiating with Britain  since 1915, and the Arabs joined the British on June 10, 1916, hoping the Allies would win. 

After WWI, Weizmann and Faisal met in Aqaba in June 1918 and later in London in December 1918, which led to the signing of the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement in Paris on January 3, 1919. The meetings were arranged by the British to foster cooperation between Arab and Zionist movements before the Paris Peace Conference. The post-WWI Paris Peace Conference started on January 18, 1919, and formally ended on January 21, 1920. The conference's main outcome, the Treaty of Versailles with Germany, was signed much earlier on June 28, 1919, marking the official end of the war. 

The Balfour Declaration was signed on November 2, 1917. It was a letter from the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, which expressed the British government's support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. 

• The declaration was written as a formal letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to a leader of the British Zionist Federation, Lionel Walter Rothschild. 
Its contents were later adopted by the League of Nations in 1922. 
The declaration is considered a pivotal moment in the history of the Middle East, though its impact and interpretation remain subjects of debate. 


This is what Jews hoped they were bargaining over.  In the end, they were
given 20% of the land only, and that everyone has been trying to take
half of for a Palestine.  


Unless something is written in stone or plastered on walls in pictures, it is 
not held in agreement these days.  We can't believe in promises.