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| 1916 |
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| Organization of the South Persia Rifles by Sir Percy Sykes. The unit operated under British command and purely in the service of British interests. | 1 |
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| Jan. 7 |
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| Creation of the Arab Bureau in Cairo. Originally conceived as a center for the development of war policy, the agency quickly became the heart of the British intelligence network in the Middle East. | 2 |
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| April 26–Oct. 23 |
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| THE SYKES-PICOT AGREEMENT. Secret negotiations between Britain and France prepared for the partition of the postwar Middle East. France received Cilicia, Lebanon, coastal Syria, and a sphere of influence stretching from the east of these territories to Mosul. Britain secured the areas around Baghdad and Basra, the ports of Haifa and Acre, and a sphere of influence between Palestine and Iraq. Palestine itself, however, was to be placed under an international administration. The agreement assigned the remaining lands, as well as the territory within the European spheres of influence, to one or several Arab states. Arab nationalists later charged that, after the promises of an independent state contained within the Husayn-McMahon correspondence, the British betrayed them in these negotiations. The Arabs were particularly sensitive over the question of Palestine. Since Palestine did not lie to the west of the “districts of Damascus, Hama, Homs, and Aleppo,” they believed that it ought to have been included in an Arab state as the Husayn-McMahon correspondence provided. | 3 |
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| May 22 |
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| Departure of the Niedermeyer mission from Kabul. Niedermeyer, a German agent, sought Afghan support for the Central powers in World War I. Despite German overtures, Amir Habibullah maintained Afghanistan's neutrality for the duration of the war. | 4 |
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| June 5 |
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| THE ARAB REVOLT. The sharif of Mecca, Husayn, proclaimed independence and attacked Ottoman garrisons in the Hijaz. Jedda surrendered on June 16, and Mecca on July 4. Medina, however, held out for the duration of the war. | 5 |
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| Aug |
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| Failure of the second Ottoman attack on the Suez Canal. | 6 |
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| Dec |
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| Advance of the British army into the Sinai Peninsula to establish a forward defensive position. By early January, it had reached Rafah. | 7 |
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| Dec |
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| Formal British recognition of Husayn as king of the Hijaz. | 8 |
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