Mark Sykes

Sir Mark Sykes , 6th baronet, (1879-1919) was an English traveller and diplomatic advisor, particularly about matters respecting the Middle East at the time of World War One. He will always be associated with the Sykes-Picot Agreement, drawn up while the war was in progress, regarding the aportionment of postwar spheres of interest in the Ottoman Empire to Britain, France and Russia.

Early Life

Inheriting in 1913 vast Yorkshire estates and a baronetcy, the Roman Catholic Sykes was not content to manage his properties. He served in the Boer War and travelled extensively, especially in the Middle East. A Member of Parliament, he was one of the Conservative Party's experts on Ottoman affairs. From 1904 to 1905 he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, George Wyndham. He raised race horses on his estates.

Sykes was very much a Yorkshire grandee, sitting on the bench, raising and commanding militia units and fulfilling his social obligations.

He was a friend of Aubrey Herbert, another Englishman influential on Middle Eastern affairs, and was acquained with Gertrude Bell, the proArab Foreign Office advisor. Sykes was never as single minded an advocate of the Arab cause as Bell, and her friends T.E. Lawrence and Sir Percy Cox. His sympathies extended to the Armenians and the Jews as well.

Protege of Kitchener

When World War One broke out, Lieutenant Colonel Sykes was commanding officer of the 5th Battalion of the Green Howards. But, he did not lead them into battle as his particular talents were needed in the War Office working for Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War. Kitchener placed him on the de Bunsen Committee advising the Cabinet on Middle Eastern affairs. Although Sykes never got to know Kitchener well, he shared a similar outlook and had his confidence. He was soon the dominant person on the Committee, and so gained great influence on British Middle Eastern policy. It was Sykes and his fellows in this group who revived ancient Greek and Roman names for Middle Eastern regions. Such terms in common use today include "Syria", "Palestine", "Iraq" and "Mesopotamia".

Britain's Strategic Conundrum

Sykes had long agreed with the traditional British policy of propping up the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) as a buffer to Russian expansion into the Mediterranean. Britain feared that Russia had designs on India, its most important colonial possesion. A Russian fleet in the Mediterranean might cut the sea lanes to India.British statesmen, such as Disraeli, Palmerston and Salisbury had held this view. Since Britain was now at war with Turkey, a major rethinking of policy was needed. Sykes, through his connexion with Kitchener was at the centre of this. Two conflicting positions were soon apparent. Some favoured the Arab cause in postwar settlements at the expense of Turkey, seeing the value of friendly client states in the coastal areas along the sea route to India and in the Persian Gulf which was assuming a new importance now that the Royal Navy had converted its ships to oil from coal. Others saw the need to retain a strong Turkey lest Russia enter the vacuum and seize Constantinople and the Straits.

Compounding this was the desire of France to secure lands in the Middle East, especially in Syria, where there was a significant Christian minority. Another ally, Italy advanced claims to Aegean Islands and protection of Christian minorities in Asia Minor. Then Russian claims had to be considered, particularly with respect to the Christian population of Turkish Armenia and the Black Sea Coast.

Another problem was the desire of Greece to regain historic territories in Asia Minor, and Thrace, claims that conflicted with those of Russia and Italy, as well as Turkey. The British Prime Minister (1916-1922), David Lloyd George, favoured the Greek cause.

Complicating all this was the desire of Jewish Zionists to have a homeland in Palestine.

In summary form the conflicting interests of the Great Powers during World War One are outlined below.

Russia vs Turkey vs Greece over Constantinople, the Straits and Thrace

France vs the Arabs vs Turkey over Syria

Britain vs France vs the Arabs vs the Zionists over Palestine

Greece vs Turkey vs Italy over Smyrna and southwest Asia Minor

Britain vs France vs the Arabs vs Turkey over Kurdish northern Iraq

France vs Turkey over southeastern Asia Minor and Alexandretta

Russia vs Turkey over Armenia and The southeast Black Sea coast

It was the special role of Sykes to hammer out an agreement with Britain's most important ally, France, which was shouldering a disproportionate part of the effort against Germany in the war. His French counterpart was Francois Georges Picot and it is generally felt that Picot got a better deal than expected. Sykes came to feel this as well and it bothered him. Particulars may be found in the article Sykes-Picot Agreement.

Early Death

Sir Mark Sykes was in Paris in connexion with peace negotiations when he died in his hotel room on February 16, 1919, a victim of the Spanish flu pandemic. He was 39 years old.