Why did many Arab tribes fought against the Central powers during the World Wars?
1 Answer
The Arab tribes were oppressed by their rulers the Ottoman Turks during and before World War 1. During World War 2, Arab Nationalists were against British and French colonialists and rising Zionism.
Explanation:
Most of the Arab tribes were sunni muslim just like the ruling Ottoman Turks. This religious connection did not prevent the racial different Turks from discriminating against the Arabs. The Turks held most of the government positions in the Arab tribal areas. The Turks used their political control to benefit themselves at the expense of the local Arabs.
The Arabs felt that they were an occupied nations. The Arab resented and hated the Ottoman rulers. The anger at their treatment at the hands of the Ottoman Turks was greater than their hatred of the Christian opponents of the Turks. There is an Arab proverb " the enemy of my enemy is my friend.# Since the Ottoman Empire was joined to the Central Powers in World War 1 the Arabs joined the enemies of the Central Powers.
During World War 2 Turkey was neutral and the Arab tribes were mostly interested in overthrowing the British and French Colonialists and their puppet governments. Germany looked for Alliances with the Arabs and used them to stir up locals against the British. The Arabs would have the expectation of independence if the Germans won in North Africa.
The Mufti of Jerusalem was an important ally of the Germans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_al-Husseini
