1918 Clemenceau–Lloyd George Agreement (Middle East)

[1] During World War I, the United Kingdom and France signed the secret Sykes–Picot Agreement in 1916, which effectively partitioned the Ottoman Empire into areas of British and French control and spheres of influence.

Despite this agreement, Clemenceau would abandon France's claims on Mosul, northern Mesopotamia, and Palestine, transferring control to Britain after a private discussion on 1 December 1918.

More importantly, Clemenceau also hoped that the agreement would allow France further leverage to pursue its peace treaty goals in the Rhineland and allow a stronger French claim to Syria and Lebanon as set out in the Sykes-Picot agreement, against the Britain-aligned Arab Kingdom.

[1] The agreement was controversial because France did not appear to have gained any substantial changes from Britain in return for the concessions of Mosul and Palestine.

[1] John J McTague Jr wrote, "Despite the informality of this agreement, Lloyd George and Clemenceau held to it and it became the basis for legitimizing the British claim to Palestine".