The Arab Revolt (1916–1918) (Arabic: الثورة العربية‎ Al-Thawra al-`Arabiyya) (Turkish: Arap İsyanı) was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.

The rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire goes back to 1821. Arab nationalism has its roots in the Mashriq (the Arabs lands east of Egypt), particularly in countries of Sham (the Levant). The political orientation of Arab nationalists in the years prior to the Great War was generally moderate.

The Young Turk Revolution began on 3 July 1908 and quickly spread throughout the empire, resulting in the sultan's announcement of the restoration of the 1876 constitution and the reconvening of parliament. This period is known as the Second Constitutional Era. The Arabs' demands were of a reformist nature, limited in general to autonomy, greater use of Arabic in education, and changes in conscription in the Ottoman Empire in peacetime for Arab conscripts that allowed local service in the Ottoman army. In the elections held in 1908, the Young Turks through their Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) managed to gain the upper hand against the rival group led by Prens Sabahaddin. The CUP was more liberal in outlook, bore a strong British imprint, and was closer to the Sultan. The new parliament comprised 142 Turks, 60 Arabs, 25 Albanians, 23 Greeks, 12 Armenians (including four Dashnaks and two Hunchas), 5 Jews, 4 Bulgarians, 3 Serbs, and 1 Vlach. The CUP in the Ottoman parliament gave more emphasis to centralization and a modernization programme. At this stage Arab nationalism was not yet a mass movement, even in Syria where it was strongest. Many Arabs gave their primary loyalty to their religion or sect, their tribe, or their own particular governments. The ideologies of Ottomanism and Pan-Islamism were strong competitors of Arab nationalism.

The Sharif of Mecca (Arabic: شريف مكة‎, Sharīf Makkah) or Hejaz (Arabic: شريف الحجاز‎, Sharīf al-Ḥiǧāz) was the title of the former governors of Hejaz and a traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The term sharif means "noble" in Arabic and is used to describe the descendants of Muhammad's grandson al-Hassan ibn Ali.

The Sharif was charged with protecting the cities and their environs and ensuring the safety of pilgrims performing the Hajj. The title is sometimes spelled Sheriff or Sherif, with the latter variant used, for example, by T. E. Lawrence in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The common-law political and legal office of sheriff found in some anglophone countries is unrelated.

The office of the Sharifate of Mecca dates back to the late Abbasid era. Since 1201, the Sharifate was held by a member of the Hawashim clan, not to be confused with the larger clan of Banu Hashim to which all Sharifs claim descent. Descendants of this family continued to hold the position until the Twentieth Century on behalf of various Muslim powers including the Ayyubids and the Mamelukes. In 1517, the Sharif acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph, but maintained a great degree of local autonomy. During the Ottoman era, the Sharifate expanded its authority northwards to include Medina, and southwards to the frontiers of 'Asir, and regularly raided Nejd.

The King of Syria, was the title briefly used following the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. Faysal ibn Husayn of the House of Hashim was proclaimed King of Greater Syria on 8 March 1920 in Damascus, following the Arab revolt against the Ottomans of 1916–1918.

His accession was not recognized by France or the United Kingdom, the two new imperial powers in the region, and on 23 July 1920 the French moved 9000 troops towards Damascus resulting in the Battle of Maysalun. Faisal was expelled from Syria on 25 July and took exile in the United Kingdom. On 10 August, the Treaty of Sèvres divided the region into League of Nations mandates governed by France and the United Kingdom. Following mass revolts in Mesopotamia, the British government decided to step back from direct administration and create a monarchy to head Iraq while they maintained the mandate. Faisal agreed to become King following a referendum showing 96% in favour, and on 23 August 1921, Faisal was crowned King of Iraq.

World War I (WWI), which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939 (World War II), and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world's great powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (originally centred around the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; but, as Austria–Hungary had taken the offensive against the agreement, Italy did not enter into the war). These alliances both reorganised (Italy fought for the Allies), and expanded as more nations entered the war. Ultimately more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 million combatants were killed, largely because of enormous increases in lethality of weapons, thanks to new technology, without corresponding improvements in protection or mobility. It was the sixth-deadliest conflict in world history, subsequently paving the way for various political changes such as revolutions in the nations involved.

King Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia (1876 – 9 November 1953) (Arabic: عبد العزيز آل سعود‎ ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Su‘ūd) was the first monarch of Saudi Arabia, the third Saudi State. He was usually called Ibn Saud in English-speaking countries.

Beginning with the reconquest of his family's ancestral home city of Riyadh in 1902, he consolidated his control over the Najd in 1922, then conquered the Hijaz in 1925. Having conquered almost all of central Arabia, he united his dominions into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. As King, he presided over the discovery of petroleum in Saudi Arabia in 1938 and the beginning of large-scale oil exploitation after World War II. He was the father of many children having 45 sons, including all of the subsequent kings of Saudi Arabia.

Abdul-Aziz was born in 1876 in Riyadh, in the region of Najd in central Arabia.

In 1890, the Al Rashid conquered Riyadh. Abdul-Aziz was 15 at the time. He and his family initially took refuge with the Al-Murrah, a Bedouin tribe in the southern desert of Saudi Arabia. Later, the Al Sauds moved to Kuwait.