<P> The Ottomans were eventually defeated due to key attacks by the British general Edmund Allenby . </P> <P> The war tested to the limit the empire's relations with its Arab population . In February 1915 in Syria, Cemal Pasha exercised absolute power in both military and civil affairs . Cemal Pasha was convinced that an uprising among local Arabs was imminent . Leading Arabs were executed, and notable families deported to Anatolia . Cemal's policies did nothing to alleviate the famine that was gripping Syria; it was exacerbated by a British and French blockade of the coastal ports, the requisitioning of transports, profiteering and--strikingly--Cemal's preference for spending scarce funds on public works and the restoration of historic monuments During the war, Britain had been a major sponsor of Arab nationalist thought and ideology, primarily as a weapon to use against the power of the Empire . Sharif Hussein ibn Ali rebelled against the Ottoman rule during the Arab Revolt of 1916 . In August he was replaced by Sharif Haydar, but in October he proclaimed himself king of Arabia and in December was recognized by the British as an independent ruler . There was little the Empire could do to influence the course of events, other than try to prevent news of the uprising spreading, prevent it to demoralize the army or act as a propaganda for anti-Ottoman Arab factions . On 3 October 1918 forces of the Arab Revolt enter Damascus accompanied by British troops, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule . </P> <P> In order to support the other Central Powers, Enver Pasha sent 3 Army Corps or around 100.000 men to fight in Eastern Europe . </P> <Ul> <Li> VI Corps under command of Mustafa Hilmi Pasha participated in the Romanian Campaign between September 1916 and April 1918 . </Li> <Li> XV Corps under command of Yakup Şevki Subaşı and later Cevat Pasha fought in Galicia against the Russians between August 1916 and August 1917 . </Li> <Li> XX Corps under command of Abdul Kerim Pasha participated in the Salonika Campaign between December 1916 and May 1917 . <Ul> <Li> The Rumeli Field Detachment (reinforced 177th Infantry Regiment) remained in Macedonia until May 1918 . </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul>

What role did the ottoman empire play in ww1