1918 Clemenceau–Lloyd George Agreement (Middle East)

The Clemenceau–Lloyd George Agreement of 1 December 1918 was a verbal agreement that modified the 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement in respect to Palestine and the Mosul vilayet. The latter component is also known as the Mosul cession. The agreement was between British and French Prime Ministers David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau and took place at the French Embassy in London.

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. The Mosul vilayet was allocated to France by the agreement, and this accord was formally ratified in May 1916. However, three weeks after the war ended, Georges Clemenceau abandoned France's claim to Mosul and ceded control of all of northern Mesopotamia to Britain, following a private discussion on December 1, 1918. In return, David Lloyd George promised Clemenceau a significant share of any oil discovered in British-controlled Mosul, possibly as much as 50 percent. Additionally, Clemenceau renounced the French claim to Palestine. The agreement was finalised in a meeting at Deauville in 1919.

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. 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".