1942: Iraq

After passing through a stormy period in 1941, when a pro-Nazi government had to be removed from office by British armies, Iraq enjoyed in 1942 a period of peace under Prime Minister Gen. Nuri es Said. The country stayed faithful to its alliance with Great Britain; the last traces of the abortive coup d'état of Rashid Ali el Gailani were liquidated, he himself was sentenced to death in absentia, and in May an Iraq court martial sentenced some other leaders of the pro-Axis movement to death and to imprisonment. Iraq had been a fertile field for Axis propaganda which had been successfully conducted unhampered for many years. During 1942 regular Arab broadcasts to Iraq and other Arab speaking lands, continued from the Axis-controlled radio stations in Berlin, Bari and Athens. It was only in 1942 that the British, and to a certain extent the Americans, began a counter propaganda. The Soviet resistance to the German armies and the great British victories in the Near East favorably impressed the Arabs who had been convinced that Germany would easily win the war. An Anglo-American Public Relations Council was established to remain in close touch with all classes of the population and find out their reactions to the various broadcasts and information.

The British troops stationed in Iraq and Iran were organized into an army placed under General Sir Claude J. E. Auchinleck. Iraq is of great importance not only because it contains rich oil wells in its northern part, but also because it presents a gateway to the Middle East and the Caucasus. Important war material from India and from the United States was sent to the Middle East and to the Soviet Union through Iraq. The country was also accepted among those able to receive lend-lease aid from the United States. In 1942 Ali Jawdah el Ayoubi was appointed first minister of Iraq to the United States.

The government and the people of Iraq felt a special responsibility for the future of the Arab nation. Iraq had been the first Arab state to become a member of the League of Nations. Iraq had taken the initiative in establishing better relations with Saudi Arabia, a task of some difficulty in view of the rivalry between the two states for the leadership of the Arab world, a rivalry increased by the opposition of the two ruling dynasties. Iraq had also taken the initiative in sponsoring the cause of the Palestinian Arabs. The present Prime Minister has been one of the most active proponents of Arab unity and of the inclusion of Palestine into the future united Arabia. The independence of Syria which had been proclaimed with British help in 1941 had been warmly greeted in Iraq. The cooperation and friendliness of Iraq represented a great strategic asset to the position of Great Britain and of the United Nations in the Middle East.

1941: Iraq

Iraq, an Arab kingdom in the river valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris, constituted after the First World War as a mandate under Great Britain, became an independent and sovereign nation in 1932, after having concluded an alliance with Great Britain. During the year 1941, Iraq was the scene of a change of government which tried to overthrow the pro-British Iraqi administration and to align Iraq with the Axis powers. The country is also important on account of the fact that it produces more than 4,000,000 tons of oil annually which are vital to the British war effort in the Middle East. The Iraq administration, at the head of which, in view of the minority of King Faisal II, stood his uncle, the Emir Abdul Illah, had General Taha el Hashimi as Premier and Nuri-es-Said as Foreign Minister.

Pro-Axis Coup d'Etat.

On April 4th the Hashimi government was overthrown by a coup d'etat engineered by Rashid Ali Beg Gailani, a former prime minister of outspoken Nazi sympathies. For a long time Nazi propagandists under Dr. Fritz Grobba, the German Minister to Iraq, had tried to win Arab sympathies. The regent was ousted and forced to take refuge with the Emir of Trans-Jordan. The ousted prime minister, Taha el Hashimi, who had been minister of defense and chief of the general staff before becoming premier, died a short while later.

The new pro-Axis Iraqi régime was recognized by the Soviet Union, but was unable to gain the Arab and Moslem support for which it was bidding. Its radio appeals to the Arabs and Mohammedans of neighboring countries to rise against England and to take arms on the side of Iraq and Germany proved futile. The new government declared officially that it wished to abide by the text of the Anglo-Iraq treaty, but when the British sent reinforcements from India to Basra, the Iraqi port on the Persian Gulf, the Iraqi government protested and started to attack the British forces at the air base of Habbaniyah, 65 miles west of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. From that moment on, the British, by combining the efforts of the Royal Air Force from Egypt and of the Indian land troops, moved to crush the Iraq government and refused the demand of Naci Sefket, the Iraqi minister of defense, for the withdrawal of British troops from the country. Iraqi statesmen visited Ankara to confer there with von Papen, the German ambassador to Turkey, and with Turkish statesmen. As German troops had moved at the same time to occupy the whole Balkan peninsula and stood at the gates of Turkey, the situation in Iraq had become of utmost strategic importance. German planes were reported using the Syrian airfields to establish contact with the Iraqi forces. The Iraq parliament elected Sherif Sharaf as regent in place of the Emir. Rashid Ali entered into negotiations with Germany with regard to the Iraqi oil deposits which, if taken over by Germany, would have given her an impregnable position as far as her oil supply was concerned.

British Invasion of Iraq.

For these reasons Great Britain intervened actively at the beginning of May. The military operations lasted for about four weeks. By the beginning of June the British troops were closing in on Baghdad, Rashid Ali fled, the Iraqi army asked for an armistice, and the Axis envoys left the country. By June 2, Abdul Illah arrived in Baghdad by airplane to set up a new Iraqi administration. On June 4, air-borne British troops occupied Mosul in the northern part of the country, the center of the vitally important oil fields. Thought the pipelines conducting the oil to the Mediterranean ports for the use of the British fleets and armies had been cut they were easily repaired.

The new cabinet under Jamal el Midfai quickly restored order, while the British were most anxious to emphasize the country's independent sovereignty and thus to secure the good will and cooperation of the native population. The attempt to bring Iraq under Nazi influence and thus to destroy the British strategic position to the Middle East was frustrated. A few months later the British occupation of Syria and of Iran made the position of Iraq more and more secure, especially in view of the friendly and loyal attitude of the two neighboring Arab princes, Ibn Saud, the powerful king on the Arabian peninsula, and Emir Abdullah of Trans-Jordan, a relative of the royal house of Iraq. See also ARABIA; PALESTINE.

New Régime.

Jamal el Midfai, the new premier, who had accompanied the regent into temporary exile after the coup d'état of April 4, remained for about four months at the head of the Iraqi government. In the difficult situation, created by the recent troubles and by the loss of trade and income caused by the rebellion, the premier did not prove sufficiently strong. He was replaced at the beginning of October by General Nuri es Said, in many ways the oldest and most experienced statesman of Iraq, who had fought with Lawrence during the famous 'Revolt in the Desert' and had become one of the fathers of Arab independence. He had been six times minister of defense and three times prime minister before assuming the premiership at this critical time. The governor of Basra Salem Jabr, who had proven his loyalty during the whole period of the coup d'état, was made foreign minister. Thus by the end of the year, Iraq had weathered a crisis which threatened not only to shake the country to its foundations, but to change completely the strategic power set-up and relations in the most vulnerable part of the Middle East, guarding the access to the most valuable oil fields and to India.

Economic Conditions.

Economically Iraq suffered less from the war than other nations, because the country is predominantly agrarian and the standards of living are normally very low. There was a certain rise in prices but no restrictions were imposed and no rationing introduced. Towards the end of 1941 the country stood to gain by the possibility of its use as a transit base for military equipment shipped from the United States to the Middle East, and to the Russian front in the Caucasus. These goods were to be shipped to the Persian Gulf, transported thence by rail to Kirkuk in northeastern Iraq, and from there by road to neighboring Iran, which had been occupied by British and Soviet troops. See also IRAN; SYRIA.

1940: Iraq

During the year 1940, Iraq, an Arab kingdom, allied to Great Britain, faithful to this alliance, supported Great Britain's position in the Near and Middle East, without, however, joining actively in the war. The small Iraq army, which is of importance because it guards the rich oil fields of Mosul in Northern Iraq and the pipe lines from there to the Mediterranean ports, has been modernized and has acquired among others fifteen new American-built Douglas bombers. Iraq is of special importance in the present war not only on account of its oil wells, but also because it lies across the route to the Persian Gulf and to India. The political situation of Iraq has been favorably influenced by the strong stand which the Turks have taken on the side of Great Britain and by their promise to resist any attempt on the part of the Fascist powers to expand into the Near and Middle East; it has been weakened, on the other hand, by the defection of the French, whereby Syria became a possible outpost of Fascist influence and penetration in the Near East.

But the Iraqis, who regard the Syrians as their Arab compatriots and who hope for a union of the Arab lands, especially of Iraq and Syria, in the near future, showed themselves determined to defend Syria if need be against Fascist penetration. After the defeat of France the British cut off the flow of Mosul oil to the Mediterranean port of Tripolis, which is situated in the French mandated territory of Syria, so that now all the Mosul oil is being piped exclusively to Haifa, a port in British-controlled Palestine. The Foreign Minister of Iraq, General Nouri es Said Pasha, declared on July 5, after a conference with Turkish authorities in Ankara, that Turkey and Iraq both believed that Syria should enjoy complete independence. (See also SYRIA.)

The internal development of Iraq continued unimpeded. Town planning, which has fast changed the face of Baghdad during the last year and has made her a modern and attractive city, as well as large development works for the protection of the country from inundation and for the storage of water required during the summer months, made fast progress. According to the treaty of alliance with Great Britain, the kingdom of Iraq is bound to furnish to Great Britain all possible facilities and assistance in Iraq territory, and Iraq has therefore taken the necessary measures; these, however, weigh only lightly on the population. The economic situation has been generally improved since the large garrisons in the Near East and the war needs elsewhere created a demand for Iraq agrarian products of export. As the king of the country is only three years old, the government is in the hands of a regent, the boy king's uncle, Abdul-Ilah.

Berlin-to-Baghdad Railroad.

An important achievement of the year 1940 was the final completion of the once famous Berlin-to-Baghdad Railroad. At the beginning of the year there was still a link missing in the standard gauge track which connects Istanbul through Anatolia and Mosul with Baghdad and from there by a narrow gauge line to Basra on the Persian Gulf. This remaining link between Mosul and Baiji has now been completed, so that, once peace is established, rolling stock will be able to cross from the English Channel to the Persian Gulf without change, being ferried across the Straits at Istanbul. The completion of the Baghdad railroad in Iraq will also facilitate a closer cooperation between Turkey and Iraq and the sending of heavy war materials to Iraq. It will also be possible to ship quickly oil pipe line equipment to the Iraqi oil fields. The strategic value of this direct overland rout to India is today as great as it was when the Germans planned it before the first World War.

1939: Iraq

The Arabic kingdom of Iraq suffered a loss in the sudden death of its young king, Ghazi, who died in an automobile accident on April 3. He was only twenty-seven years old and had succeeded his father, the first king of Iraq, in September 1933. The new King, Feisal II, was born in 1935. In view of his age a regency was instituted under Emir Abdul Ilah, a great uncle of the present King. This change in the person of the ruler had no influence on the policy of the kingdom. It remained faithful to its close military and political alliance with Great Britain and the outbreak of the great war found it cooperating in every respect with its ally. In addition, Iraq was bound to Turkey and Iran in the pact of Saadabad, and the new alliance between Turkey on the one hand, Great Britain and France on the other, concluded on October 19, increased the friendly relations between Turkey and Iraq. The Arabic pact which links Iraq to Saudi Arabia did not play any great rôle in practical politics, but the present Iraqian Government is well known for its pan-Arabic leanings and has several times intervened in the situation in Palestine in favor of the Arabic population there.

The economic situation in Iraq remained unchanged, and the modernization of her economic life progressed only very slowly. On March 30, a law was passed according to which countries which export goods into Iraq without importing from Iraq will be obliged to buy Iraqian products up to at least the value of 25 per cent of their own exports into Iraq. The countries most affected by this new ruling are Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union and Japan. Iraq supplies the world only raw materials — above all, oil, but also barley, wool, dates, wheat and hides. The Iraqian oil is exported largely to Great Britain and France and represents one of their important oil sources. A certain progress was achieved in building roads and dams for flood control and in the modernization and strengthening of the Iraqian army. The greatest part of the budget went for these purposes. Towards the end of 1939 the general political uneasiness began also to spread to Iraq in connection with rumored intentions of the Soviet Union to make her influence felt in the direction of the Persian Gulf. In accordance with this situation military preparations were increased in Iraq, as throughout the Near East.

1938: Iraq

The Arab Kingdom of Iraq continued in 1938 a period of quiet and orderly progress. An effort at speedy reforms undertaken during the short-lived military government of 1936-37 had been abandoned. Iraq's attention during 1938 was concentrated on its foreign policy. On the one hand Iraq tried to consolidate the Near Eastern Alliance which consisted of Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, in addition to Iraq, and to strengthen her alliance with Saudi Arabia. On the other hand the Iraqian Government was very much interested in the solution of the Palestinian question, and Iraq politicians tried several times to propose solutions or to intervene on behalf of the Palestinian Arabs. The Iraqian Government also accepted the invitation of the British Government to participate in the round-table conference in London which was to determine the further fate of Palestine.

The exploitation of the Iraqian oil wells progressed satisfactorily. The oil was conducted by pipe-lines across the Syrian desert to the two ports of Tripoli in the French mandated territory of Syria and of Haifa in the British mandated territory of Palestine. A new concession was granted for the exploration of the oil deposits in southern Mesopotamia.

Much attention was given to the economic modernization of Iraq. The Chamber of Deputies approved in May a five-year plan for public works, the cost estimated at $42,000,000, most of which is expected to be financed by contributions from the Iraq Petroleum Company. Part of this money is to go for the building of roads, bridges, and the telephone system; another part is for the construction of dams against floods, and another large part is for the strengthening of the army.