Figure 1.--. |
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The Mufti set up his headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq (1939). He circulated extensively in military and government circles. He established a political departmentî that contacted German and Italian agents. Iraq was a backwater of World War II, but a very important backwater. Iraq was an important in maintaining comminication lines between India and the British position in Egypt protecting the Suez Canal. Even more importantly, Iraq was the principle source of oil for the British Desert Army and the Royal Navy Eastern Mediterranean Squadron. Iraq had been a Turkish Province until seized by the British during World war I. The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930 provided for a major British stake in Iraq. The British obtained a stake in the developing Mosul and Kirkuk oil fields and air bases near Baghdad in central Iraq and Basra in the south. To help protect the bases the British had a mixed force which included Iraqis recruited for this purpose. The British were also given transit rights. Britain with these guarantees granted independence to Iraq (1932). Nationalists criticized the treaty, but the Nuri es-Sa'id Governent was pro-British. The royal governent created a small army consisting of of five divisions, a navy consisting of river patrol craft, and a small airforce with obsolete aircraft. When war broke out in Europe (September 1939) Sa'id wanted to support Britain and declare war on Germany, but Iraqi nationalists oppsosed this. Sa'id Government did break off relations. A new Government led by Rashid Ali took power (March 1940). Ali was backed by the pro-Axis Golden Square. The Grand Mufti fleeing British police in Palestine found refuge in Iraq. He immediately began to agitate against the British. The fall of France (June 1940) dramatically changed the military ballance in the Mediterranean and thus the Middle East. Ali initiated various intrigues against Britain. British military successes in the Western Desert caused Ali to resign. The next primeminister acted to breakup the Golden Square. A military coup placed Ali back in power (April 3, 1941). At the same time, spectacular German successes in Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete convinced the Iraqi nationalists that the Germans would quickly defeat the British. The Grand Muftin issued a formal fatwa-- "a holy war against Britain" (May 1941). The Mufti's announced the fatwa in Iraq and helped to launch "the pro-Nazi" Iraqi uprising. Ali tore up the 1930 Treaty and struck at the British air base at Habbaniya. The French Vichy authorities controlling Syria assisted Ali by allowing the German and Italians to deliver some assistance. General Wavell, the British Middle East commander was hard pressed at the time. He had to contend with Rommel in the Wester Dessert and the disaterous intervention in Greece. He was reluctant to commit forces to Iraq, but Churchill insisted. An Indian division struck from the south landing at Basara. The Habforce (a British brigade and the Arab Legion) struck west from Jordan. When the revolt failed, Husseini escaped to Tehran.
he Jerusalem Grand Mufti Haj Amin el-Husseini helped inspire riots and disorders throughout Palestine (April 1936). Six prominent Arab leaders formed the Arab High Command to to protest Zionist activities, especially land purchases and immigration. The Arab High Command organized a general strike of Arab workers and a boycott of Jewish products (April 1936). Soon the initial peaceful actions escalated into attacks on Jews as well as the British authorities. Riots occured in Jerusalem and other cities. The Mufti took over leadership of what came to be called the Arab Revolt. These disorders, seen as the first stage of the "Arab Revolt" continued until November, 1936. Another stage of disorders began in September, 1937. The cause was the Peel Commission which suggested the partition of Palestine. The second stahe was much more violent. There were more intense figting with British forces as well as attacks on more Jewish settlements. The violence was not only aimed at the British and Jews. The Mufti used the violence to settle scores with rival Palestinian factioins. Under the cobver of his Higher Arab Committee he ordered the killing of hundreds of Psalestinian leaders in 11 different clans. The Mufti apparently obtained covert support from both The Italian Fascists and German NAZIs. Full details on this are not available. Count Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law and Italian Foreign Minister, wrote that the Italian Secret Service had funded the Mufti for many years. [Ciano] The NAZI Siecherheitsdienst (SS Secret Service) claimed that without their support, the Palestinians could not have continued the Revolt. The British were hard pressed at the time and actually authorized the arming of the Haganah. The British and the Haganah worked togrther. Effecive operations were organized by Charles Orde Wingate who later became famous in Burma. Wingate established Special Night Squads of Jewish volunteers. The British sucessfully defeated the Arab Revolt. Husseini was able to find refuge in Iraq. The British government cocerned about the British position in the Arab world sought to apease Arab opinion with the 1939 White Paper.
The Deutsches Nachrichten Buro (German News Bureau) had a Palestine office in Jerusalem. The director was Franz Reichert (1933-38). It was here that the first contacts occurred between NAZI operatives and Islamic leaders. The full extent of these contacts are not known. The Mufti is believed to have first approched NAZI agents at the German Consul in Jerusalem (July 21,1937). He subsequently dispatched an aide to Germany for secret talks in Berlin with NAZI officials. Secret foreign opperations by NAZI Germany were primarily conducted by Heinrich Himmler's SS. Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich was Himmler's second in line of command to Himmler. Heydrich commanded the Reich Security Head Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt,RSHA) and was the head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the SS Security Service. It was Heydrich who oversaw the contacts with the Mufti. He personally dispatched two secret opertives to Palestine, SS Hauptscharfuehrer Adolf Eichmann and SS Oberscharfuehrer Herbert Hagen (September or October 1937). A principal assignment was to make contact with the Grand Mufti. The NAZI agents pledged aid to the Mufti in his struggle with the British. Both the NAZIS and Italian Fascists are believed to have delivered financial support as well as smuggled arms, but I do not yet have detailed information on this. Another aspect of NAZI mission was to assess the possibility of deporting German Jews to Palestine. One report suggests that the Mufti persuaded him against such an effort. These reports are, however, murky. There is no definitive evidence that the Mufti was still in Palestine to meet with Eichmann.
The Mufti was deeply involved in the escalating viloence in Palestine. One of the actions against the British was the murder of the British commissioner for the Galilee. The British attempted to arrest the Mufti. He and the entire "Higher Arab Committee" to escape arrest slipped across the border into Lebanon (probably September or October 1937). As Lebanon was controlled by the French, he was not safe there. He made his way to Iraq, although I do not have details on this.
The Grand Mufti fleeing British police in Palestine found refuge in Iraq. The Mufti set up his headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. He immediately began to agitate against the British. He circulated extensively in military and government circles. He established a political department that contacted German and Italian agents.
The Mufti dispatched aides to Berlin carrying a letter to Hitler (January 20, 1940). German State Secretary Freiherr von Weizsaecker replied that the Führer the letter. "He took great interest in what you wrote him about the national struggle of the Arabs. Germany is ready to cooperate with you and to give you all possible military aid financial help. Germany is prepared to deliver to you immediately military material." It is at this time that the Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) established contacts with the Mufti.
The Mufti envisioned that with NAZI assistance, he could create a huge Arab state uniting Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Palestine, Trans-Jordan, and Egypt.
Iraq was a backwater of World War II, but a very important backwater. Iraq was an important in maintaining comminication lines between India and the British position in Egypt protecting the Suez Canal. Even more importantly, Iraq was the principle source of oil for the British Desert Army and the Royal Navy Eastern Mediterranean Squadron.
Iraq had been a Turkish Province until seized by the British during World war I. The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930 provided for a major British stake in Iraq. The British obtained a stake in the developing Mosul and Kirkuk oil fields and air bases near Baghdad in central Iraq and Basra in the south. To help protect the bases the British had a mixed force which included Iraqis recruited for this purpose. The British were also given transit rights. Britain with these guarantees granted independence to Iraq (1932).
Nationalists criticized the treaty, but the Nuri es-Sa'id Governent was pro-British. The royal governent created a small army consisting of of five divisions, a navy consisting of river patrol craft, and a small airforce with obsolete aircraft.
When war broke out in Europe (September 1939) Sa'id wanted to support Britain and declare war on Germany, but Iraqi nationalists oppsosed this. Sa'id Government did break off relations with Germany.
Iraqi General Rashid Ali el Gailani, a militant Muslim nationalist, took power (March 1940). Ali was backed by the pro-Axis Golden Square. Ali initiated various intrigues against Britain.
A large Italian Army in Libya invaded Egypt (September 1940). Ali and the military clique around him expected them to reach Suez in a few weeks. The Italian's, however, stopped after advancing a few miles. The British launched a stunning offensive against the larger Ita;ian force (December 1940). British military successes in the Western Desert against the Italians, however, caused Ali to resign. The next primeminister acted to breakup the Golden Square.
The NAZIs launched their long awaited Western Offensive (May 10). Within weeks the Pannzers broke through to the Channel. The British evacuated at Dunkirk . Mussolini afraid of loosing out on the spols of war, declared war on Britain and France. The French signed an Armistice. It also had consequenced for Iraq and the Middle East. The NAZIs did not obtain control of French Mandates in Syria and Lebanon. Vichy did permit, hoewever, Axis agents to operate openly.
The NAZI victory in the West dramatically changed the military ballance in the Mediterranean and thus the Middle East. The British without the French faced the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean and the Italian Army in Libya alone. The Royal Navy and the Desert Army managed to defeat the Italians both at Sea and in the Western Desert.
Hitler was outraged when the Yugoslavs rejected the arrangement he forced upon Prince Paul. He ordered a full scale invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece. The invasion began with the terror bombing of Belgrade. The Germans achieved another string of stunning successes, caped by an air asault on Crete. This brought the NAZIs and Italians closer to the Middle East.
A military coup placed Ali back in power (April 3, 1941). At the same time, spectacular German successes in Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete convinced the Iraqi nationalists that the Germans would quickly defeat the British. The Grand Mufti issued a formal Fatwa announcing a jihad-- "a holy war against Britain" (May 9, 1941). The Mufti's announced a Fatwa (religious ruling) which helped to launch "the pro-Nazi" Iraqi uprising. He urged all Muslims to join an Islamic holy war, against Britain which he called "the ìgreatest foe of Islamî". He said, "I invite all my Muslim brothers throughout the whole world to join in the holy war for Allah to preserve Islam, your independence and your lands from English aggression." The Mufti's speech was broadcast by both Iraqi and Axis radio stations. The Mufti charged that the British profaned the Al-Aqsa mosque and were in fact out to destroy Islam: "In Palestine the English have committed unheard of barbarisms; among others, they have profaned the el-Aqsa Mosque and have declared the most unyielding war against Islam, both in deed and in word. The Prime Minister at that time told Parliament that the world would never see peace as long as the Koran existed. What hatred against Islam is stronger than that which publicly declares the Sacred Koran an enemy of human kind? Should such sacrilege go unpunished?" Many Iraqis listening to the broadcast believed what the Mufti was saying was true because of his stature as an Islamic religious leader.
Some German military commanders had promoted a German military in the Meditteranean aimed at taking Gibraltar, Malta, abd Suez and seixung the Iraqi oil fields. But Hitler's focus was on the Soviet Union and after the victories in the Balkans his attention was focused on the preparations for Barbarossa. He wanted no military operatiins that would distract from what would be his master stroke--the invasion of the Soviet Union. He was inclined to let his Axis ally Mussolini have the lead role in the Middle East. Thus there would be no substantial Axis military assistance allocated to support the Iraqi coup.
Ali tore up the 1930 Treaty and struck at the British air base at Habbaniya. The French Vichy authorities controlling Syria assisted Ali by allowing the German and Italians to deliver some assistance. General Wavell, the British Middle East commander was hard pressed at the time. He had to contend with Rommel in the Wester Dessert and the disaterous intervention in Greece. He was reluctant to commit forces to Iraq, but Churchill insisted. An Indian division struck from the south landing at Basara. The Habforce (a British brigade and the Arab Legion) struck west from Jordan.
When the Iraqi revolt failed, Husseini escaped to Tehran.
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