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Coll 17/10(4) 'Internal: political situation; relations with HMG' [48r] (95/1031)
The record is made up of 1 file (515 folios). It was created in 10 Apr 1941-19 Mar 1947. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
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THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRI-TANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT .-r*
- 4 U .u'
IRAQ.
CONFIDENTIAL.
June 21, 1944.
I
With th* Complimented
of the * *■
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[E 3640/37/93]
<S Y zV A. Cornwallis to Mr. Eden.—(Received ^ist'^uhe^ ^^
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Section 1. ^4,^^ A- %*<
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Copy rv>7-119
• (o-/4.
(No. 225.) _ ^
^j r Bagdad, 8th June, 1944.
WITH reference to my d espatch N o. 1 24 of the 23rd March*-1 ha\e the
honour to submit the following summary of the principal events that have occurred
in Irao during the last two or more months :— .
2. The Cabinet formed by Nuri
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
on Christmas Day remained m an
uneasy situation throughout March and most of April. The Regent continued to
withhold his active support and to look around for a means to get rid of the three
Ministers whom he particularly disliked, namely, Umar Nadhmi, Ali Mumtaz and
Sadiq Bassam. I repeatedly warned His Royal Highness that the prolonged
uncertainty about the position of the Cabinet was harmful and advised him that
his proper policy was either to give it his full confidence or to replace it by
another if he were certain that something more satisfactory cQuld he found. At
the end of April, after returning from his.tour in the north, His Royal Highness
told me that he had decided to keep the present Cabinet in office.. At this stage it
seemed that it might prove to be possible for Nuri Pasha’s Cabinet to carry on at
least until the end of the summer, but events soon dissipated this prospect. The
debate in the Chamber on the budget for. 1944-45 was exploited as usual for the
discussion of every branch of the work of the Administration and attacks were
made on the Cabinet at all angles. A climax was reached on the 21 st May when
abusive language was freely exchanged between Deputies, and the sitting had to
be suspended in an atmosphere of some disorder. The Prime Minister and his
colleagues were satisfied that their critics would not have dared to become so
violent if thev had not felt that they enjoyed at least the sympathy of the Palace.
The Ministers decided that they could no longer remain in office in such circum
stances and resigned. The Regent accepted their resignation a few days later, and
called upon Hamdi Pachachi to form a Cabinet. The invitation was accepted,
but as the new Prime Minister, who is elderly and in indifferent health, was
indisposed at the time, it fell to the Regent to choose most of his colleagues for
3 . This task was completed within a fortnight and the following Cabinet
took office on the 4th June :■—
Prime Minister : Hamdi al Pachachi.
Minister of Interior : Mustafa al Umari.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Acting Minister of Supply:
Arshad al Umari.
Minister of Finance : Salih Jabr.
Minister of Defence : Tahsin Ali.
Minister of Communications and Works : Abdul Amir al Uzri.
Minister of Justice : Ahmad Mukhtar Baban.
Minister of Education : Ibrahim Akif al Alusi.
Minister of Economics : Towfiq Wahbi.
Minister of Social Affairs : Muhammad HassamKubba.
Like most Iraqi Cabinets it has both good points and bad. Abdul Amir al
Uzri, Taufiq Wahbi and Ibrahim Akif al Alusi are newcomers’who offer promise
of good work. Arshad al Umari, for years a capable and progressive Lord Mayor
of Bagdad, is a well-known thruster and should, if he is not too temperamental,
be able to give the new Ministry of Supplies a fair start, and Salih Jabr, if he can
resist temptation to sectarian favouritism, has it in him to be an adequate
Minister of Finance. The black spot is Mustafa al Umari at Interior. He last
held this post in Jamil Madfai’s Cabinet in the summer of 1941, and left it with
reputation for corruption, bad even by Iraqi standards. It is a great pity that
he should have been permitted to return, and I gather that it was only the essential
need for support in the Senate that warn him a place in the Cabinet at all.
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[54—61]
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INDIA OFFICE
The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors.
About this item
- Content
This file is a continuation of IOR/L/PS/12/2862. It contains correspondence and memoranda regarding relations between HM Government ( HMG Her or His Majesty’s Government in London. ) and the Government of Iraq, and documents the reaction of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. and Foreign Office to political developments within Iraq. The file opens with descriptions of the situation following the coup d'état of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, and documents the build-up to the Anglo-Iraqi War (2-31 May 1941), including the arrival of British and Indian troops in Basra (under rights granted in the Anglo-Iraq Treaty of 1930), arrangements to evacuate the Regent 'Abd al-Illah, British attempts to shore up support from the Turkish and Egyptian authorities, and Axis propaganda in Iraq. The papers then contain communications regarding the progress of the war, including reports on troop movements, the dispatch of war materials, the actions of Germany, Italy, France and Turkey, and Indian public opinion regarding the conflict. These papers consist of dispatches sent by the British Ambassador to Iraq (Sir Kinahan Cornwallis) to the Foreign Office, as well as numerous copy communications between the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the Commander in Chief of the East Indies Section, the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. Kuwait, the Viceroy of India, and HM Ambassador to the United States.
From the end of the war the file consists primarily of dispatches from Cornwallis to the Foreign Office, reporting on the return of the Regent, the pogrom against the Jewish community, the breaking of diplomatic relations with Vichy France and Japan, the trial of the coup supporters, the Iraqi declaration of war against Germany, Italy and Japan, the possibility of Iraqi membership of the United Nations, and the release of political prisoners from the Ammara [̔Amāra] concentration camp. The regular dispatches also contain details of various cabinet crises, and details of the domestic economic and military situation. The file contains a small amount of material for the years 1944-1946, including annual reports submitted by Cornwallis and his successor, Sir Hugh Stonehewer-Bird.
The file includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references found in the file by year. These are placed at the end of the correspondence (folios 2-4).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (515 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 515; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-514; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2863
- Title
- Coll 17/10(4) 'Internal: political situation; relations with HMG'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:15v, 17r:86v, 90v:105v, 107r:119v, 121r:298v, 300r:304v, 307r:373r, 379r:401v, 405r:515v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence