THE ANGLO-FRENCH DECLARATION Liberation of 'Iraq.—On Nov. 7, 1918, ten days after the signature of the Turkish armistice at Mudros, the British and French Governments issued a joint declaration of vital impor tance to the occupied Arab territories, stating their aims in the East to be : To complete the final enfranchisement of the peoples so long oppressed by the Turks, and the establishment of national gov ernments and administrations, drawing their authority from the initiative and free choice of native populations.
The proclamation went on to promise encouragement and help in the establishment of native governments and administrations, alike in Syria and Mesopotamia. In the case of General Maude's earlier pronouncement made on the occupation of Baghdad, when the upshot of the war was still doubtful, the flamboyant senti ments expressed therein had been to a great extent discounted by the public as a natural form of propaganda, but the Anglo French declaration, published after victory had been achieved, was taken in all seriousness. Had an early peace made it possible to give early effect to the policy therein enunciated all would have gone well. Unfortunately the inordinate delay which ensued over the peace negotiations and the wide promulgation of Presi dent Wilson's 14 points, with the potent element of self-deter mination, gave unbridled play to political speculation and stimulus to nationalist feeling. This was further encouraged by enquiries which the civil commissioner set on foot under instructions from H.M. Government, whether :— (i.) The people of 'Iraq were in favour of a united Arab State from the northern boundary of the Mosul vilayet to the Persian Gulf.
(ii.) It should be under British tutelage.
(iii.) It should be under an Arab amir.
(iv.) In the latter case, whom would they suggest? On the first point their replies were unanimously in the affirma tive. In regard to the other three every variety of opinion was given. Unfortunately the conflicting character of the response had the effect of delaying a definite pronouncement of policy, and meanwhile other factors came into play. All this time the ad ministration had remained patently alien ; British forces had been cut down to a minimum and when in May 1920 the British Gov ernment announced their acceptance from the League of Nations of a Mandate over 'Iraq, the Damascus Government had already, in the absence of the Amir Feisul and contrary to his orders, begun encroachments. In answer to objections raised against the Mandate by a self-chosen committee in Baghdad, it was an nounced (June 2o) that Sir Percy Cox would return in the autumn to establish a provisional Arab Government and call an Assembly, freely elected by the people, in consultation with which he would prepare an Organic Law. But nothing would then have satisfied the claims of the nationalist leaders, and on June 2, 1920, the turbulent Shiah tribes, encouraged by their religious leaders, broke into open revolt.
To restore peace and order was the first necessity. Troops were drafted in from India, and when Sir P. Cox reached Basrah on his return as High Commissioner (Oct. I) the rebellion in its main centres, the middle Euphrates, the Diyala and the adjacent part of Kirkuk district was already doomed to failure. By Nov. i o it was found possible to establish, as a first step towards national government, a Council of State under the presidency of the ven erable Naqib of Baghdad. This body represented all classes and sects of society. It gave immediate attention to the repatriation of 'Iraqi officers from Syria and the Hejaz; to the re-organization of civil government under 'Iraqi officials, greatly facilitated by the return of many experienced men from Turkey; and to the preparations of an electoral law and the formation of an army. It was the arrival of 'Iraqi officers who had served under the Amir Feisul which set on foot a specific movement in his favour in 'Iraq. He had been expelled from Syria by the French authori ties in July 1920 and had since resided in England.
In March 1921 Mr. Winston Churchill, who had now become secretary of State for the Colonies, convened a conference at Cairo to which all British representatives in the Middle East were summoned. The first result of the conference was the publica tion of a general amnesty in May and at the same time an attempt was made to ascertain the wishes of the Kurdish provinces about their inclusion or non-inclusion in the 'Iraq State. The net result was that Sulaimaniyah elected to remain under the control of the High Commission, but the rest of the Kurdish population was content to look to the 'Iraq Government, subject to the promise of Kurdish officials and the local use of the Kurdish language.