Review Britain’s Informal Empire In The Middle East, A Case Study of Iraq 1929-1941

 Silverfarb, Daniel, Britain’s Informal Empire In The Middle East, A Case Study of Iraq 1929-1941, New York Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986

 

Daniel Silverfarb’s Britain’s Informal Empire In The Middle East, A Case Study of Iraq 1929-1941 is about how England tried indirect rule in Iraq from the 1920s-30s and failed which led to the 1941 Anglo-Iraq War. Britain agreed to Iraqi independence in 1932 hoping that it could preserve its interests. Instead several issues such as air bases, minorities, Arab nationalism, Kuwait, and the economy caused increasing tensions. Silverfarb presents a very detailed argument mostly based upon British government documents about how the UK's measures actually divided the two countries and led to war.

 

The author begins by laying out why Iraq was important to England in the 1920s and 30s. Most importantly it wanted to protect its lines of communication through the Middle East to the Persian Gulf and on to India. The Gulf was important for trade and India was the crown jewel of the empire. The UK set up a series of bases throughout the region to protect its interests. Another major concern was the oil fields in Iran and Iraq. Persia especially was a major source of oil for the British military. Iraq was geographically right in the middle of this project and therefore a very essential country to London.

 

Silverfarb lays out how England's main strategy was to try to win over the Iraqi elite. A series of concessions was made to try to achieve this. Most importantly the UK agreed to end the mandate in Iraq and give the nation independence before it had to. Second it withdrew all its ground troops from Iraq and closed some of its bases. It sold weapons to the Iraqi military, gave credit to help with trade, and ignored the massacre of Assyrians in 1933 who the British relied on for security at its bases. London believed all of these would help its allies in the monarchy and the Iraqi leadership to maintain the close ties between the two, but it was wrong.

 

Baghdad became increasingly angry with England. The Iraqi government and the military which had become a center of politics wanted total independence from England which meant things like closing down all its bases in the country and demanding Palestine and Syria be free of colonialism as well. Silverfarb explains how no matter what England did Iraq was never satisfied. The UK was willing to sell the newest weapons for example but the Iraqi military always wanted more. It closed two of its bases but there were still three others. The book goes into great detail on each one of these topics and more. It really builds the case about how England tried but failed to win friends in Iraq. It was caught in a Catch 22. It tried to make compromises but they usually inflamed the Iraqi elite rather than satisfying their nationalist desires.

 

Things escalated eventually leading to the 1941 war. The Iraqi military staged a coup and wanted to move towards the Axis believing they would win World War 2. That greatly angered England and eventually led to a confrontation which Iraq was completely unprepared for. The book didn't believe Baghdad really want war and neither the Prime Minister nor the military showed any leadership leading to a quick defeat. To Silverfarb this was the ultimate failure of British policy. It tried indirect rule in Iraq and ended up going to war with it instead. Ironically the author notes that London went right back to the exact same strategy after World War 2.

 

Britain’s Informal Empire In The Middle East Is a very short read. Despite that it packs a lot of information about the Anglo-Iraq relationship during the 1920s to 1940s. The author goes into various ways London tried to maintain its influence in Baghdad after Iraqi independence but how all its measures often led to more problems than solutions. Many in the Iraqi elite were pro-British but sentiments against it increasingly grew especially within the military which was unwilling to make any compromises and became a greater and greater force in Iraqi politics. Silverfarb presents one of the best books on this topic.

 

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