The events of the first half of the twentieth century appear to be bloody in many of them, so what happened to the century was that the First World War, in which millions of people died, and the political map in many countries of the world changed, and in the heart of which were the Arab countries whose lands witnessed facts Bloody, articulated political events, and changes in the contents of governance and authoritarianism.
In the midst of these events, the Hashemite family, led by Sharif Husayn, his sons and grandchildren, played a prominent role in what was called the "Great Arab Revolution" that led to the rise of the Arab nationalist discourse, the defeat of the Ottoman Turks, and the rapprochement with the British, and three of his sons were elevated; And they are "Ali, Abdullah and Faisal Al Awal" to power in Syria, Iraq and Hijaz.
One of the descendants of the Sharif Hussein, King Ghazi the first bin Faisal I, who assumed the rule of Iraq at a critical and critical stage in the history of Iraq and the Arab region, a young man in his prime at the age of twenty-one years of age, and a young man died in the twenty-seven years of age, that his death was not It is still obscure, surrounded by hearsay and suspicions, and analyzed by contemporaries and analyzed by the hands of historians.
How did the Hashemites rule Iraq? How did they deal with the British occupation authority? What is the policy of King Ghazi I? How did the politicians of his time see him, especially their elders such as Nuri Pasha Al-Saeed, who has been prime minister of Iraq for several times? And how was the scene of his murder or assassination and the opinions of historians in it? That's what we'll see in our next story.
Iraq was since the sixteenth century AD under Ottoman sovereignty, just like the neighboring Arab countries such as Syria, Egypt, Hijaz, Gulf coasts, etc., and the Iraqis were satisfied with the Ottoman rule that entered into a phase of weakness at the end of the nineteenth century in front of global changes with the rise of Russia, Britain, France and Germany, and politics was The British are in clear hostility with the Germans, who entered into an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, and aimed to build a railway from Berlin to Baghdad, which the British considered a threat to their interests in the Middle East.
When the First World War (1914-1918) the British took advantage of the German Ottoman Alliance and attacked Iraq, they managed to occupy Basra and the surrounding areas in the year 1914, and after a series of battles in the face of the Ottoman Turks, they suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Kut al-Amara in the year 1916 AD, the British managed Finally, after defeating the Ottomans in more than one front, such as the Suez Canal, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and others, they were able to occupy Baghdad and then impose full control over Iraq at the end of the World War in the year 1918 AD [1].
British control of the Arab countries was in the face of the Ottomans with the open Arab support of the forces of Prince Al-Hijaz Sharif Hussein and his sons Ali and Abdullah, especially Prince Faisal I bin Al-Hussein, who managed to drive the Turks out of Hijaz, Jordan, Palestine and Syria, as well as Iraq, as an implicit agreement between the two parties to Arab caliphate or the major Arab country in these countries.
However, the British and French retreat and their deception of the Arabs after the Sykes-Picot agreement and the San Remo Agreement in Italy in the year 1920 AD, and placing the Arab region between the Mediterranean and Iran under the authority of the British and French mandates revealed the extent of the deception suffered by the Arabs in those regions and among them Iraq, which saw Britain deceived his ally Prince Faisal al-Hashemi, which generated a great feeling of hatred and hostility, and caused the emergence of national movements and revolutionary uprisings calling for independence, such as the movement and revolution in the year 1920 AD that forced the British to go to the Hashemite family again, so Faisal I was appointed as the first king of Sharif Hussein as king of Iraq August 23, 1921 AD [2].
King Faisal I sought independence and ended the British mandate over Iraq. After strenuous negotiations between the two sides, a treaty was concluded in 1922, which revolves around the commitment to accept the texts of the treaty with acceptance of British advice and assistance in all matters related to financial affairs from the British accredited, and not to rent or lease Iraq For any part of its territory for any foreign country, and not to establish political relations with other foreign countries except with the approval of Britain, which bears the care of Iraqi interests abroad, and other texts that have transformed the mandate of the mandate into a formula closer to independence and autonomy under the management and supervision of Britain, with the signature of A protocol in the following year specifying the end of the northern border issues with Turkey and the West with the Saudis, internal stability and maintenance of security, and the holding of Constituent Assembly elections [3].
Amendments and additions to this treaty occurred later, and Iraq entered the League of Nations as an independent state, but the British administration and policy were still ensuring full independence, interfering in politics and home affairs, and using some military bases and airports, and conditions remained as such until September 7 / September 1933 AD, when King Faisal I suddenly died in the Swiss city of Bern, and he was suffering from heart disease [4]; To be succeeded after him by his son, King Ghazi I, that young man who will witness a remarkable change in Iraqi politics during his short reign.
King Ghazi I was born in the city of Makkah Al-Mukarramah in 1911 AD, and he came to Baghdad with his mother and sisters in 1923 AD, and received his primary culture in the schools of Hijaz, then by a group of English professors in Baghdad, and he traveled to London in March 1926 AD, He studied at Harrow College, and upon his return to Iraq he studied at the Military College for four years, and learned to ride horses skillfully, but reports indicate that his scientific and military progress was weak, and he became crown prince of his father, King Faisal I, then worked as a deputy king on the throne during the absence of his father The last about Iraq in the summer of 1933 AD [5].
When Ghazi ascended to the throne of Iraq, he informed the then British ambassador, Humphris, that he would follow his father's policy, which relied on friendship and full cooperation and alliance with Britain, but the fact was that Ghazi was not the king that Britain wanted, as he was a young and enthusiastic patriotic young man, who stood on the British abuses and false promises of his grandfather Sharif Hussein and the Arabs, so he grew up against their coercion, was obstructing the Iraqi governments loyal to them, and he refused absolute cooperation with the British foreign oil company, and although his steps were negligible and weak in the face of British hegemony, his repeated announcement of the necessity of a national government serving the Iraqi people first gave him popularity On the Iraqi street [6].
As a result of his hatred for Britain and his policy, Ghazi approached the Germans, who gifted him equipment to create a new radio, which he placed in the Palace of Governance, and called it "Radio Palace of Flowers", and he himself undertook the broadcast of news and comments in cooperation with senior Iraqi officers, which was considered by Britain as a sharp national and national propaganda His popularity increased in neighboring Arab countries, especially in Syria, Kuwait and Jordan, to the point where the Kuwaiti Council approved by a majority of ten out of fourteen deputies to unite with Iraq under King Ghazi [7], which Britain considered a threat to its interests and plans in the east. Middle.
Like these days in 1936,
King Ghazi inaugurated # Radio_Baghdad, the second radio station that was heard in the Arab world after Cairo Radio, where it was officially opened on (1 July 1936),
so the days of King Ghazi were a simple mini radio in Qasr Al-Zuhour that satisfies his personal hobby #IRAQesque #baghdad_Salam pic. twitter.com/tPsVeCyY4r
- Baghdad Dar Al Salam (@baghdad_salam) July 4, 2018
British policy tended to Nuri Al-Saeed, who assumed the prime minister and foreign ministry several times, and the British man in Iraq, as well as some members of the Hashemite family who saw Ghazi’s actions as a threat to their existence, and from here Ghazi became a subject of special monitoring, and came in the words of the British ambassador in One of his telegrams: “King Ghazi must be controlled or deposed.” [8]
Since the summer of 1936 AD, just three years after the rule of King Ghazi, British documents have dealt with the issue of an alternative that could replace Ghazi from the Hashemite family, such as Prince Nayef bin Abdullah bin Al Hussein and Prince Abdul Ilah bin Ali bin Al Hussein, cousins of Ghazi, and he was Abd al-Ilah is one of the personalities close to the British, and it seems that this matter then went out of the closed room to the general rumors, which encouraged the team, Bakr Sidqi, to carry out the coup of October 29, 1936 AD, and it was mentioned in the matter of that movement that "the Hashemite Ministry was intending to depose His Majesty (King Ghazi) "[9].
However, the Bakr Sidqi coup did not receive sufficient support, and soon he failed, and he was arrested and executed, and Britain feared the close rapprochement between the army and King Ghazi, instructing Nuri Al-Saeed to declare martial law and eliminate any military outpost that threatens its interests, on March 5. 1939 m.
Bakr Sidqi’s 1936 coup and
his death in 1937 pic.twitter.com/JZ25HoSrXE
- Msa3eD al Dribe (@ Msa3eD119) November 25, 2018
King Ghazi felt the importance of the Iraqi army and the need to prepare it well to be ready to play its role in completing the liberation of Iraq and achieving unity and support for national issues, and that the first task for him was to end British control in preparation for Iraq to perform its national role, and the king has nurtured these concepts through the presence of social clubs With the same political activity, in addition to his contact with the army officers who hold nationalistic ideas, Ghazi has expressed his interest in the Iraqi army, its development, its strengthening and the follow-up of its activities, until the king has become a refuge for the officers who clash with the officers of the British military mission, to provide them with assistance, support and urge them not to care for the British officers [10] .
Thus, the situation on the eve of the killing of King Ghazi appeared to be a conflict between two directions. The first is led by King Ghazi and supported by a large number of army officers and the head of the royal court, Rashid Ali Al-Kilani, all of whom are calling for a complete emancipation from British hegemony, and those who demand Arab unity, especially with Kuwait and others. King Ghazi has demonstrated above all a rapprochement with the Germans at critical moments in which hostility was Strong between Britain and Germany before the Second World War (September 1939 - May 1945 AD), and between another team headed by Britain and Prime Minister Nuri Al-Saeed and Prince Abdul Ilah bin Ali al-Hashemi cousin of the king and brother of Queen Alia wife Ghazi.
The survival of King Ghazi at the head of power in Iraq raises problems in the face of Britain, and he threatens its interests in Iraq and the region, so getting rid of it was necessary and inevitable in the eyes of Britain, and on the morning of April 4, 1939 AD, the cabinet mourned King Ghazi after the collision of his car He drives himself by the electric pole located near Qasr al-Harithiya, near the Qasr al-Zuhur in which he resides.
The mystery in the death of King Ghazi and the lack of official documents about it led to the existence of different opinions in the interpretation of this incident, while Princess Badia bint Ali bin Al Hussein described the cousin of King Ghazi and the sister of Queen Alia in her memoirs "Heir to the Thrones" that the reason for the killing of King Ghazi was his engagement in the drink And wine, which led to the car accident that claimed it [12], Esmat Fahmy, wife of Ibn Nuri Al-Saeed, recounted the atmosphere, saying:
"King Ghazi had a special passion for owning cars and testing their speed. Rather, one of his best hobbies was driving racing cars and launching them at high speed in the remote areas that surround the city of Baghdad with a group of escorts or close friends. Most of these officers and pilots were inclined to championship games and risks ... After a few minutes, the sound of the engine resounded again, and the royal car drove violently to the highway and crossed it vigorously, then deflected to go to Al-Harithiya Road, it did not pass on its rise except for a few seconds, and if the car crashes when it reaches the roadside with a light pole, it pulls it violently and descends its passengers from above Then the road to settle down below the field opposite the Qasr al-Zuhur ... It turned out that the heavy pillar when it fell fell on the car, breaking Abdullah's arm sitting in the back seat ... As he hit the end of the shaft behind the head of King Ghazi, it was the final blow "[13].
The other popular opinion asserts that it was Britain and its arms that masterminded the murder of Ghazi, and she was the primary beneficiary of the assassination, as well as its man, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Saeed, who appears to have had his son Sabah, and they talked about the need to get rid of King Ghazi before that incident, and indeed Nuri has continued Al-Saeed is with the British ambassador and presented him with a plan to install Prince Zaid al-Hashemi in place of King Ghazi [14].
This opinion seems to have been confirmed or confirmed by Ghazi more than thirty-five years ago, when Abdul Razzaq al-Husayni, author of the book "The History of Iraqi Ministries", met on April 8, 1975 AD, Dr. Saeb Shawkat, King Ghazi’s private physician, and the first to examine him soon after the accident. That doctor says:
"I was the first person to examine King Ghazi at the request of Messrs [Nuri Al-Saeed] and [Rustam Haider, one of the ministers] to find out the degree of danger to his life, and that Nuri Al-Saeed asked me to say in my report that the accident was a result of the king's car colliding with the electricity pole, and I I think that he was killed as a result of a severe blow to his mother with an iron rod, and perhaps the brother of the servant who was killed in the palace (shortly before Ghazi’s death), and who was with him in the car to carry out the assassination, was brought in. The servant came as soon as the operation occurred to me and he had a dislocated arm And I returned the arm to its normal position, then the servant with the wireless operator disappeared from that day to forever, and no one knows about their fate to this day. [15]
Abdel-Razzaq Al-Husseini also met the Iraqi Minister of Interior during the rule of King Ghazi and the witness to his death, Naji Shawkat, and asked him about the fact that King Ghazi was killed, to answer him, saying:
"I kept a hidden secret for many years, and now the time has come to reveal it. The effects of human beings and the delight were on the faces of Nuri Al-Saeed, Rustam Haider, Rashid Ali Al-Kilani and Taha Al-Hashemi, after they had confirmed the death of the king, and these four had been affected by a virgin coup. My friend, they accused King Ghazi of being aware of the coup, and I believe that Abd al-Ilah and Nuri al-Saeed make a real contribution to the tragedy of King Ghazi. [16]
This view seems logical, as the killing of King Ghazi allowed the British to work freely and without disturbances, as politicians who formed the ruling elite at the time, such as Nuri Al Saeed, the Prime Minister, and Prince Abdul Ilah bin Ali Al Hashemi, the cousin of the murdered king and guardian of the throne of his nephew, Faisal II And others, who were supporters of Britain. On the other hand, the killing of King Ghazi had provoked the curse of the Iraqi street, which accused the British and Nuri Al-Saeed of masterminding this incident. The British accused the Germans of repeating and promoting this propaganda, and the Iraqi street’s response was so violent that even the masses of Mosul attacked the consulate. The British killed the British consul, Munk Mason [17].
It seems that this reaction of the Iraqi street has forced Nouri Al-Saeed and his front to call for reform, but the years of the young King Faisal II under the tutelage of his uncle Prince Abdul Ilah Al-Hashemi did not go according to what the Iraqis thought, especially the army, to enter Iraq in a cycle of turmoil and chaos that led in Ultimately to eliminate the property and take revenge on the Hashemite family for murder and execution.
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