naervod
My current user title
Unlike the many fronts of World War Two such as North Africa, Italy, Western Europe, the Pacific, and Eastern Europe, the conflict in the Middle East has long been ignored by many. Yet, some of the most vital machinations between the belligerents went on here for this oil rich region.
First, some background information on the Middle East is needed. The western part of the region had been dominated by the Ottoman Empire for centuries until its fall in the late 1910's following the countries defeat in World War One. Much of the land then went to the United Kingdom and France Palestine, Kuwait, Aden, Oman, and Iraq went to the United Kingdom and the Transjordan (Lebanon and Syria) went to France. In Iraq, a puppet state was set up after the Arabs to the south threatened the British for not fulfilling their promise of leaving the country. Iraq became independent in 1932, but was largely under the thumb of the British.
The two countries in that region that were not under the influence of foreign powers were Persia (Iran) and Saudi Arabia, the former to play a big role in the coming events. Persia had been an independent for a while although occasionally being fought over by the British and the Russians. The country had remained neutral in World War One, but had become a British Protectorate from 1919-1921 due to the threat from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. However, soon Iran was independent again.
The War in the Middle East largely started the same day the War in Europe started, although many nations such as Iraq didnt officially declare war until 1943. In the Levant, things were mostly quiet during the first year of the war, until France was invaded by Germany and a puppet state was set up, ruled from a government in Vichy. The Vichy government, although not recognized as the legitimate French government by many, still controlled French colonies in North Africa and the Levant, something that the Allies had to worry about. However, not much combat occurred then except with the Italian bombing of Tel Aviv, killing 111 people.
In 1941, things started to heat up in the Levant. Early in May, the British 558th Infantry Brigade garrisoned Cyprus and Beirut was bombed by the Royal Air Force. On May 15th, the German Luftwaffe sent planes to Vichy-controlled Damascus, one day after the British bombed the Vichy-controlled city of Palmyra. Finally, on June 8th, the 7th Australian Infantry Division, a Free French Brigade, and the 1st British Cavalry Division invaded Syria, and on June 21st, Damascus, the capital of Syria, was occupied by Commonwealth forces. On June 23rd the 10th Indian Infantry division and HABFORCE (a British relief task force) invaded Syria from Iraq after dealing with the Iraqi coup (which will be discussed later in this article), and finally, Vichy forces surrendered at Palmyra on July 3rd, marking the end of the war in the Levant.
Earlier in 1941, action was occurring in Iraq, a puppet state of the British. It all started on April 3rd when a coup by pro-Axis general Rashid Ali overthrew the pro-British Regent in Iraq, Emir Abdullah. On April 29th, two divisions of the Iraqi Army laid siege to the RAF base at Habbaniya. On the same day, a brigade from the 10th Indian Infantry Division landed in Basra, in southern Iraq, following another brigade from the same division that had landed there 10 days earlier.
The beginning of May was marked by an Iraqi attack at Habbaniya, which was repulsed by British troops garrisoning the base. Four days later, the last brigade of the 10th Indian Infantry Division arrived in Basra. On the same day, German planes began arriving at an airfield in Mosul to support the pro-Axis regime currently governing Iraq. On the 9th of May, HABFORCE, a brigade -sized task force moved across the Palestinian border, to relieve Habbaniya. The task force succeeded at its mission on the 18th. On the 19th, HABFORCE and the 10th Indian Infantry Division encountered fierce fighting in the town of Fajulla, outside Baghdad, but they pressed on wards, and finally, Baghdad fell on May 31st and an armistice was signed, bringing an end to Commonwealth operations in Iraq. However, this did not mark the end of the campaign in the Middle East.
The last, but certainly not least part of fighting in the Middle East was the fighting in Iran. The British and the Soviets, aware that the Iranian government was being wooed by the Germans, requested that they be able to occupy parts of the country, a request which Iran rejected. On August 2th, British troops landed at Bushire in southern Iran, and Soviet troops invaded at Bandar Shah, in north eastern Iran. The next day, British troops secured the vital oil fields at Abadan and by the end of the month, captured Ahwaz (another oil-rich city) and had secured the Persian Gulf, after signing a cease-fire with the offered on the 27th, by the Iranian government under Ali Furughi, which then promptly resigned. This seemingly marked the end of fighting in Iran. However, on September 10th, the British and Russians demanded the Iranians expel all Axis nationals from the country. On the 16th, the Shah abdicated and on the 17th, the British and Russians occupied the capital, Tehran in response for the Iranian governments failure to comply with the demand that all Axis nationals leave Iran. The country remained under allied occupation until the end of the war.
Now, we must discuss Axis motivations for action in the Middle East. Of course, they wanted a bigger empire and leaders who were loyal to Hitler and Mussolini, but more importantly, they wanted the resources offered by the Middle East. Both Iran and Iraq were oil-rich nations, something that the Axis desperately needed to keep their war machine running. The Allies knew if they could deny the Axis Middle Eastern Oil, then they could seriously hamper Axis war efforts. Also, victory in the Middle East would give a morale boost to the Axis who were starting to be pushed back in North Africa, or the Allies, who had suffered a long string of defeats in the first two years of the war. In the end, it was the Allies who remained the victors and the Middle East was completely denied to the Germans when Saudi Arabia and turkey declared war on Germany, on February 28th, 1945, and March 1st 1945, respectively.
This was my first articled for the History forum, and I hope you enjoyed it, any comments and/or discussion would be appreciated.
Sources
World War 2 Timeline- http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines
Iraq: History- http://lexicorient.com/cgi-bin/eo-direct-frame.pl?[url]http://i-cias.com/e.o/iraq_5.htm[/url]
History of Saudi Arabia: 1926 to 1953- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sa0020)
Atlas of the Second World War-Edited by John Keegan
First, some background information on the Middle East is needed. The western part of the region had been dominated by the Ottoman Empire for centuries until its fall in the late 1910's following the countries defeat in World War One. Much of the land then went to the United Kingdom and France Palestine, Kuwait, Aden, Oman, and Iraq went to the United Kingdom and the Transjordan (Lebanon and Syria) went to France. In Iraq, a puppet state was set up after the Arabs to the south threatened the British for not fulfilling their promise of leaving the country. Iraq became independent in 1932, but was largely under the thumb of the British.
The two countries in that region that were not under the influence of foreign powers were Persia (Iran) and Saudi Arabia, the former to play a big role in the coming events. Persia had been an independent for a while although occasionally being fought over by the British and the Russians. The country had remained neutral in World War One, but had become a British Protectorate from 1919-1921 due to the threat from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. However, soon Iran was independent again.
The War in the Middle East largely started the same day the War in Europe started, although many nations such as Iraq didnt officially declare war until 1943. In the Levant, things were mostly quiet during the first year of the war, until France was invaded by Germany and a puppet state was set up, ruled from a government in Vichy. The Vichy government, although not recognized as the legitimate French government by many, still controlled French colonies in North Africa and the Levant, something that the Allies had to worry about. However, not much combat occurred then except with the Italian bombing of Tel Aviv, killing 111 people.
In 1941, things started to heat up in the Levant. Early in May, the British 558th Infantry Brigade garrisoned Cyprus and Beirut was bombed by the Royal Air Force. On May 15th, the German Luftwaffe sent planes to Vichy-controlled Damascus, one day after the British bombed the Vichy-controlled city of Palmyra. Finally, on June 8th, the 7th Australian Infantry Division, a Free French Brigade, and the 1st British Cavalry Division invaded Syria, and on June 21st, Damascus, the capital of Syria, was occupied by Commonwealth forces. On June 23rd the 10th Indian Infantry division and HABFORCE (a British relief task force) invaded Syria from Iraq after dealing with the Iraqi coup (which will be discussed later in this article), and finally, Vichy forces surrendered at Palmyra on July 3rd, marking the end of the war in the Levant.
Earlier in 1941, action was occurring in Iraq, a puppet state of the British. It all started on April 3rd when a coup by pro-Axis general Rashid Ali overthrew the pro-British Regent in Iraq, Emir Abdullah. On April 29th, two divisions of the Iraqi Army laid siege to the RAF base at Habbaniya. On the same day, a brigade from the 10th Indian Infantry Division landed in Basra, in southern Iraq, following another brigade from the same division that had landed there 10 days earlier.
The beginning of May was marked by an Iraqi attack at Habbaniya, which was repulsed by British troops garrisoning the base. Four days later, the last brigade of the 10th Indian Infantry Division arrived in Basra. On the same day, German planes began arriving at an airfield in Mosul to support the pro-Axis regime currently governing Iraq. On the 9th of May, HABFORCE, a brigade -sized task force moved across the Palestinian border, to relieve Habbaniya. The task force succeeded at its mission on the 18th. On the 19th, HABFORCE and the 10th Indian Infantry Division encountered fierce fighting in the town of Fajulla, outside Baghdad, but they pressed on wards, and finally, Baghdad fell on May 31st and an armistice was signed, bringing an end to Commonwealth operations in Iraq. However, this did not mark the end of the campaign in the Middle East.
The last, but certainly not least part of fighting in the Middle East was the fighting in Iran. The British and the Soviets, aware that the Iranian government was being wooed by the Germans, requested that they be able to occupy parts of the country, a request which Iran rejected. On August 2th, British troops landed at Bushire in southern Iran, and Soviet troops invaded at Bandar Shah, in north eastern Iran. The next day, British troops secured the vital oil fields at Abadan and by the end of the month, captured Ahwaz (another oil-rich city) and had secured the Persian Gulf, after signing a cease-fire with the offered on the 27th, by the Iranian government under Ali Furughi, which then promptly resigned. This seemingly marked the end of fighting in Iran. However, on September 10th, the British and Russians demanded the Iranians expel all Axis nationals from the country. On the 16th, the Shah abdicated and on the 17th, the British and Russians occupied the capital, Tehran in response for the Iranian governments failure to comply with the demand that all Axis nationals leave Iran. The country remained under allied occupation until the end of the war.
Now, we must discuss Axis motivations for action in the Middle East. Of course, they wanted a bigger empire and leaders who were loyal to Hitler and Mussolini, but more importantly, they wanted the resources offered by the Middle East. Both Iran and Iraq were oil-rich nations, something that the Axis desperately needed to keep their war machine running. The Allies knew if they could deny the Axis Middle Eastern Oil, then they could seriously hamper Axis war efforts. Also, victory in the Middle East would give a morale boost to the Axis who were starting to be pushed back in North Africa, or the Allies, who had suffered a long string of defeats in the first two years of the war. In the end, it was the Allies who remained the victors and the Middle East was completely denied to the Germans when Saudi Arabia and turkey declared war on Germany, on February 28th, 1945, and March 1st 1945, respectively.
This was my first articled for the History forum, and I hope you enjoyed it, any comments and/or discussion would be appreciated.
Sources
World War 2 Timeline- http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines
Iraq: History- http://lexicorient.com/cgi-bin/eo-direct-frame.pl?[url]http://i-cias.com/e.o/iraq_5.htm[/url]
History of Saudi Arabia: 1926 to 1953- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sa0020)
Atlas of the Second World War-Edited by John Keegan
