| Draft Mandate for Mesopotamia | |
|---|---|
Draft mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine as submitted for the approval of theLeague of Nations on 7 December 1920 | |
| Created | 1920 (draft only) |
| Ratified | Not ratified |
| Author | League of Nations |
| Purpose | Proposed creation of the territory ofMesopotamia. TheKingdom of Iraq was created instead |
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| History ofIraq |
TheMandate for Mesopotamia (Arabic:الانتداب على بلاد ما بين النهرين,romanized: al-Intidāb ʿalā Bilād mā bayn an-Nahrayn) was a proposedLeague of Nations mandate to coverOttoman Iraq. It would have been entrusted to theUnited Kingdom but was superseded by theAnglo-Iraqi Treaty, an agreement between Britain and Iraq with some similarities to the proposed mandate. On paper, the mandate lasted from 1920 to 1932.
The proposed mandate was awarded on 25 April 1920 at theSan Remo Conference, inItaly, in accordance with the 1916Sykes–Picot Agreement but was not yet documented or defined.[1] It was to be aclass A mandate under Article 22 of theCovenant of the League of Nations. A draft mandate document was prepared by the BritishColonial Office in June 1920 and submitted in draft form to the League of Nations in December 1920.
Immediately after the end of theFirst World War, SirArnold Wilson, the future High Commissioner to Iraq, recommended the annexation of Mesopotamia to theBritish Raj "as a colony of India and the Indians, such as the government of India administer it and gradually cultivate its vast plains, and settle the warriorPunjab races in it".[2] In amemorandum written on 22 April 1918, Cox listed the social groups that the British should support: the Jewish community in Baghdad, the notables in Baghdad and Basara, the rich landowning Arabs and Jews, and the Shaikhs of sedentary tribes.[3] Mosul was added to the region of British influence following the1918 Clemenceau–Lloyd George Agreement.
The proposed mandate faced certain difficulties to be established, as anationwide Iraqi revolt broke out in 1920 after which it was decided the territory would become theKingdom of Iraq, via the Anglo-Iraq Treaty of October 1922.[1] The Kingdom of Iraq became independent in 1931–1932,[1] in accordance with the League of Nations stance, which stated such states would be facilitated into "progressive development" as fully independent states.[1]
The civil government ofBritish-administered Iraq was headed originally by theHigh Commissioner, SirPercy Cox, and his deputy, ColonelArnold Wilson. Britishreprisals after the murder of a British officer inNajaf failed to restore order. British administration had yet to be established in the mountains of northern Iraq. The most striking problem facing the British was the growing anger of the nationalists, who felt betrayed at being accorded mandate status.[citation needed]