Yasin al-Hashimi
Yasin al-Hashimi | |
---|---|
ياسين الهاشمي | |
Jamil al-Midfai | |
Succeeded by | Hikmat Sulayman |
Personal details | |
Born | 1884 Ottoman Army ![]() |
Yasin al-Hashimi, born Yasin Hilmi Salman (
Early life and family
Al-Hashimi was born as "Yasin Hilmi" in Baghdad in 1884, during
Military career
Ottoman service
He enrolled into the
He was loyal to the Ottomans throughout World War I, during which the Ottomans were part of the
In 1918 al-Hashimi was assigned as the commander of the Ottoman
Chief of Staff of the Arab Army
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Yasin_al-Hashimi.jpg/220px-Yasin_al-Hashimi.jpg)
Al-Hashimi's refusal to join Faisal's army came despite promises of support he gave to Faisal in 1915.[3] Of all the personalities Faisal met in his 1915 Damascus trip, it was al-Hashimi's assertion of support at the home of Nasib al-Bakri that convinced Faisal to launch the revolt. As the chief of staff of mostly Arab units in the Ottomans' Arab provinces, al-Hashimi's word carried weight and when Faisal offered to support al-Hashimi's units with Hejazi tribal fighters, al-Hashimi replied that he had "no need of them", but just wanted Faisal "to lead us and be in the vanguard".[8]
After Faisal's entry into Damascus in October 1918 and the setting up of a provisional Arab government under his leadership, Faisal appointed al-Hashimi as President of the Military Council.
Al-Hashimi soon re-launched efforts to recruit Arab soldiers, but at a more clandestine level,
Arrest by the British and return to Syria
In late November 1919, al-Hashimi was arrested by the British military for recruiting soldiers to resist the French in the
The British authorities informed Faisal that they arrested al-Hashimi for attempting to create a republic and overthrow Faisal and his government; al-Hashimi had grown powerful and had wielded more influence over the army than Faisal. The
Al-Hashimi was allowed to return to Syria via Egypt in early May 1920.[13] By then, a French offensive to capture Damascus was impending. Al-Hashimi was tasked by Faisal, who declared himself King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria in March 1920, with inspecting the state of the Arab Army under al-'Azma's command. Upon inspecting the Arab troops, al-Hashimi concluded that they were not prepared to confront an invasion by the militarily superior French forces. Al-Hashimi particularly noted the lack of arms and that the Arab Army's soldiers only possessed enough ammunition to fight for two hours. He refused an assignment by Faisal to command the Arab Army's post at Majdal Anjar in the Beqaa Valley and also turned down a request to resume his position as chief-of-staff due to the precarious position of the army. In response to Faisal's inquiry about the cause of the lack of arms and ammunition, al-Hashimi responded that the French were in control of Syria's ports, the British controlled Palestine, the Transjordan region, and Iraq, and the Turks were occupied by their war in Anatolia, and thus Syria was effectively blocked from importing weaponry. In a meeting of the army's General Staff, al-'Azma rejected al-Hashimi's assessment and accused him of bitterness as a result of his secondary role in the army.[19] Ultimately, however, al-'Azma and the General Staff officers understood the weak state of the army.[20]
French forces launched their offensive in mid-July, and al-'Azma decided to rally whatever troops and local volunteers he could assemble to confront the French. Al-Hashimi, firmly believing that the Arab Army could not hold out against the French, remained in Damascus, while al-'Azma's forces encountered the French in what became known as the Battle of Maysalun. The Arabs were decisively defeated, al-'Azma was killed and the French entered Damascus on 25 July.[21]
Political career in Iraq
Governor of Muntafiq
In March 1922, al-Hashimi arrived in Baghdad, where Faisal had been relocated and assumed power as
First premiership
During the 25 January 1924 constituent assembly election, al-Hashimi won a seat in the assembly.[25] Opposition to the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty became evident in the constituent assembly and protests by Iraqi lawyers were held opposing the treaty. According to Gertrude Bell, al-Hashimi, who chaired a special committee to examine and publish an opinion about the treaty, instigated the protests. According to historian Ali al-Allawi, al-Hashimi used his position on the committee "to undermine al-'Askari's cabinet and show it up as a feeble and incompetent government, unable to shepherd the country through trying times."[26]
The constituent assembly was dissolved on 24 August 1924, following the completion of its main mission, the negotiation and passing of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty.
Another of Faisal's motivations in appointing al-Hashimi was his view that al-Hashimi's ardent nationalist position made him well-suited to handle the Turkish-Iraqi territorial dispute over the former
Formation of National Brotherhood Party
In 1930, the Iraqi and British governments began the
Subsequent to Iraq's accession to the League of Nations, King Faisal, in pursuit of domestic reform and consolidation, tried to give opposition groups greater voice in the parliament and cabinet. Thus, the National Brotherhood Party was allowed into power. However, its forfeiture of demands concerning the Ango-Iraqi Treaty and callous management of the
Second premiership
With Taha's withholding of action against the tribal rebels, al-Midfai became convinced that Taha and al-Hashimi had conspired against the government and he consequently resigned.[35] With the uprisings in full swing, King Ghazi appointed al-Hashimi, who was seen as the only person who could stabilize the country, as prime minister in March 1935.[35] The uprisings largely dissipated a week into al-Hashimi's appointment.[35] In April, the National Brotherhood Party dissolved itself.[30] In order to coopt the tribal sheikhs who participated in the uprising, al-Hashimi maneuvered to guarantee many of the sheikhs entry into parliament in the August 1935 elections.[36] Thereafter, the sheikhs became key supporters of al-Hashimi as he became their political patron.[36] Tensions between the government and the tribes remained regarding the issue of conscription, which the latter opposed and the former strongly advocated.[36]
When al-Hashimi had the conscription law passed, a
Al-Hashimi's Arab nationalist credentials during his second premiership were strong enough that he became known as the "Bismark of the Arabs" in Arab nationalist circles.[4] Al-Hashimi's tenure as prime minister, particularly in 1936, led to growing dissent and resentment among the ruling elite, including King Ghazi and his former ally Hikmat Sulayman.[38] During the course of 1936, al-Hashimi largely ruled by decree, expanded the police forces and intelligence agencies, and repressed any public disapproval of his government.[38] To the latter end, he shut down the Al-Ahali newspaper for publishing criticism of his premiership and prevented demonstrations against his government in Baghdad.[38] He also believed that tribal revolts in some of the country's provinces were being coordinated with his political opponents, and used General Sidqi to harshly put them down.[38] Al-Hashimi's actions and method of rule fueled disaffection within the army's ranks.[39] By late 1936, General Sidqi, frustrated at not being promoted, also grew resentful of al-Hashimi and attributed his lack of hierarchical elevation to al-Hashimi's brother, Chief of Staff Taha.[38]
Sidqi and Sulaymani conspired to topple al-Hashimi.[38] They made their move when Taha left for a visit to Turkey and appointed Sidqi as acting chief of staff.[38] Using his interim position, Sidqi had his army units enter Baghdad in a show of force under the banner of the "National Reform Force", while having leaflets dropped over the city informing residents that the Iraqi Army had instructed King Ghazi to dismiss al-Hashimi and replace him with Sulayman.[38] King Ghazi had likely been informed of the impending coup d'état against al-Hashimi and lent his quiet support by forbidding any resistance against the army.[38] He did not dismiss al-Hashimi until the latter submitted his resignation following air force bombardment in the vicinity of his office.[38] Sulayman was then appointed by King Ghazi as prime minister.[38]
Death
Al-Hashimi was exiled from Iraq following the 1936 Bakr Sidqi coup and moved to
Funeral
On the morning of 22 January, the first leg of al-Hashimi's funeral procession began, with his Arab flag-draped coffin being carried by students of the AUB from his home in Ras Beirut toward the Omari Mosque in the city.[42] The procession in Lebanon was led by the Muslim Boy Scouts and the Lebanese police force and included Lebanese dignitaries, Taha al-Hashimi, the consuls of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and a Damascene delegation led by parliament member Fakhri al-Barudi. A prayer was then held at the Omari Mosque and an AUB student read a poem dedicated to al-Hashimi.[42] Non-Muslim Lebanese dignitaries also attended the prayer, including former Prime Minister Beshara al-Khoury.[42] From the Omari Mosque, al-Hashimi's body was transported to Damascus.[42] Prior to its arrival to the city, the funeral cortege made a symbolic stop in Maysalun, at the tomb of Yusuf al-Azma, to commemorate the fallen Arab soldiers and volunteers who died in the battle against the French.[43]
Al-Hashimi's cortege was greeted by thousands of spectators once it arrived in Damascus, with reports from the local Al-Qabas newspaper reporting that the number of participants in the city was unprecedented.
Prior to the Damascus procession, the Iraqi government communicated its approval of interring al-Hashimi's body in Baghdad after mourning ceremonies in Beirut and Damascus, but forbade Taha's participation in the final funeral procession.[41] The al-Hashimi family accepted the Iraqi government's conditions.[41] However, following the funeral procession in Damascus, disagreements between the Iraqi and Syrian governments prevented al-Hashimi's body from being transported to its intended final resting place in Baghdad.[45] The Syrian government denied that there was a conflict with the Iraqi government and cited unsuitable road conditions due to heavy rainfall as the reason al-Hashimi's body could not be transported to Baghdad, but it is well known that the mutual antagonism between the two governments precluded the al-Hashimi family's initial wishes for al-Hashimi's burial.[45] Al-Hashimi was laid in state at the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali in the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.[46] On 27 January, al-Hashimi's family agreed to have him buried at the Mausoleum of Saladin, adjacent to the Umayyad Mosque.[45]
References
- ISBN 978-1400841462.
- ^ a b Muslih 1988, p. 143.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Muslih 1988, p. 144.
- ^ a b c Nafi 1998, pp. 483–484.
- ^ Tripp 2000, p. 28.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 52.
- ^ a b c d Tarbush 1988, pp. 116-117.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 56.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 161.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 247.
- ^ a b c Allawi 2014, p. 259.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 260.
- ^ a b c d Allawi 2014, p. 261.
- ^ Tauber 1995, p. 196.
- ^ Allawi 2014, pp. 255-256.
- ^ Tauber 1995, p. 24.
- ^ Tauber 1995, p. 198.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 285.
- ^ Tauber 1995, p. 216.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 287.
- ^ Tauber 1995, p. 218.
- ^ Sluglett 2007, p. 175.
- ^ a b Tarbush 1988, p. 117.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 402.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 435.
- ^ Allawi 2014, p. 439.
- ^ a b c d e Allawi 2014, p. 448.
- ^ a b c Tripp 200, p. 58.
- ^ Tripp 2000, p. 59.
- ^ ISBN 9781136275852.
- ^ a b Khadduri 1960, pp. 29–30.
- ^ a b Marr 2004, p. 35.
- ^ Tripp 2000, p. 71.
- ^ a b Khadduri 1960, pp. 49–55.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Tripp 2000, pp. 82–83.
- ^ a b c Tripp 2000, p. 86.
- ^ a b c d e f Tripp 2000, p. 87.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Tripp 2000, p. 88.
- ^ Marr 2004, p. 44.
- ^ Wien 2011, p. 273.
- ^ a b c d e f Wien 2011, p. 274.
- ^ a b c d Wien 2011, p. 278.
- ^ Wien 2011, pp. 278–279.
- ^ a b Wien 2011, p. 279.
- ^ a b c Wien 2011, p. 281.
- ^ Wien 2011, p. 280.
Bibliography
- Allawi, Ali A. (2014). Faisal I of Iraq. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300127324.
- Khadduri, Majid (1960). Independent Iraq 1932-1958: A Study in Iraqi Politics. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 752781448.
- Marr, Pheobe (2004). The Modern History of Iraq (2nd ed.). Boulder: Westview Press. ISBN 0813382149.
- Muslih, Muhammad Y. (1988). The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231065092.
- Nafi, Basheer M. (1998). "King Faysal, the British and the Project for a Pan-Arab Congress, 1931–33" (PDF). Islamic Studies. 37 (4): 479–502. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
- Sluglett, Peter (2007). Britain in Iraq: Contriving King and Country. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781850437697.
- Tarbush, Mohammad A. (1988). The Role of the Military in Politics: A Case Study of Iraq to 1941. Routledge. ISBN 9781317406372.
- Tauber, Eliezer (1995). The Formation of Modern Iraq and Syria. Routledge. ISBN 9781138925823.
- Tripp, Charles (2000). A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521529006.
- Wien, Peter (2011). "The Long and Intricate Funeral of Yasin al-Hashimi: Pan-Arabism, Civil Religion and Popular Nationalism in Damascus, 1937". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 43 (2): 271–292. S2CID 154451279.