Britain, Egypt, and Iraq during World War II

This book explores the tumultuous war years through the lens of the British Embassies in Cairo and Baghdad, demonstrating the role that the Second World War played in shaping the political and social map of the contemporary Middle East. The war served as a catalyst for seismic changes in Arab society and the emergence of new movements that provided powerful critiques of British intervention and of the governments that facilitated it, making the war a critical turning point in Britain’s empire in the Middle East.

In this meticulously-researched synthesis of wartime local politics and imperialism, Stefanie Wichhart offers a groundbreaking new study of Britain’s relations with Egypt and Iraq at a pivotal moment in the history of the British Empire and the Middle East. In a lucid and captivating narrative, she focuses on the relations between Britain’s embassies in both countries and the other agents of British power, such as the military and propaganda and publicity specialists, and the local politicians with whom and often against whom they worked. While the former sought to entrench Britain’s waning power during a global conflict and secure its position in the post-war world, the latter struggled to pursue national objectives from within dysfunctional political systems that spoke of their countries positions as neither colonies nor yet fully independent nation-states., The military campaigns of the Second World War in the Mediterranean are well known. Much less so are the wrangling between the British men on the spot, the diplomats and soldiers, with nationalist Egyptian and Iraqi leaders. The war with its ebbs and flows provided a stern test of Britain’s ‘empire by treaty’ strategy which had been cemented by prewar treaties with Egypt and Iraq. Stefanie Wichhart fills a gap, providing a fascinating account of the trials and tribulations of British decision-makers, leading inexorably to imperial decline despite their best efforts. Blending the different facets together is a remarkable achievement. Many characters loom large including Sir Miles Lampson, King Farouk, Nahas Pasha, Nuri al-Said and Sir Kinahan Cornwallis.

Stefanie Wichhart is Professor of History at Niagara University, USA