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The Hashemite Arab Federation was a short-lived confederation that lasted from 14 February to 2 August 1958, between the
Hashemite The Hashemites (), also House of Hashim, are the Dynasty, royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Hejaz, Hejaz (1916–1925), Arab Kingdom of Syria, Syria (1920), and Kingd ...
kingdoms of
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
. Although the name implies a federal structure, it was ''de facto'' a
confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
. The Federation was formed on 14 February 1958, when King Faisal II of Iraq and his cousin, King
Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until Death and state funeral of King Hussein, his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemites, Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hu ...
, sought to unite their two
Hashemite The Hashemites (), also House of Hashim, are the Dynasty, royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Hejaz, Hejaz (1916–1925), Arab Kingdom of Syria, Syria (1920), and Kingd ...
kingdoms as a response to the formation of the United Arab Republic between Egypt and Syria. The union lasted only six months. Faisal II was deposed by a military coup on 14 July, and the new Iraqi government officially dissolved the Federation 2 August 1958.


Background

Pan-Arabism Pan-Arabism () is a Pan-nationalism, pan-nationalist ideology that espouses the unification of all Arabs, Arab people in a single Nation state, nation-state, consisting of all Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa from the Atlantic O ...
and Arab nationalism were major movements in the Middle East after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1919–1925. Arab nationalism was particularly popular among intellectuals and the military. Pan-Arabists often advocated for an Arab Union that would combine all the Arabs in a single state, similar to romantic portrayals of the Ottoman Empire and the old caliphates. However, it was unclear who would lead any such proposed pan-Arab state, and major fissures grew between rivals for leadership. The
Hashemite The Hashemites (), also House of Hashim, are the Dynasty, royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Hejaz, Hejaz (1916–1925), Arab Kingdom of Syria, Syria (1920), and Kingd ...
dynasty fashioned themselves as the true leaders of the Arab world, but were considered overly deferential to Western interests by other Arab nationalists, and had come to power with the assent and aid of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Both Jordan and Iraq remained on largely friendly terms with the Western Bloc. In Iraq, pan-Arabism was treated with suspicion by Kurds, who were not Arabs, and by Shia Muslims, who viewed pan-Arabism as an excuse by the Arab Sunni minority to tie themselves to farther flung Sunni populations. The Hashemites' most prominent rival for leadership in the 1950s was
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
, the president of Egypt, the most populous Arab country. Nasser, backed by the Free Officers Movement, had replaced the old monarchy of Egypt with a secular and
Arab socialism Arab socialism () is a political ideology based on the combination of pan-Arabism or Arab nationalism and socialism. The term "Arab socialism" was coined by Michel Aflaq, the principal founder of Ba'athism and the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Part ...
-tinged republican government, and his brand of nationalism had little patience for monarchies. The
House of Saud The House of Saud ( ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State, (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling ...
ruled
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
with Wahhabi religious fervor, and was also on poor relations with the Hashemites. All of this ran up against the Cold War of the era, as governments turned to the Western Bloc, the Eastern Bloc, or both for support. The resulting struggle of how Arab nationalism intersected with it is sometimes called the
Arab Cold War The Arab Cold War ( ''al-ḥarb al-`arabiyyah al-bāridah'') was a political rivalry in the Arab world from the early 1950s to the late 1970s and a part of the wider Cold War. It is generally accepted that the beginning of the Arab Cold War is ...
. There were earlier efforts to unite Jordan and Iraq in the name of Arab unity, but they had come to nothing. In particular, from an Iraqi perspective, tiny Jordan had little to offer economically or strategically and numerous liabilities. The liabilities included Jordanian King Abdullah's moderation on the
Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is a geopolitical phenomenon involving military conflicts and a variety of disputes between Israel and many Arab world, Arab countries. It is largely rooted in the historically supportive stance of the Arab League ...
, the large number of Palestinians in Jordan, a lack of oil or other valuable resources in Jordan, and the unstable relationship between Abdullah and his nephew, the Iraqi regent ' Abd al-Ilah. Regardless of the issues, the two countries attempted unification in 1946 and 1947. The second time was in 1951 and 1952. King Abdullah was assassinated in 1951 and one of the succession options explored was merging Jordan into Iraq, giving a combined throne to Faisal II. Eventually, Abdullah was succeeded by his son Talal instead as King of Jordan, shortly followed by Hussein in 1952. In 1955, Iraq entered the short-lived Baghdad Pact at the urging of the United Kingdom and the United States. The pact sought to block the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
from southward expansion and to prevent it from getting access to the petroleum resources of the Middle East. It was part of the containment policy. It aligned Iraq with other Western-friendly powers including
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, and Pahlavi Iran. While Prime Minister Nuri al-Said saw the treaty as a "guarantee" to the security of the Iraqi state, his government, and the Hashemite monarchy, Nasser openly and loudly criticized the treaty as a capitulation to imperialist traitors.


Union

The third attempt at a formal alliance between Iraq and Jordan came in 1958. In early 1958, Nasser burnished his pan-Arabist credentials by convincing Syria and Egypt to unite as one country: the United Arab Republic (UAR). He portrayed it as the first step among many, openly advocating for other countries to join the UAR, a direct threat to both Hashemite regimes which bordered Syria. To counter Nasser's pan-Arabism, al-Said approached the Hashemite government of Jordan to discuss the formation of a similar union to appease Arab nationalists within Iraq. Officially formed on 14 February 1958, the Arab Union or Arab Federation united foreign policy and defense of each country but left the vast majority of other domestic programs under national jurisdiction. According to the 7th article of the Federation convention, the Arab revolt flag came to be the official flag of the Union. Iraq and Jordan were the first members, but they hoped for
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
to join. Nuri al-Said resigned as Prime Minister of Iraq and became the Premier of the Arab Union. He neglected to see the growing opposition in the Sunni officer corps against the regime, however.


Iraqi military coup

Tension between the UAR and the Arab Federation worsened. During the summer of 1958, UAR troop movements to the Syrian border instigated the Arab Federation to mobilize troops to counter this move. Within Iraq, a group called the Free Officers plotted against the monarchy. They were inspired both by Iraq's turbulent history of coups and counter-coups in the past decades as well as Nasser's successful overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy in 1952, although they were not direct agents of Nasser. In July 1958, troops led by Abd al-Karim Qasim were transiting through Baghdad on their way to the Jordanian-Syrian border. Qasim took the opportunity, with his troops having a legitimate excuse to be in Baghdad, to overthrow the government there in the 14 July Revolution. With the fall and resulting deaths of al-Said, King Faisal II, and the rest of the Iraqi royal family, both the Hashemite regime fell and with it the short-lived Arab Federation. The deposition of the Hashemites in Iraq had immediate ramifications on the Hashemites in Jordan. Not only were King Hussein's ruling cousins in Iraq executed, but so was the Jordanian Prime Minister Ibrahim Hashem who was visiting at the time. After the revolutionaries in Iraq declared a republic, King Hussein of Jordan requested immediate British and American aid. The British sent 4,000 soldiers to Jordan, while the US stationed troops in Beirut, Lebanon. The British forces remained until November 2, 1958, when the US pledged to "support the throne f the Hashemites in Jordan and "provide the country with $40 to $50 million as an annual subsidy, replacing the British subsidy".


Aftermath

The revolution and downfall of the Hashemite dynasty in Iraq would not be the end of relations between Iraq and Jordan. The Iraqi coup plotters who had ordered the execution of the Hashemites were themselves later overthrown and killed in the 1960s, perhaps easing the path to reconciliation. In 1975, Jordan turned away from their traditional economic relationship with Syria and instead looked to Iraq. Iraq offered Jordan a strong economy, oil money, a large market and strategic depth. With Iraq's financial aid, Jordan made some economic gains. By 1990 Iraq was "Jordan's largest market, it was repaying trade credit debts in oil, and it held out the hope of lucrative reconstruction contracts after the Iran–Iraq War."


References

{{Arab nationalism 1950s in Iraq 1950s in Jordan Arab nationalism in Iraq Arab nationalism in Jordan Former Arab states Former confederations Iraq–Jordan relations
Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
Politics of Iraq Politics of Jordan Political organisations based in Jordan States and territories disestablished in 1958 States and territories established in 1958