British Relations with Trans-Jordan, 1920-1930

Abstract

At the end of the First World War, the former provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the Levant were divided between Britain and France as Mandates of the League of Nations. Britain gained Palestine, Trans-Jordan and Iraq, while France gained Syria (including what is now Lebanon). This study examines British policy towards Trans-Jordan from 1920 until the end of 1930. It was during this formative period that the foundations of the present day Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan were laid. In 1920, the territory to the east of the river Jordan, though falling within the British sphere of influence, was of little significance. There was no central government, and such government as existed was confined to the main centres of population and among the tribes. Britain's main concern was the security of the eastern frontier of Palestine proper. However, Britain's desire to maintain the Arab nature of the territory led to the short-lived experiment of posting British officers to oversee local governments in the towns of al Salt, Irbid, Ajlun, Amman and Kerak. The Cairo Conference, the arrival of Abdullah in Amman and Churchill's meeting with Abdullah at Jerusalem, all in March 1921, led to a change in policy. Thus a separate Amirate under Abdullah centred in Amman, was born. The history of Trans-Jordan during the 1920s in the story of the consolidation of Britain's position in the territory: the building up of an Arab government under Abdullah which was independent of Palestine (and therefore excluded from the area designated for Jewish settlement); the establishment of the frontiers of the territory especially in relation to the expansion of the power of Abdul Aziz bin Saud in the Nejd and the Hejaz; the development of an Arab army under Bitish officers; the imposition of financial discipline on Abdullah's regime; and the development of a British controlled air and land route to Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Although at times Britain's relationship with Abdullah was fraught with difficulty, by 1930 the state of Trans-Jordan was firmly established.