The Middle East in the war / George Kirk ; with an introduction by Arnold Toynbee

Includes index.

INTRODUCTION / ARNOLD TOYNBEE -- PART I. POLITICAL MOTIVES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, 1939 -1945 -- (i) Arab Nationalism -- (ii) Zionism -- (iii) French Interests and Policy -- (iv) British Policy -- (v) The United States -- (vi) The Soviet Union -- PART II. TO THE VICTORY AT AL-'ALAMAIN, 1939-1942 -- (i) The Egyptian Bid for Independence, June 1940 -- (ii) The Conquest of the Italian Empire in Africa and the Restoration of Ethiopia -- (iii) The 'Iraqi Bid for Independence, 1940-1 -- (iv) The 'Liberation' of the Levant States, 1941: -- (a) France in Alliance with Britain, to the Armistice of June 1940 -- (b) The Vichyist Régime and the Axis Armistice Commissions, June 1940-April 1941 -- (c) Vichy's Collaboration with the Axis, and the Allied Invasion of the Levant States, May-July 1941 -- (v) Anglo-French Relations in the Levant States, 1941-2 -- (vi) The Anglo-Soviet Intervention in Persia -- (vii) The Expulsion of Axis Nationals from Afghanistan / SIR WILLIAM FRASER-TYTLER -- (viii) The Northern Front (Persia and 'Iraq) -- (ix) Problems of Co-ordination: The Minister of State's Office.... / H. L. D'A. HOPKINSON -- (x) Economic Problems: The Middle East Supply Centre / GUY HUNTER: -- (a) Introduction -- (b) The Organization of Regional Supply Machinery -- (c) The Supply Problem-Transport, Food, Materials -- (d) Production and Regional Services -- e) Finance and Economics -- (f) The Last Days of War Controls -- (g) Some Comments on Economic Regionalism in the Middle East, 1941-5 -- (xi) The Egyptian Bid for Independence, January-February 1942 -- (xii) The Axis Invasion of Egypt -- (xiii) The Zionist Bid for Independence, 1939-42 -- (xiv) The Liberation of French Somaliland -- PART III. THE RECESSION OF THE WAR, 1943-1945 -- (i) The Egyptian Bid for Independence, 1943-5; the Sudan -- (ii) The Levant States' Bid for Independence, 1943-5 -- (iii) The Zionist Bid for Independence, 1943-5 -- (iv) Arab Unity and the Formation of the Arab League -- (v) The Arabian Peninsula and the War; Arabian Oil: -- (a) The United States in Arabia before the War -- (b) The Yaman and Britain before the War -- (c) Britain and the Minor Arab States, 1936-9 -- (d) Sa'ūdi Arabia's International Relations, 1939-45 -- (e) The Yaman's International Relations, 1939-45 -- (f) Anglo-American Relations with Sa'ūdi Arabia, 1939-45; Finance, Oil, and Air Bases -- (vi) The Ethiopian Bid for Independence, 1942-5 -- (vii) The Ex-Italian Colonies: -- (a) Character of Italian Administration -- (b) Cyrenaica, 1941 -- (c) Eritrea -- (d) Somalia -- (e) Cyrenaica, 1942-5 -- (f) Tripolitania -- (g) The Fazzān -- (h) Claims of the New Italian Government -- (viii) The Bid for Independence in the Maghrib: -- (a) French and Spanish Policy, 1939-40 -- (b) The Policy of Vichy -- (c) Allied Policy, 1942-3 -- (d) Free France and Tunisia -- (e) Free France and Algeria -- (f) Free France and Morocco -- PART IV. THE U.S.S.R. AND THE MIDDLE EAST, 1939-1945 -- (i) Turkey -- (ii) Persia – (iii) The Arab World and Ethiopia

This volume on the Middle East during the Second World War differs from some of the other volumes which will appear in the war-time Survey in that it deals with political and economic events and conditions in a particular region whose geopolitical unity, initiated by the spread of Islām, had been reinforced by its peculiar relationship to the European imperialisms of c. 1800-1945, and confirmed when the advent of the air-craft and the desert-worthy motor vehicle had removed the former distinction between 'Near' and 'Middle East by annihilating the barrier of the Syrian Desert that had formerly divided them. It is this peculiar relationship which is the primary object of study in this volume; and reference is made to the war campaigns only where it is necessary to provide the context of the political events. In a later volume the writer proposes to trace the post-war displacement of power and authority in the Middle East down to the Anglo-French-American statement on the peace and stability of the Arab states and Israel of 25 May 1950, and to the outbreak of the Korean War in the following month. The writer wishes to thank the named contributors of special sections of the present volume; and also those authorities who from their first-hand and responsible knowledge of events examined herein have given him the benefit of their advice, which, however, by reason of its confidential nature, it is not possible to acknowledge more specifically. Responsibility for the general treatment and for the views expressed rests with the writer.