Jafar al-Askari
Encyclopedia
Ja'far Pasha al-Askari (1887–1936) served twice as prime minister of Iraq
: from November 22, 1923, to August 3, 1924; and from November 21, 1926, to December 31, 1927.
Al-Askari served in the Ottoman Empire
Army during World War I
until he was captured by British forces attacking the Empire from Egypt. After he was released he was converted to the cause of Arab nationalism and joined forces with Amir Faisal
and T. E. Lawrence
(Lawerence of Arabia), with his brother-in-law, Nuri as-Said
, who would also serve as prime minister of Iraq. Al-Askari took part in the conquest of Damascus
in 1918 and supported placing Faisal on the Syrian throne. When Faisal was deposed by the French in 1920, he advocated granting him a new throne in Iraq
.
As a reward for his loyalty, Faisal granted Al-Askari several important cabinet positions, including minister of defense in the first Iraqi government. He served as prime minister twice, and was also minister of foreign affairs. Al-Askari was minister of defense in Yasin al-Hashimi
's government when it was overthrown by Chief of Staff Bakr Sidqi
in 1936, in Iraq's first coup. Al-Askari was assassinated during the coup.
where he graduated in 1904 as a Second Lieutenant. He was then sent to the Sixth Army stationed in Baghdad. Ja’far then was sent to Berlin, Germany from 1910-1912 to train and study as part of an Ottoman initiative to reform the army through the selection of officers via competition. Al-Askari stayed in this program until ordered back to the Ottoman Empire to fight in the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan States.
After the war with the Balkan states ended in 1913, Ja’far was made an instructor at the Officer Training College in Aleppo, but eight month later passed qualifications for the Staff Officers’ College in Istanbul.
in Libya. His campaign started in Dardanelles
, after which he received the German Iron Cross
and was promoted to General. After his promotion he was sent to command the Senoussi Army in Libya. At the Battle of Agagia
Ja’far was captured by the British led forces and incarcerated in a citadel in Cairo with his friend and later brother-in-law Nuri as-Said. Ja’far made one escape attempt by fashioning a rope out of blankets to scale the citadel walls. During this attempt, the blanket broke and Ja’far fell, breaking his ankle leading to his being captured by the guards. According to his obituary, Ja’far offered to pay for the blanket as he was on friendly terms with his captors.
Some time after his escape attempt (either while recovering or on parole), Ja’far learned about the nationalist Arab Revolt
against the Ottomans led by the Hashemite
leader of the Hijaz, Hussein bin Ali
, the Sharif of Mecca
. This Revolt had been sponsored by the British forces and the Triple Entente so as to open up an extra front inside the Ottoman Empire in order to bleed them from internal rebellion. In exchange, the British had promised to create an Arab country led by Husayn. This promise is embodied in the Husayn-McMahon Correspondance. Upon reading about the Arab Revolt and due to an increasing hostile Ottoman approach to Arab affairs (his friend Salim Al-Jazairi was executed along with other prominent Arabs for nationalist activities by another Ottoman general, Jamal Pasha), Ja’far decided that this was precisely in line with beliefs he had and decided to switch sides from the Ottomans to the Hashemite Revolt forces along with his friend Nuri as-Said
. At first Sharif Husayn was hesitant to let Ja’far, a former general in the Ottoman army, join his forces, but eventually relented and Ja’far was invited by Husayn’s son, Amir Faisal, to join in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. Ja’far fought under Amir Faisal throughout this period up until the fall of the Ottoman Empire, including Faisal’s assault on Damascus in 1918.
, which he accepted. Shortly thereafter, Ja’far was appointed the military Governor of the Aleppo Vilayet in Syria. During his time as Governor in Syria, Ja’far listened to many Iraqis about the status of their homeland and British rule. Ja’far advocated the idea that Iraqis could take charge of Iraq themselves and would do better than the British officials currently controlling the territory. Al-Askari was in favor of a Hashemite ruler with ties to Britain taking over Iraq; he joined his friend Nuri al-Sa’id in being part of the faction of the al-‘Ahd al-‘Iraqi group that was in favor of British ties.
, the son of Sharif Hussein, to be King. Faisal had never even been to Iraq and so chose certain commanders that were from the area to fulfill his various posts, including Ja’far Pasha al-Askari who was appointed minister of defense. During this period one of the important things Ja’far al-Askari did was arrange for the return of 600 Ottoman soldiers who were originally from Iraq in order to form the Officer Corps of the new Iraqi army. His brother-in-law Nuri al-Sa’id became Chief of the General Staff of the army in February 1921.
In November 1923, King Faisal appointed al-Askari to be prime minister of Iraq. Faisal wanted a strong supporter of the king to be prime minister during this key time when the Constituent Assembly
opened in March 1924. The dominant issue during this assembly was the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
the British were pushing to help legitimize their League of Nations-appointed Mandate of Iraq. Many Iraqis were opposed to the treaty and it did not look like it would pass. But then High Commersioner Percy Cox threatened to fulfill the British Mandate in a different way unless it was passed. After the passing of the treaty in the Constituent Assembly, al-Askari resigned as prime minister as he did not really enjoy the job and felt he had accomplished what he needed to.
In November 1926, Faisal again appointed Ja’far al-Askari (who at the time was acting as Iraqi minister in London) prime minister of Iraq. Two main issues dominated his term in office: conscription and Shi’i discontent. Conscription was a controversial issue with one side believing that they needed it to encourage a strong Iraq by creating a strong army and the Sharifians (former Ottoman soldiers who had fought in the Arab revolt) seeing it as a holy duty; those in power also saw it as a way to create national unity and an Iraqi identity. On the other side, Shi’is found it repugnant and the various tribes who wished to be autonomous found it threatening. The British were not in favor of conscription as they thought it could lead to issues in Iraq that they would then have to intervene in and they also wanted to keep the country weaker so as to have better control over the country. Further complicating al-Askari’s term was the growing Shi’i discontent in Iraq with massive protests occurring across the country in response to a book written by a Sunni official criticizing the Shi’i majority as well as the promotion of the commanding officer of an army unit that opened fire on Shiite demonstrators during a rally. Also at this time, the British wanted a new Anglo-Iraqi Treaty signed. Among the numbers powers the British retained, the treaty said they would support Iraq’s entry into the League of Nations
in 1932 (not 1928 as previously promised) as long as it kept itself progressing in a manner consistent with British supervision. Al-Askari resigned as prime minister in December 1927 as a result of the cool reception the draft treaty received among the Iraqi people and the growing discontent in the Shi’i majority.
In addition to his important period as prime minister, , Ja’far also served as minister for foreign affairs, diplomatic minister in London multiple times, and minister of defense four other times.
, Ja’far, who was serving as minister of defense, was sent to talk to Bakr Sidqi in an attempt to stop the violence and inform Sidqi of the new change in government, that of Hashimi resigning and Hikmat Sulayman
(who Sidqi supported) being made prime minister. Sidqi was suscpicious of this move and ordered his men to intercept and murder al-Askari. His body was hastily buried along the roadside as Sidqi’s supporters triumphantly invaded Baghdad, effectively finalizing Sidqi’s power over the government. However, al-Askari’s assassination proved to be detrimental to Sidqi. Many of Sidqi’s supporters in the army no longer supported the coup as they had been brought in and trained under al-Askari and he was well loved. His death helped to undermine the legitimacy of Sidqi’s government. The British, the Iraqis, and many of Sidqi’s own supporters were horrified by the act. The new government only lasted 10 months before Sidqi was assassinated through a plot in the officers corps of the Iraqi army. After his assassination, the government he created fell apart and Sulaiman stepped down as prime minister. Ja’far al-Asakari’s brother-in-law was not content in just seeing Sidqi die and sought revenge against those he found responsible for Ja’far’s death. He claimed Sulaiman and others were plotting to assassinate King Ghazi. The evidence was speculative and in all likeliehood false, yet they were found guilty and sentenced to death (but their terms were commuted to life).
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
: from November 22, 1923, to August 3, 1924; and from November 21, 1926, to December 31, 1927.
Al-Askari served in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Army during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
until he was captured by British forces attacking the Empire from Egypt. After he was released he was converted to the cause of Arab nationalism and joined forces with Amir Faisal
Faisal I of Iraq
Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933...
and T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
(Lawerence of Arabia), with his brother-in-law, Nuri as-Said
Nuri as-Said
Nuri Pasha al-Said was an Iraqi politician during the British Mandate and during the Kingdom of Iraq. He served in various key cabinet positions, and served seven terms as Prime Minister of Iraq....
, who would also serve as prime minister of Iraq. Al-Askari took part in the conquest of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
in 1918 and supported placing Faisal on the Syrian throne. When Faisal was deposed by the French in 1920, he advocated granting him a new throne in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
As a reward for his loyalty, Faisal granted Al-Askari several important cabinet positions, including minister of defense in the first Iraqi government. He served as prime minister twice, and was also minister of foreign affairs. Al-Askari was minister of defense in Yasin al-Hashimi
Yasin al-Hashimi
Yasin al-Hashimi was an Iraqi politician who served twice as that country's prime minister. Like many of Iraq's early leaders, Hashimi, who was born Yasin Hilmi Salman, served as an officer during Ottoman control of the country...
's government when it was overthrown by Chief of Staff Bakr Sidqi
Bakr Sidqi
Bakr Sidqi , an Iraqi nationalist and general of Kurdish origin, but not a Kurdish nationalist, was born 1890 in Kirkuk and assassinated on August 12, 1937, at Mosul.-Biography:...
in 1936, in Iraq's first coup. Al-Askari was assassinated during the coup.
Early Life and Ottoman Army Career
Ja’far Pasha al-Askari was born on September 15, 1885 in Baghdad, when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire, the fourth of five brothers with one sister. His father, Mustafa Abdul Rahman Al-Mudarris, was a colonel in the Ottoman Army. Ja’far attended the Military College in Baghdad before transferring to the Military College in the Ottoman capital of IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
where he graduated in 1904 as a Second Lieutenant. He was then sent to the Sixth Army stationed in Baghdad. Ja’far then was sent to Berlin, Germany from 1910-1912 to train and study as part of an Ottoman initiative to reform the army through the selection of officers via competition. Al-Askari stayed in this program until ordered back to the Ottoman Empire to fight in the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan States.
After the war with the Balkan states ended in 1913, Ja’far was made an instructor at the Officer Training College in Aleppo, but eight month later passed qualifications for the Staff Officers’ College in Istanbul.
World War I and the Arab Rebellion
When World War I broke out, Ja’far first fought on the side of the Ottomans and the Triple AllianceTriple Alliance
Triple Alliance may refer to:* Aztec Triple Alliance - Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan; better known as the Aztec Empire* Triple Alliance - England, France and the Dutch Republic...
in Libya. His campaign started in Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
, after which he received the German Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
and was promoted to General. After his promotion he was sent to command the Senoussi Army in Libya. At the Battle of Agagia
Battle of Agagia
The Battle of Agagiya was a battle on February 26, 1916 in the Senussi Campaign which ended the Senussi Revolt in the Northern part of western Egypt. The battle took place at Aqaqia east of Sidi Barrani....
Ja’far was captured by the British led forces and incarcerated in a citadel in Cairo with his friend and later brother-in-law Nuri as-Said. Ja’far made one escape attempt by fashioning a rope out of blankets to scale the citadel walls. During this attempt, the blanket broke and Ja’far fell, breaking his ankle leading to his being captured by the guards. According to his obituary, Ja’far offered to pay for the blanket as he was on friendly terms with his captors.
Some time after his escape attempt (either while recovering or on parole), Ja’far learned about the nationalist Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
against the Ottomans led by the Hashemite
Hashemite
Hashemite is the Latinate version of the , transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe...
leader of the Hijaz, Hussein bin Ali
Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca
Sayyid Hussein bin Ali, GCB was the Sharif of Mecca, and Emir of Mecca from 1908 until 1917, when he proclaimed himself King of Hejaz, which received international recognition. He initiated the Arab Revolt in 1916 against the increasingly nationalistic Ottoman Empire during the course of the...
, the Sharif of Mecca
Sharif of Mecca
The Sharif of Mecca or Hejaz was the title of the former governors of Hejaz and a traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
. This Revolt had been sponsored by the British forces and the Triple Entente so as to open up an extra front inside the Ottoman Empire in order to bleed them from internal rebellion. In exchange, the British had promised to create an Arab country led by Husayn. This promise is embodied in the Husayn-McMahon Correspondance. Upon reading about the Arab Revolt and due to an increasing hostile Ottoman approach to Arab affairs (his friend Salim Al-Jazairi was executed along with other prominent Arabs for nationalist activities by another Ottoman general, Jamal Pasha), Ja’far decided that this was precisely in line with beliefs he had and decided to switch sides from the Ottomans to the Hashemite Revolt forces along with his friend Nuri as-Said
Nuri as-Said
Nuri Pasha al-Said was an Iraqi politician during the British Mandate and during the Kingdom of Iraq. He served in various key cabinet positions, and served seven terms as Prime Minister of Iraq....
. At first Sharif Husayn was hesitant to let Ja’far, a former general in the Ottoman army, join his forces, but eventually relented and Ja’far was invited by Husayn’s son, Amir Faisal, to join in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. Ja’far fought under Amir Faisal throughout this period up until the fall of the Ottoman Empire, including Faisal’s assault on Damascus in 1918.
Governor of Aleppo and Iraqi Nationalism
After World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, another of Husayn’s sons, Amir Zaid, on behalf of Amir Faisal, asked Ja’far to be the Inspector General of the Army of the newly established Arab state of SyriaSyria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, which he accepted. Shortly thereafter, Ja’far was appointed the military Governor of the Aleppo Vilayet in Syria. During his time as Governor in Syria, Ja’far listened to many Iraqis about the status of their homeland and British rule. Ja’far advocated the idea that Iraqis could take charge of Iraq themselves and would do better than the British officials currently controlling the territory. Al-Askari was in favor of a Hashemite ruler with ties to Britain taking over Iraq; he joined his friend Nuri al-Sa’id in being part of the faction of the al-‘Ahd al-‘Iraqi group that was in favor of British ties.
Establishment of Iraq and Political Career
In 1921 the British decided that it would be prudent to set up an Arab government in Iraq and chose Faisal ibn Hussein bin Ali al-HashemiFaisal I of Iraq
Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933...
, the son of Sharif Hussein, to be King. Faisal had never even been to Iraq and so chose certain commanders that were from the area to fulfill his various posts, including Ja’far Pasha al-Askari who was appointed minister of defense. During this period one of the important things Ja’far al-Askari did was arrange for the return of 600 Ottoman soldiers who were originally from Iraq in order to form the Officer Corps of the new Iraqi army. His brother-in-law Nuri al-Sa’id became Chief of the General Staff of the army in February 1921.
In November 1923, King Faisal appointed al-Askari to be prime minister of Iraq. Faisal wanted a strong supporter of the king to be prime minister during this key time when the Constituent Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
opened in March 1924. The dominant issue during this assembly was the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1921 was an agreement signed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the government of Iraq. The treaty was designed to allow locals a limited share in power while allowing the British to control foreign and military policy...
the British were pushing to help legitimize their League of Nations-appointed Mandate of Iraq. Many Iraqis were opposed to the treaty and it did not look like it would pass. But then High Commersioner Percy Cox threatened to fulfill the British Mandate in a different way unless it was passed. After the passing of the treaty in the Constituent Assembly, al-Askari resigned as prime minister as he did not really enjoy the job and felt he had accomplished what he needed to.
In November 1926, Faisal again appointed Ja’far al-Askari (who at the time was acting as Iraqi minister in London) prime minister of Iraq. Two main issues dominated his term in office: conscription and Shi’i discontent. Conscription was a controversial issue with one side believing that they needed it to encourage a strong Iraq by creating a strong army and the Sharifians (former Ottoman soldiers who had fought in the Arab revolt) seeing it as a holy duty; those in power also saw it as a way to create national unity and an Iraqi identity. On the other side, Shi’is found it repugnant and the various tribes who wished to be autonomous found it threatening. The British were not in favor of conscription as they thought it could lead to issues in Iraq that they would then have to intervene in and they also wanted to keep the country weaker so as to have better control over the country. Further complicating al-Askari’s term was the growing Shi’i discontent in Iraq with massive protests occurring across the country in response to a book written by a Sunni official criticizing the Shi’i majority as well as the promotion of the commanding officer of an army unit that opened fire on Shiite demonstrators during a rally. Also at this time, the British wanted a new Anglo-Iraqi Treaty signed. Among the numbers powers the British retained, the treaty said they would support Iraq’s entry into the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
in 1932 (not 1928 as previously promised) as long as it kept itself progressing in a manner consistent with British supervision. Al-Askari resigned as prime minister in December 1927 as a result of the cool reception the draft treaty received among the Iraqi people and the growing discontent in the Shi’i majority.
In addition to his important period as prime minister, , Ja’far also served as minister for foreign affairs, diplomatic minister in London multiple times, and minister of defense four other times.
Assassination and Aftermath
During the 1936 military coup led by Bakr Sidqi against the government of Yasin al-HashimiYasin al-Hashimi
Yasin al-Hashimi was an Iraqi politician who served twice as that country's prime minister. Like many of Iraq's early leaders, Hashimi, who was born Yasin Hilmi Salman, served as an officer during Ottoman control of the country...
, Ja’far, who was serving as minister of defense, was sent to talk to Bakr Sidqi in an attempt to stop the violence and inform Sidqi of the new change in government, that of Hashimi resigning and Hikmat Sulayman
Hikmat Sulayman
Hikmat Sulayman was prime minister of Iraq from October 30, 1936 to August 12, 1937 at the head of a Party of National Brotherhood government. Sulayman, an ethnic Turkmen, was a key figure in the early days of Iraqi independence and the effort to create a multi-ethnic state. He came to power in...
(who Sidqi supported) being made prime minister. Sidqi was suscpicious of this move and ordered his men to intercept and murder al-Askari. His body was hastily buried along the roadside as Sidqi’s supporters triumphantly invaded Baghdad, effectively finalizing Sidqi’s power over the government. However, al-Askari’s assassination proved to be detrimental to Sidqi. Many of Sidqi’s supporters in the army no longer supported the coup as they had been brought in and trained under al-Askari and he was well loved. His death helped to undermine the legitimacy of Sidqi’s government. The British, the Iraqis, and many of Sidqi’s own supporters were horrified by the act. The new government only lasted 10 months before Sidqi was assassinated through a plot in the officers corps of the Iraqi army. After his assassination, the government he created fell apart and Sulaiman stepped down as prime minister. Ja’far al-Asakari’s brother-in-law was not content in just seeing Sidqi die and sought revenge against those he found responsible for Ja’far’s death. He claimed Sulaiman and others were plotting to assassinate King Ghazi. The evidence was speculative and in all likeliehood false, yet they were found guilty and sentenced to death (but their terms were commuted to life).