イギリスの反応

ウィキペディア小見出し辞書

イギリスの反応

出典: フリー百科事典『ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 (2022/05/09 10:22 UTC 版)

「アングロ＝イラク戦争」の記事における「イギリスの反応」の解説

イギリスのラシッド・アリの「国家防衛政府」との関係はますます悪化していった。1931年の条約ではイラクはイギリスが戦争に巻き込まれた時にはイギリスに援助を提供する義務があるとされていたが、これにはイギリス軍がイラク国内を通過することも条件に含まれていた。イギリス軍の任務はイラク王立軍にも課され、ハバニヤとシャイバの持ち場があった 。イギリス首相ウィンストン・チャーチルはイラクの国家防衛政府を初めから認めておらず、法に逆らっているとした。 On 2 April, Sir Kinahan Cornwallis, the new British Ambassador to Iraq, arrived in Baghdad. He had much experience in Mesopotamia and had spent twenty years in the country as the advisor to King Faisal I. Cornwallis was highly regarded and he was sent to Iraq with the understanding that he would be able to hold a more forceful line with the new Iraqi government than had hitherto been the case. Unfortunately, Cornwallis arrived in Iraq too late to prevent the outbreak of war. On 6 April, AVM Smart requested reinforcements, but his request was rejected by the air officer commanding in the Middle East, Sir Arthur Longmore. At this point in the Second World War, the situation developing in Iraq did not figure highly in British priorities. Churchill wrote, "Libya counts first, withdrawal of troops from Greece second. Tobruk shipping, unless indispensable to victory, must be fitted in as convenient. Iraq can be ignored and Crete worked up later." The British Chiefs-of-Staff and the Commander-in-Chief for India, General Claude Auchinleck, were in favour of armed intervention but the three local commanders, already burdened by the ongoing Western Desert Campaign, East African Campaign and the Battle of Greece, suggested that the only force available was an infantry battalion in Palestine and the aircraft already in Iraq. The Government of India had a long-standing commitment to prepare an infantry division to protect the Anglo-Iranian oilfields and in July 1940, the leading brigade of the 5th Indian Infantry Division, was ordered to Iraq. In August, the division was placed under the control of Middle East Command and diverted to the Sudan. Since then, India Command had been investigating the move of troops by air from India to RAF Shaibah.