The Secret Anglo-French War in the Middle East: Intelligence and Decolonization, 1940-1948

503 Pages·2014·3.28 MB·English

by  Meir Zamir

The Secret Anglo-French War
in the Middle East
The role of intelligence in colonialism and decolonization is a rapidly
expanding field of study. The premise of The Secret Anglo-French War in the
Middle East is that intelligence statecraft is the “missing dimension” in the
established historiographyof the Middle East during and after World War II.
Arguing that intelligence, especially covert political action and clandestine
diplomacy, played a key role in Britain’s Middle East policy, this book
examines new archival sources in order to demonstrate that despite World
War II and the Cold War, the traditional rivalry between Britain and France
in the Middle East continued unabated, assuming the form of a little-known
secret war. This shadow war strongly influenced decolonization of the region
as each Power sought to undermine the other; Britain exploited France’s
defeat to evict it from its mandated territories in Syria and Lebanon and
incorporate them in its own sphere of influence; while France’s successful use
of intelligence enabled it to undermine Britain’s position in Palestine, Egypt,
Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Providing a fresh perspective on decolonization in the Middle East, this
book is essential reading for scholars with an interest in the political history
of the Middle East, decolonization, international relations and intelligence
studies.
Meir Zamir teaches at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. He
studies the role of British and French intelligence in the Middle East in the
1940s and the decolonization of the region. He is the authorof The Formation
of Modern Lebanon, 1918-1926, and Lebanon’s Quest: The Road to Statehood,
1926-1939.
Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern History
Theregion’shistoryfromtheearliesttimestothepresentiscateredforbythis
series made up of the very latest research. Books include political, social,
cultural, religious and economic history.
1. TheBoundariesofModern 8. RussiaandIraninthe
Palestine,1840-1947 GreatGame
GideonBiger Travelogues andOrientalism
ElenaAndreeva
2. TheSurveyof Palestineunderthe
BritishMandate,1920-1948 9. TheGhazi Sultansandthe
DovGavish FrontiersofIslam
AComparativeStudyoftheLate
3. BritishPro-Consuls inEgypt,
MedievalandEarlyModern
1914-1929
Periods
C.W.R.Long
AliAnooshahr
4. Islam,Secularism andNationalism
10. TheOriginsoftheLibyanNation
inModernTurkey
ColonialLegacy,Exileandthe
Whois aTurk?
Emergence ofaNewNation-State
SonerCagaptay
AnnaBaldinetti
5. MamluksandOttomans
11. TheOriginsofSyrian
StudiesinHonourofMichael
Nationhood
Winter
Histories,Pioneers andIdentity
EditedbyDavidJ.Wassersteinand
EditedbyAdelBeshara
AmiAyalon
6. Afghanistan 12. EndingEmpireintheMiddleEast
PoliticalFrailtyandExternal Britain,theUnitedStatesand
Interference Post-WarDecolonization, 1945-73
NabiMisdaq SimonC.Smith
7. ThePasha’sBedouin 13. ProtestantMissionariesinthe
TribesandState inEgypt of Levant
MehemetAli1805-1848 UngodlyPuritans,1820-1860
ReuvenAharoni SamirKhalaf
14. BritishSomaliland 16. TheDruzeCommunity andthe
AnAdministrativeHistory, LebaneseState
1920-1960 BetweenConfrontationand
BrockMillman Reconciliation
YusriHazran
15. WarandStateFormation
inSyria 17. TheSecretAnglo-French Warin
CemalPasha’sGovernorate theMiddle East
DuringWorldWarI, 1914-1917 Intelligence andDecolonization,
.
M.TalhaÇIÇEK 1940-1948
MeirZamir
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The Secret Anglo-French War
in the Middle East
Intelligence and Decolonization, 1940-1948
Meir Zamir
Routledge RRoouuttleleddggee
RoutledgReoutledge
Firstpublished2015
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2015MeirZamir
TherightofMeirZamirtobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen
assertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin
anyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting
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Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanation
withoutintenttoinfringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Zamir,Meir.
ThesecretAnglo-FrenchwarintheMiddleEast:intelligenceand
decolonization,1940-1948/MeirZamir.
pagescm.--(RoutledgestudiesinMiddleEasternhistory;17)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.MiddleEast--Foreignrelations--GreatBritain.2.MiddleEast--Foreign
relations--France.3.GreatBritain--Foreignrelations--MiddleEast.
4.France--Foreignrelations--MiddleEast.5.Espionage,British--Middle
East--History--20thcentury.6.Espionage,French--Middle
East--History--20thcentury.7.Militaryintelligence--Middle
East--History--20thcentury.8.MiddleEast--Politicsandgovernment--20th
century.9.Decolonization--MiddleEast--History--20thcentury.I.Title.
DS63.2.G7Z362015
956’.03--dc23
2014022483
ISBN:978-1-138-78781-0(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-76542-6(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byTaylorandFrancisBooks
In memory of my father
Na’im Zamir
(1917-2012)
and
my father-in-law
Alexander G.S. James
(1911-2004)
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Contents
Preface x
Acknowledgements xiv
Abbreviations xv
Part I 1
1 Great Britain’s covert political action in the Middle East
during and after World War II 3
2 The Anglo-French Clandestine War in Syria and Lebanon,
1940-1942 50
3 Britain’s Perfidy – France’s Revenge, 1943-1948 92
Epilogue: “Those who pulled the strings and those who pulled
the trigger” 163
Part II 185
List of documents 187
Documents 199
Bibliography 465
Index 474