[MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN.] &
[MARSHALL (Lieut.-Gen. Sir William Raine)].
Proclamation by the G.O.C.-in-Chief in Mesopotamia to the People of 'Iraq, on the occasion of the successful conclusion of hostilities against the Turkish Armies.
Announcing the Armistice of Mudros
An exceedingly rare broadside announcing the end of the end of hostilities in the Middle Eastern of Theatre of the First World War, an event remembered as the Armistice of Mudros. Significantly less florid than General Maude’s famous Proclamation —which was actually penned by Mark Sykes— the present document was printed less than a week after the Armistice was concluded (30th October, 1918) and rushed out in English and Arabic to inform the Iraqi people of the victory. This copy comes with two original photographs, taken on the day the proclamation was first announced in Baghdad; one shows the celebrations in New Street (captioned on the back ‘Peace with Turkey’) and the other captures the proclamation being delivered to a large crowd.
It first restates the essence of Maude’s message, issued shortly after entering Baghdad in March 1917, offering reassurance at a time of change and promising equal justice and opportunity “under British Rule”. Then, after a brief account of how the conflict concluded, it moves onto a list of eight announcements, most of which relate to ending restrictions on travel (including “routes to the sacred places … for organized pilgrimages”) and economic activity. There are also promises of reward and aid, such as bonuses of one month’s pay to Iraqi employees of the Civil Administration and the “distribution of food and clothing … to the poor of Baghdad and other towns”.
Despite mirroring aspects of Maude’s Proclamation there are a few notable shifts in the language, none of which is more salient than the description of the British Army as “deliverers” instead of “liberators”. One assumes Lieut. Gen. Marshall was aware the latter was an inappropriate term for an occupying army and might contribute to the “vexations” felt by the Iraqi people as a result of living under British control for over a year and a half. (It should be noted a second issue of Maude’s Proclamation was printed eight days after the present broadside, which might suggest otherwise.)
Rare. We have only been able to locate one copy of the English version, at the Imperial War Museum. There are no copies in LibraryHub or OCLC, but the latter does list a copy of the Arabic version at the University of Toronto.
