'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME III.' [‎225v] (455/534)

404 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
APPENDIX XXXVIII.
British Proclamation on capturing Baghdad
To the People of Baghdad Vilayet.
t I ^ the name of m y Kin g. an d in the name of the peonies u
I address you as follows :— P P les OVer "^hom he rules,
militar y operations have as their obiect the defeaf ^ ^
the driving of him from these territories. In order to comnlel
charged with absolute and supreme control of all reeions • e th I s . task < 1 am
troops operate; but our armies do not come into vour Hf” British
conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. ^ cities and lands as
Since the days of Hulagu your city and vour lands k
tyranny of strangers, your palaces have fallen into ruins tn™ Sub j ect to the
sunk in desolation, and your forefathers and yourselves ^ 1 gardens hav e
^ Y our sons have been carried off to warn notnf h C groaned in
weauh has been stripped ,ro m you by unjust ^Ta^
Since the days of Midhat the Turks have talked nf
rums and wastes of to-day testify the vanity of those pSies*? d ° n0t ‘ h '
of th“£at nST S whOTn SSrSgf’ but . it is ‘"e w,sh
as in the past, when your lands were fertile when h vour°a,? h0 ? ld pros P er '''er,
^the wridch' 6 ' SC ' encean< ^ art > an d when BaghdadcH^wasone^of th^wonders
bond^mtS.^ “o hun^ed'ye^tave 7 tt ‘"T haS W a
a " d G u re at Britain traded together in'mutull nrofff , n \ er . chan ts of Baghdad
other hand, the Germans and Turks who have desnn^H fnendshi P- On the
for twenty years made Baghdad a centre of nowt y °V a [ ld y° urs - have
power of the British and the Allies S f?! P r^!T ^ whlch to a^ail the
Therefore the British Government cannot Persia and Arabia -
place in your country now or in the future for • 1 ” dl ^ erent as to what takes
British people and their Aliks ?h e British GoJe dUt ? t0 the interests of the
donem Bagdad again which has been“ e^XTu^nd 0 ^^
safety from oppressnin a ' P ros P erlt y and whose
concern to the British Government ar^nS ^ ^ a matter of the closest
of the British Government to impose unon ° unders tand that it is the wish
hope of the British Government that th? ac y° uallen institutions. It is the
wnters shall be realised, and thlt on^e ?i, 0n ° f y ° Ur P hiIos °phers and
flourish, enjoying their wealth and subsLnfe^nd ° f Baghdad sha11
consonance with their sacred laws and ^ lnstltutl °ns which are in
have expelled the Turks and German^SS racla ldeaIs - In Hejaz the Arabs
the Sharif Hussain as their KiS Mdhk^wF^ 1 ? them ’ and
freedom and is the Ally of the Nation^wH^ dS * iP u ruIes in inde P e ndence and
Turkey and Germany ; so indeed aro th ^ b ? hting a & ai nst the power of
Nejd and Asir. * ’ aeed ' are the noble Arabs, the Lords of Kuwait,
°f ti° Se alien the V Turks Sh who onn 6 Arab freedom at the hands
of the Government of Great Britain PP T S ff d ^? em - ^ i s the determination
Bntain, that these noble Arabs shaP n^H the G i eat Powers aIIied to Great
and desire of the British people and th suffered in va in. It is the hope
Arab race may rise once^ore to f Natlo ns in alliance with them that the
the Earth, and that it shall bind f and renown among the peoples of
concord. ShaI1 blnd itself together to this end in Gnity and