Having gotten to know the reporting Joseph Berger through this project, his writings have become an essential historical guide for me in understanding today’s events. The Jaffa-based Jewish anti-Zionist was a leading figure of the Palestine Communist Party who wrote extensively for the Comintern press in the 1920s and 30s (later a victim, and rare survivor, of the Soviet purge years). Here Berger analyzes the context of the treaty with British imperialism which would see Iraq move from mandatory province to independent state in 1932.

‘The Iraq Treaty and the Struggle for Hegemony in the Near East’ by Bob (Joseph Berger) from International Press Correspondent. Vol. 11 No. 37. July 9, 1931.

The session of the Mandate Commission of the League of Nations which was to have decided on the British proposal to replace the mandate for Iraq by the Anglo-Iraq Treaty and to admit the Iraq “State” as a member of the League of Nations in 1932, has just concluded its deliberations in Geneva. It was not for nothing that the other imperialist States, above all, France and Italy, resisted the British proposal as long as possible. The imperialist rivals of Great Britain in the Nea Easter know better than anyone else that the realisation of Great Britain’s strategical plans there (one of the most important parts of these plans is the consolidation of the British position in Iraq) would consolidate British hegemony to such an extent that the other imperialist powers would be left far in the rear. These powers were unable to prevent the carrying out of the British plans, but they were determined that their agreement should be purchased with Compensations, and this determination was at the back of the Various diplomatic manoeuvres conducted in Geneva.

These manoeuvres cannot alter the established fact that during the last six months in particular, British plans in the Near East have made considerable progress, and that much that was in the preparatory and discussion stage for many years, has now entered on the stage of realisation, and in part is about to be realised. There is first of all the final appending of the signatures to the pipeline agreement which aims at pumping oil from northern Iraq (Mossul and Kirkuk districts) to the Mediterranean. The fact that this pipeline has now been bifurcated at a certain point in order to carry half the oil to the British port of Haifa and the other half to French Tripoli, only shows that the strategical value of this pipeline is immense, and that all economic and financial considerations have been subordinated to finding this solution of the vexed problem, in order to satisfy the Naval and Military authorities of both countries who all insisted on oil.

This pipeline is intended to guarantee the oil supplies for the imperialist naval bases in the Mediterranean and for the imperialist air forces in case of war. The petroleum companies which are constructing the line are being given every possible facility (to the disadvantage of the inhabitants of those districts through which the pipeline travels). All that the imperialist governments demand is that the line shall be completed as quickly as possible and that it shall be able to supply all the demands of the imperialist naval and military forces.

In the meantime, other important projects are not being neglected. The naval base being constructed in Haifa is now half completed according to the latest bulletin of the engineers. By ruthless speeding up methods and an intense exploitation of native labour power the authorities hope to have the harbour completed even before the time fixed. Similarly, the other end of the pipeline in French Tripoli is also being turned into a naval base. Military aerodromes are being built in the immediate neighbourhood. Great oil tanks are being erected and also a refinery in order to be able in case of war to refine the oil on the spot. These war preparations are being supplemented by the speeding up of the electrification projects and by the extension and improvement of the connecting roads of a strategical character in the spheres of influence of the two great imperialist powers.

The surveying work for the Haifa-Bagdad railway is practically completed and the ultimate route has been almost decided upon. The actual building work will probably begin in the Autumn of this year. Further plans are now being considered for a parallel line in the north, i.e. parallel to the Turkish and Soviet frontiers. There is good reason to believe that these plans will also be put into operation.

According to the calculations of the imperialist press these war preparations should be concluded in 1934/35 approximately, that is to say in about three years time. By that time a further problem must be solved: the political stabilisation of Anglo-French hegemony. The practical work for the construction of the various strategical positions in the Near East is closely accompanied and supported by the diplomatic manoeuvring of the British and French imperialists. Combinations of all sorts, intrigues, bribery, and corruption are still, the chief instruments of imperialist diplomacy in the Levante. Behind the formulas, agreements and treaties which are the public expression of the silent battle behind the scenes are these instruments of imperialist diplomacy.

The leaders of the Arabian national movement willingly lend themselves to play the role appointed for them by the imperialists in the various political combinations. This can be seen in the way the feudal and bourgeois sections in Iraq have gone over to imperialism, in the way the nationalist leaders in Syria (including those who were considered “extreme” a little while ago) now support the monarchist swindle organised by French imperialism, in the way the so-called national opposition in Transjordania is fighting for a place at the table of imperialism, in the way Ibn Saud who likes to be called “the leader of the Arabian movement for independence”, is being caught in the toils of the British diplomatic net (this is proved by the recent agreement with Iraq drawn up and signed under British pressure which represents, despite all the reservations, a further step to the complete capitulation of Ibn Saud).

The reason for this treacherous attitude of the native ruling classes is not only to be found in the advantages of a material nature offered them by French and British imperialism (the peoples of the Orient have learned from bitter experience how much value may be attached to imperialist promises), in fact, the chief reason for this attitude is the fear harboured by the native feudal and bourgeois sections of the spontaneous revolutionary mass movement. This fear makes it seem desirable for them, to abandon the interests of the national-revolutionary movement and to conclude an alliance with the imperialists in order to save themselves from the revolutionary flood.

The rich landowners, the religious leaders, the trading bourgeoisie and the employers are well aware, as their press shows, of the real meaning of the Anglo-French preparations for war. They know that the decisive struggle between imperialism and socialism will also decide the fate of those oriental countries which lie on the way to India, and they prefer to throw in their lot with that of the British and French imperialists against the Soviet Union because the native masses, not only the workers, but also the peasants and the petty-bourgeois masses harbour growing sympathies for the Soviet Union, and themselves are being driven more and more into revolt by the pressure of the severe economic crisis.

A careful survey of the imperialist war preparations in the Near East shows that these preparations have become particularly intense during the last two years, or in other words, since the Labour government has taken over the reins in Great Britain, In the Near East Great Britain is as undeniably the leader of the anti-Soviet block, as imperialist France is in Europe. MacDonald and Henderson have laid the scene of their war preparations in Africa and Asia and this makes it easier for them to conceal these preparations. They hope even to be able to continue simultaneously their pacifist phrasemongering. However, the international proletariat must not let itself be deceived by these manoeuvres. Every new step in the imperialist war preparations in the Near East, and there have been many from the Iraq Treaty to the Mosul Agreement, must be carefully watched.

International Press Correspondence, widely known as”Inprecor” was published by the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) regularly in German and English, occasionally in many other languages, beginning in 1921 and lasting in English until 1938. Inprecor’s role was to supply translated articles to the English-speaking press of the International from the Comintern’s different sections, as well as news and statements from the ECCI. Many ‘Daily Worker’ and ‘Communist’ articles originated in Inprecorr, and it also published articles by American comrades for use in other countries. It was published at least weekly, and often thrice weekly.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/inprecor/1931/v11n37-jul-09-1931-inprecor.pdf