176 A Short History of the Middle East
prevailed over public spirit, was that of King Faisal. When the
constitution was first promulgated, the King announced his with-
drawal from direct participation in the affairs of state. But as time
passed, acting on the advice of the British authorities, he not only
resumed his place as the executive of the state but even exceeded
his constitutional powers. Every Prime Minister had to choose
ministers not only prepared to deal sensibly with relations between
Britain and Iraq, but also with the King's personal wishes, likes and
dislikes. As the point of balance between Britain and his people he
had every encouragement to concentrate power within himself.
The British used him as an instrument of their control and 'en-
couraged him to go beyond the strict interpretation of the consti-
tution in order that their control might be more complete'. He
manipulated his position adroitly to win concessions, sometimes
encouraging the anti-British forces, and at others using his influence
in the interests of moderation, e.g. to obtain the ratification of the
Treaty of 1930. His influence was on the whole good. He initiated
a scheme by which the oil-revenues were earmarked for definite
development-projects, and favoured the settlement of the tribes,
who still constituted about one-sixth of the total population. It is
possible that if the King had not assumed the role of benevolent
despot, the political system might have faltered and even collapsed
entirely. Without his guiding influence it is probable that in their
impatience the people would have refused to agree to the obliga-
tions imposed by Britain as the price of her assistance, in which
case Britain would either have been forced to resume direct control
or withdraw, delaying Iraq's achievement of independence.1
King Faisal died in 1933, and was succeeded by his twenty-one
year-old son Ghazi. Almost immediately on his accession the
country was plunged into the emotional crisis of the Assyrian
incident. The Assyrians were Nestorian Christian mountaineers
from the region of Lake Van, whom in their original habitat the
Commission set up by the League of Nations to inquire into the
incident described as 'in normal times just as truculent as the
Kurdish tribes and no less savage*. In the Ottoman Empire they
had been treated rather better than other Christian minorities, en-
joying a fairly large measure of local autonomy under the rule of
their hereditary Patriarchs. However, when the Russians invaded
north-east Anatolia in 1915, the Assyrians rose in sympathy with
1 Ireland, op. clt, 420 ff.