Editing Emirate of Transjordan (section)

===The path to an Emirate===
{{see also|Interregnum (Transjordan)|Abdullah's entry into Transjordan}}
After the French ended the Kingdom of Syria at the [[battle of Maysalun]], Transjordan became, for a short time, a [[no man's land]]<ref name=Bentwich>[[Norman Bentwich]], England in Palestine, p51, "The High Commissioner had ... only been in office a few days when Emir Faisal ... had to flee his kingdom" and "The departure of Faisal and the breaking up of the Emirate of Syria left the territory on the east side of Jordan in a puzzling state of detachment. It was for a time no-man's-land. In the Ottoman regime the territory was attached to the Vilayet of Damascus; under the Military Administration it had been treated a part of the eastern occupied territory which was governed from Damascus; but it was now impossible that that subordination should continue, and its natural attachment was with Palestine. The territory was, indeed, included in the Mandated territory of Palestine, but difficult issues were involved as to application there of the clauses of the Mandate concerning the Jewish National Home. The undertakings given to the Arabs as to the autonomous Arab region included the territory. Lastly, His Majesty's Government were unwilling to embark on any definite commitment, and vetoed any entry into the territory by the troops. The Arabs were therefore left to work out their destiny."</ref><ref name="PG"/> or, as Samuel put it, "..left politically derelict".<ref>{{cite book |last=Pipes |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Pipes |title=Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3PsAb1uV94C&pg=PA28 |date=26 March 1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-536304-3 |pages=28– |access-date=20 May 2019 |archive-date=19 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019192415/https://books.google.com/books?id=J3PsAb1uV94C |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Edward W. Said |author2=Christopher Hitchens |title=Blaming the Victims: Spurious Scholarship and the Palestinian Question |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wELzivMr_-cC&pg=PA197 |year=2001 |publisher=Verso |isbn=978-1-85984-340-6 |pages=197– |access-date=20 May 2019 |archive-date=29 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629160903/https://books.google.com/books?id=wELzivMr_-cC |url-status=live }}</ref>
In August 1920, Sir Herbert Samuel's request to extend the frontier of British territory beyond the [[River Jordan]] and to bring Transjordan under his administrative control was rejected. The British Foreign Secretary, [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]], proposed instead that British influence in Transjordan should be advanced by sending a few political officers, without military escort, to encourage [[Jerash Local Government|self-government]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.openedition.org/ifpo/5010?lang=en |title=The Hashemites and the Creation of Transjordan Nadine Méouchy Norig Neveu and Myriam Ababsa |chapter=The Hashemites and the Creation of Transjordan |date=2013 |website=Publications de l’Institut français du Proche-Orient |series=Contemporain publications |pages=212–221 |publisher=Presses de l’Ifpo |isbn=9782351594384 |access-date=24 May 2019 |archive-date=14 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214035739/https://books.openedition.org/ifpo/5010?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> and give advice to local leaders in the territory. Following Curzon's instruction Samuel set up a meeting with Transjordanian leaders where he presented British plans for the territory. The local leaders were reassured that Transjordan would not come under Palestinian administration and that there would be no disarmament or conscription. Samuel's terms were accepted, he returned to Jerusalem, leaving Captain [[Alec Kirkbride]] as the British representative east of the Jordan<ref>Avi Shlaim (2007) p 11</ref><ref name="MS">Martin Sicker, (1999) Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831–1922 p 158.</ref> until the arrival on 21 November 1920 of [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Abdullah]], the brother of recently deposed king Faisal, marched into [[Ma'an]] at the head of an army of 300 men from the Hejazi tribe of [['Utaybah]].<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=4282995 |title=Abdallah's Greater Syria Programme |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=172–189 |last1=Porath |first1=Y. |year=1984 |doi=10.1080/00263208408700579}}</ref> Without facing opposition Abdullah and his army had effectively occupied most of Transjordan by March 1921.{{sfn|Wilson|1990|p=48|ps=: "Abdullah's arrival in Ma’an on 21 November threatened to disrupt Samuel's cosy arrangement. According to reports, Abdullah had a force of 300 men and six machine guns."}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sicker |first1=Martin |title=Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831–1922 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWBxUi5fVS0C |access-date=26 February 2012 |year=1999 |pages=159–161 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |quote=In January 1921, it was reported in Kerak that Abdullah was advancing toward the town at the head of his army. Kirkbride appealed to Samuel for instructions. The political officer had a total force of only 50 Arab policemen at his disposal and quite simply did not know what to do. Several weeks later he received the following reply from Jerusalem: “It is considered most unlikely that the Emir Abdullah would advance into territory which is under British control... Two days later Abdullah’s troops marched into British-controlled [[Moab]]. Unable to stop him, Kirkbride decided to welcome him instead. With Abdullah's arrival, the National Government of Moab went out of existence. Buoyed by his easy success, he decided to proceed to Amman. By the end of March 1921, Abdullah and his small army had effectively occupied most of Trans-Jordan unopposed... There seemed to be only two options. Either the British army had to be sent in to evict him or the French had to be allowed to cross the frontier to accomplish the task. Both courses of action were considered to be completely unacceptable. The government was simply not prepared to go to the expense of sending an army to fight in a territory of such marginal importance as Trans-Jordan, and it was equally inconceivable that British policy would permit French intervention and occupation of the area. There was, however, another alternative, which was suggested by Churchill. He observed that it was most important that the government of Trans-Jordan be compatible with that of Iraq because British strategy called for a direct overland link between Egypt and the Persian Gulf, which would have to cross both territories. Since in the meantime Feisal had been given the throne of Iraq, it might well serve British purposes to make his brother, Abdullah, ruler of Trans-Jordan or to appoint an indigenous leader approved by him. |isbn=9780275966393 |archive-date=11 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011113520/https://books.google.com/books?id=TWBxUi5fVS0C |url-status=live }}</ref>