@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London For those not familiar with the Iraqi coup or Allied counteroffensive: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Ira…
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London At the time, Syria was Vichy & was supplying arms directly to this nascent Nazi ally. The Luftwaffe was deploying aircraft. It threatened to bring down the entire Middle East. Had this not been contained Egypt and Palestine could have fallen. The war could have been lost.
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London At this point of the war, the Commonwealth stood alone. Poland, France, Norway & Denmark had fallen. The Soviet Union was a German ally as per the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The U.S. was burying its head in the sand. I cannot emphasize how dangerous this period of the war was.
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London Also left out of my list of fallen nations by this point of the war: Austria had been swallowed by the Anschluss. Czechoslovakia had been sold down the river. Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. Albania had been taken by Italy. Yugoslavia & Greece were next on the chopping block.
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London In other words, D-Day might never have happened had things turned for the worst in 1941.
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London Correction to my above list of victims of Fascism: Greece had already been invaded by Italy in October 1940. But that offensive was stalled until Germany also got involved with the Balkans campaign against Yugoslavia and Greece (April - June 1941).
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London Also, for people who wonder what Turkey was doing at this exact same time: They were signing non-aggression pacts with Nazi Germany and its Axis allies to pave way for the unhindered invasion of the Soviet Union.
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London The point is this: at a time in history when nearly everyone else believed Nazi invincibility through blitzkrieg and conquest was inevitable -- thus, collaboration or appeasement the only practical course -- the Turks were willing to play ball while the Kurds played hard ball.
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London I know a lot of you have liked this thread. Here is more history of the R.A.F. Levies. Note that while most were Iraqi Kurds, some Syrians (and Assyrians) were also brought into the mix.
@ric_cole @Akil_N_Awan @aliciakearns @SOJTFOIR @NAM_London Last point, to be clear: yes, some Syrian Kurds fought on behalf of the Vichy French Nazi collaborators until the territories of Lebanon and Syria were liberated in June 1941. Then they fought on the side of the Allies thereafter.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria%E2%…
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria%E2%…
