What was the role of Britain and the Hashemite (Al-Hashimi/Al-Hashemite) family in creating Jordan?
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Executive summary
Britain created the political space for the Hashemite family to rule what became Transjordan in the aftermath of World War I, placing Emir Abdullah (a son of Sharif Hussein) in Amman in 1921 under British protection and subsidies; Transjordan became independent in 1946 and Abdullah was proclaimed king on 25 May 1946 [1] [2]. The Hashemites trace authority to the 1916 Arab Revolt led by Sharif Hussein and his sons—military action supported by Britain—and they converted that wartime prestige into dynastic rule over Jordan that continues today [3] [4].
1. Britain’s wartime bargain: military support and political strings
During World War I Britain allied with the Hashemites in the 1916 Great Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule; British officers (notably T.E. Lawrence in accounts) assisted Hashemite operations that captured key towns in 1917–18, establishing Hashemite military stature in the region [3] [2]. After the Ottoman defeat the British and French partitioned former Ottoman provinces at San Remo and through mandates; Britain took the Palestine mandate and engineered political structures that left Transjordan under British supervision even as it hosted a Hashemite ruler [3] [1].
2. From Emirate to puppet-to-partner: Abdullah’s arrival and British patronage
Amir (Emir) Abdullah arrived in Transjordan in 1920 seeking Hashemite claims in Syria; Britain decided to recognise him as leader in the territory east of the Jordan River and provided subsidies in exchange for his forbearance from pursuing Damascus—an arrangement cemented in meetings including Winston Churchill’s 1921 decisions [1]. Between the wars Abdullah established Hashemite authority in Transjordan “with considerable assistance from Britain,” creating institutions while remaining under British oversight [1] [4].
3. Legal and diplomatic transition to independence
Transjordan’s status shifted gradually: it was initially a British-protected emirate under mandate arrangements, then raised to a kingdom in 1946 when Britain granted independence and Abdullah assumed the title of king on 25 May 1946 [2] [5]. Britain retained influence (and financial support) beyond formal independence; the Soviet veto on Jordan’s early UN membership reflected perceptions that full sovereignty remained constrained until later treaties removed remaining restrictions [1].
4. Hashemite political strategy: dynasty, legitimacy and expansionism
The Hashemites claimed legitimacy through lineage (Sharifian descent from the Prophet’s family) and wartime leadership of the Arab Revolt; that pedigree underpinned their rule in the Hejaz, briefly in Syria and Iraq, and then in Transjordan where the family has reigned since 1921 [4]. Abdullah pursued expansionist aims at times—most notably his annexation of the West Bank after the 1948 war, reshaping Jordan into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan—but that move produced regional controversy and limited recognition [6] [3].
5. Annexation of the West Bank: international reaction and internal consequences
Jordanian forces occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1948–49; the territory was later incorporated into the Hashemite state, with most Arab states viewing the step as unilateral annexation while Britain formally recognised it [7] [3]. Incorporation of a large Palestinian population strained Jordan’s economy and politics and altered the kingdom’s demographic and diplomatic posture [3] [7].
6. Competing narratives and historiographical tension
Histories differ in emphasis: British- and Hashemite-era accounts highlight wartime partnership and administrative evolution into a sovereign state [1] [2], while critical scholars portray the creation of Jordan as the product of imperial bargaining that installed a transposed Hashemite monarchy with continued dependence on British backing (Joseph Massad’s view summarized in a secondary source: “a hesitant act by its architects, the British and the Hashemites”) [8]. Sources supplied here show both the military-legal steps Britain took to create the emirate and the Hashemites’ use of wartime legitimacy to expand their rule [3] [4] [1].
7. Long-term legacy: dynastic continuity and state-building
The Hashemite dynasty has governed continuously since Abdullah’s emirate began in 1921 and through the kingdom’s 1946 independence; descendants of that generation remain the ruling family today, and Jordan’s official name and institutions reflect Hashemite centrality [4] [2]. Britain’s early subsidies and diplomatic recognition shaped Jordan’s early economy and international alignment, and the Hashemite claim to religious and revolutionary legitimacy underpins the monarchy’s domestic standing [1] [7].
Limitations and missing threads: available sources do not provide detailed primary documents of British–Hashemite negotiations such as the McMahon letters or exact treaty texts beyond the summaries cited here; they also do not include in-depth contemporary Jordanian perspectives or archival British memos within this set (not found in current reporting).