ABSTRACT
Prominent Arabs have consistently maintained that unrest was finally traceable to dislike of the form taken by the British Administration, interpreting it as the negation of the pledges given during the war. In March, 1920, at the same time as the Syrian Congress proclaimed the establishment of an independent Arab State in Syria, another body purporting to represent Mesopotamian opinion also met at Damascus, pronounced itself in favour of a similar regime in Mesopotamia, and offered the crown to Feisal's brother, the Emir Abdullah. The announcement on May 3rd of the acceptance by Great Britain of the Mandate allocated by the Supreme Council at San Remo in April intensified nationalist activity. During July the situation on the Euphrates got worse rather than better. The arrival of reinforcements, as has been already mentioned, enabled communications along the Tigris to be secured by the end of September. It was now possible to take offensive measures.
