Gertrude Bell (69 page)

 

May—Stays in Constantinople before returning to England

 

June–Sept.—GLB in England, begins
The Desert and the Sown
; Sir Hugh and family move to Rounton Grange

 

Oct.—Studies ancient manuscripts in Paris with Reinach; writes essay on the geometry of the cruciform structure

 

Nov.–Dec.—In England; begins to transform the Rounton Grange gardens

 

Dec.–Feb.—Travels to Gibraltar, Tangier, Spain, and Paris with Sir Hugh

1906

Feb.–Dec.—GLB in England; Sir Hugh appointed Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding (twenty-five-year tenure)

 

Dec.—GLB and Sir Hugh arrive in Cairo, joined by Hugo from Australia

1907

Feb.—Return to England, delayed by Sir Hugh's illness

 

Feb.–Mar.—GLB in England

 

Mar.–July—In Turkey, travels on horseback across Anatolia visiting ancient sites; works with Professor Sir William Ramsay in Binbirkilisse; meets Dick Doughty-Wylie

 

July—Half-sister Elsa marries Herbert, later Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond

 

Aug.—GLB takes Fattuh to hospital in Constantinople; guest of Grand Vizier

 

Aug.–Dec.—GLB in England; publication of
The Desert and the Sown

 

Oct.—GLB trains in surveying and map-making with the Royal Geographical Society

1908

Young Turks' Committee of Union and Progress rebel against Sultan, taking six more years to achieve full power over Ottoman Empire

 

GLB in England all year; founding secretary of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League; drafts
The Thousand and One Churches
; holidays in North Wales with Valentine Chirol and Frank Balfour

 

Doughty-Wylie unofficially rallies Turkish troops to stop massacre of Armenians; wounded, organizes relief for twenty-two thousand refugees

 

Sept.—Hugo Bell ordained priest; curate of Guiseley, Leeds

1909

Jan.–July—Travels to Syria and Mesopotamia; on horseback, follows Euphrates to Baghdad, measures Ukhaidir, then follows Tigris to Turkey

 

July—In England; publication of
The Thousand and One Churches
; draws palace of Ukhaidir; writes on Armenian monasteries for Josef Strzygowski; meets Sir Percy Cox, discusses with him proposed desert journeys; begins
Amurath to Amurath
; continues with Rounton gardens, now becoming a showpiece

 

Stepmother Florence first president of the North Riding branch of the British Red Cross (until 1930)

1910

Feb.—GLB visits archaeological sites in Italy; pays flying visit to Munich

 

Hugh Bell stands as Liberal candidate for the City of London—unsuccessful. George V succeeds Edward VII

1911

Jan.–May—GLB goes via Beirut and Damascus across desert to Baghdad to check measurements of Ukhaidir; travels along Tigris

 

April—Meets T. E. Lawrence at Carchemish in Syria working for David Hogarth

 

June—Returns to England; publication of
Amurath to Amurath

1912

GLB in England all year; involved in worldwide fund-raising for relief of Constantinople after the great fire; creates new water garden at Rounton; meets Dick Doughty-Wylie in London

1913

Jan.–Nov.—GLB in England; elected to Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society; awarded its Gill memorial theodolite, first woman to receive an RGS award; completes
The Palace and Mosque at Ukhaidir

 

Woodrow Wilson becomes twenty-eighth President of the United States

 

Nov.—GLB travels to Damascus to organize journey to Hayyil, with intention of meeting Ibn Saud in Riyadh

 

Dec.—GLB and caravan leave for Hayyil

1914

Feb.—GLB arrives in Hayyil, put under house arrest

 

Feb.–May—Released; continues to Baghdad, through Mesopotamian and Syrian deserts; returns to England

 

June—Churchill persuades British parliament to approve Admiralty purchase of 51 per cent of Anglo-Persian oil company to secure fuel for navy

 

14 June—Archduke Ferdinand of Austria shot at Sarajevo

 

July—GLB awarded Gold Medal by the Royal Geographical Society

 

Aug.—First World War begins; GLB gives speeches to raise troops; publication of
The Palace and Mosque at Ukhaidir
; Maurice mobilized as Lieutenant-Colonel commanding 4th (territorial) Battalion, Green Howards

 

Oct.—Turkey joins war as ally of Germany

 

Nov.—GLB works at Lord Onslow's Hospital, Clandon Park, Surrey

 

British Indian Army expeditionary force occupies Shatt al Arab and creates a base at Basra

 

GLB takes charge of the Wounded and Missing Office of the Red Cross, Boulogne

1915

Apr.—Maurice Bell on Western Front in France, leads attack at Fortuin

 

Lady Florence sets up auxiliary convalescent hospital for the Red Cross at Rounton Village Institute

 

Apr.–Nov.—GLB opens London Wounded and Missing Office of the Red Cross

 

26 Apr.—Dick Doughty-Wylie dies at Gallipoli

 

May—British Liberal Prime Minister Asquith invites Bonar Law's Conservatives to join a coalition government; Churchill forced to resign from the Admiralty

 

Sept.—British win decisive battle against Turkish/Arab army at Kut and advance to Ctesiphon near Baghdad

 

17 Nov.—GLB leaves Sloane Street

 

20 Nov.—Embarks at Marseilles

 

26 Nov.—Dines with Lawrence and Hogarth at Port Said. Probably visits Dardanelles

 

30 Nov.—GLB travels to Cairo

 

Nov.–Dec.—Works there for Gilbert Clayton, head of civil and military intelligence

 

Nov.—British defeated by Turkish force at Ctesiphon, retreat to Kut

 

Dec.—British encircled at Kut; siege begins

1916

Jan.–Feb.—GLB in India, advises Viceroy; Arab Intelligence Bureau in Cairo authorized

 

Feb.–Dec.—GLB in Basra as assistant political officer with rank of major under Chief Political Officer Sir Percy Cox, reporting to GOC Indian Expeditionary Force in Iraq

 

Feb.—Hogarth initiates
Arab Bulletin
as a regular intelligence report; GLB its principal contributor

 

Mar.—British evacuate Gallipoli; Maurice wounded in France

 

Apr.—T. E. Lawrence attempts to bribe Turks to free Kut; has long discussions with GLB

 

—Turks enter Kut, population massacred; many British troops die in forced march north

 

May—Secret Sykes–Picot Agreement anticipates postwar division of influence in Middle East between France, Britain, and Russia

 

June—GLB appointed head of Iraq branch of the Arab Bureau as an officer of the Indian Expeditionary Force D (based in Basra)

 

—Hashemite family lead revolt of Arabs against Turkish rule in western Arabia

 

Sept.—GLB in hospital with jaundice; then holidays on Euphrates

 

Oct.—Cox signs treaty with Ibn Saud

 

Nov.—GLB arranges visit of Ibn Saud to Basra

 

—Hashemite Amir Hussain, Sharif of Mecca, proclaimed King of the Hejaz

 

Dec.—Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister

1917

Jan.–Mar.—GLB continues in Basra, Oriental Secretary to the civil administration for Sir Percy Cox, as well as head of the Arab Bureau (Iraq)

 

Jan.—In western Arabia Amir Faisal with T. E. Lawrence starts march of Arab army northwards

 

Mar.—Turkish army vacates Baghdad; British occupy

 

Apr.—President Wilson asks U.S. Congress to declare war on Germany; American troops engaged in France

 

—GLB moves to Baghdad after nine-day journey up Tigris; Cossack troops commit atrocities in northern Mesopotamia

 

May—Occupies her permanent home in Baghdad

 

June—Maurice invalided out of active service

 

July—Lawrence takes Aqaba with Arab irregulars

 

—Cox appointed Civil Commissioner of Mesopotamia reporting to Secretary of State for India in London

 

Aug.—British defeat Turkish army in Gaza

 

Oct.—Bolsheviks take control of the Russian Revolution

 

—British Cabinet approves Balfour Declaration favouring Palestine as a national home for the Jews (announced 2 Nov.)

 

—GLB awarded CBE; suffering exhaustion, admitted to convalescent hospital

 

Nov.—Appointed editor of
Al Arab
; writing
The Arab of Mesopotamia

 

Dec.—British take Jerusalem

1918

Jan.—President Wilson lists his fourteen points of principle, including “a general association of nations”

 

Mar. —Russia makes peace with Germany; Allied troops fight Red Army in Russia

 

—GLB awarded Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society

 

May—GLB starts Tuesday soirées for wives of prominent Arabs

 

July—GLB holidays on horseback in Persian mountains; women over thirty gain the vote in Britain

 

Sept.—GLB arranges durbar of sheikhs in Iraq

 

—Cox posted to Teheran; provisionally replaced by Sir Arnold Wilson as Acting Civil Commissioner; GLB's role restricted

 

—Lady Florence made Dame (DCIE) for her work for the Red Cross; Sir Hugh awarded CB

 

Oct.—Amir Faisal's army takes Damascus with Lawrence; Turks fight last battle at Sharqat, then withdraw; Turks sign Mudros Armistice, end of Ottoman Empire

 

Nov.—Allies sign Armistice with Germany

 

Dec.—Influenza pandemic reaches Baghdad

1919

Feb.–Mar.—GLB prepares a paper for the Paris Peace Conference on the future of Mesopotamia and attends the conference

 

Apr.–May—GLB tours France and visits Algiers with Sir Hugh; returns to Peace Conference until A. T. Wilson arrives

 

May–Sept.—GLB in England

 

June—Germany signs Treaty of Versailles accepting peace conditions, First World War ends; League of Nations initiated

 

Sept.—GLB visits Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut, Aleppo

 

—President Wilson suffers stroke while campaigning for United States to join the League of Nations; permanently incapacitated

 

Sept.—U.S. Senate fails to ratify its membership in the League of Nations

 

Nov.–Dec.—GLB returns to Baghdad, starts writing
Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia
; Marie Delaire joins her permanently in Baghdad

1920

Jan.—Arab Bureau in Cairo wound up; GLB takes archaeological trip to Babylon site

 

Feb.—Organizes funding for a women's hospital in Baghdad

 

Mar.—Amir Faisal elected and crowned King of Syria

 

Mar.–Apr.—Sir Hugh visits Baghdad

 

Apr.—San Remo Conference agrees to terms of British mandate over Iraq while instituting self-government

 

—GLB to compile annual reports on the state of Iraq required by the League of Nations

 

June—Cox makes official visit to Baghdad; Sir Frank Lascelles dies

 

July—French occupy Damascus; King Faisal deposed

 

Aug.—Treaty of Sèvres between Allies and Turkey

 

Oct.—Cox returns as High Commissioner for Iraq; Naqib of Baghdad forms provisional Arab government; A. T. Wilson leaves public service

 

—GLB initiates fortnightly reports to Colonial Office on the progress of the administration in Iraq

 

Nov.—Resumes duties as Oriental Secretary; first meeting of Iraq Council of State

 

Dec.—Publication of
Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia
, presented to parliament

1921

Feb.—Churchill appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies (including responsibility for the Middle East)

 

Mar.—GLB attends Cairo Conference; holidays in Egypt with Sir Hugh; returns to Baghdad

 

23 June—Amir Faisal arrives in Basra

 

29 June—Greets GLB on his arrival at Baghdad

 

GLB elected President of new Baghdad Public Library

 

Ibn Saud takes Hayyil; Rashid dynasty ends; Shammar tribesmen flee into Iraq; three-month British miners' strike hits steel industry

 

July—GLB announces result of Iraq referendum; Naqib declares Faisal King-elect on behalf of Iraqi Council of State

 

Aug.—Faisal ibn Hussain ibn Ali crowned Faisal I of Iraq

 

Sept.—King invites Naqib to form Cabinet

 

Nov.—GLB's half-brother Hugo marries Frances Morkill

1922

Apr.–May—Iraq's Constituent Assembly passes electoral law; Sir Hugh joins GLB in Jerusalem

 

July—GLB drafts antiquities law for Iraq

 

Aug.—Bell finances diminish during international recession

 

Oct.—Aiming to comply with the terms of the mandate, Cox and Prime Minister Naqib sign a Treaty of Alliance between Iraq and Great Britain giving twenty years of British occupation in advisory capacity

 

13 Oct.—Faisal proclaims Treaty

 

Oct.—Allies and Turkey sign peace treaty officially ending war with Turkey

 

—Macmillan Company donates books to Baghdad Public Library

 

—Lloyd George's wartime coalition government collapses; Bonar Law's Conservatives win election; Duke of Devonshire replaces Churchill with responsibility for Middle East; Charles Trevelyan elected MP for Newcastle upon Tyne