Kingdom of Iraq

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Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq
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Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq
  • المملكة العراقية الهاشمية (
    Arabic
    )
  • al-Mamlakah al-ʿIrāqiyyah ʾal-Hāshimyyah
1932–1958
Coat of arms of Iraq
Coat of arms
Anthem: السلام الملكي
Faisal II
Prince Abdullah
Prime Minister
 
• 1932–1933 (first)
Naji Shawkat
• 1958–1958 (last)
Ahmad Mukhtar Baban
Legislature
Baghdad Pact
24 February 1955
14 July 1958
CurrencyIraqi dinar
ISO 3166 codeIQ
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Mandatory Iraq
Arab Federation
Today part ofIraq
Part of a series on the
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The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq (

Arabic: المملكة العراقية الهاشمية, romanized: al-Mamlakah al-ʿIrāqiyyah ʾal-Hāshimyyah, lit. 'Iraqi Hashemite Kingdom') was a state located in the Middle East
from 1932 to 1958.

It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdom of Iraq, following the defeat of the

Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
.

The role of the United Kingdom in the formal administration of the Kingdom of Iraq was ended in 1932,

Anglo-Iraqi Treaty (1930). Now officially a fully independent kingdom, officially named the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq, it underwent a period of turbulence under its Hashemite rulers throughout its entire existence. Establishment of Sunni religious domination in Iraq was followed by Assyrian, Yazidi and Shi'a unrests, which were all brutally suppressed.[citation needed] In 1936, the first military coup took place in the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq, as Bakr Sidqi
succeeded in replacing the acting Prime Minister with his associate. Multiple coups followed in a period of political instability, peaking in 1941.

During the

Mandate of Syria and support for the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. At the same time, the Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani led a rebellion against the central government in Baghdad. After the failure of the uprising, Barzani and his followers fled to the Soviet Union
.

In 1945, during the final stages of World War II, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League. In 1948, massive violent protests, known as the Al-Wathbah uprising, broke out across Baghdad as a popular demand against the government treaty with the British, and with support from the communists. More protests continued in the spring, but were interrupted in May, when martial law was imposed after Iraq entered the 1948 Arab–Israeli War along with other members of the Arab League.

In February 1958,

Abd al-Karim Qasim
deposing the monarchy.

Kingdom of Iraq under de facto British administration

Main article: Mandatory Iraq

The territory of

Anglo-Iraqi Treaty. It provided the United Kingdom with a role in the administration and governance of Iraq. King Faisal had previously been proclaimed King of Syria by a Syrian National Congress in Damascus in March 1920 but was ejected
by the French in July of the same year. The British RAF retained certain military control. In this manner, Iraq remained under de facto British administration until 1932.

Under King Faisal of Iraq, the civil government of postwar

High Commissioner, Sir Percy Cox, and his deputy, Colonel Arnold Wilson. British reprisals after the murder of a British officer in Najaf
failed to restore order. British administration had yet to be established in the mountains of north Iraq. The most striking problem facing the British was the growing anger of the nationalists in the Iraqi kingdom.

History

Independence

With the signing in

Mosul Question, Iraqi politics took on a new dynamic. The treaty came into force on 3 October 1932, when the Kingdom of Iraq officially became fully independent as the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. The emerging class of Sunni and Shia landowning tribal sheikhs vied for positions of power with wealthy and prestigious urban-based Sunni families and with Ottoman-trained army officers and bureaucrats. Because Iraq's newly established political institutions were the creation of a foreign power, and because the concept of democratic government had no precedent in Iraqi history, the politicians in Baghdad lacked legitimacy and never developed deeply rooted constituencies. Thus, despite a constitution and an elected assembly, Iraqi politics was more a shifting alliance of important personalities and cliques than a democracy
in the Western sense. The absence of broadly based political institutions inhibited the early nationalist movement's ability to make deep inroads into Iraq's diverse social structure.

The

Al Habbaniyah
and the right to move troops across the country. The treaty, of twenty-five years' duration, was to come into force upon Iraq's admission to the League of Nations. This occurred on October 3, 1932.

In 1932, the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was granted full independence under

First World War. It was on this basis the Iraqi government stated that Kuwait was a British imperialist invention.[3]

Political instability and army coups, 1933–1941

After Faisal died in September 1933, King Ghazi reigned as a figurehead from 1933 to 1939, when he was killed in a motor accident. Pressure from Arab nationalists and Iraqi nationalists demanded that the British leave Iraq, but their demands were ignored by the United Kingdom.

Upon achieving official independence in October 1932, political tensions arose over the continued British presence in the new Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq, with Iraq's government and politicians split between those considered pro-British politicians, such as

Nuri as-Said, who did not oppose a continued British presence, and anti-British politicians, such as Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, who demanded that remaining British influence in the country be removed.[4]

Various ethnic and religious factions tried to gain political accomplishments during this period, often resulting in violent revolts and a brutal suppression by the Iraqi military, led by

Faisal II of Iraq
lasting until 1953.

From 1917 to 1946, five coups by the

Iraqi Army occurred, led by the chief officers of the army against the government to pressure the government to concede to army demands.[4]

Anglo-Iraqi War and second British occupation

The

'Abd al-Ilah fled the royal palace after learning of this and with British support went to Habbaniyah then to Basra, he would spend the rest of the following months in Jordan and the Mandate of Palestine. His fleeing caused a constitutional crisis upon the new government.[6] Rashid Ali did not abolish the monarchy, but installed ٍSharif Sharaf bin Rajeh
as a more compliant Regent instead, and attempted to restrict the rights of the British under the treaty from 1930. Rashid Ali attempted to secure control over Iraq asking assistance of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan.

On April 20 the

Royal Iraqi Army established itself on the high ground to the south of the Habbaniyah air force base. An Iraqi envoy was sent to demand that no movements, either ground or air, were to take place from the base. The British refused the demand and then themselves demanded that the Iraqi army leave the area at once. After a further ultimatum given in the early hours of May 2 expired, at 0500 hours the British began bombing the Iraqi troops threatening the base, marking the beginning of the Anglo-Iraqi War
.

Hostilities lasted from May 2 to May 31, 1941, between Iraqis and the British and their indigenous

Assyrian Levies
. The British would continue to occupy Iraq for many years afterwards.

In the aftermath of the Iraqi defeat, a bloody

Rashid Ali's supporters, resulting in deaths of some 180 Jews and heavy damage to the Jewish community
.

Following the end of the 1941 coup

After the Anglo-Iraqi War ended, Abd al-ilah returned as Regent with

Jameel Al-Madfaai as Prime minister and dominated the politics of Iraq until the overthrow of the monarchy and the royal family's assassination in 1958. the Government pursued a largely pro-western policy during this period.[7]

al-Midfaai's government declared martial law in Baghdad and its surroundings, started a purge in government of Pro-Gaylani elements, banned the listening of axis-aligned radio, and various other procedures aimed at keeping security and order in the country.[8] Despite all these security procedures, this did not satisfy the British who demanded the disbanding of the Iraqi army and arresting any who supported, joined, or was sympathetic to the 1941 coup.

Midfaai's government was split over the usage of force to cleanse the country of Pro-Gaylani elements, and some ministers were not amused of having to ally with Britain, neither did the Prime minister Himself entertain the idea of creating so many arrests. This policy outraged both the British and the regent, who saw his policy of empathy as indirectly supporting opposition and radical movements. The minister of Finance, Ibrahim Kamal al-Ghuthunfiri [ar], was at the top of the politicians who wanted a change to al-Midfaai's policy, and believed in the usage of harsher measures to keep security in the country, he submitted his resignation on 2 September 1941.[9]

The resignation of Ibrahim Kamal weakened Midfaai's government, and the retired minister began calling for some politician to prepare the formation of a new government, and paved the way for Nuri al-Said to become the head of a new government. Jameel al-Midfaai's government retired and Abd al-Ilah ordered Nuri to form a new government in 9 October.

In 1943, the Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani led a rebellion against the central government in Baghdad. After the failure of the uprising Barzani and his followers fled to the Soviet Union.

The end of the British occupation until the end of the monarchy

In 1945, during the final stages of World War II, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League.

The period following the end of the occupation was a time of the creation of various political parties opposed to or supportive of the government including the National Democratic Party led by Kamil Chadirji, the Constitutional Union Party led by Nuri Al-Said, and the Iraqi Independence Party led by Muhammad Mahdi Kubba.

In 1948, massive violent protests, known as the Al-Wathbah uprising, broke out across Baghdad as a popular demand against the government treaty with the British, and with communist party support. More protests continued in spring, but were interrupted in May, with the martial law, when Iraq entered the 1948 Arab–Israeli War along with other members of the Arab League. Various other protests against the government appeared, including the 1952 Iraqi Intifada which ended just before the 1953 Iraqi parliamentary election.

King

Faisal II
reached his majority on 2 May 1953, ending the regency of Abd al-Ilah, who continued however to be influential in politics due to his influence on the young king.

In 1955, to counter the influence of the

Baghdad Pact, with the United States
being heavily involved in the negotiations to form it. Major protest and opposition followed the pact, as many did not approve of an alliance led by the west.

In September 1956, a planned coup was discussed during spring training by a military faction known as the free officers (inspired by the Egyptian Free Officers Movement) which planned to launch the coup after training by controlling strategic sites in Baghdad and arresting the Regent and King. The coup failed however, as the training was suddenly stopped[clarification needed] .[10][11]

In February 1958,

King Hussein of Jordan and `Abd al-Ilāh proposed a union of Hāshimite monarchies to counter the recently formed Egyptian–Syrian union. The resulting Arab Federation
was formed on 14 February 1958.

14 July Revolution and the end of the monarchy

The

Baghdad Pact and established friendly relations with the Soviet Union
.

Iraq under the monarchy faced two bare alternatives: either the country would have plunged into chaos or its population should become universally the clients and dependents of an omnipotent but capricious and unstable government. To these two alternatives the overthrow of the monarchy has not added a third.[12]

The task of the subsequent governments was to find that third alternative, mainly to establish a modern state that is stable but also politically integrated.

Demographics

The population estimate in 1920 was 3 million, with the largest ethnic groups being Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, and Turkmens, with minorities of

Persians, Yezidis, Jews, Mandaeans, Shabaks, Armenians, and Kawliyah. During the Iraqi Hashemite rule, Arab population began to expand at the expense of other ethnic groups both due to higher birth rates and government policies which preferred Arab Sunni minority over other ethnic and religious groups.[13]

In 1955, Iraqi population reached 6.5 million people. This was after the Iraqi Kingdom

lost the most of its Jewish population following Operation Ezra and Nehemiah
(some 130 thousand people) in 1951–1952.

See also

References

  1. ^ Hunt, C. 2005
  2. ^ Ghareeb, Edmund A.; Dougherty, Beth K. Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Lanham, Maryland and Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, Ltd., 2004. p. lvii.
  3. ^ Duiker, William J.; Spielvogel, Jackson J. World History: From 1500. 5th edition. Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. p. 839.
  4. ^ a b Ghareeb; Dougherty. p. lvii
  5. ISBN 1-4039-6354-1
    .
  6. ^ Taqoosh, Muhammad Sahil (2015). تاريخ العراق (الحديث والمعاصر) [Modern and contemporary history of Iraq] (in Arabic). Dar Al-Nafaes. pp. 190–191.
  7. ^ Ghareeb; Dougherty. p. lviii
  8. ^ Taqoosh, Muhammad Salih. Pages 196-197.
  9. ^ Husni, Abd Al-Razaq (1953). تاريخ الوزارات العراقية [History of Iraqi Ministries]. pp. 38–39 chapter 6.
  10. ^ Taqoosh, Muhammad Salih. Page 260.
  11. ^ Abd al-Hamid, Sabhi (1994). اسرار ثورة 14 تموز 1958م في العراق [Secrets of the 14 July 1958 rebellion in Iraq]. pp. 39–40.
  12. ^ Ellie Kedourie, 2004, The Chatham House Version and Other Middle Eastern Studies https://archive.org/details/KedourieElieTheChathamHouseVersionAndOtherMiddleEasternStudies p.260
  13. ISBN 978-0-7486-8602-5
    .

External links
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