Modern history of Iraq
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After
British Mandate
Ottoman rule over Iraq lasted until the First World War when the Ottomans sided with Germany and the Central Powers. In the Mesopotamian campaign against the Central Powers, British forces invaded the country and suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Turkish army during the Siege of Kut (1915–16). British forces regrouped and captured Baghdad in 1917. An armistice was signed in 1918.
Modern Iraq was established from the former three Ottoman provinces,
Britain imposed a Hāshimite monarchy on Iraq and defined the territorial limits of Iraq without taking into account the politics of the different ethnic and religious groups in the country, in particular those of the Kurds and the Assyrians to the north.[2] During the British occupation, the Shi'ites and Kurds fought for independence.[3]
Faced with spiralling costs and influenced by the public protestations of
In the Mandate period and beyond, the British supported the traditional, Sunni leadership (such as the tribal
Kingdom of Iraq
In 1927, huge oil fields were discovered near
King Faisal II (1935–1958) was the only son of King Ghazi I and Queen `Aliyah. The new king was four when his father died. His uncle
In 1945, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League. 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 1948, Iraq entered the
Iraq signed the
In February 1958, King
Republic of Iraq
1958 revolution
Inspired by Nasser, officers from the Nineteenth Brigade known as "
The new government proclaimed Iraq to be a republic and rejected the idea of a union with Jordan. Iraq's activity in the Baghdād Pact ceased.
When Qāsim distanced himself from `Abd an-Nāsir, he faced growing opposition from pro-Egypt officers in the Iraqi army. `Arif, who wanted closer cooperation with Egypt, was stripped of his responsibilities and thrown in prison.
When the garrison in Mosul rebelled against Qāsim's policies, he allowed the Kurdish leader Barzānī to return from exile in the Soviet Union to help suppress the pro-Nāsir rebels.
Early 1960s
In 1961, Kuwait gained independence from Britain and Iraq claimed sovereignty over Kuwait. As in the 1930s, Qasim based Iraq's claim on the assertion that Kuwait had been a district of the Ottoman province of Basra, unjustly severed by the British from the main body of Iraqi state when it had been created in the 1920s.[6] Britain reacted strongly to Iraq's claim and sent troops to Kuwait to deter Iraq. Qāsim was forced to back down. After Qasim's death, the new government of Iraq recognized the sovereignty of Kuwait in October 1963.
A period of considerable instability followed.
1963 Ba'ath coup
Qāsim was assassinated in February 1963, when the
1966 re-installation of Republic
On 13 April 1966, President Abdul Salam Arif died in a helicopter crash and was succeeded by his brother, General Abdul Rahman Arif. In 1967–1968 Iraqi communists launched an insurgency in southern Iraq.[7]
Ba'athist Iraq
1968 Ba'ath return to power
Following the Six-Day War of 1967, the Ba'ath Party felt strong enough to retake power (17 July 1968). Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr became president and chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).
Barzānī and the Kurds who had begun a rebellion in 1961 were still causing problems in 1969. The secretary-general of the Ba'ath Party, Saddam Hussein, was given responsibility to find a solution. It was clear that it was impossible to defeat the Kurds by military means and in 1970 a political agreement was reached between the rebels and the Iraqi government.
Iraq's economy recovered sharply after the 1968 revolution. The Arif brothers had spent close to 90% of the national budget on the army but the Ba'ath government gave priority to agriculture and industry. The British Iraq Petroleum Company monopoly was broken when a new contract was signed with ERAP, a major French oil company. Later the IPC was nationalized. As a result of these policies Iraq experienced rapid economic growth.
1970s
During the 1970s, border disputes with Iraq and Kuwait caused many problems. Kuwait's refusal to allow Iraq to build a harbor in the
In 1972 an Iraqi delegation visited Moscow. The same year diplomatic relations with the US were restored. Relations with Jordan and Syria were good. Iraqi troops were stationed in both countries. During the 1973 October War, Iraqi divisions engaged Israeli forces.
In retrospect, the 1970s can be seen as a high point in Iraq's modern history. A new, young, technocratic elite was governing the country and the fast-growing economy brought prosperity and stability. Many Arabs outside Iraq considered it an example. However, the following decades would not be as favorable for the fledgling country.
Rise to power of Saddam Hussein
In July 1979, President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigned, and his chosen successor, Saddam Hussein, assumed the offices of both President and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. He was the de facto ruler of Iraq for some years before he formally came to power. The Baath Party was now a country wide organisation, reaching down to the smallest village and most modest neighbourhood in an unprecedented way. In addition, the Popular army and the youth organisation brought ever larger numbers into the paramilitary formations established by the regime. Finally, Saddam Hussein established a National Assembly in March 1980, setting up the first parliament since the overthrow of the Monarchy in 1958. It was meant to create the impression of national unity and to give Saddam Hussain another forum for presenting himself as the national leader.[8]
The new regime modernized the
Saddam's organizational prowess was credited with Iraq's rapid pace of development in the 1970s; development went forward at such a fevered pitch that two million persons from other Arab countries and even Yugoslavia worked in Iraq to meet the growing demand for labor.
However, Hussein's ambition soon led him to be involved in various conflicts, with disastrous results to the infrastructure of Iraq.
Iran-Iraq war
Territorial disputes with
Between 1986 and 1989, Hussein's
A mass
In the late 1970s, Iraq purchased a French nuclear reactor, dubbed
1990 Invasion of Kuwait and the Gulf War
A long-standing territorial dispute led to the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Iraq accused Kuwait of violating the Iraqi border to secure oil resources, and demanded that its debt repayments should be waived. Direct negotiations began in July 1990, but they soon failed. Saddam Hussein had an emergency meeting with April Glaspie, the United States Ambassador to Iraq, on 25 July 1990, airing his concerns but stating his intention to continue talks. April Glaspie informed Saddām that the United States had no interest in border disputes between Iraq and Kuwait, as was the U.S. government's official tone on the subject at the time. Subsequent events would prove otherwise, however this was said to Saddam in hopes that it would prevent him from attacking.
Arab mediators convinced Iraq and Kuwait to negotiate their differences in
Iraq responded to the sanctions by annexing Kuwait as the "19th Province" of Iraq on 8 August, prompting the exiled Sabah family to call for a stronger international response. Over the ensuing months, the United Nations Security Council passed a series of resolutions that condemned the
When Saddam Hussein failed to comply with this demand, the
Allied air raids destroyed roads, bridges, factories, and oil-industry facilities (shutting down the national refining and distribution system) and disrupted electric, telephone, and water service. On 13 February 1991, hundreds of Iraqis were killed in the
A cease-fire was announced by the US on 28 February 1991. UN Secretary-General
In March 1991 revolts in the
Iraq under UN Sanctions
On 6 August 1990, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the U.N. Security Council adopted
The
During the time of the UN sanctions, internal and external opposition to the Ba'ath government was weak and divided. In May 1995, Saddam sacked his half-brother, Wathban, as Interior Minister and in July demoted his Defense Minister, Ali Hassan al-Majid. These personnel changes were the result of the growth in power of Saddām Hussein's two sons, Uday Hussein and Qusay Hussein, who were given effective vice-presidential authority in May 1995. In August Major General Husayn Kāmil Hasan al-Majīd, Minister of Military Industries and a political ally of Saddam, defected to Jordan, together with his wife (one of Saddam's daughters) and his brother, Saddam, who was married to another of the president's daughters; both called for the overthrow of the Iraqi government. After a few weeks in Jordan, being given promises for their safety, the two brothers returned to Iraq where they were killed.
The effects of the sanctions on the civilian population of Iraq have been disputed.[16][17] Whereas it was widely believed that the sanctions caused a major rise in child mortality, recent research has shown that commonly cited data were fabricated by the Iraqi government and that "there was no major rise in child mortality in Iraq after 1990 and during the period of the sanctions."[18][19][20]
Iraqi cooperation with UN weapons inspection teams was questioned on several occasions during the 1990s.
See also
References
- ^ "International Boundary Study: No. 94" (PDF). The Florida State University College of Law. December 30, 1969. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ Dawson, James (2014-08-15). "Why Britain created monarchies in the Middle East". New Statesman. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
- ^ Owtram, Francis (2019-10-15). "'No Friends but the Mountains': The Toxic Legacy of British Officialdom for the Kurds after the First World War". Middle East Centre. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
- ^ "Sunni control over the levels of power and the distribution of the spoils of office has had predictable consequences- a simmering resentment on the part of the Shi'a..." Anderson & Stansfield “The Future of Iraq: Dictatorship, Democracy or Division?”, page 6.
- ^ Tripp, Charles. "A History of Iraq" Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007, p.96.
- ^ Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002, p.165
- ISBN 978-0-521-70247-8.
- ^ Baram, A. "Culture, History and Ideology i the formation of Bathist Iraq 1968-1989" London, 1991, pp. 97-116.
- ISBN 0-691-05241-7.
- ^ Tripp, Charles. "A History of Iraq" Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002, p.248
- ISBN 1-85043-416-6, pp. 359
- ISBN 0-07-244233-6, pg 659
- .
- ^ "The Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm Timeline" Retrieved on 20/03/09.
- ^ Fawn, Rick. and Hinnebusch, Raymond. "The Iraq War: Causes and Consequences" Lynne Rienner Publishers, London, 2006, p.212.
- ^ Iraq surveys show 'humanitarian emergency' UNICEF Newsline August 12, 1999
- ^ Rubin, Michael (December 2001). "Sanctions on Iraq: A Valid Anti-American Grievance?". Middle East Review of International Affairs. 5 (4): 100–115. Archived from the original on 2012-10-28.
- Significance. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-07-11. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
- PMID 29225933.
- ^ "Saddam Hussein said sanctions killed 500,000 children. That was 'a spectacular lie.'". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
- ^ Richard BUTLER, Saddam Defiant, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2000, p. 224