The Iraqi Republic

Who decided the post war borders of Iraq?

The British officials

What three areas did the Ottomans control?

• Northern mountainous provinces of Mosul

• The central provinces of Baghdad

• Basra in the south

What percentage of the Iraqi population were Arab?

80%

What were the three main ethnicities in Iraq?

• Shia - just over half the population who had close ties with Iran

• Sunni - minority but the British supported their rise to political dominance

• Kurds - 20% of the population and they had their own language and culture

What did the restrictive boundaries limit access to?

The Persian Gulf - only 58km of coastline which was unsuitable for deep water ports so Iraq coveted the most favourable coastline of Kuwait

Why was it difficult to impose rules on Iraq?

The country was extremely diverse

What did the British do after crushing the Iraq Revolution in 1920?

They imposed Faisal as King in 1921

How big was the army in the 1930s?

26,000

What happened to the education system when Faisal was King?

It became secular

How did Faisal cement support from the locals?

He made treaties with the British which promised independence but Britain kept influence over the army and kept air bases in Iraq

When was Iraq declared and independent state and admitted into the UN?

1932

What began to spread in Iraq by 1939? What did this lead to?

• Anti-British sentiment

• This led to a pro Nazi revolt (the Golden Square) by the army officers

What did Britain do after the Golden Square revolt? What was the impact of this?

• They sent troops from Palestine to crush the revolt

• It restored British power until 1958

When did the British gain a 75 year oil concession? Who had royalties but not ownership?

1925 - Iraq

Why did imposing Faisal fail to settle Iraq?

Imposing Faisal, an outsider onto an ethnically and religiously fragmented society caused difficulties

When did Faisal die and who took over?

1933 - His son, Ghazi who decreased the popularity of the monarchy

Who dominated government during Ghazi’s rule?

• Former Ottoman military officers with no experience in govt

• Most were Sunni; Shia were excluded from power

• Officers became wealthy landowners and there were no reforms for the people

Who ruled Iraq from 1945-58?

The Hashemite monarchy

Who did the army bring in as PM and why? How long did he dominated?

They brought in Nuri al-Said as PM in 1938 because Ghazi lacked authority. He dominated for 20 years.

During the monarchy, what were the positives in society?

The economy and education improved

What were the negatives of society during the monarchy? What did this create?

• The country was dominated by a small number of wealthy landowners whilst the vast majority of people were landless peasants

• Widespread resentment for the British

In 1952, what did the Iraqi government manage to convince Britain to do?

To give them equal shares in the Iraqi Petroleum Company’s profit

Who still controlled the production and prices of oil in Iraq?

The British

Why were people angry at the govt for signing the Baghdad Pact?

They wanted Iraq to be neutral

When did the Iraqi army carry out a coup to overthrow the monarchy and set up a republic?

1958

What did the new govt pull out off? What did they tell the British to do?

They pulled out of the Baghdad Pact and they told the British to withdraw their troops and give them full control of their oil production

In the 1960s what was there a massive call for? Why did this not happen?

Arab unity - the army did not want this

Who began to be popular as they called for Arab unity and were anti-West?

The Baathist Party

Who ruled after the revolution?

• Qasim (military dictatorship) - 1958-63

• Colonel Abd al Salem Arif (military leader which topped Qasim in 1963) - 1963-66

• Abd Al Rahman Arif (replaced his brother but then overthrown by the Baathist) - 1966-68

During the military rule, what rules were in place?

• Political uncertainty for 10 years - little impactful reforms

• No elections allowed

• Confronting large landowners by reducing their power restricting them to 620 acres and distributing the rest of the land

• Only 1/3 was given the land due to poor surveying by 1963

During the military rule, what was foreign policy like?

• They withdrew from the Baghdad Pact and signed an agreement with the Soviet Union for economic support and weapons even though they were neutral

• Qasim was cautious about Pan Arabism and Nasser so they choose to remain independent

• Al-Salam Arif pushed for more of a unity with Egypt in 1966 but there was little progress

• Conflict with the Kurds - full scale rebellion 1961-63 but this failed to overthrow Qasim