Middle East Kingdoms

Iraq

Iraq was the very heartland of the ancient region of Mesopotamia. Following the collapse of Sumer in around 2004 BC, The region had been home to successive empires (Babylonian, Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman and Parthian or other Persian successors), before it was conquered by the Islamic empire. The caliphate began to weaken in the tenth century, enabling other groups to seize control and for a process of fragmentation to begin. It was briefly independent under the Zangid Atabegs of Mosul in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Modern Iraq reputedly gained its name from the Sumerian city state of Uruk, although this is hotly disputed. One alternative put forward is that the name originates for the Persian word for lowlands, 'eraq'.

Hashemite Iraq
AD 1920 - 1958

Following the submergence of Il-Khan power in Iraq and a period of fragmentation, the region had been dominated by the Ottoman empire. By the start of the twentieth century, that empire was crumbling, and the First World War finished it off entirely. Between 1916-1918, the Arab Revolt, led by Faysal, son of the sharif of Mecca, and British Army officer T E Lawrence, freed the entire region from Ottoman control. The Arabs captured Damascus and secured a semblance of power. The British now controlled the region, and in the subsequent bargaining, Faysal was given the throne of Greater Syria. The French ejected him a year later, so Britain compensated their ally with the throne of the new country of Iraq, which included the former Ottoman provinces of Basra and Baghdad. The province of Mosul was added in 1926.

1920 - 1921

The British Mandate of Mesopotamia controls the region, but increasing unrest in Iraq brings about a decision to create a monarchy for the country which will handle its day-to-day governance. In 1921 the kingdom of Iraq is created within that mandate with the coronation of Faysal I, ex-king of Greater Syria.

1921 - 1933

Faysal I / Faisal

Son of Husayn, sharif of Mecca. Died 8 Sept.

1932

Faysal is instrumental in bringing about his country's independence from Britain.

King Faysal was photographed at Homs in 1919, standing third from the left, during his brief spell as King of Greater Syria, which was opposed by France

1933 - 1939

Ghazi

Son. Died in a mysterious accident.

1939 - 1958

Faysal II / Faisal

Son. King at nearly 4 years old. Overthrown & shot dead in coup.

1939 - 1953

'Abd al-Ilah

Uncle and regent. Son of Ali, king of Arabia (1925).

1941 - 1947

A pro-German coup is suppressed during the darkest days of the Second World War in order to secure the oil supply for the British war effort. The country remains under military occupation until 1947.

1958

In light of the creation of the United Arab Republic between Egypt and Syria, Faysal makes the same arrangement with Jordan on 14 February 1958. However, the political situation in Iraq has been deteriorating for some time, especially after the signing of the Baghdad Pact with Britain in 1955, which would allow Britain to retain an influence on Iraqi affairs. Following a coup by the army called the 14 July Revolution, a military dictatorship is set up in Iraq, which becomes a republic. Faysal and several members of his family are shot down in the palace courtyard, and the prime minister is murdered the next day. The Hashemite line continues in Jordan.

Modern Iraq
AD 1958 - Present Day

When the military coup set up a dictatorship in Iraq in 1958, the capital remained at Baghdad. General Qassom withdrew the country from the Baghdad Pact and the Arab Union with Jordan, and established relations with Soviet Russia during the darkest days of the Cold War. The country was controlled by a council made up of Iraq's three main ethnic groups but remained unstable until the 1963 coup.

The Arabian name for the new state was Al Mumhuriya al-Iraqiya (Republic of Iraq). The modern republic is bordered by Iran along its entire eastern border, by Turkey in the north, Syria and Jordan to the west, and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the south.

1958 - 1963

Abdul Karim Qassim

Dictator responsible for overthrowing the monarchy. Overthrown.

1963

A coup on 8 February sees Qassim overthrown and killed. His position is taken over by a fresh dictator who is a member of the Ba'ath Party, which had been repressed under Qassim's governance.

1963 - 1966

Abdul Salam Arif

Dictator. Killed in a helicopter crash.

1966 - 1968

Abdul Rahman Ari

Brother. Dictator. Overthrown.

1968 - 1969

A third coup, this time bloodless, leads the Ba'ath Party to power (a political rival to the party of the same name in Syria), with Saddam Hussein as its security chief. He seizes ultimate power ten years later, killing many to secure his position at the top.

1969 - 1979

Ahmed Hasan al-Bakir

Dictator.

1979 - 2003

Saddam Hussein al Tikriti

Dictator. Overthrown and executed.

1980 - 1988

Hussein claims the new revolutionary government of Iran is attempting to topple him from power. He declares war and the border between the two countries is a permanent battlefield for nearly a decade. Hussein occasionally employs chemical weapons on his enemy, but the two sides are evenly matched and the war ends in stalemate.

1990

The First Gulf War is triggered when Kuwait is occupied by Iraq. A United Nations coalition army is assembled in Saudi Arabia under the control of the USA to force them out, with heavy Iraqi losses.

2003 - 2008

An Anglo-American-led Second Gulf War leads to the collapse of Hussein's regime after just twenty-one days of fighting. Hussein is captured, tried by an Iraqi court, and at the very end of 2006 sentenced to death by hanging for his crimes. A democratically-elected Iraqi government takes control in 2005, ending the Allied administration of the country, although Allied troops remain to aid in maintaining security and training the new national army and police forces.