History of Iraq

British Mandate

Mandate- Prince Faisal went to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, acting as the chief spokesmen for the Arab cause, and was disappointed when he realized that Iraqi independence was not the goal of the British. Iraq, under article 22 of the League of Nations, was named a mandate for the British.  It was later ratified at the San Remo Conference in April 1920.  The mandate stated that the British were not to be a colony, but in charge of the Iraqi territory to prepare its people for independence and self-rule.  The mandate provided proof that Iraq would become subject to British imperial rule for years to come. Arnold Wilson was put in charge of governing the newly mandated Iraq.  He truly believed that the “Arabs are content with our occupation” and that any domestic opposition would be weak (Polk 74).  Alienation of various groups, such as the “Committee of Delegates”, would lead to social unrest.  Led by Wilson, the British decided to promote desirable locals as chiefs, in the hope of reducing the army’s occupation while trying to achieve security. These chiefs were given various amounts of new powers such as subsidies, no taxation, as well as private ownership of land.  The British had hoped that promoting this type of in-direct rule would establish control over the region without the vast use of the British military.  The newly appointed chiefs contributed to sparking a social revolt and were seen as greedy leaders who only served the interest of the British. Underestimating and alienating the Iraqi people leads to the Great Iraqi Revolt.

 

Revolt– A series of secret societies had been formed in an attempt to gain independence from the British.  During the holy month of Ramadan, formally hostile Sunnis and Shiis managed unite against the British.  On June 30, 1920, several Iraqi factions attacked British soldiers and started a major insurrection.  The Iraqis used guerilla warfare of hit-and-run tactics that confused the British.  For six months, the British faced insurrections throughout the whole region until it was finally put down.  The British suffered severely by spending six times more money than the entire war campaign as well as 1,654 causalities.

 

Organization- Wilson is fired and Sir Percy Cox becomes the new civil commissioner of Iraq. Cox established the boundaries of Iraq which included Kurdistan and separated it from Kuwait.  He established a provisional “Council of State” in which he would appoint Iraqi members and were to operate in various areas with limited powers and with the final say going to the British. He also decided not to turn over Mosul to France because of the likelihood that it may contain oil. Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra would be the three provinces of Iraq under British rule. The parameters in the situation with Iraq were to be determined at the Cairo Conference in 1921.  Winston Churchill and other British officials appointed Faisal as the first Iraqi King, established the Iraqi army, and proposed a new treaty. Faisal had played a role in the Arab revolt against the Turks and was later exiled by the French from Syria. The British thought Faisal would be accepted by Iraqis because of his role in the Arab revolt and because of his lineage that was traced back to the profit Mohammed. In an attempt to gain public favor for Faisal, the British created a public relations campaign that proved to be ineffective. Although he was well-known around the Middle East, he was seen as a British subject among most Iraqis. The new Iraqi army would consist of Sunni Muslim and Assyrian Christian refugees who were called “levies.”  The British had established a treaty with the Iraqi appointed leaders that reaffirmed the goal of independence but gave the British control over foreign affairs, the army, and finance in Iraq. This Anglo-Iraqi Treaty would make Iraq dependent on the British for years to come.  The British began to implement policies that opened up roads for markets and private ownership of land between the Tigris and Euphrates.  The roads brought Iraqi to a dependency on the outside market.  Iraqis began to become intrigued by modern British commodities and many began to wear western clothing. The British privatized ownership between the rivers because of their need for wealthy Iraqis to invest in development. This marked a change in Iraqi agriculture that allowed Iraqis the use of modern techniques to regulate the land and not be dependent of the annual flooding of the rivers.  Law 28 (Governing the Rights and Duties of Cultivators) was established which brought dominance to the British imposed “chiefs” and capitalist townsmen. The law alienated the farmers which practically made them slaves who were tied to the land. The farmers (or peasants) had become increasingly alienated by British policy with virtually have no rights. There anger and frustration would later play a vital role in the overthrow of British occupation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Constitution & Policy– After the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty a new constitution is formed which proves to ignore the political and social realities of Iraqis. The constitution does little for Iraqis and gives way to their first election in 1924. The British had ridged the election which resulted in the British picking the members of both of houses in parliament. For Iraqis, democracy would prove to be a failure and only serve the interests of the British occupation. The British had established an elementary education system for the Iraqi people that proved to be ineffective. They put little money into the effort and ignored most of the Iraqi population that was living in rural areas. The failure of the education system promoted many of young Iraqis to enroll in nationalistic political movements that eventually would haunt the British in years to come. One of the only positive innovations the British brought was modern technology. Through the effect of commerce, Iraqis were able to develop new ideas and were provided the means for modern Iraq. Apart from this, most of the British policies proved to alienate the majority of the Iraqi people and contribute to the revolt in 1958.

 

 

 

        Faisal and Cox

 

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