Kingdom of Iraq
Iraq, 1921–1958. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was the Iraqi state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Mesopotamian campaign of the World War I, it was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdom of Iraq. The role of the United Kingdom in the formal administration of the Kingdom of Iraq was ended in 1932, following the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930. The Arab Federation, formed on 14 February 1958, ended the same year with a military coup led by Abdul-Karim Qasim deposing the monarchy.
Seat of power: Baghdad
Rulers
Faisal I of Iraq
King of Iraq, 1921–1933
He served as the King of Iraq from 23 August 1921 until his death in 1933. A member of the Hashemite family, he was a leader of the Great Arab Revolt during the First World War, and ruled as the unrecognized King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria from March to July 1920 when he was expelled by the French.
Portrait of Faisal I of Iraq: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Ghazi of Iraq
King of Iraq, 1933–1939
He was King of Iraq from 1933 to 1939. He died in a car accident in Baghdad in 1939 and was succeeded by his son, Faisal II.
Portrait of Ghazi of Iraq: Unknown author, Public domain, file
Faisal II of Iraq
King of Iraq, 1939–1958
He was the last King of Iraq, reigning from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the 14 July Revolution. Faisal acceded to the throne at the age of three after his father was killed in a car crash. A regency was set up under his uncle Prince 'Abd al-Ilah.
Portrait of Faisal II of Iraq: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Culture
- Although a League of Nations mandate was awarded to the United Kingdom in 1920, the 1920 Iraqi revolt resulted in the scrapping of the original mandate plan in favour of a formally sovereign Iraqi kingdom, but one that was under effective British administration.
- In 1936, the first military coup took place in the kingdom, as Bakr Sidqi succeeded in replacing the acting Prime Minister with his associate.
- In 1945, during the final stages of World War II, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League.
Picture
The Iraq Museum, the national museum of Iraq in Baghdad, contains relics from the Mesopotamian, Abbasid, and Persian civilizations.
Image: Hussein A.Al-mukhtar, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.