History of Iraq

1747

During the years 1747–1831 Iraq was ruled by the Mamluk officers of Georgian origin who succeeded in obtaining autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, suppressed tribal revolts, curbed the power of the Janissaries, restored order and introduced a program of modernization of economy and military.

1831

In 1831, the Ottomans managed to overthrow the Mamluk regime and again imposed their direct control over Iraq. == 20th century == === British mandate === Ottoman rule over Iraq lasted until World War I, when the Ottomans sided with Germany and the Central Powers.

1894

It was founded as an independent state by an Amorite king named Sumuabum in 1894 BC.

1917

However the British finally won in the Mesopotamian Campaign with the capture of Baghdad in March 1917.

1920

The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq, also known as Mandatory Iraq in its early phase, was established by the Anglo-Iraqi treaty of 1922 resulting from the 1920 Iraqi revolt against British rule.

1921

Iraq also became an oligarchy government at this time. Although the monarch Faisal I of Iraq was legitimized and proclaimed King by a plebiscite in 1921, independence was achieved in 1932, when the British Mandate officially ended. === Independent Kingdom of Iraq === Establishment of Arab Sunni domination in Iraq was followed by Assyrian, Yazidi and Shi'a unrests, which were all brutally suppressed.

1922

The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq, also known as Mandatory Iraq in its early phase, was established by the Anglo-Iraqi treaty of 1922 resulting from the 1920 Iraqi revolt against British rule.

1929

Britain's informal empire in the Middle East: a case study of Iraq, 1929-1941 ( Oxford University Press, 1986). Silverfarb, Daniel.

1932

Iraq also became an oligarchy government at this time. Although the monarch Faisal I of Iraq was legitimized and proclaimed King by a plebiscite in 1921, independence was achieved in 1932, when the British Mandate officially ended. === Independent Kingdom of Iraq === Establishment of Arab Sunni domination in Iraq was followed by Assyrian, Yazidi and Shi'a unrests, which were all brutally suppressed.

1933

After the disintegration of the Ilkhanate, Iraq was ruled by the Jalairids and Kara Koyunlu until its eventual absorption into the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, intermittently falling under Iranian Safavid and Mamluk control. Ottoman rule ended with World War I, and the British Empire administered Iraq as Mandatory Iraq until the establishment of the Kingdom of Iraq in 1933.

1936

In 1936, the first military coup took place in the Kingdom of Iraq, as Bakr Sidqi succeeded in replacing the acting Prime Minister with his associate.

1941

Multiple coups followed in a period of political instability, peaking in 1941. During World War II, Iraqi regime of Regent 'Abd al-Ilah was overthrown in 1941 by the Golden Square officers, headed by Rashid Ali.

The short lived pro-Nazi government of Iraq was defeated in May 1941 by the allied forces (with local Assyrian and Kurdish help) in Anglo-Iraqi War.

Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against a Fascist State in Iraq and the Levant, 1941 (Abrams, 2019). de Gaury, Gerald.

Independent Iraq: British Influence from 1941 to 1958 (IB Tauris, 1996). Fattah, Hala Mundhir, and Frank Caso.

The twilight of British ascendancy in the Middle East: a case study of Iraq, 1941-1950 (1994) Silverfarb, Daniel.

The role of the military in politics: A case study of Iraq to 1941 (Routledge, 2015). ===Historiography=== Bashkin, Orit.

1945

Iraq was later used as a base for allied attacks on Vichy-French held Mandate of Syria and support for the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. In 1945, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League.

1946

Reform: Attempts at Modernisation during the Twilight of British Influence in Iraq, 1946–1958,” Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 37#1 (2009), pp.

1948

After the failure of the uprising, Barzani and his followers fled to the Soviet Union. In 1948, massive violent protests known as the Al-Wathbah uprising broke out across Baghdad with partial communist support, having demands against the government's treaty with Britain.

Protests continued into spring and were interrupted in May when martial law was enforced as Iraq entered the failed 1948 Arab–Israeli War along with other Arab League members. In February 1958, King Hussein of Jordan and `Abd al-Ilāh proposed a union of Hāshimite monarchies to counter the recently formed Egyptian-Syrian union.

1949

"The revision of Iraq's oil concession, 1949–52." Middle Eastern Studies 32.1 (1996): 69-95. Simons, Geoff.

1957

ISIL was expelled from Iraq in 2017, but a low-intensity ISIL insurgency continues mostly in the rural parts of northern Iraq. ==Prehistory== During 1957–1961 Shanidar Cave was excavated by Ralph Solecki and his team from Columbia University, and nine skeletons of Neanderthal man of varying ages and states of preservation and completeness (labelled Shanidar I–IX) were discovered dating from 60,000–80,000 years BP.

1958

A republic formed in 1958 following a coup d'état.

Protests continued into spring and were interrupted in May when martial law was enforced as Iraq entered the failed 1948 Arab–Israeli War along with other Arab League members. In February 1958, King Hussein of Jordan and `Abd al-Ilāh proposed a union of Hāshimite monarchies to counter the recently formed Egyptian-Syrian union.

Nuri as-Said was able to contain the rising discontent only by resorting to even greater political oppression. === Republic of Iraq === Inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, officers from the Nineteenth Brigade, 3rd Division known as "The Four Colonials", under the leadership of Brigadier Abd al-Karīm Qāsim (known as "az-Za`īm", 'the leader') and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif overthrew the Hashemite monarchy on July 14, 1958.

Independent Iraq: British Influence from 1941 to 1958 (IB Tauris, 1996). Fattah, Hala Mundhir, and Frank Caso.

1961

Iraq's activity in the Baghdad Pact ceased. In 1961, Kuwait gained independence from Britain and Iraq claimed sovereignty over Kuwait.

1963

The same year, Mustafa Barzani, who had been invited to return to Iraq by Qasim three years earlier, began engaging Iraqi government forces and establishing Kurdish control in the north in what was the beginning of the First Kurdish Iraqi War. ====Ba'athist Iraq==== Qāsim was assassinated in February 1963, when the Ba'ath Party took power under the leadership of General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (prime minister) and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif (president).

In June 1963, Syria, which by then had also fallen under Ba'athist rule, took part in the Iraqi military campaign against the Kurds by providing aircraft, armoured vehicles and a force of 6,000 soldiers.

1964

Arif declared a ceasefire in February 1964 which provoked a split among Kurdish urban radicals on one hand and Peshmerga (Freedom fighters) forces led by Barzani on the other. On April 13, 1966, President Abdul Salam Arif died in a helicopter crash and was succeeded by his brother, General Abdul Rahman Arif.

1966

Arif declared a ceasefire in February 1964 which provoked a split among Kurdish urban radicals on one hand and Peshmerga (Freedom fighters) forces led by Barzani on the other. On April 13, 1966, President Abdul Salam Arif died in a helicopter crash and was succeeded by his brother, General Abdul Rahman Arif.

This campaign failed in May 1966, when Barzani forces thoroughly defeated the Iraqi Army at the Battle of Mount Handrin, near Rawanduz.

1967

Following the Six-Day War of 1967, the Ba'ath Party felt strong enough to retake power in 1968.

1968

Saddam Hussein governed from 1968 to 2003, into which period fall the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War.

Following the Six-Day War of 1967, the Ba'ath Party felt strong enough to retake power in 1968.

1969

The Ba'ath government started a campaign to end the Kurdish insurrection, which stalled in 1969.

1970

The war ended with more than 100,000 mortal casualties, with little achievements to both Kurdish rebels and the Iraqi government. In the aftermath of the First Kurdish Iraqi War, a peace plan was announced in March 1970 and provided for broader Kurdish autonomy.

1972

In the following years, Baghdad government overcame its internal divisions and concluded a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union in April 1972 and ended its isolation within the Arab world.

1975

It took several weeks for the Iranian armed forces to evacuate Iraqi territory to honor pre-war international borders between the two nations (see 1975 Algiers Agreement).

1980

Iraq falsely declared victory in 1988 but actually only achieved a weary return to the status quo ante bellum, meaning both sides retained their original borders. The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous invasion by air and land into Iranian territory on 22 September 1980, following a long history of border disputes, and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution.

1982

Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of the revolutionary chaos in Iran and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and within several months were repelled by the Iranians who regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982.

1986

Britain's informal empire in the Middle East: a case study of Iraq, 1929-1941 ( Oxford University Press, 1986). Silverfarb, Daniel.

1988

Iraq falsely declared victory in 1988 but actually only achieved a weary return to the status quo ante bellum, meaning both sides retained their original borders. The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous invasion by air and land into Iranian territory on 22 September 1980, following a long history of border disputes, and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution.

Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988.

1990

At the time, the UN Security Council issued statements that "chemical weapons had been used in the war." However, in these UN statements, it was never made clear that it was only Iraq that was using chemical weapons, so it has been said that "the international community remained silent as Iraq used weapons of mass destruction against Iranian as well as Iraqi Kurds" and it is believed. A long-standing territorial dispute was the ostensible reason for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

In November 1990, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 678, permitting member states to use all necessary means, authorizing military action against the Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait and demanded a complete withdrawal by January 15, 1991.

In the aftermath, the government intensified the forced relocating of Marsh Arabs and the draining of the Iraqi marshlands, while the Coalition established the Iraqi no-fly zones. On 6 August 1990, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the U.N.

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." An oil for food program was established in 1996 to ease the effects of sanctions. Iraqi cooperation with UN weapons inspection teams was questioned on several occasions during the 1990s.

1991

In November 1990, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 678, permitting member states to use all necessary means, authorizing military action against the Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait and demanded a complete withdrawal by January 15, 1991.

When Saddam Hussein failed to comply with this demand, the Persian Gulf War (Operation "Desert Storm") ensued on January 17, 1991.

Estimates range from 1,500 to as many as 30,000 Iraqi soldiers killed, as well as less than a thousand civilians. In March 1991 revolts in the Shia-dominated southern Iraq started involving demoralized Iraqi Army troops and the anti-government Shia parties.

Another wave of insurgency broke out shortly afterwards in the Kurdish populated northern Iraq (see 1991 uprisings in Iraq).

From 1991 until 2003 Iraq underwent hyperinflation, increased poverty and malnutrition.

1992

inspectors, led by Swedish diplomat Hans Blix was admitted, into the country; their final report stated that Iraqis capability in producing "weapons of mass destruction" was not significantly different from 1992 when the country dismantled the bulk of their remaining arsenals under terms of the ceasefire agreement with U.N.

1996

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." An oil for food program was established in 1996 to ease the effects of sanctions. Iraqi cooperation with UN weapons inspection teams was questioned on several occasions during the 1990s.

Independent Iraq: British Influence from 1941 to 1958 (IB Tauris, 1996). Fattah, Hala Mundhir, and Frank Caso.

1998

UNSCOM chief weapons inspector Richard Butler withdrew his team from Iraq in November 1998 because of Iraq's lack of cooperation.

On August 14, 1998, President Clinton signed Public Law 105–235, which declared that ‘‘the Government of Iraq is in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations.’’ It urged the President ‘‘to take appropriate action, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its international obligations.’’ Several months later, Congress enacted the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 on October 31, 1998.

This law stated that it "should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime." It was passed 360 - 38 by the United States House of Representatives and 99–0 by the United States Senate in 1998. The US urged the United Nations to take military action against Iraq.

2001

Air strikes against military facilities and alleged WMD sites continued into 2002. == Recent history (2003–present) == === 2003 invasion === After the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in the United States in 2001 were linked to the group formed by the multi-millionaire Saudi Osama bin Laden, American foreign policy began to call for the removal of the Ba'ath government in Iraq.

2002

Air strikes against military facilities and alleged WMD sites continued into 2002. == Recent history (2003–present) == === 2003 invasion === After the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in the United States in 2001 were linked to the group formed by the multi-millionaire Saudi Osama bin Laden, American foreign policy began to call for the removal of the Ba'ath government in Iraq.

Resolution 1441 was passed unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 8, 2002, offering Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" that had been set out in several previous UN resolutions, threatening "serious consequences" if the obligations were not fulfilled.

2003

Saddam Hussein governed from 1968 to 2003, into which period fall the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War.

Saddam Hussein was deposed following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The last prisoners of war were exchanged in 2003. The war came at a great cost in lives and economic damage—half a million Iraqi and Iranian soldiers, as well as civilians, are believed to have died in the war with many more injured—but it brought neither reparations nor change in borders.

From 1991 until 2003 Iraq underwent hyperinflation, increased poverty and malnutrition.

Air strikes against military facilities and alleged WMD sites continued into 2002. == Recent history (2003–present) == === 2003 invasion === After the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in the United States in 2001 were linked to the group formed by the multi-millionaire Saudi Osama bin Laden, American foreign policy began to call for the removal of the Ba'ath government in Iraq.

The UN Security Council did not issue a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. In March 2003, the United States and the United Kingdom, with military aid from other nations, invaded Iraq. === Occupation (2003–11) === In 2003, after the American and British invasion, Iraq was occupied by Coalition forces.

On May 23, 2003, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution lifting all economic sanctions against Iraq.

Saddam Hussein, who vanished in April, was captured on December 13, 2003. Jay Garner was appointed Interim Civil Administrator with three deputies, including Tim Cross.

Garner was replaced in May 2003 by Paul Bremer, who was himself replaced by John Negroponte on April 19, 2004.

A parliamentary election was held in January 2005, followed by the drafting and ratification of a constitution and a further parliamentary election in December 2005. Terrorism emerged as a threat to Iraq's people not long after the invasion of 2003.

2004

Garner was replaced in May 2003 by Paul Bremer, who was himself replaced by John Negroponte on April 19, 2004.

2005

Negroponte was the last US interim administrator and left Iraq in 2005.

A parliamentary election was held in January 2005, followed by the drafting and ratification of a constitution and a further parliamentary election in December 2005. Terrorism emerged as a threat to Iraq's people not long after the invasion of 2003.

2006

occupation of Iraq, Iraq disintegrated into a civil war from 2006 to 2008, and the situation deteriorated in 2011 which later escalated into a renewed war following ISIL gains in the country in 2014.

Al Zarqawi was killed on June 7, 2006.

The most dangerous insurgent area was the Sunni Triangle, a mostly Sunni-Muslim area just north of Baghdad. Reported acts of violence conducted by an uneasy tapestry of insurgents steadily increased by the end of 2006.

Sunni jihadist forces including Al Qaeda in Iraq continued to target Shia civilians, notably in the 23 February 2006 attack on the Al Askari Mosque in Samarra, one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest sites.

In mid-October 2006, a statement was released stating that the Mujahideen Shura Council had been disbanded and was replaced by the "Islamic State of Iraq".

2007

troops in 2007 and 2008, violence in Iraq began to decrease.

2008

occupation of Iraq, Iraq disintegrated into a civil war from 2006 to 2008, and the situation deteriorated in 2011 which later escalated into a renewed war following ISIL gains in the country in 2014.

troops in 2007 and 2008, violence in Iraq began to decrease.

Three Kings in Baghdad: The Tragedy of Iraq's Monarchy, (IB Taurus, 2008).

2009

A brief history of Iraq (Infobase Publishing, 2009). Franzén, Johan.

2011

occupation of Iraq, Iraq disintegrated into a civil war from 2006 to 2008, and the situation deteriorated in 2011 which later escalated into a renewed war following ISIL gains in the country in 2014.

ended their main military presence in 2011, however, resulting in renewed escalation into war. === Insurgency and war (2011–2017) === The departure of US troops from Iraq in 2011 triggered a renewed insurgency and by a spillover of the Syrian civil war into Iraq.

2013

By 2013, the insurgency escalated into a state renewed war, the central government of Iraq being opposed by various factions, primarily radical Sunni forces. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant invaded Iraq in 2013–14 and seized the majority of Al Anbar Governorate, including the cities of Fallujah, Al Qaim, Abu Ghraib and (in May 2015) Ramadi, leaving them in control of 90% of Anbar.

2014

occupation of Iraq, Iraq disintegrated into a civil war from 2006 to 2008, and the situation deteriorated in 2011 which later escalated into a renewed war following ISIL gains in the country in 2014.

Tikrit, Mosul and most of the Nineveh province, along with parts of Salahuddin, Kirkuk and Diyala provinces, were seized by insurgent forces in the June 2014 offensive.

ISIL also captured Sinjar and a number of other towns in the August 2014 offensive, but were halted by the Sinjar offensive launched in December 2014 by Kurdish Peshmerga and YPG forces.

The Iran-Iraq War: A military and strategic history (Cambridge UP, 2014). Roux, Georges.

2015

By 2015, Iraq was effectively divided, the central and southern part being controlled by the government, the northwest by the Kurdistan Regional Government and the western part by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

By 2013, the insurgency escalated into a state renewed war, the central government of Iraq being opposed by various factions, primarily radical Sunni forces. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant invaded Iraq in 2013–14 and seized the majority of Al Anbar Governorate, including the cities of Fallujah, Al Qaim, Abu Ghraib and (in May 2015) Ramadi, leaving them in control of 90% of Anbar.

The role of the military in politics: A case study of Iraq to 1941 (Routledge, 2015). ===Historiography=== Bashkin, Orit.

2016

The war ended with a government victory in December 2017. On 30 April 2016, thousands of protesters entered the Green Zone in Baghdad and occupied the Iraqi parliament building.

Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam (Springer, 2016). Tarbush, Mohammad A.

2017

ISIL was expelled from Iraq in 2017, but a low-intensity ISIL insurgency continues mostly in the rural parts of northern Iraq. ==Prehistory== During 1957–1961 Shanidar Cave was excavated by Ralph Solecki and his team from Columbia University, and nine skeletons of Neanderthal man of varying ages and states of preservation and completeness (labelled Shanidar I–IX) were discovered dating from 60,000–80,000 years BP.

The war ended with a government victory in December 2017. On 30 April 2016, thousands of protesters entered the Green Zone in Baghdad and occupied the Iraqi parliament building.

2018

Although Iraqi security forces were present, they did not attempt to stop the protesters from entering the parliament building. === Continued ISIL insurgency and protests (2017–present) === By 2018, violence in Iraq was at its lowest level in ten years. Protests over deteriorating economic conditions and state corruption started in July 2018 in Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities, mainly in the central and southern provinces.

2019

The latest nationwide protests, erupting in October 2019, had a death toll of at least 93 people, including police. == See also == Abbasid Caliphate Akkadian Empire Assyria Babylonia History of Asia History of Baghdad History of the Middle East List of kings of Iraq List of presidents of Iraq List of Prime Ministers of Iraq Mesopotamia Politics of Iraq Sumer Timeline of Baghdad Timeline of Basra == References == ==Further reading== Broich, John.

Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against a Fascist State in Iraq and the Levant, 1941 (Abrams, 2019). de Gaury, Gerald.




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