Sophia She

History 9H
Mr. Sven Serrano
2015. 03.02
Iraqi Nationalism after World War One
Turkey sided with the Central Powers during World War One and was defeated after the British
captured Baghdad, the capital of modern-day Iraq, in 1917. At the San Remo Conference in April
1920, Great Britain was awarded three provinces of the Ottoman Empire: Basra, Baghdad, and
Mosul.1 The provinces were welded together into modern-day Iraq. The British kicked out the
former Ottoman officials and made British officials the new administrators. The populations were
wildly diverse, disparate, and antagonistic toward one another. In the North were the Kurds, in the
central region were the Sunnis, and in the South and most populous region were the Shiites.2 The
British replaced the old policies with the new ones and raised taxes. Peoples growing resentment
towards their new government started even before they knew Iraq has become a mandate of Britain.
When the news spread in 1920, the nationalists, who were mainly middle-class people from Sunnis
and Shiites, came to view the mandate as a flimsy disguise for colonialism. In May 1920, the Great
Iraqi Revolution, which had the objectives to gain independence from British rule and create an
Arab government, officially began.3

1 Zuhayr Sulayman, The Islamic Revolution of 1920 in Iraq, Islamic Revolution Volume 8
Number 1: P46-53

2 Fadola Gould, World War I and British mandate, about.com, August 6th, 2013 ,
http://historymedren.about.com/library/text/bltxtiraq9.htm

3Roggio, Bill, "1920s Revolution Brigades", The Long War Journal, June 12, 2007,
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/06/1920s_revolution_bri.php.

The revolution in 1920 was not a surprise. During 1918 and 1919, three important anticolonial
secret societies were formed in Iraq - the League of the Islamic Awakening, the Muslim National
League, and the Guardians of Independence. These societies were formed with the objectives of
organizing the population for major resistance against the British, gaining Iraqi independence,
establishing a constitutional monarchy, and rejecting technical or economic assistance from the
British. The societies were mostly made up of religious and tribal leaders, journalists, landlords,
merchants, teachers, and former Turkish officers.
Some violent actions were taken by the societies. For example, members of the League of the
Islamic Awakening assassinated a British officer hoping to create a catalyst for a rebellion at Iraq's
other holy city, Karbala. However, more importantly, these secret societies made the part of the Iraqi
population that originally had no interest in politics resist the British control. Their effects are
significant, for the majorities of the participants of the secret societies are common people teachers, servants, and merchants. The secret societies started or indirectly caused many local
outbreaks against British rule. Through nationalistic culture, religious leaders exhorted the people to
throw off the bonds of imperialism. For example, Iraqi poet, Buland al-Haydari, wrote When the
sickly structures of the modern Empire fall, then will I have a happy heart during the Great Iraqi
Revolution,

expressing

his

hatred

for

the

current

British

rule

(http://users.humboldt.edu/mseldridge/engl240/student_projects/AlHaydari/haydaritribute.htm).Violent demonstrations and strikes followed the British arrest of

several leaders.6
When the news of the mandate reached Iraq, many Iraqis pointed out that it was against Islamic
law for Muslims to be ruled by non-Muslims and many of them believed that it was the duty of
every Muslim to fight for this law.4 Consequently, 15 representatives of Iraq met with the Acting

4 Zuhayr Sulayman, The Islamic Revolution of 1920 in Iraq

5
1920s
Revolution
Brigades,
Mapping
Militant
http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/9

Organizations,

June

2007,

Civil Commissioner, Arnold Wilson, and demanded independence. 4 Wilson dismissed them as a
"handful of ungrateful politicians." 7 However, Mehdi Al-Khalissi, a prominent religious leader at
the time, was determined to expel the British from Iraq without any delay. He started with a nonviolent method, issuing a fatwa, or Islamic law, telling his followers and all Shiites in Iraq not to
participate in the upcoming elections. Many followed, and it led to the failure of the British
election. However, Khalissi didnt think that was enough, and he declared a revolution. Arab flags
were delivered, and pamphlets were handed out to urge the tribes to prepare for revolt. 5
Armed revolt broke out in late June 1920. 5 The revolt soon gained momentum as the British army in
the mid-Euphrates region were weak and not united. 8 By July, the tribal rebels controlled most of
the mid-Euphrates region.8 The success of the tribes caused the revolt to spread to the lower
Euphrates and all around Baghdad.

The British War Secretary, Winston Churchill, authorized

immediate reinforcements from Iran that included the Royal Air Force.6 The use of aircraft shifted
the advantage to the British and played a huge role in ending the revolt. 9 Eventually, the rebels
began to run low on supplies and funding and could not support the revolt for much longer while
British forces were becoming more effective. 9 The rebels surrendered and ended the revolt in
October, 1920.9
The revolution had huge impacts, which were mainly in favor of Iraq even though she failed to
overthrow the British.7 First, Britain suffered great losses and was taught a painful lesson by the
Iraqis. After 170 days of bloody fighting, the British had thousands dead and wounded, hundreds of

6 1920s Revolution Brigades, Mapping Militant Organizations

prisoners of war, and huge losses of money, weapons and materials. It was, in fact, a profound
lesson for the arrogant occupiers. 10 It opened their eyes to the strength of the Muslims.
Second, the revolution had planted or intensified ideas of nationalism into the Sunnis, Shia,
Kurdish, and other ethnic groups.8 The dislike of British control created a stronger sense of
revolution as well. 11 Also, the conflicted Islamic groups of Sunni and Shia united to revolt against
the British. 9A common enemy brought the two ethnic groups together, and internal conflicts in Iraq
ceased to exist during the Great Revolution.

10

Last, the British suffered a great lost from the 1920s revolution and that made her reconsider her
strategy in Iraqi governing.11 The new colonial secretary, Winston Churchill, decided that a new
administration was needed in Iraq, so he called for a conference in Cairo, Egypt in March 1921. 14
At the Cairo Conference, British officials discussed the future of Iraq. The British now wanted to
control Iraq more indirectly, by installing former officials friendly to the British government. 14 They
decided to install Faysal ibn Husayn as King of Iraq.12 The British saw in Faisal a leader who

7 Fadola Gould, World War I and British mandate

8 Roggio, Bill, "1920s Revolution Brigades"

9 Iraq- The British Mandate, U.S. Library of Congress

10 Iraq- The British Mandate, U.S. Library of Congress

11 1920s Revolution Brigades, Mapping Militant Organizations

12 Roggio, Bill, "1920s Revolution Brigades"

possessed sufficient nationalist and Islamic credentials to have broad appeal, but who also was
vulnerable enough to remain dependent on their support. 15
Aside from changing the officials, the British also set the parameters for Iraqi political life that
were to continue until the 1958 revolution. 15They proposed a new treaty the new Anglo-Iraqi
Treaty. 15 The twenty-year treaty, which was signed in 1922, stated that the king would heed
British advice on all matters affecting British interests and on fiscal policy as long as Iraq was in
debt to Britain, and that British officials would be appointed to specified posts in eighteen
departments to act as advisers and inspectors. 15 British obligations under the new treaty included
providing various kinds of aid, notably military assistance, and proposing Iraq for membership in
the League of Nations at the earliest moment.13 In effect, the treaty ensured that Iraq would remain
politically and economically dependent on Britain. 16 The major goal of the British policy was to
keep the monarchy stronger than any one tribe but weaker than a coalition of tribes so that British
power would ultimately be decisive in arbitrating disputes between the two. 16
As stated in the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty, Iraq became part of the League of Nations. This led to
Britain terminating its mandate over the Arab nation and finally making Iraq independent after
seventeen years of British rule and centuries of Ottoman rule.

17

Iraqs struggle for freedom was

certainly not easy, but it wasnt as long and intense as other major nationalist movements, such as
the revolutions in Mexico and China. A main reason for this was that the Iraqi people, relatively,
had no strong feelings for their nation as a whole, but rather for their communities or their ethnic
groups. Even though nationalism was planted into them before and after nationalist movements, the
majority of the population were still unenthusiastic about gaining their nations freedom. The
peoples unconcern for the nation and commitment to their ethnic groups eventually led to the Iraqi
internal conflicts in the 20th and 21st century.
13 Roggio, Bill, "1920s Revolution Brigades"