Iraq is the birthplace of many of the Earth's oldest civilizations, including the Babylonians and the

Assyrians. A part of the Ottoman Empire from 1534, the Treaty of Sèvres brought the area under
British control in 1918. Iraq gained independence in 1932. On 14 July 1958, the long-time Hashemite
monarchy was overthrown in a coup led by Abd al-Karim Qasim that paved way to radical political
reforms, including the legalisation of political parties such as the Ba'ath and the Communist Party,
both key players in the coup (also called the 14 July Revolution). Following this Revolution, the
Soviet Union gradually became its main arms and commercial supplier.
In February 1963, Qasim was overthrown and killed in a second coup that brought the Ba'ath Party
into power. Internal divisions would follow for the next five years, until another coup on 17 July 1968
led by Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr (with Communist support) stabilized the party. Relations between the
Communists and the Ba'athists ranged from mutual cooperation to violent mistrust, culminating in
the purge of Communists from the army and the government by 1978, causing a temporary rift with
the Soviet Union. On 16 July 1979, Bakr resigned and was succeeded by right-hand man Saddam
Hussein, who carefully killed his enemies and became a dictator almost overnight.
The next twenty-five years took a grinding toll on the country. A long war with neighboring Iran in the
1980s cost hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars. The invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and
subsequent Gulf War caused further casualties, followed by civil war inside the country and a
decade of international sanctions.
Iraq was invaded in 2003 by a mainly US-led coalition of forces, who removed Saddam Hussein
from power.