The First Coup D'états (1932 - 1945)

Shortly before his death in September 1933, King Faisal I contemplated the fractious and divided society that formed the precarious underpinning of the state which he had helped to found. With the death of King Faisal I, the modern state with its diverse ethnics and confessions, lost its urgently needed intermediator. His son Ghazi became the second king of Iraq, but he was only 21 years old and not very much interested in politics. , but whose general sympathies were broadly pan-Arab. Ghazi was a product of a system which intensified Shia resentment of Sunni-dominated state during the next few years. He was more a rebel than a diplomat like his father. He called for reunification under the one Arab country and pledged to liberate Kuwait from the British protectorate and to consolidate with Iraq. He established his private radio station in the royal palace Al Zahour to broadcast his Arab nationalist tendencies, his Kuwait proclamations and his anti-British position. He died in a mysterious car accident in April 1939. His successor was his son Faisal II, who was almost four years old. A regency was set up under his uncle Prince Abdul Ilah, who was likewise not very much interested in politics and left most of the operational tasks to pro-British Nuri al-Said, who would later become known for his oppressive leadership style.

In 1934, the Iraqi parliament passed the National Defense Bill setting up a machinery of conscription. After an unrest of Shia tribes in the south of Iraq in 1935, the regent appointed Yasin Al Hashimi as Prime Minister who crushed the rebellion. He did the same with a revolt of the Kurds in the north, who were mainly renegades because of the fear of conscription. In order to put an end to the alleged tyranny and corruption of Yasin Al Hashimi regime, Iraq witnessed its first coup d’état in October 1936, which was at the same time the first in the Arab world. What followed was a five-year period of military involvement in political affairs – made possible by two very different opposing movements: the Ahali Group, which advocated for socialism and democracy, and a group of Army officers that emphasised nationalism. 

The military interference under the Al Hashimi regime ultimately led to the Rashid Ali Al Gaylani revolt in 1941 – the second could’état.

The impending fear of losing political influence in Iraq, among other reasons, let the British army to occupy Iraq again and reinstalled the newly formed pro-British cabinet with Nuri Al Said as Prime Minister declaring martial law., , 

This article was written by Hella Mewis and is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.