| Republic of Iraq جمهورية العراق (Arabic) كؤماری عێراق (Kurdish) |
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| Map of Iraq | |||||
| Capital | Baghdad | ||||
| Language(s) | Arabic, Kurdish | ||||
| Government | Military junta | ||||
| President | |||||
| - 1958-1963 | Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i | ||||
| Prime Minister | |||||
| - 1958-1963 | Abd al-Karim Qasim | ||||
| History | |||||
| - 14 July Revolution | 14 July 1958 | ||||
| - Ba'athist coup | 8 February 1968 | ||||
| Currency | Iraqi dinar (IQD) | ||||
The History of Iraq (1958–1968) refers to the newly-established Republic of Iraq which beginning with the rise and rule of the President Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i and Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim from 1958 to 1963. ar-Ruba'i and Quasim first came to power through the 14 July Revolution in which the Hashemite Monarchy was overthrown in a bloody coup. The coup saw the end of the Hashemite Monarchy, the dissolution of the Kingdom of Iraq and the Arab Federation and the establishment of a republic. The era ended with the ba'athist rise to power in 1968.
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Iraq reverted back to control over the territory of the former Kingdom of Iraq, and Jordan again became an independent entity. Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim declared that "We do not wish to refer to the history of Arab tribes residing in Al-Ahwaz and Mohammareh [Khurramshahr]. The Ottomans handed over Muhammareh, which was part of Iraqi territory, to Iran." [1], thereby paving the way for the Iran-Iraq War. The new republic also defined Kurdistan as “one of the two nations of Iraq.”, this did not last however, and a rebellion among the Kurds broke out in 1961.
During and after World War II, Britain reoccupied Iraq due to the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état in which four nationalist Iraqi generals, with German intelligence and military assistance, overthrew Regent 'Abd al-Ilah and Prime Minister Nuri al-Said and installed Rashid Ali as Prime Minister of Iraq. Ali was eventually ousted by the British and 'Abd al-Ilah and al-Said retook power. In 1947, the Iraqis started to negotiate a British withdrawal, and finally negotiated the treaty at Portsmouth on January 15, 1948, which stipulated the creation of a joint British and Iraqi joint defense board that oversaw Iraqi military planning and British control of Iraqi foreign affairs.[2]
Regional rivalries played a huge role in the 14 July Revolution. Pan-Arab and Arab Nationalist sentiment circulated in the Middle East and was proliferated by an anti-imperialist revolutionary, Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt. During and after World War II, the Kingdom of Iraq was home to a number of Arab nationalist sympathizers. Arab nationalists viewed the Hashemite Monarchy as too beholden to British and Western interests. This anti-Hashemite sentiment grew from a politicized educational system in Iraq and an increasingly assertive and educated bourgeoisie. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Said expressed his interest in pursuing the idea of a federation of Arab States of the Fertile Crescent, and helped to create the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan, but reserved his enthusiasm about a Nasser espoused pan-Arab state. Al-Said joined the Arab league in 1944 on Iraq’s behalf seeing it as a providing a forum for bringing together the Arab states, leaving the door open for a possible future federation. The charter of the League enshrined the principle of the autonomy for each Arab state and referenced pan-Arabism only rhetorically.
Iraq was just coming out of World War II, and as much of the rest of the world, was war torn. The war had caused a huge increase in inflation and a drop in the quality of life of the Iraqi people. Prime Minister Nuri Al-Said and the Arab Nationalist regent, Abd al-Ilah, continually clashed on economic policy. Instead of cooperating to improve the quality of life for the Iraqi people and cut inflation, the Prime Minister and the regent could not agree on a cohesive economic policy.
Educated elites in Iraq began daveling in the ideals espoused by Nasser’s pan-Arabism movement. Within the officer corps of the Iraqi military, pan-Arab nationalism began to take root. The policies of Al-Said were disliked by certain individuals within the Iraqi military, and opposition groups began to form, modeled upon the Egyptian Free Officers Movement which had overthrown the Egyptian monarchy in 1952.
On 14 July 1958, a group that identified as the “Free Officers”, a secret military group led by General Abd al-Karim Qasim, overthrew the monarchy. This group was markedly Pan-Arab in character. King Faisal II, the Regent and Crown Prince Abd al-Ilah, and Nuri al-Said were all killed.
The Revolution brought Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i and Abd al-Karim Qasim to power. Qasim's regime implemented a number of domestic changes to Iraqi society.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.