Iraq

Abstract

Part of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century, Iraq was captured by British forces in 1916 and became in 1921 a Kingdom under a League of Nations mandate, administered by Britain. It became independent on 3 Oct. 1932 under the Hashemite Dynasty, which was overthrown on 14 July 1958 by a military coup which established a Republic, controlled by a military-led Council of Sovereignty under Gen. Qassim. The republican regime terminated the adherence of Iraq to the Arab Federation (see The Statesman’s Year-Book, 1958, p. 806). In 1963 Qassim was overthrown and Gen. Abdul Salam Aref became President, to be succeeded in 1966 by his brother Abdul Rahman Aref. In 1968 a successful coup was mounted by the Ba’th Party, which brought Gen. Ahmed Al Bakr to the Presidency. His Vice-President, from 1969, Saddam Hussein, became President in a peaceful transfer of power in 1979.