1941 UK Foreign Office decided to give money to Regent to help him return to power
(Musings On Iraq review Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)
1927 1st student strike in Iraq over Lebanese teacher writing book which attacked Shiites
Teacher fired and book banned Students called for freedom of speech and teacher be reinstated Broken up by fire dept and police Al-Ahali leaders arrested
(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)
(Musings On Iraq A History Of The Iraqi Communist Party Interview With Univ of East Anglia’s Johan Franzen)
1917 British captured Ottoman fort at Khadairi Bend in campaign to recapture Kut
1920 Turkish National Pact said Turkey gave up rights to all Ottoman provinces with Arab
majorities including Basra and Baghdad Did not include Mosul province which Turkey claimed had Turkish majority Kurds called Turks
(Musings On Iraq review Turkey, the US and Iraq)
1925 League of Nations Commission on Mosul arrived in province to protests Was to
determine who would get Mosul Iraq or Turkey Commission interviewed hundreds of locals and mapped economy land trade routes ethnicities
(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq How The Ottoman Province Of Mosul Became Part Of Iraq)
1941 Cabinet met and decided to resign to force PM Gaylani to resign He refused PM asked
Golden Square officers to resolve dispute Regent said he could pick PM Told military to stay out of politics
I was quoted by Paul Iddon in his article "Is This The Beginning Of The End For U.S. Troop Deployments In Syria And Iraq?" in Forbes.
Kelly, Michael, Martyrs’ Day, Chronicle of a Small War, New York: Vintage Books, 2001
Michael Kelly was a journalist who traveled throughout the Middle East during the Gulf War. His book, Martyrs’ Day, Chronicle of a Small War reads like a travel journal. It is full of all the places he went from Iraq to Jordan to Israel to Egypt to Saudi Arabia to Turkey, the people he met and the adventures he had. There are some interesting parts like his interviews with Kuwaitis right after the Gulf War and Iraqis during the sanctions, but it is not essential reading. It’s more of a deep background book or for someone who wants a light read.
866 Battle of Baghdad ended Mutazz announced as new Abbasid caliph Rival Mustain exiled to Hijaz but
later executed
1969 Former MP Bajari during spy trial claimed opposition leaders were trying to
overthrow Pres Bakr’s govt
1920 British cabinet decided Iraqi oil would be developed by a public company Foreign Secretary Curzon
overturned decision
(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)
I was mentioned in this article "US expected to strike Iraqi militias after 'huge escalation,'" in The National by Robert Tollast.
For a full listing of Musings On Iraq's citations see here.
1921 Gertrude Bell wrote that British officers in Mosul province thought they could convince Kurds to
vote for Faisal as king in referendum They didn’t
(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell And Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell, Explorer of the Middle East)
(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)
(Musings On Iraq review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia)
1916 Battle of Hanna Defile British attacked Ottomans but failed 2,741 British casualties
Was defeat in British effort to relieve siege at Kut
1915 UK troops and ships attacked Turks and Arabs in Ruta Creek, Basra Turned back Did wound Ottoman
commander in Basra who was sent to Baghdad
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1915 Ottoman governor of Baghdad wrote US consulate that British were distributing
money to clerics in Najaf and Karbala
I was mentioned in this accompanying article as well in Akhbar Al Aan.
For a full rundown on Musings On Iraq's citations and mentions see here.
Rey, Matthieu, When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East, Iraq and Syria, 1946-63, Cairo New York: The American University in Cairo Press, 2022
Matthieu Rey in When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East, Iraq and Syria, 1946-63 doesn’t provide a completely convincing argument that parliamentary democracy became the basis of post-World War II politics in Iraq and Syria. Rey’s thesis is that during the end of the Ottoman period until the early 1960s a new elite emerged in Iraq and Syria that wanted Western style political reforms and pushed parliamentarianism as the way to achieve them. It expanded representation but also led to divisions which eventually ended the system. Rey does prove that parliamentarism persisted in both countries despite coups and would be autocrats. On the other hand he downplays many issues like corrupt elections, how assemblies lacked power and how there were never any substantive reforms. That’s why his book doesn’t completely pass the test.
1915 US consulate report UK forces in Basra under constant harassment by tribes
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| (AFP) |
The impact of the Gaza War continues to be felt throughout the Middle East. Recently Iran made a huge escalation when it launched missiles at Irbil and killed and wounded several civilians.
1913 US consul in Baghdad wrote if British took Mesopotamia there would be little resistance because
public so apathetic
1943 Iraq declared war on Axis
(Musings On Iraq review Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)
1915 Sir Percy Cox reported some Arab sheikhs had given up ties with UK and joined Turks
following calls for jihad
1928 Abdul Sadoun became PM for 3rd of 4 times Replaced Askari who was forced to resign over opposition
to his conscription plan for army Sadoun compromise between King and England to try to get Anglo-Iraq Treaty passed
(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between the Two World Wars, The Militarist Origins of Tyranny)
1916 British attacked Ottomans at Wadi River but stopped 1,613 British casualties 2,000
Turkish ones Ottomans retreated next day
866 Papers of Abbasid Caliph Mutasin’s resignation signed
Eisenstadt, Michael and Mathewson, Eric, Editors, U.S. Policy In Post-Saddam Iraq, Washington, DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2003
Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq the Washington Institute for Near East Policy realized the United States could learn a lot from the British time in the country starting in World War I. The Institute collected together a group of Iraq experts and had them write about the United Kingdom’s experience and then make suggestions for the Bush administration. The authors provided a good history and there were plenty of lessons for the U.S. to learn. As we all know the White House thought it had all the answers and carried out a costly and highly flawed occupation as a result.
1258 Mongols began siege of Baghdad Would eventually kill the entire population of the
city
1917 British failed at 2nd attack upon Ottomans at Khadairi Bend outside Kut
1916 British took Shaikh Saad after Ottomans retreated but not before inflicting heavy
British casualties
866 Abbasid Caliph Mutasin deposed by his adviser Ibn Tahir
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| (Al Sumaria) |
866 Ibn Tahir negotiated deal to split revenues of Baghdad with Samarra and depose Abbasid Caliph
Mutasin in return
1909 Riots in Mosul killed Sheikh Said Sufi leader in Sulaymaniya Led his followers to
revolt cutting off trade in northern Mosul province
Helms, Nathaniel and Faraj, Haytham, No Time For The Truth, The Haditha Incident And The Search For Justice, New York: Arcade Publishing, 2016
No Time For The Truth, The Haditha Incident And The Search For Justice by Nathaniel Helms and Haytham Faraj is about the Haditha massacre where a group of Marines were charged with killing civilians in western Iraq in 2006. The authors were both sympathetic to the Marines with Faraj being one of their defense lawyers. They argue the Marines were following their training when they attacked two houses and therefore did not commit murder. The authors then focus upon how the government tried to scapegoat one Marine for the entire incident.
1909 Riot in Mosul after Kirkuk soldier insulted a woman Organized by elites opposed to
Ottoman reforms 60 killed
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| (Wikipedia) |
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1916 British attacked Shaikh Saad in campaign to relieve troops trapped at Kut Turned back
by Ottomans 600 British casualties
 |
| (AP) |
1916 Sykes and Picot drafted deal on dividing Ottoman Empire Baghdad and Basra vilayets
would go to UK Mosul to France Would also include independent Arab state for Sharif Hussein
(Musings On Iraq review Empires of the Sand, The Struggle For Mastery In The Middle East 1789-1923)
 |
| (Reuters) |
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| (4 News) |
1915 Suleiman Bey took over Iraq Command for Ottomans Called on Arab sheikhs to join war against
British and planned on retaking Basra
1914 UK set out from Qurna, Basra north Found Tigris River had been blocked Gunboats
couldn’t follow Forced UK to retreat back to Qurna
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1638 Ottoman Sultan Murad IV began siege of Baghdad Captured it by end of year Massacred Shiites
