Iraqi Independence and League Membership (1932)
The independence of Iraq in October 1932 was a landmark in the history of decolonisation: the first time a League of Nations Class A mandate — territories deemed 'temporarily' under foreign administration until capable of self-governance — formally graduated to full sovereignty. Iraq had been under British mandate since the San Remo Conference of 1920, when Britain was awarded control of the territories of the former Ottoman vilayets of Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra. British rule had been turbulent from the start. The Iraqi Revolt of 1920 — a nationwide uprising against British administration that killed approximately 6,000–10,000 Iraqis and 500 British and Indian troops — demonstrated the cost of direct colonial administration. Britain responded by installing a constitutional monarchy under Faisal I, a Hashemite prince from the Hejaz with no prior connection to Iraq, as a mechanism of indirect rule. By the late 1920s, with Faisal's government functioning and the discovery of oil near Kirkuk (1927) making the territory more valuable, Britain negotiated the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty as the framework for independence. The treaty guaranteed: a 25-year alliance, British military bases at Habbaniyah and Shaibah, British control of Iraqi external communications, and the obligation to consult Britain on foreign policy. These terms essentially preserved British strategic control while transferring administrative responsibility to Iraqi politicians. Iraq joined the League of Nations on 3 October 1932, becoming the 57th member. The British position in Iraq was maintained through the 1930 treaty until the 1958 revolution, when the monarchy was overthrown and the republic established. The oil concession, held by the Iraq Petroleum Company (a British-led consortium), was nationalised in 1972.
- Year: 1932 CE
- Category: Political
