'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎206r] (416/862)

MODERN IRAQ 299
There was no serious clash of British and Iraqi interests till 1941,
but the change of status did not improve the attitude of nationalist
groups throughout the country towards Britain. This was due partly
to the nature of Iraqi nationalism, irked by the limitation on sove
reignty implied by the treaty and the presence of British garrisons
however small or remote, partly (after 1936) to the skilful fomentation
of discontent by propaganda from an Italy and a Germany now re
entering the vista of empire, and above all to the political situation
in Syria and Palestine. But the death of King Faisal in 1933 was the
worst misfortune for Iraq. He had shown the most conspicuous
skill and diplomacy in dealing both with foreign Powers and with
the more intransigent sections of his own people, and despite his
origins as a British nominee had identified himself in Iraqi eyes with
the interests of his country without losing control over the extreme
nationalists.
Independent Iraq from 1933 to 1943
After the death of King Faisal in 1933, worn out by the Assyrian
crisis (p. 314), the apparent object of the Iraqi nationalists was
attained: the government of Iraq was entirely in the hands of
ministries elected or made solely by the people of Iraq. It was no
longer held in check by a strong personality on the throne and was
so free from British control or guidance that an increasingly anti-
British policy in internal affairs and diplomacy was effectively pur
sued, despite the presence of the R.A.F. establishments allowed by
the treaty. Yet this experience of self-government seems largely to
have failed to satisfy the ambitions and interests of the various groups
of politically self-conscious folk in Iraq—the richer townsmen, army
officers, civil servants, religious and tribal leaders, students—with
the exception perhaps of the diminishing band of elder statesmen,
survivors of Ahd ai Iraq and Faisal’s officer-corps, who generally held
the highest posts in the government. A certain dissatisfaction with
the state of affairs spread through the body politic and culminated
in the ill-timed, enthusiastic, yet almost aimless military coup against
Great Britain in 1941.
No detailed political history can here be given, but the main
features of political life are indicated in order to show the present
internal condition of Iraq. This is the product of three general
factors and a host of detailed political complexities. The younger
generation was brought up by its elders in the tradition of the Arab
revolt: rebellion against authority had become an end, almost an