The territory of present-day Iraq was conquered by the Osmanli in the early 16th
century. On the eve of WWI it was divided into three Vilayet : Baghdad, Basra and
Mosul.
The British conquest started in 1914 when the town of Basra and part of the Vilayet
were occupied. As a result of fierce Osmanli resistance (1) it lasted however until
1917 - 1918 before the two other Vilayet could also be conquered.
By the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 the Osmanli Empire formally ceded the three Vilayet
to the Allies who had already proclaimed them a mandated territory entrusted to the
British some months before (situation confirmed by the League of Nations in 1921)
(1) The major pre-1917 attempt to conquer Baghdad [Comm. : MajGen. Sir Charles
Vere Ferrers Townshend (1861- 1924)] ended with a defeat at Kut al-Amara in
1916.
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BRITISH MILITARY ADMINISTRATORS
Commanders of the British Forces operating in MesopotamiaCommanders of the Indian Expeditionary Force "D"
(subordinated to India Command)
1914 - 1915 Gen. Sir Arthur Arnold Barret 1857 - 1926
Acting commander in Mesopotamia until the arrival of Barret
1914 BrigGen. Walter Sinclair
Delamain 1862 - 1932
1915 - 1916 Gen. Sir John Eccles Nixon 1857 - 1921
1916 LtGen. Sir Percy Henry Noel Lake 1855 - 1940
Chief Political Officer
1914 - 1916 Sir Percy Zachariah Cox,
Political Resident in the
Persian Gulf. 1864 - 1937
Commanders of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force
(directly subordinated to the War Office)
1916 LtGen. Sir Percy Henry Noel Lake s.a.
1916 - 1917 MajGen. Sir Frederic Stanley Maude 1864 - 1917
1917 - 1919 LtGen. Sir William Raine Marshall 1865 - 1939
1919 - 1920 ...
1920 LtGen. Sir James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane 1862 - 1950
Civil Commissioners
1916 - 1918 Sir Percy Zachariah Cox s.a.
1918 - 1920 LtCol. Sir Arnold Talbot
Wilson* 1884 - 1940
KINGDOM OF IRAQ
In 1920 (after the quelling of an Iraqi revolt against the proclamation of British
mandatory rule over the region) British military government was ended and replaced
by that of an Iraqi Council of State under British supervision. (1)
This provisional regime lasted until the following year when Iraq was proclaimed a
Kingdom, which became a fully independent state in 1932 when the League of Nations
formally abolished the mandate statute and Iraq joined the League. (2)(1) principal Coordinator of the rebel activities
1920 Mirza Muhammad Taqi Shirazi, Grand Mujtahid of Karbala,
principal Shi'a leader.
Formally the new Iraqi Council of State only had power over the former
Vilayet of Baghdad and Basra, Mosul remaining under direct British rule.
In practice however, Iraqi rule was also extended to that region.
(See here for more on the so called Mosul Question between 1920 and 1926).
(2) By then the U.K. had actually already replaced mandatory rule by a treaty
relationship. The most important of these treaties was the one signed in
1927 wereby Iraqi independence was recognized by the U.K.
(ratified in 1930 and accepted by the League of Nations in 1932)
The same treaty gave Great Britian however also the right to maintain air
bases in Iraq (Habbaniya near Baghdad and Shu'aiba near Basra) and to use
the country's facilities for military purposes.
Commanders of the British Forces in Iraq (until the events of 1941)
1932 - 1934 Air Vice Marsh. Sir Charles Stuart
Burnett 1882 - 1945
1934 - 1937 Air Vice Marsh. Sir William Gore
Sutherland Mitchell 1888 - 1944
1937 - 1939 Air Marsh. (1939) Sir Christopher
Lloyd Courtney 1890 - 1976
1939 - 1941 Air Vice Marsh. Harry George Smart 1891 -
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BRITISH REPRESENTATIVES
High Commissioners
Until 1925 : High Commissioners of Iraq and of the Vilayet of Mosul.
(Subordinated to the Middle East Department of the Colonial Office)
1920 - 1923 Sir Percy Zachariah Cox s.a.
1923 - 1928 Sir Henry Robert Conway Dobbs 1871 - 1934
1928 - 1929 Sir Gilbert Falkingham Clayton 1875 - 1929
1929 - 1932 Sir Francis Henry Humphrys 1879 - 1971
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HEADS OF STATE
Council of State
1920 - 1921 -Sayid 'Abd ar-Rahman al-Haydari al-
Gaylani, Naqib of Baghdad (Chairman) 18.. - 1927
-Haji 'Abd al-Ghani Kubba
-'Abd al-Jabbar al-Khayyat
-'Abd al-Latif al-Mandil
-'Abd al-Majid ash-Shawi
-'Abd ar-Rahman al-Haydari
-Ahmad Pasha as-Sani'
-Shaykh 'Ajil as-Samarmad
-Shaykh Dari as-Sa'dun
-Da'ud al-Yusifani
-Fakhri al-Jamil
-Gen. Izzat Pasha
-Gen. Ja'far Pasha al-'Askari 1887 - 1936
-Muhammad 'Ali Fazil
-Shaykh Muhammad as-Sayhud
-Sayid Muhammad Mahdi Tabataba'i
-Mustafa al-Alusi
-Haji Najm al-Badrawi
-Shaykh Salim al-Khayyun
-Sasun Effendi Hasqayl
-Sayid Talib Pasha an-Naqib
Kings
House of the Hashimi
1921 - 1933 Faysal I 1885 - 1933
1933 - 1939 Ghazi I, son 1912 - 1939
1939 - 1958 Faysal II, son 1935 - 1958
Regents during the minority of the King
1939 - 1941 FieldMarsh. 'Abd al-'Ilah,
nephew of King Faisal I,
fled into exile 1913 - 1958
1941 Sharif Sharaf ibn Rajih al-
Fawwaz al-Hashimi, during
the Government of National
Defence in apr - may (see
below) 1880 - 1955
1941 - 1953 FieldMarsh. 'Abd al-'Ilah (2x)
restored by the British
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MINISTERS
(CS) = a member of the Council of State 1920 - 1921
(ND) = a member of the Government of National Defence of 1941 (3)
(3) In apr 1941 - in an attempt to end British influence in Iraq and in the
rest of the Middle East - former prime minister Rashid 'Ali seized power
and established a Government of National Defence.
Despite German and Vichy French support he was however unable to maintain
himself against advancing British forces and by the end of may his regime
disappeared, being replaced by a pro British one.
As a consequence of these events Iraq was placed under British military
occupation for the rest of the duration of the war.
Commanders of the British Forces in occupation of Iraq
Commanders of Paiforce (Persia and Iraq Force)
(also in occupation of Iran - Subordinated to Indian Command until 1942, then
to Middle East Command)
1941 - 1942 LtGen. Sir Edward Pellew Quinan 1884 - 1960
1942 - 1943 Gen. Henry Maitland Wilson 1881 - 1964
1943 - 1944 LtGen. Sir Henry Royds Pownall 1887 - 1961
1944 - 1945 LtGen. Sir Arthur Francis Smith 1890 - 1977
