History of iraq
This article includes a description from prehistory to the present in the region of the present state of Iraq in Mesopotamia.
Ancient Mesopotamia
Ancient Mesopotamia was as essential as it was mysterious. The history was born there. In the fourth millennium BC, the civilization of Sumer arose between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, what are now the non-desert areas of present-day Iraq and the border area of north-eastern Syria Some of the best-known and oldest human settlements are found in what is now known as Iraq, although it extends to the fertile areas contiguous to the strip between the 2 rivers, and which roughly coincides with the non-desert areas of present-day Iraq and the border area of northeastern Syria. The crossing point of these two axes is the cradle of the first known civilization. Dwellings, temples, utensils, and pottery found at various sites date back to the fifth millennium BC. The names of cities like Ur or Nippur, of legendary heroes like Gilgameš, of the Hammurabi Code, of the amazing buildings known as Ziggurats, come from Ancient Mesopotamia. And episodes mentioned in the Bible or in the Torah, such as the Garden of Eden, the flood or the loss of languages at the Tower of Babel, occurred in this area.
Written history (the ancient name for Iraq, especially the area between the Tigris and Euphrates) begins with the Sumerians, who by the fourth millennium BC had established themselves as a city-state. Records and accounts on clay tablets show that they had a complex economic organization before 3200 BCE. The kingdom of Sumer was contested by King Sargon of Akkad (circa 2350 BC), followed by the Sumerian-Akkadian culture that continued in Erech (Tall al-Warka) and Ur (Tall al-Muqayyar) until it was replaced by the Amorites and Babylonians (circa 1900 BC), with their capital in Babylon.
Babylon, Mitani and Assyria
The cultural pinnacle of Babylonian history is represented by Hammurabi (c.1750-circa 1792 BC), who compiled a celebrated code of laws. After the collapse of the Sumerian civilization, Hammurabi defeated the rival princes and founded a kingdom around 1700 BC. During his rule, Babylon became the main center of trade in the Near East, and he extended his empire north through the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Between the years 1813 and 1780 B.C. C., Assyria reached the category of empire. It was the first Assyrian Empire, led by King Shamshi-Adad I until 1760 B.C. C., Hammurabi of Babylon defeated and conquered the Assyrians.
The 16th century BC. C. was a period of invasions and great confusion throughout Mesopotamia. Assyria was under the control of both invaders (the Mitani and the Hittites in particular), until the XIV century in that the Assyrian king Ashur-uballit I freed himself from his oppressors and even extended the boundaries of his lands. The successors of this king further expanded the borders and knew how to confront the surrounding peoples.
After Babylon was destroyed by the Hittites around 1550 BC, the Hurrians founded the kingdom of Mitani in the north for about 200 years, and the Kassites ruled for about 400 years in the south.
From Assur, their northern stronghold, the Assyrians invaded Mesopotamia around 1350 B.C. C. and established their capital in Nineveh. Assyrian supremacy was interrupted during the 11th and 10th centuries BC. C. by the Aramaeans, whose Aramaic language became the common language in the eastern Mediterranean for that time.
Chaldean
Caldea is the name with which the region located in the Mesopotamia media was known in Antiquity, when the Chaldeans were established. This denomination was then extended to the entire region of Babylon, but it should only be called Caldea to the south-east extreme zone of the southern part of the Euphrates and Tigris basin, near the Arabian deserts.
The term 'caldea' comes from Latin Chaldaeusand this in turn of the ancient Greek ≤2and this, finally, of the akkadian kaldû.Nebuchadnezzar II
The Assyrian hegemony was finally crushed by the Chaldean Babylonians or Neo-Babylonians, who allied with the Medes of Persia, destroyed Nineveh in 612 BC. Nebuchadnezzar II (r.c. 605 - c.560 BCE), rebuilt the city-state of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar II (son of Nabopolassar) inherited the Babylonian Empire, to which he added territories, and rebuilt the city of Babylon.
In the VI century a. C., Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem. Solomon's Temple was looted, King Joaquim and part of the population were deported to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar II is credited with building the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Persian domination
In the year 537 B.C. C., Babylon falls to the Persians, under Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty. Under his son Cambyses II, the Persian Empire stretched from the Oxus (Amu Darya) River to the Mediterranean, with its center in Mesopotamia. His power, in turn, was contested by the Greeks. Led by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, they defeated the Persians in 327 BC. C., and entered Persian lands. The Seleucids, Alexander's successors in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia, built their capital, Seleucia, on the banks of the Tigris, south of Baghdad. They had to cede power to the Parthians, who conquered Mesopotamia in 138 B.C. c.
Arab conquest and early Islamic period
Muslims conquered Iraq in the 7th century AD.
- Battle of al-Qadisiyya (636)
- Camello Battle (656)
- Battle of Kerbala (680)
In the eighth century, the Abbasid Caliphate established its capital in Baghdad, a city that would later become an outpost of the Ottoman Empire.
- Battle of the Grand Zab (750)
Ottoman Iraq
In the late 14th century and early 15th century, the Kara Koyunlu federation ruled the area now known as Iraq. In 1466, the Ak Koyunlu defeated the Kara Koyunlu and took control. In the 16th century, most of the territory came under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout most of the period of Ottoman rule (1533-1918) the territory of present-day Iraq was a battleground between rival regional empires and tribal alliances. The Safavid dynasty of Iran briefly asserted its hegemony over Iraq in the periods of 1508-1533 and 1622-1638. During the years 1747-1831 Iraq was governed by Mamluk officials of Georgian origin who obtained autonomy from the Sublime Porte and presented a program to modernize the economy and the military system. In 1831, the Ottomans succeeded in overthrowing the Mamluk regime and imposed direct control over Iraq.
Monarchy and republic
At the end of the First World War Iraq became a territory under British mandate, at whose head was placed, as in Transjordan, a member of the Hashemite family, in this case Faysal I, brother of the Transjordanian monarch. Initially Iraq had the Ottoman provinces of Basra and Baghdad, but when the importance of the oil fields in Mosul province became known, the British attached it to the new nation.
Accessing independence in 1932, Iraq remained a constitutional monarchy. Although the Kingdom of Iraq was admitted to the League of Nations as a sovereign nation, the British military presence and the disadvantageous Anglo-Iraqi oil sale agreement generated discontent among the population, especially among Arab nationalists represented by Rashid Ali.
In 1941, at the height of World War II, Rashi Ali, then Prime Minister, led a coup with the support of Nazi Germany. The UK responded by invading the country and restoring the Regent 'Abd al-Ilah.
Iraqi Monarchy
In 1945 Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League. In 1956 the Baghdad Pact made Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and the United Kingdom allies, and established its headquarters in Baghdad.
Republic of Iraq
General Abdul Karim Qasim seized power in a coup in July 1958. King Faysal II and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said were killed during the coup. The new government, headed by Qasim, soon undertakes major reforms; On July 27 of that same year, a new provisional Constitution was promulgated, in which Iraq was defined as a "fully sovereign independent Republic" and which considered "Arabs and Kurds as partners in that homeland and with their traditional rights within the unity of Iraq” Important reforms are undertaken that affect land ownership and improvements in health and education. In the international arena, the Baghdad Pact is denounced, important strategic agreements are reached with the USSR and the anti-Western alignment is defined. Despite the apparent ideological harmony, relations with the United Arab Republic chaired by Gamal Abdel Nasser are bad; there are some uprisings against Qasim and even an attack on his own person (in which a very young Saddam Hussein participates), behind which the hand of Nasser seemed to be. Also weakened in the interior as a consequence of the end of the support of the Communist Party (which has been harshly repressed since the end of 1959), Qasim has no choice but to develop a slight opening of the regime, with the acceptance of other political groups; However, this rapprochement will be insufficient to achieve social peace in Iraq, since the Kurds, upset by the strong policy of Arabization to which they are subjected by the Qasim government, rise up in September 1961, thus starting a civil war.. In this context, the Baathists are gaining prominence.
In February 1963, Qasim was assassinated and the Baath Arab Socialist Party (Ba'ath Party) seized power under the leadership of General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr as Prime Minister and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif as President.
Nine months later, Arif led a coup that overthrew the Ba'ath government, beginning a period of clear Nasserist influence. In April 1966 Arif died when his plane crashed and was replaced by his brother, General Abdul Rahman Mohammad Arif. On July 17, 1968, a group of individuals from the Ba'ath party, together with elements of the military, overthrew the Arif regime. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr reappeared as president of Iraq and the Revolution Command Council (RCC).
On June 2, 1972, the company with majority British capital Iraq Petroleum Company, which until then had managed the country's rich oil fields, was nationalized. This event, which happened shortly after Iraq had led the revolt of the producing countries against the big companies in 1971, convulsed the market, led to other nationalizations, paving the way for the ordeal of 1973.
Saddam Hussein's dictatorship
In July 1979 Bakr resigned, and the successor he chose, Saddam Hussein, assumed both positions, beginning a stage in which the Baath Party would again assume the government, this time without interruption until the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The Iran-Iraq war lasted from 1980 to 1988 and devastated Iraq's economy. With this war, Iraq wanted to recover some territories that had belonged to it and that were annexed to Iran by the British Empire, reducing its access to the sea. In addition, it can also be considered a war almost imposed by the United States and its Western allies, given the fear of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the expansion of its ideas towards Iraq and other oil-producing Arab countries in the Persian Gulf. This fear was also shared by the Iraqi Baathist government and other Arab countries in the region. The country declared victory in 1988 but, in reality, achieved only a weary return to the pre-war status quo. The war bequeathed to Iraq the most important military installations in the Gulf region, but it also left behind huge debts and an ongoing rebellion by Kurds in the northern mountains. The government reportedly suppressed the rebellion by using chemical weapons against the civilian population, including a massive chemical weapons attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja that killed several thousand residents.
Invasion of Kuwait and Gulf War
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, but a US-led coalition, acting in accordance with UN resolutions, expelled Iraq from Kuwait in February 1991, in the so-called Gulf War.
Iraq under UN sanction
The destruction of hydroelectric and other power plants caused epidemics of gastroenteritis, cholera, and typhus by preventing the operation of drinking water and wastewater treatment plants. As a result, 100,000 civilians were indirectly affected, while the infant mortality rate doubled. The World Health Organization (WHO) recorded a sharp increase in cholera and typhoid cases in the 1990s. The report of a UN mission, headed by Undersecretary Martti Ahtisaari, sent in March 1991 to assess Iraq's humanitarian needs, described the state of the country as "almost apocalyptic".
Another UN report, from 1999, underlines the long-term effects of this bombing campaign, which destroyed most of the infrastructure necessary for the survival of society (water, electricity, hospitals, etc.). According to the report, the mortality rate in childbirth increased from 50 per 100,000 in 1989 to 117 in 1997, while the infant mortality rate (understood as children under 5 years of age) increased during the same period from 30 per 1,000 to more than 97 per 1,000; between 1990 and 1994 it multiplied by 62. Before the war, in 1990, Iraq produced about 8.9 billion watts; by 1999, this number had dropped to 3,500. This drastic reduction is due both to the aerial bombardments and to the economic sanctions applied later. The main difficulty lies in distinguishing between the indirect deaths caused by the bombings and those caused by the sanctions, which prevented the reconstruction of the country.
After the war UN-mandated sanctions, based on Security Council resolutions, required the regime to surrender its weapons of mass destruction and cancel its nuclear reconstruction program and submit to UN inspections. The Iraqi government cooperated with UN inspectors and destroyed their stockpiles. However, around 1998 the Iraqi government accused the inspectors (UN personnel, but mostly Australian and British) of being American spies and did not allow their work to continue. Which, in fact, had almost destroyed the entire arsenal of unconventional weapons in the country. Under the UN's Oil-for-Food program, Iraq was allowed to export unlimited amounts of oil to buy food, medicine, and humanitarian aid equipment and supporting infrastructure needed to sustain the civilian population. The UN, in charge of verifying the operation of the embargo, breached its duties, recently discovering a corruption scheme between its officials and the companies inspected, for which bribes were received and the Iraqi president allegedly allocated the money from the sale of oil to his enrichment.
During the 90' The United States and the United Kingdom carried out several strike operations pursuant to UN resolutions regarding the restriction of the flight of Iraqi aircraft in southern and northern Iraq to protect the Kurdish and Shiite population from an attack by the Iraqi government and vehicle traffic ban in southern Iraq to prevent the Baathist government from massing troops to threaten or invade Kuwait again.
Iraq War
Invasion of Iraq in 2003
On March 19, 2003, the United States, supported by a coalition made up of the United Kingdom, Australia, Poland, Italy, Spain, the Philippines, El Salvador, Kazakhstan, and the Dominican Republic, began the invasion without UN support, with numerous governments of countries around the world against it, and with world public opinion also against it (including the citizens of the United States, Spain and Great Britain).
After a quick three-week campaign, the coalition reached a city in Baghdad, which was thrown into chaos by the power vacuum that ensued with the overthrow of Iraq's sovereign government. Saddam Hussein's government ceased to exist on April 9, 2003.
Post-invasion
On December 13, 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured by invading soldiers with the help of collaborationist Iraqis. Subsequently, elections were held to approve a new constitution to give legitimacy to the new government and to elect a new president. The truth is that since the beginning of the invasion, the country has suffered a constant climate of political and social instability, suffering several almost daily attacks carried out by uncontrolled tribal and sectarian groups or, more frequently, conventional guerrilla attacks, by those who reject the occupation troops in the territory, as well as the constant confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis, which, from February 2006, escalated to the point of being on the brink of civil war. showdown that it is also accompanied by power struggles between different Shiite factions. In addition to clashes with Iraqis recruited by the Wahabi Islamists of Al Qaeda who want to gain strength in the country to prevent it from being controlled by the United States or the Shiites. But with little or no chance of coming to power.
Despite the fact that the Americans decreed the cessation of military operations in May 2003, thinking that they already controlled the country and that winning the war would be easy, the occupying army has faced a complicated and devastating war of guerrillas by the Iraqi Resistance, made up of militias and guerrilla groups of different types (Baathist or non-Baathist nationalists, Marxist communists, Sunni Islamists with or without links to Al Qaeda, Shiite Islamists with or without links to Iran's Shiites....)
Several countries have begun the repatriation of their troops, realizing the dangerousness of the country's situation, the high cost of maintaining troops, the impossibility of winning the war, and the very nonsense of most of their initial arguments.
The United States and Great Britain, moreover, have been peppered by the scandal of torture in the Abu Ghraib prison or the beatings of young Iraqis by British soldiers. And also war crimes for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians trapped in the fighting and bombing of the war; in the small civil war provoked by ethnic, tribal and sectarian divisions; and the general worsening of living conditions since the invasion began.