Anglo-Iraqi Treaty

Anglo-Iraq Treaty of 1922
The Anglo Iraq Treaty of 1922, Cmd 2370
Created	1922
Ratified	1924
Signatories	Percy Cox and Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani
Purpose	Codification of the British Administration of the newly created Kingdom of Iraq

The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of October 1922 was an agreement signed by the government of the United Kingdom and the government of Iraq. The treaty was designed to allow for local self-government while giving the British control of foreign and military affairs. It was intended to conclude an agreement made at the Cairo Conference of 1921 to establish a Hashemite Kingdom in Iraq.

In the aftermath of the First World War, most possessions of the Ottoman Empire were divided between France and Britain, with the remainder becoming the present-day country of Turkey. The former Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra were proposed to become a League of Nations Class A mandate under direct British rule, known as the British Mandate for Mesopotamia. The idea of a “mandate” was seen with serious skepticism among many of the people of the region as a thinly veiled attempt at colonization, and in fact the mandate was not implemented, as a widespread revolt broke out in 1920, after which it was decided that the territories would become instead the Kingdom of Iraq. On 23 August 1921, Faisal ibn Hasayn was crowned as Faisal I, King of Iraq.

Concurrently, the area acquired by the new kingdom was going through a period of political turmoil. Nationalists who believed that the expulsion of the Ottomans would lead to greater independence were disappointed at the system of government decided for the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. Rather than the people of the region gaining a new sense of national identity through self-government, the British imported civil servants from India who had previous knowledge and experience of how to manage the administration of an overseas possession.

The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1922 served to prevent uprisings in the intended new Kingdom of Iraq by giving Britain direct control of the kingdom's military, and significant influence over its economic and political affairs.