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{{Infobox Bilateral relations|British–Iraqi|United Kingdom|Iraq|filetype=png|mission1= Embassy of the United Kingdom, [[Baghdad]]|mission2= [[Embassy of Iraq, London]]}}
'''British–Iraqi relations''' are [[Diplomacy|foreign relations]] between [[Iraq]] and the United Kingdom.
 
The current [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Iraq|ambassador to Iraq]] is [[Stephen Hitchen]].
 
== History ==
The history of British–Iraqi relations date back to the creation of Iraq in 1920, when it was foundedcontrolled by Great Britain; by establishing separate provinces from [[Mosul]] to [[Basra]].<ref name=History:BritishRelationswithIraq>{{cite web |url=httphttps://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/iraq/britain_iraq_01.shtml |title=History: British Relations with Iraq |accessdateaccess-date=2008-03-04 |publisher=bbc.co.uk}}</ref> In the 19th century Europeans (mostly the British) began to take an interest in exploring, surveying, spying and trading in [[Mesopotamia]], as well as in navigating its rivers. By 1914 there was growing anxiety about the security of the Persian oilfields on the other side of the [[Persian Gulf]], these were the fields that supplied the [[Royal Navy]].
 
=== World War I ===
{{Main|Ottoman Empire during World War I|Middle Eastern theatre of World War I}}
[[File:Maude in Baghdad.jpg|left|thumb|British troops entering [[Baghdad]].]]
The Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of Germany and immediately became an enemy of Britain and France. Four major Allied operations attacked the Ottoman holdings.<ref> Eugene Rogan, ''The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East'' (2015) [https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Ottomans-Great-Middle-East/dp/046502307X/ excerpt] and [http://www.miwsr.com/2015/downloads/2015-092.pdf online summary]. </ref> The [[Gallipoli Campaign]] to control the Straits failed in 1915-1916. The first [[Mesopotamian campaign]] invading Iraq from India also failed. The second one captured Baghdad in 1917. The [[Sinai and Palestine campaign]] from Egypt was a British success. By 1918 the Ottoman Empire was a military failure. [[Armistice of Mudros|It signed an armistice]] in late October that amounted to surrender.<ref>M.S. Anderson, ''The Eastern question, 1774-1923: A study in international relations'' (1966) pp 310-52.</ref>
The Ottoman Empire, which included the provinces of [[Baghdad]], Basra and Mosul, entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary), and immediately became a target for British imperial ambitions.<ref name=History:BritishRelationswithIraq/> Soon after substantial Anglo-Indian army was raised, which landed in Basra in November 1914. The local defending forces soon fled, and the British decided to push on towards Baghdad. However the Turkish Ottoman forces proved more resilient than expected and the Anglo-Indian force surrendered in April 1916. New British forces eventually arrived in Basra in greater numbers, and by March 1917 were able to capture Baghdad.<ref name=History:BritishRelationswithIraq/>
 
=== The foundation of Iraq ===
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Iraq remained a satellite of Britain for the next three decades, under the terms of a treaty signed in 1930, which included the retention of British military bases and an agreement to train the [[Iraqi army]].<ref name=History:BritishRelationswithIraq/> Ironically, this army became a breeding ground of resentment against the British presence, particularly amongst new nationalist officers. After the death of King Faisal in 1933 the country was virtually ruled by a group of colonels who saw themselves as the future liberators of an oppressed Iraq.
During World War Two the British were once again dragged into Iraq, to protect the oil fields{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} in the north and to put down a pro-[[Nazi]] coup among the army officers. Some 3,000 Iraqi troops were killed,{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} and 3,000 nationalist officers were purged.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} The British remained to support the monarchy, and a pro-British prime minister, [[Nuri al-Said]], was in place.
 
===World War II===
In 1955, the United Kingdom was part of the [[Baghdad Pact]]. [[Majesty|HM]] King [[Faisal II of Iraq]] paid a state visit to the United Kingdom in July 1956.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ceremonies: State visits |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4935.asp |publisher=Official web site of the British Monarchy |accessdate=2008-11-29 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106153300/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4935.asp |archivedate=2008-11-06 |df= }}</ref>▼
The [[Anglo–Iraqi War]] (2–31 May 1941) was a British-led [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] military campaign to regain control of [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]] and its major oil fields. [[Rashid Ali al-Gaylani|Rashid Ali]] had [[1941 Iraqi coup d'état|seized power in 1941]] with assistance from [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]. The campaign resulted in the downfall of Ali's government, the re-occupation of Iraq by the British, and the return to power of the Regent of Iraq, Prince [['Abd al-Ilah]], a British ally.<ref>Ashley Jackson, ''The British Empire and the Second World War'' (2006) pp 145-54.</ref><ref>Robert Lyman, ''Iraq 1941: The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad'' (Osprey Publishing, 2006).</ref> The British launched a large pro-democracy propaganda campaign in Iraq from 1941–5. It promoted the Brotherhood of Freedom to instil civic pride in disaffected Iraqi youth. The rhetoric demanded internal political reform and warned against growing communist influence. Heavy use was made of the Churchill-Roosevelt [[Atlantic Charter]]. However, leftist groups adapted the same rhetoric to demand British withdrawal. Pro-Nazi propaganda was suppressed. The heated combination of democracy propaganda, Iraqi reform movements, and growing demands for British withdrawal and political reform became as a catalyst for postwar political change.<ref>Stefanie K. Wichhart, "Selling Democracy During the Second British Occupation of Iraq, 1941–5." ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 48.3 (2013): 509-536.</ref><ref>Daniel Silverfarb, ''The twilight of British ascendancy in the Middle East: a case study of Iraq, 1941-1950'' (1994). pp 1-7.</ref>
In 1958, monarch and politicians were swept away in a vicious nationalist army revolt.
 
===1950s===
 
▲In 1955, the United Kingdom was part of the [[Baghdad Pact]]. [[Majesty|HM]] King [[Faisal II of Iraq]] paid a state visit to the United Kingdom in July 1956.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ceremonies: State visits |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4935.asp |publisher=Official web site of the British Monarchy |accessdateaccess-date=2008-11-29 |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106153300/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4935.asp |archivedatearchive-date=2008-11-06 |df= }}</ref>
 
The British had a plan to use 'modernisation' and economic growth to solve Iraq's endemic problems of social and political unrest. The idea was that increased wealth through oil production would ultimately trickle down to all elements and thereby stave off the danger of revolution. The oil was produced but the wealth never reached below the elite. Iraq's political-economic system put unscrupulous politicians and wealthy landowners at the apex of power. They remained in control using an all-permeating patronage system. As a consequence, very little of the vast wealth was dispersed to the people, and unrest continued to grow.<ref>John Franzén, "Development vs. reform: attempts at modernisation during the twilight of british influence in Iraq, 1946–58." ''Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'' 37.1 (2009): 77-98.</ref> In 1958, monarch and politicians were swept away in a vicious nationalist army revolt.
 
 
In 1961, after Kuwait had gained independence from Britain, the Iraqi leader, General KassemQasim, claimed it as an integral part of Iraq and concentrated his troops on the frontier, with the intention of taking it by force. Britain was ready and dispatched troops stationed in the Persian Gulf region to dissuade the Iraqis from armed conflict.<ref name=History:BritishRelationswithIraq/> In 1979, [[Saddam Hussein]], seized power in Iraq in the name of the Arab nationalist [[Ba'ath Party]], a secular organization devoted to achieving the unity of all Arabs. In September 1980 when Iraqi troops crossed into Iran, by the orders of Saddam; Britain was one of the nations that armed Iraq.<ref name=History:BritishRelationswithIraq/> Saddam was defined as "a [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] scholar" and [[anglophile]], even after the 2003 invasion<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-132779/Exclusive-interview-Saddam-Hussein-Why-turned-us.html Exclusive interview with Saddam Hussein: Why have you turned against us?]</ref> A decade later however, Anglo-Iraqi relations timbered over when the UK supported the coalition forcing Iraq out of Kuwait.
 
==Present day==
 
===Iraq war 2003===
Britain once again found itself in Iraq after an [[invasion of Iraq|invasion]] in 2003. British forces were mainly based in the southern city of Basra, but after handing over Basra to Iraqi forces in 2007, both [[Iraq]] and [[United Kingdom|Britain]] stressstressed the need to develop economic relations between the two countries. This was confirmed by the British Foreign Minister, [[David Miliband]], during his current visit to Iraq on the occasion of his country's troops handing over the reins of security in Basrah to the Iraqi forces, and said: <blockquote>
"By spring 2008 our military presence in Basrah will be 2500 troops. We would like now to focus on new prospects of cooperation in the economic, political and military areas; our forces have been able to build close ties with their Iraqi counterparts under the leadership of lieutenant general Mouhan."<ref name=DevelopingEconomicRelations>{{cite web |url=http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/25578 |title=British-Iraqi agreement on developing economic relations |accessdateaccess-date=2008-03-04 |publisher=iraqupdates.com}}</ref>
</blockquote>
A statement issued by the Presidency of the Cabinet quoted Al-Maliki stressing his government's keenness to establish better relations with Britain and open horizons of joint cooperation in all fields, saying that the coming phase will witness the establishment of multiple projects for the reconstruction of Basrah and all other provinces, calling on the British government to contribute actively in these projects and help to support the development of the Iraqi economy.<ref name=DevelopingEconomicRelations/>
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* [[British support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war]]
* [[Iraq and the European Union]]
* [[British foreign policy in the Middle East]]
* [[Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011)]]
 
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
==Further reading==
* Bashkin, Orit. "Deconstructing Destruction: The Second Gulf War and the New Historiography of Twentieth-Century Iraq." ''Arab Studies Journal'' 23.1 (2015): 210-234. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44744905 online]
* Broich, John. ''Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against a Fascist State in Iraq and the Levant, 1941'' (Abrams, 2019).
* Franzén, Johan. “Development vs. Reform: Attempts at Modernisation during the Twilight of British Influence in Iraq, 1946–1958,” ''Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'' 37#1 (2009), pp. 77–98
* Elliot, Matthew. ''Independent Iraq: British Influence from 1941 to 1958'' (IB Tauris, 1996).
* Lyman, Robert. ''Iraq 1941: The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad'' (Osprey Publishing, 2006).
* Silverfarb, Daniel. ''Britain's informal empire in the Middle East: a case study of Iraq, 1929-1941'' ( Oxford University Press, 1986).
* Silverfarb, Daniel. ''The twilight of British ascendancy in the Middle East: a case study of Iraq, 1941-1950'' (1994)
* Silverfarb, Daniel. "The revision of Iraq's oil concession, 1949–52." ''Middle Eastern Studies'' 32.1 (1996): 69-95.
* Tarbush, Mohammad A. ''The role of the military in politics: A case study of Iraq to 1941'' (Routledge, 2015).
 
== External links ==
* [httphttps://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/iraq/britain_iraq_01.shtml History: British Relations with Iraq: BBC]
 
{{UKIraq–United bilateralKingdom relations}}
{{Foreign relations of Iraq}}
{{Foreign relations of the United Kingdom}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iraq - United Kingdom Relationsrelations}}
[[Category:Iraq–United Kingdom relations| ]]
[[Category:Bilateral relations of Iraq|United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Bilateral relations of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Relations of colonizer and former colony]]
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