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The Cradle of Civilization

In ancient times the land area now known as modern Iraq was almost equivalent to Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates). This region is known as the Cradle of Civilization, for it was here in about 4000BC that the Sumerian culture flourished. Land was cultivated for the first time, early calendars were used and the first written alphabet was invented here. Ur of the Chaldees was a great and famous Sumerian city, dating from this time.

After the collapse of this civilization, the people were reunited in 1700BC by King Hammurabi of Babylon, and the country flourished under the name of Babylonia. On Hammurabi's death, the land was under Assyrian rule for about two centuries. It was then restored to its former Babylonian glory under Nebuchadnezzar II, who built the famous Hanging Gardens, and made Babylon the most famous city of the ancient world.

Age of empires

Various invaders conquered the land after Nebuchadnezzar's death, including Cyrus the Great in 539BC and Alexander the Great in 331BC. In the second century BC, it became part of the Persian Empire, remaining thus until the 7th century AD, when it was captured by Arab Muslims (Abbasids). The capital was moved to Baghdad which became an important commercial and cultural centre in the Middle Ages.

Mongol invaders in AD1258 sacked Baghdad and murdered the Abbasid caliph. After much conflict over supremacy, the country was conquered by the Turks in the 17th century and became part of the Ottoman Empire. Turkish rule continued unchecked, and with very little development, until the end of the 19th century.

British influence

During the First World War, Turkey became a German ally and its empire collapsed when British forces invaded Mesopotamia in 1917 and occupied Baghdad.

The country became a British Mandate -- due, in no small part, to the British interest in Iraqi oil-fields -- and an armistice was signed with Turkey in 1918. Local unrest, however, resulted in an Arab uprising in 1920, and after costly attempts to quell this, the British government decided to draw up a new plan for the state of Iraq. It was to be a kingdom, under the rule of Emir Faisal, and, although the monarch was elected by plebiscite in 1921, full independence was not achieved until 1932, when the British Mandate was officially terminated. Iraq joined the League of Nations in the October of that year, and was officially recognised as an independent sovereign state. On Faisal's death in 1933, he was succeeded by his son, King Ghazi I.

The growing state

In 1936 King Ghazi I formed an alliance with other Arab nations, known as the Pan-Arab movement. This was, in effect, a non-aggression treaty, promising kinship between Arab countries. Three years later, Ghazi was killed in a road accident and was succeeded by his three-year-old son, Faisal II, under a regency. Faisal, the cousin of Jordan's present King Hussein, did not assume the throne formally until his eighteenth birthday, in May 1953.

During the earlier part of World War II, Iraq's government was strongly pro-British, but a military revolt in 1941 resulted in British troops landing at Basra in 1941. The ensuing war between Britain and Iraq lasted less than a month, before Iraq conceded defeat, and a new, pro-British government was established. In the following year Iraq became an important Middle Eastern supply centre for American and British forces, particularly with regard to the trans-shipment of arms to the USSR.

Coups, wars & instability

War with Israel followed in 1948, in which Iraqi forces were allied with those of Transjordan, in accordance with a treaty signed by the two countries during the previous year. Fighting continued until the signing of a cease-fire agreement in May 1949.

During the early 1950s, in the reign of the new young King Faisal II, various pro-Western pacts were signed, but Arab factions, bitterly opposed to union with the West, staged a military coup on 14th July 1958, led by General Karim Kassem. King Faisal and the premier, Nuri as-Said were both killed in the uprising and the country was proclaimed a republic.

A period of considerable instability followed, with one military coup swiftly succeeding another, and leaders came and went throughout the 60s and early 70s. Iraq's general policy during these years was one of hostility to the West and friendship with the USSR. Iraq declared war on Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and in the 1973 hostilities, gave material aid to Syria. Iraq was heavily opposed to the cease-fire which ended the conflict.

Relations with Iran were fast deteriorating in the early 70s. The ongoing Kurdish problem, which had first emerged in a 1961 Kurdish rebellion, was now fuelled by Iranian arms supplies to the Kurd leader, Mustafa al-Barzani. Problems were compounded by border disputes with Iran, but these were partially settled in 1975, whereupon Iran withdrew aid from the Kurdish revolt and effectively halted it.

By the end of 1977, the Kurdish people had been granted greater autonomy and Kurdish was recognised as an official language. Politically, Iraq seemed to be stabilizing, and the oil boom of the late 70s contributed dramatically to an upsurge in the economy.

Saddam Hussein & the invasion of Kuwait

In 1979 the president, Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, was replaced by Saddam Hussein, and once more the political situation flared into hostilities with Iran. The Iran-Iraq War, which began in 1980, lasted for eight years and had a crippling effect on the economy of both countries. Before Iraq had a chance to recover economically, it was once more plunged into war, this time with its invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The invasion was the result of a long-standing territorial dispute, and Iraqi troops overran the country on 2nd August 1990. The UN security council condemned the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, and demanded a complete withdrawal by 15th January 1991.

When Iraq failed to comply with this demand, the Persian Gulf War ensued, with allied troops led by the US launching an aerial bombardment on Baghdad. The war, which proved disastrous for Iraq, lasted only six weeks, and a cease-fire was announced by the US on 28th February 1991. UN terms for a permanent cease-fire were agreed by Iraq in April of that year, and strict conditions were imposed, demanding the disclosure and destruction of all stockpiles of weapons.

By early 1992, it became apparent that Iraq still possessed weapons of mass destruction, and intense international pressure to eliminate these was brought to bear, in the shape of UN economic sanctions. In 1993 the Security Council voted to maintain these sanctions, despite attempts by Iraq to have them lifted.

Baghdad

Founded in AD762 by Abu Jafar al-Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, the city of Baghdad was originally built on the west bank of the Tigris River.

Circular walls enclosed the city and, although its original name was Madinat as-Salam (City of Peace), it was more popularly known as the Round City. At the city's centre were the caliph's palace and the grand mosque, with four roads radiating out from these central buildings. The city's gradual expansion caused it to extend beyond the original walls, and as it spread across to the river's east bank, its two halves were joined by a bridge built of boats. The eastern section was called Rusafah.

During the 8th and 9th centuries AD, Baghdad was at the height of its commercial prosperity. Under the rule of the caliphs Mahdi and Harun, it became the centre of many important trade routes between the east and west. Its many impressive buildings and magnificent gardens gave it the reputation of the richest and most beautiful city in the world.

In the latter half of the 9th century, the Abbasid caliphs' power was weakened by internal strife leading to civil war. When the Mongols invaded Baghdad in the 13th century, the caliph was murdered, many buildings and the irrigation system were destroyed, thus adding dramatically to the city's decline. When in 1534 it became part of the Ottoman Empire, the city fell into obscurity and neglect for several hundred years.

Improvements were made on a modest scale at the beginning of the 20th century, when some schools and hospitals were built. The oil boom of the 70s brought increased wealth to Baghdad and the city began to develop on a much more impressive scale, with the construction of middle-class residential areas. New sewers and water lines were laid and above ground a network of super-highways was constructed, as well as a new airport. All such improvements, however, were brought to an abrupt halt by the war with Iran in the 80s and by the Gulf War which immediately followed it.

An added bonus of the large-scale construction work in the late 70s was the discovery of many buried artefacts, dating back to a more glorious past. These have been removed to Baghdad's many excellent museums. It is not known, as the time of writing, to what extent these still exist.

Today's city is perhaps not as impressive as those images of old Baghdad which may be conjured by the imagination. It stretches along both banks of the Tigris, with the district of Rusafah on the east and the district of Karkh on the west. Eleven bridges connect the two halves of the city.

Tahrir Square, standing on the river's left bank at one end of the Jumhuriyah Bridge, is the heart of Baghdad and from it radiate the city's main streets. Saddam Hussein's picture, mostly larger than life, is displayed everywhere.

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