Iraq's 1920 Revolution

For many months in 1920, people all across Iraq rose up to fight the British military administration that had seized control of the country during the First World War. The popular uprising brought together Sunnis and Shi'is, elites and commoners, city dwellers and tribespeople. It caught the British by surprise, and changed the trajectory of modern Iraqi history.

Armed revolt broke out in the fertile plains south of Baghdad, as bands of tribespeople swept in from the desert to attack isolated British military outposts and destroy vital railway lines. These incursions continue to shape public memory of the uprising. For Iraqis and outsiders alike, the image of unexpected, violent resistance to European rule on the part of heroic mounted warriors epitomizes the 1920 "revolution."

In the Shi'i theological and pilgrimage centers of Najaf and Karbala, senior religious scholars ('ulama) challenged the consolidation of British rule in the name of constitutionalism. Prominent figures in these two cities had supported the 1906 revolution in Iran, which had compelled the ruler to authorize elections for a constituent assembly to draft a constitution. The collapse of Iran's experiment in constitutional government motivated Iranian-born religious leaders in Najaf and Karbala to continue the campaign in post-Ottoman Iraq.

Add Iraq and Afghanistan to Graveyard of Empires and Political Pawns.

'Sapere aude'