This thesis proposes to deal with the Iraqi Nationalist movement from its emergence after the First World War to the establishment of an independent Iraq in 1932. During these years the British controlled Iraq under a mandate granted by the League of Nations. This, in spite of the simultaneous creation of an Iraqi monarchy. Neither the new monarch nor the people were content with the political arrangement, based as it was on foreign control, but the drive for independence emanated from a small group of political activists. Both major religious sects of Islam, Sunni and Shi'a, played a leading role in the nationalist movement; in fact, the movement cannot be understood without an appreciation of Islam, and its major variations, in Iraqi life. / A historical background highlights the conditions which allowed Iraqism to take precedent over Arabism after the war and examines the reactions of Iraqis to the invasion by modern conquerors and their later occupation. Additionally, it provides a chronological account of the important events during the mandate period and the buildup of Iraqi resentment of foreign control which precipitated their demand for self-government. / This thesis is a broad study of the nascent nationalist movement in postwar Iraq which engaged in a desperate battle to transform a mandated territory into a sovereign state. Focus is on the role religion played in its beginnings and on the contribution of both Shi'is and Sunnis whose combined and independent efforts led to the formation of modern Iraq.

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