 Hello and welcome to our video summarizing all you need to know about the modern-day history of Iraq. My name is Barbara and in this video we'll examine Iraq. It's history from the early 1900s, but even through the 1960s and 2000s. It's key leaders, particularly Saddam Hussein. It's wars that it underwent, but also present-day Iraq. So let's get started. Now, one thing to bear in mind is that Iraq gained formal independence as a country in 1932. However, it remained subject to British imperial influence up until after the Second World War, which began in 1939 and ended in 1945. In 1945, Iraq then joined the UN and it became a founding member of the Arab League. And in 1948 it entered the Arab-Israeli War along with other members of the Arab League in order to defend Paracelian rights against Israelis. This war had a negative impact on its economy and the government had to allocate 40% of available funds to the army. Now, when it comes to the Iraqi Revolution, there was a lot of political instability and this happened on even a greater scale following the overthrow of the monarchy in Iraq in 1958. However, the installation of an Arab nationalist and socialist regime, the Baath Party in a bloodless clue, led by Abd al-Karim Kassim, brought about relative stability at this time. By this point, Iraq had left the pro-British Baghdad Pact. During from the country's rich oil reserves, the regime was able to finance ambitious projects and development plans throughout the 1970s and this regime built one of the largest and best-equipped armed forces in the Arab world at the time. Now, when it comes to the 1960s, in 1961, Kuwait, another Arab country, gained independence from Britain. However, Iraq claimed sovereignty over this country. Kassim based Iraq's claim on the assertion that Kuwait had been a district of the Ottoman province of Basra unjustly severed by the British from the main body of the Iraqi state when it was created in the 1920s. Britain reacted really strongly to Iraq's claim and sent troops to Kuwait to deter Iraq. Kassim was forced to back down and in October 1963, Iraq recognized the sovereignty of Kuwait. Furthermore, in February 1963, Kassim had been assassinated. Now, Saddam Hussein became and emerged as a very important political figure in Iraq. So in the period between 1963 and 1973, Iraq experienced two coups until Saddam Hussein took over leadership in 1979. So in 1979, the Bath Party was now a countrywide organization reaching down even to the smallest and most remote villages in Iraq and in an unprecedented way, it had a huge influence on even modest neighborhoods as well as very wealthy neighborhoods. In addition, the popular army and the youth organization brought ever larger numbers into the paramilitary formations which were established by the regime. Saddam Hussein decided that no dissent would be allowed in party ranks, no opposition outside the party could be tolerated and ideological commitment were only to party ideals alone and there were insufficient to guarantee the loyalty of internal security officers. He also jailed, executed and assassinated the regime's opponents effectively, installing an autocratic dictatorship. Saddam Hussein then established a national assembly in 1980, setting up the first parliament since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958. This was meant to create the impression of national unity and to give Saddam Hussein another forum for presenting himself as a national leader. His new regime modernized the countryside and rural areas of Iraq, mechanizing agriculture and establishing farm cooperatives. Saddam Hussein's organizational prowess was credited with Iraq's rapid pace of development in the 1970s. Development went forward as such a fevered pitch that two million people from other Arab countries and even Yugoslavia in Eastern Europe worked in Iraq to meet the growing demand for labor. However, Hussein's ambitions soon led him to be involved in various conflicts with the disastrous results to the infrastructure of Iraq. So of course there have been lots of questions on whether Saddam Hussein was an autocratic leader. He was widely regarded and still is by some people as a very ruthless autocrat who led the country into some catastrophic military campaigns. The first was the Iran-Iraq War in 1980 to 1988 and the second was the Persian Gulf War in 1990 to 1991 and these conflicts left Iraq isolated from the international community and financially and socially drained. Now let's begin with causes of the Iran-Iraq War which lasted for eight years. So the first cause that led to this war were poor interstate relationships. Now Iraq's relations with Iran had grown increasingly strained after the Shah was overthrown in 1979. If you of course want to know a little bit more about the Iranian Revolution do check out our other video on our channel which details this in far more detail. However, now once this revolution had occurred Iran was not recognized or rather Iraq recognized Iran's new Shi'ite Islamic government. However, the Iranian leaders wanted nothing to do with the Bath regime which they denounced as secular. Ayatollah Khomeini who is a leader of the Iranian Revolution proclaimed his policy of exporting the revolution and Iraq was high on the list of countries whose governments were to be overthrown and replaced by a replica of an Islamic regime which was currently in Iran. In addition Iran still occupied three small pieces of territory along the border it shared with Iraq that was supposed to be returned to Iraq under the Treaty of 1975. Another reason for this war were fears of spillover revolutionary concerns. Of course when Khomeini came to power in Iran in February 1979 his example inspired many Shi'ites in Iraq to engage in greater political activism. Mass pro Khomeini demonstrations and guerrilla activity became regular occurrences. The man who encouraged these activities and in whom many saw an Iraq Khomeini was the young Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr. The Bath regime in Iraq feared that as long as Khomeini was in power his Islamic revolution could serve as a source of inspiration for Shi'ite revolutionaries living within Iraq. Thus the Bath regime cracked down on the Shi'ite movement with great ferocity and hundreds of people were executed and imprisoned. And in April 1980 Saddam ordered the execution of al-Sadr and his sister. Furthermore another reason that contributed to this war was Iran's isolation. So at the same time Khomeini in Iran had isolated his country from the international community and Iran's armed forces were drained. While Iraq on the other hand however was very well organised it had a very well equipped military, a fast growing economy and it had relatively better foreign relations with other countries. Collectively all these factors convinced Saddam Hussein that he could win a war with the less organised forces of Iran. And in so doing the Iraqi leaders likely goals were to remove Ayatollah Khomeini from power, replace his regime with one that was more friendly to Iraq and also demarcate its border with Iran. The war of course broke out and Iraq bombed Iranian air bases and other strategic targets. In the week following the invasion the UN Security Council called for a ceasefire and appealed to Iran and Iraq to settle the dispute peacefully. Village-region agreement led the war to extend to the Gulf area. In July 1987 the UN Security Council unanimously passed resolution 598 urging Iran and Iraq to accept a ceasefire, withdraw the forces to internationally recognised boundaries and settle the frontier disputes by negotiations held under UN auspices. Iraq agreed to abide by the terms if Iran reciprocated. However Iran demanded amendments condemning Iran as a aggressor which would make Iraq liable to pay for war reparations and court on all foreign natives to leave the Gulf. This of course led to it being a war with no victor. Though this became a very costly 8 year war which was inconclusive and although Iraq declared victory in 1988 it actually achieved a weary return to the status quo. Nothing had changed and Ayatollah Khomeini still remained in power. This war left Iraq with the largest military establishment in the Persian Gulf region but also it had huge debts and an ongoing rebellion by Kurdish elements in its northern mountains and the government obviously suppressed these rebellions in a very bloody way. 8 years of war had taken also a very terrible toll on the Iraqi population. The war had cost them an estimated quarter of lives in terms of the victims and over 60,000 Iraqis remained prisoners of the Iranians and nearly 1 million Iraqis were compelled to serve in the armed forces. There were also war crimes perpetrated during this war. So a mass chemical weapons attack on the city of Halabia in March 1988 during this war was usually attributed to Saddam's regime although responsibility for this attack is a matter of some dispute. The event has become iconic in depictions of Saddam Hussein's cruelty and of course much much later when he was ousted by Bush and Tony Blair the mass weapons of chemical destruction and mass weapons of destruction was again used and so of course this became a really important and iconic time. Also there were estimates of casualties at the time so the Iran-Iraq war which ranged from several hundred people to at least 7,000 people. The Iraqi government continued to be supported by important members of the international community including China and the USSR. Now it had massive consequences in terms of the aftermath of this war. So Iraq began a programme of reconstruction concentrating on the areas that had suffered most throughout the war but the country had already little cash. Iraq was deeply in debt and however it continued to spend large sums on armaments and this caused inflation and vast unemployment within the country. Furthermore the government promised to open the political process by allowing multi-party elections and greater press freedoms. To enhance Iraq's position in the Arab world Saddam Hussein began to negotiate a set of bilateral agreements with his neighbours so in early 1989 he concluded non-aggression pact with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He also established an Arab Cooperation Council with Jordan, Egypt and Yemen to promote economic and cultural development. Now another important war is the 1990 Kuwait invasion which is also known as the Gulf War. So a long-standing territorial dispute led to the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Iraq accused Kuwait of violating the Iraqi border to secure oil resources and demanded that its death-treat payments should be waived. Direct negotiations began in 1990 but they soon failed. On 2nd August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. Now Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was really a textbook example of international behaviour that endangers international peace and security. It was blatant violation of one of the UN Charter's most fundamental rules, the prohibition of the use of force in international relations. At the time of the invasion Kuwait's army numbered just 16,000 men while Iraq had about 950,000 men close to a million. It also had 4,500 tanks and hundreds of fighter jets and helicopters. Within hours the most resistance had faded and the Kuwaiti royal family were forced to flee and two days later Iraq was in complete control of Kuwait. However, Kuwait did have very powerful allies and this was of course shown in Operation Desert Storm. So the United Nations was quick to mark the invasion a violation of international law. On the very day of the invasion the Security Council adopted Resolution 660 determining that there exists a breach of peace and security as regards the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. On 6th August the UN Security Council sought collective international action against Iraq by calling upon all state-simpled trade restrictions against Iraqi entities. As months passed the Security Council resorted to the ultimate coercive measure which was essentially the use of military force. It authorised the countries cooperating with the government of Kuwait to use all necessary means to uphold and implement Resolution 660 and use all subsequent relevant resolutions to restore international peace and security in the area. And thus Operation Desert Storm was launched with more than 540,000 military personnel from 31 countries participating in a coalition led by the United States. Only 10 days after the start of the military air campaign the coalition had absolutely achieved absolute supremacy by defeating the Iraqi army and systematically destroying Iraqi infrastructure. On February 27 1991, 6 weeks after the start of the military intervention after only 100 hours of ground offensive the permanent representative of Iraq at the UN addressed two letters to the President of the Security Council to announce the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait and Iraq's acceptance of all relevant resolutions. There was then of course a ceasefire which was announced by the US on 28th February 1991 and the UN Secretary General at the time Javier Perez de Cuela met with Saddam Hussein to discuss the Security Council timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Kuwait. Iraq agreed to the UN terms for a permanent ceasefire in April 1991 and strict conditions were imposed demanding the disclosure and destruction of all stockpiles of weapons. At the end of the Gulf War in Resolution 686 the UN Security Council demanded that Iraq accept in principle its liability under international law for any loss, damage or injury arising in regard to Kuwait and third states as a result of the invasion and illegal occupation of Kuwait. Now when it comes to the aftermath of this particular war, after the invasion the UN Security Council imposed economic sanctions in Iraq providing for a full trade embargo. From 1991 until 2003 the effects of government policy and sanctions regime led to hyperinflation in Iraq, widespread poverty and also in some extreme cases malnutrition. The historically generous state welfare provision that had been central to the regime's governing strategy disappeared virtually overnight and the large and well-educated Iraqi middle class that had grown in the years of plenty to form the bedrock of Iraq society became impoverished. The story of Iraq from 1991 to 2003 is of a country which suffered a profound macroeconomic shock. Another key event that really impacted and shifted the trajectory of Saddam Hussein's power but also which marked the end of his power was of course 9-11 which essentially is the September 11 attacks and the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. So of course as you hopefully should know on September 11 2001 America was attacked by planes which were manned by al-Qaeda operatives. And of course if you want to know a little bit about that do check out our other videos which summarise a history of Afghanistan but also a USSR video which details the USSR's and Afghanistan's war and also the consequent aftermath under Taliban regime. However for the purposes of this video, on 29 January 2002 US President George Balagboubush delivered his very famous axis of evil speech at the State of the Union address. This speech really echoed the US's anger at terrorist elements within the Middle East and of course its anger as a result of the attacks that happened in the US on September 11 2001. His speech stated that states like Iran, Iraq and North Korea and the terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil. By seeking weapons of mass destruction these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. I will not wait on events while dangers gather. Now of course this led to the US along with its allies to invade Iraq and ultimately to their outsting and the ultimate death of Saddam Hussein himself. Now there were original justifications for this invasion. Originally Iraq was accused of harboring weapons of mass destruction and having allegedly links to al-Qaeda both of which could not but be permitted in the post 9-11 world with al-Qaeda being directly responsible for the September 11 attacks on America. Now how did this war unfold? Now in October there was a congressional resolution in the US authorising the US President George Balagboubush to use armed forces of the US to defend against the threat posed by Iraq. This resolution was passed and at the UN the United States negotiated with France and others for 8 weeks and on November 8th they passed a UN Security Council Resolution 1441 by a vote of 15-0. The resolution backed by American intelligence declared Iraq to be in material breach of ceasefire terms and they gave Saddam Hussein a final opportunity to comply with disarmament obligations. However the resolution did not authorise all necessary means that's to say forced to be used. Iraq agreed to the resolution and they opened the Dorsey inspections teams led by Hans Blix and Mohamed El Baraday who declared Iraq to be devoid of weapons of mass destruction and they released 43 volumes of documentation to prove it. However when evidence for either Iraq's weapons of mass destruction or links to terrorism failed to emerge in the wake of the war and the 9 subsequent years of military occupation the Bush administration was forced to reframe the war and redefine the parameters of success. To do this the US began speaking about spreading democracy to Iraq as if this had been one of the goals originally of the war itself but as we've mentioned they were not. Now when it comes to the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003 they launched a pre-emptive strike on a sovereign nation without any UN approval or popular domestic or global support and of course this war was very unpopular both in the US but also internationally. At least 134,000 Iraqi people died as a direct result of this American invasion. Now to go into some more details of factors that led to the Iraq invasion of 2003 so the US's invasion of Iraq. So of course the first and the predominant one was the post 9-11 mindset and the general fear of terrorism and the paranoia that really dominated a lot of US politicians minds. So now the strategic environment immediately after the 9-11 terrorist attacks was characterised by an acute sense of imminent national danger and urgency. In addition President Bush felt a heavy burden for protecting the nation, a rogue regime which he saw as having weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorists around the fears of a much more devastating attack on US homeland. Another reason was of course the war on terror which was pledged after the September 11 bombings. So during his 2002 general speech, General Assembly speech rather at the UN, President Bush tied the concept of pre-emptive strikes specifically to Iraq, noting that with every step the Iraq regime takes towards gaining and deploying the most terrible weapons, our own options to confront that regime were narrow. This concept was formalised in the September 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States of America which said we cannot let our enemy strike first. The overlap between states that sponsor terror and those that pursue weapons of mass destruction compel us to action. Of course another reason was Saddam Hussein's own negative track record. So Saddam Hussein had shown himself to be a very ruthless villain. He'd used chemical weapons against his own people and against Iranian troops in the 1980s. He'd also invaded Q8 and started a bloody war against Iran. He perpetually threatened Israel. He refused to implement at least 10 UN Security Council resolutions aimed at ending Iraq's weapons and mass destruction programmes and he'd expelled weapons inspectors in 1998. Also it's important to consider US's military superiority. So it was growing recognition that the US's military power was in a class of its own. The US had developed new military technologies and tactics that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld championed as defence transformation. These included data networking, accurate and voluminous intelligence, instantaneous command and control and precision strike. Developed in the 1980s and 1990s they'd been on display during Desert Storm and more recently in Afghanistan with this military transformation technology toppled the Taliban regime effortlessly and created a sense of total American military dominance. By contrast the Iraqi military had suffered contractions of 35% in its army and 60% in its air force before Desert Storm. So Iraq stood no chance in this war. Another aspect that influenced this war was the idea of stability in Middle East. So the rationale went that if the US could change the regime in Baghdad, which is a capital city of Iraq, it might create a new model of democracy in the Middle East. After all democracy was in the rise globally in what the political scientist Samuel Huntington called the Third Wave. Just as it was flourishing throughout Eastern Europe and Latin America, it could take hold in Iraq and serve as a model for the Arab world. Democracy in the Middle East would be geostrategic game-changer, it would foster stability in the strife-ridden region and provide America's ally Israel with a far more secure environment. Moreover, a new regime in Iraq would allow the US to remove its troops from Saudi Arabia where they feel extremism and to have another friendly source of oil. However, there were major errors in this campaign making this war extremely unpopular. So firstly, it was the notion of the misinterpretation and the misuse of intelligence. So the case for Saddam's complicity in September 11 or at least for his strong ties with terror organizations was extremely weak. The case posed possessions of weapons of mass destruction, spared stronger and drove decision making. After all, he'd used chemical weapons against Iranians and Kurds in the 1980s. But this intelligence was wrong. Iraq had gotten rid of its weapons of mass destruction. Some say this was the worst US intelligence failure since the founding of the modern intelligence community. In addition, many people say that data was really cherry-paked. So the policy counter-terrorism evaluation group in the Pentagon began producing what they said were alarming interpretations of the market intelligence about Saddam Hussein, weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. Thus, there were in essence cherry-picking the intelligence in order to draw links between al-Qaeda in Iraq and thus justify intervention. There was also a dictatorial diplomacy that damaged this Atlantic alliance. And there was a failure to prepare for a post-conflict occupation stabilisation program in Iraq, which essentially resulted in anarchy and civil war in the country once Saddam Hussein was toppled and ultimately killed. Another important error was the failure to allow inspections to be completed. Suppried to the attack, there was no evidence of the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. However, the leader of the UN monitoring verification and inspection commission, Hans Blitz, felt that the inspectors still needed months to verify the accuracy of Hussein's statements concerning Iraq's weapons arsenals. Inspections were seen as moving too slowly for the George Bush team. The American military, which had already began to deploy forces to the region, was in a position to invade and there was a narrowing window to attack before the weather became blisteringly hot. Now, of course, the aftermath of this war has been significant. So firstly, large segments of the sunny minority in Iraq have resulted to armed resistance and they then resulted to a foreblown insurgency. As the insurgency grew, it opened the door to both foreign and Iraqi religiously motivated terrorists called al-Qaeda in Iraq, who attacked the new state and the Shia population, especially soft targets such as mosques and pilgrimages. And this then precipitated a sheer backlash in the form of death squads, some from within the interior ministry who targeted not just the Sunni terrorists and insurgents, but Sunnis in general. Meanwhile, Shia militias backed by Iran attacked American occupiers. Of course, in Iraq, there's been an increased US presence, so the US military was unprepared to deal with the Sunni uprising, the Shia violence and the Sunni Shia warfare. Eventually, they decided to increase their true presence and renumerate Sunni shakes to reach out to insurgents and terrorists. However, inadequate funds were earmarked to train and employ hundreds of thousands of former Iraqi soldiers, security forces, militia and resistance fighters who would have to be disarmed, demobilized and reintegrated. Of course, another consequence was this led to an administrative crisis. So on top of all of these difficulties, there was a shortage of competent Iraqis for government, industry and security forces because of the way the eradication of the Bath Party unfolded. So that's all. If you found this video useful, do subscribe to our channel and give our video a thumbs up. But also visit our website, which is www.firstratetutors.com. There you'll find useful vision guides, model answers written at an A grade level and exam papers that you can use to practice, both if you're studying this particular topic for your exams, but also more broadly, any history topics or English topics. Thank you so much for listening.