Royal Title: | King |
Realm: | Iraq |
Native Name: | ملك العراق |
Coatofarms: | Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Iraq (1921–1958).svg |
Coatofarms Article: | Coat of arms of Iraq |
Type: | other |
His/Her: | His |
First Monarch: | Faisal I |
Last Monarch: | Faisal II |
Formation: | 23 August 1921 |
Abolition: | 14 July 1958 |
Residence: | Royal Palace, Baghdad |
Appointer: | Hereditary |
Pretender: | Ra'ad bin Zeid |
The king of Iraq (Arabic: ملك العراق|''Malik al-‘Irāq'') was Iraq's head of state and monarch from 1921 to 1958. He served as the head of the Iraqi monarchy—the Hashemite dynasty. The king was addressed as His Majesty (Arabic: صاحب الجلالة).
In the aftermath of World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the three provinces (vilayets) of Ottoman Iraq came under the control of the United Kingdom. Under British occupation, the people rebelled and Iraq showed itself a hard land to govern. In order to establish a pro-British client regime, a dynasty of Hashemite kings from the Hejaz region was established, beginning with Faisal I who was the son of Hussein bin Ali. As a family originating in the Hejaz, the House of Hashim was foreign to Iraq. The British Government appointed them as Iraq's royal family after a plebiscite in 1921.[1] The Hashemites were largely opposed by the Iraqi Shiites and Kurds. The Kingdom of Iraq existed until an Iraqi nationalist coup d'état in 1958 known as the 14 July Revolution established the Iraqi Republic.
See also: Flag of Iraq.
. Terry H. Anderson. Bush's Wars. limited. 2011. Oxford University Press. 9780199747528. 12.