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| 1920–47 |
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| Growth of the state bureaucracy from some 3,000 positions to about 18,000. Despite this unprecedented expansion, the government remained weak and ineffectual. | 1 |
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| 1920–50 |
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| Expansion of the educational system. Whereas in 1920 Iraq had only about 10,000 students, by 1950 the total had climbed to 240,000. Against these figures, the general state of education was much bleaker. The great majority of Iraqis had no access to good schools even if they managed to attend school at all. | 2 |
| Through its educational system, Iraq emerged at the forefront of Arab nationalist ideology in the 1920s and 1930s. Textbooks and curriculum were designed to emphasize notions of Arab identity. The most influential figure in disseminating these ideas was SATI‘ AL-HUSRI, the chief official in the educational system during the mandate and one of the most vocal spokesmen for the cause of Arab nationalism. | 3 |
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| 1921–58 |
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| Ministerial instability. For this period there were no fewer than 59 separate governments in power. Yet the political elite remained fairly constant, drawn largely from urban notables of Arab and Sunni Muslim background and former Ottoman army officers and bureaucrats. Among the most influential notables were Nuri al-Sa‘id, Ali Mumtaz al-Daftari, Yasin al-Hashimi, Tawfiq al-Suwaydi, Umar Nadhari, and Abd al-Muhsin al-Sa‘dun. | 4 |
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| 1921–33 |
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| KING FAYSAL I. The son of Sharif Husayn of Mecca, he was installed as king of Iraq after the French expelled him from Syria. Throughout his reign, he tried to strike a delicate balance among the constraints imposed by the British presence in Iraq, his own ambitions as king, and Iraqi aspirations for independence. He was acutely aware that the Iraqi monarchy attracted little support within Iraq, and he worked to bind Iraqi society more closely to his Hashemite dynasty. | 5 |
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| 1922 |
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| Abolition of the Capitulations. | 6 |
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| June |
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| Kurdish tribal revolt in northern Iraq led by Sheik Mahmud al-Barzinji, who declared himself king of Kurdistan. The uprising had a predominantly tribal character, but its leadership aimed at the creation of an independent Kurdish state, or at the very least an autonomous zone for Kurds. The revolt was not suppressed until July 1924. | 7 |
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| Oct. 10 |
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| Anglo-Iraqi Treaty, by which Great Britain managed Iraq's foreign affairs and defense, placed advisers in other departments inside the Iraqi government, and gave the country a constitution. The effect of the treaty was to secure indirect British rule of Iraq without the expenses of a direct administration. | 8 |
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