In 1917 Britain invaded the region and made Iraq a British mandate. The borders of modern day Iraq were drawn into a map by the French and the British to settle a territory dispute. They did not pay attention to the ethic groups living in the country. When the people protested they were put down by British air raids.
In 1932 Iraq was recognized as an independent state, but still had a king who was very closely tied with Britain. After World War II Britain’s power was declining, but America’s power in the world was increasing.
In the 1950’s Iraq saw the US involvement in Iran, and how they attempted to gain access and control of natural resources through the Shah. This made Iraq concerned about foreign involvement in their country.
In 1958 there was a coup led by the Ba’ath party. The coup led to the British backed king being overthrown. Saddam Hussein was a member of the Ba’ath party, and was a part of a second coup attempt against the leader who was put in power to replace the king.
From 1963 – 1968 there were several more coups (some led by the CIA). In 1968 Saddam Hussein helped to lead a revolt that put General Ahmed Bakr in power (Hussein was made vice president). In 1972 General Bakr nationalized Iraq’s oil which made conflict with the US.
The US tried to arm the Kurds (a group of people who live in the northern part of Iraq) against General Bakr. The US also tried to have the Shah in Iran back up their attempts to arm the Kurds against the Iraqi government. However, Iran and Iraq were able to reach an agreement about a different issue so Iran stopped aiding the US.
The revolution in Iran ended US involvement in their country. In 1979 Saddam Hussein took the conflict in the region as an opportunity to overthrow General Bakr and seize control of the government. Once he took power Hussein ordered anyone who wasn’t loyal to him to be killed immediately.
Hussein ruled his people based on fear, he did not hesitate to kill those who he believed opposed him to make an example. Hussein established Iraq as a Sunni Muslim country (Iran is a Shia or Shi’i Muslim country) to reflect the majority of the population living there.