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Iraq / History / The Rise of the Ottoman Empire

The Turkish family of Osman eventually gained a foothold in Anatolia and established a principality that became known as the Ottoman Empire. They pushed aside the last Byzantine influence. The Ottomans conquered Baghdad in 1534, sending administrators to deal with what was considered an outlying province of their empire. At times a neighboring dynasty in Iran, the Safavids, attempted to gain control of portions of Iraq, but the area remained under Ottoman control. The Ottoman sultan ruled all of Egypt, Syria, and portions of Arabia, including the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Ruling Iraq involved maintaining peace with the local Bedouin tribes, many of whom held great power outside the more thickly settled areas. The Ottoman government followed a policy of supporting the principal tribes. Under this policy, Ottoman administrators gave payments to certain influential sheikhs, for which these tribal leaders were expected to keep the peace and not raid the cities. These payments maintained the system for hundreds of years.

At the end of the 19th century some factions in the Ottoman regime began to support policies that alienated ethnic groups within the empire. One of these groups, the Young Turks, supported the supremacy of Turks and the Turkish language. When they came to power, they sent administrators who often treated non-Turks as second-class citizens to the various provinces, including Iraq. Both urban and rural Iraqis opposed these policies, and some of the country's intellectuals began making plans to break away from the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottomans sided with the Germans in World War I. The British, who wanted to protect their lifeline to India through the Middle East, established a protectorate over Egypt and supported the Hashemite sharifs in Mecca and Medina in their revolt against the Ottomans. The British also sent an expeditionary force from India to Iraq, not only to ensure their position in the Middle East, but also to protect their interests in the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The British force landed at Al Faw in November 1914 and advanced to Al Kut, where it was surrounded by Turkish troops and urged to surrender. T.E. Lawrence, later known as Lawrence of Arabia, made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the release of the besieged British force from the Turkish commander. The British troops finally surrendered to the Turkish force in April 1916. However, the British sent more troops and occupied Baghdad in March 1917.

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