Kings of Iraq

The Kings of Iraq, Hashemite dynasty. The Kingdom of Iraq existed from 1932 to 1958. Previously Iraq had been a British Mandate after the division of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. When independence was granted Faisal I became king. He was succeeded by King Ghazi who later died in a car accident in 1939. A regent ruled on behalf of King Faisal II until he came of age. However, his reign was cut short by a coup in 1958 in which the King and almost the entire royal family were brutally massacred. The chaos this caused eventually allowed the Bathist party to dominate the country in 1963, later coming under the rule of Saddam Hussein.