A referendum was held in

Mandatory Iraq The Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration, or Mandatory Iraq ( ar, الانتداب البريطاني على العراق '), was created in 1921, following the 1920 Iraqi Revolt against the proposed British Mandate of Mesopotamia, a ...

between 16 July and 11 August 1921 to determine the form of government and head of state.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I,'' Al-Wardi, Ali (1976). ''Social Aspects of Iraq's Modern History, Vol 6''. Baghdad: AlWarraq.Al-Hassani, Abdul Razzaq (1953). ''History of Iraqi Governments during Monarchy, Vol 1''.Al-Hassani, Abdul Razzaq (2008). ''Modern Political History of Iraq تاريخ العراق السياسي الحديث''. Beirut: Al-Rafidain.

Background

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

occupied several parts of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Three

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

vilayet A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement init ...

s (provinces) including

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

, and

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

were combined to form

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. A group of Iraqi politicians met in Cairo in 1921 and called for a monarchy headed by

Faisal bin Hussein Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...

. The Iraqi government and British administration approved this decision; and a referendum was held to determine the public approval.

Results

The referendum started on 16 July 1921 and ended on 11 August 1921. The results were announced on 19 August 1921 with 96% of the voters approving Faisal as King.

Aftermath

Faisal was crowned on 23 August 1921. Subsequently, a new Iraqi government was formed by

Abdul-Muhsin Al-Saadoun ʻAbd al-Muḥsin Saʻdūn or Abd al-Muhsin Al-Saadoon, KCMG ( ar, عبد المحسن السعدون; 1879 – 13 November 1929) was an Iraqi politician who served as the prime minister of Iraq on four occasions between 1922 and 1929. Origi ...

on 20 November 1922, and elections for a constituent assembly were held between 1922 and 1924.

References

{{Iraqi elections Referendums in Iraq History of Iraq History of Mesopotamia

Monarchy referendums