Iraq To-Day
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205701200305 |
| Date | 01 September 1957 |
| Published date | 01 September 1957 |
| Author | F. R. C. Bagley |
| Subject Matter | Article |
IRAQ
TO-DAY
F. R1.
C.
Bagley*
ROBABLY
the
fastest
developing
countries
in
the
world
today
are
Canada and
Iraq.
Before
this
Arab
country's
achievements
are
described,
it
must
be
remarked
that
forty
years
ago
Iraq
was
one
of
the
more backward
parts
of
the
Middle
East,
two
or
three
generations
behind
Syria
or
Egypt.
Eighty
per
cent.
of
its
rural
inhabitants
were
tribes,
possessing
arms
and
subject
to
little
or
no
government
control.
Under
Ottoman
rule,
the
Shi'ite
Arabs
who
form
about
half
the
population
had
been
excluded
from
governmental
service
and
from
what
little
modern
education
had
been
available.
The
Kurds,
forming
15
per
cent.
of
the
population
and
speaking
a
separate
language,
were
till
1926
uncertain
as
to
their
political
future.
Since
Iraq
became
self-governing
in
1921,
it
has
been
ruled
by
its
urban
intelligentsia,
which
at
first
consisted
mainly
of
Sunnite
officers
and
officials
but
grew
rapidly
as
younger
men-Shi'ites
and
Kurds
as
well
as Sunnite
Arabs-received
higher
education
at
home
or
abroad.
Its
leaders
did
not
shut
their
eyes
to
their
country's
backwardness;
on
the
contrary,
as
Nuri
al-Sa'id
said
on
April
5,
1956, "we
kept
reminding
ourselves
of
it,
so
that
it
began
to
act
as
a
stimulus."
Iraq's
progress
was
substantial
even
before
oil
became
im-
portant.
The
population
has
risen
from
2,750,000
in
1919
to
5,500,000
in
1956.
In
1920,
there
were
eight
thousand
children
in
the
state
primary
schools
compared
to
34,500
in
1932,
180,000
in
1950,
and
325,000
in
1956
out
of
some
nine
hundred
thousand
children
of
school
age.
Similar
growth
has
occurred
in
the
field
of
secondary education.
In
1920,
registration
in
state
high
schools
amounted
to
110,
compared
to
2,080
in
1930,
and
to
forty-
five
thousand
in
1956.
Above
all,
a
nation
came
into being.
Shi'ites
and
Kurds
took
their
rightful
place,
in
the
cabinet
and
in
every
walk
of
life.
There have already
been
three
Shi'ite
Prime
Ministers. In
Commerce,
Shi'ites,
especially
from
Najaf,
together
with
Sunnites
from
Mosul,
have
shown
ability;
since
the
volun-
*Assistant Professor
at
the
Institute
of
Islamic
Studies,
McGill
Univers-
ity.
From
1942-45
Mr.
Bagley was
U.K.
Vice-Consul
at
Baghdad,
from
194548
at
Djakarta
and
Consul
at
Isfahan
from
1950-52.
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