A PhD thesis titled “The Armament of the Iraqi Army 1958-1968: A Historical Study” was discussed in the Department of History at the College of Education forthe Humanities, University of Kerbala. The thesis was authored by researcher Ali Saleh Abbas and supervised by Prof. Dr. Raheem Abdul-Hussein Abbas.
The importance of this study lies in its detailed analysis of the Iraqi government’s capacity to negotiate armament agreements, highlighting its ability to navigate between available options and select sources of armament that aligned with the army’s strategic and tactical needs. The study also addresses Iraq’s independence in making decisions regarding its military armament, free from external influences or pressures from certain powers. Additionally, the thesis seeks to assess the capabilities of the Iraqi army during this period by analyzing the types of weapons and equipment and evaluating their development.
The thesis consisted of four chapters, each one discussed the armament of the Iraqi army during adifferent period; the first chapter was concerned with the period from 1921 to 1958, the second chapter focused on the same topic from 1958 to 1961, the third chapter discussed the arming of the Iraqi army from 1963 to 1966 while the fourth chapter explored it from 1966 to 1968.
The thesis reached several important conclusions, the most prominent of which is that the republican regime in Iraq, after July 14, 1958, focused on modernizing and developing the army in response to the challenges faced by the government following the overthrow of the monarchy. This direction was part of a strategy to demonstrate the government’s ability to protect the country from both internal and external threats and to strengthen its new legitimacy. It also aimed at breaking free from Western dominance, particularly from Britain, which had controlled the armament process during the monarchy. As a result, choosing the Soviet Union as a strategic partner in armament was a crucial step in this context, as the new republican regime sought to reduce its dependence on the West and reposition Iraq internationally, away from alignment with any specific global power or bloc.
The thesis defense committee was composed of:
• Prof. Dr. Ali Taher Turki, Chairman
• Prof. Dr. Yaseen Shihab Shukri, Member
• Assist. Prof. Dr. Falah Hassan Kzar, Member
• Assist. Prof. Dr. Alaa Abbas Ni’ma, Member
• Assist. Prof. Dr. Kazem Hassan Jassim, Member
• Prof. Dr. Raheem Abdul-Hussein Abbas, Member and Supervisor
