ABSTRACT
T he end of the mandate ushered in a period of transition and of troubles for the new state and its leaders. The gradual withdrawal of the British advisers brought Iraqi politicians face-to-face with a variety of internal problems they had thus far avoided. One was the breakdown of Iraq’s fragile unity. A number of religious and ethnic groups reasserted their claims to autonomy or a greater share of power in the central government. These problems were compounded by a resurgence of tribalism in the south, now mixed with Shi‘i disaffection.
