A Study of the Role of the Education System and Arab Nationalists in Propagating the Ideology of Nationalism in Iraq (1921-1941)

Since its establishment in 1921, Iraq’s borders were incorporated by a diverse medley of people who had not been joined into a single political community with a common sense of identity. For the Iraqi rulers, the education system was the most important and the best tool for expanding a common national identity. As a result, a centralized education system was created, new schools were developed, and new education with nationalist content was spread from Baghdad to other parts of the country. In the present study, the descriptive-analytical method was used and the data were collected through library sources to answer two research questions: how nationalism and the infusion of national identity were started and expanded in the Iraqi society? And what goals and motives did the nationalists have to promote nationalism in Iraq? The results showed that Arab nationalists, such as Sati' al-Husri, Fazel Jamali and Sami Shawkat, along with Syrian and Palestinian nationalists, who taught in Iraq, played an important role in the development of national identity. They expanded a common national identity with the foundation of Arabism by teaching the common Arabic history and the language developed for the curriculum. Ultimately, the spread of nationalism pursued two important goals: to create a shared identity in Iraq's multi-ethnic society and to emphasize its role in Arab unity.

After World War I, it was a period of Arab political intellectual ferment. The concept of Arab ethnicity and unity came into existence, and the consciousness of being an Arab was established. To many Arab nationalists, Iraq seemed best equipped to fill the heroic role played by Prussia in uniting the German-speaking people into a unified German nation-state. The Nationalists would look back to the past; the period when Baghdad was the cradle of civilization during the time of the Abbasids at a time when the West languished in the darkness of its medieval ages. Arab nationalists set out to make Iraq the beacon from which Arab nationalist ideas would spread to the rest of the Arab world. They focused on the schools, which they hoped would become the breeding ground for future Arab nationalist generation. In this regard, the three figures in Iraq played an important role in the spread of nationalism, Sati' Al-Husri (1880-1968), Fazel Jamali (1903-1997), and Sami Shawkat (1893-1987). They designed the Iraqi educational system during the period from 1921 to1941. Although they differed in their views, all three used the Iraqi educational system as a tool to instill nationalism. In addition to their important role, teachers from other Arab countries in Iraq also contributed to the spread of Arab nationalism. In the 1930s Iraq became the center of pan-Arabism and a haven for Syrian and Palestinian nationalists. They went to Iraq and encouraged the people to pursue Arab nationalists’ goals and inspired them to think that Iraq was the most promising country that could influence the solidarity of the Arab world. These ideas were widely circulated by nationalist teachers throughout the country. This study seeks to answer these two questions: first, how were nationalism and the infusion of national identity started and expanded in Iraqi society? Second, what goals and motives did the nationalists seek to promote nationalism in Iraq? The research hypothesis is that the Arab nationalists expanded nationalism by establishing a unified educational system by teaching history, and a common Arabic language in the society. An important impetus in this regard was the creation of a common national identity and the transformation of Iraq into a pioneer country in Arab unity.  Regarding the importance and necessity of this research, the period under discussion (1921-1941) is one of the most important periods in Iraqi history, as the Arab national identity has expanded and become the basis of nationhood, so examining the content of this national identity and the process of its expansion through the educational system (research innovation) indicates the importance of research.

The present study applied the descriptive-analytical research method, and library resources were used for data collection (Persian, Arabic, and Latin data).

The issue raised in the present study was the role of the education system and the Arab nationalists in spreading the ideology of nationalism in Iraq. Iraq, since its establishment, was a country with an Ethnic mosaic that there was no sharing of national identity among all segments of the society so that the education system served as an important tool in promoting a common national identity. The education system was the best tool for injecting Arab identity into Iraqi society because attending the school is a period of personality development. Thus, through school education, Arab identity was easily spread among the new generation. In line with the important function of education in injecting national identity into the society, Arab nationalists pursued the expansion of a national identity in students. Influenced by Romantic German nationalism, Sati al-Husri played a significant role in spreading nationalism through the teaching of the common history, language, and the director of antiquities. Fazel Jamali played the same role in Shiite society. Physical education and nationalistic anthems were also part of Sami Shawkat’s efforts. Non-Iraqi Pan-Arab teachers also influenced the spread of nationalism by teaching and writing textbooks for schools. They defined the nucleus of the Arab homeland, of which Iraq was an important part. Thus, the result confirmed the research hypothesis of the study. Arab nationalism was expanded through the educational system in Iraqi society, pursuing two fundamental goals of establishing a common Arab identity within the country and emphasizing Iraq’s role in Arab unity. Finally, during the period from 1921 to 1941, the ideology of nationalism was spread among Iraqi society and had important implications that could be taken into account in further research.