Most important to the history of Iraq,…

Most important to the history of Iraq, the Young Turks aggressively pursue a "Turkification" policy that alienates the nascent Iraqi intelligentsia and sets in motion a fledgling Arab nationalist movement.

Encouraged by the Young Turks' Revolution of 1908, nationalists in Iraq step up their political activity.

Iraqi nationalists meet in Cairo with the Ottoman Decentralization Party, and some Iraqis join the Young Arab Society, which moves to Beirut in 1913.

Because of its greater exposure to Westerners who encourage the nationalists, Basra becomes the center from which Iraqi nationalists begin to demand a measure of autonomy.

After nearly four hundred years under Ottoman rule, Iraq is ill-prepared to form a nation-state.

The Ottomans had failed to control Iraq's rebellious tribal domains, and even in the cities their authority is tenuous.

The Ottomans' inability to provide security has led to the growth of autonomous, self-contained communities.

As a result, Iraq has entered the twentieth century beset by a complex web of social conflicts that seriously impede the process of building a modern state.