The introduction of Western disciplines in the…

The introduction of Western disciplines in the schools accompanies a greater Western political and economic presence in Iraq.

The British had established a consulate at Baghdad in 1802, and a French consulate followed shortly thereafter.

European interest in modernizing Iraq to facilitate Western commercial interests coincides with the Ottoman reforms.

Steamboats had appeared on the rivers in 1836, the telegraph had been introduced in 1861, and the Suez Canal is opened in 1869, providing Iraq with greater access to European markets.

The landowning tribal sheikhs began to export cash crops to the capitalist markets of the West.