Reforging a forgotten history : Iraq and the Assyrians in the twentieth century / Sargon George Donabed.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Donabed, Sargon, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Assyrians--Iraq.

Assyrians.

Assyrians--Iraq--History--20th century.

History.

Iraq.

Physical Description:

xvi, 416 pages : illustrations (black and white), maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2015]

Summary:

Who are the Assyrians and what role did they play in shaping modern Iraq? Were they simply bystanders, victims of collateral damage who played a passive role in the history? Furthermore, how have they negotiated their position throughout various periods of Iraq's state-building processes? This book details a narrative of Iraq in the twentieth century and refashions the Assyrian experience as an integral part of Iraq's broader contemporary historiography. It is the first comprehensive account to contextualise a native experience alongside the emerging state. Using primary and secondary data, this book offers a nuanced exploration of the dynamics that have affected and determined the trajectory of the Assyrians' experience in twentieth century Iraq. Key Features, Includes oral history and ethnographic research on the Assyrians, Presents comprehensive and in-depth data pertaining to Iraqi Assyrian villages as well as ancient churches, monasteries, schools and other material culture edifices, Utilises Assyrian-Aramaic/Syriac as well as Arabic primary sources to illuminate and corroborate the Assyrian narrative of Iraqi history Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Integrating the Assyrian Question 27

A Historiography of Historiography and a Theoretical Framework 30

Key Sources: Mapping Iraqi Assyrians and Sectarianisation 42

Notes 49

2 Framing the Assyrian Narrative: Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century 54

Assyrian Demography: Between Deteriorating Empires and Colonial Expansion 54

Modern Roots of Interreligious Animosity 55

The First World War 61

From Versailles 1919 to Lausanne 1923 68

The Period of the Iraqi Levies and the Assyrian Settlement 71

General Settlement Plans 76

Notes 81

3 Iraq: Building a 'Nation'-State 93

The Patriarch and Temporal Authority 94

The Massacre at Simele 109

International Recognition? 123

Road to the Republic 124

Notes 128

4 The Birth of the Republic and an Autonomist Struggle 138

The 1958 Coup and Renewed Internal Stride 139

The Soriya Massacre of 1969 154

Demographic Situation 155

Notes 163

5 Enduring Discord: Political Machinations and Border Clearings 169

A Resumption of Violence 174

The Border Clearings of 1977-8 178

Notes 188

6 New Movements and War on the Horizon 191

The Iran-Iraq War 191

The Calm before the Storm 192

Renewed International Interest in Iraq: the Anfal Campaign 199

Notes 214

7 State Formation, State-building and Contentious Pluralism 221

Situating the Assyrian Experience 223

Agency, Failed Strategies and Transdenominationalism 225

Simele Revisited 228

Development and Consequences of Urbanisation and Arabisation 239

State-sponsored Acculturation 244

Notes 253

8 Conclusion 263

Notes 268.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780748686025

0748686029

OCLC:

904955250