Golden Square (Iraq)

Golden Square
المربع الذهبي
Leader	Salah al-Din al-Sabbagh Kamil Shabib Fahmi Said Mahmud Salman
Dates of operation	1930 (1930)–1941 (1941)
Country	Kingdom of Iraq
Motives	Overthrow of the Kingdom of Iraq
Headquarters	Baghdad, Iraq
Ideology	Arab ultranationalism[1] Pan-Arabism Nazism Fascism
Political position	Far-right
Notable attacks	1941 Iraqi coup d'état
Part of	Axis Powers
Allies	National Brotherhood Party  Nazi Germany  Fascist Italy  Vichy France
Opponents	British Empire Hashemites
Battles and wars	Anglo-Iraqi War

The Golden Square (Arabic: المربع الذهبي, al-Murabbaʿ al-dhahabī), also known as the Four Colonels (Arabic: العقداء الأربعة, al-ʿiqdā' al-arbaʿa), was a cabal of pro-Fascist and pro Nazi army officers of the Iraqi armed forces who played a part in Iraqi politics throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. They conspired to overthrow the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq and expel the British presence in Iraq. The activities of the Golden Square culminated in supporting Rashid Ali al-Gaylani in his overthrow of government in 1941,^[2] briefly instituting the Golden Square National Defense Government. However, the Anglo-Iraqi War resulted in the disbandment of the Golden Square.

The officers desired full independence from Britain, and the formation of a pan-Arab state from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, and a settlement of the intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine.^[3]

The Golden Square included the four most important leaders of the "Circle of Seven". The Circle of Seven was a group of Sunni Arab nationalist military officers who were greatly influenced by German Ambassador Fritz Grobba and, in turn, greatly influenced politics in Iraq during the 1930s and early 1940s.^[4]

The members of the Golden Square were Colonel Salah al-Din al-Sabbagh, Colonel Kamil Shabib, Colonel Fahmi Said, and Colonel Mahmud Salman. During the Anglo-Iraqi War, the four members of the Golden Square commanded units located in the Baghdad area. Salah ad-Din al-Sabbagh was commander of the Iraqi 3rd Infantry Division. Kamal Shabib commanded the 1st Infantry Division. Fahmi Said commanded the Independent Mechanized Brigade. Mahmud Salman, the one non-Army officer, was the chief of the Air Force.^[5]

The members of the Golden Square were virulently anti-British. In time, these men represented real power as successive Iraqi governments sought the support of the military for survival. The members of the Golden Square looked to Nazi Germany to support them and, for his part, Grobba enthusiastically encouraged them to do so.^[6]

On 1 April 1941, Rashid Ali and the Golden Square launched a coup d'etat to topple the government of the regent, Prince 'Abd al-Ilah. The subsequent Anglo-Iraqi War ended disastrously for Rashid Ali and the members of the Golden Square who, for the most part, fled Iraq as the British closed in on Baghdad. Shabib, Said, Salman, Sabbagh were all eventually returned to Iraq and executed.^[7]

• Iraqi Army
• Iraqi Air Force
• Party of National Brotherhood

• Al-Marashi, Ibrahim; Salama, Sammy (2008). Iraq's armed forces: An analytical history. Oxon and New York: Routledge. pp. 254. ISBN 978-0-415-40078-7.
• Lyman, Robert (2006). Iraq 1941: The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad. Campaign. Oxford and New York: Osprey Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 1-84176-991-6.
• Tarbush, Mohammad A. (1982). The Role of the Military in Politics: A Case Study of Iraq to 1941. Campaign. London and Boston: Kegan Paul. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-7103-0124-6.
• Tripp, Charles (2002). A History of Iraq. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-521-52900-6.