Bloodbath in Baghdad - Murder of Iraqi King & The Rise of Saddam Hussein

On 14 July 1958, a terrible massacre occurred in Baghdad, capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. The death of the Iraqi king and his family would usher in a long period of political instability and lead eventually to the rise of dictator Saddam Hussein, and two wars that would profoundly effect the lives of people all over the world. This is the story of the murder of King Feisal II and how it changed Iraq and the world forever.

Special thanks to: Philip Eagleton; HRH Prince Osman Rifat Ibrahim; Colonel Timor Daghistani; Tamara Daghistani Sadoun

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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

Sources:
- '‘Horrendous killing’ of monarchs ended Iraqi politics, says ex-Royal Guard', Alarabiya News, 11 October 2016
- 'Rehab Palace massacre and the ghost of the King of Iraq who returned to haunt his killer to death', Ayad Attar, Kaboss Nightmare
- 'Assassination of Feisal II', Susan Flantzer, Unofficial Royalty, 2023
Credit: Daniel Stanley

[Yoshimitsu]

Good to see you covering this Dr Felton. As an Iraqi, i have heard this story in various anecdotes throughout my life. To understand it from a reliable historian like yourself made me very happy indeed!

[vatsalsaxena]

For anyone wondering what happened to the sole survivor of the brutal massacre, Princess Badiya made it out of Iraq alive and passed away in 2020 in London, aged 100.

[SiVlog]

One of my work colleagues is a Syrian expat now living in the UK, when I showed him this video, he was both fascinated and and pleased that there's history of European history in the Middle East videos that exist in the West. He asked me to thank Dr Felton for this video :)

[russwoodward]

This history corroborates with the stories told to me by an employee who worked for me at a Holiday Inn in 1978. His last name was Feisal too, though he never claimed to be of any royal family, and he was a fantastically talented, speaking 3 languages, and having a excellent knowledge of economics. Thanks again Dr. Felton.

[barahng]

I know your specialty is WW2 but I love when you cover lesser known episodes in history like this.

[Mediatech]

The problem with taking power by regicide is that it leaves a really bad example for your successor.

[paulus]

Of all the videos you have made (& I have watched ALL of them), this is the one that is the most meaningful to me, as it explains the reason why my father & grandparents left Iraq in the1950's- early 60's.This was something I wasn't able to find out from my father as he died when I was too young to understand. THANK YOU!

[captainjoshuagleiberman]

One point missed, Faisal was given Iraq by the British as a consolation prize. Faisal was promised Arabia for his support of the British during WWI and instead Arabia went to the House of Saud, hence Saudi Arabia.

[Omar-hshy]

My family was close to the Royal family in Iraq. Here's an interesting story about King Faisal II from my grandmother. She was at a friends birthday party and Crown prince Faisal was invited as well (he was a teenager at the time), he couldn't find a chair and was too shy to sit on the couch next to some girls so found a small foot stool and sat on that! Such was his humility. Till this day my grandmother considers the 14th of July 1958 as the blackest day in Iraq's history which is riddled with black days..Many thanks Dr Felton!

[innerlotuslight]

My granddad was a diplomat in Baghdad in the 1950s. My dad and his brother were out riding their bikes in Baghdad on 14 July 1958, and they saw the Kings body being dragged through the streets along with the Prime Minister’s too.

[drpepperr]

I very much appreciate this thorough presentation. Thank you, Dr. Felton.

[g.mantua]

Excellent video. This is why I subscribed. The WW2 stuff is good, but it's great when you go beyond that and into other histories, it's appreciated. Now I know more about Iraq history. Thanks Dr, Felton.

[thejudgmentalcat]

Another segment of history I've heard little about. Thanks Professor Felton 👍

[eiongibbs]

I went to Harrow School and left 13 years ago. I was in the same house that Faisal was in called Moretons. His picture hung on the wall next to a notice board and we would take it with us to inter-house sports matches as a talisman. Such a sad story, thank you for sharing.

[ArachKing]

5:27 Tintin creator Hergé used this picture of Faisal II as the inspiration for the character of Abdullah in the Tintin books

[kestrel]

When you said succeeded by a child, my brain automatically replied, “Well that’s going to end well.”

[Valkanna.Nublet]

When the Ottoman empire was carved up and Iraq created containing Sunni Shia and Kurds there was no way that country would be peaceful. It didn't matter who was in power, the other factions would hate it.
It's no surprise that there was coup, counter-coup, and counter-counter-coup, where only force could keep control.

[jasonpayne]

@Mark Felton Productions I served in Iraq in 2005. Having some historical context helps me wrap my brain around the whole experience. Cheers from the 🇺🇸

[danielmichels]

Thank you, Mark for the excellent content. I always am excited to see something new pop up into the feed. While all the extreme deep diving into the Nazis is interesting, there’s so much else of potential interest out there and here is a great departure from the norm.

[TheFunkybert]

Incredible historical account with valuable film and photographic presentation. Thank you so much for this effort. History as it was.