Ghazi I
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Early life
Ghazi bin Faisal (in Arabic: غازي بن حسين)was born on the 21st March 1912 in Mecca, Hijaaz. He was the oldest son (after two daughters) of the future king of Hijaaz and Iraaq Faisal bin Hussayn. He was left under the care of his uncle Ibrahim bin Hussayn while his father was busy with constant military campaigns (notably the Arab Rebellion of 1916-18) and the administration of Iraaq since 1921. As result Ghazi was never developed a close relationship with his own father.
Crown Prince Ghazi
In 1924 king Faisal I appointed Ghazi as crown prince. From then he lived with his father in Baghdaad, Iraaq. In 1928 he was sent to the Naval Academy, in Annapolis, NAL, to have a proper military education. Ghazi spent the next three years there, learning ideas and meeting people who influenced him for the rest of his life.
At the academy he knew several people sympathetic to SNORism . When he returned to Iraaq, in 1931, the king found his son quite changed and with ideas quite different to his, a fact that would cause a certain conflict between them.
While Faisal I defended his view of monarchic pan-arabism to unite all arab countries around a restored Caliphate Ghazi considered that such would create an unstable country impossible to rule as the several Arab countries are so different from each other and local rulers would never accept losing their political power. Ghazi considered himself an arab nationalist but not a pan-arabist.
King Ghazi
On the 8th September 1933 Faisal I died, poisoned. The crown prince became the new king of Iraaq and Hijaaz as Ghazi I so as became the new Grand Sharif of Mecca. Rumours said that Ghazi himself might have poisoned his own father but others considered that the king was killed by foreigners. As there were several foreign advisors (mostly from the Federated Kingdoms) around the previous king Ghazi found then the excuse to expel all of them which caused some tensions with their countries-of-origin.
Ghazi started a programme of public works in both of his kingdoms using the profits from iraaqi oil production. In Hijaaz, a new road between Mecca and Medina was constructed while Jiddah port facilities were increased. In Iraaq the most important works were the increase of Al-Basra port facilities (which made of it the largest in Arabian Gulf at the time) and a new road connecting Baghdaad to Al-Basra.
The administration of both Hashemite kingdoms was kept separate so as laws and international representations. On this Ghazi pursued his father’s policies. Also kept were the same policies with iraaqi tribal leaders who stayed loyal to the new king.
In 1934 king Ghazi married and his son Faisal bin Ghazi was born a year later.
Arab SNORism
In 1935 Ghazi made a state visit to SNORist Russia. He met personally Aleksandr Kolchak and was well impressed with the achievements made in Russia by SNORist powers. Ghazi decided to adapt SNORism to arab reality and returned with Russian advisors who will help him to build SNORism in Iraaq. In Hijaaz the power would stay traditionalistic, tribal and quite theocratic as before due to the Hashemite popularity established for a long time. In Iraaq things were different as for local common people the Hashemite were foreign occupiers.
Ghazi surrounded himself by loyal military and sunni clerics and soon a single political party was founded in Iraaq, the Ba’ath (Renaissance), which would also be the local name of the new iraaqi ideology. Elsewhere it would be known as arab SNORism. As the Russian SNOR it was ardently nationalist (but not pan-arabist) and connected to religion, in this case Islam, notably to Sunni sect as the Hashemite followed that tendency. Although most of iraaqi population was Shiite the power stayed under the Sunni minority hands and Sunni sect was considered as "the true historical faith in Iraaq" but the Shiite were respected even if they usually were apart from political power decisions. Islam and arab language were considered as vital constituents of iraaqi national spirit and they were much promoted by propaganda and the growing iraaqi educational system. Propaganda also promoted a cult of personality around the king.
Even the traditional iraaqi coat of arms was changed to a more SNORist design.
Ba’ath saw on colonial influences, communist and pan-arabic (Pan-Arabism was turning to secular and socialist then) enemies and their followers were much violently persecuted and some sources consider that these persecutions caused 50 000 dead at least.
During these times the administration of Hijaaz tended to be a bit neglected.
Propaganda was widely used and Babylon was partially rebuilt (not exactly with historical rigor) to host the Ba’ath National Congress, in 1936. A famous Russian propaganda film maker (Sergei Tarkovsky) went to Iraaq to make the congress movie which is still today considered a master piece of propagandistic cinema.
Due to the approaching to Grossartige Allianz countries (Holy Roman Empire and Russia) the Federated Kingdoms started to be worried about having a possible enemy in the Middle East which could attack their interests in the region, notably the oil supplies and protectorates. Also Ghazi was keeping quite an anti-colonialist rhetoric and shown interest on taking by force in future countries as Kuwayt (according to him part of historical Iraaq), Saudi Arabia (a threat to Mecca and Hijaaz in general) and the Thousand Emirates.
Ghazi’s death
On the 4th April 1939 king Ghazi I died on an airship crash while he was landing at Faisal I Royal Aerodrome, in Baghdaad. Some say that before the crash there was an explosion but this was never confirmed. Although Ghazi had plenty of possible enemies (the Saudi royal family, Ibrahim bin Hussayn, european governments from the Allied Powers or even other princes from the Hashemite royal family) this stays until our days as an unsolved mystery. Ghazi was the first arab head of state dieing in a air crash and his death surrounded him in a local myth although at first also exploited in SNORist Russia as the killing of a martyr but as russian influence over Middle East wasn't much great this exploitation was soon forgotten. Among Iraaqis he became as a symbol of Arab nationalism who fought against foreign intervention over their country and his brutality was forgotten during the following regency which was much more brutal. For many he is still remembered as a great leader who died young because of his ideals and in post-Saddaam Hussayn Iraaq he became an inspiration for local nationalist political parties who saw on King Ghazi I a reformer and someone who did much for iraaqi progress (although he wasn't iraaqi but hijaazi). Did he died of accident or was killed? Such is still much debated in Iraaq but outside Ghazi stays almost unknown.
His four years old son, Faisal, succeeded him as king Faisal II but regency was made by Ghazi’s uncle, Ibrahim bin Hussayn, who during next years dismantled the Ba’ath and turned Iraaq back to the Federated Kingdoms sympathy.
| Preceded by: Faisal I |  King of Iraaq 1933-1939 | Succeeded by: Faisal II |
