Faisal II of Iraq, the last King of Iraq (d.1958)
Faisal II (Arabic: الملك فيصل الثاني Al-Malik Fayṣal Ath-thānī) (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the 14 July Revolution. This regicide marked the end of the thirty-seven-year-old Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, which then became a republic.
The only son of King Ghazi of Iraq and Queen Aliya, Faisal acceded to the throne at the age of three after his father was killed in a car crash. A regency was set up under his uncle Prince 'Abd al-Ilah. In 1941, a pro-Axis coup d'état overthrew the regent. The British responded by initiating a invasion of Iraq a month later and restored 'Abd al-Ilah to power. During the Second World War, Faisal was evacuated along with his mother to the United Kingdom, where he attended Harrow School. The regency ended in May 1953 when Faisal came of age.
Faisal's reign grew increasingly unstable against a backdrop of economic inequality coupled with the rise of Communism, anti-imperialist sentiment and mounting Pan-Arab nationalism. The overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy in 1953 and the formation of the United Arab Republic in February 1958 only provided further impetuses to revolution. The Hashemite Arab Federation was formed between Iraq and Jordan in February 1958 with Faisal as its head, which did not quell widespread opposition. In July 1958, a group of Royal Iraqi Army officers led by Abd al-Karim Qasim mounted a coup d'état and overthrew the monarchy. Faisal was executed along with numerous members of his family in the process.