• Prime Minister of Iraq Rashid Ali al-Gailani, 1892
  

In 1924, Rashid Ali al-Gaylani began his career in politics in the first government led by Prime Minister Yasin al-Hashimi. Yasin al-Hashimi appointed Gaylani as the Minister of Justice. The two men were ardent nationalists and were opposed to any British involvement in the internal politics of Iraq. They rejected the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty signed by the government of Prime Minister Nuri as-Said in 1930. They formed the Party of National Brotherhood to promote nationalist aims. Gaylani served as Prime Minister for the first time in 1933 but held office for less than eight months.

On 31 March 1940, when Gaylani was again appointed Prime Minister, World War II had started and Iraq had just experienced the premature death of King Ghazi. Ghazi's reign was followed by a Regency for his four year old son who was now the new King Faisal II. Faisal's Regent was Ghazi's uncle, Emir Abdul-Illah. While Abdul-Illah supported Britain in the war, he was unable to control Gaylani, who used the war to further his own nationalist goals by refusing to allow troops to cross through Iraq to the front. He also rejected calls that Iraq break its ties with Fascist Italy and sent his Justice Minister, Naji Shawkat, to meet with the then German ambassador to Turkey, Franz von Papen, to win German support for his government.

Britain responded with severe economic sanctions against Iraq. Meanwhile, news of British victories against Italian forces in North Africa dulled support for Gaylani's government, and, on 31 January 1941, under pressure from Regent Abdul - Illah, he resigned his post as Prime Minister. This only exacerbated his mistrust of Britain and its supporters in the government. Together with the members of the Golden Square, Gaylani made plans to assassinate Regent Abdul - Illah and seize power. On 31 March, Abdul Illah discovered the plot to assassinate him and fled the country.

On April 1, the coup d'état was launched and on April 3, Gaylani returned to power as Prime Minister and his "National Defense Government" replaced the government of the Regent. As one of his first acts, Gaylani sent an Iraqi artillery force to confront the RAF base situated in Habbaniya, RAF Habbaniya. By the end of April, the Iraqi armed forces were situated in strong positions on the escarpment above the base and a siege began.

Iraq had been a major supplier of petroleum to the Allied war effort and represented an important land bridge between British forces in Egypt and India. To secure Iraq, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered General Archibald Wavell to protect the air base at Habbaniya. On 18 April, British forces from India landed in Basra, Sabine Force. In the British Mandate of Palestine, another force was created to enter Iraq from the west and relieve RAF Habbaniya, Habbaniya Force.

At Habbaniya, the besieging Iraqis demanded the cessation of all training activities and of all flights in and out of the base. On 2 May, the commander at RAF Habbaniya, Air Vice-Marshal Harry George Smart, responded to the Iraqi demands by launching a pre-emptive strike against the Iraqi forces overlooking the air base. This action initiated the Anglo-Iraqi War. Within a week, the Iraqis abandoned the escarpment. By mid-May, British forces from Habbaniya had moved on to Fallujah and, after overcoming Iraqi resistance there, moved on to Baghdad. On 29 May, fearing a British onslaught, Gaylani fled to Persia. Before he left Baghdad, Gaylani contacted Mulla Effendi and informed him that he had chosen his house as a safe haven for the Royal family to stay until the conflict ended.

On 31 May, an armistice between the British and the Iraqis was signed. On 1 June, the Regent returned to Baghdad and his government was restored. Immediately afterwards, a violent pogrom against Jews took place in Baghdad by the hands of former Gaylani's supporters.

Gaylani was not to stay long in Persia. On 25 August 1941, armed forces of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invaded Persia and removed the pro-German Shah Reza Shah. Gaylani now fled to Nazi occupied Europe. In Berlin, he was received by German dictator Adolf Hitler and he was recognized as the leader of the Iraqi government in exile. Upon the defeat of Germany, Gaylani again fled and found refuge, this time in Saudi Arabia.

Gaylani only returned from exile after the revolution that overthrew the Iraqi monarchy in 1958. Once again he attempted to seize power, and plotted a revolt against Abdul Karim Kassem's government. The revolt was foiled and Gaylani was sentenced to death. Later pardoned, he returned to exile in Beirut, Lebanon, where he died in 1965.