The
Iraqi revolt against the British, also known as the
1920 Iraqi Revolt or
Great Iraqi Revolution, started in
Baghdad in the summer of 1920 with mass demonstrations by
Iraqis, including protests by embittered officers from the old
Ottoman army, against the
British occupation of Iraq. The revolt gained momentum when it spread to the largely tribal Shia regions of the middle and lower
Euphrates. Sheikh
Mehdi Al-Khalissi was a prominent Shia leader of the revolt.