In October 1932 Iraq was accepted as a member of the League of Nations and the British mandate was terminated. It was the first modernArab state to achieve (formal) independence. It was also the first to experience a military coup d’état in 1936. Staff Lt. General Bakr Şidqī, Commander of the 2nd division at Kirkūk was, during the absence of his superior, made acting chief of staff and took advantage of his temporary post to carry out a military coup d’état. He established a precedent which was to be followed many times in Arab politics. The first military coup d’état, originating from new sources of political power, produced an almost complete change in the operation of the machinery of government. No other incident, since the establishment of the kingdom in 1921, had such far-reaching effects on the internal politics of Iraq.