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The Gulf War of 1990–1991 was the first major international conflict of the post-Cold War era. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait provoked a massive US-led military response that demonstrated overwhelming Western military power but left many issues unresolved. This lesson examines the causes, events, and immediate consequences of the Gulf War.
Iraq, under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, was one of the most powerful countries in the Middle East. Saddam had ruled Iraq since 1979 and maintained power through a combination of military force, secret police, and the suppression of dissent.
| Key Facts about Iraq | Detail |
|---|---|
| Leader | Saddam Hussein (President from 1979) |
| Government | Ba'athist dictatorship; one-party state |
| Military | One of the largest armies in the Middle East (~1 million soldiers) |
| Economy | Heavily dependent on oil exports |
| Iran-Iraq War | Fought a devastating 8-year war with Iran (1980–1988); left Iraq heavily in debt |
| Western relations | The USA and Britain had supported Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War as a counterweight to Iran |
On 2 August 1990, Iraqi forces invaded and occupied Kuwait, a small, oil-rich neighbouring state. Saddam Hussein had several motivations.
| Reason | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Debt | Iraq owed approximately $80 billion after the Iran-Iraq War; much of this was owed to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia |
| Oil prices | Saddam accused Kuwait of overproducing oil, which drove down prices and reduced Iraq's revenue |
| Historical claim | Iraq had long claimed that Kuwait was historically part of Iraqi territory |
| Oil wealth | Kuwait's vast oil reserves would solve Iraq's financial crisis |
| Slant drilling | Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi oil by drilling diagonally into the Rumaila oil field on the border |
| Miscalculation | Saddam may have believed the USA would not intervene — US Ambassador April Glaspie had seemed to suggest the USA would not take sides in Arab disputes |
Exam Tip: The role of April Glaspie is a controversial topic. Her meeting with Saddam on 25 July 1990 has been interpreted as giving a "green light" for the invasion, though the US government denied this. Be careful to present this as a factor Saddam may have misinterpreted, rather than as a deliberate US signal.
| Event | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date | 2 August 1990 |
| Iraqi force | ~100,000 troops and 700 tanks |
| Duration | Kuwait was conquered within 12 hours |
| Kuwaiti government | The Emir of Kuwait fled to Saudi Arabia |
| Iraqi annexation | Saddam declared Kuwait Iraq's "19th province" |
| Hostages | Western nationals in Kuwait were taken hostage and used as "human shields" at military sites |
The invasion provoked near-universal condemnation and a swift international response.
| Resolution | Date | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution 660 | 2 August 1990 | Condemned the invasion; demanded immediate Iraqi withdrawal |
| Resolution 661 | 6 August 1990 | Imposed comprehensive economic sanctions on Iraq |
| Resolution 678 | 29 November 1990 | Authorised the use of "all necessary means" to remove Iraq from Kuwait if it did not withdraw by 15 January 1991 |
The USA, under President George H. W. Bush, assembled a coalition of 35 nations to oppose Iraq.
| Key Coalition Members | Contribution |
|---|---|
| United States | ~500,000 troops; overall command |
| United Kingdom | ~45,000 troops |
| Saudi Arabia | ~100,000 troops; provided bases |
| France | ~18,000 troops |
| Egypt | ~35,000 troops |
| Syria | ~20,000 troops |
Key Term: Operation Desert Shield — the build-up of coalition forces in Saudi Arabia from August 1990 to January 1991, designed to deter further Iraqi aggression and prepare for the liberation of Kuwait.
When Iraq failed to withdraw by the 15 January deadline, the coalition launched Operation Desert Storm.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Duration | 38 days |
| Sorties | Over 100,000 air sorties |
| Targets | Military installations, communications, supply lines, air defences, and infrastructure |
| Precision weapons | Coalition used "smart bombs" and cruise missiles — though most bombs were conventional |
| Iraqi air force | Largely destroyed on the ground or fled to Iran |
| Civilian casualties | Controversial — bombing of the Amiriyah shelter (13 February) killed approximately 400 civilians |
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Duration | 100 hours |
| Strategy | "Left hook" — coalition forces swept around Iraqi positions from the west |
| Iraqi resistance | Collapsed rapidly; mass surrenders |
| Kuwait liberated | Iraqi forces expelled from Kuwait |
| Ceasefire | President Bush declared a ceasefire on 28 February 1991 |
As Iraqi forces retreated from Kuwait along Highway 80, they were attacked by coalition aircraft. The resulting destruction — miles of burned vehicles and bodies — became known as the "Highway of Death." Images of the carnage influenced Bush's decision to declare a ceasefire.
| Side | Killed | Wounded |
|---|---|---|
| Coalition | ~292 (147 US) | ~776 |
| Iraq | Estimated 20,000–35,000 military | Unknown |
| Iraqi civilians | Estimated 2,000–3,000 | Unknown |
| Kuwaiti civilians | ~1,000 killed during occupation | Unknown |
Question: "The importance of oil was the main reason for the Gulf War of 1990–1991." How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. (12 marks, AO1 + AO2)
The importance of oil to the outbreak of the Gulf War of 1990–1991 is significant but must be weighed against other interlocking causes. Oil mattered economically: Iraq had emerged from the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) with roughly 80billionofdebt,muchofitowedtoKuwaitandSaudiArabia,whileKuwait′sallegedoverproductionhaddriventhepriceofabarrelofcrudebelow18, starving Baghdad of revenue. Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait of slant-drilling into the Rumaila field, framing the invasion of 2 August 1990 partly as economic self-defence. However, oil also mattered strategically for the international response: the fear that Iraqi control of Kuwaiti reserves — and potential pressure on Saudi Arabia — would hand Saddam decisive leverage over the world economy helps explain why thirty-five states joined the coalition under UN Security Council Resolution 678 of 29 November 1990. Yet oil cannot stand alone as the sole explanation. Ideological factors (Ba'athist pan-Arab ambition, Saddam's wish to position himself as leader of the Arab world after the Iran-Iraq War), miscalculation (the 25 July 1990 meeting between Saddam and US Ambassador April Glaspie), and a long-standing Iraqi territorial claim on Kuwait as a "nineteenth province" all shaped the crisis. The most convincing judgement is therefore that oil was a necessary but not sufficient cause: it provided the motive and the international urgency, but without Saddam's political ambitions and the post-Cold War opportunity to act through the UN, the war of 17 January – 28 February 1991 would not have unfolded as it did.
Examiners at AQA mark extended responses against a four-level scale running from simple, through developed, to complex, up to complex with a sustained line of reasoning. The following contrast shows how the same content on the causes of the Gulf War is treated at three different grade points.
Grade 4 (simple / basic developed): "Iraq invaded Kuwait because it wanted oil. Saddam Hussein was a dictator and he needed money. The UN told Iraq to leave and then the coalition started Operation Desert Storm in 1991." The answer identifies a cause and names an event but offers no date precision, no causal chain, and no evaluation. Knowledge is accurate but thin; reasoning is assertive rather than argued.
Grade 6 (developed / beginning complex): "One of the main reasons for the Gulf War was Iraq's need for oil revenue. After the Iran-Iraq War ended in 1988, Iraq was heavily in debt, and Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait of overproducing oil, which drove down prices. On 2 August 1990 Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in a twelve-hour operation, and the UN Security Council passed Resolution 678 authorising force if Iraq did not withdraw by 15 January 1991." The response now deploys dates, specific mechanisms, and explicit causation. However, it does not weigh factors against each other or reach a substantiated judgement.
Grade 9 (complex with sustained line of reasoning): "Although oil provided the immediate economic motive for the invasion of 2 August 1990, a convincing explanation must integrate economic, ideological and diplomatic factors. The $80 billion Iran-Iraq War debt made Kuwait's alleged slant-drilling at Rumaila intolerable to Saddam, yet the invasion also reflected a longstanding Iraqi claim that Kuwait was a 'nineteenth province' and Saddam's ambition for regional primacy after 1988. The coalition's response, codified in UN Resolution 678 of 29 November 1990 and prosecuted through Operation Desert Storm between 17 January and 28 February 1991, was in turn shaped by the strategic stakes of oil for the wider world economy. Thus oil is best understood as the factor that linked domestic Iraqi pressures to the international response, rather than as a cause that operated in isolation." Each sentence advances the argument; the response sustains a line of reasoning across factors and reaches a supported judgement.
Precision is rewarded at every level of the AQA mark scheme, and the Gulf War is a topic where examiners expect candidates to command exact names, figures and dates. On 2 August 1990 at approximately 02:00 local time, around 100,000 Iraqi troops crossed the Kuwaiti border supported by roughly 700 tanks; Kuwait City fell within twelve hours and the Emir, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, fled south to Saudi Arabia. Operation Desert Shield was formally announced on 7 August 1990, as the first US forces — elements of the 82nd Airborne Division — deployed to Saudi Arabia at King Fahd's invitation. UN Security Council Resolution 660 of 2 August 1990 condemned the invasion, Resolution 661 of 6 August imposed comprehensive sanctions, and Resolution 678 of 29 November 1990 authorised "all necessary means" should Iraq not withdraw by the 15 January 1991 deadline. Operation Desert Storm opened on the night of 17 January 1991 with cruise-missile strikes on Baghdad; the 38-day air campaign flew over 100,000 sorties. The ground campaign began on 24 February 1991 and ended after precisely 100 hours with President George H. W. Bush's ceasefire announcement on 28 February 1991. The two no-fly zones — north of the 36th parallel under Operation Provide Comfort (April 1991) and south of the 32nd parallel — remained in force for over a decade. Coalition military deaths totalled approximately 292 (including 147 US personnel); Iraqi military deaths are estimated between 20,000 and 35,000.
AQA examiners consistently reward five features in responses on this period. First, dated precision: writing "on 2 August 1990" rather than "in 1990" signals secure chronological control. Second, named agency: specifying that George H. W. Bush, James Baker, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell, Saddam Hussein and April Glaspie each made identifiable decisions anchors analysis in historical actors rather than abstractions. Third, causal linkage: examiners want to see how one factor produced or amplified another — for example, how Iraq's war debt produced pressure on Kuwaiti oil policy, which in turn produced the invasion. Fourth, substantiated judgement: the higher levels of the mark scheme require a clear view of relative importance, not a list. Fifth, awareness of the source material: even in non-source questions, quoting that UN Resolution 678 used the phrase "all necessary means" demonstrates contact with primary evidence.
Sir Lawrence Freedman's The Gulf Conflict 1990–1991 (co-authored with Efraim Karsh) remains the standard scholarly account; Freedman emphasises the role of coalition-building and the UN framework, arguing that the 1991 war was the high-water mark of post-Cold War multilateralism. Freedman's later work in A Choice of Enemies situates the Gulf War within a longer American engagement with the Middle East, linking the decisions of 1991 to the invasions of 2001 and 2003. Rick Atkinson's Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War offers a more operational narrative drawing on US military sources. A contrasting perspective is provided by Avi Shlaim and others who have questioned whether sanctions and the no-fly zones amounted to a "low-intensity" continuation of the war throughout the 1990s. Candidates who cite historians by name and distinguish their arguments reach the highest levels of the AO2 strand.
| Key Event | Date | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Iraq invades Kuwait | 2 August 1990 | Triggers international crisis |
| UN Resolution 678 | 29 November 1990 | Authorises force if Iraq does not withdraw |
| Operation Desert Storm begins | 17 January 1991 | Coalition air campaign begins |
| Ground campaign | 24–28 February 1991 | Kuwait liberated in 100 hours |
| Ceasefire | 28 February 1991 | War ends but Saddam remains in power |
Exam Tip: The Gulf War demonstrates key themes: the role of oil in international relations, the importance of UN resolutions in legitimising military action, and the limitations of military victory (Saddam remained in power). These themes recur throughout the course.
This content is aligned with the AQA GCSE History (8145) specification.