Ba'ath Party

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History of Ba'ath Party[change | change source]

The meaning of Ba'ath[change | change source]

The word Ba’ath is an Arabic word which means ‘resurrection and renaissance’. The name refers to the main intention of the party which is ‘Arab unity and freedom from non-Arab control and domination’.[1]

By who and when was the Ba'tah Party established?[change | change source]

The Ba’ath Party was established by two individuals who were ambitious about their political vision which was an ideological mixture of Arab nationalism, Arab socialism, and anti-imperialism. Michel Aflaq (1910-1989) a Christian and Salah al-Din al-Bitar (1912-1980) a Sunni Muslim are the founders of this party.[2] By 1945, the Baathists decided to register their party to become an official party, but their application was rejected by the government. This big move was blocked by the French mandate which administrated Syria.[3]

After the attack of 1956 in Egypt by Britain, France and Israel, Iraqis realized how cruel these invaders are and that they no longer can’t stay on the side of the British. This bitter awareness was a seed to the Iraqi revolution by the youngsters. Hafaz al-Assad (1930-2000) was the ruler of the Ba’ath Party in Syria and Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) was the ruler of the Ba’ath Party in Iraq.[4]

Where was the Ba'ath established?[change | change source]

The Ba’ath Party started its activities in Syria and Iraq after military coups in 1963. Although there were some internal struggles in 1966, the party was divided into several branches in Iraq and Syria. The theme ‘unity’ became an inspiration for countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and other Arab countries in 1948-1951. The connection for Arab nationalism became attractive and popular and Baatism spread out all over the Arab region.[5]

The rise of the Ba'ath part[change | change source]

As the name suggests, the Ba’ath party wanted to create unity among Arabs. Beside this main goal, Ba’ath Party added socialism which became a socialist party. The ideology of socialism for the Ba’ath Party was an interpretation of social justice for the poor and underprivileged. The slogan: ‘Unity, Freedom, Socialism’ and ‘One Arab Nation with an Immortal Mission’. The Ba’ath Party was the first Arab political party with pan-Arabist goals.[6] Pan-Arabism is a theory that Arab people and nations should be united, or a movement to achieve such unity.[7]

The main goals of Pan-Arabism are that every Arab seeks independence from imperialism and thus create unity within the Arab community. Since there were common problems related to Western imperialism, the Arabs could come to a compromise to work on this. This intrinsic motivation gave rise to pan-Arabism.[8]

Where was the Ba'ath Party active?[change | change source]

The Ba’ath Party started its activities in Syria and Iraq after military coups in 1963. Although there were some struggles in 1966, the party was divided into several groups in Iraq and Syria.

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Wehr, Hans. Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4 ed.). p. 80.
  2. ↑ Devlin, John F. (December 1991). "The Baath Party: Rise and Metamorphosis". The American Historical Review. 96 (5): 1398. doi:10.2307/2165277. JSTOR 2165277.
  3. ↑ "Michel Aflaq founded Syria's Baath Party 75 years ago". TRTWORLD. 8 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Coates Ulrichsen, Kristian (2018). A Dictionary of Politics in the Middle East. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191835278.
  5. ↑ Devlin, John F. (December 1991). "The Baath Party - Rise and Metamorphosis". Oxford Journals. 96 (5): 1399. doi:10.2307/2165277. JSTOR 2165277 – via The American Historical Review.
  6. ↑ Devlin, John F. (December 1991). "The Baath Party: Rise and Metamorphosis". Oxford Journals. 96 (5): 1399. doi:10.2307/2165277. JSTOR 2165277 – via The American Historical Review.
  7. ↑ "Pan-Arabism". Cambrigde Dictionary. 2022 – via Cambridge University Press.
  8. ↑ James, Jankowski (May 2018). "Pan-Arabism". Encyclopedia.com.

Related pages[change | change source]

Other websites[change | change source]


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