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The Arab Socialist Ba'th Party (also spelled Baath or Ba'ath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي) was founded in 1945 as a center-left, secular Arab nationalist political party. It functioned as a pan-Arab party with branches in different Arab countries, but was strongest in Syria and Iraq, coming to power in both countries in 1963. In 1966 the Syrian and Iraqi parties split into two rival organisations mainly for ideological reasons-the "Qotri" (or 'Regionalist') Syria-based party being aligned with the Soviet Union while the "Qawmi" (or 'Nationalist') Iraq-based party adopted a generally more centrist stance. Both Ba'th parties retained the same name and maintain parallel structures in the Arab world.

The Ba'th Party came to power in Syria on 8 March 1963 and has held a monopoly on political power since. Later that same year, the Ba'thists gained control of Iraq and ran the country on two separate occasions, briefly in 1963 and then for a longer period lasting from July 1968 until 2003. After the de facto deposition of President Saddam Hussein's Ba'thist regime in the course of the 2003 Iraq war, the invading US army banned the Iraqi Ba'th Party in June 2003.

The Arabic word Ba'th means "resurrection" as in the party's founder Michel Aflaq's published works "On The Way Of Resurrection". Ba'thist beliefs combine Arab Socialism, nationalism, and Pan-Arabism. The mostly secular ideology often contrasts with that of other Arab governments in the Middle East, which sometimes tend to have leanings towards Islamism and theocracy.

Inspired by 18th century French Enlightenment, the motto of the Party is "Unity, Freedom, Socialism" (in Arabic wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya). "Unity" refers to Arab unity, "freedom" emphasizes freedom from foreign control and interference in particular, and "socialism" refers to what has been termed Arab Socialism rather than to Marxism.


The Ba'th in Syria, 1954 - 1963
Syrian politics took a dramatic turn in 1954 when the military regime of Adib al-Shishakli was overthrown and a democratic system restored. The Ba'th, now a large and popular organisation, gained representation in the parliamentary elections that year. Ideologically-based organisations appealing to the intelligentsia, the petty bourgeoisie and the working class were gaining ground in Syria, threatening to displace the old parties that represented the notables and bourgeoisie. The Ba'th was one of these new formations, but faced considerable competition from ideological enemies, notably the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), which was intrinsically opposed to Arab nationalism and was seen as pro-Western, and the Syrian Communist Party (SCP), whose support for class struggle and internationalism was also anathema to the Ba'th. In addition to the parliamentary level, all these parties as well as Islamists competed in street-level activity and sought to recruit support among the military.

The assassination of Ba'thist colonel Adnan al-Malki by a member of the SSNP allowed the Ba'th and its allies to launch a crackdown on that party, thus eliminating one rival, but by the late 1950s the Ba'th itself was facing considerable problems, riven by factionalism and faced with ideological confusion among its base. The growth of the Communist Party was also a major threat. These considerations undoubtedly contributed to the party's decision to support unification with Nasser's Egypt in 1958, an extremely popular position in any case. In 1958 Syria merged with Egypt in the United Arab Republic. As political parties other than Nasser's Arab Socialist Union were not permitted to operate, the Ba'th along with Syria's other parties faced the choice of dissolution or suppression.

In August 1959 the Ba'th Party held a congress which, in line with Aflaq's views, approved of its liquidation into the Arab Socialist Union. This decision was not universally accepted in party ranks, however, and the following year a fourth party congress was convened which reversed it.

Meanwhile, a small group of Syrian Ba'thist officers stationed in Egypt were observing with alarm the party's poor position and the increasing fragility of the union. They decided to form a secret military committee: its initial members were Lieutenant-Colonel Muhammad 'Umran, majors Salah Jadid and Ahmad al-Mir, and captains Hafiz al-Asad and 'Abd al-Karim al-Jundi

The merger was not a happy experience for Syria, and in 1961 a military coup in Damascus brought it to an end. Sixteen prominent politicians signed a statement supporting the coup, among them al-Hurani and al-Bitar (although the latter soon retracted his signature). The party was in crisis: the secession was extremely controversial among Syrians in general and most unpopular among the radical nationalists who formed the Ba'th membership. A large section of the membership left in protest, setting up the Socialist Unity Vanguard and gaining considerable support. The leadership around Aflaq was bitterly contested for its timidity in opposing the separation. Al-Hawrani, now a determined opponent of reunification, left the Ba'th and re-established his Arab Socialist Party.

Aflaq sought to reactivate the splintered party by calling a Fifth National Congress held in Homs in May 1962, from which both al-Hawrani's supporters and the Socialist Unity Vanguard were excluded. A compromise was reached between the pro-Nasser elements and the more cautious leadership. The leadership line was reflected in the position the congress adopted in favour of "considered unity" as opposed to the demands for "immediate unity" launched by the Socialist Unity Vanguard (later the Socialist Unity Movement), the Nasserists and the Arab Nationalist Movement. Meanwhile the Syrian party's secret Military Committee was also planning how to take power, having been granted considerable freedom of action by the civilian leadership in recognition of its need for secrecy.

The Ba'th takes power in Syria and Iraq, 1963
In February 1963, the Iraqi Ba'th took power after violently overthrowing Abd al-Karim Qasim and quashing communist-led resistance.

That same year, the Syrian party's military committee succeeded in persuading Nasserist and independent officers to make common cause with it, and they successfully carried out a military coup on 8 March. A National Revolutionary Command Council took control and assigned itself legislative power; it appointed Salah al-Din al-Bitar as head of a "national front" government. The Ba'th participated in this government along with the Arab Nationalist Movement, the United Arab Front and the Socialist Unity Movement.

As historian Hanna Batatu notes, this took place without the fundamental disagreement over immediate or "considered" reunification having been resolved. The Ba'th moved to consolidate its power within the new regime, purging Nasserist officers in April. Subsequent disturbances led to the fall of the al-Bitar government, and in the aftermath of Jasim Alwan's failed Nasserist coup in July, the Ba'th monopolized power.

Ideological transformation and division, 1963 - 1968
The challenges of building a Ba'thist state led to considerable ideological discussion and internal struggle in the party. The Iraqi party was increasingly dominated by Ali Salih al-Sa'di, an unsophisticated thinker according to Batatu, who took a hardline leftist approach, declaring himself a Marxist. He gained support in this from Syrian regional secretary Mahmud al-Shufi and from Yasin al-Hafiz, one of the party's few ideological theorists. Some members of the secret military committee also sympathized with this line.

The far-left tendency gained control at the party's Sixth National Congress of 1963, where hardliners from the dominant Syrian and Iraqi regional parties joined forces to impose a hard left line, calling for "socialist planning", "collective farms run by peasants", "workers' democratic control of the means of production", a party based on workers and peasants, and other demands reflecting a certain emulation of Soviet-style socialism. In a coded attack on Aflaq, the congress also condemned "ideological notability" within the party (Batatu, p. 1020). Aflaq, bitterly angry at this transformation of his party, retained a nominal leadership role, but the National Command as a whole came under the control of the radicals.

The volte-face was received with anger by elements in the Iraqi party, which suffered considerable internal division. The Nationalist Guard, a paramilitary unit which had been extremely effective, and extremely brutal, in suppressing opposition to the new regime, supported al-Sa'di, as did the B'athist Federation of Students, the Union of Workers, and most party members. Most of its members among the military officer corps was opposed, as was President Abd al-Salam 'Arif. Coup and counter-coup ensued within the party, whose factions did not shrink from employing the military in settling their internal differences. This eventually allowed 'Arif to take control and eliminate Ba'thist power in Iraq for the time being.

Ba'thist power in Syria
From 1969, the Ba'ath functioned as the only legal Syrian political party, but factionalism and splintering within the party led to a succession of governments and new constitutions. On 23 February 1966 a military junta led by Salah Jadid took power, and set out on a more radical line. Although they had not been supporters of the victorious far-left line at the Sixth Party Congress, they had now moved to adopt its positions and displaced the more moderate wing in power, purging from the party its original founders, Aflaq and al-Bitar.

At this juncture the Syrian Ba'th party split into two factions: the "progressive" faction, led by Nureddin al-Atassi, which gave priority to neo-Marxist socialist line the Ba'th was pursuing. He also favoured a more cautious approach in external affairs: he viewed a reconciliation with the conservative Arab states, notably Saudi Arabia, as essential for Syria's strategic position. Despite constant maneuvering and government changes, the two factions remained in an uneasy coalition of power until 1970, when, in another coup, Asad succeeded in ousting Atassi as prime minister. The Ba'th Party in Syria became virtually indistinguishable from the state, with membership numbers well over one million reflecting the fact that party membership was vital to advancement in many sectors. Other socialist parties accepting the basic orientation of the regime were permitted to operate again, and in 1973 the National Progressive Front was established as a coalition of the legal parties; the Ba'th remained firmly in control. Meanwhile, supporters of the far-left line formed the Democratic Arab Socialist Ba'th Party, which remains in existence to this day as an illegal opposition party in Syria and in exile.

The Syrian Ba'th and the Iraqi Ba'th were by now two separate parties, each maintaining that it was the genuine party and electing a National Command to take charge of the party across the Arab world. However, in Syria the Regional Command was the real centre of party power, and the membership of the National Command was a largely honorary position, often the destination of figures being eased out of the leadership.

Asad, one of the longest-ruling leaders of the modern Middle East, remained at Syria's political helm until his death in 2000, when his son Bashar al Assad succeeded him as President and as Regional Secretary of the party.

The Ba'th holds 134 of the 250 seats in the Syrian parliament, a figure which is dictated by election regulations rather than by voting patterns.

The party outside Syria
The Syria-based Ba'th Party has branches in Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Sudan, Iraq (currently split into two factions), etc., although none of the non-Syrian branches have any major strength. Among the Palestinians, as-Sa'iqa, a member organization of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, is the Syrian Ba'th party branch.

The Iraq-based Ba'th Party
Iraqi and Syrian Ba'thism today differ widely and partially oppose each other, though they only split a long time after their creation. They share one common feature in that under Saddam Hussein Iraq also moved away from Ba'athist principles.


   History
In Iraq the Ba'th party remained a civilian group and lacked strong support within the military. The party had little impact, and the movement split into several factions after 1958 and again in 1966. It lacked strong popular support, but through the construction of a strong party apparatus the party succeeded in gaining power.

The Ba'thists first came to power in the coup of February, 1963, when Abd al-Salam 'Arif became president. Interference from the historic leadership around Aflaq and disputes between the moderates and extremists, culminating in an attempted coup by the latter in November, 1963, served to discredit the party. After Arif's takeover in November 1963, the moderate military Ba'thist officers initially retained some influence but were gradually eased out of power over the following months.

In July, 1968, a bloodless coup brought to power the Ba'athist general Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr. Wranglings within the party continued, and the government periodically purged its dissident members. Emerging as a party strongman, Saddam Hussein eventually used his growing power to push al-Bakr aside in 1979 and ruled Iraq until 2003. Although almost all the Ba'thist leadership had no military background, under Hussein the party changed dramatically and became heavily militarized, with its leading members frequently appearing in uniform.


   Structure
The Party cell or circle, composed of three to seven members, constitutes the basic organisational unit of the Iraqi Ba'th Party. Cells functioned at the neighborhood or village level, where members would meet to discuss and execute party directives introduced from above. Since individual cells had little contact with one another, those higher up could vigorously enforce party loyalties from the top down. As the U.S. and its allies discovered in Iraq in 2003, cell organization also made the Party highly resilient.

A Party division comprised two to seven cells, controlled by a division commander. Such Ba'thist cells occurred throughout the bureaucracy and the military, where they functioned as the Party's watchdog, an effective form of covert surveillance within a public administration.

A Party section, which comprised two to five divisions, functioned at the level of a large city quarter, a town, or a rural district.

The branch came above the sections; it comprised at least two sections, and operated at the provincial level.

The Party congress, which combined all the branches, elected the regional command as the core of the Party leadership and top decision-making mechanism.

The national command of the Ba'th Party ranked over the regional command. It formed the highest policy-making and coordinating council for the Ba'ath movement throughout the Arab world at large.


   Post-Saddam
In June 2003, the US-led occupation forces in Iraq banned the Ba'th party. Some criticize the additional step the US took — of banning all members of the Ba'th party from the new government, as well as from public schools and colleges — as blocking too many experienced people from participation in the new government. Several teachers have lost their jobs, causing protests and demonstrations at schools and universities. Under the previous rule of the Ba'ath party, one could not reach high positions in the government or in the schools without becoming a party member.


   The Party Outside Iraq
The Iraq-based Ba'th Party had branches in various Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Mauritania and Jordan. After the fall of the Saddam government, some branches have distanced themselves from the central party, such as the branches in Yemen and Sudan.

In Lebanon, the party is led by former Sunni MP for Tripoli Abdul-Majeed Al-Rafei and Nicola Y. Firzli, Beirut-based real estate entrepreneur and scion of a prominent Greek Orthodox Christian family that fought against Ottoman Turkish rule.

In Yemen, the ‘Qawmi’/pro-Saddam branch of the Baath party is led by Dr Qasim Sallam (former MP for the district of Ta’izz), a US-educated philosopher author of “The Baath and the Arab homeland” (1980).

The party works amongst the Palestinians directly through the Arab Liberation Front (known as ALF or Jabhat al-Tahrir al-'Arabiyah) founded by Zeid Heidar, and indirectly through the relatively small pro-Iraqi wing of Fatah formerly led by Khaled Yashruti. ALF formed the major Palestinian political faction in Iraq during the Saddam years. It is numerically small, but gained some prominence due to the support given to it by the Iraqi government. It is a member organization of PLO.

In Bahrain, Rasul al-Jeshy leads the local pro-Saddam faction of the Ba'th Party, the secular Nationalist Democratic Rally Society (Jami'at al-Tajammu' al-Qawmi al-Dimuqrati), which in an alliance with Shiite Islamists opposes the Bahrain government's economic policies.

An Iraq-oriented Baath Party branch led by exiled Baath party cofounder Salah ad-Din al-Bitar and Gen. Amin Hafiz formerly existed in Syria, which the Syrian government severely repressed.