Ba'ath Party

Arab Socialist Baʿth Party
حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي
Secretary-GeneralMichel Aflaq (1954–65)
Munif Razzaz (1965–66)
FoundersMichel Aflaq
Salah al-Din al-Bitar
Founded7 April 1947; 77 years ago (7 April 1947)
Dissolved23 February 1966; 58 years ago (23 February 1966)
Merger ofArab Ba'ath
Arab Ba'ath Movement
Arab Socialist Movement
Succeeded byArab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region and Ba'ath Party
(Iraqi-dominated faction)

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region and Ba'ath Party
(Syrian-dominated faction)
NewspaperAl-Ba'ath
IdeologyBa'athism
Revolutionary socialism
Arab nationalism
Arab socialism
Political positionLeft-wing
Colors  Black   White   Green
  Red (Pan-Arab colors)
Slogan"Unity, Freedom, Socialism" "Long Live The Arabs"
Party flag

The Arab Socialist Baʿth[1] Party (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Ḥizb al-Baʿth al-ʿArabī al-Ishtirākī [ˈħɪzb alˈbaʕθ alˈʕarabiː alɪʃtɪˈraːkiː]), also anglicized as Ba'ath in loose transcription, with baʿth meaning resurrection, was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bīṭār, and associates of Zakī al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused Baʿathism (from Arabic بعث baʿth, 'resurrection'), which is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arab, Arab socialist, and anti-imperialist interests. Baʿthism calls for the unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its motto, "Unity, Liberty, Socialism", refers to Arab unity, and freedom from non-Arab control and interference.

The party was founded by the merger of the Arab Ba'ath Movement, led by ʿAflaq and al-Bitar, and the Arab Ba'ath, led by al-ʾArsūzī, on 7 April 1947 as the Arab Baʿth Party. The party quickly established branches in other Arab countries, although it would only hold power in Iraq and Syria. The Arab Baʿth Party merged with the Arab Socialist Movement, led by Akram al-Hawrani, in 1952 to form the Arab Socialist Baʿth Party. The newly formed party was a relative success, and it became the second-largest party in the Syrian parliament in the 1954 election. This, coupled with the increasing strength of the Syrian Communist Party,[citation needed] led to the establishment of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union of Egypt and Syria, in 1958. The UAR would prove unsuccessful, and a Syrian coup in 1961 dissolved it.

Following the break-up of the UAR, the Baʿth Party was reconstituted. However, during the UAR period, military activists had established the Military Committee that took control of the Baʿath Party away from civilian hands. In the meantime, in Iraq, the local Ba'ath Party branch had taken power by orchestrating and leading the Ramadan Revolution, only to lose power a couple of months later. The Military Committee, with Aflaq's consent, took power in Syria in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état of 1963.

A power struggle quickly developed between the civilian faction led by ʿAflaq, al-Bitar, and Munīf ar-Razzāz and the Military Committee led by Salah Jadid and Hafez al-Assad. As relations between the two factions deteriorated, the Military Committee initiated the 1966 Syrian coup d'état, which ousted the National Command led by al-Razzāz, ʿAflaq, and their supporters. The 1966 coup split the Ba'ath Party between the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath movement and the Syrian-dominated Ba'ath movement.

  1. ^ Mohammed Shaffi Agwani (January 1961). "The Baʻth: A Study in Contemporary Arab Politics". International Studies. 3 (1): 6–24. doi:10.1177/002088176100300102. ISSN 0020-8817. S2CID 154673494.