List of Ba'athist movements

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Ba'athism
Flag of the Ba'ath Party
Organizations
Arab Ba'ath1940–1947
Arab Ba'ath Movement1940–1947
Ba'ath Party1947–1966
Baath Party (pro-Iraqi)1968–2003
Baath Party (pro-Syrian)1966–present
Variants
Neo-Ba'athism1966–2024
Saddamism1979–2003
People
Literature
History
Regional organizations
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Palestine
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
Yemen
Splinter groups
Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party1960–1962/63
Socialist Lebanon1965–1970
Arab Revolutionary Workers Party1966–present
Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party1970–present
Sudanese Ba'ath Party2002–present
Armed groups
Related topics

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki) was a political party mixing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist interests, opposed to imperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of the Arab world into a single state. Ba'ath is also spelled Ba'th or Baath and means "rebirth," "resurrection," "restoration," or "renaissance" (reddyah). Its motto — "Unity, Liberty, Socialism" (wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya) — refers to Arab unity, and freedom from non-Arab control and interference. Its ideology of Arab socialism is notably different in origins and practice from classical Marxism and is similar in outlook to 'third-worldism'.

The party was founded in 1940 by the Syrian intellectuals Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar. It has established branches in different Arab countries, although it has only ever held power in Syria and Iraq. In Syria it has had a monopoly on political power since the party's 1963 coup. Ba'athists also seized power in Iraq in 1963, but were deposed some months later. They returned to power in a 1968 coup and remained the sole party of government until the 2003 Iraq invasion. Since the invasion, the party has been banned in Iraq.

In 1966, a coup d'état by the military against the historical leadership of Aflaq and Bitar led the Syrian and Iraqi parties to split into rival organizations — the Qotri (or regionalist) Syria-based party and the Qawmi (or nationalist) Iraq-based party. Both retained the Ba'ath name and parallel structures within the Arab world, but hostilities between them grew to the point that the Syrian Ba'ath government became the only Arab government to support Iran (a non-Arabic nation) against Iraq during the First Persian Gulf War.

On December 8, 2024, Syrian opposition forces entered the Syrian capital Damascus, announcing the fall of the Syrian Baath Party regime that had lasted for 53 years.[1]

Major groups

Party Founded Dissolved Founder(s) Notes
Arab Ba'ath 1940 1947 Zaki al-Arsuzi The party merged with the Arab Ba'ath Movement to form the Arab Ba'ath Party in 1947.
Arab Ba'ath Movement 1940 1947 Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar The direct predecessor to the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, it merged with the Arab Ba'ath to form the Arab Ba'ath Party in 1947.
Ba'ath Party 1947 1966 Founded as the Arab Ba'ath Party, it later merged with the Arab Socialist Party in 1952 and renamed itself the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The party broke into two in 1966, between rival Baghdad and Damascus-based factions.

Regional branches

Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)
Region Founded Leader
Algeria Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Algeria[2] 1988 Ahmed Choutri[2]
Bahrain Nationalist Democratic Assembly[3] 1991 Rasul al-Jishi
Egypt Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Egypt Region 1991
Iraq Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region[4] 1951[5] Salah Al-Mukhtar
Jordan Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party[6] 1948[7]/1951[6] Founded by a group of teachers.[6]
Kuwait Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Kuwait Region 1955[7] Faisal al-Sani
Lebanon Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party[8] 1966 Abdel Majid Mohamed Tayeb Rafei[8]
Libya Libyan Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party[9] 1954[7]
Mauritania National Vanguard Party[10] 1991[11] Mohamed Ould Abdellahi Ould Eyye[12]
Palestine Arab Liberation Front 1969 Mahmoud Ismael
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Sahrawi Socialist Baath Party 1994 Najim Oumejjoud
Sudan Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Region of Sudan[13] 1970 Kamal Bolad
Tunisia Tunisian Ba'ath Movement 1988 Omar Othman Belhadj
Syria Arab Socialist Ba'ath 1947
Yemen National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Yemen Region 1955–1956[7] Qassam Salam Said
Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction)
Region Founded Leader
Bahrain Arab Socialist Ba'ath[14]
Iraq Arab Socialist Ba'ath[14] 1966 Mahmud al-Shaykh Radhi[15]
Jordan Arab Ba'ath Progressive Party[14] 1993 Fuad Dabbour
Lebanon Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Lebanon Region[14] 1949[7] Fayez Shukr
Mauritania Socialist Democratic Unionist Party 1994 Mahfouz Weld al-Azizi
Palestine As-Sa'iqa[16] 1966[17] Farhan Abu Al-Hayja
Sudan Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Organization of Sudan[13] 1980[13] at-Tijani Mustafa Yassin[18]
Syria Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region[4] 1943[19] Bashar al-Assad
Tunisia Party of the Democratic Arab Vanguard Kheireddine Souabni
Yemen Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Yemen Region[14] 1951 Mahmoud Abdul-Wahab Abdul-Hamid
South Yemen People's Vanguard Party (Yemen) late 1950s

Splinter-groups

Party Founded Dissolved Founder(s) Notes
Socialist Lebanon 1965 1970 Ahmed Beydoun The party was merged into the Communist Action Organization in Lebanon in 1970.
Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party 1960 1962/63[20] Abdullah Rimawi
Arab Revolutionary Workers Party 1966 – Yasin al-Hafiz Still active, as of 2011
Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party 1980 – Ibrahim Makhous Is part of the National Democratic Rally and still active in France
Sudanese Ba'ath Party 2002 – Mohamed Ali Jadin Was established by a split inside the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Country of Sudan, the pro-Iraqi ba'ath branch.

References

  1. ^ "Syrian rebels topple Assad who flees to Russia in Mideast shakeup". Reuters.
  2. ^ a b Farid, Sonia (9 August 2008). "Algerian Baath Party resumes underground activities". ALFnews. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  3. ^ "Nationalist Democratic Rally Society" [جمعية التجمع القومي الديمقراطي]. Alwasat (in Arabic). 9 August 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  4. ^ a b Ali, Tariq (2004). Bush in Babylon: The Recolonisation of Iraq. Verso. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-1-84467-512-8.
  5. ^ Polk, William Roe (2006). Understanding Iraq: A Whistlestop Tour from Ancient Babylon to Occupied Baghdad. I.B. Tauris. p. 109. ISBN 978-1845111236.
  6. ^ a b c Anderson, Betty Singy (2005). Nationalist Voices in Jordan: The Street and the State. University of Texas Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0292706255.
  7. ^ a b c d e Seale, Patrick (1990). Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. University of California Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0520069763.
  8. ^ a b "Political Programme of the Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party" (in Arabic). Lebanon Knowledge Development Gateway. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  9. ^ Leslie Simmons, Geoffrey (1993). Libya: The Struggle for Survival. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 166. ISBN 9780312089979.
  10. ^ Seddon, David; Seddon-Daines, Daniel (2005). A Political and Economic Dictionary of Africa. Taylor & Francis. p. 52. ISBN 978-1857432138.
  11. ^ Lane, Jan-Erik; Redissi, Hamadi; Ṣaydāwī, Riyāḍ (2009). Religion and Politics: Islam and Muslim Civilization. Ashgate Publishing. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-7546-7418-4.
  12. ^ Europa Publications (2003). Africa South of the Sahara 2004. Routledge. p. 715. ISBN 978-1-85743-183-4.
  13. ^ a b c Lain, Donald Ray (1989). Dictionary of the African Left: Parties, Movements and Groups. Dartmouth. pp. 58–60. ISBN 978-1-85521-014-1.
  14. ^ a b c d e Tucker, Spencer; Mary Roberts, Priscilla (2008). The encyclopedia of the Arab–Israeli conflict: a political, social, and military history: A–F. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-85109-842-2.
  15. ^ "Who's Who in the Iraqi Opposition". US Labor Against the War. 9 September 2004. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  16. ^ Talhami, Ghada Hashem (1989). CJ international. Vol. 5–6. Center for Research in Law and Justice. p. 49.
  17. ^ Federal Research Division (2004). Syria: A Country Study. Kessinger Publishing. p. 283. ISBN 978-1-4191-5022-7.
  18. ^ "Comrade Dr. Kamal Karrar, member of the National Command of the Sudanese Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party" [الرفيق الدكتور كمال كرار عضو القيادة القطرية السودانية.لحزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي] (in Arabic). Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  19. ^ Torrey, Gordon H. (1969). "The Ba'th: Ideology and Practice". Middle East Journal. 23 (4). Middle East Journal, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Autumn, 1969): 445–470. JSTOR 4324510.
  20. ^ Anderson, Bette Signe (2005). Nationalist Voices in Jordan: The Street and the State. University of Texas Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0292706255.