Ba'ath Party

The Arab Socialist Ba'th Party (also spelled Baath or Ba'ath; Arabic: ??? ????? ?????? ?????????) was founded in 1945 as a radical, left-wing, 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. Both Ba'th parties retained the same name and maintain parallel structures in the Arab world.

Related Topics:
Arabic - 1945 - Pan-Arab - Syria - Iraq - 1963 - 1966

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The Ba'th Party came to power in Syria on 8 March 1963 and has held a monopoly on political power since later that year; the Ba'thists ruled Iraq briefly in 1963, and then 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 occupying authorities banned the Iraqi Ba'th Party in June 2003.

Related Topics:
Syria - 8 March - Iraq - 1968 - 2003 - Saddam Hussein - 2003 Iraq war - June

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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.

Related Topics:
Arabic - Michel Aflaq - Arab Socialism - Nationalism - Pan-Arabism - Middle East - Islamism - Theocracy

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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.

Related Topics:
Arabic - Marxism

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