Ba'ath Party

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party , also known simply as Baʽth Party (<a href="/facts/Arabic_language/A1e66hVV">Arabic</a>: حزب البعث, <a href="/facts/Literal_translation/0cF1oFRh">lit.</a> 'resurrection party'), was a <a href="/facts/Political_party/IAKw7oEK">political party</a> founded in <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a> by <a href="/facts/Michel_Aflaq/q5BU7r4H">Michel Aflaq</a>, <a href="/facts/Salah_al-Din_al-Bitar/8EAq2ak0">Salah al-Din al-Bitar</a>, and associates of <a href="/facts/Zaki_al-Arsuzi/1jcWhGy8">Zaki al-Arsuzi</a>. The party espoused <a href="/facts/Ba%2527athism/FUdmoruJ">Ba'athism</a>, which is an ideology mixing <a href="/facts/Arab_nationalism/AJAwbyX8">Arab nationalist</a>, <a href="/facts/Pan-Arabism/7AH9WCrb">pan-Arab</a>, <a href="/facts/Arab_socialism/SnCzgwmf">Arab socialist</a>, and <a href="/facts/Anti-imperialism/Ryuuzfym">anti-imperialist</a> interests. Ba'athism calls for the unification of the <a href="/facts/Arab_world/F8Jouq98">Arab world</a> into a <a href="/facts/Arab_Union/4RqTIEFF">single state</a>. Its motto, "<a href="/facts/Unity%2c_Freedom%2c_Socialism/CTdsxkb6">Unity, Freedom, Socialism</a>", refers to <a href="/facts/Arab_Union/4RqTIEFF">Arab unity</a> and <a href="/facts/Anti-imperialism/Ryuuzfym">freedom</a> from non-Arab control and interference.
The party was founded by the merger of the <a href="/facts/Arab_Ba%2527ath_Movement/2AEUFd9d">Arab Ba'ath Movement</a>, led by ʿAflaq and al-Bitar, and the <a href="/facts/Arab_Ba%2527ath/YDT14Vhf">Arab Ba'ath</a>, led by al-ʾArsūzī, on 7 April 1947 as the Arab Ba'ath Party. The party quickly established branches in other Arab countries, although it would only hold power in <a href="/facts/Iraq/pqYSFJw8">Iraq</a> and <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a>. In 1952, the Arab Ba'ath Party merged with the <a href="/facts/Arab_Socialist_Movement/42yIPcgg">Arab Socialist Movement</a>, led by <a href="/facts/Akram_al-Hourani/R5hPJA6n">Akram al-Hourani</a>, to form the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The newly formed party was a relative success, and it became the second-largest party in the Syrian parliament in the <a href="/facts/1954_Syrian_parliamentary_election/l5qVF02l">1954 election</a>. This, coupled with the increasing strength of the <a href="/facts/Syrian_Communist_Party/agE8N6mD">Syrian Communist Party</a>, led to the establishment of the <a href="/facts/United_Arab_Republic/4R55TmFu">United Arab Republic</a> (UAR), a union of <a href="/facts/Egypt/8Ttg0JwB">Egypt</a> and Syria, in 1958. The UAR would prove unsuccessful, and was dissolved following the <a href="/facts/1961_Syrian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/Ha7W7vq9">1961 Syrian coup d'état</a>.
Following the break-up of the <a href="/facts/United_Arab_Republic/4R55TmFu">UAR</a>, the Ba'ath Party was reconstituted. However, during the UAR period, military activists had established the Military Committee that took control of the Ba'ath Party away from civilian hands. In the meantime, in Iraq, <a href="/facts/Arab_Socialist_Ba%2527ath_Party_%25E2%2580%2593_Iraq_Region/WAp8Kkum">the local Ba'ath Party branch</a> had taken power by orchestrating and leading the <a href="/facts/Ramadan_Revolution/3cy9tt2g">Ramadan Revolution</a>, only to <a href="/facts/November_1963_Iraqi_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/qaBCPsIN">lose power a couple of months later</a>. The Military Committee, with Aflaq's consent, took power in Syria in the <a href="/facts/1963_Syrian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/6EGNesnX">1963 Syrian coup d'état</a>.
A power struggle quickly developed between the civilian faction led by ʿAflaq, al-Bitar, and <a href="/facts/Munif_Razzaz/A5Im8bt2">Munīf ar-Razzāz</a> and the Military Committee led by <a href="/facts/Salah_Jadid/7Q8xDqWp">Salah Jadid</a> and <a href="/facts/Hafez_al-Assad/aBtGmS4r">Hafez al-Assad</a>. As relations between the two factions deteriorated, the Military Committee initiated the <a href="/facts/1966_Syrian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/MovLcVxk">1966 Syrian coup d'état</a>, which ousted the National Command led by al-Razzāz, ʿAflaq, and their supporters. The 1966 coup split the Ba'ath Party between the <a href="/facts/Ba%2527ath_Party_(Iraqi-dominated_faction)/EX661zeF">Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party</a> and the <a href="/facts/Ba%2527ath_Party_(Syrian-dominated_faction)/qk8pksrs">Syrian-dominated Ba'ath Party</a>. There are currently no longer any Ba’athist countries after <a href="/facts/Fall_of_the_Assad_regime/f9ov5ycf">the fall of the Ba’ath regime</a> in Syria on 8 December 2024.

Ba'ath Party open-in-new

Ba'ath Party