Editing Ba'ath Party (section)

==Regional branches==
===Iraq===
{{main|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region}}
[[Fuad al-Rikabi]] founded the Iraqi Regional Branch in 1951{{sfn|Polk|2006|p=109}} or 1952.{{sfn|Ghareeb|Dougherty|2004|p=194}} There are those who trace the branch's founding to Abd ar Rahman ad Damin and Abd al Khaliq al Khudayri in 1947, after their return from the 1st National Congress, which was held in Syria.<ref>{{cite web|author=Metz, Helen Chapin|author-link=Helen Chapin Metz|url=http://countrystudies.us/iraq/77.htm|title=Iraq — Politics: The Baath Party|publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]]|access-date=23 October 2011|archive-date=12 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012073305/http://countrystudies.us/iraq/77.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Another version is that the branch was established in 1948 by Rikabi and Sa'dun Hamadi, a [[Shia Islam|Shia]] [[Muslim]].{{sfn|Sheffer|Ma'oz|2002|p=174}} However, Efraim Karsh and Inari Rautsi contend that the Regional Branch was established in the 1940s, but that it received official recognition as a Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party in 1952 by the National Command.{{sfn|Karsh|Rautsi|1991|p=13}} What is certain is that Rikabi was elected the Regional Branch's first Regional Secretary in 1952.{{sfn|Sheffer|Ma'oz|2002|p=174}}

The party initially consisted of a majority of Shia Muslims, as Rikabi recruited supporters mainly from his friends and family, but slowly became [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] dominated.{{sfn|Nakash|2003|p=136}} The Regional Branch, and other parties of pan-Arab inclination, had difficulties in recruiting Shia members.{{sfn|Dawisha|2005|p=174}} Most Shi'ites considered pan-Arab ideology as a Sunni project, since the majority of Arabs are Sunnis.{{sfn|Dawisha|2005|p=174}}

At the time of [[14 July Revolution]] in 1958, which overthrew the [[Kingdom of Iraq|Hashemite monarchy]], the Regional Branch had 300 members.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=22}} The Iraqi Regional Branch supported [[Abdul-Karim Qasim]]'s rule on the grounds that he would seek Iraq's entry into the [[United Arab Republic]].{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} Of the 16-members of Qasim's cabinet, 12 of them were Regional Branch members.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} After taking power, Qasim changed his position on the UAR, reverting to the old "Iraq first policy".{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} This turn displeased the Regional Branch and other Arab nationalists groups.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=25–26}} Due to his policy reversal, the Regional Branch gathered a group, led by [[Saddam Hussein]], which tried but failed to assassinate Qasim.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=26}}

The Regional Branch seized power in the [[Ramadan Revolution]].{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=39}} The coup was led by leading Regional Branch member [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]].{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=39}} The plotters appointed [[Abdul Salam Arif]], a Nasserite, to the [[President of Iraq|Presidency]] while al-Bakr was appointed the [[Prime Minister of Iraq|country's Prime Minister]].{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=41}} However, real power was in the hands of Ali Salih al-Sadi, the branch's Regional Secretary.{{sfn|Mufti|1996|p=161}} After taking power, the Regional Branch through its militia, the National Guard, initiated what Iraqi expert Con Coughlin referred to as an "orgy of violence" against [[Communism|communist]] and [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] elements.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=41}} These repressive measures coupled with factionalism within the Regional Branch led to the [[November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état]] by President Arif and his Nasserite supporters.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=44}} Iraq expert Malik Mufti believes Aflaq may have supported Arif's coup because it weakened al-Sadi's position within the party and strengthened his own.{{sfn|Mufti|1996|p=165}} The coup forced the branch to go underground.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=46–48}} Due to the coup, several leading Ba'athist were jailed, such as al-Bakr and Saddam.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=46–48}} Despite this, the Regional Branch elected al-Bakr as Regional Secretary in 1964.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=46–48}}

===Jordan===
{{Further|Arab Ba'ath Progressive Party|Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party}}
Following the party's establishment in Syria, Ba'athist ideas spread throughout the Arab world. In Jordan Ba'athist thought first spread to the [[Transjordan (region)|East Bank]] in the late-1940s, most notably at universities.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=135}} While the Regional Branch was not formed until 1951, several meetings took place at the universities where students and professors alike would discuss the Ba'athist thought.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=135}} Despite the ideology being very popular, it took time before the actual Regional Branch was established.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} A group of teachers established the Regional Branch in the city by [[Al-Karak]].{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} At the very beginning, the clinic owned by Abd al-Rahman Shuqyar was used as the branch's meeting place.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} Bahjat Abu Gharbiyah became the Regional Branch's first member in the [[West Bank]], and was thus resigned the responsibility of building the party's organization in the area the branch secretary in the West Bank, and was thus responsible in that area.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} In the West Bank, the branch was most active in the cities of [[Jerusalem]] and [[Ramallah]].{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}}

The 1st Regional Congress was held in 1951 in the home of [[Abdullah Rimawi]].{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} The congress mapped out the "future course of the party".{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} The next year, the 2nd Regional Congress was held, this time in Abdallah Na'was' home.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} It elected a Regional Command and appointed Rimawi as the branch's Regional Secretary.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} Shugyar, Gharbiyah and Na'was agreed to serve in the Regional Branch's Central Committee.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} Rimawi and Na'was, his deputy, would prove effective leaders.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} Shortly after the 2nd Regional Congress, the branch launched a successful recruitment campaign in Jordanian and Palestinian neighbourhoods and cities.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} On 28 August 1956 the branch was legalized by a High Court.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|pp=136–137}}

Both Rimawi and Na'was were [[Parliament of Jordan|elected to Parliament]] in the [[1950 Jordanian general election|1950]] and [[1951 Jordanian general election|1951 elections]] as [[Independent politician|independents]] (the branch was not a legal party at the time).{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=137}} In the 1951 election, the branch managed to elect three members to parliament.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=135}} Rimawi was able to retain his seat in parliament until the [[1956 Jordanian general election|1956 election]].{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}} None of these elections can be considered democratic.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=175}} Shuqyar, during the 1951 elections, was imprisoned by the authorities because his views were deemed too radical.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=175}} Less than a month before the election day, the British Embassy in Amman had estimated that Shuqyar would gain an easy victory.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=175}} However, because of the undemocratic nature of the election, Shuqyar was not elected.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=175}}  As voting patterns would prove, voters who voted for Ba'athist candidates lived in [[Irbid]] and [[Amman]] on the East Bank, and Jerusalem and [[Nablus]] on the West Bank.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=136}}

Shuqyar during a government-imposed exile to Southern Jordan, used his spare time reading Marxist and [[Leninism|Leninist]] literature.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=137}} While he never became a communist, Shuqyar began to support communist concepts.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=137}} On his return from exile he tried to persuade the Regional Branch to join in an electoral front with the [[Jordanian Communist Party]].{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=137}} However, the Regional Branch leaders Rimawi, Na'was, Gharbiyah and [[Munif Razzaz]] opposed such an idea, and because of it, Shuqyar left the Ba'ath Party.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=137}}

Rimawi and Na'was were elected to the National Command at the 2nd National Congress (held in 1952).{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=231}} At the 6th and 7th National Congress, the Regional Branch elected Razzaz to the National Command.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=227}}

===Lebanon===
{{Main|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Lebanon Region|Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party}}
The Lebanese Regional Branch was formed in 1949–1950.{{sfn|Seddon|2004|p=85}} During the existence of the UAR, the Regional Branch was split into two factions, those supporting Nasser and those opposing him.{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=497}} However, in April 1960, the UAR denied the Regional Branch organ ''As Sahafäh'' access into the UAR-ruled Syria.{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=497}}

The Regional Branch was strongest in the city of [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]].{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=356}} In the [[1960 Lebanese general election|1960 elections]], [[Abd al-Majid al-Rafei]] was just a few votes short of being elected to parliament.{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=356}} However, a persistent problem for him during his election campaign was the vocal criticism of him and the Regional Branch by the [[Lebanese Communist Party]].{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=356}} In Tripoli the Communists supported the candidacy of [[Rashid Karami]], to ensure themselves of a Regional Branch victory.{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=348}} On 17 July 1961 a group of rival Ba'athists led by Rimawi opened fire on several of the Regional Branch's members.{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=378}}

During the UAR years, the same factional lines that developed in the Syrian Regional Branch came to the Lebanese Regional Branch.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=23}} At the 4th National Congress (held in Lebanon), which was mainly attended by delegates representing Lebanon, several resolutions with a pronounced anti-Nasser tone were approved.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|pp=23–24}} At the same time, criticism of Aflaq and Bitar was severe, both their leadership records and their ideology were criticized.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=24}} A resolution was approved, which stated that the party leaders (Aflaq and al-Bitar among others) had too hastily entered into a union with Egypt, had wrongly dissolved the Syrian Regional Branch in 1958, and had given pan-Arabism primacy when socialism was more important. The resolution also affirmed the need to use a more Marxist lens rather than a Ba'athist one to analyze the current situation, and the need for the party to strengthen their positions among the workers, peasants, artisans, and shopkeepers.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=24}} Because of the position of the Lebanese Regional Branch, Aflaq at the 5th National Congress invited enough Iraqi Regional Branch delegates to neutralize the Lebanese delegates.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=37}} However, at the same time, the Lebanese Regional Branch opposed Hawrani and his faction.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=39}} At the 6th National Congress, the Lebanese Regional Branch elected Jubrän Majdalani and Khalid al-Ali to the National Command.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=227}}

At the 7th National Congress, the National Command in collaboration with the Military Committee removed leftists, such as those found in the Lebanese Regional Branch, from leadership positions, and expelled them from the party in the most severe cases.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=106}} The Lebanese Regional Branch managed to elect three members to the National Command at the 7th National Congress; Majdalani, al-Ali and Abd al-Majid Rafi.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=227}}

===Libya===
{{main|Libyan Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party}}
The Regional Branch was founded in the 1950s{{sfn|Simmons|1993|p=166}} by Amr Taher Deghayes.{{sfn|Wright|1981|p=227}} Ba'athism was a major political force in Libya following the establishment of the [[United Arab Republic]]. Many intellectuals were attracted to Ba'athist ideology during the later years of the [[Kingdom of Libya]]. However, with help from Nasserist propaganda, several Ba'athists changed affiliation and became Nasserists instead.{{sfn|Wright|1981|p=94}} The growth of these pan-Arab ideologies concerned the government, which led to the incarceration of several Nasserist and Ba'athist military officers in the early sixties.{{sfn|Wright|1981|p=96}} The Ba'athist were accused of working to overthrow "the political, economic and social system" of the Kingdom; the sentences ranged from everything to eight months to two years.{{sfn|Simmons|1993|p=161}} By 1964, the Libyan Regional Branch had only managed to establish one-level below the Regional Command, the branch-level.{{sfn|Devlin|1979|p=18}} Syrian specialist John Devlin estimated that the Libyan Regional Branch had been 50 and 150 members in 1964.{{sfn|Devlin|1979|p=18}}

===Syria===
{{Main|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region}}
Syrian politics took a dramatic turn in 1954 when the military government of [[Adib Shishakli]] was overthrown and the democratic system restored. The Ba'ath, now a large and popular organisation, won 15 out of 142 parliamentary seats in the [[1954 Syrian parliamentary election|Syrian election]] that year, becoming the second-largest party in parliament. Aside from the [[Syrian Communist Party]] (SCP), the Ba'ath Party was the only party able to organise mass protests among workers.{{sfn|Peretz|1994|p=413}} The party was supported by the [[intelligentsia]] due to their pro-Egyptian and [[Anti-imperialism|anti-imperialist]] stance along with their advocation of social reform.{{sfn|Finer|Stanley|2009|p=149}}

The Ba'ath faced considerable competition from ideological competitors, notably the [[Syrian Social Nationalist Party]] (SSNP), which supported the establishment of a [[Syria (region)|Greater Syria]]. The Ba'ath Party's main adversary was the SCP, whose support for class struggle and internationalism was anathema to the Ba'ath.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=211}} In addition to parliamentary-level competition, all these parties (as well as [[Islamism|Islamists]]) competed in street-level activity and sought to recruit support among the military.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|pp=210–211}}

By the end of 1957, the SCP was able to weaken the Ba'ath Party to such an extent that the Ba'ath Party drafted a bill in December that called for a union with Egypt, a move that proved to be very popular. The Ba'ath leadership dissolved the party in 1958, gambling that the illegalisation of certain parties would hurt the SCP more than it would the Ba'ath.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|pp=211–212}}

[[File:Hawrani Aflaq 1957.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Akram al-Hourani]] (left) with [[Michel Aflaq]], 1957.]]
A [[1961 Syrian coup d'état|military coup]] in [[Damascus]] in 1961 brought the UAR to an end.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|pp=52–53}} Sixteen prominent politicians signed a statement supporting the coup, among them al-Hawrani and [[Salah al-Din al-Bitar]] (who later retracted his signature).{{sfn|Podeh|1999|pp=152–153}} Following the UAR's dissolution, the Ba'ath Party was reestablished at the 1962 congress.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=55}} The Military Committee did not show itself to the civilian wing of the party at this congress.{{sfn|George|2003|p=68}} During the congress, Aflaq and the Military Committee, through [[Muhammad Umran]], made contact for the first time; the committee asked for permission to initiate a coup d'état; Aflaq supported the conspiracy.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=75}}

Following the success of the [[Ramadan Revolution]], led by the Ba'ath Party's [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region|Iraqi Regional Branch]], the Military Committee hastily convened to hatch a coup against [[Nazim al-Qudsi]]'s presidency.{{sfn|Seale|1990|pp=76–78}} The [[1963 Syrian coup d'état|8 March Revolution]] proved successful, and a Ba'athist government in Syria was established.{{sfn|Seale|1990|pp=76–78}} The plotters first order was to establish the [[National Council for the Revolutionary Command]] (NCRC), consisting entirely of Ba'athists and Nasserists, and controlled by military personnel rather than civilians from the very beginning.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=78}}

While the Ba'ath Party had attained power, there was significant infighting.{{sfn|George|2003|pp=68–69}} The Military Committee, which was itself a tiny minority of the already small Ba'ath Party membership, ruled by force.{{sfn|George|2003|pp=68–69}} The Ba'ath Party lacked a popular base, as it had only 2,500 members by mid-1963. Even if membership expanded, the authoritarian rule it had introduced would only increase.{{sfn|George|2003|pp=68–69}}

The civilian wing was plagued by infighting between the radical socialist and moderate faction, while the military stood more unified.{{sfn|George|2003|p=69}} Whatever the case, the [[Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Regional Command]] slowly amassed its powers by weakening the National Command.{{sfn|George|2003|p=69}} This all came to a head in the [[1966 Syrian coup d'état]].{{sfn|George|2003|p=69}}

The party officially indefinitely suspended all activities in Syria on 11 December 2024, following the [[Fall of the Assad regime]].<ref>\{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20241211-live-syrian-refugees-attempt-return-to-homeland-after-assad-regime-ousted|title=Assad's Baath party suspends work indefinitely in Syria|publisher=France 24|date=11 December 2024}}</ref>

===Others===
Following the Ba'ath Party's founding, regional branches were established in [[Kuwait]], [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Oman]] .{{sfn|Goldman|2002|p=60}} Not long after it established branches in [[Kingdom of Yemen|North Yemen]] and [[Protectorate of South Arabia|South Yemen]].{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=169}} In [[Tunisia]], a [[Tunisian Ba'ath Movement|Regional Branch]] was established in the 1950s, but was forced underground for much of its existence.<ref name="underground">{{cite web|url=http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/01/04/tunisian-baath-party-celebrates-5th-anniversary-of-saddam-husseins-death/|publisher=Tunisia-live.net|title=Tunisian Baath Party Celebrates 5th Anniversary of Saddam Hussein's Death|date=4 January 2012|access-date=19 February 2012|author=Ajmi, Sana|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310042933/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/01/04/tunisian-baath-party-celebrates-5th-anniversary-of-saddam-husseins-death/|archive-date=10 March 2012}}</ref> The Saudi Regional Branches elected Ali Ghannäm to represent them at the 7th National Command.{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=227}} While its currently unknown which side the Saudi Ba'ath took after the 1966 split, it published a newspaper, ''Sawt al-Tal'iyya'', from 1973 to 1980. It was an ardent critic of the [[House of Saud|Saudi royal family]] and [[US imperialism]]. The majority of its members were [[Shia Islam|Shia]] [[Muslim]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/CTC_EmbattledInArabia_ShiisAndThePoliticsOfConfrontationInSaudiArabia.pdf|publisher=Human Security Gateway|title=Embattled in Arabia|access-date=20 February 2012|date=3 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222114159/http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/CTC_EmbattledInArabia_ShiisAndThePoliticsOfConfrontationInSaudiArabia.pdf|archive-date=December 22, 2012}}</ref> In late 1963, Ba'ath cells were being established in Sudan, and there were even rumours that a Ba'ath cell had been established in Egypt.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=90}} A [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Algeria|regional Ba'ath Party branch]] was established in [[Algeria]] in 1988 after the one-party system ended.<ref name="baathflagbook">{{cite web|author=Belamry, Algiers-Ramada|date=8 September 2008|title=Baath Party resumes underground activities|url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/09/08/56229.html|access-date=10 July 2013|publisher=alarabiya.net|archive-date=9 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080909114209/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/09/08/56229.html|url-status=live}}</ref>