The Ramadan Revolution, A Coup within a Coup and the Arif-led Era (1963 - 1968)

The Ramadan Revolution was a military coup d'état led by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Iraq and sympathetic Arab Nationalist groups in the Iraqi Armed Forces from 8 February to 10 February 1963. On order of the newly formed National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC) Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Kareem Qassim was executed on 9 February 1963. The following nine-months rule of the Ba'ath Party had been described as "a reign of terror" with the detention and execution of thousands of Qasim loyalists and communists as mirrored in the narrative of the death train to Samawah. 526 detainees from Prison No. 1 consisting of the academic elite of the country were loaded in cargo wagons without any ventilation and sent to the prison of Samawah. The train driver's order was to drive slowly because the detainees were sentenced to asphyxia. After the driver Abd Abbas Al Mafraji was told about the human cargo he sped up the train, saved the life of 526 people and would be held as a hero by the Iraqi population. 

The first rule of the Ba'ath party ended in November 1963 with a 'coup within a coup' led by President Abd al-Salam Arif. On 18 November 1963, Arif proclaimed that the army had taken power. With Arif, the qaumi nationalists (Arab nationalists, Nasserists) finally came to power. On 3 May 1964, a provisional constitution was promulgated which asserted the Arab character of the 'Iraqi people' and which stressed the aim of Arab unity. It was followed by a preliminary accord on the future unification of Iraq and Egypt, a project that never happened because both countries soon realised that a one-on-one application of the Egyptian model on Iraq would not work. 

Following the Egyptian model, the Arab Socialist Union of Iraq (ASU) was declared the only legal party in Iraq, which was founded on 14 July 1964. Arif nationalised banks, insurance companies and 30 leading industrial firms. Officers became General Directors which were completely overwhelmed with the management which led to corruption, squander, speculations and enrichment. This in turn resulted in the collapse of the economy and in an increase in unemployment. In an attempt to resolve the economic problems, Arif offered the Iraqi Petroleum Company (IPC) a participation in the Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC) for ￡20 million. Arif's attempt to have peace with the Kurds failed and ended up in a continuing intensification of military confrontation between his government and the Kurds until 1970.

Salam Arif died in a plane crash on 13 April 1966 and was replaced by his brother Abdul Rahman Arif. By this stage, the Ba'athist Military Bureau and Regional Command had begun laying plans for the installation of a Baathist regime once again. They found allies in three key officers in the Republican Guard and on 17 July 1968 Abdul Rahman Arif was overthrown in a bloodless coup and exiled to Turkey. A new regime was formed with Hasan al-Bakr as president. The excesses of 1963 were regretted and a leap of faith was negotiated with the Kurds. Loyalists of the Arif era were imprisoned or sentenced to death. The 35 years lasting rule of the Baath party started.

This article was written by Hella Mewis and is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.