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TheArab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Arabic:حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي,romanized: Hizb Al-Ba'ath Al-'Arabi Al-Ishtiraki) was a political party mixingArab nationalist andArab socialist interests, opposed toimperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of theArab world into asingle state. Ba'ath is also spelledBa'th orBaath and means "rebirth," "resurrection," "restoration," or "renaissance" (reddyah). Its motto — "Unity, Liberty, Socialism" (wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya) — refers toArab unity, andfreedom from non-Arab control and interference. Its ideology ofArab socialism is notably different in origins and practice from classicalMarxism and is similar in outlook to 'third-worldism'.
The party was founded in 1940 by theSyrian intellectualsMichel Aflaq andSalah al-Din al-Bitar. It has established branches in different Arab countries, although it has only ever held power inSyria andIraq. In Syria]] it held a monopoly on political power following the party's1963 coup. Ba'athists alsoseized power in Iraq in 1963, but were deposed some months later. They returned to power in a1968 coup and remained the sole party of government until the2003 invasion of Iraq. Since the invasion, the party has been banned in Iraq.
In 1966, acoup d'état by the military against the historical leadership of Aflaq and Bitar led theSyrian andIraqi 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, buthostilities between them grew to the point thatBa'athist Syria became the only Arab government to supportIran (a non-Arabic nation) againstBa'athist Iraq during theIran–Iraq War.
On 8 December 2024,Syrian opposition forces entered the Syrian capitalDamascus, announcing thefall of the Syrian Ba'ath Party regime that had lasted for 53 years.[1]
| 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 | Michel Aflaq andSalah 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 theArab Socialist Party in 1952 and renamed itself the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The party broke into two in 1966, betweenrival Baghdad andDamascus-based factions. |
| Party | Founded | Dissolved | Founder(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialist Lebanon | 1965 | 1970 | Ahmed Beydoun | The party was merged into theCommunist 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 theNational 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. |
