Why did events in the Gulf matter? Why was Saddam Hussein able to come to power in Iraq? What was the nature of Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq?
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Why did events in the Gulf matter?
Why was Saddam Hussein able to come to power in Iraq?What was the nature of Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq?
Why was Saddam able to come to power in Iraq? (p. 149)
• 1921 to 1958 Iraq was ruled by monarchy set up and controlled by the British
• In 1958 the monarchy was overthrown and Iraq became a republic.
• After another coup in 1968, the republic was
ruled by the Baath Party.
• Its motto was “Unity, Liberation & Socialism”• It was against intervention in the Middle East
by the colonial powers. It was strongly against the existence of the state of Israel.
• There was ofter friction between the Baath Party in Syria and Iraq as to which country should lead the Arab world.
• Most Baathist were Sunni Muslims.
Saddam’s rise to power (p. 150 – 151)
POWER BASE
1968: coup - President: Bakr Vicepresident : Saddam Hussein
He placed family and friends in:• key positions in Baath party • most important departmetns in government• army • Revolutionary Command Council (RCC)
CONTROL
• Trade unions, schools, sports clubs• Membership of Baath party to obtain positions in
govt.• Education to immunise young Arabs against foreign
culture & topromote Arab unity and “love of order” (ideal st. …)
POPULARITY
1972: NATIONALISATION OF OIL - $ to build up education, health & welfare
1973: together with other Arab oil-producing states made price rise – used $ to improved national economy and infrastructure
REPRESSION
1976: Saddam made general in army
Extended govt control of army and secret police Spending to keep army happyIndoctrination & rotationImprisonment & executionRepression throughout societySecret police came to dominate army and Baath party
Having control of the party’s security apparatus he was ideally placed to uncover or invent plots & conspiracies.
Targets: civilian politicians & high-ranking military personnel
1979
Saddam forced President Bakr to resign and became • President of Iraq• Chairman of the Revolutionary Command
Council• Prime Minister• Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
What was the nature of Saddam’s rule? REPRESSION PURGES AND TERROR• Once he had displaced Bakr from the presidency,
Saddam set out to deal with those who questioned the transition to power.
• First obvious target: the RCC’s Secretary General, Mashhadi. He and 66 alleged co-conspirators (including a
former close friend) were tried. 22 sentenced to death and 33 received prison sentences.
• False accusations, arrests, torture and summary trials followed by lengthy prison sentences or executions became a regular feature.
What was the nature of Saddam’s rule? REPRESSION WAGING WAR ON HIS OWN PEOPLE• One of his aims was to unify Iraq. However, the Kurds (20% of
population) in the oil-rich north of the country wanted independence and the Shiites (60%) in the central and southern parts were generally hostile to the Sunni regime.
• The Kurds (1987 – 1988 and 1991) Saddam destroyed half of Kurdistan’s villages and towns (bulldozing).
• “Chemical Ali”, Saddam’s cousin, who was in charge, killed about 180 000 Kurds using mustard gas and cyanide, and displaced more than a million people. Many fled to Iran or Turkey while others were housed in concentration camps in the Iraqi desert. (Halabja - March 1988)
• (Source based activity – p. 153)
What was the nature of Saddam’s rule? REPRESSION WAGING WAR ON HIS OWN PEOPLE• One of his aims was to unify Iraq. However, the Kurds (20% of
population) in the oil-rich north of the country wanted independence and the Shiites (60%) in the central and southern parts were generally hostile to the Sunni regime.
• The Shiites Most Shiites wanted greater inclusion in Iraqi government and society, not the separatism that many Kurds wanted.
• However, after the Islamic revolution in neighbouring Shiite Iran (1979), Saddam became increasingly suspicious of the Shiite majority in Iraq.
• In 1980 – 1981, 200 000 Shiites were deported to Iran as their “loyalty was not proven”. Many were successful businessmen whose businnesses were then handed over to the government’s supporters.
• After the outbreak of revolts in Basra and Karbala (1991), the Republican Guard stormed rebel strongholds carrying our arrests and summary executions. Civilians were roped to the front of tanks as shields while women and children were shot on sight.
• That same year Saddam determined to build a new waterway in SE Iraq destroying the marshes and displacing a group of Arabs whose culture stretched back centuries. Some of the Marsh Arabs moved voluntarily, some were victims of chemical weapon attacks while others starved to death once their food source had been destroyed. The population of Marsh Arabs dropped from 250 000 to approximately 30 000.
What was the nature of Saddam’s rule?
POPULARITY PERSONALITY CULT• Permanent exhibition about Saddam in Baghdad, his
life story regularly featured in newspapers and magazines, an autobiographical film, portraits of him adorning streets and party and governement offices.
• He liked visiting ordinary homes in disguise to discover what people thought of him.
• It is possible he used doubles to “attend” as many functions and official engagements as possible.
• Streets and squares named after him.
What was the nature of Saddam’s rule?
POPULARITY MODERNISATIONWith the nationalisation of the Iraqi oil and the increased oil revenues Saddam carried out extensive modernisation.
What was the nature of Saddam’s rule?POWER BASE MILITARY EXPANSION
• Army increased from 10 to 12 divisions.• Major supplier of conventional arms was Soviet Russia, followed by
France. • Non-conventional weapons: CHEMICAL: In the 1980s he was
producing significant quantities of Distilled Mustard (a blister agent), Tabun and VX (which attack nervous system).
BIOLOGICAL: anthrax, typhoid, cholera (NUCLEAR: less successful. Saddam purchased a reactor from France but the Israelis destroyed it in a bombing raid in 1981. Allied raids during Gulf War in 1990 frustrated further attempts to develop nuclear capacity.)
Why would Saddam Hussein have wanted to convert Iraq into a major military power?
Why would Israel have wanted to destroy Iraq’s nuclear programme?
Why would Saddam Hussein have wanted to build up a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons?
Why do you think so many countries were willing to assist Iraq’s military expansion programme?
What was the nature of Saddam’s rule?POWER BASE TOTALITARIANISM
• Indoctrination of schoolchildren.• Censorship and tightly controlled media• Special courts run by the President’s office• While economy was a mixture of state owned and privately
run enterprises, all production was geared to the needs of the state.
• Membership of the Baath Party was essential for a public career or for admission to a university or higher education.
• Family members held important positions in the Iraqi government.
Related Documents
