Saddam Hussein's rise to power in Iraq

Background Information

The states around the Persian Gulf (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman) possessed one half of the known oil reserves in the world in the last third of the 20th century
Countries were dependent on the oil resources in the Gulf. The Gulf had great influence in the economy of industrial nations, which needed oil for transport, industry, and more
Therefore, developed countries did their best to maintain positive relations with the Middle East
Because of these relations, the countries that traded with the Middle East (such as America, Western Europe, Japan, South Africa and more) were able to maintain good standards of living for the people
The events of the Gulf were very important as countries all across the world depended on trade for oil resources. If the resources were not stably priced or were insufficient, this would impact the countries that relied on the Gulf
The Gulf suffered from instability, conflict, and constant changes which affected the oil market, and led to economic and political instability in the buying countries
Saddam Hussein's rise to power in Iraq played a role in this

Saddam Hussein's childhood and early years

Born in village Al-Ouja (13km north of Tikrit, on western banks of the Tigris River) on 28 April 1937
His father was very poor and did not own land. He most likely died before Saddam's birth
Sabha, his mother worked as a fortune teller. She remarried to a caretaker in a school in Tikrit named Hassan al-Ibrahim. He was a violent father who bullied Saddam and stopped him from going to school and set him to commit crimes
Because of this, Saddam only learnt to write and read at the age of 10 and was treated like an outcast. He often carried an iron bar to defend himself

The method Iraq was governed during the 20th century

Before WW1, Iraq was part of the Ottoman Empire
After WW1 from 1919-32, it was administered by Britain as a League of Nations mandate (meaning Britain was approved by the LoN to rule Iraq)
In 1921, Britain placed Iraq under the rule of the Hashemite Monarchy
In 1932, Iraq gained its independence from Britain
In July 1958, The Hashmite Monarchy was overthrown by General Abdul Karim Qaseem
In February 1963, Qaseem was deposed by military officers and the Baath Party
In November 1963, The Baath Party was forced out of power by President Abdul Salam Arif after conflicts within the factions of the party
In July 1968, The Baath Party and other members of the previous government overthrew the government under President Arif. Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr became president
In July 1979, Saddam Hussein became president

The influence of Khairallah Tulfar

Khairallah Tulfar was Saddam's uncle (his mother's brother), and acted as Saddam's foster father who was originally an army officer
He was put in jail in 1941 for being part of an attempt to push the British out of Iraq
When he was released in 1947, Saddam lived at his place
Khairallah created strong mindsets of that despised Western involvement and wished for the unification of Arabs under one nation in Saddam and also of hatred for the Hashemite monarchy which ruled Iraq under Britain
He also made Saddam go to a local school to learn primary level education
In 1955 (when Saddam was 18), Saddam and Khairallah moved to Baghdad, enrolling for Karkh High School in an attempt to be accepted into Baghdad Military Academy. Saddam was devastated when he was not accepted in 1957

Early Political Activity

In 1957, Saddam joined the Baath Party, inspired by Khairallah
He became part of activities against the government, including violence against political opponents
In October 1958, Saddam assassinated a local government official to prove his loyalty to Khairallah
Saddam gained a reputation for doing his job mercilessly
He was selected by the Baath Party to assassinate Iraq's ruler at the time, General Abdul Karim Qaseem
In October 1958, the attempt took place and failed. Saddam was injured and made him known as one of Iraq's most wanted men
Saddam was exiled, and spent three months in Damascus (capital of Syria), and then three years in Cairo (capital of Egypt)
He spent most of this time to educate himself better
In 1961, he graduated high school at age 24 and later studied law at a university at the city
However, he stopped studying law after General Abdul Karim Qaseem was overthrown and died in February 1963
In the government of the Baath Party, Saddam was given a small position of trying to improve the lives of peasants in the Central Farmer's Office

Saddam's rise to power in the government

Saddam made friendships and alliances with other politicians, allowing him to increase the power of his position
Prime Minister Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr was the cousin of Khairallah
Saddam immediately joined his faction and tried to prove himself
The Baath Party was forced out of power by President Abdul Salam Arif after conflicts within the factions of the party
Saddam gained power in the Baath Party, as the extremists had lost respect, and Hassan al-Bakr's (leader of Hassan's faction) position as leader of the moderates was strengthened, and so did Saddam's influence as one that Bakr trusted
In 1964, Saddam became a part of the Regional Command, a body for supreme decision-making of the Baath Party for his loyalty
Saddam acknowledged that power from politics in Iraq came from military strength, and plotted to overthrow President Arif with the plan supposed to happen in September 1964. However, his plot was exposed and he was imprisoned until his escape in July 1966

The July Revolution 1968

After Saddam's escape, he focused on...

Reorganising the party
Completing to establish the security apparatus (the body to maintain security and enforce law)
Forming new military forces
Increasing connected branches of the Baath party throughout the country

However, he knew that these smaller branches could not overthrow President Arif without working together
The party made connections to high-ranking officers under the government that were understanding of the Baath party's aims
Saddam argued in the Regional Command that the alliance with these officers would be temporary and that they could be disposed of during or after the revolution
The coup ended up being non-violent and president Arif fled to London, and Bakr became President
Saddam made sure that the previous government's colonels would be permanently exiled and became Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, the most important decision-making organisation in Iraq
Saddam became the second-in-command

Saddam's steps to becoming President

Saddam became the president only after a whole 11 years of serving under President Bakr
Saddam was probably the most influential government member from as early as 1972 with him acting as equals with the President despite being a Deputy
He was careful not to be seen as someone with ambitions to overtake Bakr as the president and made sure to maintain his positive relationship with Bakr
He was able to become the president because of his cunning towards those who stood in his path
He could uncover conspiracies and even make them up in order to eliminate his opponents as he had control over the security apparatus.
He also ensured that those who had good relations with himself were appointed to be members of the Revolutionary Command Council
In the early 1970s, Saddam proved himself to be skilled at handling domestic and foreign affairs, leading diplomatic initiatives such as the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the USSR in April 1972 to form an alliance with the superpower
He rooted for nationalising the oil industry and established infrastructure to improve the lives of the people (such as schools, hospitals, and improved transport)
The aging President Bakr began to decline in health, and Saddam basically took over as the leader without the official title as president
Through underhanded tactics (eg. threats, bullying), Bakr resigned and Saddam became the unopposed leader of Iraq at age 42 without using violence

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