Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
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أحمد حسن البكر
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Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
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| 4th President of Iraq | |
| In office 17 July 1968 – 16 July 1979 |
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| Prime Minister | Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif Himself |
| Vice President | Saddam Hussein |
| Preceded by | Abdul Rahman Arif |
| Succeeded by | Saddam Hussein |
| Prime Minister of Iraq | |
| In office 31 July 1968 – 16 July 1979 |
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| President | Himself |
| Preceded by | Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif |
| Succeeded by | Saddam Hussein |
| In office 8 February 1963 – 18 November 1963 |
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| President | Abdul Salam Arif |
| Preceded by | Abd al-Karim Qasim |
| Succeeded by | Tahir Yahya |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 11 November 1974 – 15 October 1977 |
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| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Hammad Shihab (died in office) Abdullah al-Khadduri (acting from July 1973) |
| Succeeded by | Adnan Khairallah |
| 1st Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council | |
| In office 17 July 1968 – 16 July 1979 |
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| Deputy | Saddam Hussein |
| Preceded by | Post established |
| Succeeded by | Saddam Hussein |
| Regional Secretary of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch | |
| In office October 1966 – 16 July 1979 |
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| National Secretary | Michel Aflaq |
| Preceded by | Saddam Hussein |
| Succeeded by | Saddam Hussein |
| In office 11 November 1963 – February 1964 |
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| Preceded by | Hamdi Abd al-Majid |
| Succeeded by | Saddam Hussein |
| Member of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch | |
| In office 11 November 1963 – 16 July 1979 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 July 1914 Tikrit, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 4 October 1982 (aged 68) Baghdad, Republic of Iraq |
| Nationality | Iraqi |
| Political party | Arab Socialist Ba'ath (1940s–1966) Baghdad-based Ba'ath (1966–1982) (NPF) |
| Spouse | Ghaida al-Nada |
| Relations | Abdul Karim al-Nada (brother-in-law) Mahmud al-Nada (brother-in-law) Ali al-Nada (brother-in-law) Hassan al-Nada (brother-in-law) Adnan Khairallah (son-in-law) Lo'uay Khairallah (son-in-law) |
| Children | Haytham Muhammad (died in 1978) Abd al-Salam Haifa |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Iraq |
| Branch/service | Iraqi Army |
| Years of service | 1938–1982 |
| Rank |  Field Marshal |
| Battles/wars | Anglo–Iraqi War Ramadan Revolution 17 July Revolution |
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (1 July 1914 – 4 October 1982) was the fourth President of Iraq. He served from July 17, 1968, to July 16, 1979. He was a very important member of the Ba'ath Party, a political group that believed in a mix of Arab nationalism (strong pride in Arab identity) and Arab socialism (fair sharing of wealth).
Al-Bakr first became well-known after the 14 July Revolution. This event ended the monarchy in Iraq. He worked to improve Iraq's relationship with the Soviet Union. In 1959, al-Bakr had to leave the Iraqi military. The government at that time accused him of working against them.
After leaving the military, he became the head of the Ba'ath Party's military group in Iraq. He used this role to find new members for the party. When Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim was removed from power in the Ramadan Revolution in 1963, al-Bakr became Prime Minister. He was later made Vice President of Iraq. This government did not last long and was removed in November 1963.
Al-Bakr and the Ba'ath Party then worked in secret. They spoke out against the government. During this time, al-Bakr became the main leader of the Ba'ath Party in Iraq. He also made his cousin, Saddam Hussein, his deputy (second-in-command). Al-Bakr and the Ba'ath Party returned to power in a new event called the 17 July Revolution in 1968. After this, al-Bakr became the head of the Revolutionary Command Council and the President. He was also made Prime Minister. Saddam Hussein became the deputy head of the Revolutionary Command Council and Vice President. He was in charge of Iraq's security.
While al-Bakr was in charge, Iraq's economy grew a lot. This was because oil prices around the world were high. This made Iraq stronger in the Arab world and improved the lives of many Iraqis. The government also made changes to land ownership. They tried to share wealth more fairly. By the late 1970s, under Saddam's guidance, Iraq began to have a more socialist economy. Al-Bakr slowly lost power to Saddam in the 1970s. Saddam became more powerful in the party and the government. In 1979, al-Bakr left all his public jobs. He said it was for "health reasons." He passed away in 1982.
Contents
Early Life and Military Career
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was born on July 1, 1914, in Tikrit, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. He came from the Abu Bakr family. His father passed away in 1938. That same year, al-Bakr joined the Iraqi Military Academy. Before that, he had worked as a primary school teacher for six years.
Early in his military career, he was part of a failed revolt against the British in 1941. Because of this, he was put in prison and removed from the army. After 15 years, al-Bakr was allowed back into the Iraqi Army in 1956. In the same year, he joined the Ba'ath Party. In 1957, he was promoted to brigadier.
Al-Bakr helped to overthrow the Hashemite Monarchy. This brought Abd al-Karim Qasim to power during the 14 July Revolution. During Qasim's rule, al-Bakr helped Iraq leave the Baghdad Pact. He also played a key role in making Iraq's relationship with the Soviet Union better. In 1959, al-Bakr was again forced to leave the military. This was due to claims that he led a rebellion in Mosul. This rebellion was by officers who wanted closer ties with the United Arab Republic.
In the late 1950s, Saddam Hussein joined the Ba'ath Party. He and al-Bakr became close friends. This was helped by Saddam's uncle, Khairallah Talfah.
Because Qasim's government was strict with its opponents, the Ba'ath Party leader, Ali Salih al-Sa'di, reorganized the party. In December 1962, they started protests against Qasim's government. The government remained strict. By 1963, several Ba'ath Party leaders went to Beirut to plan a coup against Qasim. They decided to build support in the military. A special Military Bureau was created for this. Al-Bakr was chosen to lead it. This group managed to get more officers to join. Many joined because of their personal connections to people like al-Bakr. Al-Bakr led the 1963 Iraqi coup, known as the Ramadan Revolution. This coup overthrew Qasim's government.
Road to Power
Prime Minister in 1963
After the coup, Abdul Salam Arif became President. Al-Bakr was made Prime Minister and Vice President. Soon after taking power, two groups formed within the government. One group, mostly military men, wanted socialist policies. The other group, led by Talib Shabib, wanted to include more non-Ba'athists in the government. Al-Bakr tried to find a middle ground between these two groups, but he was not successful.
To solve these differences, al-Bakr called a meeting of the Ba'ath Party's main leadership. The meeting did not go as al-Bakr hoped. The party leader, Michel Aflaq, suggested that the main leadership should take control of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. This meeting led President Arif to lead another coup in November 1963.
Underground and the 17 July Revolution: 1964–1968
After he and his party were removed from power, al-Bakr was put in jail. However, this event actually made al-Bakr stronger within the party. After a few years, al-Bakr was chosen as the main leader of the Ba'ath Party in Iraq. At the same time, Saddam Hussein's position in the party also grew stronger. Saddam became one of al-Bakr's closest helpers. He was given important jobs, like setting up the party's security group. Al-Bakr made sure his supporters were in important positions. He also appointed people from his hometown of Tikrit and family members to top jobs. This was a way to ensure loyalty.
Ali Salih al-Sadi, the previous leader of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, was removed from the party in 1964. Al-Bakr took his place. The Ba'ath Party tried to overthrow the Arif government again in 1964, but they failed. After this failed coup, both al-Bakr and Saddam were jailed for two years. In 1966, when Saddam was released, al-Bakr made him the Deputy Secretary of the party. Saddam was a good organizer and helped to make the party strong again.
In 1967, al-Bakr suggested forming a government that included both Ba'athist and Nasserist groups. However, at this time, the party was already planning a coup to remove the government.
After a coup in Syria in 1966, the Ba'ath Party split into two groups: one led by Syria and one led by Iraq. In February 1968, the Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party held a meeting. They chose Aflaq as the main leader of their group. This made relations with the Syrian-led Ba'ath Party even worse. Al-Bakr was also chosen to be a member of the main leadership group.
The coup of 1968, known as the 17 July Revolution, brought al-Bakr and the Ba'ath Party to power in Iraq. Saddam and Salah Omar al-Ali led the coup on the ground. But it was al-Bakr who planned it. Al-Bakr contacted the President, Abdul Rahman Arif, from his military headquarters and asked him to give up. Arif asked for time to think. He wanted to see if he had any loyal soldiers left. He called al-Bakr back later that evening and surrendered. Al-Bakr promised him safety. Once the situation was secure, the Ba'ath Party announced they had taken power. Before the coup, the Ba'ath Party successfully recruited military officers. Some, like Hardan al-Tikriti, were already party members. Others, like Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif and Ibrahim Daud, were not.
Right after the coup, there was a power struggle. It was between the Ba'ath Party, led by al-Bakr, and the military leaders, mainly an-Naif and Daud. An-Naif was made Prime Minister and Daud was made Minister of Defence. Al-Bakr became President and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. This council was formed the morning after the coup. It became the highest government body. Even though an-Naif and Daud had military support, al-Bakr won the power struggle. This was because of his political skills and the Ba'ath Party's strong organization. An-Naif was removed from his job on July 30, 1968. Daud lost his position soon after. Both were sent out of the country. The government later called their removal the "correctional coup." Al-Bakr became even stronger in the government. He made himself Prime Minister. He also appointed his close friend, Hardan al-Tikriti, as Minister of Defence.
Presidency: 1968–1979
Domestic Policy
Economy
Even though al-Bakr and the Ba'ath Party used strong words, their economic plans were not very extreme. Al-Bakr's economic approach had two parts. First, he used policies that were popular with the general public. Second, he used policies that favored friends and family. By the late 1970s, Saddam Hussein was largely in control of Iraq's economy. He led the most important economic groups. Under Saddam, Iraq moved towards a socialist economy. This meant the government owned natural resources and the ways goods were made. Saddam also started a plan to make Iraq's economy more diverse. He wanted Iraq to not depend only on oil money in the future.
The government set goals for economic growth through economic planning. The Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) decided these goals. Before the Ba'ath Party took power, economic experts made these decisions. But now, the political leaders made them. The RCC met every year to set the budget for the coming year.
Agricultural Policy
Al-Bakr's approach to farming in Iraq was very popular. For example, in 1969, the government stopped asking for payment for lands that had been taken by the government. This helped farmers by removing their financial burden. The government invested more in farming. By May 1970, a new land reform was introduced. This reform tried to fix problems from earlier reforms. It looked at the type of land and how it was watered. It also set limits on how much land a person could own.
Co-operatives (groups where farmers work together) were set up. Farmers had to join these if they wanted government help. The government also created some collective farms. These were meant to please the left-wing part of the party. However, the creation of collective farms soon stopped. Other changes were also made to help farmers who owned land. But these changes could not stop the decrease in farm production. Because of this, and a growing population, Iraq had to import more food. Food imports increased a lot from the early 1960s.
By the mid-to-late 1970s, the Ba'ath Party's land reform started to show results. By 1976, 71 percent of state-owned land was given to 222,000 new farmers. These farmers also received modern farming tools. The number of co-operatives grew from 473 in 1968 to 1,852 in 1976.
Oil Industry
The government was in a disagreement with the Iraqi Petroleum Company (IPC), a private company. Iraq then made a deal with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union built an oil pipeline and an oil export facility. This helped Iraq produce more oil. This agreement showed that the IPC's control over Iraq's oil was ending. It also made al-Bakr believe that the company should be owned by the government.
Talks between the Iraqi government and the IPC began in December 1971. They ended in March 1972 when the government received shares in the IPC. However, relations quickly got worse. The IPC cut its oil production by half. The government saw this as a sign of the company's arrogance. They also saw the danger of a private company controlling such an important source of money for the government. The IPC was taken over by the government in June 1972.
Taking over the IPC was the last important step in Iraq gaining full control over its resources. The government prepared for less money by cutting spending. But the nationalization was very popular with the people. Al-Bakr and Saddam also took steps to make sure the loss of money was not too bad. Saddam visited Moscow and made a deal for the Soviet Union to buy some of Iraq's oil. Also, the government did not take over all parts of the IPC. They gave French members "special treatment." These French members bought almost a quarter of Iraq's oil.
This plan worked very well. The price of oil increased greatly after the 1973 Arab–Israeli War. The money from oil made the government leaders even more powerful.
After the IPC was taken over, Iraq's oil money increased a lot. It went from 219 million ID in 1972 to 1.7 billion ID in 1974. It reached 3.7 billion ID in 1978 and 8.9 billion ID in 1980. In short, Iraq's oil money grew over 40 times in less than ten years. After the Iranian revolution, Iraq became the second largest oil exporter in the world. The increase in oil exports boosted the country's economy. Almost all economic numbers reached new highs. From 1970 to 1980, Iraq's economy grew by 11.7 percent each year. However, this growth depended on high oil prices. If oil prices dropped, Iraq's growth would slow down a lot.
Standard of Living
When the Ba'ath Party took power, they promised to share wealth and create a more equal society. At first, they had trouble keeping this promise because the government did not have enough money. But with the increase in oil money in the 1970s, they could do more.
Al-Bakr immediately introduced subsidies on basic goods. He also gave tax breaks and started a small social welfare program. These programs grew much larger in the mid-1970s when more oil money allowed the government to invest more. The standard of living improved because the IPC was taken over by the government. The country's electricity system was expanded. For the first time, electricity reached the countryside.
The Kurds
Under al-Bakr, conflicts between the government and the Kurds became more intense. In early 1974, heavy fighting broke out in northern Iraq. This was between government forces and Kurdish nationalists. The Kurds did not accept a new law that gave them some self-rule. They felt it was not enough. The Kurds, led by Mustafa al-Barzani, received weapons and support from Iran. Around this time, al-Bakr also created the National Progressive Front. This was an effort to get more support for his government.
Government Control
In July 1978, a new rule was made. It said that any political activity not by the Ba'ath Party was illegal. If anyone in the armed forces was a member of another political party, or had been a member, they could face death.
Foreign Policy
Al-Bakr's government first wanted closer ties with Gamal Abdel Nasser, the leader of Egypt. Under al-Bakr, Iraq almost joined the United Arab Republic (a union of Egypt and Syria). The flag of Iraq was even changed for this goal. However, the relationship with Nasser got worse. Iraqi media started a campaign to reduce public support for Nasser. This included comedy radio shows. These shows suddenly stopped when Nasser passed away.
Al-Bakr's government also made Iraq's ties with the Soviet Union stronger. On April 9, 1972, Iraq and the Soviet Union signed a friendship treaty. They agreed to work together in politics, economy, and military matters. The Soviet Union also agreed to provide weapons to Iraq.
From 1973 to 1975, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) worked with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran. They helped to fund and arm Kurdish rebels in the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War. This was an attempt to weaken al-Bakr's government. When Iran and Iraq signed the Algiers Agreement in 1975, this support stopped.
Death
Al-Bakr passed away in October 1982. The reasons for his death were not officially reported. He was given a state funeral. Important people attended, including Michel Aflaq (the founder of the Ba'athist ideas) and King Hussein of Jordan. He was buried in Baghdad's Al Karkh cemetery.
Images for kids
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Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr's signature.
See also
