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When did the Baathist Party seize power?
1968
What was the main religion of the Baathist Party?
Most were Sunni Muslims
Why were many Shiites brought into govt?
To show unity in Iraq
What did the Baathist Party nationalise in 1972?
The oil industry
What did Iraq join in 1973?
The oil embargo
What did the oil embargo manage to do for Iraq?
It drove prices up by 400%
How much did Iraq’s govt receive from their oil revenue in 1972 and in 1980?
$575 million in 1972
$26,500 million in 1980
What did the money from oil help Iraq do?
It helped them improve standards of living by extending electricity to rural areas and by increasing the number of schools, hospitals and Dams
What did the Baathist Party control?
Iraqi society, education and the govt
What was the Baathist Party’s main aims?
To protect the youth from being influenced by foreign countries
To promote Arab unity and love of order
Who was the government minister responsible for extending govt control over the army and secret police?
Saddam Hussein
How was control over the army maintained?
High spending and regular indoctrination by rotating officers so opposition could not form and imprisonment and executions to those who were disloyal
What began to be common in Iraq?
The repression began to spread in Iraq with increasing reports of torture and rape in prisons
Whose support was the govt reliant on?
Rural Sunni people even through the majority of people were Shiites in the south and centre of Iraq
When did Saddam Hussein become President of Iraq?
1979
How did Hussein’s presidency begin?
He televised trials of disloyal men in the govt - 21 were executed
What tactics did Hussein use to consolidate his power?
Fear tactics like the death penalty and torture against his political opponents
How long did Hussein rule for?
25 years
What did Hussein claim to be?
He was the ‘leader of the Arabs’ since he was anti-Israel and opposed Egypt’s sue for peace
Under Hussein, how did the Shiite community suffer?
In 1980-81 Hussein deported 200,000 Shiites for being disloyal - most of them were wealthy business owners whose land went to Hussein’s supporters
Who were the Kurds and what percentage of Iraq’s population did they make up?
They are an ethnic minority group who are Muslim but do not speak Arabic but Kurdish
20% of the population
Where were the Kurds situated in Iraq?
They were in the north between the border of Iraq, Syria and Turkey
Where else were the Kurdish communities found?
Across most neighbouring Arab countries
How did the Iraqi Kurds have a level of independence?
They had leaders who were determined to have their own state, Kurdistan
Why was there conflict between the Kurd nationalists and the Iraqis?
Iraq got their own state but Kurds did not even though they were both promised one by the British
Under Hussein, what happened to the Kurdish leaders?
They were executed or forced into exile
Who supported the Kurds during the Iran-Iraq war?
Iran to try and weaken the Iraqi state
What area of Iraq did the Kurds manage to gain during the Iran-Iraq war?
The north
When did the Iraqi forces bomb Halabja with chemical weapons? How many died due to this?
1988 - 5000 died immediately and 12,000 died after due to the consequences
In 1988, what did Saddam do to the Kurds and how?
He set out to depopulate the Kurds by bulldozing villages and towns and he dropped chemical weapons which killed 180,000 people
What percentage of Kurdish towns were bulldozed and how many refugees fled to Turkey?
90% of Kurdish towns
100,000 refugees
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