The Arab Baath Socialist Party
The Syrian Military Coups d’etat
(1949-1954)
The first coup d'etat. March 10th 1949
The Party gave conditional support to the coup d'etat of Husni Za'im. It gave it because he had defeated the reactionary government, but drew attention to the underlying reasons and to the need to learn from them for the new period about to begin (Party Memorandum to Husni Za'im, Apri14th. 1949). The founder, in his address to the Party rally organized to celebrate the fall of the reactionary regime, said: "What has taken place is not radical change but only the first step towards it. The Arab people are looking for a complete genuine change of society". (7/4/1949).
The Party sent a series of more and more critical memoranda to the new government on a number of questions, amongst which were the Tapline agreement, the financial agreement and the ban on the civil service against joining a political party .On May 24th.it stated in a memorandum that: "The army's power does not depend upon its weapons, but upon the way in which it responds to the aspirations and needs of the people".
During this time, and before the violent confrontation with the dictatorial regime, which followed, the memorandum of May 24th. , the first session of the new Party's assembly had been held in April, and to which members had been elected by the provincial branches in Syria and Transjordan. Michel Aflaq was unanimously re-elected President and six members instead of three as previously, were elected to the Executive Committee. Following the May 24th. memorandum, Michel 'Aflaq and a large number of Baathists were arrested, but nevertheless the Party continued the fight with the regime. On May 30th. it published a manifesto in which it declared that any agreement ratified during this period would be illegal in the absence of the elected representatives of the people, and that it would oppose any constitution which had not been drawn up by an elected constitutional assembly. The Party demanded a free government and opposed the pseudo-referendum for a constitution, which had been organized by Husni Za'im.
On June 9th. the party renewed its demands in another communiqué. The result was a widespread denunciation of the dictatorial regime and a few months afterwards, on August 14th. 1949, it was overthrown by a group of officers who killed Husni Za'im and the Prime Minister, Muhsin Barazi.
The Hannawi coup d'etat restored liberal parliamentary democracy to Syria. A transitional government was formed under the presidency of Hashim al-Atasi and included all those parties, which had been in opposition before the Husni Za'im coup d'etat. The Party was represented by its president who was given the Ministry of Education. The Cabinet was instructed to prepare a general election for the end of November 1949 to elect a constitutional Assembly, which would draw up a permanent constitution for the country.
On September l5th. the Al-Baath newspaper reappeared and on the 22nd. the Party's offices were re-opened. The Party put up a number of candidates for the elections. Jalal as-Sayyid, one of the leaders at the time, was elected, as was Abd-al-Aziz Harwill who joined the Party shortly afterwards. In the Damascus district, the president obtained more votes than his competitors, but the large number of candidates prevented him from winning an absolute majority. He ought to have campaigned for the second ballot but refused to do so inspite of popular pressure and the requests of many delegations.
The coup d'etat gave the Al-Sha’ab Party (people’s party), which supported the monarchy in Iraq, the opportunity to seize the reins of power and create a climate in the country favorable to a union with Iraq, which would have been a threat to the republic and to the national and democratic gains in Syria. The national movements, whose influence with the people was strong, opposed this move and provided Adib Shishakli with the opportunity to carry out his first army coup. He took over command of the army and put pressure on the political institutions.
Before this, during the first week of December, the Syrian branch of the Party held its regional congress during which it defined its policies for the coming period. On December 29th. in a speech at the University, Michel Aflaq gave a warning to be on guard against those who were supporting imperialist interests, dressing them up in patriotic clothing and giving them a nationalist appearance. He castigated the feuds, which were rife amongst the professional cliques, which had sold their souls to the foreigner. "There are some who want to serve the imperialist interests by calling for unity, for the republic and for liberty. There are Arab monarchies support the Syrian republic and others, while claiming to be the standard bearers of unity, surrender themselves to the foreigner".
In this speech the Party president not only castigated those who whished to lead Syria according to imperialism's plans, but also those who, in trying to block these moves, were directing the country towards other Arab connections. The founder was more specific on the following January 4th. when he advised the militants "to keep their ranks closed during the fight and to beware those adventurers whom the fight attracts when it is easy and full of enthusiasm, and who, when they have become more well known and influential, consider that by avoiding the demands and the hard logic of the struggle, they can the more easily gain personal success. This propels them with disconcerting speed towards treason and conspiracy because for them there is no middle way".
On January 9th. 1950, the Party set out its viewpoint on the People's Party proposal for union with Iraq. It emphasized "the necessity that the union should be between two republics as one of the basic criteria for the liberation of the Arab nation". It stated that «a union between Iraq and Syria would be the first step in the direction of Arab union, but that its success would be determined by two essential conditions; the first of these was that the people should be certain that union would not subject them politically, economically or militarily to a foreign power". The Party therefore "required the revision of the Iraqi-British agreement in order that Iraq become independent". The second condition was that "on the progressive front, the people should be certain that union would not mean that they could be exploited by and subjected to the rule of the reactionary feudal classes. For this reason it laid down the condition that the progressive socialist government in Syria should go on".
In this way, the Party clarified its viewpoint that liberation and progressiveness were part of its social democratic concept of nationalism. At the same time it took care to ensure that these conditions should not obstruct the road to union but rather that they should contribute to its success.
The first meeting of the Party Assembly for the year took place April 6th. - April 9th. 1950. A short communiqué was issued which reaffirmed "The struggle against colonialism, feudalism and capitalism".
An internal bulletin was published giving an outline of the political and organizational discussions. The Party opposed the economic rupture with Lebanon and the return of Quwatli to Syria. The performance of its representative Jalal Sayyid was considered to be tarnished with "spontaneous improvisation» in the discussion, and various financial questions and suggestions for covering expenses were also discussed.
It expressed its opinion on the constitutional project, then in discussion in the Assembly. It demanded that a limit be set on land ownership and that the farm workers be freed from the oppression of feudalism; likewise, that industrial ownership also to be limited and the dignity of the workers protected.
At the end of 1950, the Party supported the tobacco growers in their struggle against the foreign tobacco monopoly. It demanded its nationalization and organized student and other demonstrations in its support. On December 29th the authorities replied by firing on them and the Party laid the blame on the government.
Preoccupation with internal Syrian problems did not prevent it from publishing a communiqué on November 29th. 1950, the anniversary of partition, on the Palestine
problem in which it demonstrated the link between its liberation and the fall of the reactionary feudal regime. Previously, on October 2Oth. , it had shown its solidarity with the Egyptian people in their fight for the evacuation of foreign troops.
It held the second meeting of the Assembly during the last days of 1950 and took decisions on Syrian political and economic questions and also on pan-Arab and international matters, (approval of neutrality as a policy and the fight against imperialism).
At the beginning of 1951, it confirmed the importance of neutrality when the Western imperialist block was making attempts to draw the Arab League to its side.
The Party strongly attacked these moves and repeated that "by being neutral and independent in the defence of our country, we can keep the peace in the Arab east".
In February, the Labour Offices set up by the Party held meetings to examine the working conditions of the workers and peasants. The objective was to agitate for a change in the legislation so that the workers would be protected, and for new legislation which would do the same for the peasants. They emphasized the need to form a trade union for these two classes.
In its reply to the invitation of the Indian Socialist Party to attend the Asian Socialist Conference, the Party outlined its view of the relationships between socialist parties. It stated that it was the anti-imperialist parties, which should be invited and gave a warning against "the European socialist parties, which behave as if they were the heirs of colonialism". The letter proposed the formation of a 'third camp', that of peace and socialism, and described the link between, on the one hand, war, poverty and lower living standards, and on the other, between peace, freedom and national unity.
During the same month, the Party raised the question of the water and food crisis in Jabal Al-Arab, as well as that of the textile workers who had been dismissed in Aleppo with whom it joined in a month long struggle. May 1st provided the occasion to bring up the questions of unemployment and trade union organisation.
The Party Assembly held its first meeting in July, reviewing all the subjects on the agenda and drawing up the framework for a genuine people's government based upon "work, freedom and unity". It put forward the idea of a people's army to defend the country and fight against imperialism's plots. It stressed the need for an economic union with Lebanon, analysed the situation in each Arab country and renewed its appeal for a people's Arab League. Finally, it repeated that there could be no solution to the Palestine question except under a free and firmly based people's government.
In August, the Party brought up the question of the Syrian land workers conditions and demanded legislation which would limit land ownership, would rationalize the planning of agricultural income, would distribute land owned by the State to farmers, would guarantee agricultural loans, control irrigation and institute educational, medical and social services.
In September, on behalf of the growers, the Party raised again the problem of the Tobacco administration. In the previous year, it had succeeded in having it nationalized but this time the fight was against its internal corruption.
In October, the Party undertook a widespread campaign, and called for volunteers, to support the Egyptian fight for evacuation and the rejection of a proposal for a quadripartite defence pact. On October 28th. It gave Egypt strong support in its opposition to the evacuation treaty, which would have the effect of isolating her, and pointed out the danger of this when one considered the importance of Egypt in the Arab world.
The Egyptian affair provided the Party with the opportunity to come out into the open in those countries where it was still in the initial stages, and in Lebanon, the Baathists published a manifesto under the name of the "Nationalist Arab Youth".
On the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, November 2nd 1951, the Party's communiqué pointed out the connection between the salvation of Palestine, the support of the Egyptian uprising and the liberation of the Arab homeland and on November 6th called upon the Baathist youth of the Nile Valley (a group of Arab students in Egyptian universities and including some Egyptians), to join the freedom battalions.
At the end of November 1951, the Party was invited to join the People's Party government of Maruf Duwalibi, even though it had only two parliamentary seats. The Baath refused, however because of the conditions stipulated and as a result the government found itself cut off from popular support even though it had a parliamentary majority.
This situation enabled Adib Shishakli to carry out his coup d'etat on the day following the formation of Duwalibi's government. He ordered the dissolution of the constitutional Assembly, transformed it into a National Assembly, dismissed the ministers and took over direct control.
Shishakli was in a good position as far as the Party's aims and requirements were concerned, but nevertheless, it informed him, on December 8th. that it would define its attitude to the coup d'etat in the light of the new government's actions vis-a-vis the people's freedom, the return to constitutional government at the earliest opportunity and the rejection of foreign commitments. It also said, "that the Party could not turn its back on a constitutionally elected government. But at the same time, and as a revolutionary socialist party, it would not allow itself to become ensnared in parliamentary assemblies which were only the instruments of the exploiters, the feudal cliques and the professional politicians".
During this period, the Party expressed its views on "the parliamentary experiment and military coups d'etat". It commented on the fact that Syria, during the last few years, had alternated between military and parliamentary dictatorship, and stressed the point that a nominal democratic parliamentary regime was in fact a feudal one. It showed that there was a connection between parliamentary elections and the laws, which protected the people from exploitation and terrorization.
In reply to those who used the argument that a military dictatorship was justified because of the corruption which existed, the Party stated in its newspaper, on December 29th. 1951, "it is the struggle of the people which is the real force in the country... the fact that there is a travesty of democracy does not discredit democracy itself, but only the baseness of the class which creates the travesty in order to satisfy its greed and selfish interest".
Despite the seriousness of the situation, which was developing in Syria and in which the Party was involved, it continued to note developments in the Arab countries, particularly in Egypt. In a message published on December 22nd. seven months before the revolution, it called upon the Egyptian people "to rise against the power of the king and the pashas", and was enthusiastic about the rapid growth of the people's movement. On January 19th. 1952, it wrote: "Egypt today is showing us the road to success in the struggle that is the invincible struggle of the people", and organized student demonstrations in support. The Shishakli government opposed this and the Party newspaper riposted with a strong attack in an article on January 26th. –"The continuance of any government is determined by its fidelity to the freedom of the people, to its Arabism and to Socialism". Shishakli immediately closed down the newspaper and prosecuted the Baathists.
In a manifesto published in the same issue, the Party reiterated the anti-imperialist element in its concept of neutrality and demanded that a number of interim measures be taken in order to move towards the main goals of freedom, unity and socialism. The most notable of these were the denunciation of foreign treaties, the departure of foreign troops, the nationalization of oil, the nationalization of the exploiting companies and of the public services, and the announcement of genuine neutrality.
The Party, at the same time, drew up a programme for the Arab revolutionary movement to follow up as far as the main stage of national democratic freedom in the political, economic and military fields. This programme became the guide for many of the national freedom movements throughout the entire Arab homeland. Party activity against Shishakli's dictatorship increased and it began to reinforce its links with its allies, especially with the Arab Socialist Party .Its leader was Akram Hurani and its main supporters were in the towns and countryside behind Hama. This party had similar objectives to those of the Baath, and its constitution, published in 1950 was also very similar. The merger took place in Damascus on November 13th. 1953 on the basis of the Baath constitution, and the word 'socialist' was added to the name of the Party .In fact, this signified nothing new because its socialism had been evident from the very beginning.
The merger had some unfortunate consequences in that the election campaign mentality and rather traditional methods began to spread in some Party circles. Nevertheless there were also positive benefits in the strengthening of the Party's fight against the dictatorship, which stepped up its repressive measures to the point that the most important leaders left the country for Lebanon on January 1st. 1953. They remained there for several months until the Shamoun government expelled them at Shishakli's request. They then spent four months in Italy, afterwards returning to Syria to continue the fight. A few weeks after their return they were arrested, on January 2nd. 1954, and remained in prison until the fall of the regime on February 24th. of the following year.
The Emergence of the Party on the Arab Scene 1952 was an important year for the Party, for it was then that the working people in a number of countries became aware of its organisation.
In Iraq, the Party's philosophy was well known among student, intellectual, educational and legal circles as a result of brochures such as 'Observations of the Arab Baath' and 'Arab Politics' or thought the influence of Arab Syrians attending Baghdad University and Iraqi students at Damascus University .In the same year, the Independence Party and the National Democratic Party went into opposition to the government because of its aversion to the traditional parties. The Baath Party showed its strength by distributing tracts, organizing strikes and demonstrations, especially during the uprising of November 1952. This attracted the authorities attention and from then on they kept a watch on the militants and tried to infiltrate into the organisation.
The Party also came out into the open in Lebanon at a large public meeting at Sidon, in the south of the country, held to commemorate the memory of the Syrian and Lebanese patriots executed on May 6th. by Jamal Pasha during the First World War. Ten days later the administrative sections' congress took place during which organizational matters; the groundwork for future action and the Syrian political situation were discussed.
In Lebanon, on March 6th. 1951, the Party had issued an appeal for aid to the Moroccan people in their fight against colonial cruelty, emphasizing that all Arabs should unite to fight colonialism in every country .On October 18th. 1951, the imperialist plans for joint defence was attacked in a communiqué, and on October 22nd. a demonstration of support for the struggle in the Nile Valley was organized.
In Jordan, the Party had started its activities in 1948 by publishing the newspaper AI-Yaqza. In the following year, a number of Palestinians joined such as Rimawi and Na'wass, and this provided a wide field for action, part of which was the decision to take part in the elections. By 1950 it had two representatives, Na'was in Jerusalem and Rimawi in Ramallah.
In 1952 the Party held its first regional congress. It gave guidance to the people's movement by demanding that the country should be freed from the military and economic shackles of British imperialism and that the people should regain their freedom of action. It also opposed the ruler's moves to seek an armistice with Israel and to settle the refugees on a permanent basis. Large popular demonstrations were organised after each Israeli frontier aggression and the government attacked for its refusal to react.
In Syria, the Party in 1953 entered the final phase of its struggle with the Shishakli dictatorship. It formed a united front with all the other Syrian parties with the exception of the communists and nationalists in order to bring down the dictatorship. At a large political meeting at Homs In the summer of 1953, the front called for a boycott of the elections. Other methods were also used, beginning with the distribution of tracts and organizing of demonstrations, and ending by the planting of explosives in various parts of the towns in order to embarrass and weaken the regime. It took part in Jabal Al-Arab uprising at the beginning of 1954, losing more than a hundred of its fighting men, and this opened the way for the spread of Party membership amongst the officers, starting in Aleppo, and in the end spreading to every section of the armed forces. As a result, Shishakli was forced to leave the country to take refuge in Lebanon and subsequently in Brazil where ten years later he was killed by a young man from Jabal Al-Arab.
In other countries the Party also joined in the struggle to overthrow Shishakli.
Party activity in Iraq began to take on wider popular dimensions in 1953, especially after the internal upheaval in the Iraqi Communist Party, forcing it to disappear from the scene. It published its first underground newspaper Al-Arabi al-Jadid (The New Arab}, which after its third edition changed its name to Al-Ishtiraki (The Socialist}. Tracts were distributed supporting the Moroccan people and the Party also took up the cause of the Tobacco Company workers in October 1953. On December 14th. it succeeded in calling a strike of the school and University students as a demonstration of solidarity with the Basra Petroleum Company's workers, which was a serious setback for the Jamali government. The Party's reputation reached its peak in November when it organised a demonstration against the Shishakli dictatorship.
In Lebanon, the Party effectively demonstrated its solidarity with the Syrian people by distributing tracts and organizing demonstrations and because of the close ties between the two countries. During the same year the Party expressed its opposition to the visit of Dulles to the region.
The severity of the struggle against Shishakli did not prevent the Party from holding a 'national' meeting at Horns in the summer of 1953. Representatives of all Syrian branches and offices together with delegates from Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq were present. It was
decided to convene a large 'national' congress to work out details for a pan-Arab organisation and to set a new starting point. An internal bulletin on this, entitled "A Party national congress" was issued in July 1953.