Barely five years had passed since the July 14, 1958 coup, which led to the killing of the ruling family and the transformation of the regime in Iraq from monarchy to republican, until February 8, 1963, to be a milestone in Iraq's modern political history, with the execution of Abdul Karim Qasim, one of the most prominent symbols of the coup. on Iraqi ownership.

His life and upbringing


Abdul Karim Qasim was born on November 21, 1914 in Mahdia, next to Al-Rusafa in Baghdad, from Iraqi parents in the shadow of a family that was suffering from poverty and hardship. In the literary branch to then work as a teacher for about a year.

Historical documents indicate that in 1932 the Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced the opening of the application for the Military College, so that Qasim accepted it and graduated with distinction in 1934 with the rank of second lieutenant, and within years he rose through the military ranks until he was promoted to Brigadier General and now occupies important military positions.

The retired Iraqi officer, Hassan Al-Obaidi, says that Qassem held the position of commander of the 19th Brigade, and through it he participated in many wars in Palestine and the Middle Euphrates against the popular movements against the royal governments before 1958.

Al-Obaidi adds to Al-Jazeera Net - who was briefed through his officer father on that era - that Qassem was a good military leader in the era of the monarchy, and he had good relations with the Prime Minister in the royal era Nuri Al-Saeed, but it turned out later that he was secretly exploiting it in forming the nucleus of formations Military anti-monarchy, including joining the Free Officers Movement.

Qasim (second left among the standing) and his followers overthrew the monarchy (French)

His control of the reins of government


in 1954 formed the nucleus of the Free Officers Movement, which later overthrew the monarchy. Writer Jamal Mustafa Mardan says in his book "Abdul Karim Qassem: The Beginning and the Fall" that the Free Officers Movement supported the idea of ​​inviting Qassem to join it because of his military reputation and his leadership of the brigade. Mansouriya infantry, as the movement saw it as important to overthrow the monarchy, and after joining the movement, he was elected its president in 1957.

Mardan adds in his book that several revolutions failed before 1958, some of which were from Qasim himself, because he did not obtain important positions in them, noting that after the July 14 coup, Qassem took the position of prime minister.

For his part, the professor of modern political history of Iraq, Muayyad Al-Wandawi, says that the 1958 revolution prepared for it the organization of the Free Officers and the National Front for political parties. However, Qassem, despite his agreement with the Free Officers on the revolution’s plan, and with Abd al-Salam Arif worked to overthrow the regime in a bloody way without consent. The Free Officers, both of whom held key positions in the nascent republic.

Al-Wondawi continues that it became clear later that Qasim did not have a clear political project, and therefore he quickly floundered in domestic and foreign policy despite some reforms such as the abolition of the clan law and the abolition of feudalism.

Wendawi: Qassem did not have a clear political project (Al-Jazeera)

Internal and external reasons


For more details about the events that led to the coup against Qasim, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Mosul, Muhammad Ali Afin, believes that Abdul Karim Qasim's personality was simple because he belonged to a simple society, in addition to that he was not familiar with the country's internal and external policy.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Afin points to another reason for the coup against him, which is the expansion of the nationalist tide and the Nasserist current, which Qassem was against, as well as Qassem's distance in Iraq from the Baghdad pact with the West, which led to the acceleration of the coup against him.

As for Ibrahim Al-Allaf, a specialist in modern and contemporary history, he points to the political, economic and social reasons that led to the coup of February 8, 1963, as Qassem, after years of assuming responsibility after the overthrow of the royal family, had exhausted the justifications for his existence internally due to the bloody conflicts between the political parties, as well as For fueling conflicts between nationalists and communists.

On the level of foreign policy, Al-Allaf confirms to Al-Jazeera Net that since Qassem took power, his regime has become in Arab, regional and international isolation due to the loss of the compass of foreign policy and its lack of clarity. annexation, in addition to the decline in relations with the West represented by Britain and the United States.

With regard to the economy, there was what called for a coup - according to Al-Alaf - the implementation of the agrarian reform law faltered and the feudal lords continued to exercise their influence, which led to confusion in the agricultural and industrial sectors, due to the Communist Party's control over the joints of the state, and the preoccupation of workers and peasants by organizing large demonstrations, in addition to Qasim encouraged the migration of peasants from the countryside to the city.

Al-Allaf: Since Qassem took power, his regime has become in Arab, regional and international isolation (Al-Jazeera Net)

Cold War


Many historians point out that Qassem did not have political savvy, which is supported by Al-Wandawi. And an ally of the Soviet Union, and thus raised many problems, although it was not within the formations of the Communist Party, as is rumored.

For his part, Al-Allaf believes that many facts support the West's alienation from Qassem and its encouragement of a coup against him, especially since during his reign, Iraq concluded political and economic agreements with the Soviet Union and began arming the army from the eastern camp.

He added that Qassem's signing of Law 80 in 1961 and his withholding investment from Western monopolistic oil companies angered the United States and Britain, pointing out that some of his contemporaries quoted him after signing this law that he felt that his signature represented his execution document, according to Al-Allaf.

Coup and execution


As a result of everything that happened, the plot to overthrow Qassem was implied years before it happened. Al-Wandawi points out that in 1961 there were 6 attempts to overthrow him, but those attempts were unsuccessful, until the last attempt, which was on February 8, 1963 when The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party developed a precise plan to attack it.

He continues that what the communists did in Mosul and Kirkuk was a reason for his military overthrow, and that the West received the news of the coup against him with great satisfaction.

He added that there was no central figure who led the coup, and that the military and civilians in the leadership of the Baath Party cooperated together in bringing it down, and then they were able to win over Abd al-Salam Aref for his experience, military skill and his position on Qasim, who dismissed him and ruled him, without Aref being a direct partner in the coup.

Although Qassem had demanded before his execution that he be exiled outside the country, the Revolutionary Command Council decided on February 9 to execute him along with his escort and the head of the military court, Colonel Fadel Abbas Al-Mahdawi. The execution took place in the music room of the Radio and Television building in central Baghdad.