The Rise of Saddam Hussein - History

Question 1

What three provinces of the Ottoman Empire did the British create Iraq out of?

Answer 1

Mosul, Baghdad and Basra

Question 2

Who ruled the country in 1921?

Answer 2

King Faisal I

Question 3

Although Britain granted independence to Iraq in 1932, the British kept control of what?

Answer 3

Oil, Iraq’s defence and foreign policy

Question 4

What were the reasons why Iraq was difficult to rule?

Answer 4

The population was 80% Arabian and 20% Kurdish, speaking a different language
Shia Muslims were majority but government was dominated by Sunnis.

Question 5

In 1941, a rebellion was launched by who? What happened?

Answer 5

Rashed Ali but was soon crushed

Question 6

How and when was the British government overthrown?

Answer 6

It was overthrown in a military coup in 1968

Question 7

Who was the new government led by?

Answer 7

Brigadie Abd al-Karim Qasim

Question 8

The army had been inspired by what? What were its aims?

Answer 8

By pan-Arabism, a doctrine that aimed to unite all Arabs and end interference by western powers in the Middle East.

Question 9

What was the Ba’ath Party?

Answer 9

Aimed to unite Arabs in one single state and remove western influence.

Question 10

What did they do in 1963?

Answer 10

The Ba’atists overthrew and executed Qasim

Question 11

Who was Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr? What did he do?

Answer 11

He came from Tikrit and secretly reorganised the Ba’ath party after it was banned.

Question 12

What was the Revolutionary Command Council?

Answer 12

The main decision making and law making body of the Iraqi government after 1968.

Question 13

What seemed to have a strong effect on Hussein’s development?

Answer 13

The fact that his father died so Saddam was raised by an uncle who hated the British and had taken part in the failed 1941 rebellion.

Question 14

Saddam was an admirer of who?

Answer 14

Stalin

Question 15

Saddam had a reputation for being what?

Answer 15

Being ruthless

Question 16

What happened with Saddam’s relationship with al-Bakr?’

Answer 16

Worked well in the early 1970s but by the time he became President, their relationship was more difficult.

Question 17

Saddam consolidated his power by doing what?

Answer 17

By purging his enemies in the armed forces and the party.

Question 18

Saddam became what?

Answer 18

Undisputed ruler of Iraq

Question 19

What were the political parties in Iraq?

Answer 19

Ba’ath Party
Communist Party
Kurd Party
Shia Party

Question 20

What was the purpose of the National Assembly?

Answer 20

To provide Saddam with a place to make speeches; It had no power

Question 21

What example in the book shows Saddam’s ruthlessness?

Answer 21

He would often purge the government and army of those he believed to be disloyal.
He had 66 leading figures tried and 22 sentenced to death.

Question 22

State propaganda called Saddam what?

Answer 22

Al-Batal (the hero)

Al-mufakir (the thinker)

Question 23

What does it mean that the government nationalized the oil industry?

Answer 23

They took possession of the oil industry and ended foreign control over it.

Question 24

What was the massive increase in finance used for?

Answer 24

It was used to develop public services and help ordinary people.

Question 25

What are the three phases that Saddam’s rule can be divided into?

Answer 25

1968-1980 this was a time of great prosperity and economic and social progress.
1980-1991 destroyed the economy and plunged the nation into debt.
1991-2003 was marked by stagnation made harder by international sanctions imposed by the United Nations over weapons production.

Question 26

Define secular

Answer 26

The Ba’ath Party wasn’t influenced by religious rules or beliefs.

Question 27

What did the Ba’ath Party believe about women?

Answer 27

That women should be educated and have important jobs in society.

Question 28

How and why did Saddam’s ideology change?

Answer 28

He relied more on tribal support to maintain his regime so this led old-fashioned customs to become more important than progressive ideas.

Question 29

What did the government set limits on in the 1970?

Answer 29

Property ownership with surplus land taken away and given to poorer farmers.

Question 30

What was launched in 1978?

Answer 30

A campaign to end illiteracy within three years.