| Announcement of a large-scale NATIONALIZATION PROGRAM in which the state seized all banks and insurance companies. The state also nationalized several industries, including tobacco processing and cement, and partly extended its control into textile and flour production. The switch to a planned economy was designed to encourage rapid development, meet the high demand for public sector jobs, and mold Iraq in Egypt's image in order to facilitate a desired union. Despite the public transition to a socialist economy in 1964, the movement did not gather speed until the Ba`th regime came to power in 1968. By 1977, the state sector was responsible for creating 80 percent of Iraq's gross domestic product (up from 31 percent in 1968). In addition, the state employed 261,000 Iraqis by 1973 (compared to a mere 27,000 in 1957); by 1978, over 20 percent of the country's workers held jobs with the state. | 2 |
| A MILITARY COUP deposed Pres. Arif. The main plotters were army officers and members of the Ba`th Party. A second coup (July 30) eliminated the army officers from the government. The Ba‘th Party—a small, exclusive, and secretive organization—emerged as the sole master of the regime. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr assumed office as president, prime minister, and commander in chief. The Ba`th announced a constitution (1970) that advocated Arab socialism and Islam, though in practice the latter was neglected until the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War (1980). Within the party, leadership became increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small clique originating from the town of Takrit along the Tigris River. | 3 |
