July 14, 2009 marks the 51st anniversary of the founding of the first Iraqi Republic in 1958. Through a successful military coup d’etat lead by Iraqi Brig. Gen. Abdul-Kareem Qasim and Col. Abdul Salam Arif, the Hashemite monarchy under King Faisal was overthrown.
A Revolutionary Council was formed, the country represented by a tripartite comprised of a single member from each of Iraq’s three major ethnicities, Shiite, Sunni and Kurd. As both Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Qasim quickly became the most powerful man in Iraq with Arif, now Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.
Historically, the day was celebrated from 1958 until the Ba’ath party came to power. Prior to the Ba’ath regime, Iraqis took to the streets with much fanfare and demonstrations for the Qasim government. Although not at the time an official holiday, Iraqis revived the celebration following the deposition of President Saddam Hussein and the Coalition Provisional Authority banned the Iraqi Ba’ath Party in May 2003. In 2005, the Iraqi government declared July 14 a national holiday and a statue of Qasim was erected in the heart of Baghdad’s al-Rasheed Street.
Today, the celebration is not remembered with such fervor. Typically, Iraqis celebrate the day off from work with family and friends, often sharing a meal or picnic remembering the positive results of Qasim’s rule including changes in domestic policies greatly impacting Iraqi society of the day. According to press releases made after the revolution, it confiscated land from feudalists and redistributed it to poor peasants. Under the revolution, an agrarian reform law and a personal status law gave women all their rights. Democratic freedoms were introduced and assemblies, syndicates, trade unions and NGOs were established.
July 14, 2009 marks the 51st anniversary of the founding of the first Iraqi Republic in 1958. Through a successful military coup d’etat lead by Iraqi Brig. Gen. Abdul-Kareem Qasim and Col. Abdul Salam Arif, the Hashemite monarchy under King Faisal was overthrown.