The Arab Baath Movement ( ''Ḥarakat al-Bath al-‘Arabī;'' lit''.'' Arab Resurrection Movement or Arab Renaissance Movement) was a Baathist political party and predecessor of the Arab Socialist Baath Party. The party was first named the Arab Ihya Movement (''Ḥarakat al-Iḥyā al-‘Arabī;'' Arab Revitalization Movement) until 1943 when it adopted the name "Baath" (meaning resurrection). It was founded in 1940 by

Michel Aflaq Michel Aflaq (‎, ; 9 January 1910 – 23 June 1989) was a Syrian philosopher, sociology, sociologist and Arab nationalism, Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he ...

. Its founders, Aflaq and Bitar, were both associated with

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

and

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

History

The Movement was formed in 1940 as the Arab Ihya Movement by Syrian expatriate Michel Aflaq. Shortly after being founded, the Movement became involved in anti-colonial Arab nationalist militant activities, including Aflaq founding the Syrian Committee to Help Iraq that was created in 1941 to support the anti-British and pro-

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

government of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

against the British during the Anglo-Iraqi War of 1941. The Syrian Committee sent weapons and volunteers to fight alongside Iraqi forces against the British. Aflaq unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the Syrian parliament in 1943. After the Syrian election defeat, the Movement sought cooperation with other parties in elections in Syria, including the Arab Socialist Movement of Akram El-Hourani.Spencer Tucker. ''The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts, Volume 1''. Santa Barbara, California, USA: ABC-CLIO, 2010. Pp. 30 The Party merged with Al-Arsuzi's Arab Baath Party in 1947, and al-Hawrani's Arab Socialist Movement later merged into the party in the 1950s to establish the Arab Socialist Baath Party.

References

{{Arab nationalism Arab nationalism in Syria Ba'athist parties Defunct political parties in Syria Defunct nationalist parties Defunct socialist parties in Asia History of the Ba'ath Party Pan-Arabist political parties Political parties disestablished in 1947 Political parties established in 1940 Nationalist parties in Syria Socialist parties in Syria