Qasim and the 1958 Iraqi Revolution

posted on: Dec 3, 2025

By: Taim Al-Faraje / Arab America Contributing Writer

Iraq, like much of the Arab World after Sykes-Picot, had a corrupt king installed after “independence” in 1932. The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930 gave the British significant control over Iraqi affairs. Although many of the provisions were only meant to be used in times of war, making the treaty look reasonable, it gave Britain control of Iraq’s internal affairs, a power the treaty said it wouldn’t give. This put Iraq in the exact situation Britain wanted: appear free and liberated to the world, being part of the League of Nations as an independent state; but be controlled from within, riddled with military posts, controlled oil, controlled ports, waterways, etc. It all created an illusion of freedom. 

A wave of independence swept the Arab world during the 1940s and 1950s. Although some of these countries’ independence was considered neocolonial, like Iraq in 1932, it inspired revolutionaries in Iraq and across the Arab world to step it up in a sense. After World War II, the imperialist powers of the World, Britain and France, were in bad shape. The revolutionaries knew this and took advantage of it, stepping up revolutionary activities in the late 1950s with the goal of establishing a Pan-Arab Socialist Republic.

Immediate Build Up to the 1958 Coup

Prior to the 1958 coup, the Iraqi people were fed up with their corrupt, monarchical administration. Literacy was just 15%, life expectancy was 37 years, there were no women in government or female voting members of parliament, etc. The country was backwards, and the government’s focus was not its people, but profits. Hatred for the monarchy grew for this reason, and revolutionaries like Abdel Karim Qasim and Abdel Salam Arif waited for an opportunity to take over the country.

After the beginning of the May 1958 Lebanese civil war, regimes in the Arab world worried for their safety. Jordan, being in close proximity to Lebanon, requested troops from its close allies. Iraq, being their closest ally in the Arab world, sent them royal guard troops who were meant to defend the King; and the Jordanian King was protected. The problem? The Iraqi Monarch exposed, revolutionaries saw this as an opportunity, and on July 14, 1958, the Free Officers and their brigades marched on the Capitol and took over Iraq. With the moral support of Egypt’s Nasser and Syria’s Quwatli, Qasim, the leader of the Iraqi Free Officers, became the President of the Iraqi Republic, and the coup was a success.

Effects of the Coup

The CIA feared that this wave of Free Officer movements would continue sweeping across the Arab World and greater Third World, in countries like Iran and Jordan. These monarchies represented a grounding for the West in this area since countries like Egypt and Syria were indifferent in the Cold War and would rather seek help from the Soviet Union due to US involvement in Palestine.

Human Development Improvements

Qasim made education, healthcare, and housing priorities in his administration. Unlike those who came before him, he was for the people. Being an ordinary person, he understood the struggles of the average Iraqi or Arab and attended to their needs. He expanded the public school system in Iraq, building thousands of grade schools and hundreds of literacy schools. The literacy schools were specifically for the peasant adults who never got the opportunity to attend school, and thus, were illiterate. 

The number of primary schools increased significantly, as by 1961, the number of primary schools was 94.5% higher than the 1957 number. Iraq faced a rapid level of educational expansion during Qasim’s time.

In healthcare, Qasim modernized and improved conditions immensely. Pre-Qasim, Iraq had about 5000 hospital beds nationally, or about one bed for every 1000 people. There were few hospitals outside major cities, and a chronic doctor shortage, with about 2 doctors per 10,000 people. Qasim built new hospitals all over the country, more than doubling hospital bed capacity, at 13,500 beds. He opened medical colleges in Basra and Mosul, tripling medical student intake and setting the foundation for Iraq to have a modern healthcare system. He expanded state-funded clinics in rural areas to provide the peasantry with free healthcare, and launched public health programs and improved infant and maternal care access. 

Housing access also grew. Pre-Qasim, urban housing shortages were frequent, especially in Baghdad and Basra. There was no state-housing policy, and the growth of informal settlements grew. Working-class districts were overcrowded, and nothing was being done. Qasim launched Iraq’s first major state-built urban housing program, clearing the people’s settlements and relocating them to planned housing. He constructed worker housing and low income apartment blocks, providing housing to all Iraqi citizens. 

Necessity of a Republic 

This article shows why ordinary people must lead a republic in countries like Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and also in countries outside the Arab world, such as Cuba and others. Monarchs and upper-class rulers in general typically don’t understand and don’t care for the needs of the common people. Presidents like Shukri al-Quwatli, who spent immense amounts of his own money to advance the military of his country and the Arab Liberation Army, are an outlier. 

It is nearly impossible for these countries to advance without a republican government that cares and attends to the needs of its people.

Iraq Post 1963 Coup

This article won’t dive into the rest of Iraqi history, though it will present a small summary. Iraq went through numerous coups after Qasim. It began in February 1963, as a Ba’ath coup overthrew Qasim and planted his ex-right hand man, Abdel Salam Arif, who now opposed Qasim, as President. Later that year, Arif found himself on the anti-government side of a coup. A Nasserist government took over and purged the previous Ba’ath administration and other Ba’ath members. This government remained for 5 years, until another Ba’ath administration took over Iraq. This Ba’ath coup included Saddam Hussein, who would take power years later and hold power until the 2003 American invasion of Iraq.

Want more articles like this? Sign up for our e-newsletter!

Check our blog here!