On July 17, 1968, hizb al-Baʿth al-ʿArabi al-ishtiraki (the Arab Baʿth Socialist Party) launched a successful coup d’état and began its thirty-five-year domination of Iraq. The ascent of the Baʿth Party, five years after its first brief interlude in power, was the result of a combination of historical, economic, and social factors that had led to instability and repeated power vacuums in the decades leading up to July 1968.

Modern Iraq was created from the amalgamation of the three provinces of Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul, which constituted Mesopotamia and had been part of the Ottoman Empire for more than four centuries. When the First World War broke out, the British felt the need to protect their burgeoning oil and political interests in the region and launched a military campaign in Iraq. By 1918 they had come to control the three provinces but soon found out that ruling the country proved significantly more difficult than occupying it. Iraq became a British mandate from 1920 until independence was granted in 1932, and King Faisal was installed as its first monarch in 1921.