The Ramadan Revolution, also referred to as the 8 February Revolution and the February 1963 coup d'tat in Iraq, was a military coup by the Ba'ath Party's Iraqi-wing which overthrew the Prime Minister of Iraq, Abd al-Karim Qasim in 1963. It took place between 8 and 10 February 1963. Qasim's former deputy, Abdul Salam Arif, who was not a Ba'athist, was given the largely ceremonial title of President, while prominent Ba'athist general Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was named Prime Minister. The most powerful leader of the new government was the secretary general of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, Ali Salih al-Sa'di, who controlled the National Guard militia and organized a massacre of hundredsif not thousandsof suspected communists and other dissidents following the coup.The government lasted approximately nine months, until Arif disarmed the National Guard in the November 1963 Iraqi coup d'tat, which was followed by a purge of Ba'ath Party members.
The prime minister of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq. On 7 May 2020, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi became the incumbent prime minister after Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned.
1963Feb, 8
The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq, Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba'ath Party.
Choose Another Date
Events on 1963
- 8Jan
Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. - 8Feb
John F. Kennedy
Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration. - 21Apr
Bahá'í Faith
The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. - 7Oct
Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
John F. Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. - 22Nov
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally is seriously wounded by Lee Harvey Oswald