1959 Mosul uprising

Part of the Arab Cold War and Aftermath of the 14 July Revolution

Mosul

Date	7–11 March 1959
Location	Mosul, Iraq
Result	Attempted coup fails Iraq remains outside of UAR Degradation in Iraq-UAR relations Iraqi Communists increase in power Iraqi Ba'athists begin to increase in strength

Belligerents

Arab nationalist rebels

Sympathetic Arab tribes

Supported by

United Arab Republic

Government of Iraq

Iraqi Communist Party
Sympathetic Kurdish tribes

Commanders and leaders

Col. Abd al-Wahab al-Shawaf †
(Commander of Iraqi Army Mosul Garrison)

Sheik Ahmed Ajil †
(Leader of the Shammar Tribe)

Abd al-Karim Qasim

(Prime Minister of Iraq)
Kamil Kazanchi †
(Leader of parading Communists)

Casualties and losses

2,426

Arab nationalist rebels

Government of Iraq

Col. Abd al-Wahab al-Shawaf †
(Commander of Iraqi Army Mosul Garrison)

The 1959 Mosul Uprising was an attempted coup by Arab nationalists in Mosul who wished to depose the then Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim, and install an Arab nationalist government which would then join the Republic of Iraq with the United Arab Republic. Following the failure of the coup, law and order broke down in Mosul, which witnessed several days of violent street battles between various groups attempting to use the chaos to settle political and personal scores.

During Qasim's term, there was much debate over whether Iraq should join the United Arab Republic, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan had dissolved the Arab Federation after Qasim had the entire royal family in Iraq put to death, along with Prime Minister Nuri al-Said.

Qasim's growing ties with the Iraqi Communist Party provoked a rebellion in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul which was led by Arab nationalists in charge of military units. In an attempt to intimidate any individuals plotting a potential coup, Qasim had encouraged a Communist backed Peace Partisans rally in Mosul that was held on 6 March 1959. Some 250,000 Peace Partisans and Communists thronged Mosul's streets on 6 March, and although the rally passed peacefully, by 7 March, skirmishes had broken out between the Communists and the nationalists. This degenerated into a local civil war over the following days.

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