The+Baghdad+Pact+1955

Joe Xiang ** __ The Baghdad Pact, 1955 __ ** ** What was the Baghdad Pact? **  -The Baghdad Pact was first a mutual cooperation pact that was first signed by Turkey and Iraq, but also open to members of the Arab League. In April 1955, Britain joined into this alliance, and by fall 1955, Iran and Pakistan had also become members of this pact. By that time however, it was deemed to be the Baghdad Pact. -This pact was part of an American scheme to make a defensive line between the Soviet Union and Europe and therefore containing the spread of communism. By signing treaties, and taking part in military assistance agreements with nations such as Greece, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, most of the defensive line against the Soviet Union was made. However, as Iraq lies to the southern border (and thus flank) of the Soviet Union, The United States wished to incorporate Iraq into their scheme. The leader of Iraq at the time, Nuri al-Said, was pro-British, hated communism, was fearful of the Soviet threat, and also wished to be a part of an alliance with the West because of the benefits it would bring. Thus Iraq was a perfect nation to include in this scheme against the Soviet Union. ** How did the Baghdad Pact escalate tensions? **  -The Baghdad Pact escalated tension with Nasser because it was viewed as a threat to his power. Since Nasser was typically recognized as the dominant leader of the Arabs, the pact seemed to be an insult to his power, and a slap to the face, as it could bypass the Arab League’s authority. It also made Nasser think that the Americans were supporting Nuri al-Said as a new leader of the Arabs, and thus made it seem that the Americans were directly involved with threatening the amount of power Nasser would have over the Arab population. -Furthermore the pact seemed to be quite contradictory of past actions taken in the Middle East, especially with the Tripartite Agreement. In this agreement the amount of arms in the area would be limited in the Middle East, and the Arabs and Israelis had to maintain an arms balance with each other. However, this pact showed that while there were efforts made to balance warfare between the Israelis and Arabs, there were also other efforts made by Western nations to also include Arabs in Western defense agreements to contain communism. Thus, while Egypt and Israel typically resented each other, they both also resented the Western powers and their support of Iraq because of the contradictory actions taken. ** Overall Effect? **  Overall the Baghdad Pact, and American support of it was a tactical error. Although the Americans knew it could ruin the relationship between Nasser and themselves, and thus decided not to join the pact, their extended efforts into the pact, led Nasser to believe the West was trying to shrink the power that Nasser had on the Arab people. Due to American support of Iraq, it ultimately polarized the Arab population into supporting either Egypt or Iraq. Furthermore it destabilized many countries in the area and allowed the Soviet Union to better relations with Nasser, which allowed the Soviet Union to bypass the Baghdad Pact all together. Thus the pact was ultimately pointless.