Coup Atlas Research Database
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64503071959AttemptedMilitary coup

Iraq, 1959 — military coup attempt

Iraq (IRQ)Western Asia, AsiaMarch 7, 1959

Event Summary

In early March 1959 Colonel Abd al-Wahhab al-Shawwaf led a failed Arab nationalist military revolt in Mosul against the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim, aiming to depose Qasim and align Iraq with Gamal Abdel Nasser's United Arab Republic. The revolt was triggered when Qasim allowed a mass rally of communist backed Peace Partisans in Mosul on 6 March, which alarmed al-Shawwaf, commander of the local garrison. After clashes broke out on 7 March, al-Shawwaf decided to launch his coup, seizing Radio Mosul and calling on Iraqis to rise against Qasim, and on 8 March he sent aircraft to bomb Baghdad.

The raid failed, Qasim's air force struck al-Shawwaf's headquarters, and al-Shawwaf, wounded, was killed by one of his own sergeants. Mosul descended into days of anarchy and score settling. The failed revolt strengthened the communists and hastened the plotting that would kill Qasim in 1963.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim survived the Mosul revolt unharmed but was overthrown and executed in 1963
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Abd al-Karim Qasim (prime minister of Iraq, target)
Abd al-Wahhab al-Shawwaf (colonel, revolt leader, killed)
Iraqi Communist Party and Peace Partisans (Qasim's backers)

Sources

The 1959 Mosul uprising started with an attempted coup by Arab nationalists in Mosul who wished to depose Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim and install an Arab nationalist government that would join Iraq with the United Arab Republic.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1959 Mosul uprising open source ↗
Qasim encouraged a communist backed Peace Partisans rally in Mosul on 6 March 1959, and after skirmishes broke out by 7 March, Colonel Abd al-Wahhab al-Shawwaf decided to carry out a coup, seizing Radio Mosul to encourage Iraqis to rise against Qasim.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1959 Mosul uprising open source ↗
On the morning of 8 March al-Shawwaf sent two aircraft to bomb Radio Baghdad, the raid failed, and in response Qasim sent air force planes to attack al-Shawwaf's headquarters, wounding him, after which he was killed by one of his own sergeants who believed the coup had failed.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1959 Mosul uprising open source ↗
Although the rebellion was crushed, it increased the power of the communists and encouraged the Baath Party's belief that the only way to halt communism was to assassinate Qasim, who removed Iraq from the Baghdad Pact on 24 March.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1959 Mosul uprising open source ↗

Editorial Note

Dataset date 7 March 1959 corresponds to al-Shawwaf's decision to launch the coup after the clashes began; the public proclamation and Baghdad bombing followed on 8 March. Well documented. Follows the July 1958 revolution that brought Qasim to power and precedes his 1963 overthrow in the dataset.

Cross-Reference

Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
64503071959
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-645-1959-03-07

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim survived the Mosul revolt unharmed but was overthrown and executed in 1963.

Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Luttwak

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Powell and Thyne

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Mosul_Uprising

New York Times

“EXECUTIONS STIR BAGHDAD CLOUDS First Recent Demonstration Against Kassim Provoked by Doom of Nationalists,” by Richard P. Hunt, September 29, 1959

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

Iraq — Military coup, 19631963-07-03AttemptedWestern AsiaIraq — Military coup, 19631963-11-13AttemptedWestern AsiaIraq — Military coup, 19641964-09-05AttemptedWestern Asia