This revision podcast is aimed at GCSE and IGCSE History students, although AS and IB students may find it a helpful introduction to events in the Gulf in the later 20th Century.  This episode focuses on the factors that allowed Saddam Hussein to come to power in Iraq in 1979.

The podcast breaks Saddam’s rise to power into three key areas: his dominance of the Ba’ath Party, a series of social and economic policies that benefited the vast majority of Iraqis, and a ruthless system of terror and repression that dealt with anyone who dared to oppose him.

The revision guide aims to give clear examples for each of these factors, and explain how each of them contributed to Saddam’s rise to power.