The Ba'ath regime, like its predecessors, came to power by military force. From Abd al-Karim Qasim until the Ba'athist seizure of power in 1968, the Iraqi government had followed a policy of the militarisation of society. This led to the expansion of the old military elite, which had existed under the Hashemite monarchy. The military elite gradually also evolved into an economic elite, since Iraq was a planned economy; for instance, the government appointed military personnel to senior positions in factories and companies. While the period from 1960 to 1980 was peaceful, expenditure on the military trebled and in 1981 it stood at US$4.3 billion. The government placed more importance on military development than on the civilian sector. In 1981, Iraq's military expenditure nearly equaled the national incomes of Jordan and Yemen combined. The military buildup was made possible because of Iraq's oil production and the high international price for oil. Per capita military spending in 1981 was 370 percent higher than that for education. During the Iran–Iraq War military expenditures increased dramatically (while economic growth was shrinking) and the number of people employed in the military increased fivefold, to one million.