A Brief History

of Modern Syria
1918-Present
Syria Fast Facts

• Capital: Damascus
• Official Language: Arabic
• Religion: 90% Islam
• Government: Unitary dominant-party
semi-presidential republic
• President: Bashar al-Assad
• Population (2019 estimate): 18,528,105
The Fall of the Ottoman
Empire
• During World War I, the Ottoman Empire felt the rise of
nationalism as different ethnicities began to work towards
independence, ultimately resulting in the collapse and breaking
up of the Ottoman Empire through the Treaty of Versailles in
1918.
• Of these nations, Turkey was the most forthright with Nationalist
sympathies, as the Young Turks rose to power and began
ejecting non-Turks from the country, ultimately leading to the
Armenian and Assyrian Genocides. Many Assyrians, were sent to
modern day Syria.
Establishing New Nations

• In 1916, the British and the French drew up

plans to split the Middle East between them
at the conclusion of the war in the Sykes-Picot
Agreement. The line was changed several
times, but Arab Nationalism in Damascus led
to occupation of the region.
• In 1920, the League of Nations drew the
borders for Syria in a mandate that has not
been changed.
 • Shortly after the establishing of an independent Syrian Kingdom, the League
of Nations bent to the will of the French who argued for the French
Mandate and began to colonize Syria, leading to several violent conflicts
Decades of between them.
• During the 1920s and 30s, Syrians continued to revolt against French rule.
Turmoil • In 1936, Syria and France negotiated a treaty, but the French legislature
refused to sign it. When France fell to Nazi Germany in 1940, Syria was put
under control of the Vichy French, fascist French who were allies to Hitler.
Republican Syria

• In 1941, during World War II, English and

French forces occupied Syria, pushing the
Vichy French out. At the end of the war, in
1946, Syrian nationalism forced England and
France to recognize the 1936 treaty and the
Syrian Republic was established.
 Post-Independe
nce Struggles

• Though the Republic was established in 1946, the establishment of

Israel pushed the Arab world to war. Syria quickly joined other Arab
nations in opposing Israeli occupation of Palestine and Syria swore to
push the “Zionists” out of the Middle East.
• Defeat of the invasion of Israel led to a coup d'état in 1949 by the
Syrian military, the first such coup in the Middle East since WWII.
Soon after, another military wing overthrew the 1949 coup, then
another military wing overthrew the previous coup government,
leading to three coups in a year.
• Slate Comic
Syria Turns Left
• In 1954, the military occupation was overthrown by
a fourth coup and the republic was restored.
However, militarism was far too established and
soon calls for Arab nationalism, Syrian nationalism,
and socialism grew among the population.
• In 1956, due to the Suez Crisis, Syria signed a pact
with the Soviet Union, allowing communism a
foothold in the nation and worrying NATO country
Turkey.
• In 1958, Syria and Egypt attempted to create a
United Arab Republic, quelling many political voices,
except the Ba’athists who planned a coup.
Ba’athism in Syria

• In 1963, the Ba’athist Party staged a coup and took control of Syria.
• Ba’athism, meaning “renaissance” or “resurrection”, is an Arab
ideology dedicated to Arab Nationalism, pan-Arab identity, socialism,
and secularism.
• Under the Ba’athist party, Syria found some measure of stability,
though debates over pan-Arabism vs. Syrian nationalism did cause
several small overthrows of power.
• Syrian waged small-scale wars on Israel, alongside several other Arab
nations throughout the 1970s, and in 1976, Syria staged began a
30-year occupation of Lebanon.
Secularism vs. Islamism

• In the 1970s, the Muslim Brotherhood, an

Islamist group, attempted to overthrow the
government due to their secular stance.
However, the uprising was quickly put down,
but the Syrian government committed
questionable, violent acts which many have
claimed to be crimes against humanity in the
name of putting down the riots.
• Since then, radical Islamist, right-wing,
fundamentalist Islam, has been a recurring
issue in Syria.
Syria Shifts Support
• In 1991, Syria shocked the region by joining the U.S. in the Gulf
War against Saddam Hussein, another Ba’athist leader in Iraq.
• Soon after, Syria participated in the Madrid Conference with
Israel to seek negotiations to ease tensions in the Middle East.
These negotiations failed and there have been direct talks
between the nations since President Bill Clinton’s mediation of
the talks.
Bashar Al-Assad

• In 2000, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad died. His

son, Bashar al-Assad ran unopposed and won the
election, taking his father’s seat.
• Al-Assad’s election promised reform, but did not
deliver it, leading to the Damascus Spring which
was suppressed by al-Assad’s government and
reforms were limited to small market reforms.
• The suppression led to destabilizing in Syria which
eventually became tensions with the Kurdish
minority, rising Islamic extremists, and the end of
the Lebanon occupation.
Syrian Civil War
• During the late 2010s, during the Arab Spring, peaceful
protests for reform spread across Syria. Allegedly,
al-Assad cracked down on the protests and soon the
demonstrators formed a militant opposition, called the
Free Syrian Army, leading to civil war in 2011.
• During this period of destabilization, fundamentalist
group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also called
ISIL), took advantage of the turmoil to take land for
themselves and build a global terrorist organization.
• Also during this time and dating back to the 1990s, the
minority Kurds in Rojava further established their own
separatist government.
 • As a result of the Syrian Civil
War, several families have
fled the country due to the
violence and instability,
leading to the Refugee Crisis.
• In the rest of this unit, we
will discuss the complexities
of the Syrian Civil War and
the Refugee Crisis.

Ongoing Problems