$Unique_ID{COW03606} $Pretitle{247} $Title{Syria History and Government} $Subtitle{} $Author{Embassy of Syria, Washington DC} $Affiliation{Embassy of Syria, Washington DC} $Subject{syria french arab war syrian syrians france control damascus empire} $Date{1990} $Log{} Country: Syria Book: Facts about Syria Author: Embassy of Syria, Washington DC Affiliation: Embassy of Syria, Washington DC Date: 1990 History and Government The ancient territory named Greater Syria once included a much larger area than does the modern Syrian Arab Republic. At different times in history, parts of what are now Turkey and Iraq-as well as all of Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel-belonged to Greater Syria. Nomadic herders lived in the region as early as 5000 B.C. Almost all of these inhabitants were Semitic peoples, whose ancestors originated in the Arabian Peninsula to the south and who shared a common language. Later, Greater Syria's rich farmland drew many other groups to the area. In time, Greater Syria became a thriving center for agricultural and commercial activity. Builders from as far away as In A.D. 395, to ease the management of its vast holdings, the Roman Empire split into eastern and western portions. Syria became part of the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire. Emperors governed the territory from the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). The empire's rulers, who followed the Christian religion, tried to convert the Syrians but were successful only in the northern part of the country. During the next 240 years, the Byzantine Empire was often at war with Persia over land. Syria frequently became a battlefield, and the fighting financially drained Constantinople. Eventually, the Byzantine rulers stopped paying Arab clans from southern Syria for the border protection that they had provided. Without these Arab troops, the empire's southern defenses weakened. Invaders from the Arabian Peninsula met little resistance as they moved toward southern Syria in the early 600s. Islam and the Arabs Prophet Muhammad started a new, one-god faith called Islam. By 629 the followers of Islam-called Muslims-set out from their capital at Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula to establish Islam in other lands. Soon after the death of Muhammad in 632, Muslims divided into two main sects. Sunni Muslims favored electing a leader, while Shiites wanted Islam's head to be chosen from among Muhammad's family. The Sunni sect became Islam's dominant group. Led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, the Arab Muslims conquered Damascus in 636. Under Muslim rule, Syria slowly adopted Islam as the official religion of the country. Muawiya, a Sunni who belonged to the Umayyad family, became the caliph, or ruler, of Syria. In 661 a majority of the faithful elected him the leader of all Muslims, and he chose Damascus as the political capital of Islam. The city enjoyed a period of fame and wealth as the hub of the Islamic Empire, which Muawiya I and other Umayyad caliphs extended west to Spain and east to central Asia. Under the influence of Islam, Syrians substituted Arabic for Aramaic as the main language of the Middle East. The Umayyads built roads, founded hospitals, and encouraged education. Scholars from other lands studied in Damascus, developing a new medical practices and philosophical ideas. Despite these advances, the empire had unstable leadership, and later Umayyad caliphs fell away from Islamic traditions. In 715 the Abbasids, a rival Muslim family, overthrew the Umayyad dynasty. The Abbasids transferred the capital of the empire from Damascus to Baghdad (in present-day Iraq). Muslim nobles often challenged Abbasid rule. For example, Sayf al-Dawla Abu al-Hasan ibn Hamdan established the Hamdanid kingdom at Aleppo in the tenth century. Besides defying the authority of the Abbasids in Baghdad, Sayf al-Dawla-who was himself a poet-made Aleppo a center of culture. Seljuks and Crusaders In time, the Abbasids also ignored Islamic traditions, and their power over the Islamic Empire weakened. When the Seljuk Turks invaded the region in the late eleventh century, Arab nobles had already split Syria into small Islamic states. The Seljuks, who had adopted Islam in the tenth century, conquered Syria and established two provinces-one with its capital at Aleppo and the other centered in Damascus. The Muslim Seljuks also pushed into the territory still controlled by the Eastern Roman Empire in Anatolia. The Seljuks made it difficult for European Christian to pass through Anatolia on their way to Palestine-a Middle Eastern land that both Christians and Muslims considered sacred. To make safe passage possible and to gain riches, Christian armies arrived from western Europe in the late eleventh century. Known as crusaders, these Christian soldiers sought to control Palestine. They conquered Seljuk territory and set up domains that were centered at Antioch (in Anatolia), Tripoli (in Greater Syria), and Jerusalem (in Palestine). The Syrian cities of Damascus, Homs, and Hama, however, remained under Seljuk authority. In the early 1100s, constant warfare against the crusaders broke the power of the Seljuk Turks in Syria. Zangi, a Muslim noble from Mosul (now in northern Iraq), defeated a number of European crusaders and Seljuks, pushing them out of northern Syria. Zangi's son, Nureddin, succeeded his father and moved the capital of his growing kingdom first to Aleppo and then to Damascus. SALADIN As sultan (ruler) of Syria, Nureddin responded to an Egyptian leader's request for help both in settling an internal dispute and in stopping the crusaders. Nureddin sent one of his armies and his ablest general, Saladin, to the Egyptian royal court in 1169. Saladin became influential in the Egyptian administration and finally took control of Egypt in 1171. After Nureddin's death in 1174, Saladin became sultan of both Egypt and Syria. After Saladin brought the independent armies of several Muslim nobles under his control, he used his newly unified forces to attack the crusaders. Saladin pushed the European armies out of Jerusalem in 1188. Muslim and Christian forces in other parts of the Middle East continued to fight until 1192. In that year, the two groups agreed to end the war. The agreement allowed Christians to have access to Jerusalem in Palestine and to establish a limited number of outposts on Syria's coast. Mongols, Mamluks, and Ottomans After Saladin's death in 1192, Syria again broke into several states. In 1260 the Mongols, skilled warriors from central Asia, set upon Syria for the first time. Under their leader Hulegu Khan, the Mongols killed thousands of people and destroyed many mosques, homes, and aqueducts. The Mongols attacked Syria several times in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Forces from the Mamluk dynasty, which had established itself in Egypt in 1250, fought the Mongols in Syria during the 1300s and claimed the region as part of the Mamluk kingdom. Despite repeated Mongol raids, the Mamluks founded a prosperous realm. The most destructive Mongol attack came in 1402, when Timur the Lame (called Tamerlane in the West) captured and plundered Damascus. Syria did not easily recover from the damage inflicted by Timur and his troops. The Mamluks continued to rule the area but became less effective. In 1516 the Ottoman Turks, founders of an Islamic empire in central Asia, defeated the Mamluks at Aleppo and started their 300-year rule of Syria. The Ottomans eventually controlled Anatolia, a section of southeastern Europe, most of southwestern Asia, and part of northern Africa. The Ottomans ruled their empire through pashas-leaders who were given complete authority over their areas. The pashas employed local civic and religious officials to collect taxes, to establish courts, and to govern communities. Under the pashas' leadership, Syria lost its economic vitality. Heavy taxes and inefficient management hampered growth. Little trade occurred between Syria and other regions, which further reduced revenues. Damascus became a mere rest-stop for Muslims traveling from the north on their religious journey to the holy city of Mecca in Arabia. By the late 1700s, Syria's thriving economy and strong culture were things of the past. European Intervention As Syria slipped into a decline, events occurred in the Middle East that would affect Syria's future. In 1799 the French general Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt to gain control of a trade route to India. For a brief period, he also occupied part of the Syrian coast. The French attack illustrated the growing interest of European powers in the Middle East, especially as they saw the Ottoman Empire start to fall apart. Intent upon expanding their colonial holdings and trade routes, Europeans tried to establish power bases in the region. They saw Syria's commercial possibilities and hoped to gain control of the strategically located territory. In the nineteenth century, France had ties with the Maronites-Christians in Greater Syria who were under the guidance of the Roman Catholic Church. The British developed a connection with the Druze, a religious group that had evolved from Islam in the eleventh century. Hostilities broke out between the Druze and the Maronites in 1860. French troops intervened, and the French government forced the Ottomans to establish Lebanon separate from Syria. Many Syrians had grown restless with the inefficient and burdensome Ottoman government. The introduction of European forces and European ideas of independence-as well as the weakness of Ottoman rule-caused Syrians to begin considering self-government. In response to Syria's concerns, Ottoman officials attempted reforms, but the changes met with limited success. Syrian taxes continued to be high, and the people objected when their young men were drafted into the Ottoman army. As the Syrians demanded relief, the Ottomans tried to suppress them. By the beginning of the twentieth century, an Arab independence movement had begun in Syria. World Wars and the French Mandate World War I (1914-1918) broke out just as the Arab movement toward self-rule was gaining momentum. During the conflict, members of Syrian nationalist groups participated in battles that pitted Britain, France, and Russia against Germany and Ottoman Turkey. The nationalists expected that an independent Syrian state would develop after the war. British officials and Arab nobles wanted Hussein ibn Ali, the head of an influential Arab family, to encourage Arabs to fight against the Ottoman Turks. Led by his son Faisal, Hussein's forces launched their first attack in 1916. With the assistance of a British officer named T. E. Lawrence, Arab troops took Damascus in 1918, and Faisal became military governor. After the war ended in 1918, Syrians organized a national congress that elected Faisal king of Syria, which at that time included Palestine and Transjordan (now Jordan). Faisal declared Arabic the country's official language and devoted much of the newly independent kingdom's resources to education. Syrian leaders also began to write a constitution. France and Britain, however, refused to recognize Syria as an independent nation. DIVISION OF GREATER SYRIA To maintain their power base in the Middle East, the French blocked Faisal's efforts to form a Syrian kingdom. Instead, France sought to establish a mandate (decree of legal control) over Syria. At a meeting in Europe, France and Britain-the primary victors in World War I-decided who would control the Arab territories taken from the Ottoman Turks. Both European nations believed that these regions might hold valuable oil reserves. The basis for dividing the area was the Sykes-Picot Agreement, a document that representatives of the British and the French governments had signed secretly in 1916. According to this agreement, France would rule Syria and Lebanon, and Britain would have authority over Palestine, Transjordan, and Iraq. Ignoring Faisal's protests, the Europeans set up control of Arab lands according to the document's terms. The French mandate in Syria came into effect on July 15, 1920, and Faisal left the country. The Europeans' decision to split Arab territory in this way led to anti-Western bitterness that still affects events in the Middle East. Arab nationalism grew, as did Pan-Arabism-a movement to establish a single Arab state in the region. The French divided Syria into several areas and administered them through a French high commissioner in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Hostilities continued to build in the next 25 years, however, as the French censored newspapers, imposed the French language in schools, and refused to set a timetable for eventual self-rule. In 1925 Syrians who were bitter about the division of Greater Syria and about Western authority revolted against the French. Using great force, including bombardment, French troops put down the rebellion. Syrian dissatisfaction again mounted in 1939. In that year, France gave Turkey the northwestern district of Alexandretta, which Arab nationalists claimed. When World War II also broke out in 1939, Syrians were ready for change. WORLD WAR II The war again pitted France, Britain, and their allies against Germany. In 1940 France fell to Nazi German forces, and the French government came under Germany's authority. This change allowed the Germans to appoint the French person who would serve as high commissioner of Syria. In 1941 soldiers from Britain, Jordan, and Free France (France's anti-German resistance movement) overthrew the new colonial administration in Syria. After the removal of the representatives of German power, Free French authorities ran Syria. The group's leader-General Charles de Gaulle-promised the territory eventual self-rule. By the time the war ended in 1945, France's allies-the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great Britain-had recognized the independent status of Syria. Nevertheless, France continued to control the colony, and French troops remained on Syrian soil. Independence After World War II, Syria was still technically under French authority. Nevertheless, Syria became a member of the United Nations (UN). De Gaulle, leader of the newly formed French government, resisted the Syrian drive for independence. France wanted to have special economic status in Syria and refused to pull out its army until Syria agreed to French terms. In May 1945, Syrians protested in the streets of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, and Hama against the French presence. Fighting erupted in the capital, and the French again bombed the city. Britain threatened to send its troops into Syria against France, and the UN pressured France to recognize Syria's independence. On April 17, 1946, the French finally evacuated their troops, and Syria became a fully self-governing republic. The new country faced many problems, including a new political situation in the Middle East. Many Arabs refused to accept the establishment in 1948 of the Jewish State of Israel. It had been created from part of the British mandate territory of Palestine. That same year, Syria and other Arab countries attacked Israel in the hope of regaining what they regarded as Arab territory. Israel won the war, and Syrians blamed their own leaders for the defeat. Searching for Unity The loss of the 1948 war to the Israelis merely added to the instability within Syria. The nation underwent three coups d'etat (sudden overthrows of government) in 1949 alone. In that year, the military began to play a key role in Syrian political life. General Adib Shishakli led the third coup of 1949 and seized control of the government. By 1954 this military dictator had also been overthrown. The officers who ousted Shishakli allowed a group of civilian politicians to form an administration. A new political organization, the Baath party, gained strength in the mid-1950s. Put together by Michel Aflaq, a Christian, and Salah Bitar, a Sunni Muslim, the Baath program focused on distributing land more evenly among the nation's people. The party also wanted to develop unity (Pan-Arabism) among the different Arab regions. Many of the group's members favored a socialist form of government. Shared ownership of industries and social equity were among their national goals. After Shishakli's fall, a number of Baathists won seats in the national legislature and began to lay the foundation for their eventual rule in Syria. The hopes of many Syrians for a united Arab nation became a reality in 1958. The Pan-Arab movement had been gaining momentum for some time. Its most vocal supporter in the region was Egypt's president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Syrians turned to Nasser to lead a combined Syrian-Egyptian state known as the United Arab Republic (UAR). Many Syrians, however, were disappointed when the new nation located its central administration in the Egyptian part of the country. In addition, a large number of Egyptians gained high posts in the Syrian sector of the UAR. Egypt had a larger population, a more developed economy, and a dynamic leader in Nasser. As a result, the Syrians felt that the distribution of power between the two parts of UAR was uneven. The Baath Party and Hafiz al-Assad Several factions of the Baath party struggled for control of the country in the 1960s. Even within the military wing of the party, divisions split the membership. Ten coups occured between 1963 and 1970, and unlike most of the previous overthrows, some of these changes were violent. Slowly, General Hafiz al-Assad and his followers began to gather strength in the Baath ranks. Those Baathists who had been overthrown left the country and lived in exile. Iraq gave refuge to some of the fleeing Baathists, and this action created tension between Syria and Iraq. The continuing Arab conflict with Israel also helped Baath members and General Assad to gather support within Syria. In June 1967, Israel clashed with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in a war that lasted six days. The Israelis gained a significant amount of Arab territory, including Syria's Golan Heights. The loss of this area created more disunity in Syrian politics, as leaders blamed one another for the defeat. Assad took advantage of the confusion to increase his political power in the region. He supported Palestinian refugees who had fled areas held by Israel and had settled in Jordan. Assad also backed Palestinian efforts to form political forces-among them, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In 1970, to prevent civil war, King Hussein of Jordan ordered his army to push the PLO and other Palestinian groups into Syria and Lebanon. Assad funded these Palestinian groups, who used terrorist tactics against the Israelis. Palestinian militias in Syria, however, had to submit to close supervision from Assad's military forces. Eventually, almost all Palestinians moved into Lebanon, where they could receive weapons and money from Syria without directly being under Syrian control. ASSAD TAKES POWER As these external changes occurred, Assad made his move to take over Syria. In October 1970, his troops surrounded a meeting of Baath party leaders. Because of this show of force, Assad was able to take control of the party. In 1971 he became president of Syria, running as the only candidate in a national election. Assad's new government took the holdings of many wealthy landowners and redistributed the acreages in smaller plots to Egypt and Syria joined in a surprise attack against Israel. In this 1973 war, the Syrian forces at first regained part of the Golan Heights lost in 1967. But eventually the Israelis overran the Syrian troops and occupied even more ground. Only through negotiations at the end of the war did Syria finally get back a small part of the Golan Heights. Compared to other military encounters with Israel, Syrians considered the 1973 war a victory. Recent Events Following the 1973 war, Syria turned its attention from Israel to one of its other neighbors-Lebanon. Because Syrians traditionally consider Lebanon an extended part of their nation. Several Islamic factions entered the Lebanese civil war, which the nation's Christians and Muslims began fighting in the mid-1970s. In 1976 a Lebanese Christian faction asked Syria for help in stopping the conflict. In response, Assad eventually sent as many as 40,000 troops to prevent the break- up of Lebanon. The move also served his own interests by keeping the Lebanese- Syrian border stable. But the Syrian military presence did not halt the violence in Lebanon.