1.
Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction)
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The Arab Socialist Baath Party, also referred to as the pro-Syrian Baath movement, is a neo-Baathist political party, with branches across the Arab world. The party emerged from a split in the Baath Party in February 1966, the party leads the government in Syria. From 1970 until 2000, the party was led by the Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, as of 2000, leadership has been shared between his son Bashar al-Assad and Abdullah al-Ahmar. The Syrian branch of the party is the largest organisation within the Syrian-led Baath Party, Hafez al-Assad became the secretary of the Syrian Regional Command of the party in 1970, and Secretary General of the National Command in late 1970. Despite being deceased, Hafez al-Assad is still the official Secretary General of the National Command, Bashar al-Assad became the Regional Secretary of the party in Syria after his fathers death in 2000. Abdullah al-Ahmar serves as the Assistant Secretary General of the National Command, the highest organ of the party is the Party Congress. The Congress elects a General Secretary and a National Command, under the National Command there is a Regional Command for each state in which the party operates. The regions are divided into branches, which are divided into companies, a branch consists of two or more companies. A company comprises three to seven cells, each cell has between three and seven members. In theory, the National Command of the party is the government for the entire Arab nation. The body comprises 21 members, half of whom are Syrian, in practice, the Syrian Regional Command is the more powerful institution inside the party. The Syrian Regional Command is the political leadership in Syria. A seat in National Command has become a sinecure, an honorary post given to Syrian politicians as they retire from political life. Hafez al-Assad rarely had time to attend National Command meetings, instead, he appointed Vice President for Party Affairs Zuhayr Mashariqa or Abd al-Halim Khaddam to represent him at National Command meetings. There is a branch in Algeria. There is a branch in Bahrain. There is a branch in Egypt. The party was known in Iraq as Left-wing Baath or Qutr Al-Iraq
2.
Ba'ath Party
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Zakī al-Arsūzī was a Syrian philosopher, philologist, sociologist, historian, and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Baathism and he published several books during his lifetime, most notably The Genius of Arabic in its Tongue. Born into a family in Latakia, Syria, al-Arsuzi studied at the Sorbonne. In 1930, he returned to Syria, where he became a member of the League of National Action in 1933, in 1938, he moved to Damascus because of his disillusionment with party work, and in 1939, he left the LNA. In Damascus al-Arsuzi established and headed a group consisting of mostly secondary school pupils who would often discuss European history, nationalism, shortly after leaving the LNA, al-Arsuzi established the Arab National Party, an Arab nationalist party with a defined creed. In 1947, the two merged, forming a single Arab Baath Party. Despite the merger, Al-Arsuzi neither attended its founding conference nor was given membership, during the rest of the 1940s and 1950s, al-Arsuzi stayed out of politics and worked as a teacher. He made a comeback during the 1960s power struggle in the Baath Party between Aflaq and al-Bitar on one hand and Salah Jadid and Hafiz al-Assad on the other. When Aflaq and al-Bitar lost the struggle and were forced to escape from Syria in 1966. The key to Arab unification, according to al-Arsuzi, is through language, in contrast to the Latin language, al-Arsuzi argued, Arabic was far less arbitrary and far more intuitive. Despite his contributions to Baathist thought, al-Arsuzi is barely mentioned in Western or Arab scholarship and this omission may be linked to the fact that Sati al-Husri, a contemporary Arab nationalist, had many of the same ideas as al-Arsuzi but was better able to articulate them. Zaki al-Arsuzi was born in 1900 or 1901 to a family of Alawi origins in Latakia on the Syrian coast of the Ottoman Empire. His mother, Maryam came from a prominent religious family, while his father, with his two brothers, one sister and his parents moved to Antioch in 1904. Arsuzi began his studies at a kuttab where he memorised the Quran, four years later, his parents enrolled him into a rüşdiye to give him a proper Ottoman education. His father was arrested by Ottoman authorities in 1915 for nationalist activities and his father was imprisoned for a short period before he and his family were sent to internal exile in the Anatolian city of Konya. After a year in exile, Najib and his family were allowed to back to Antioch. According to Arsuzi, his father replaced the Ottoman flag with the Hashemite flag on the Antioch government house upon hearing the news that Faisal I of Iraq had entered Damascus and this however, was never independently verified. In the aftermath of World War I, Arsuzi began studying at Institut Laïc in Lebanon and it was here that Arsuzi was introduced to philosophy
3.
Hafez al-Assad
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In 1966, Assad participated in a second coup, which toppled the traditional leaders of the Baath Party, and brought a radical military faction headed by Salah Jadid to power. Assad was appointed minister by the new government. In 1970 Assad seized power by toppling Jadid, and appointed himself the leader of Syria in the period 1970–71. He sided with the Soviet Union during the Cold War in turn for support against Israel, while he had forsaken pan-Arabism—or at least the pan-Arab concept of unifying the Arab world into one Arab nation—he did seek to make Syria the defender of Arab interest against Israel. When he took power, Assad instituted one-man rule and organized state services into sectarian lines, the formerly collegial powers of Baathist decision-making were curtailed, and were transferred to the Syrian presidency. The Syrian government ceased to be a one-party system in the sense of the word. To maintain this system, a cult of personality centered on Assad. Having become the source of initiative inside the Syrian government. His first choice as successor was his brother Rifaat, who was seen as corrupt. In 1983–84, when Hafezs health was in doubt, Rifaat attempted to seize power, when Hafezs health did improve, Rifaat was exiled from Syria. His next choice of successor was his eldest son, Bassel, however Bassels 1994 death in a car accident forced Assad to turn to his third choice—his younger son Bashar al-Assad, who at that time had no practical political experience. This move was met with criticism within some quarters of the Syrian ruling class. Assad died in 2000 and was succeeded by Bashar al-Assad as President, Hafez was born on 6 October 1930 in Qardaha to an Alawite family of the Kalbiyya tribe. His parents were Nasa and Ali Sulayman al-Assad, Hafez was Alis ninth son, and the fourth from his second marriage. Sulayman married twice, had children and was known for his strength and shooting abilities. By the 1920s he was respected locally, and like others he initially opposed the French Mandate for Syria. Nevertheless, Ali Sulayman later cooperated with the French administration and was appointed to an official post. In 1936, he was one of 80 Alawite notables who signed a letter addressed to the French Prime Minister saying that Alawi people rejected attachment to Syria, for his accomplishments, he was called al-Assad by local residents and made the nickname his surname in 1927
4.
Salah Jadid
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Salah Jadid was a Syrian general and political figure in the Arab Socialist Baath Party in Syria, and the countrys de facto leader from 1966 until 1970. Jadid was born in 1926 in the village of Dweir Baabda, near the city of Jableh. However, there is another report stating his birth year as 1924 and he studied at the Homs Military Academy, and entered the Syrian Army in 1946. Even so, Jadid remained close to the SSNP, his brother and he changed allegiance again in the 1950s, when he became a member of the Arab Nationalist Movement, a party supporting Gamal Abdel Nassers ideological beliefs. Jadid supported Syrias ascension into the United Arab Republic, a republic consisting of Egypt. During the UAR-era, Jadid was stationed in Cairo, Egypt, Jadid established the Military Committee alongside other Baathists in 1959. The chief aim of the Military Committee was to protect the UARs existence, in the beginning there was only four members of the Military Committee, the others were Hafez al-Assad, Abd al-Karim al-Jundi and Muhammad Umran. The Military Committee also tried to save the Syrian Baath movement from annihilation, Committee members were among those who blamed Aflaq for the Baath Partys failing during the UAR years. The Congress also decided to improve relations with Nasser by democratising the UAR from within, a faction within the party, led by al-Hawrani, called for Syrias secession. The Military Committee did not succeed in its aims, and in September 1961 the UAR was dissolved, nazim al-Qudsi, who led the first post-UAR government, persecuted Jadid and the others for their Nasserite loyalties, and all of them were forced to retire from the Syrian Army. Many of these men were Alawis, giving the government a sectarian character, several were military men, and all belonged on the Baath Partys left wing. Domestically, Jadid attempted a socialist transformation of Syrian society at forced pace, creating unrest, opponents of the government were harshly suppressed, while the Baath Party replaced parliament as law-making body and other parties were banned. After the war, in particular, tensions began to increase between Jadids followers and those who argued that the called for a more moderate stance on socialism. While Jadid retained the allegiance of most of the civilian Baath apparatus, in 1969, Assad purged several Jadid loyalists, and from that point on Jadid had lost his preeminence in the state. This action was not supported by Assads more pragmatic Baath faction, the action helped trigger the simmering conflict between Jadids and Assads wings of the Baath Party and army. The Syrian communist party aligned itself with Salah Jadid, the Soviet ambassador, Nuritdin Mukhitdinov was drawn in the power struggle. In November 1970, Jadid attempted to fire Assad and his supporter Mustafa Tlass, Jadid was arrested on 13 November 1970, and remained in the Mezzeh prison in Damascus until his death, while al-Assad would remain in power until his death in 2000. Jadid died of an attack in a hospital on 19 August 1993
5.
Amin al-Hafiz
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Amin al-Hafiz was a Syrian politician, General and member of the Baath Party. Al-Hafiz was born in the city of Aleppo and his first main political role was in 1958, as a Brigadier and leader of a Syrian Army delegation that visited Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president. The two states merged into one United Arab Republic in February that year, and al-Hafiz was posted to Cairo. The union crumbled after a Syrian uprising in September 1961, the 1963 Syrian coup détat led by the Military Committee introduced Hafiz to public life. In the aftermath of the coup the National Council of the Revolutionary Command became the supreme organ. The NCRC was dominated by the Syrian branch of the radical, Hafiz became President, instituted socialist reforms and oriented his country towards the Eastern Bloc. The details of Eli Cohen and his operations are impossible to verify. In any case Al-Hafiz himself rebutted and denied the allegations of his stature within the Syrian military or political sphere, allegedly, during his exile in Buenos Aires, Hafez befriended a supposed Lebanese trader named Kamal Amin Thaabet, an allegation which he flatly denied. According to Hafez, he never met Cohen in Argentina and his account was that Cohen was a socialite who befriended officers in the Syrian Army but was never a part of the military in any official capacity. Generally, the importance of the intelligence provided to the Israelis was greatly exaggerated, Thaabet was actually an Egyptian-born Israeli Mossad agent, Eli Cohen. Thaabet/Cohen arrived in Syria in early 1962, a year before Hafez’s return, as president, Hafez groomed Thaabet/Cohen to be a future defence minister and possibly even his successor, an allegation which he also flatly denied and challenged. Hafez invited Thaabet/Cohen to functions and gave him tours of secret fortifications in the Golan Heights, when Cohen was revealed as a spy in January 1965, Hafez personally interrogated him and ordered the arrest of 500 of his highly placed friends. Despite international pleas for clemency, Hafez had Cohen publicly hanged in Damascus, on 23 February 1966, he was overthrown by a radical Baathist faction headed by Chief of Staff Salah Jadid. A late warning telegram of the coup détat was sent from President Nasser to Nasim al-Safarjalani, jadids supporters were also seen as more radically left-wing. But the coup was supported and led by officers from Syrias religious minorities, especially the Alawite Muslims. Alawis have ruled Syria ever since, a year later he was relocated to Baghdad. After the fall of Saddam in the Iraq War of 2003 and he died in Aleppo on December 17,2009, reports of his age differ, but he was believed to be in his late 80s. He received a state sponsored funeral
6.
President of Syria
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The President of Syria is the head of state of the Syrian Arab Republic. He is vested with sweeping powers that may be delegated, at his sole discretion and he appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister and other members of the Council of Ministers and military officers. The Constitution of Syria allows the President to run for a 7-year term, on 31 January 1973, Assad implemented the new Constitution, which led to a national crisis. They labeled Assad as the enemy of Allah and called for a jihad against his rule, President of Syria on Facebook President of Syria on Twitter President of Syria on Instagram Official YouTube channel
7.
Ahmad al-Khatib
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Ahmad Hasan al-Khatib was a Syrian politician. He was a head of state of Syria, appointed by Hafez al-Assad to replace the ousted president Nureddin al-Atassi. Ahmad al-Khatib was a member of the ruling Baath party. His position was filled by Assad. He then became the speaker of the Syrian parliament and he died in Damascus, Syria in 1982
8.
Homs
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Homs, previously known as Emesa, is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is 501 metres above sea level and is located 162 kilometres north of Damascus, located on the Orontes River, Homs is also the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean coast. Its population reflects Syrias general religious diversity, composed of Sunni and Alawite, there are a number of historic mosques and churches in the city, and it is close to the Krak des Chevaliers castle, a world heritage site. Homs did not emerge into the record until the 1st century BCE at the time of the Seleucids. It later became the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Emesani dynasty who gave the city its name, originally a center of worship for the sun god El-Gabal, it later gained importance in Christianity under the Byzantines. Homs was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century and made capital of a district that bore its current name, throughout the Islamic era, Muslim dynasties contending for control of Syria sought after Homs due to the citys strategic position in the area. Homs began to decline under the Ottomans and only in the 19th century did the city regain its importance when its cotton industry boomed. During French Mandate rule, the city became a center of insurrection and, after independence in 1946, in the ongoing Syrian civil war, Homs became an opposition stronghold and the Syrian government launched a military assault against the city in May 2011. The following Siege of Homs left much of the city completely destroyed, the war in the city ended in 2015 when rebels evacuated the city, resulting in a government victory. The origin of the modern name is that it is an Arabic form of the citys Latin name Emesus. The name Emesa seems to derive from the nomadic Arab tribe, called Emesenoi by the Greeks and the Romans, Emesa was shortened to Homs or Hims by its Arab inhabitants, many of whom settled there prior to the Muslim conquest of Syria. This name has been preserved throughout the period of Islamic rule continuing to the present day and it was known as la Chamelle by the Crusaders, although they never ruled the city. For approximately 2,000 years, Homs has served as a key market, production site. It has also provided security services to the hinterland of Syria, excavations at the Citadel of Homs indicate that the earliest settlement at the site dates back to around 2300 BCE. Biblical scholars have identified the city with Zobah mentioned in the Bible, in 1274 BCE, a battle took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River near Homs. It was possibly the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 5, at this time, Greek philosopher Strabo spoke of a tent-dwelling tribe called the Emesani living in the area around the Orontes and south of the Apamea region. They were an Arab tribe in the area and settled in Emesa—which derived its name from them. Their chief at the time, Sampsiceramus I, gained the status as King of Emesa, but their capital was at Arethusa, a city north of Emesa, also along the Orontes River
9.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
10.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
11.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
12.
Atassi family
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Atassi, also spelled Atasi is the name of a prominent family in Homs, Syria, of a noble and ancient lineage, dating back to the 15th century AD. More recently, members of the lead the national movement against the French mandate. The power and prestige of the reached a apex at the formation of the modern Republic of Syria in 1936. Two out of the seven members of the assembly who drafted the first constitution of Syria in 1919 were prominent Atassis, Wasfi al-Atassi. Two more scions, Luay al-Atassi and Nureddin al-Atassi, were in turn installed as heads of state in the 1960s, family members included magistrates, governors, ambassadors, heads of political parties, military officers and other public officials throughout Ottoman and modern times. Many leading family members assumed prominent religious and political positions in Ottoman, French, the name al-Atassi evolved from the word العطاسي which later changed to الأطاسي then to الأتاسي or Atassi. Being Hashemites in origin, and its members were recognized as Ashraf, the ancestors of the family moved between Yemen, Hejaz and Turkey before eventually establishing their presence in Homs sometime in the 16th century CE. Their religious authority as muftis of Homs, along with land holdings in Homs, formed the basis of the familys wealth. The family appeared in Hims around the end of the 15th Century and its ancestor, Ali Bin Khalil Atassi, was buried in 1508 in a tomb in his mosque, later known as the Atassi Mosque. The Atassi House of Hims has been divided into fifteen branches, most of which use the name Atassi as the sole surname, however. Al-Sayed Suleiman and Majaj are two branches that are recognized as Atassi, although they have alternative surnames. The office of Mufti of the town of Hims, the highest religious jurisdiction in the city, was hereditary in the Atassi family for four centuries. At least eighteen Atassi scholars held this position, in addition, two Atassis are known to have been Muftis of the city of Tripoli as well. The following are members of the family who attained the position of mufti, Other members served as religious scholars in other such as judges, chief clerks. One mufti, Sayed Ibraheem Efendi al-Atassi, also served as Mufti of Tripoli in the late 18th century, Taher al-Atassi served as the supreme judge of Basra in Iraq, and Nablus and Jerusalem in Palestine in the late Ottoman period. Two scholars who held the position of mufti also held offices, Khaled al-Atassi. In 1876, Sayed Khaled Efendi Al-Atassi was elected to the first parliament of the Ottoman Empire as the deputy from Homs, in 1922, Sayed Taher Efendi was elected to membership of the Council of the Syrian Union as the representative of Homs in the state of Damascus. Other Atassis have since held legislative positions, bughyat Al-Nasi the History of the Atassi Family-Bassel Atasi
13.
Algerian War
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An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare, maquis fighting, and the use of torture by both sides. The conflict also became a war between loyalist Algerians supporting a French Algeria and their Algerian nationalist counterparts. A referendum took place on 8 April 1962 and the French electorate approved the Évian Accords, the planned French withdrawal led to a state crisis, to various assassination attempts on de Gaulle, and to some attempts at military coups. Upon independence, in 1962,900,000 European-Algerians fled to France, in fear of the FLNs revenge, the French government was totally unprepared for the vast number of refugees, which caused turmoil in France. On the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded Algiers in 1830, in 1834, Algeria became a French military colony and was subsequently declared by the constitution of 1848 to be an integral part of France and divided into three departments. Many French and other Europeans later settled in Algeria, under the Second Empire, the Code de lindigénat was implemented by the Sénatus-consulte of July 14,1865. Its first article stipulated, The indigenous Muslim is French, however and he may be admitted to serve in the army and the navy. He may be called to functions and civil employment in Algeria and he may, on his demand, be admitted to enjoy the rights of a French citizen, in this case, he is subjected to the political and civil laws of France. However, prior to 1870, fewer than 200 demands were registered by Muslims and 152 by Jewish Algerians, the 1865 decree was then modified by the 1870 Crémieux decrees, which granted French nationality to Jews living in one of the three Algerian departments. In 1881, the Code de lIndigénat made the official by creating specific penalties for indigènes. The Law of September 20,1947, granted French citizenship to all Algerian subjects, Algeria was unique to France because, unlike all other overseas possessions acquired by France during the 19th century, only Algeria was considered and legally classified an integral part of France. Both Muslim and European Algerians took part in World War I, Algerian Muslims served as tirailleurs and spahis, and French settlers as Zouaves or Chasseurs dAfrique. Within this context, a grandson of Abd el-Kadir spearheaded the resistance against the French in the first half of the 20th century and he was a member of the directing committee of the French Communist Party. The North African Star broke from the PCF in 1928, before being dissolved in 1929 at Pariss demand, the pieds-noirs violently demonstrated against it and the North African Party opposed it, leading to the projects abandonment. This new party was dissolved in 1939, under Vichy, the French state attempted to abrogate the Crémieux decree in order to suppress the Jews French citizenship, but the measure was never implemented. On the other hand, nationalist leader Ferhat Abbas founded the Algerian Popular Union in 1938, in 1943 Abbas wrote the Algerian Peoples Manifesto. In the early morning hours of November 1,1954, FLN maquisards attacked military and he declared in the National Assembly, One does not compromise when it comes to defending the internal peace of the nation, the unity and integrity of the Republic. The Algerian departments are part of the French Republic and they have been French for a long time, and they are irrevocably French
14.
French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
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The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire concerning Syria and the Lebanon. The mandate system was supposed to differ from colonialism, with the country acting as a trustee until the inhabitants would be able to stand on their own. At that point, the mandate would terminate and an independent state would be born, Hatay was annexed by Turkey in 1939. The French mandate lasted until 1943, when two independent countries emerged, Syria and Lebanon, French troops completely left Syria and Lebanon in 1946. Faisal established the first new postwar Arab government in Damascus in October 1918, the new Arab administration formed local governments in the major Syrian cities, and the pan-Arab flag was raised all over Syria. The Arabs hoped, with faith in earlier British promises, that the new Arab state would all the Arab lands stretching from Aleppo in northern Syria to Aden in southern Yemen. However, in accordance with the secret Sykes–Picot Agreement between Britain and France, General Allenby assigned to the Arab administration only the regions of Syria. Palestine was reserved for the British, on 8 October, French troops disembarked in Beirut and occupied the Lebanese coastal region south to Naqoura, replacing British troops there. The French immediately dissolved the local Arab governments in the region, France demanded full implementation of the Sykes–Picot Agreement, with Syria under its control. On 26 November 1919, British forces withdrew from Damascus to avoid confrontation with the French, Faisal had traveled several times to Europe, since November 1918, trying to convince France and Britain to change their positions, but without success. Frances determination to intervene in Syria was shown by the naming of General Henri Gouraud as high commissioner in Syria and Cilicia, at the Paris Peace Conference, Faisal found himself in an even weaker position when the European powers decided to ignore the Arab demands. In May 1919, elections were held for the Syrian National Congress, 80% of seats went to conservatives. However, the minority included dynamic Arab nationalist figures such as Jamil Mardam Bey, Shukri al-Kuwatli, Ahmad al-Qadri, Ibrahim Hanano, the head was moderate nationalist Hashim al-Atassi. In June 1919, the American King–Crane Commission arrived in Syria to inquire into local public opinion about the future of the country, the commissions remit extended from Aleppo to Beersheba. They visited 36 major cities, met more than 2,000 delegations from more than 300 villages. Their conclusions confirmed the opposition of Syrians to the mandate in their country as well as to the Balfour Declaration, the conclusions of the commission were rejected by France and ignored by Britain. Unrest erupted in Syria when Faisal accepted a compromise with French Prime Minister Clemenceau, anti-Hashemite demonstrations broke out, and Muslim inhabitants in and around Mount Lebanon revolted in fear of being incorporated into a new, mainly Christian, state of Greater Lebanon. A part of Frances claim to territories in the Levant was that France was a protector of the minority Christian communities
15.
Subhi Bey Barakat
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Subhi Bey Barakat al-Khalidi or Suphi Bereket was a Syrian politician from Antioch, born into a family of Turkish origin. During the French Mandate of Syria, he was the president of the Syrian Federation, initially he was a partner of Ibrahim Hanano in his revolt. Barakat was married to Halide, their daughter Süheyla Mukbile married Turkish politician Refik Koraltan and Zehra married Turkish politician Vahit Melih Halefoğlu
16.
Taj al-Din al-Hasani
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Taj al-Din al-Hasani was a French-appointed Syrian leader and politician. He was born and raised into a family of Muslim scholars in Damascus and his father was Bader al-Din al-Hasani, one of the most respected Islamic scholars in the late nineteenth century. The young Hasani studied Islamic theology with his father, and in 1905 became his personal assistant and he trained young students of his generation in conduct and thought. In 1912, he became a member in the committee for school reform, in 1916, he became editor-in-chief of al-Sharq, a daily newspaper published by Jamal Pasha, the Ottoman Governor of Syria. He held this position throughout World War I, when the war ended in 1918, his father delegated him to meet with King Faisal I, the first post-Ottoman ruler of Syria, and explain the conditions and needs of Muslim establishments in Syria. Faisal was impressed by Hasani’s eloquence and, in March 1920 and he retained this post until the French occupied Syria in July 1920 and dethroned Faysal, setting up their mandate in Syria. Hasani went to Paris and established secret channels with the French, the French government accepted and began grooming him for future leadership in Syria. In 1925, the French High Commissioner Maurice Sarrail asked Hasani to form a government during the climax of an uprising in the Arab Mountain. Hasani failed to create a suitable composition and he was given a second opportunity and succeeded, creating a government of prominent figures on 15 February 1928. With no presidential office in Syria, Hasani was vested with presidential powers. In April 1928, Hasani held office for three months on the Constituent Assembly that drafted the first republican constitution for Syria, Hasani ruled Syria with three different cabinets from February 1928 until November 1931. The opposition, headed by the National Bloc, accused him of tampering with the ballots to secure his election through Interior Minister Sa’id Mahasin, in 1932, Hasani nominated himself for presidential office. The French, who were under mounting nationalist pressure to reform the system in Syria. With no proper French backing, he was defeated at the polls, Hasani protested to government authorities in Paris, who compensated him with the post of Prime Minister in the administration of President Mohammad Ali al-Abid. During the strike, commercial life was brought to a standstill, Hasani arrested many leaders of the National Bloc, including Saadallah al-Jabiri from Aleppo and Fakhri al-Barudi from Damascus. Shukri al-Kuwatli and Nasib al-Bakri, two politicians from Damascus, were placed under house-arrest, the entire ordeal embarrassed the French who in turn, called the Bloc leaders into independence talks in Paris. When a Franco-Syrian treaty was ready, the Bloc leadership assumed power and Hasani moved into the opposition to the new administration of President Hashim al-Atassi and he was required to contain the nationalist movement and provide funds for Frances war effort in Europe. To raise money, President Hasani increased his taxes and raised the price of bread, de Gaulle rewarded Hasani’s services by officially recognizing Syria’s independence on 27 September 1941 and promising complete French evacuation once the war in Europe ended
17.
Mohammed Ali Bey al-Abed
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Mohammad Ali al-Abed was appointed the first president of Syria as a nominee of the nationalist Syrian parliament in Damascus after the country received partial recognition of sovereignty from France. France agreed to recognize Syria as a nation under intense nationalist pressure and his father, Ahmad Izzat Pasha al-Abed, was born in Damascus to a rich family, where he was initially brought up, before pursuing his education in Beirut, Beirut Vilayet. He was fluent in Arabic, French, and Turkish and he left the Ottoman Empire in 1908 when the Young Turks revolted against Abdul-Hamid II and went to London, before traveling around England, Switzerland, and France. Eventually, he moved to Paris and then he moved to Egypt until his death in 1924, mohammad Ali al-Abed was born and grew up in Damascus, where he was educated in its primary schools, then continued his education in Beirut. When he graduated, he moved with his family to Constantinople where he was sent to Galatasaray High School and he then studied law in Paris, France. After graduation, he studied Islamic jurisprudence, in 1908, he became the Ottoman Empires ambassador to Washington. However, he returned to the Ottoman Empire after the declaration of the Ottoman Empires constitution on 23 July 1908 and he also traveled to California, United States. Then he joined his father traveling between England, Switzerland, France, and reached Egypt on the eve World War I and they remained there until his fathers death. Mohammad al-Abed moved back to Damascus in the summer of 1920 when Syria came under the French Mandate, in 1922, Al-Abed was appointed Syrias Minister of Finance. Al-Abed was fluent in Arabic, French, and Turkish and he was fond of French literature and economics. He also had a knowledge of English and Persian. On 30 April 1932 Al-Abed was elected to the parliament in Damascus as a nominee of the National Bloc, in 1936, after a free parliament was elected in Damascus, he resigned and went to Paris, where he died in 1939. He was replaced by Mr. Hashim al-Atassi, the nominee of the National Bloc, though Syria remained in control militarily until full independence in 1946
18.
Hashim al-Atassi
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Hashim Khalid al-Atassi was a Syrian nationalist, statesman and its President from 1936 to 1939,1949 to 1951, and 1954 to 1955. He was born in Homs in 1875 to the large, landowning and he studied public administration at the Mekteb-i Mülkiye in Istanbul, and graduated in 1895. In 1920, after the World War I defeat of the Turks, he was elected chairman of the Syrian National Congress, on 8 March 1920 that body declared independence as a constitutional monarchy, under Faisal I. He became prime minister during this period, for French occupation soon followed under the terms of the Sykes-Picot Agreement. He delegated Shahbandar to formulate alliances between Syria and Europe, in a attempt to prevent the implementation of a French Mandate. France moved quickly to reverse Syrian independence, the Bloc was a political coalition movement that sought full independence for Syria through diplomatic rather than violent resistance. It founders were a group of landowners, lawyers, civil servants, and Ottoman-trained professionals from Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Atassi was elected permanent President of the National Bloc. In 1928, he was also elected President of the Constituent Assembly, the assembly was dissolved by the French high commissioner in May 1930 because of its adherence to the 1920 proclamation, and Atassi was imprisoned by the French for several months at Arwad Island. In 1928 and 1932, he became a deputy for Homs in Parliament, in 1934, Abid negotiated a treaty with France that promised gradual independence from the mandate but kept the Syrian Mountains under French control. Atassi severely criticized the treaty, arguing that no independence was valid unless it encompassed all of Syrias territory and he called for a 60-day strike to protest Abids proposed treaty. In defeat, the French government agreed to recognize the National Bloc leaders as the representatives of the Syrian people. On 22 March 1936, he headed a senior Bloc delegation to France, Atassis treaty guaranteed emancipation over 25 years, with full incorporation of previously autonomous territories into Greater Syria. In return, Syria pledged to support France in times of war, offer the use of her air space, other political, cultural, and economic attachments were made and Atassi returned to Syria in triumph on 27 September 1936. Hailed as a hero, he was elected President of the Republic by a majority vote in November 1936. Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar returned to Syria at this time and agitated against Atassi, Atassis resignation was also influenced by the French decision to cede the Syrian province of Alexandretta to Turkey, enraging Syrian nationalists. The ex-President retired to his native Homs and spent one year in seclusion, following his resignation, several years of instability and French military rule followed. The 1940s overall were dominated by the politics and machinations of World War II, Syria was occupied by British and General Charles de Gaulles Free French Forces, which did not leave until 1946. In an attempt at appeasing the Syrians, de Gaulle promised independence and he visited Hashim al-Atassi in Homs and invited him to resume the presidency, assuring the veteran leader that France wanted to turn a new page in her relations with Syria
19.
Khalid al-Azm
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Khalid al-Azm was a Syrian national leader and six-time Prime Minister, as well as Acting President. He was a member of one of the most prominent political families in Syria, al-Azm, and he graduated from the University of Damascus in 1923 with a degree in law, and joined the city government in 1925. At this time he also ran his familys estates throughout the country. In the 1930s, he became close associates with leading members of the anti-French National Bloc coalition such as future presidents Hashim al-Atassi and he remained a longtime supporter of the former, but often quarreled with the latter, whom he accused of being too authoritarian. In 1941 the French appointed him Prime Minister and Acting President, however he was replaced 5 months later with a French loyalist, Taj al-Din al-Hasani. Azm served repeatedly in parliament and in the cabinet from 1943 to 1947 and he became a focus of opposition when he resigned from the cabinet in 1945 and lead the forces opposed to Kuwatlis drive to amend the constitution to allow himself a second term in office. Kuwatli prevailed, and Azm ran against him in 1947 and lost, however he accepted the position of envoy to France and served in that capacity for a year. He concluded successful arms purchases from France and later from the Soviet Union, in May 1948, Azm agreed to form a multi-party cabinet under Kuwatli which served until March 1949. He allied himself with France and the United States and attempted to obtain loans from them for domestic development and he traveled frequently to attend United Nations assemblies on the Palestinian problem. Azm clashed with members of the military, especially Chief of Staff Husni al-Zaim, the latter launched a Coup détat on 29 March 1949 and imprisoned both Azm and president Kuwatli. When Zaim was overthrown five months later, Azm returned to parliament as deputy for Damascus and he was also elected into the Constituent Assembly that drafted a new constitution for Syria. He became Prime Minister again under Hashim al-Atassis second administration, in June 1950, Azm closed the border to Lebanese goods in an attempt to prevent the crash of domestic Syrian industry due to rampant Lebanese imports. He also clashed repeatedly with the military because he refused to appoint officers in any of his cabinets and he also clashed with pro-Hashemite elements in Syrian politics that advocated union with Iraq. Socialists distrusted him because of his aristocratic and wealthy Ottoman background, Azm left the public arena from 1951 to 1954 in protest over the coup of Adib al-Shishakli which toppled Atassis democratic administration. After the deposition of Shishakli, Azm again lost to Kuwatli in the election of 1955. He retired briefly, then reemerged in November 1956 to enter the cabinet of Prime Minister Sabri al-Assali as minister of defense. He opposed in vain the union with Egypt in 1958 which created the United Arab Republic, arguing that Nasser would destroy Syrias democratic system, Azm once again deserted political life during the Union years, and moved to Lebanon. When the union was dissolved he returned to Syria, helped draft the secessionist document himself, nazim al-Kudsi was elected, and Azm returned to parliament as deputy for Damascus
20.
Jamil al-Ulshi
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Jamil al-Ulshi was a Syrian politician and acting head of state during the French Mandate era. He was born and raised in Damascus, and educated in the Ottoman Military Academy in Istanbul and he defected from the Ottoman army and joined the Arab revolt under the leadership of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. However, the kingdom was dissolved by the French, who imposed their mandate on Syria in July 1920 and he rapidly gained a reputation for subservience to the French and nepotism, appointing several family members to high government posts. Ulshi became increasingly unpopular when he did nothing to oppose these measures and he was forced to resign on 30 November 1920. He came out of retirement in September 1941 to become an advisor to Hasani when the latter assumed the presidency, Hasani asked Ulshi to form a government in January 1943. He did so, giving several posts to nationalist politicians to appease the opposition, however Hasani died that same month, and Ulshi became acting president as well as prime minister. His tenure was marred by public anger and rioting at high prices and taxes imposed to aid the unpopular French war effort in Europe. He was again forced to resign, and disappeared from public life until his death eight years later, sami Moubayed Steel & Silk, Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900–2000
21.
Ata Bey al-Ayyubi
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Ata Bey al-Ayyubi was an Ottoman civil servant. Born to a prominent political family in Damascus, Syria, he studied public administration in Istanbul, in 1908, he became Governor of Latakia, a city on the Syrian coast. He took no part in the Ottoman-Arab conflict during the years 1916–1918, in July 1920, Prime Minister Ala al-Din Droubi appointed him Minister of the interior. This was during the rule of King Feisal I of Syria, Ayyubi held office in the wake of the French occupation of Syria. He established links with local nationalists and smuggled arms and funds to Saleh al-Ali, leader of the revolt in the Syrian coast, and Ibrahim Hananu, leader of the Aleppo Revolt. In Latakia, he turned an eye to the activities of Omar al-Bitar, refusing, in his capacity as Minister of the Interior, to arrest the rebels. He was also minister during the famous Battle of Maysalun where the Syrian army was defeated by the French army of General Henri Gouraud, ayyubis colleague General Yusuf al-Azmah, the Minister of War, was killed in combat. In August 1920, a group of armed men tried to kill Ayyubi in the province of Hawran in southern Syria and they accused him of treason for accepting office under the French Mandate. In 1928, Ayyubi allied himself with the National Bloc, the leading anti-French movement in Syria, the Bloc called for the liberation of Syria through diplomatic means rather than armed resistance. Meanwhile, Ayyubi remained on cordial relations with French authorities, during the 1930s, he served as an intermediary between both sides. In March 1934, he became Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Prime Minister Taj al-Din al-Hasani. Relations between the Bloc and the French deteriorated sharply in 1936, and Bloc leaders called on the nation to go on strike, the strike crippled commercial life, while hundreds of Syrians were arrested or beaten by the French Army. The ordeal, which lasted for sixty days, embarrassed France before the international community, the new prime minister managed to form a coalition cabinet that included elements from the National Bloc and the pro-French movement. When the Bloc returned from France in September 1936, Ayyubi resigned from office and this agreemend was ratified by the Syrians but later refused by the French, who feared losing an important colony in the Arab world if World War II broke out in Europe. In March 1943, during World War II, the French General Charles de Gaulle led an Allied offensive into Syria to defeat the Vichy forces stationed in Damascus, Ayyubi became prime minister for another transition period and also appointed himself Minister of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Interior. He supervised presidential elections and left office in August 1943 when President Shukri al-Quwatli came to power and he resigned from political life but was honored by the National Bloc when independence was achieved in April 1946. He was hailed as a moderate and a dedicated nationalist and he is most remembered in Damascus today because of his great palace in the Afif neighborhood and a street named in his honor. Syria and the French Mandate Moubayed, Sami
22.
Shukri al-Quwatli
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Shukri al-Quwatli was the first president of post-independence Syria. He began his career as a dissident working towards the independence, when the Kingdom of Syria was established, Quwatli became a government official, though he was disillusioned with monarchism and co-founded the republican Independence Party. Quwatli was immediately sentenced to death by the French who took control over Syria in 1920, afterward, he based himself in Cairo where he served as the chief ambassador of the Syrian-Palestinian Congress, cultivating particularly strong ties with Saudi Arabia. He used these connections to help finance the Great Syrian Revolt, in 1930, the French authorities pardoned Quwatli and thereafter, he returned to Syria, where he gradually became a principal leader of the National Bloc. He was elected president of Syria in 1943 and oversaw the countrys independence three years later, Quwatli was reelected in 1948, but was toppled in a military coup in 1949. He subsequently went into exile in Egypt, returning to Syria in 1955 to participate in the presidential election, a conservative presiding over an increasingly leftist-dominated government, Quwatli officially adopted neutralism amid the Cold War. After his request for aid from the United States was denied and he also entered Syria into a defense arrangement with Egypt and Saudi Arabia to confront the influence of the Baghdad Pact. In 1957, Quwatli, who the US and the Pact countries attempted but failed to oust, sought to stem the leftist tide in Syria, but to no avail. By then, his authority had receded as the military bypassed Quwatlis jurisdiction by independently coordinating with Quwatlis erstwhile ally. Following months of unity talks, in 1958, Quwatli merged Syria with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic, in gratitude, Nasser awarded Quwatli the honorary title of First Arab Citizen. However, Quwatli grew disenchanted with the union, believing it had reduced Syria to a state subordinate to Egypt. He backed Syrias secession in 1961, but plans for him to complete his presidential term afterward did not materialize, Quwatli left Syria following the 1963 Baathist coup, and he died of a heart attack in Lebanon weeks after Syrias defeat in the 1967 Six Day War. He was buried in Damascus on 1 July, the Quwatlis were a family of merchants, who became wealthy from trading with Arabia, and moved to Damascus from Baghdad in the 18th-century. The family established itself in the district of al-Shaghour in Damascus, the familys notable status was owed to their wealth, rather than an aristocratic or religious lineage, and their traditional spheres of activity were commerce and the Ottoman civil service. Shukris grandfather, Abd al-Ghani was involved in finance, as well as his great-uncle, Ahmad and his other great-uncle, Murad, was a member of the Administrative Council for the city. His fathers wealth rested on the lands he owned, and later bequeathed to Shukri and his siblings. His older brother, Hasan, was elected President of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, in 1928, Shukri al-Quwatli married Bahira al-Dalati, the 19-year-old daughter of nationalist Said al-Dalati, whom Quwatli met while in jail in 1916. Shukri and Bahira had five children, Hassan, Mahmud, Huda, Hana, Shukri Quwatli was born in Damascus in 1891
23.
Husni al-Za'im
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Husni al-Zaim was a Syrian military man and politician. Husni al-Zaim, whose family is of mixed Turkish and Kurdish ancestry, had been an officer in the Ottoman Army, after France instituted its colonial mandate over Syria after the First World War, he became an officer in the French Army. After Syrias independence in 1946 he was made Chief of Staff, the defeat of the Arab league forces in that war shook Syria and undermined confidence in the countrys chaotic parliamentary democracy. On 30 March 1949, al-Zaim seized power in a bloodless coup détat, there are highly controversial allegations that the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency engineered the coup, most of the evidence currently available suggests that the decision to initiate a coup was Zaims alone, but Zaim benefited from some degree of American assistance in planning the operation. Syrias President, Shukri al-Kuwatli, was imprisoned, but then released into exile in Egypt. Al-Zaim also imprisoned many political leaders, such as Munir al-Ajlani, the coup was carried out with discreet backing of the American embassy, and possibly assisted by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, although al-Zaim himself is not known to have been a member. Among the officers that assisted al-Zaims takeover was Adib al-Shishakli and Sami al-Hinnawi, two more would follow in August and December 1949. He made an overture to Israel offering to settle 300,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria, in exchange for border modifications along the cease fire line. Settling the refugees was made conditional on sufficient outside assistance for the Syrian economy, the overture was answered very slowly by Jerusalem and not treated seriously. Lacking popular support, al-Zaim was overthrown after just four and a half months by his colleagues, al-Shishakli, as al-Hinnawi took power as leader of a military junta, Husni al-Zaim was swiftly spirited away to Mezze prison in Damascus, and executed along with Prime Minister Muhsin al-Barazi. Al-Zaim worked hard to abolish wearing the fez, claiming that it was outdated headwear taken from the days of the Ottoman Empire and he is credited for giving support to womens the right to vote and run for public office in Syria. The law had been debated at the Syrian Parliament since 1920 and no leader dared to support it, once, senior Muslim clerics demanded an audience with the president, objecting to the increasingly liberal lifestyle being promoted by Syrian women. One issue of concern was the mixing of men and women at the Grand Hotel in Bludan. Zaim said yes, granting them an audience at the same hotel. When the clerics walked in that evening, he had them seated around a table, then snapped at one of the waiters, Please prepare dinner, bring the whiskey. Zaim looked back at his guests, who were horrified at his attitude, during the 137 days of his rule in Syria, however, Husni al-Zaim never executed anybody. He did have creative ways of punishing those who disobeyed him, when the quality of bread dropped to unacceptable levels, Zaim ordered all bakers to walk on the gravel, barefoot, until blood flowed from their feet
24.
Sami al-Hinnawi
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Colonel Sami Hilmy al-Hinnawi was a Syrian politician and military man. He was born in Aleppo and had served in the Ottoman army before serving in the French-Syrian army during the French Mandate of Syria. Col. al-Hinnawi overthrew the rule of Syrian President Husni al-Zaim in August 14,1949 with the aid of fellow members in the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. After the coup, he swiftly ordered al-Zaim and Prime Minister Muhsin al-Barazi to be brought to Mezze prison in Damascus, al-Hinnawi was then installed as leader of a military junta, but al-Shishakli remained the military strongman. On December 19,1949, Shishakli carried out another coup détat, on October 31,1950, al-Hinnawi was murdered in Beirut, Lebanon, by Hersho al-Barazi, a cousin of Muhsin al-Barazi
25.
Adib Shishakli
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Adib Bin Hassan Al-Shishakli (Arabic, أديب بن حسن الشيشكلي, Turkish, Edip Çiçekli, was a Syrian military leader and President of Syria. Adib Shishakli was Kurdish Syrian, born in the Hama region in 1909 and his family lived in the Hama province of what was then Ottoman Syria. His family name, Shishakli, is a common Turkish surname derived from Turkish word çiçek which means flower, alternative Latin transliterations from the Arabic are Chichakly, Chichakli and Jijakli. Shishakli was commissioned as an officer in the French Syrian Army in 1930 and he studied at the Military Academy of Damascus and became an early member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party of Antun Saadeh, promoting the concept of a Greater Syria. His brother Salah was also a prominent member of the SSNP, after independence, Shishakli fought in a volunteer Arab army, known as the Arab Liberation Army, in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Arab defeat in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War was a factor for the military coup led by Husni al-Zaim. Zaim had previously delivered the SSNP leader Antun Saadeh to the Lebanese authorities, reportedly, after Zaim was killed, Shishakli ripped off Zaims bloodstained shirt and took it to Saadehs widow, who was still in Syria, telling her, We have avenged his murder. Shishakli worked with Sami al-Hinnawi, the new de facto ruler of Syria who refused to assume power on his own, Hinnawi became chief-of-staff of the Syrian Army. A veteran nationalist, Hashem al-Atassi, who had been president in the 1930s, became prime minister, Atassi wanted to create a union with Hashemite Iraq, something which Shishakli greatly opposed, claiming that Hinnawi was the driver behind pro-Hashemite sentiment in Syria. In December 1949, Shishakli launched another coup, the third of year, arresting Hinnawi to break Hashemite influence in Syria. He then ordered the assassination of Colonel Mohammad Nasser, the Air Force Commander, all of this greatly weakened the pro-union elements in Syria but they continued to work for union with Hashemite Iraq through the Prime Minister, Nazim al-Kudsi. Shishakli set the condition that any government had to include his right-hand-man, Fawzi Selu, as Minister for Defence, when Prime Minister Maarouf al-Dawalibi, a pro-Iraq politician from Aleppo, refused this demand, Shishakli responded on 28 November 1951 by arresting Dawalibi and his entire cabinet. He also had arrested all pro-Iraq politicians in Syria, including the leaders of the Peoples Party, Nazim al-Kudsi, in protest, Atassi resigned from office and moved into the opposition. But in effect, Selu was nothing but a figurehead, the real power lay in the hands of Adib al-Shishakli. Shishakli then dissolved all political parties in a return to military rule and he banned a number of newspapers and outlawed all newspapers that were not pro-Shishakli. Among those to suffer persecution under his rule were the National Party of Damascus, the Peoples Party of Aleppo, the Communist Party, the Baath Party, and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. He banished the Baath leaders Akram al-Hawrani, Michel Aflaq, and Salah al-Bitar to Lebanon and he was a skilled public speaker and relied greatly on radio to transmit his speeches to the Syrian population. In August 1952, he established a government party, the Arab Liberation Movement
26.
Fawzi Selu
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Fawzi Selu was a Syrian military leader, politician and head of state. He studied at the Homs Military Academy and joined the French-sponsored Troupe Speciales that was created when France imposed its League of Nations mandate on Syria in July 1920. He had a military career, and when Syria became fully independent in 1946. He was given a command in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War where he became close to chief of staff Husni al-Zaim, however Zaim was overthrown and killed, and civilian rule was restored with the administration of the nationalist Hashim al-Atassi. Atassi upheld the agreement, but refused to consider peace with Israel. Selu then allied himself with military strongman general Adib al-Shishakli, who contrived to have Selu appointed minister of defense in three cabinets under president Atassi. Shishakli finally launched a coup in November 1951, but could not persuade the popular Atassi to stay on as president, who resigned in protest. As a result, Shishakli appointed Selu as president, prime minister and chief of staff, the two men ran a police state and suppressed virtually all opposition. Under the direction of Shishakli, Selu improved relations with Jordan, opening the first Syrian embassy in Amman and he also sought better relations with Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. On July 11,1953 Shishakli finally dispensed with Selu and appointed himself as president, Selu fled to Saudi Arabi and became an advisor to King Saud and then his brother King Faisal. When Shishakli was overthrown in February 1954, a court in Damascus charged Selu with corruption, misuse of office. He was sentenced to death in absentia, sami Moubayed Steel & Silk, Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000
27.
Maamun al-Kuzbari
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Maamun al-Kuzbari was a Syrian literary personality, politician and acting head of state from a prominent Damascus family. He entered parliament as an independent in 1953, allying himself with military strongman Adib al-Shishakli and he was elected Speaker of parliament and chairman of the Constitutional Assembly charged by Shishakli to amend the constitution. Shishakli also appointed him general of the Arab Liberation Movement. He also managed the daily newspaper, Al Tahrir al Arabi. After Shishakli was overthrown, Kuzbari in his position as Speaker, Kuzbari remained head of the ALM. He participated in the new elections and returned to parliament in October of that year, in February 1955 he was appointed minister of justice under Prime Minister Sabri al Asali and in September of that same year he became minister of education under Prime Minister Said al-Ghazzi. He kept that post until June,1956, in May 1956 he became acting president of Damascus University. In 1958, under president Shukri al-Kuwatli, Kuzbari took part, as a member of the government and he was politically inactive during the union and became President of the Syrian Lawyers Bar. Three years later he endorsed the 1961 Syrian coup détat that dissolved the UAR, one of the leading officers of that coup was Kuzbaris cousin, Haydar al-Kuzbari, and the coup leaders asked Mamoun to form the first post-UAR government. He formed a cabinet consisting mainly of technocrats and university professors and he assumed in addition to his role as prime minister, the ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs and acted as president until his resignation in November 1961. His main objective was to re-establish an elected democratic government through a free, parliamentary elections took place in December 1961. Kuzbari was elected again as a deputy in parliament and Speaker, on March 28,1962 both Kuzbari and Kudsi were arrested in an attempted coup by military strongman Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi, but were released when it failed. He remained speaker until September 12,1962 and he represented Syria in the Non-Aligned Movement Conferences in Bandung on 1955 and in several other international conferences. He was exiled after another coup on March 8,1963 and he taught at Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech Universities. He taught and published books in Syria and Morocco in the interpretation of civil law. He actively participated in propagation of the Arab language in the Moroccan universities and his books are used as reference in the Moroccan courts. He moved to Lebanon in 1996 when that countrys civil war ended and he died in Beirut in 1998 and was buried in Damascus. Sami Moubayed Steel & Silk, Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000
28.
United Arab Republic
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The United Arab Republic, alternatively referred to, mostly in Israel in the 1960s-70s, as the United Arab Commonwealth was a short-lived political union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union after the 1961 Syrian coup détat, Egypt continued to be known officially as the United Arab Republic until 1971. The president was Gamal Abdel Nasser and it was a member of the United Arab States, a loose confederation with North Yemen which in 1961 dissolved along with the Republic. Pan-Arab sentiment traditionally was very strong in Syria, and Nasser was a popular hero-figure throughout the Arab world following the Suez War of 1956, there was thus considerable popular support in Syria for union with Nassers Egypt. The Arab Socialist Baath Party was the advocate of such a union. This caused the Syrian Crisis of 1957 after which Syrians intensified their efforts to unite with Egypt, according to Abdel Latif Boghdadi, Nasser initially resisted a total union with Syria, favoring instead a federal union. However, Nasser was more afraid of a Communist takeover and agreed on a total merger, Syria had had a democratic government since the overthrow of Adib al-Shishaklis military regime in 1954, and popular pressure for Arab unity was reflected in the composition of parliament. When on 11 January 1958 al-Bizri led a Syrian delegation composed of officers to Cairo. Nassers final terms for the union were decisive and non-negotiable, a plebiscite, the dissolution of parties, while the plebiscite seemed reasonable to most Syrian elites, the latter two conditions were extremely worrisome. They believed it would destroy life in Syria. Despite these concerns, the Syrian officials knew it was too late to turn back. The members of the elite in Syria viewed the merger with Egypt as the lesser of two evils. They believed that Nassers terms were unfair, but given the pressure that their government was undergoing. Egyptian and Syrian leaders signed the protocols, although Azem did so reluctantly, Nasser became the republics president and very soon carried out a crackdown against the Syrian Communists and opponents of the union which included dismissing Bizri and Azem from their posts. Advocates of the believed that Nasser would use the Baath Party for ruling Syria. Unfortunately for the Baathists, it was never Nassers intention to share a measure of power. Nasser gave each of the provinces two vice-presidents, assigning Boghdadi and Abdel Hakim Amer to Egypt and Sabri al-Assali and Akram El-Hourani—a leader of the Baath—to Syria, the new constitution of 1958 was adopted. Though Nasser allowed former Baath Party members to hold prominent political positions, during the winter and the spring of 1959–60, Nasser slowly squeezed prominent Syrians out of positions of influence. In the Syrian Ministry of Industry, for example, seven of the top thirteen positions were filled by Egyptians, in the General Petroleum Authority, four of the top six officials were Egyptian
29.
Gamal Abdel Nasser
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Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt, serving from 1956 until his death. Nasser led the 1952 overthrow of the monarchy and introduced far-reaching land reforms the following year, Nassers popularity in Egypt and the Arab world skyrocketed after his nationalization of the Suez Canal and his political victory in the subsequent Suez Crisis. Calls for pan-Arab unity under his leadership increased, culminating with the formation of the United Arab Republic with Syria, in 1962, Nasser began a series of major socialist measures and modernization reforms in Egypt. Despite setbacks to his pan-Arabist cause, by 1963 Nassers supporters gained power in several Arab countries and he began his second presidential term in March 1965 after his political opponents were banned from running. Following Egypts defeat by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, Nasser resigned, after the conclusion of the 1970 Arab League summit, Nasser suffered a heart attack and died. His funeral in Cairo drew five million mourners and an outpouring of grief across the Arab world, Nasser remains an iconic figure in the Arab world, particularly for his strides towards social justice and Arab unity, modernization policies, and anti-imperialist efforts. His presidency also encouraged and coincided with an Egyptian cultural boom, Gamal Abdel Nasser was born on 15 January 1918 in Bakos, Alexandria, the first son of Fahima and Abdel Nasser Hussein. Nassers father was a postal worker born in Beni Mur in Upper Egypt and raised in Alexandria and his parents married in 1917, and later had two more boys, Izz al-Arab and al-Leithi. Nassers family traveled frequently due to his fathers work, in 1921, they moved to Asyut and, in 1923, to Khatatba, where Nassers father ran a post office. Nasser attended a school for the children of railway employees until 1924, when he was sent to live with his paternal uncle in Cairo. Nasser exchanged letters with his mother and visited her on holidays and he stopped receiving messages at the end of April 1926. Upon returning to Khatatba, he learned that his mother had died giving birth to his third brother, Shawki. Nasser later stated that losing her this way was a shock so deep that time failed to remedy and he adored his mother and the injury of her death deepened when his father remarried before the years end. In 1928, Nasser went to Alexandria to live with his maternal grandfather and it was in Alexandria that Nasser became involved in political activism. After witnessing clashes between protesters and police in Manshia Square, he joined the demonstration without being aware of its purpose. The protest, organized by the ultranationalist Young Egypt Society, called for the end of colonialism in Egypt in the wake of the 1923 Egyptian constitutions annulment by Prime Minister Ismail Sidqi, Nasser was arrested and detained for a night before his father bailed him out. When his father was transferred to Cairo in 1933, Nasser joined him and he took up acting in school plays for a brief period and wrote articles for the schools paper, including a piece on French philosopher Voltaire titled Voltaire, the Man of Freedom. Two protesters were killed and Nasser received a graze to the head from a policemans bullet, the incident garnered his first mention in the press, the nationalist newspaper Al Gihad reported that Nasser led the protest and was among the wounded
30.
Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
31.
Nazim al-Kudsi
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Nazim al-Kudsi, also spelled Koudsi, al-Qudsi or al-Cudsi, was a Syrian politician and head of state. Al-Kudsi was born in Aleppo on February 14,1906, after receiving his high school degree in the Aleppo American College al-Kudsi obtained his university degree in law from Damascus University. He received a degree from the American University of Beirut. After his education, Kudsi returned to Syria in 1935 and joined the National Bloc, the leading anti-French independence movement and it was a political organization aimed at the emancipation from French control through diplomatic means rather than armed resistance. In 1936, he ran for Parliament on a Bloc ticket and he clashed with the Bloc leadership that failed to prevent the annexation of Alexandretta to Turkey in 1939, and resigned from Bloc ranks. They lobbied against the election of Shukri al-Kuwatli, a National Bloc leader, as president, to appease the opposition, the new President appointed Kudsi as Syria’s first Ambassador to the United States. Kudsi founded the Syrian Embassy in Washington, D. C. from scratch, in 1947, he and Rushdi al-Kikhiya founded the People’s Party in Aleppo. It was inaugurated as a movement to the Kuwatli regime and created to counterbalance the political weight of the National Party. The People’s Party founders were mainly notables from Aleppo who aimed at creating union between Syria and Iraq, maintaining a government, and advocating stronger ties with the West. The Hashemite royal family in Baghdad supported the party and funded many of its activities, in 1947, Kudsi ran for Parliament on a party ticket and won. His election was repeated in 1949,1954, and 1962 and he voted against the re-election of Kuwatli as president, but a parliamentary majority pushed through the election. On March 29,1949, the Kuwatli administration was toppled by a military coup détat, as a result, Za’im had him arrested and the People’s Party was shut down. He was released afterwards and placed under house arrest in Aleppo. On August 14,1949, he supported a coup that toppled and killed Za’im, launched by General Sami al-Hinnawi, an old friend of the People’s Party and an ally of the Hashemite royals in Baghdad. Hinnawi created a committee to run political affairs in the absence of an official government. Kudsi also served on the Constitutional Assembly that drafted a new constitution for Syria and his ally Kikhiya became Minister of Interior while other posts were distributed accordingly to members of the People’s Party and independents who also opposed the old regime. Kudsi conducted talks with Crown Prince Abd al-Illah of Iraq for creating immediate union between Syria and Iraq and made journeys to Baghdad for the purpose. He then went to Cairo and proposed a program for all Arab states at the Arab League on January 1,1951
32.
Lu'ay al-Atassi
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Luay al-Atassi was a senior commander in the Syrian Army and later the President of Syria between 9 March and 27 July 1963. Atassi was born in Homs in 1926 to the politically prominent al-Atassi clan and he entered the officer corps after graduating from the Homs Military Academy in the mid-1940s, and fought during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in Palestine. In 1954, President Hashim al-Atassi appointed him Chief of Military Protocol and he was transferred to Egypt, where he served as the assistant military attache in Cairos Syrian embassy in 1956. There, he became a supporter of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Atassi was among the Syrian officers who lobbied for unity with Egypt, which was realized in February 1958 with the formation of the United Arab Republic. Atassi criticized Syrias secession from the union in September 1961 after a coup in 1961. In April 1962 unionist officers led by Jassem Alwan staged a coup against the government. Alwan, Hamad Ubayd and Muhammad Umran led the effort in Aleppo and Homs, according to historian Sami Moubayed, Atassi attempted to mediate a truce between the coup leaders and the government, but was unable. After the coup attempt, he was sent to the Syrian embassy in Washington D. C. to serve as the military attache. The officers were imprisoned and brought to trial, where Atassi was recalled to testify against them. Atassi was consequently arrested and jailed in Damascuss Mezzeh Prison, on 8 March 1963, a coalition of Arab nationalist officers organized by the Military Committee of the Baath Party launched a military coup, toppling the secessionist government of Nazim al-Qudsi. The officers immediately freed Atassi and appointed him to the National Council for the Revolutionary Command, the interim government of the country. Atassi was a politically independent Arab nationalist and was made Chief-of Staff after its execution, from the Committees standpoint, Atassi was ideal for the position because he lacked a support base and thus posed no threat to the juntas supremacy. His presidential powers were limited, and in practice he served more as a figurehead leader, on the same day, Nasserist officer Jassem Alwan led a coup against the Baathists, but failed. Many people were killed in the attempt and 20 participating officers were executed by Baathist-dominated government. Disapproving of the manner in which the officers were dealt with. Thereafter, he retired from all political activity, Atassi lived the remainder of his life in Homs, until his death in November 2003. Steel & Silk, Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000, Syria Under the Baʻth, 1963-66, The Army Party Symbiosis
33.
Abdul Halim Khaddam
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Abdul Halim Khaddam ( pronunciation AHB-dl hah-LEEM kah-DAM is a Syrian politician who was Vice President of Syria from 1984 to 2005. He was one of the few Sunni Muslims to make it to the top of the Alawite-dominated Syrian leadership, abdul Halim Khaddam was born on 15 September 1932 in Baniyas, Syria. His family was Sunni Muslim with an origin, and his father was a respected lawyer. Khaddam obtained his elementary and secondary education in Baniyas and then studied law at Damascus University, Khaddam became a member of the Baath Party when he was just 17 years old. He began his career as governor of Quneitra after the party came to power in 1963. Then he was appointed governor of Hama and Damascus and his first government portfolio was economy and trade minister in the cabinet formed by then head of Syria, Nureddin al Attasi, in 1969, making him the youngest minister in Syrian political history. Then he was named as an advisor to Hafez Assad and he later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister from 1970 to 1984. On 7 January 1976, Khaddam argued that Lebanon was part of Syria, during his visit to Tehran in August 1979 following the Iranian Revolution, he publicly stated that the Syrian government backed the revolution before and after the revolutionary process. He then served as Vice President from 11 March 1984 to 2005 and he was responsible for political and foreign affairs as Vice President. Khaddam was also chief mediator during the Lebanon Civil War, thus giving him the titles of High Commissioner or Godfather of Lebanon. After the death of Hafez Assad in 2000, a 9-member committee was founded and he was appointed by this committee as interim President of Syria on 10 June and he was in office until 17 July 2000 when Bashar Assad was elected as the new president. At the time, there were rumours in Damascus that Khaddam would try to seize power, Khaddam was slightly injured in an attack in Damascus in December 1976. In October 1977, Khaddam again survived an attempt at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. However, Saif Ghobash, the United Arab Emirates first Minister of State for Foreign Affairs was killed in the attack instead, the Syrian authorities argued that it had been planned and carried out by Iraq. Khaddam reported that Rifat Assad also tried to kill him, Khaddam was one of the senior officials in Syria who was close to Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri partnered with Khaddams sons in many businesses and projects in Lebanon, as the new President, Bashar Assad, strengthened his grip on the Baathist bureaucracy, Khaddam, and other members of the old guard of the government, gradually lost influence. That made him the last influential member of the old guard to leave the top tier of the government, the announcement came at a point when Bashar Al-Assad had been trying to have his political wings clipped, but still the most powerful Sunni member in an Alawi government. After resigning, he relocated to Paris ostensibly to write his memoirs, on 30 December 2005, Khaddam fled Syria
34.
Bashar al-Assad
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Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the 19th and current President of Syria, holding the office since 17 July 2000. He is also commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces, General Secretary of the ruling Arab Socialist Baath Party and he is a son of Hafez al-Assad, who was President of Syria from 1971 to 2000. Born and raised in Damascus, Assad graduated from the school of Damascus University in 1988. Four years later, he attended postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital in London, in 1994, after his elder brother Bassel died in a car crash, Bashar was recalled to Syria to take over Bassels role as heir apparent. He entered the academy, taking charge of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 1998. On 10 July 2000, Assad was elected as President, succeeding his father, in the 2000 and subsequent 2007 election, he received 99. 7% and 97. 6% support, respectively, in referendums on his leadership. On 16 July 2014, Assad was sworn in for another term after taking 88. 7% of votes in the first contested presidential election in Baathist Syrias history. The Assad government describes itself as secular, while some claim that the government exploits sectarian tensions in the country. During the Syrian Civil War, an inquiry by the United Nations reported finding evidence which implicated Assad in war crimes, in June 2014, Assad was included in a list of war crimes indictments of government officials and rebels handed to the International Criminal Court. Assad has rejected allegations of war crimes, and criticised the American-led intervention in Syria for attempting regime change, however, after the election of Donald Trump, the priority of the United States concerning Assad is to no longer force him out of power. Bashar Hafez al-Assad was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965, al-Assad in Arabic means the Lion, Assads peasant paternal grandfather had changed the family name from Wahsh upon acquiring minor noble status in 1927. Hafez promoted his supporters within the Baath Party, many of whom were also of Alawite background, after the coup, Alawite strongmen were installed while Sunnis, Druzes and Ismailis were purged from the army and Baath party. Assad had five siblings, three of whom are deceased, a sister named Bushra died in infancy. Assads youngest brother, Majd, was not a figure and little is known about him other than he was intellectually disabled. Unlike his brothers Bassel and Maher, and second sister, also named Bushra, Bashar was quiet, reserved and lacked interest in politics or the military. The Assad children reportedly rarely saw their father, and Bashar later stated that he entered his fathers office once while he was president. Assad received his primary and secondary education in the Arab-French al-Hurriya School in Damascus, in 1982, he graduated from high school and went on to study medicine at Damascus University. In 1988, Assad graduated from school and began working as an army doctor at the Tishrin military hospital on the outskirts of Damascus
35.
Arab Kingdom of Syria
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The Arab Kingdom of Syria was the first modern Arab state to come into existence but only lasted a little over four months. During its brief existence, the kingdom was led by Sharif Hussein bin Alis son Faisal bin Hussein, the kingdom surrendered to French forces on 24 July 1920. The Arab Revolt and the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence are crucial factors in the foundations of the Arab Kingdom of Syria, in the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence the promises of an Arab Kingdom were made by the British in return for an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. As the promises of independence were being made by the British, ultimately, the implementation of the Sykes–Picot Agreement would lead to the undermining and destruction of the Arab Kingdom of Syria. This is due in part to the influence of the French. Near the end of World War I, the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force under command of Edmund Allenby captured Damascus on 30 September 1918, shortly thereafter, on 3 October, Faisal entered the city. The jubilation would be short lived, as Faisal would soon be aware of the Sykes–Picot agreement. Faisal had come to expect an independent Arab kingdom in the name of his father but was told of the division of territory. Faisal obviously did not appreciate this betrayal by the British but found reassurance in the knowledge that the settlement would be worked out at a later date when the war had ended. He was probably hoping that by then the British would have changed their support for French pretensions in Syria, thus on 5 October, with the permission of General Allenby, Faisal announced the establishment of a fully and absolutely independent Arab constitutional government. Faisal announced it would be an Arab government based on justice, even reassurances by Allenby that all actions taken were provisional did not ease the looming tensions between the British, the French and the Arabs. For Arab nationalists, and many of the Arabs who fought in the Arab Revolt, after the war, at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Faisal pushed for Arab independence. The status of the Arab lands in the Middle East was the subject of negotiations between the French and British. In May 1919, the French and British Prime Ministers met in Quai d’Orsay to decide between them their respective claims to territories or spheres of influence in the Middle East. The meeting decided that in return for a British guarantee of French control in Syria, at about the same time, an American compromise resulted in an agreement to set up a commission to determine the wishes of the inhabitants. Even though they supported the idea, Britain and France eventually backed out leaving the King–Crane Commission of 1919 solely American. These events in Europe led Syrian nationalist societies like al-Fatat to make preparations for a national congress and these Syrian nationalist societies advocated complete independence for an Arab Kingdom that united Arabs under Faisal. The first official session of the Syrian Congress was held on 3 June 1919, when the King–Crane Commission arrived in Damascus on 25 June 1919, it was met with a flurry of leaflets saying Independence or Death
36.
Rida Pasha al-Rikabi
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Ali Rida Pasha al-Rikabi, was the First Prime Minister in modern Syria, also Prime Minister of Jordan. During the last phase of Ottoman rule in the Middle East, after the Ottoman Turks departed from Arab lands in 1918 he formed the first cabinet in the history of Syria under Prince Faisal, third son Sharif Hussain of Mecca. Later, during two periods as Prime Minister in Jordan, al-Rikabi established Jordan’s administrative and financial system and he supported the Syrian revolt of 1925 against the French Mandate while he was Prime Minister of Jordan. Ali Rida Pasha al-Rikabi came from a Damascene family whose ancestor had migrated from al-Rifa’i in southern Iraq during the seventeenth century, al-Rikabi obtained his primary education at the Rushdiya Military School and completed Secondary school in Damascus also. He was later appointed commander of the Ottoman army and deputy governor in Jerusalem. When the Ottoman Constitution was proclaimed in 1908 he was appointed Head of Special Branch in Istanbul, from there he was transferred to al-Medina al-Munawara where he was appointed Governor and Military Commander after being promoted to the rank of Major General. He then went on to Iraq as Military Commander in Baghdad, on the eve of the First World the Ottoman Government consulted him, among other army commanders, about his opinion of Turkey’s participation in the war along the side of its German ally. This advice led the ruling Triumvirate, leaders of the Young Turks, to consider al-Rikabi a defeatist, so, other officers and members of the Young Turks were enthusiastic in their drive to enter the war on the side of Germany, their friend and ally. After the Arab Revolt and the Ottoman defeat by the British army, Ali Rida al-Rikabi was appointed Military Governor and Chief of the Council of Directors of Syria under Prince Faisal son of King Hussain of Mecca. On 8 March 1920 the First Syrian Conference announced Syria’s independence, al-Rikabi became the first Prime Minister of Syria. The latter directed him to proceed to Jordan and assist his son, Prince Abdullah, in the administration of the Principality of Transjordan. In Amman Prince Abdullah commissioned Rida al-Rikabi to form his first Jordanian cabinet in March 1922, so, he took up the task of setting suitable laws and regulations for the new State, particularly in administration and financial management. In October of that year he accompanied Prince Abdullah to London for conducting a treaty between Britain and Jordan and discussions of Arab Affairs thereat, after Prince Abdullah left, al-Rikabi remained in London to reach an agreement with the British authorities on the formulation of the Government of Transjordan. Al-Rikabi succeeded in obtaining Britain’s approval for independence of the State. After al-Rikabi returned to Jordan, Prince Abdullah objected to some terms of this agreement prompting al-Rikabi to resign. In early 1924, Prince Abdullah invited Ali Rida al-Rikabi to form a new Jordanian cabinet, al-Rikabi declared his cabinet’s program for promoting justice among all citizens, economic reform, employing competent civil servants, eradicating corruption and ensuring security. During al-Rikabi’s second term as Prime Minister of Jordan, he supported the Syrian Revolt against French rule. After the Syrian Revolt was crushed by the French al-Rikabi resigned from the prime ministership of Jordan because it once more impossible for him to work with Prince Abdullah
37.
Haqqi al-Azm
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Haqqi al-Azm was a Syrian politician. He was active in the Ottoman government, and later served as the first prime minister in republican Syria, haqqi al-Azm was born to the prominent Damascene family of al-Azm. He was educated at the Lazarist missionary school in Damascus and later at the academy in Istanbul. He began his career as a government clerk, and was promoted to the prestigious position of inspector-general of the Ministry of Awqaf. He was laid off when the Committee of Union and Progress seized control of the ministry in 1911, after his defeat in the 1912 parliamentary elections, he moved to Cairo, and helped found the opposition party, Ottoman Party for Administrative Decentralization. In 1913, al-Azm and other figures in the party were sentenced to death in absentia, after World War I, al-Azm was a key opponent of Hijazi involvement in Syria. He opposed the Arab Revolt and called it the Hijazi revolt and he allied himself with the French mandate authorities, and was appointed the first governor of the State of Damascus in 1921. He reportedly won friends inside the administration by handing out jobs, in 1921 he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt while on visit to Quneitra with the French High Commissioner Henri Gouraud. In 1932, following the election of Muhammad Ali al-Abid, he was invited to form a cabinet and his rule between 1932-1934 was met with large opposition from the National Bloc. Cities of the Middle East and North Africa, an encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO
38.
Jamil Mardam Bey
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Jamil Mardam Bey, was a Syrian politician. He was born in Damascus to a prominent aristocratic Sunni Muslim family and he is descended from Ottomans general, statesman and Grand Vizier Lala Mustafa Pasha. He studied at the school of Political Science in Paris and was a founder of Al-Fatat, Mardam Bey was born in Damascus in 1893 to one of the most prominent Syrian families of Turkish ancestry. Al-Fatat was founded by five Arab students living in Paris in 1911, the organization called on Arab and Turkish citizens to remain united within the Ottoman framework, but claimed that the Arabs should have equal rights and obligations as their Ottoman counterparts. In 1913, Al-Fatat moved its offices to Beirut, in 1914, its founders opened an office in Damascus to coordinate nationalist activity. In the summer of 1913, the Al-Fatat founders called for the Arab Congress of 1913 in Paris to discuss the living standards in the Ottoman Empire. Not wishing to create a permanent break up with authorities in Constantinople, the founders did not call for complete Arab liberation, when that failed, they publicly headed the separatist movement demanding a complete break with the Ottomans. In 1916, Jamil Mardam Bey joined the Arab revolt of Sharif Hussein ibn Ali, the Ottomans sentenced him to death in absentia and he fled to Europe where he coordinated nationalists activity between the politicians in exile and the underground in Syria. His comrades were hanged in public in Damascus and Beirut on May 6,1916, when the Ottoman Empire was defeated in 1918, Mardam Bey returned to Syria. In 1919, he accompanied King Faisal I to the Paris Peace Conference, Mardam Bey took part in the diplomatic talks between Syria and the French aimed at preventing the implementation of the French Mandate in the Middle East. Along with Shahbandar, Mardam Bey met with French General Henri Gouraud and tried to reach a compromise, on July 24,1920, Jamil Mardam Bey was sentenced to death by the French army after they had dethroned King Faisal. Mardam Bey fled to Jerusalem and remained there until the authority issued an amnesty. He became a member in the Iron Hand Society, a movement headed by Shahbandar. In May 1922, the French accused both him and Shahbandar of meeting in secret with envoys of the US government and striving to topple the French Mandate in Syria. Mandated authorities sentenced Shahbandar to twenty years in prison and banished Mardam Bey to Europe, upon his return to Damascus, Jamil Mardam Bey joined the Peoples Party, the first modern party in French Mandate Syria. It was headed by Shahbandar and funded by King Faisal I, the party worked to terminate the mandate and establish an Arab kingdom headed by a member of the Hashemite family – either Faisal or his brother, King Abdullah of Jordan. In July 1925, the chieftain, Sultan al-Atrash, launched an uprising against the French from Arab mountains. Shahbandar served as the mastermind and delegated Mardam Bey to channel funds from Amman
39.
Lutfi al-Haffar
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Lutfi al-Haffar was a Syrian businessman and politician. He was a member of the National Bloc and served as prime minister in 1939. Al-Haffar was born into the wealthy merchant Damascene family of al-Haffar and his early career was mostly devoted to his familys business in trade. He joined the Damascus Chamber of Commerce in 1922, and became its deputy president in 1924, the project was an immediate success, and allowed the water from the Barada river to be used for other purposes like irrigation. Al-Haffars involvement in politics came through his alliance with nationalist leader Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar, Shahbandar and Haffar founded the Peoples Party, which was the first political party in Syria under the French Mandate. The party advocated the unity of Greater Syria, and the abolition of the French Mandate, the party was banned shortly thereafter by French authorities because of suspected links to the 1925 uprising in Jabal al-Druze. After the French bombardment of Damascus following the revolt, al-Haffar spearheaded a call to end armed resistance to the French in favor of political struggle. Al-Haffar joined Ahmad Namis cabinet as minister of works and economy in April 1926. He was arrested by the authorities and detained until 1928. In 1928 al-Haffar, along with a number of nationalist leaders, the Bloc, under the leadership of Hashim al-Atassi, became the central umbrella group for political resistance against the French occupation. Al-Haffar was elected to the constitutional assembly in 1928, which was tasked with drafting Syrias first republican constitution. Al-Haffar was a participant and organizer in the 1936 Syrian general strike. The strike lasted sixty-days, and al-Haffar was arrested during a demonstration against the French-appointed prime minister, to end the protests, France invited the Bloc to Paris for negotiations which eventually resulted in the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence. In July, parliamentary elections were held and the National Bloc was elected with an overwhelming majority, al-Atassi was elected president, and Jamil Mardam Bey prime minister. Al-Haffar served as minister of finance in Mardam Beys cabinet until July 1938, on 24 February 1939, al-Haffar was appointed prime minister by President al-Atassi. The cabinet, in which he headed the education portfolio, lasted less than two months and was faced with a growing opposition under the leadership of al-Haffars former ally. In 1940 al-Shahbandar was assassinated and al-Haffar, along three other leaders in the National Bloc, was tried before a French military tribunal. Al-Haffar escaped to Baghdad, and remained there until he was acquitted by the courts, during the presidency of Shukri al-Quwatli between 1943 and 1946, al-Haffar served as minister of interior in three different cabinets under Prime Ministers Saadallah al-Jabiri and Faris al-Khoury
40.
Nasuhi al-Bukhari
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Nasuhi al-Bukhari or Nasuh al-Boukhari was a Syrian soldier and politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of Syria in 1939. Nasuhi al-Bukhari received his education at the Ottoman Military Academy in Istanbul and he served in the Ottoman Army until he was captured by the Allies during World War I. In 1916, after escaping his Siberian exile, he went back to Istanbul, when the Ottoman Empire fell in 1918, Faisal I declared himself King of Syria. Under Faisal, Bukhari commanded the Aleppo garrison before being sent to Cairo in January 1920 as military attache to Egypt, in July 1920 French Mandate of Syria was declared, and the country was divided into several independent states. In September 1920, Haqqi al-Azm was appointed governor of the State of Damascus, and in December he appointed Bukhari as minister of military affairs in his administration, Bukhari served as minister of agriculture in Ahmad Namis cabinet until its resignation in February 1928. On 5 April 1939, during a crisis between the ruling National Bloc and the opposition, nationalist leader Hashim al-Atassi called on Bukhari to form a non-party government. In addition to being premier, Bukhari held the portfolios of interior and defense and he subsequently resigned on 8 July 1939. Between August 1943 and November 1944 Bukhari was minister of education, however, his subsequent advocacy of a Syrian Army with military draft proved electorally unpopular in Damascus. After losing his seat in the 1947 elections, he retired from political life
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