Syria A part of the
Ottoman Empire from 1517, during World War I it was occupied by British troops under
Allenby, with active Arab help. Immediately after the Arab leader, Faisal (
Faisal I), was rewarded for his support by being made King of Syria, he had to give up his throne, as the Treaty of
Sèvres transformed it into a French
League of Nations Mandate. French rule was relatively unpopular, leading to a number of uprisings. In World War II, its French colonial administration followed the
Vichy government, so that in July 1941 British and
Free French forces occupied the country. De
Gaulle declared Syria's independence for 28 September 1944, though effective autonomy was not achieved until the complete withdrawal of British and French forces on 17 April 1946.
From 1948, its nationalist governments were staunchly opposed to the creation of the state of Israel, and took part in all Arab–Israeli military confrontations, including the
Six Day War of 1967, when it lost the
Golan Heights to Israel. As a result of the strong appeal of
pan-Arabism in the country, together with
Nasser's Egypt it formed the
United Arab Republic in 1958. This was dissolved in 1961 after a military coup. In 1963, another coup brought to power the
Ba'ath Party. From 1966, its ideological Marxist wing dominated the government, though it was not until 1970–1 that politics were finally stabilized, under the pragmatist wing of the party led by
Assad.
Assad's rule lacked a popular base throughout, and was founded instead on the loyalty of the army. He was fortunate in that the discovery of oil in 1966 increased the country's economic well-being, and provided him with the wherewithal for extensive patronage. In foreign policy, he used Syria's geopolitical position between the sensitive countries of Turkey, Iraq, the Lebanon, and, above all, Israel, to extract extensive aid from the USSR. Despite his extensive support for extremist Arab terrorist organizations in the USA, he never incurred US wrath openly, as the Americans hoped for Syrian recognition of Israel. In the 1980s Syria became increasingly involved in Lebanon, where its military intervened directly in 1982, against Israeli forces. As a result of the support of the majority of the (Muslim) Lebanese population, Syria's presence there proved more enduring than that of Israel. During the 1990s, Syria exerted decisive influence on Lebanese affairs. Owing to its long-standing hostility to Iraq, it supported Iran in the
Iran–Iraq War, and even sent 20,000 troops to fight alongside US troops in the
Gulf War. By 1996 it had become the last Arab power to refuse to accept the
Oslo Accord, demanding the return of the Golan Heights as the
sine qua non for a peace agreement with Israel.
In the face of the collapse of the USSR, from the early 1990s Assad successfully opened his country to Western
capitalist influences. Nevertheless, his position remained challenged by economic problems, as the general standard of living was depressed by his enormous military spending, which consumed around 50 per cent of state expenditure. Assad's control over the country remained firm, however, and just before his death in 2000 he managed to ensure the succession of his son, Bashir, to the Presidency. As President, Bashir Assad widened a campaign he had been spearheading as Vice-President to fight corruption, which had the consequence of removing many potential opponents. Bashir Assad was less rigorous against political opponents, although he refused to contemplate genuine democratization. At an economic level, however, he did initiate liberalization and the promotion of private initiative, as many cities were plagued by up to 50 per cent unemployment.
