The state of Syria was established in 1920 as the Arab Kingdom of Syria under the leadership of Faisal I, and the regional pan-Arab vision was that the kingdom would be a broad Arab kingdom (and not just a Syrian one) which would wave the flag of Arab nationalism ("Greater Syria" or "Blad al-Sham").
The kingdom collapsed after a few months and along with it the vision of the great Arab kingdom collapsed. The one who entered the vacuum was France, as part of the French mandate in the region. Syria was defined as a separate entity and this is a dramatic point in the history of the Middle East; Shaping Syria as a separate entity in the region left the Arabs west to the Jordan river alone, without any political affiliation to any party (Britain contributed to this when in 1921 it cut off eastern Transjordan from the British mandate and established the "Transjordan Emirate" east of Jordan river, under the leadership of Abdullah I).
This was the first time that the Arabs west to the Jordan river realized that they were not included in any political entity and they were left alone in the political-regional-new-order. around them; Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, the political entities had already formed, and only they, the Arabs west of Jordan, were left alone, without a clear vision for self-determination, in isolation from the surrounding nations, until then. That was the time the Palestinian awareness began to take shape.
Syria became an independent country with the end of the French mandate in 1946 and was controlled by the elite from the mandate period. During the 1940s, the Ba'ath Party was established in Syria as a secular, nationalist socialist and anti-Western movement. At the same time, dissatisfaction against the ruling elites in the country arose, as well as resentment on the part of the minorities who were allegedly neglected by the authorities.
On the night of March 7-8, tanks and military units loyal to the coup began moving towards Damascus. The rebels managed to take control of military bases and critical facilities such as the central post office, the radio station and the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense. By the morning hours, the occupation of all the military and central government facilities had ended. About 820 people were killed during the clashes.
Later, in 1970, Hafez al-Assad will rise to power in Syria, after a coup he will carry out within the Baath Party. Hafez al-Assad is the father of Bashar al-Assad, the current ruler of Syria.
Photo: The flag of Syria and the flag of the Palestinian people
