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July 1908: The Committee for Union and Progress (CUP) seizes power in Istanbul and forces Sultan Abdulhamid II to restore the constitution and parliament he had abrogated in 1876.

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1909: The CUP forces Abdulhamid II to abdicate in favor of his brother Sultan Mohammad Rashad V. A process known as Turkification begins, where Ottoman Turkish replaces Arabic as the language of the Arab provinces in the Empire, and all senior Arab officials are discharged and replaced by Ottoman Turks.

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1910: Mary Ajamy, a recent nursing graduate from AUB, launches the first women’s right magazine in the Middle East, called al-`Arus (The Bride).

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1911: al-Fatat is founded in Paris by a group of Arab activists, demanding more rights for the Arab provinces in the Ottoman Empire. It mushrooms to become the single-most important opposition party in Ottoman Syria.

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1913: The CUP rigged the parliamentary elections to oust the Arab deputies from the Ottoman Parliament. Many of the ousted deputies are members of al-Fatat.

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1913: The first Arab Congress is held in Paris by al-Fatat. It is co-planned by Jamil Mardam Bey, a student of political science in France, and chaired by Abd al-Hamid al-Zahrawi, an Arab deputy in the Ottoman Parliament. Ottoman authorities forbid their citizens from attending the conference, accusing its founders of treason against the Empire.

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August 1914: World War I breaks out in Europe.

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August 15, 1915: Jamal Pasha, the Ottoman Governor of Syria, executes many Arab nationalists in Beirut, accusing them of treason against the Empire. Most of them are members of al-Fatat.

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May 6, 1916: Jamal Pasha executes twenty-one Arab nationalists in Damascus, mostly from al-Fatat, who were former deputies in the Ottoman Parliament. The execution fuels dramatic anti-Ottoman sentiment in Syria.

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May 1916: The Sykes-Picot Agreement is signed between Great Britain and France, dividing the Middle East into mandates for the Great Powers. A mandate over Syria and Lebanon is given to France.

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June 10, 1916: Sharif Husayn of Mecca launches an Arab Revolt from the Arabian Desert against the Ottoman Empire. His rebel army is aided by the British Army, under the command of General T.E. Lawrence.

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November 2, 1917: The British Government issues the Balfour Declaration, promising the Jews an independent state in Palestine. At the time, the population of Palestine was 700,000, of which 574,000 were Muslims, 74,000 were Christians, and 56,000 were Jews.

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December 1917: British troops invade Palestine, with the rebel Arab Army of Sharif Husayn, and capture Jerusalem. The Ottoman Army in Jerusalem surrenders to General Edmond Allemby. This raises moral of the Arab rebels and hundreds of volunteers from Syria join the Arab Revolt.

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September 26, 1918: The last Ottoman troops evacuate from Syria. An interim government is created in Damascus, headed by the Algerian notable Prince Sa’id al-Jaza’iri.

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October 1, 1918: The Arab Army enters Damascus, under the command of Prince Faysal, the son of Husayn who is a member of al-Fatat. An Arab Government is set up in Damascus, headed by Faysal and the first post-Ottoman Prime Minister of Syria, Rida Pasha al-Rikabi.

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November 11, 1918: World War I ends.

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January 1, 1919: Faysal travels to France to attend the Paris Peace Conference and demand international recognition for Syria’s independence.

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February 5, 1919: The Istiqlal Party is founded in Damascus. It is the first official party in post-Ottoman Syria, headed by Shukri al-Quwatli, Riyad al-Sulh, Saadallah al-Jabiri, and Adil Arslan.

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May 1919: Salih al-Ali, a chieftain from the Alawite Mountain, declares a military uprising against the first French troops to land on the Syrian coast.

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June 1919: The first parliamentary elections take place in post-Ottoman Syria.

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March 8, 1920: The Syrian National Congress (parliament), headed by Hashim al-Atasi, crowns Faysal I as King of Syria. The new king is 32-years old.

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March 9, 1920: Great Britain denounces the crowning of Faysal as king, saying that his regime is un-constitutional and contradicts with the interests of France in the Middle East.

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April 26, 1920: The San Remo Conference legitimizes the French Mandate over Syria and Lebanon.

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July 14, 1920: The French High Commissioner in Syria General Henri Gouraud presents his ultimatum to King Faysal, asking him to dissolve the Arab kingdom, dissolve the Syrian Army, and peacefully accept the French Mandate in Syria, or face the consequences of war.

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July 24, 1920: The Syrian Army fights the battle of Maysaloun and is defeated by the French Army. The Minister of War General Yusuf al-Azma (36-years) is killed in combat.

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July 1920: Ibrahim Hananu launches a revolt against the French in all of northern Syria, coined “The Aleppo Revolt.”

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August 1, 1920: King Faysal I leaves Syria to Haifa with orders never to return from General Gouraud. The Syrian Army is dissolved and the Syrian throne is abolished.

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August 21, 1920: Syria’s new Prime Minister Ala al-Din Droubi and Abd al-Rahman Pasha al-Yusuf, head of the Shura Council, are murdered in Hawran by loyalists to Faysal. They are accused of collaborating with the mandate regime.

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August 1920: The French dislocate Lebanon from Syria. The new state in Lebanon includes the one-time Syrian towns and cities of Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, Tyre, Rashayya, Hasbayya, Baalbak, and the Beqqa Valley.

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September 1, 1920: The French create the State of Aleppo, which includes the Sanjak of Alexanderetta. It is governed by Kamil al-Qudsi.

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September 3, 1920: The French create the State of Damascus, governed by Haqqi al-Azm, the State of the Druze Mountain, governed by Salim al-Atrash, and the State of the Alawite Mountain, governed by the mandate regime.

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June 1921: The Syrian-Palestinian Congress is founded in Geneva by a group of Syrian exiles, including Abd al-Rahman Shabbandar, Michel Lutfallah, and Shukri al-Quwatli. It aims at liberating the Middle East from European colonialism.

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June 1921: Saleh al-Ali launches a military revolt against the French Mandate, which is crushed harshly by the French Army.

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July 1921: The Aleppo Revolt of Ibrahim Hananu is crushed by the French. Hananu is forced to flee to Jordan.

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August 1921: Ibrahim Hananu, leader of the Aleppo Revolt, is captured in Palestine and extradited to Syria where he stands trial for treason. He is declared not guilty by a French Military Court.

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August 23, 1921: Faysal I, the ex-king of Syria, becomes king of Iraq. He continues to dream of ruling Syria until his death in 1933.

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June 22, 1922: The Syrian Federal Council is created by the French Mandate regime. It unites the states of Damascus, Aleppo, and the Alawite Mountain. The Council is headed by the Antioch notable, Subhi Barakat.

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June 24, 1922: The League of Nations recognizes the French Mandate in Syria.

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July 25, 1922: Jemal Pasha, the ex-Ottoman Governor of Syria, is assassinated by an Armenian in Tiflis, a town in Russian Caucasia. There is much joy in Syria since Jemal Pasha, known as “Jemal Pasha the Butcher” is universally hated for having so much Arab blood on his hands during World War I.

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July 11, 1923: The Syrian University is named in Damascus, headed by its first president, Dr Rida Sa’id.

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October 28, 1924: The Communist Party is founded in Syria.

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April 8, 1925: Lord James Balfour comes to Damascus and is welcomed by unprecedented violence in the Syrian capital. Preachers at the Umayyad Mosque demand his assassination, and he flees to Palestine.

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June 5, 1925: The People’s Party is founded in Damascus, headed by Dr Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar, the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs under Faysal. The party aims at liberation from foreign rule, and a constitutional monarchy headed by the Hashemite crown. It also aims on modeling Syria after the constitutional monarchy in Great Britain.

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July 14, 1925: Sultan al-Atrash declares a military uprising against the French Army from the Druze Mountain. The revolt is co-planned by Dr Shahbandar to coincide with anniversary of the French Revolution of 1789.

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October 18, 1925: The French Army air raids Damascus for 48-hours.

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May 1926: The French Army air raids the Midan neighborhood of Damascus, inflicting heavy casualties and killing 200 civilians.

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October 25, 1927: The National Bloc is founded in Beirut by Hashim al-Atasi right after the Great Syrian Revolt of Sultan al-Atrash is crushed by the Mandate. It aims at liberating Syria through diplomatic means rather than armed resistance.

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February 1928: Taj al-Din al-Hasani is appointed Prime Minister of Syria. He is brought to power by the Mandate authority and greatly despised in nationalist circles.

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April 1928: A constitutional assembly, headed by the attorney Fawzi al-Ghazzi, is elected to create the first republican constitution for Syria. It is packed with members of the National Bloc.

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July 11, 1932: The Syrian Republic is created with Mohammad Ali al-Abid as the first President of Syria. He appoints Haqqi al-Azm, a notable from Damascus, as the first prime minister in republican Syria.

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November 4, 1932: The National Bloc holds its first official meeting in Homs. Hashim al-Atasi is elected president, to govern the party’s affairs with a permanent council that includes Saadallah al-Jabiri, Shukri al-Quwatli, Jamil Mardam Bey, Faris al-Khury, and Ibrahim Hananu.

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November 16, 1932: The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) is founded in Beirut by Antune Sa’ada. It aims at the unification of Greater Syria. It is yet to become immensely popular in Syria.

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August 20, 1933: The League of National Action is founded in the village of Qarna’il in Mount Lebanon. It is created by a second-generation of Arab notables who want to free the Middle East from influence of the Great Powers. Among its founders are Constantine Zurayk, Zaki al-Arsuzi, and Sabri al-Asali.

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September 7, 1933: King Faysal I dies in Switzerland. He is 45. His successor King Ghazzi I declares that he has no territorial ambitions in Syria.

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November 25, 1933: The National Bloc boycotts Parliament to voice its objection of a proposed Franco-Syrian Treaty of Friendship. In response, the French Mandate regime dissolves Syria’s first republican Parliament.

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November 18, 1935: Ibrahim Hananu, leader of the Aleppo Revolt, dies of natural causes in Aleppo, igniting counter-wide demonstrations against the French. He is 66.

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February 1936: The National Bloc leads a 60-day strike in Syria to protest France’s abrogation of its constitution. The strike destroys the Syrian economy, leads to the death of hundreds, and embarrasses France in the international community, forcing it to receive a delegation from the National Bloc to discuss Syrian independence in Paris.

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March 1936: The National Bloc travels to France for independence talks, headed by Hashim al-Atasi.

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April 1936: An uprising against the Jewish immigrants coming from Europe breaks out in Palestine, headed by Amin al-Husayni, the Mufti of Jerusalem. The uprising is funded and supported by the nationalist Shukri al-Quwatli and many Syrian volunteers go to Palestine to fight with Husayni, headed by Fawzi al-Qawiqji, a leader of the Syrian Revolt of 1925.

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July 16, 1936: Eliahu Epstein, the director of Arab Affairs at the Jewish National Agency, comes to Damascus to discuss Syrian-Jewish collaboration with the National Bloc leader Fakhri al-Barudi. He offers to assist in terminating the mandate if the Syrians agree to a Jewish state in Palestine, but Barudi turns down his offer.

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August 1-9, 1936: Epstein returns to Damascus, heading a team of Zionist statesmen, to discuss collaboration with Shukri al-Quwatli. They met many times over a 9-day period, but return to Europe, also empty-handed.

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September 9, 1936: The National Bloc signs a treaty with France that guarantees independence over a 25-year period. In exchange, the Bloc leaders pledge to offer France use of their air space and territory if war were to break out in Europe, and keep military bases in Syria. Mohammad Ali-Abid resigns and Hashim al-Atasi is elected the second president of Syria on December 21, 1936. He is 63.

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April 1937: Dr Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar returns to Syria, having spent over 10-years in exile, and spearheads the opposition to the National Bloc regime and the Treaty of 1936.

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June 1937: Jamil Mardam Bey barely escapes an assassination attempt, where explosives are placed in his car. He accuses Shahbandar of masterminding the plot and places him under house-arrest.

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June 23, 1939: The Sanjak of Alexanderetta is annexed to Turkey as a result of a deal concluded between Ankara and Paris.

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July 7, 1939: President Hashim al-Atasi resigns from office in protest to the annexation, ending the first National Bloc regime (1936-1939).

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September 3, 1939: France and Great Britain declare war on Nazi Germany, igniting World War II.

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June 10, 1940: Syria comes under the jurisdiction of occupied France and the pro-Nazi regime of Marshal Petain in Vichy. Paris falls to the Nazis. The new Vichy High Commissioner of Syria and Lebanon becomes General Henri Dentz.

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July 6, 1940: Dr Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar is assassinated at his clinic in Damascus by agents of the French Mandate.

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June 21, 1941: The Vichy forces in Syria are defeated by Free French forces loyal to General Charles de Gaulle. The Free French remain in Syria until April 1946.

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October 1941: General Charles de Gaulle asks Hashim al-Atasi to resume his duties as president, but Atasi declines. He is asked once again in 1943 but he also refuses.

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September 12, 1941: General Charles de Gaulle appoints Taj al-Din al-Hasani as President of Syria, to rule with no parliament until World War II ends in Europe.

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September 27, 1941: General de Gaulle declares the independence of Syria but refuses to evacuate his troops until World War II ends. The Alawite and Druze Mountains, autonomous since 1920, are re-incorporated into the Syrian Republic.

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January 17, 1943: President Taj al-Din al-Hasani dies while in office. He is 58. Jamil al-Ulshi takes on as Acting President until March 1943.

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August 7, 1943: Shukri al-Quwatli of the National Bloc is elected President of Syria with a 122-vote majority in Parliament. He is 51.

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September 21, 1943: Bshara al-Khury, a staunch ally of Syria, becomes president of Lebanon. Along with his Prime Minister Riyad al-Sulh, Khury coordinates all future foreign policy, vis-à-vis the French Mandate, with Syria.

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November 8, 1943: The French Mandate regime arrests Bshara al-Khury and Riyad al-Sulh, causing uproar and fueling anti-French demonstrations in Syria. The French begin to plan for the similar arrest of President Quwatli. The Lebanese statesmen are released on November 22, 1943.

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July 1944: Joseph Stalin of the USSR extends Soviet recognition to the Quwatli regime in Syria, also recognizing Syria’s independence from France.

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December 1944: French is dropped from school curriculums in Syria.

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February 13, 1945: President Quwatli meets British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Egypt, and the later promises to support Syria’s aspirations for independence.

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February 26, 1945: Shukri al-Quwatli declares war on Nazi Germany, bringing Syria into World War II.

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March 22, 1945: The Arab League is founded in Egypt. Syria is a founding member.

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April 1, 1945: Prime Minister Faris al-Khury goes to the USA to attend the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco. Syria’s admittance to the UN, facilitated by President Roosevelt, is considered a testimony by the world community of its right to independence from the French Mandate.

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May 29, 1945: The French Army air raids Damascus for the second time, destroying the Citadel of Damascus, and the Syrian Parliament. The French fail to arrest President Quwatli and his top officials. Around 660 civilians are killed. The assault is halted by Sir Winston Churchill.

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August 1, 1945: France ends its control of the armed forces and Quwatli creates the Syrian Army, proclaiming the day a national holiday.

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April 17, 1946: The last French troops leave Syria and Shukri al-Quwatli declares Independence Day.

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May 18, 1946: A pan-Arab conference is held in the summer resort of Bludan, near Damascus. The Arab Summit is hosted by Quwatli to discuss the situation in Palestine.

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February 3, 1947: Syrian Radio commences its first broadcast with the famed line: “This is Damascus!”

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March 29, 1947: The National Party is founded in Damascus by President Shukri al-Quwatli. It mirrors the socio-political interests of the Damascus notability.

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April 9, 1947: The Baath Party is founded in Damascus by Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Bitar. It mirrors the socio-political interests of rural Syria, emphasizing on Arab nationalism and socialism.

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May 1947: An uprising erupts in the Druze Mountain against the Atrash family. It is headed by a group of notables from the Mountain who want to break Atrash control over the Druze community. It is funded by Shukri al-Quwatli.

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November 29, 1947: The UN declares the Partition Plan for Palestine, causing violent demonstrations in Syria.

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June 20, 1947: Prime Minister Saadallah al-Jabiri dies of natural causes in Aleppo. Jabiri’s death sparks off a rivalry over power between Damascus and Aleppo. As the supreme leader of Aleppo, he had refused to let its notables engage in conflict with the Damascenes. He is given presidential honors for his nationalism under the mandate. He is 54.

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March 1948: Shukri al-Quwatli is elected president for another 5-year term.

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April 9, 1948: Zionist militias in Palestine conduct a massacre in the village of Dayr Yassin, in the western suburb of Jerusalem, killing 245 civilians. The massacre is headed by Menahim Begin, the future prime minister of Israel, and infuriates public opinion in the Arab World. Massive riots break out in Damascus, demanding that Syria go to war in Palestine.

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May 14, 1948: David Ben Gurion declares the creation of the State of Israel.

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May 15, 1948: The Syrian Army goes to war in Palestine and is defeated.

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May 25, 1948: Ahmad al-Sharabati, the Minister of Defense, resigns from his job, accepting blame for defeat at the warfront.

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June 10, 1948: The UN forces Quwatli to accept a cease-fire in Palestine.

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August 1948: The People’s Party is founded in Aleppo by two lawyers: Nazim al-Qudsi and Rushdi al-Kikhiya. It aims at challenging Quwatli’s policies, and breaking the centralization of power in the hands of Quwatli and his men.

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March 29, 1949: The Chief of Staff General Husni al-Za’im seizes power in Syria and arrests Shukri al-Quwatli and his Prime Minister Khalid al-Azm. He accuses them of poor leadership that resulted in defeat at the warfront.

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April 1, 1949: Husni al-Za’im dissolves Parliament.

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July 8, 1949: Husni al-Za’im extradites Antune Sa’ada of the SSNP to Lebanon, where he is executed for treason by Prime Minister Sulh. The case embarrasses Za’im who had promised Sa’ada asylum in Syria. He reneged on his promise through a secret deal with Riyad al-Sulh.

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July 12, 1949: Syria signs an armistice agreement with Israel. Za’im has several officials negotiate a peace deal in secret with Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Sharett. It never materializes.

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July 25, 1949: General Husni al-Za’im holds a plebiscite and is elected president with 99.9% of the votes.

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August 14, 1949: President Husni al-Za’im is toppled and killed by a military coup d’etat, along with his Prime Minster Muhsen al-Barazi. The coup is carried out by Za’im’s friend, General Sami al-Hinnawi and officers from the SSNP. Hashim al-Atasi becomes prime minister, restoring civilian rule to Syria.

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December 14, 1949: Hashim al-Atasi is elected Head of State. He is 76.

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December 19, 1949: General Adib al-Shishakli launches the third coup d’etat of 1949, arresting Chief of Staff Sami al-Hinnawi but keeping Atasi at his post.

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July 31, 1950: General Mohammad Nasser, the Commander of the Syrian Air Force, who is contesting Shishakli for power in the Syrian Army, is murdered near Damascus by two pro-Shishakli officers.

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September 7, 1950: Hashim al-Atasi is elected President of Syria.

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October 31, 1950: General Sami al-Hinnawi is murdered in exile in Beirut by Hersho al-Barazi, a native of Hama who is taking revenge for the killing of his cousin, Dr Muhsen al-Barazi, in 1949.

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November 29, 1951: General Adib al-Shishakli launches his second coup d’etat, arresting Prime Minister Ma’ruf al-Dawalibi and forcing President Atasi to resign. He props up General Fawzi Selu as President of Syria. He dissolves Parliament and outlaws all political parties and newspapers.

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July 23, 1952: The Free Officers of the Egyptian Army seize power in Cairo, toppling King Farouk I. The coup leaders are General Mohammad Negiub and Colonel Gamal Abd al-Nasser. The coup is much welcomed in Syria and embraced by Shishakli.

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August 25, 1952: Adib al-Shishakli creates the Arab Liberation Movement (ALM). It is a progressive party with pan-Arabist and socialist views that is headed by him. It aims at Arab unity, women’s rights, and gradual democracy for the Middle East. It becomes the only party in Syria.

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July 4, 1953: Hashim al-Atasi chairs the first public opposition meeting to the Shishakli regime, held at his residence in Homs. He calls for a united front to bring down the dictator.

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July 11, 1953: Adib al-Shishakli becomes president of Syria, replacing the puppet regime of General Fawzi Selu that he had set up in 1951. He wins the plebiscite with 99.98% of the votes.

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October 24, 1953: Shishakli drafts his own constitution, and creates a Parliament of 83-members, all pledging loyalty to him.

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January 1954: A uprising breaks out against Shishakli from the Druze Mountain. It is funded and supported by King Husayn of Jordan. Shishakli responds by air raiding the Druze Mountain and placing hundreds of dissidents behind bars. He places two of the revolt commanders, Sultan al-Atrash and Hashim al-Atasi, under house-arrest. Approximately 600 people are killed in the Druze Mountain.

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February 24, 1954: Adib al-Shishakli resigns from the presidency, saying that he wants to avoid civil war in Syria. He goes to Lebanon, then Saudi Arabia, and then moves to permanent residence in South America.

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March 1, 1954: The democratic regime of the civilian President Hashim al-Atasi is restored to Syria. He restores the constitution, parliament, and government that was in power prior to the Shishakli interlude (1951-1954) claiming that it is the constitutional regime of Syria. Atasi is 81.

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February 24, 1955: The Baghdad Pact is signed by Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, and Great Britain to control communist influence in the Middle East. Syria refuses to join the Baghdad Pact, and so does Gamal Abd al-Nasser.

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April 22, 1955: Adnan al-Malki, the deputy Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army, is assassinated in Damascus while attending a football match. The SSNP is accused of the murder and outlawed by Prime Minister Sabri al-Asali.

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September 1955: Shukri al-Quwatli is re-elected President of Syria, for the third time in his career. He is 63.

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December 11, 1955: Israel attacks Syrian posts on Lake Tiberais.

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July 26, 1956: Gamal Abd al-Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, creating shockwaves throughout the Arab World, and gaining unmatched popularity in Syria. President Quwatli responds by expelling the British and French Ambassadors from Syria and his intelligence service destroys the British pipelines running through the Syrian Desert. Quwatli heads off to the USSR to elicit support for Nasser’s Egypt.

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October 1956: The “Tripartite Aggression” begins against Egypt. Great Britain, France, and Israel declare war on Nasser, but the war is stopped by US President Dwight Eisenhower.

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October 1957: Akram al-Hawrani, a leader of the Baath Party, becomes Speaker of Parliament. This is the highest post to date, given to a socialist in Syria.

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January 12, 1958: A group of Syrian officers, headed by Chief-of-Staff Afif al-Bizreh, go to Cairo by night, with no authorization from the President, to demand union with Gamal Abd al-Nasser’s Egypt.

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February 22, 1958: Syria and Egypt merge to form the United Arab Republic (UAR). Shukri al-Quwatli willingly resigns from the presidency and Nasser becomes President of the UAR.

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July 15, 1958: President Kamil Sham’un of Lebanon requests US military assistance to defend his own regime in Beirut against a similar uprising to the one that happened in Iraq. He had been facing violence for some months, led by Muslim leaders Sa’eb Salam and Rashid Karameh, who are funded and supported by Syria, to transform Lebanon into an Egyptian satellite. He refused, igniting the first civil war, in which Syria tried and failed to topple him on several occasions in 1956-1958.

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September 1958: Nasser introduces socialist measures to break the landowning notability in Syria, limiting individual holdings to 80 hectares (200 acres) of irrigated and 300 hectares (750 acres) or un-irrigated land.

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February 23, 1959: Nasser begins to symbolically re-distribute land in Syria and give it to the peasant, marking the socialist revolution.

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1960:The Military Committee of the Baath Party is created by a group of officers from the Syrian Army, stationed in Egypt. Its sole aim is to preserve the UAR. Its founders are Hafez al-Asad, Salah Jadid, Mohammad Umran, Ahmad al-Meer, and Abd al-Karim al-Jundi.

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July 23, 1960: Syrian Television is launched in Damascus by its first director, Dr Sabah Qabbani.

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December 6, 1960: Ex-President Hashim al-Atasi dies in Homs at the age of 87.

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July 1961: Nasser advances his socialist program in Syria, nationalizing private industry and the banking sector.

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September 28, 1961: A coup d’etat topples the UAR regime, headed by Colonel Abd al-Karim al-Nehlawi. It is funded by the mercantile class in Damascus and Aleppo and supported by Nasser’s rivals in Arab politics, mainly King Husayn of Jordan and King Saud of Saudi Arabia. A civilian regime is created in Syria, headed by Dr Nazim al-Qudsi.

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October 10, 1961: US President John F. Kennedy extends recognition to the post-Nasser order in Syria.

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March 28, 1962: Nehlawi launches a second coup, arresting President Qudsi and his Prime Minister Ma’ruf al-Dawalibi.

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April 2, 1962: General Abd al-Karim Zahr al-Din, rebels against Nehlawi’s orders, releasing the President and Prime Minister and discharging Nehlawi from the Syrian Army.

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February 8, 1963: Baath Party officers seize power in Iraq, killing General Abd al-Karim Qasim. Abd al-Salam Arif becomes president of Iraq.

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March 8, 1963: The Military Committee of the Baath Party seizes power in Syria, arresting the President, and exiling his new Prime Minister Khalid al-Azm. The Military Committee pledges to restore the UAR.

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July 23, 1963: Officers loyal to Gamal Abd al-Nasser, headed by Colonel Jassem Alwan, try and fail to seize power in Syria. Alwan escapes to Egypt.

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November 12, 1963: Salah Jadid becomes Chief-of-Staff of the Syrian Army.

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September 27, 1964: Adib al-Shishakli is assassinated in Brazil by Nawaf Ghazal, a Druze immigrant who was taking revenge for those Druze massacred by Shishakli when he was president in 1953.

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January 1, 1965: Outbreak of the “Palestinian Revolution” headed by Yasser Arafat and his guerilla movement Fateh. The revolution, and Arafat, are endorsed and funded by Air Force Commander Hafez al-Asad and Chief of Staff Salah Jadid. They set up base in Syria where they receive funds and military camps from the leaders of Syria.

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January 1965: President Amin al-Hafez nationalizes one hundred companies (employing 12,000 people). State ownership is also extended to electricity, oil distribution, and around 70% of foreign trade.

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May 18, 1965: Elie Cohen, an Israeli spy operating in Syria, is also executed in public by the Syrian government. His case, one of the most famous in espionage, greatly embarrassed President Amin al-Hafez, who was his friend, and who had toyed with the idea of making him minister in 1964.

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June 24, 1965: The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) is founded in Syria.

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November 18, 1965: Ex-Prime Minister Khalid al-Azm dies in exile in Beirut.

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February 23, 1966: Hafez al-Asad and Salah Jadid seize power in Syria, replacing the first Baath regime. President Amin al-Hafez is arrested, while Baath Party founders Salah al-Bitar and Michel Aflaq are exiled. Jadid and Asad appoint the civilian Nur al-Din al-Atasi as President of Syria.

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April 7, 1967: Israel conducts an air raid over Syria, aimed at provoking the Syrian leadership into going to war. The raid is repeated on April 12.

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June 5, 1967: Outbreak of the third Arab-Israeli War, headed by Gamal Abd al-Nasser. The Arab armies are collectively defeated, and Israel occupies the Golan Heights, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and all of Jerusalem. UN Resolution 242 is passed, demanding restoration of the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Approximately 250,000 more Palestinians flee to neighboring Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon.

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June 9, 1967: Nasser resigns from the presidency in Egypt, taking complete blame for the defeat. His resignation is rejected by the Arab masses, and especially in Syria, the masses pour out, demanding that he stay in power and lead them to victory.

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June 30, 1967: Ex-President Shukri al-Quwatli dies in exile in Beirut at the age of 75.

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September 1968: Asad launches a mini-coup, arresting some of Jadid’s loyalists, including editors of al-Thawra and al-Baath newspapers, to prove to Jadid that he is one controlling Syria.

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March 2, 1969: Abd al-Karim al-Jundi, the director of Syrian Intelligence, commits suicide in Damascus. He is one of the officers who launched the Baath Party Revolution of March 8, 1963.

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September 1970: Outbreak of violence in Jordan between the PLO and King Husayn. Asad refuses to engage his troops in combat with either party.

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September 28, 1970: President Gamal Abd al-Nasser of Egypt dies in Cairo at the age of 52. Grief is unparalleled in the Arab World.

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November 16, 1970: Hafez al-Asad seizes power in Syria, launching a “correction movement”. He props up Ahmad al-Khatib, a civilian, as president, and makes himself Prime Minister.

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March 13, 1971: Asad releases a new constitution for Syria, which makes the Baath Party the ruling party of the state and society. The constitution remains until today.

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October 6, 1973: Hafez al-Asad and Anwar al-Sadat launch the third Arab-Israeli War, coined by history as “the October War.” Syria retrieves al-Qunaytra, the principal town in the Golan Heights, and Egypt retrieves the Sinai Peninsula.

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May 1974: Syria signs a disengagement treaty with Israel.

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April 13, 1975: Outbreak of civil war in Lebanon.

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May 31, 1976: The Syrian Army enters Lebanon under pleas of Lebanese Christians. It engages in war with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) of Yasser Arafat, aimed at ending the war.

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November 1977: Anwar al-Sadat makes a groundbreaking visit to Jerusalem.

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September 1978: Anwar al-Sadat signs the Camp David Peace Agreement with Israel. He is accused of treason by President Asad and Syria severs diplomatic relations with Egypt.

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June 6, 1982: Ariel Sharon invades Lebanon and goes to war against both the PLO and the Syrian Army.

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May 17, 1984: Lebanese President Amin Gemayel signs a peace treaty with Israel, infuriating Hafez al-Asad, who joins ranks with rivaling Lebanese militias to bring it down. He succeeds in foiling the May 17 Agreement.

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December 28, 1985: Vice-President Abd al-Halim Khaddam brokers the Tripartite Agreement between warring Lebanese militias, hoping that it would help end the civil war, and foil the May 17 Agreement.

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December 7, 1987: The first intifadah breaks out in the occupied Palestinian territories, causing uproar in the Arab World and attracting worldwide attention. The stone-throwers become a symbol for rebellion and Arab pride, and are eulogized in Syria by government and public alike.

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June 4, 1989: Michel Aflaq dies in exile in Baghdad at the age of 88.

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October 1989: Syria creates the Taif Accord in Saudi Arabia, bringing an end to the Lebanese Civil War.

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August 2, 1990: Saddam Husayn invades and occupies Kuwait.

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October 1990: General Aoun is defeated in Beirut by the Syrian Army, enabling the civilian leader, Elias Hrawi (backed by Asad) to assume his responsibilities as President of Lebanon, a post to which he was elected in November 1989.

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January 1991: Syria joins the USA in Operation Desert Storm, with an international coalition created to liberate Kuwait.

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October 1991: Asad sends a senior delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference, held under auspices of the USA, where Syria agrees, for the first time since 1949, to have round table talks with Israel.

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December 25, 1991: The USSR, Syria’s strategic ally since 1956, collapses, prompting Asad to open channels with the USA.

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September 13, 1993: Yasser Arafat signs a peace deal with Israel at the White House. The Oslo Accord is highly criticized by Syria and Asad accuses Arafat of having divided the Arab World by conducting a separate peace with Israel. Arafat is elected first President of Palestine in January 1996.

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January 21, 1994: Basil al-Asad, the eldest son of Hafez al-Asad, dies in a car accident in Damascus.

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October 1994: King Husayn signs a peace agreement with Israel. Again, it is highly criticized by Syria.

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April 30, 1998: Nizar Qabbani, Syria’s leading poet, dies at 75 in London. He is mourned like no other poet in Syria.

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March 2000: Asad holds a highly publicized meeting with US President Bill Clinton in Geneva, aimed at solving the Syrian-Israeli gridlock. The Geneva Conference fails, and Asad refuses to normalize with Israel before the Golan Heights are returned to Syria according to the pre-June 4, 1967 borders.

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May 24, 2000: Israel withdraws from occupied South Lebanon. The resistance of Hizbullah, supported by Syria, declares victory over Israel, and this is largely attributed to Asad’s unwavering support for the Lebanese resistance since 1978.

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June 10, 2000: President Hafez al-Asad dies in Syria, at the age of 70.

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July 17, 2000: Bashar al-Asad is sworn-in as President of Syria. He is the youngest president to date in Syrian history.