After the events of World War 1, the country of France attained control over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The area labeled Syria was managed by the French until granting it independence in the year 1946. Due to Syria being mostly desert it has hot, dry, sunny summers between the months of June and August while along its coast having mild, rainy winters between December and February. Syria has a land area of 183,630 square kilometers (sq km) and a water area of 1,550 sq km (1,295 sq km of this area is Israeli-occupied territory), this results in Syria having a total area of 185,180. There are five countries that borders the area around Syria, these countries the area size of their boundaries is “Iraq …show more content…
Following his death, Bashar al-ASAD was approved as president by popular referendum in the same month. Many events have happened since then leading towards the Syrian civil war. On April of 2005 Syrian troops were withdrawn from Lebanon, where they were stationed at since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role. Between the months of July and August in 2006 there was conflict between Israel and Hizballah. During this period, Syria did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah, instead they placed their military forces on alert. On May of the following year Bashar al-ASAD's had his second term as president approved once again by popular referendum. Bashar al-ASAD's administration has little lenience for the opposition which lead to nonconformists often being arrested or tortured and in some occurrence killed. “Assad is a member of Syria’s minority Alawite Muslim sect (division)”. This resulted in Alawites having lots of power as they formed the core of Syria's elite security forces while also being favored over other groups for government jobs. All this lead to numerous Sunnis (the nation's majority) resenting the Alawite rule. The Sunnis wanted to remove Assad as president for sectarian reasons and in his place, have a Sunni as president. “In late 2010 and early 2011, a series of prodemocracy movements began in northern Africa and the Middle East”. Protests and against autocratic rule were common to the
“a really, really tough case” that defies historical parallels. Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War refers to political, military and operational support to parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Syria that began in March 2011, as well as active foreign involvement. Most parties involved in the war in Syria receive various types of support from foreign countries and entities based outside Syria. The ongoing conflict in Syria is widely described as a series of overlapping wars between the regional and world powers, primarily between the U.S. and Russia as well as between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The French’s mandate over Syria after World Ware One had an irrevocable impact on the nations’s communal factions. The mandate lasted from 1920-1946 and they begun their rule with intentionally made sectarian divisions. They were made in order to prevent Arab nationalism and stifle national independence movements. The divisions were made my religious and national minority. Granting the minorities independent status locations where they make up the majority. For example, there was a large population of Alawites in the mountain range behind Latakia, the French declared them a separate state. The Druze were granted the right and ability to govern themselves in the city of Jabal, just south of Damascus. The one religious group that did
The Arabs took this opportunity to start an uprising. The fighting continued for twenty years until France, in 1936, agreed to let go of their political influence, but they would keep a military presence there and could benefit economically, which meant they controlled the oil. Four years later France fell to the Axis powers and consequently so did Syria. Since the, now Free French, troops needed support along with the British, they agreed to leave the region completely if they helped them win World War 2. After the Germans were defeated, the French, reluctantly, kept their word and left the region. This, however, did not subside the fighting; what was once a battle for freedom turned into an ideological battle between Shias and Sunnis. Eventually some stability was gained and a proper government was set up. In 1971 Hafez Al-Assad was elected president and the country went from being a democracy to a monarchy. He groomed his first son to take over the country once he died but his son passed away in a car accident before he did. Hafez’s second son, Bashar Al-Assad, took control of the country in 2000 and he has remained in power ever since. Prior to the Arab Spring, there were outbursts, but none significantly affected his regime. Once the Arab Spring began, however, the people of Syria, mainly Sunnis, revolted against Assad. At the same time, The United States pulled troops out of Iraq leaving them without any structure or
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has been in charge since 2000, following on from his late father who ruled for 30 years. Commencing in March of 2011, an anti-regime uprising has since escalated into Civil War where it has been estimated that more than 400,000 have been killed (CNN, 2017). Just this death toll alone proves the danger and inhumane conditions the people of Syria have been living in for over six years. Controlling large areas of Northern and Eastern Syria, Islamic State (IS) have been left battling government forces, rebel brigades and air strikes from
The Syrian Civil War is no different. There are two opposing views that feel strongly about what they are fighting for and the war is having a major effect on the country’s infrastructure and rate of development. However, only time will tell if any good will come out of the country’s civil war.
The Syrian war is a multi-problematic situation that started within Syrian borders. The Syrian war began in 2010 with something called the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring is a chain of events where people caused aggressive and non-aggressive situations such as protests which created harm in the Middle East. In 2011 people started a non-aggressive protest because children were being abused after spattering graffiti that stated how they agreed with the Arab Spring. The president during this time was Bashar al- Assad. Assad would torment and imprison the people of Syria who protested. The Syrian People wanted to end Assad’s brutal actions so they created a Free Syrian Army which led to a civil war (i.e. the Syrian war). There are several countries
In the Syrian culture/lifestyle there are many similarities to America. Now, every country also has their own way of doing things, their own lifestyle, etc. The difference is because of their culture. The Syrian culture has a lot of unique and interesting ways of doing stuff, like how they spend their time,what their favorite sport is, and many more things. And that’s what makes each country different.
Syria is currently all over the news regarding what many have to come to see as a civil war. A term like civil war needs to identify the players and the reasons for the war. In this case the players are being identified as pro government or antigovernment with a Sunni or Shia overtone. Sunni and Shia are the two major sects of Islam and both have a historical based conflict going back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad and how Muslims should be governed. This conflict has caused tensions and violence to flare up throughout Islamic history. This conflict has carried into modern times and has becoming a rallying point for Muslim people calling for change with their government and across the Middle Eastern region. The
When Hafez al-Assad passed away from a heart attack, hope for Syria arose with promises of reform. On June 10th, 2000, Hafez passed away leaving his son Bashar al-Assad with the power over Syria. Bashar attempted to gain support over his people with promises of reform throughout Syria, including a revolutionized economy. People soon began to protest because Bashar had not been following through with his promises. These protests arose and Bashar chose to fight his people rather than meet their demands. Conflict has risen in Syria because of poor political and geographical systems whether this be through the way Assad governs, or through the destruction of Syria.
Syria has often criticized the United States policy in the Middle East, however, they do have some pros. Syria has been willing to negotiate with the United States over the Arab-Israeli conflict and other regional issues, as long as it
In 1936 the French decided to decolonize the area. Syria and Lebanon would continue as independent states. Ironically, it is exactly where Suleiman al-Assad looked
Syria has been the epicenter of wars and prosperity for many decades. Whether it’s the Syrian-Franco war that gave their independence, or the flood of Universities that entered in the 1950’s; it’s always been a mixed bag with Syria. Many people will look at the destabilize modern Syria and wonder “How did it get to this point?”, well in reality it was not one event rather a concurrency of events that all led up to Syria’s likely demise.
Since 2011 Syria has been experiencing a civil war. On the 22nd of August 2014, the United Nations has estimated that over 191,000 people have died. Many children have been killed or kidnapped throughout this war. The current president of Syria is Basar al-Assad; he has served since 2000 when he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad. Basar was a graduate of Damascus University and Western Eye Hospital. Where he studied ophthalmology. He returned to Syria because his brother had died in a car crash and was now the next in line for the thrown. In 2000 and 2007, the national electorate reconfirmed Assad as the president of Syria. In December 2000 is when he married Asma Assad. She was born to Syrian parents but was raised in the United Kingdom. She graduated from Kings College with a bachelor degree in computer science and French literature. The Former president of Syria, Hafez al-Assad was president for 29 years. In 1970, he seized power by toppling Jadid. When he took power he de-radicalized the current government, also strengthened the countries foreign relations. During the cold war, he sided with Soviet Union so that they would show support against Syria. He also instituted the one-man rule, and then set up the state services. The Sunnis became political the formal heads of the political institutions while the Alawites were in charge of military actions. His son Basar al-Assad was not the first choice to
Syrian civil war started in 2011 was the outcome of the opposition against the President Bashar al-Assad regime. The uprising emerged as a response to the Arab spring movement that lead to regime change in Tunisia and subsequently turned into mass unrest rooted into the discontent with long-term dictatorship and poor economic situation in the country (Manfreda, n.d.). The number of Syrian citizens killed in the civil war reached 140000 since March 2011 (SBS 2014). The European Commission (2014, 2) reports approximately 9.3 million civilians “in need for humanitarian assistance”. The scale of armed rebellion between government and opposition that lead to an increasing number of casualties among civilians did not remain unnoticed by the
The Syrian Arab Republic is an Arab country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the North, Iraq to the East, Jordan to the South, and Israel to the Southwest. In March 2011, the Syria conflict has begun due to various reasons and is still going on today. This outbreak is one of the key factors which resulted the Arab Spring (Arab Uprising). Arab Spring refers to the democratic uprisings that arose independently and spread across the Arab world in 2011. The protest originated in Tunisia in December 2010 and quickly took hold in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. In these countries, the citizens intiatied the protests as the ruling families have been