The March 1949 Syrian coup d'état was a bloodless coup d'état that took place on 30 March. It was the first military coup in modern Syrian history and overthrew the country's democratically-elected government, after Syria gained independence in 1946. It was led by the Syrian Army chief of staff, Husni al-Za'im, who became president of Syria on 11 April 1949. Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli, who was overthrown as a result of the coup, was accused of poor leadership and purchasing inferior arms for the Syrian Army. He was briefly imprisoned, but then released into exile in Egypt. Many of the internal motivations behind the coup subsequently stemmed from dissatisfaction among the Syrian people and military because of al-Quwatli's leadership during the 1948 Arab-Israeli Conflict. Transnational corporate agendas in lieu of the commission of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, such as that of ARAMCO and Saudi King Ibn Saud are speculated to have informed US involvement in the coup. Among the officers who assisted al-Za'im's takeover were Sami al-Hinnawi and Adib al-Shishakli, both of whom in sequence would later also become military leaders of the country. Syria's legislature, then called the House of Representatives, was dissolved, and al-Za'im imprisoned many political leaders on the basis of various accusations.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
March 1949 Syrian coup d'état in the context of Syrian Army
The Syrian Arab Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominated the military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the most senior posts in the armed forces, and had the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the combined services. The Syrian Army originated in local military forces formed by the French after World War I, after France obtained a mandate over the region. It officially came into being in 1945, before Syria obtained full independence the following year and 2 years after official independence.
After 1946, it played a major role in Syria's governance, mounting six military coups: two in 1949, including the March 1949 Syrian coup d'état and the August 1949 coup by Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi, and one each in 1951, 1954, 1963, 1966, and 1970. It fought four wars with Israel (1948, the Six-Day War in 1967, the Yom Kippur War of 1973, and 1982 Lebanon War) and one with Jordan ("Black September" in Jordan, 1970). An armored division was also deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990–91 during the Gulf War, but saw little action. From 1976 to 2005 it was the major pillar of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Internally, it played a major part in suppressing the 1979–82 Islamist uprising in Syria, and from 2011 to 2024 was heavily engaged in fighting the Syrian Civil War, the most violent and prolonged war the Syrian Army had taken part in since its establishment in the 1940s.
March 1949 Syrian coup d'état in the context of President of Syria
The president of Syria, officially the president of the Syrian Arab Republic, (Arabic: رئيس الجمهورية العربية السورية, romanized: Ra'īs al-Jumhūriyyah al-ʿArabiyyah as-Sūriyyah), is the head of state and head of government of Syria. The president directs the executive branch of the Syrian government and serves as the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces. The president represents the nation in international relations and formalizes treaties with foreign countries.
In 1922, French authorities created the Syrian Federation under the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, with Subhi Barakat serving as its president. The federation was short-lived and was replaced by the State of Syria in 1925. Barakat briefly remained president until the outbreak of the Great Syrian Revolt later that year, which led to his resignation. He was succeeded by Ahmad Nami, who served as president until his removal in 1928. In the following years, the Syrian presidency underwent several changes in leadership, including a coup by Husni al-Za'im in March 1949, followed by another led by Adib Shishakli in 1951. Following the 1958 referendum, Syria joined the United Arab Republic, and its president Gamal Nasser, also became the Syrian president in the same referendum. This lasted for three years until the 1961 coup, when Syria restored its independence and the 1950 constitution.