The Alawite State, initially named the Territory of the Alawites, after the locally-dominant Alawites from its inception until its integration to the Syrian Federation in 1922, was a French mandate territory on the coast of present-day Syria after World War I. The French Mandate from the League of Nations lasted from 1920 to 1946.
Since gaining independence from France in 1946, Syria has used a number of different flags, all featuring the pan-Arab colours of green, red, black and white. Initially a green, white and black triband charged with three red five-pointed stars, known as the "independence flag", was used. This was later replaced by red, white and black tribands with either two or three green stars or charged with the national coat of arms. Following the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, the "independence flag" once again began to be used within the country by the Syrian parliament and the Syrian transitional government, and at Syrian embassies abroad.
Michel Aflaq was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he is considered by several Ba'athists to be the principal founder of Ba'athist thought. He published various books during his lifetime, such as The Road to Renaissance (1940), The Battle for One Destiny (1958) and The Struggle Against Distorting the Movement of Arab Revolution (1975).
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revolution, civil war, or some combination thereof.
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning Syria and Lebanon. The mandate system was supposed to differ from colonialism, with the governing country intended to act as a trustee until the inhabitants were considered eligible for self-government. At that point, the mandate would terminate and a sovereign state would be born.
The State of Greater Lebanon, informally known as French Lebanon, was a state declared on 1 September 1920, which became the Lebanese Republic in May 1926, and is the predecessor of modern Lebanon.
Syria has had various constitutions, the first being the Syrian Constitution of 1930. The most recent constitution was in force from 26 February 2012 until the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024. A new constitution will be drafted by the Syrian Transitional Government by 2025.
The Provisional Constitution of the United Arab Republic or the Constitution of 1958 was the constitution for the short-lived political union between Egypt and Syria known as the United Arab Republic (UAR). This 74-article provisional constitution was formulated on 5 March 1958 and lasted until the Syrian coup d'état of 28 September 1961.
Since the establishment of the Syrian Republic on 14 May 1930, Syria has had several coats of arms, albeit fairly consistent in composition – a supporter bearing a shield, with the official Arabic name of the country on a scroll beneath.
The People's Assembly is the legislature of Syria. It has 250 members elected for a four-year term in 15 multi-seat constituencies.
Lebanese Independence Day is the national day of Lebanon, celebrated on 22 November in commemoration of the end of the French control over Lebanon in 1943, after 23 years of Mandate rule.
The 1963 Syrian coup d'état, referred to by the Syrian government as the March 8 Revolution, was the seizure of power in Syria by the military committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The planning and the unfolding conspiracy of the Syrian Ba'athist operatives were prompted by the Ba'ath party's seizure of power in Iraq in February 1963.
The decolonisation of Asia was the gradual growth of independence movements in Asia, leading ultimately to the retreat of foreign powers and the creation of several nation-states in the region.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Syria.
The Second Syrian Republic, officially the Syrian Republic from 1950 to 1958 and the Syrian Arab Republic from 1961 to 1963, succeeded the First Syrian Republic that had become de facto independent in April 1946 from the French Mandate. The Second Republic was founded on the Syrian Constitution of 1950, which was suspended from 1953 to 1954 under Adib Shishakli's strongmanship, and later when Syria joined with the Republic of Egypt in forming the United Arab Republic in 1958. The Second Republic resumed when Syria withdrew from the union in 1961. In 1963, the Syrian Ba'athist Party came to power in a bloodless military coup, which laid the foundations for the political structure in Ba'athist Syria.
The modern history of Syria begins with the termination of Ottoman control of Syria by French forces and the establishment of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration during World War I. The short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria emerged in 1920, which was however soon committed under the French Mandate, which produced the short-lived autonomous State of Aleppo, State of Damascus, Alawite State and Jabal al-Druze (state); the autonomies were transformed into the Mandatory Syrian Republic in 1930. Syrian Republic gained independence in April 1946. The Republic took part in the Arab-Israeli War and remained in a state of political instability during the 1950s and 1960s.
The First Syrian Republic, officially the Syrian Republic, was formed in 1930 as a component of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, succeeding the State of Syria. A treaty of independence was made in 1936 to grant independence to Syria and end official French rule, but the French parliament refused to accept the treaty. From 1940 to 1941, the Syrian Republic was under the control of Vichy France, and after the Allied invasion in 1941 gradually went on the path towards independence. The proclamation of independence took place in 1944, but only in October 1945 was the Syrian Republic de jure recognized by the United Nations; it became a de facto sovereign state on 17 April 1946, with the withdrawal of French troops. It was succeeded by the Second Syrian Republic upon the adoption of a new constitution on 5 September 1950.
