A ancient land occupied for millennia by countless invaders, the region which we now call Syria found its first recorded historical expression in around 3500 BC as the Kingdom of Ebla.
The modern incarnation of it was formed under a French Mandate via the San Remo resolution of April 25, 1920. Syrian nationalists and the British forced the French to evacuate in April 1946, and independence was declared on April 17, 1946, led and dominated by Ba'ath (or 'Renaissance') party ideologists ever since.
The swell of Ba'ath Party pan-Arab nationalism unleashed by the end of the Second World War inspired both Syria and Egypt to unite in 1958, forming the short-lived United Arab Republic. Resentment over Egyptian dominance however incited a coup d'état in 1961, which ended the union and restored the Syrian Republic. Egyptian kindled instability brought about a second coup in Syria on March 8, 1963, organized by junior officers split from the main Ba’athist party.
Another coup in 1966 and a third war against Israel in 1967 devastated the country, resulting in a long period of instability and martial law, until Hafez al-Assad assumed the presidency in 1971. Assad reigned in the Ba'ath party, linked himself with the Soviet Union, assumed almost dictatorial power, and strengthened Syria's position.
Calls for democratization upon his death in 2000 crept through when his son, Bashar al-Assad, took command of the nation, forcing the young leader to initiate a 'lighter touch' policy which also strengthened the economy for a time.
The country descended into civil war however beginning in 2011 when the government over-reacted to crush an "Arab Spring"-inspired demonstration in the Southern city of Deraa.
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