War and Conflict Journal

Syrian Uprising Timeline

(2011)

Syrian Flag

Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria

Syria has been a dictatorship run by the Assad family since 1970. In that year, Hafez al-Assad, the Defense Minister, launched a coup that put him in power. Upon the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son, Bashar al-Assad, became President of Syria. Both Assads used terror and force to remain in power. The elder Assad suppressed a rebellion in 1982 in the city of Hama by unleashing the Syrian military on that city. At least 10,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, died in that uprising.In March, 2011, as part of the “Arab Spring” rebellions throughout the Middle East, protests began in Syria, and rose to the level of an anti-government uprising resulting in at least hundreds of deaths. for a timeline of the Syrian unrest and uprisings of 2011, go to http://www.historyguy.com/syrian_uprising_2011.htm