First Syrian Republic
Syrian Republic الجمهورية السورية | |||||||||
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| 1953–1967 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag
.svg) Coat of arms
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| Capital | Damascus | ||||||||
| Largest city | Aleppo | ||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic (official) | ||||||||
| Religion | Islam (official) | ||||||||
| Government | Constitutional republic | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1953–1967 | Haydar al-Hassan | ||||||||
| Vice President | |||||||||
• 1953–1958 | TBD | ||||||||
• 1958–1963 | TBD | ||||||||
• 1963–1967 | TBD | ||||||||
| Legislature | National Congress | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 14 May 1953 | |||||||||
| 17 April 1967 | |||||||||
| Currency | Syrian pound | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | SY | ||||||||
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The First Syrian Republic, officially the Syrian Republic, was a state that succeeded the Kingdom of Syria in 1953 and existed until 1967. After the 1953 Syrian revolution forced the abdication of King Faisal, a presidential republic was established. Within the first few years it became a military dictatorship with symbolic elections. In 1967, shortly beforean election, the Syrian Ba'athist Party seized power in a military coup and created a one-party dictatorship, the Syrian Arab Republic.
Throughout its existence the republic was ruled by Haydar al-Hassan, a colonel who led the revolution against King Faisal, as President of Syria. He created an authoritarian government that only maintained the pretense of democratic elections for a few years and functioned as a dictatorship. In foreign policy al-Hassan initially tried to maintain Syria's neutrality between the Arab nationalist and socialist Egypt and Libya and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf led by Hashemite Arabia, accepting economic and technical support from both sides. As the Arab Cold War intensified immediately after the Second Great War, he came under increasing pressure from the Hashemite Kingdom of Arabia to join its alliance. In the final years of his presidency al-Hassan lost popularity as the economy stagnated. He began siding increasingly with the anti-communist bloc in an attempt to obtain more economic support, and in 1967, with backing from Egypt, Syrian Ba'athist military officers led by Farouk al-Malki overthrew his government.
Even though the years of the First Republic were marked by authoritarianism, the flag of the Syrian Republic was later used by anti-Ba'athist opposition groups, and in 2005 after the invasion of Syria it was restored as the country's national flag for the Second Syrian Republic, which would govern Syria between 2005 until 2022 with the Syrian opposition took over and re-established the Syrian Arab Republic.
History
Government
Economy
See also
- Altverse II
- Start-class articles
- Syria
- Former political entities in Syria
- 1953 establishments in Syria
- 1967 disestablishments in Syria
- Former countries
- Former countries in South Asia
- Former republics
- States and territories established in 1953
- States and territories disestablished in 1967
- Modern history of Syria