Syrian Revolution (2011)

The Syrian Revolution was a revolution in Syria in 2011. Although intially optimistic about the potential for social change, it catalysed into the most tragic conflict of the 21st century - the Syrian Civil War.

Background

Following Syria's decolonisation by the French Empire in 1946, it enjoyed a brief period of representative democracy before the military took over in a controversial coup in 1949 (with alleged CIA help). Frequent coups, military revolts, civil disorders and bloody riots dominated the country until the Ba'ath party took power in a military coup in 1963 and ruled as a secular one-party state until the revolution. This led to a rise in opposition from not only democracy activists but also leftists and Islamists.

Increasing economic stagnation triggered by privatisation of the economy in the 1990s, high unemployment and a severe drought (triggered by climate change) led to mass migration into cities from rural areas. These factors combined with the governments restriction of civil liberties and lack of political democracy led to the perfect ingredients for a revolution. Once the Arab Spring was triggered by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, it soon followed in Syria.

Events

Major unrest began on the 15th of March in Damascus, Syria's capital city following the arrest and torture of 15 young students who had been caught writing anti-government graffiti in the city. A 13-year-old boy, Hamza al-Khateeb, was tortured and killed. Protesters clashed with local police, and confrontations escalated on the 18th of March after Friday prayers. Security forces attacked protesters gathered at the Omari Mosque using water cannons and tear gas, followed by live fire, killing four. Minor protests broke out across the country. Protesters demanded the release of political prisoners, the abolition of Syria's 48-year emergency law, more freedoms, and an end to pervasive government corruption. The events led to a "Friday of Dignity" on 18 March, when large-scale protests broke out in several cities, including Banias, Damascus, al-Hasakah, Daraa, Deir az-Zor, and Hama. Police responded to the protests with tear gas, water cannons, and beatings. At least 6 people were killed and many others injured.

On the 20th of March, protesters burnt down the Ba'ath Party headquarters and other public buildings in Damascus, leading to police shooting at crowds, leading to protesters fighting back. In two days, 15 protesters and 7 police officers were killed. On the 25th of March, mass protests spread nationwide, as demonstrators emerged after Friday prayers. At least 20 protesters were reportedly killed by security forces. Protests subsequently spread to other Syrian cities, including Homs, Hama, Baniyas, Jasim, Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia. Over 70 protesters in total were reported killed. The government claimed the protesters were foreign agents and terrorists.

The government began to arrest tens of thousands of people without trial in order to attack political activists. Many of those detained experienced ill-treatment. Many detainees were cramped in tight rooms and were given limited resources, and some were beaten, electrically jolted, or debilitated. Checkpoints were installed and large amounts of police were deployed to destroy protest camps while at the same time offering political reforms such as shorter conscription time, firing corrupt officials, releasing political prisoners, cutting taxes, creating jobs, lifting restrictions on the press and raising wages of public sector workers. These reforms were never implemented, however, the government did reverse the ban on wearing the Niqab at school and granted citizenship to thousands of Kurdish people and tried to hold a national dialogue that protesters refused to attend.

In April, the government began to deploy the military against protesters. Soldiers conducted house to house searches and executed protesters. Tanks were used for the first time against demonstrators, and snipers took positions on the rooftops of mosques. Mosques used as headquarters for demonstrators and organizers were especially targeted. The military began shutting off water, power and phone lines, and confiscating flour and food. Armed protesters and defecting soldiers fought back, killing hundreds of people, but the protests had largely been suppressed by the 5th of May.

Opposition fighters soon became better equipped and organised and two senior military officers defected. Angry protesters on the 4th of June in Jisr ash-Shugur, set fire to a building where the army had fired on a funeral demonstration. Eight soldiers died in the fire as demonstrators took control of a police station, seizing weapons. Clashes between protesters and the army continued in the following days. Soldiers began defecting after the secret police executed soldiers who refused to kill civilians. 10,000 people soon fled into Turkey, an eery foreshadowing of what was to come. The next few weeks were filled with small skirmishes between opposition fighters and defected soldiers against the government.

On the 29th of July, a group of defected officers announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army. Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel, the rebel army seeks to remove dictator Bashar al-Assad and his government from power. With such a significant defection from the state, a civil war had begun.

Results

The revolution saw a mutiny by much of the army into a democratic opposition (although this soon became a mix of all anti-government sentiments including leftists, Islamists, capitalists, liberals and fascists) that led to the conflict becoming the Syrian Civil War, of which the main positive developments are the Rojava Revolution and the negative developments are half a million dead, 12 million refugees and a complex proxy war between Russia and the USA.

References

Wikipedia - Civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War