1963 Syrian coup d ' état The 1963 Syrian coup d ' état , referred to by the Syrian government as the 8 March Revolution ( ) , was the successful 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 was inspired by the Iraqi Regional Branch ' s successful military coup . The coup was planned by the Military Committee , rather than the Ba ' ath Party ' s civilian leadership , but Michel Aflaq , the leader of the party , consented to the conspiracy . The leading members of the Military Committee throughout the planning process and in the immediate aftermath of taking power were Muhammad Umran , Salah Jadid and Hafez al - Assad . The committee enlisted the support of two Nasserists , Rashid al - Qutayni and Muhammad al - Sufi , and the independent Ziad al - Hariri . The coup was originally planned for the 7 March , but was postponed one day after the government discovered where the conspirators were planning to assemble . Background . Events leading up to the coup . Modern Syria was first established in 1920 as the Arab Kingdom of Syria under King Faisal . This state was planned to be a new Arab kingdom , and not just Syrian , and the state espoused Arab nationalism and pan - Islamic policies . However , the British , who had helped establish the state after World War I , made a secret agreement with France and established the French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon . The area thereby functioned as one of France ' s colonies , and the newly established state was viewed unfavorably by most Syrians , with many of them viewing it as a vessel of European imperialism . At this stage , some movements tried to establish a Syrian identity , most notably the Syrian Social Nationalist Party , or became advocates of communism and Islamism . The majority of Syrians continued to see themselves as Arabs rather than Syrians . The mandate was feudal in character , and it rested on a semi - liberal oligarchic social base . This system remained unchanged until the establishment of the United Arab Republic ( UAR ) . This system created a class society reflecting urban – rural living patterns . An estimated three thousand families owned half of the land in Syria . The majority of small to medium properties were owned by the middle class . Some two - thirds of peasants were landless . Agricultural revenues were highly skewed – the top 2 percent of the population received 50 percent of the income , while the middle class ( merchants or middle landowning groups ) , which was 18 percent of the population , earned 25 percent of agricultural revenues . The bottom 80 percent received the remainder . The landowner – peasant alliance was based on class differences , and social antagonism between each other – this would lead to the landowner ' s downfall . The mandate was dissolved in 1946 because of a British ultimatum to France , and Syria became an independent country on 17 April 1946 . The same elite that had governed Syria during the mandate continued in power and they governed in the same manner . The failure in the 1948 Arab – Israeli War led to the downfall of the traditional elite and the rise of the military in politics . Husni al - Za ' im became the first military dictator of Syria in 1949 , but in 1950 , military officer Adib Shishakli gained power behind the scenes , and by 1953 had established another military dictatorship . The military ' s introduction to the Syrian political scene destroyed the oligarchy enabling the middle class to participate in Syrian politics . However , while their powers were weakened , the traditional elite retained the majority of the wealth produced . It was in this environment that the ideology of Ba ' athism came into being . The Arab Ba ' ath Movement was established by Michel Aflaq and Salah al - Din al - Bitar in the 1940s , others who played a notable role in the early stages of the Ba ' athist movement were Zaki al - Arsuzi , Wahib al - Ghanim and Jallal al - Sayyid . Akram al - Hawrani founded the Arab Socialist Party ( ASP ) in 1953 – the Ba ' ath Party was established through a merger of the ASP and the Arab Ba ' ath Party . Of the 150 delegates to the founding congress of the Arab Ba ' ath Party in 1947 , the majority were either middle - class professionals or intellectuals . By the 1950s the party had managed to acquire an urban middle class base . However , the Ba ' ath Party was not a purely middle - class party , and from the very beginning , it sent party cadres to rural areas to recruit new members and form new party organisations . In 1956 , the Ba ' ath Party organized the first labour protest in Syrian history . While the Ba ' ath Party was strong , its decision to recruit members from across society led to tribalism and clientelism within the party . Party leaders then opted to overlook democratic norms and procedures . The Ba ' ath Party faced a major dilemma : take power through competitive elections or through forceful takeover . Even the liberal and democratic - inclined founding leaders were inclined towards forceful takeover , citing the corrupt electoral process . Before taking power , the Ba ' ath Party gambled that it would be allowed to share power with Gamal Abdel Nasser in the United Arab Republic ( UAR ) . The UAR would prove to be Egypt - dominated , and the Ba ' ath Party was forced to dissolve itself , but in 1961 the UAR collapsed because of a military coup in Syria . The establishment and the dissolution of the UAR was a catastrophe for the Ba ' ath Party as it divided among those who supported the UAR , those who opposed it and those who opposed or supported the traditional leaders of the party . In 1962 , Aflaq convened a Ba ' ath Party congress and re - established the party . Several branches had not followed orders and had not dissolved during the UAR years . Instead they had become deeply hostile to pan - Arabist thought and had become radical socialists instead . The Military Committee , which would launch the 8 March Revolution , shared most of their views . Economic and social context . The 8 March Revolution has often been viewed as a mere military coup , but it had many of the ingredients of national revolts from below . The revolution was led by an anti - oligarchical alliance of a radicalised lower middle class , strategic members of the officer corps , marginalised minorities and a significant number of peasants who were mobilised for agrarian conflict . In an international context , the revolution took place because the state boundaries established by France were artificial and the hostility within the newly established Syria on the creation of Israel . The traditional elite that took power in Syria when the country gained independence had come to power during the French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon . The external imposition of arbitrary state boundaries on Syria with no corresponding popular acceptance led to discontent . The national struggle was shaped by ideologies such as Arab nationalism , pan - Islamism or Greater Syria nism . The plebeian character of the struggle , and the radical ideologies , spawned radical solutions to the agrarian problem . The growth of the new middle class in Syria fueled discontent since the traditional elite dominated the agrarian sector – the largest sector of the economy – and created most of the wealth . The new middle class consisted of capitalists and entrepreneurs who opposed the traditional elite – the monopolisation of power by the traditional elite led to the radicalisation of the new middle class . The military , which in many countries is conservative and elitist , became radicalised in Syria because the military wanted greater power , believing that the traditional elite were unable to defend the country . A significant group of military personnel were recruited from the new middle class or from the hinterlands . In Syria , ethnic minorities were often underprivileged , and a specific ethnicity often belonged to a specific social class . The Alawite s , the Druzes and the Isma ' ilis for instance , were ethnic groups with low social class who began to embrace a radical form of Arab nationalism , e . g . Ba ' athism . Without the peasantry there could not have been a Ba ' athist revolution in Syria . The new middle class alone could only produce instability , but together with the peasantry , the revolution became possible . The inequality between urban and rural dwellers , together with capitalist penetration of the agrarian sector and the traditional elites ' monopolisation of most large revenue sources , led to the establishment of peasant movements who fought for change , or opposed the system . The Syrian branch of the Arab Socialist Ba ' ath Party was able to recruit young peasants from radical peasant movements , and because of it , was able to mobilise large sectors of the population . Planning . In 1962 , the Military Committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba ' ath Party spent most of its time plannining to take power through a conventional military coup . The Military Committee decided it had to capture al - Kiswah and Qatana , two military camps , seize control of the 70th Armoured Brigade at al - Kiswah , the Military Academy in the city of Homs and the Damascus radio station . While the conspirators of the Military Committee were all young , the sitting regime had been slowly disintegrating and the traditional elite had lost effective political power . For the coup to be successful , the Military Committee needed to gain the support of some of the Syrian officer corps . The collapse of the United Arab Republic ( UAR ) , coupled with mutinies , purges and transfers left the officer corps in complete disarray and open to anti - government agitation . At the time , the officer corps was split into five different factions ; the Damascus faction which supported the ancien régime , supporters of Akram al - Hawrani , a Nasserist faction , a Ba ' athist faction and a group of independents . The Damascus faction was the enemy of the Military Committee because of their support for Nazim al - Kudsi ' s regime and the Hawranist were considered as rivals because of their stance against pan - Arabism . The Nasserists became allies of the Ba ' ath , even while they supported Gamal Abdel Nasser and the reestablishment of the UAR . The Military Committee ' s alliance with the Nasserists led to the establishment of secret contact with Colonel Rashid al - Qutayni , the Head of the Military Intelligence , and Colonel Muhammad al - Sufi , the Commander of the Homs Brigade . The Military Committee ordered a group of junior officers to recruit the leading independent Colonel Ziad al - Hariri , the Commander of the front facing Israel , to their cause . The group was successful , and they promised al - Hariri that " If we succeed , you can become chief of staff . If we fail , you can disown us . " Al - Hariri supported the committee because Khalid al - Azm , the Prime Minister of Syria , was planning to demote him . While it planned the coup , the Military Committee and its members were frowned upon by civilian Ba ' athists . The reason for the army – party alliance in the first place was to safeguard the party from repression . The Military Committee did not look favourably on the civilian leadership led by Michel Aflaq , objecting to his dissolution the Ba ' ath Party during the UAR years . While Aflaq needed the Military Committee to seize power , the committee needed Aflaq to hold on power – without Aflaq they would have no support base . At the 5th National Ba ' ath Party Congress , held on 8 May 1962 , it was decided to reestablish the party and keep Aflaq as Secretary General of the National Command . Muhammad Umran , a leading member of the Military Committee , was a delegate at the 5th National Congress , and told Aflaq of the Military Committee ' s intentions – Aflaq consented to the coup , but no agreement was made between him and the Military Committee on how to share power after the coup . The coup . On 8 February 1963 , the Iraqi Regional Branch led by Ali Salih al - Sa ' di took power in Iraq by overthrowing Abd al - Karim Qasim . He was a far more formidable opponent than al - Kudsi , and the Iraqi Regional Branch managed to take power through an alliance not only with military officers , but also with segments of the middle class . Qasim ' s downfall changed the rules of Arab politics – the Nasserists had monopolised the Arab nationalist movement since the UAR , but the takeover made the Ba ' ath Party a force to be reckoned with . In contrast to the Iraqi regional branch , the Syrian regional branch did not have mass support or a significant support base in the middle class . While Aflaq cautioned the plotters because of the party ' s lack of support , they failed to share his worries , and launched the coup on 7 March . However , that day the Military Intelligence raided the apartment where the plotters were planning to assemble . Assad was given the task of reporting to other units that the coup had been postponed to 8 March . On the night of 7 – 8 March , tanks and units loyal to the conspiracy began moving on Damascus . Al - Hariri led a brigade from the Syrian front towards Israel , while Ba ' athists were able to gain control of a second brigade stationed in Suwayda . Caught in a pincer movement , the Commander of the 70th Armoured Brigade , Lieutenant General Abd al - Karim surrendered to the plotters – Umran took over as acting commander of the 70th Armoured Brigade . The potentially hostile unit stationed in Qatana , south - west of Damascus , did not intervene – probably because Widad Bashir had taken control over communications in the Damascus area . With the forces in al - Kiswah defeated and Qatana neutralised , al - Hariri ' s forces marched upon Damascus and began to set up road - blocks in the city , while at the same time seizing critical facilities such as the Central Post Office . Captain Salim Hatum , a party officer , seized the radio station . The Ministry of Defence headquarters were seized without a fight , and General Zahr al - Din , the commander - in - chief , was put under arrest . Both al - Kudsi and al - Hawrani were easily tracked down and arrested . Salah Jadid bicycled into the city that morning , and captured the Bureau of Officers ' Affairs , which later became his personal fiefdom . Assad led a small group of conspirators to capture the al - Dumayr air base , north - east of Damascus – the only force that resisted the coup . Some of its planes were ordered to bomb rebel positions . The plan was that Assad would lead a company from al - Hariri ' s brigade to capture the air base before dawn to prevent air strikes . The surrender of the 70th Armoured Brigade took longer than expected , putting Assad ' s forces behind schedule . When Assad ' s forces reached the outskirts of the base , it was broad daylight . Assad sent an emissary to tell the commanders that he would start shelling the base if they did not surrender . They negotiated their surrender even though , according to Assad himself , their forces could have defeated them in combat . Later that morning the coupmakers convened at the army headquarters to celebrate . The coup had been generally bloodless , and was met by indifference in the population at large . Saber Falhout , a Druze who was later known as " the poet of the revolution " , wrote and announced the first communique of the plotters . The ninth communique reinstated the five members of the Military Committee in the armed forces . The senior members of the newly established regime were Umran , Jadid and at last , Assad . 820 people were reported killed during the takeover and another 20 were executed shortly afterwards . Immediate aftermath . The first act of the new rulers of Syria was to establish the twenty - man National Council for the Revolutionary Command ( NCRC ) , composed of twelve Ba ' athists and eighth Nasserists and independents . On 9 March , the NCRC ordered Salah al - Din al - Bitar , one of the Ba ' ath Party founders , to form a government , and to implement the policies of the NCRC . Later , six civilians were given membership in NCRC , three Ba ' athists ( Aflaq , al - Bitar and Mansur al - Atrash ) and three Nasserists . However , this did not change the balance of power , and the officers still controlled the country . From the beginning , the Military Committee members formed state policies behind the backs of other NCRC members – when the civilian leadership found out , al - Atrash said : " Why do not these gentlemen speak ? May I suggest they appoint a liaison officer to communicate their views to us ? " From that day , Umran gave the civilians a faint idea of what the committee members were planning . At the beginning , there were no signs of the quarrels that would destroy the Military Committee . At the time , the members were bound together by their goal of building a prosperous nation . On 9 March the NCRC released Lu ' ay al - Atassi from jail , promoted him to the rank of lieutenant general , appointed him commander - in - chief and NCRC Chairman , the " de facto " head of state . Hariri was appointed chief of staff . While Atassi and Hariri held powerful posts , they did not possess enough personal or political power to threaten the NCRC . The Nasserist officers were also given notable offices with Muhammad al - Sufi becoming Minister of Defence and Rashid al - Qutayni becoming deputy chief of staff . However , the Military Committee , which had expanded its membership with five new members , ensured that the Ba ' athists controlled the real levers of powers . The committee decided state policies before the sessions of the NCRC , and by doing so became the real seat of power . Umran was first given the command of the 5th Brigade in Homs , but was promoted in June to become commander of the 70th Armoured Brigade . As head of the Bureau of Officers ' Affairs , Jadid appointed friends to senior positions , purged his enemies and appointed several Ba ' athists to senior positions . Ahmad Suwaydani , one of the new members of the Military Committee , was appointed Head of Military Intelligence and Mazyad Hunaydi became Head of the Military Police . The Military Academy at Homs was put under Ba ' athist control — several hundred Ba ' athists , including Assad ' s brother Rifaat al - Assad , were given a crash course in military teaching before being given command . Assad became the " de facto " head of the Syrian Air Force , a dizzying promotion for a man in his thirties . Considering that the members of the Military Committee were all too young to be perceived as the real leaders of Syria by the populace , the Military Committee appointed Colonel Amin al - Hafiz to the post of Minister of the Interior . Purges and failed coup of 18 July . Pressure from consistent pro - Nasser demonstrations in northern Syria and Damascus and from pro - union Ba ' athist leaders like Jamal al - Atassi , the Nasserists and the Arab Nationalist Movement ( ANM ) , coupled with the weakness of the Ba ' athists at the popular level in Syria , led to unification efforts between the new government and the governments of Egypt and Iraq . The latter ' s anti - UAR government had also been overthrown by pro - UAR officers in 1963 . On 17 April a new stage - based unity agreement was reached that would include the three states in a federal union with Nasser as President and Commander - in - Chief of the Armed Forces . However , between 28 April - 2 May , the Ba ' athist - dominated Military Committee virtually renounced the agreement when it purged over 50 Nasserist officers from their high - ranking positions in the armed forces , leading to a wide - scale propaganda campaign by Egypt via radio denouncing the Ba ' ath ( Nasserist - leaning newspapers had been previously shut down . ) Mass pro - union rioting in Aleppo , Damascus , Hama and other parts of the country followed . The purges prompted the protest resignations of Nasserist officials , including Defense Minister al - Sufi , Deputy Chief of Staff al - Qutayni , and four other Nasserist cabinet members . Later , on 19 June , Chief of Staff al - Hariri led a high - ranking delegation that included Prime Minister al - Bitar , Aflaq and Education Minister Sami Droubi to Algeria for a state visit . While al - Hariri was away , the Committee used the opportunity to undertake a purge of about 30 elite officers — mostly political independents — under al - Hariri ' s command . Al - Hariri was ordered to take a direct flight to the Syrian embassy in the United States , where he was reassigned as the embassy ' s military attache . Instead , he returned to Syria via a flight to Beirut on 23 June to protest the Committee ' s move against him . Unsuccessful , he left the country for France in a self - imposed exile on 8 July . The Committee ' s virtual ousting of al - Hariri was to the chagrin of al - Bitar , who viewed al - Hariri as the last military counterweight able to check the Committee ' s domination over his government . The Nasserists still maintained a relatively high level of strength in the military , despite the purges , and on 18 July , under the leadership of Jassem Alwan and the help of Egyptian intelligence , they attempted to launch a daytime coup against the new government . The Army Headquarters , personally defended by al - Hafiz , and the broadcast station were attacked , and the ensuing battle left hundreds of people dead , including several civilian bystanders . The coup attempt failed and 27 participating officers were arrested and executed . The executions were a rare punitive action used to deal with the participants of a failed coup in Syria , with the typical punishment being exile , imprisonment or reassignment to a foreign diplomatic post . President Lu ' ay al - Atassi subsequently resigned , signalling his disapproval of the executions . After evading the authorities for a short period , Alwan and his chief co - conspirators Raef al - Maarri and Muhammad Nabhan were apprehended and brought to military trial , where they were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death . They were released exactly a year later and exiled , after lobbying by Nasser and Iraqi President Abdul Salam Arif . The failure of Alwan ' s revolt marked the end of significant Nasserist influence in Syria ' s military and civilian institutions , and with the pro - Nasser forces largely defeated , the Military Committee became the sole power center of the country . Relations with Egypt immediately soured , with Nasser , still popular with the Syrian masses , issuing broadcasts denouncing the Ba ' athists as " murderers " and " fascists , " and representing the forces of heresy and atheism , a derogatory reference to the party ' s embrace of strict secularism and the numerous leadership positions held by non - Sunni Muslims . Nasser also announced his withdrawal from the 17 April unity agreement .