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In 1945, France remained on Syrian soil and kept on influencing politics there. On May 29, 1945, Syria protested and French troops attack the Syrian Parliament building in Damascus. Discussion of this matter in the United Nations Security Council demanded France’s withdrawal from Syria. Syria became fully independent on April 17, 1946 when the last French soldier left Syrian soil
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During this period the Syrian government was overthrown in many coup d’états both violently and peaceful. This ended when the Baath Party took over in 1963.
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The United Arab Republic was created by Gamal Abdel Nasser because he wanted to stabalize and unite all Arab countries. He forced Syia to get rid of all their political parties. This failed after three years.
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The Baath Arab Socialist Party came to power through a coup known as the March Revolution. This was when the Parliament was dissolved and a one-party regime was introduced. The military became stronger and the economy excelled and developed.
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Israel defeats Syria in the Six-Day-War while Conquering the Golan Heights from them. Then Syria and Israel both accepted the UN's suggestion of a cease-fire
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Hafez al-Assad provided political stability for the first time in Syrian history. He wasn't well liked by the citizens because he achieved this by violence and terror. He mobilized the major political powers in Syria under the National Progressive Front, and got the Parliament back on track.
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This constitution defined the basic functions of Syria. Among other things, it determines Syria's character to be Arab, Socialist and republican. Syria also described itself as a region of the wider Arab world going off of the concept Pan-Arabism.
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Syria and Egypt attack Israel trying to recapture the Golan Heights that Israel conquered in the Six-Day-War, but they fail and get defeated.
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The Lebanese Civil war began in 1975. Syria used that as a pre-text to invade Lebanon soon there after. Syrian forces remained in Lebanon occupying various parts of the country until the assassination of Rafiq Hariri. After the assassination, Syria was forced to withdraw troops in 2005.
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Islamist factions staged many attacks against its government and officials, including an assassination attempt of president Hafez al-Assad. The government responded with torture, mass arrests and massacres to crush the insurgence. The insurgency ended with the Hama Massacre.
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The Syrian army destroyed the town of Hama to stop a revolt by the Sunni Muslim community against the regime of al-Assad. Most accounts put the death toll between 10,000 and 40,000 people. The Hama massacre, personally conducted by president Assad's younger brother, Rifaat al-Assad, effectively ended the campaign begun in 1976 by Sunni Islamic groups.
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Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine participated in the peace conference in Madrid with Israel. It was sponsored by the US and the Soviet Union. It was the first time Israel had face-to-face negotiations with these countries. Since Israel wouldn’t negotiate with the terrorist PLO, the Palestinians were represented from people in the West Bank and Gaza who weren't associated with the PLO. After, it became known that the PLO was in the hotel guiding the Palestinian representatives in the meeting.
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After the death of Hafez al-Assad, his son, Bashar Al-Asad, took over.
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Syria asked the U.N. Security Council to get rid of Israel's airstrike against a “terrorist training camp” inside Syrian territory according to Israel. Israel said it acted in self-defense after a suicide bombing. Syrian U.N. Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad called the airstrike an act of "unwarranted aggression" that went against the U.N. charter and the 1974 disengagement agreement.
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In 2004, the George W. Bush administration, which lists Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, banned U.S. exports to Syria, except food and medicine, split banking relations with the country, and stopped allowing direct flights to and from Syria. It currently goes by the U.S. economic sanctions under the Syria Accountability Act, which prohibits the export and re-export of most U.S. products to Syria.
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Israeli jet fighters bombed a suspected a nuclear reactor under construction by North Korean technicians.
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In October 2008, Syria and Lebanon decided to have diplomatic relationships by establishing embassies for the first time in history since both countries gained their national independence during the 1940s. Two months later, the Syrian Embassy was opened in Beirut and in March 2009, Lebanon followed by opening its embassy in Damascus.
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In 2009, the drought improved allowing the wheat production to double since 2008. On top of that, the government raised the prices of oil and fertilizer. The Bashar al-Asad government started its reform efforts by introducing private banks and a stock exchange in March 2009. In October, the Syrian Government loosened its restrictions on foreign currency transfers by allowing Syrians travelling abroad to withdraw the equivalent of up to U.S. $10,000 from their Syrian Pound accounts.
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The Syrian government is trying to keep the shaky economy from collapsing because they faced corruption and a recent drought, which brought hardship to its growing population. Reforms aimed at opening the state-controlled economy have become more cautious. The government drove Abdullah al-Dardari out, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, and face of Syrian economic reform in the West. The government has also strained its relations with Turkey, who was an important trading partner.
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There is a lack of professional oppurtunities in Syria, which leads many of the educated and middle class to leave Sryia in search of employment in Europe and the Gulf.
