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| 1954 Syrian coup d'état | |||||||
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| Part of theArab Cold War | |||||||
 Shishakli in exile soon after overthrowing, Saudi Arabia. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Syrian Armed Forces loyalists | Syrian Armed Forcescoup plotters National Party People's Party Muslim Brotherhood Communist Party Ba'ath Party | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Adib Shishakli(President and Prime Minister of Syria) Salah Shishakli(army field commander) Rasmi Qudsi(army field commander) Abdul-Haq Shihada(gendarmerie commandant) Husain Hidda(army field commander) Omar Thamer(Aleppo garrison commandant) | Hashim al-Atassi Sultan al-Atrash Shaukat Shuqair(army commander) Mustafa Hamdoun(Aleppo rebel commandant) Abdul-Jawad Raslan(Ladkia garrison commandant) Faisal Atassi(Aleppo rebel officer) | ||||||
The1954 Syrian coup d'état took place in February of that year to overthrow the government ofAdib Shishakli. Leading the anti-Shishakli movement were former PresidentAtassi and the veteran Druze leaderSultan al-Atrash.
ColonelAdib Shishakli came to power by a coup in December 1949, forming a military autocracy.[1] As the leader of Syria,Adib Shishakli recognized the desires of Syria'sArab majority, and accordingly adopted a policy ofpan-Arabism. He clashed frequently with the independent-mindedDruze minority on theJabal Druze mountain, accusing them of wanting to topple his government using funds from Jordan, and in 1954 resorted to shelling Druze strongholds to put down resistance to his rule.
Growing discontent eventually led to a coup, in which Shishakli was overthrown in February 1954. The plotters included members of theSyrian Communist Party, Druze officers,Ba'ath Party members, and possibly had Iraqi backing. He had also arrested many active officers in the Syrian Army, including the rising youngAdnan al-Malki, also a prominent Baathist. Leading the anti-Shishakli movement were former PresidentAtassi and the veteran Druze leaderSultan al-Atrash. The largest anti-Shishakli conference had been held in Atassi's home inHoms. Shishakli had responded by arresting Atassi andAtrash's sons, Adnan andMansur (both of whom were ranking politicians in Syria).
When the insurgency reached its peak, Shishakli backed down, refusing to drag Syria into civil war. He fled toLebanon, but when the Druze leaderKamal Jumblat threatened to have him killed, he fled toBrazil.
After the overthrow of President Shishakli in 1954 coup, he continued political maneuvering supported by competing factions in the military eventually brought Arab nationalist and socialist elements to power. The early years of independence were marked by political instability. Prior to theunion between Syria and Egypt in 1958,Shishakli toyed with the idea of returning to Syria to launch a coup d'état, using funds provided by Iraq. The coup was foiled by Syrian intelligence and Shishakli was sentenced to deathin absentia.
