A Super Quick History of Syria

Hello everyone and welcome. This is Asia and here's Syria. Now let's go, shall we? You see this map? This shows us the portion of the Middle East known as the fertile cresant. It was here the first civilizations were born. The land that comprises the modern nation of Syria was part of it. Some very important, very ancient cities included Eblah and Mari, two centers of trade and rancerous rivals who fought hundred-yearong war against each other. Eblah, the elder city, triumphed, only to itself be destroyed by the invading Acadians. All this horrible warfare and destruction happened over 4,000 years ago. And get ready, Syria, there's going to be lot more of that. Kingdoms arose in Syria, and the Assyrians invaded, and the Babylonians invaded. The Hittites and Egyptians made battlefield of the land. The Sea Peoples invaded, and the Mitani conquered the north, while the Amorites took the south. During the time of the middle Assyrian Empire, people known as the Arameans emerged to dominate much of Syria, the interior of which was called Aram, while the coast of what's now Syria and Lebanon fell to different people, the Phoenicians. These Phoenicians were expert seafarers who colonized much of the Mediterranean. gosh, look, it's probably Yep. Time for another invasion. The rebooted Assyrian Empire gorged itself on the region, but the language of Aram, Aramaic, survived and thrived and would become the common tongue of much of the Middle East for many centuries. The rebooted Babylonian Empire now conquered Syria. And then the Persians came to town and did the same thing. Then along came the Greeks and Syria found itself lodged into the Seucid Empire. The Greeks built the city of Antioch which became the empire's capital and it was the Greeks who bestowed the name of Syria upon Syria deriving it from the word Assyria which of course was different place but the Greeks didn't care and the name stuck. goodness, look at the time. Not again. Yes, the Romans swept into the region with Pompy the Great and set about taking it for themselves. Rome ruled the area for centuries and some Syrians even became emperor. Christianity also spread from neighboring Judea and according to the Bible, Christians were first called Christians in the Syrian city of Antioch. In the troublesome 3rd century, Syria became dissatisfied with Roman rule, especially after it failed to protect the province from Persian invasion. Amidst the unrest, woman named Zenobia arose to free Syria from Rome and declared herself queen. With great speed, she conquered sizable empire, including Egypt. But it lasted only short time as the Romans returned under the extremely capable commander and emperor Aurelion, who reconquered the land for Rome and burned her capital of Palmyra. Roman rule continued under the Byzantines until the 7th century when the invading Muslim Arabians galloped in to take control. The second Islamic caliphate made its capital in the ancient Syrian city of Damascus, where they built this big mosque. Under Arab rule, the Greek and Aramaic languages began to die out in Syria and were replaced by Arabic. The caliphate was overthrown by another caliphate, which moved the capital to Baghdad. And Syria was like, "Are you serious?" Okay, no more puns. The Arabs lost control of Syria in the 9th century when Turk dynasty based in Egypt took power there and then again. Then an Arab dynasty took it and then again. Then the Turks took it and then the crusaders arrived from Europe and established states and built this enormous castle. The Aubid dynasty of Egypt, meanwhile, controlled the majority of Syria, but lost it as the Mongols swept in and threshed them. Okay, that's enough craziness. Nope, there's more. In 1281, the Mammluk sultterate of Egypt defeated the Mongols. Now things were peaceful and wait, more horror. The Usuzbck conqueror Timur invaded and devastated Syria, slaughtering men, women, children, burning people alive, making towers out of decapitated heads, and bundling off many others into slavery. In 1516, the Ottoman Turks conquered Syria and they proceeded to rule it for four centuries. Now, while far from perfect, Ottoman rule at least provided the region with some stability and structure for the multicultural populace of Muslims, Christians, Drews, Jews, and Yazidis. Still, attacks from Bedawins from the desert were problem, and the economy faltered, and peasants suffered. As the Ottoman Empire weakened more and more in the 1800s, tensions, insecurities, and agitations began surfacing in Ottoman lands. In 1860, the Drews and Muslims of Damascus massacred thousands of Christians and burned and looted their homes and churches in an incident that further embarrassed the Ottoman authorities who had told concerned European powers that they could handle the situation. The Ottoman Empire's fate was sealed by its defeat in the First World War, during which conflict, the Arabs revolted against Turkish rule, receiving substantial aid in this endeavor from the British and the French. Now the Arabs had hoped for single unified independent Arab state stretching from Syria to Yemen. But the British and French said nope and the land was divided up ostensibly with the aim of preparing the future countries there for self-government. The French took Syria. The Syrian answer was the great Syrian revolt against the French. conflict led on both sides by men with spectacular mustaches. The French mustache triumphed and the revolt was stamped out. The Syrian people decided that independence would best be achieved through good old boring politics instead of violence. Things were underway in this direction. But then Adolf here happened. The French were worried about Germany's rise and believed France would become weaker if it gave up its holdings. Even so, Turkey was permitted to take over the region of Syria that housed the city of Antioch. Excuse me. During World War II, France was occupied by the Germans, and its collaborationist wartime government, including that of its colonies, was basically German puppet. After World War II, the British sided with the Syrian nationalists and forced the French out. Syria gained independence in 1946 and while things were still muddled and disorganized, joined posy of Arab nations to invade Israel as soon as it declared itself state. Israel won and Syria, humiliated at the defeat, experienced military coup. Yet, the leader of the coup was soon overthrown himself in another coup. And then there was another coup. And then there was another coup. In 1958, Syria joined Egypt to form the United Arab Republic, but it soon collapsed. Don't tell me. Yes, another coup. Syria did not enjoy being mere province under Egypt's military dictatorship control and thus broke away from it. Then in 1963, there was not again, another coup, which ended with the Socialist Bath party gaining power. another coup. And then in 1967, Syria lost the region of the Golden Heights to Israel in the Six-Day War. Then there was coup within the Ba'ath party that brought Hafas al- Ess to power. Assad oversaw Syria's involvement in another war against Israel in 1973. The Syrians and their Soviet supplied weapons initially made strong advance, but ended up pushed back as the Israeli air force struck multiple targets throughout Syria. In 1976, as civil war was raging in Lebanon, Syria invaded that country and began its lengthy occupation. The same year, Islamist militants kicked up an uprising within Syria, which after years of death and mayhem, the government managed to suppress, ruthlessly suppress, involving, as it did, the destruction of the city of Hamas and the massacre of, according to Syrian human rights groups, 40,000 people. Assad died in the year 2000 and was succeeded by his son. Hopes of reform was soon dispelled. And as the Arab Spring revolts spread over the Arabic speaking world, don't like where this is heading, anti-government protests erupted in Syria. What exactly do you mean by erupted? chaos ensued in the resultant civil war. Rival political factions, millions fleeing the nation as refugees, hundreds of thousands of deaths, untold horrors, and senseless destruction. In 2015, the Syrian government requested military aid from Russia, and the subsequent Russian intervention helped the government gain the upper hand. Syria today, amidst all its troubles, holds medium level of human development, though it is ranked as one of the most corrupt and least free nations in the world. But the question stands, what's next? Will Syria smile? What awaits it in the coming years? Comment below. But for now, bye-bye.