Timeline

	1918 400 years of Ottoman rule ends. Emir Feisal heads short-lived Kingdom of Syria before French forces occupy Damascus, putting Syria under French mandate.
	1925–26 National uprising against French rule.
	1946 Independent Syrian Republican government takes charge.
	1947 Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party founded.
	1948 First Arab–Israeli War. Defeat of Arab alliance triggers series of military coups in Syria.
	1949 Army officer, Adib al-Shishakhli, seizes power and dissolves all political parties.
	1955 Civilian government returns to power with Shykri al-Quwatli as president. Syria seeks closer ties with Egypt.
	1958 Syria and Egypt join United Arab Republic (UAR). Egyptian president Gamai Abdel Nasser heads new state and forces Islamic group, Muslim Brotherhood, to disband.
	1963 Discontent with Egyptian domination of UAR culminates in coup by Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, electing Amin al-Hafez as president. Political freedoms drastically reduced, concentrating power in the hands of military and Alawite minority.
	1964–65 Strikes and mass demonstrations spread throughout Syria.
	1967 Third Arab–Israeli War. Six-day war between Israel, UAR, Jordan and Syria. Israeli forces seize Golan Heights from Syria, destroying most of Syria’s air force.
	1971 Hafez al-Assad assumes presidency of Ba’ath Party dominated government. Assad brings political stability but rights of expression, association and assembly are strictly controlled. Muslim Brotherhood targets Syrian government and prominent Alawites.
	1973 Fourth Arab–Israeli War (Yom Kippur War). Syria and Egypt stage surprise attack on Israel’s holiest day. Syria launches unsuccessful offensive against Israel to regain Golan Heights.
	1976 Syria intervenes in Lebanese civil war.
	1980 Iran–Iraq War. Strategic alliance begins between Syria and Iran.
	1982 Muslim Brotherhood clashes with Syrian government. Hama massacre occurs with estimated 25 000 killed as 12 000 troops besiege the city.
	1987 President Assad sends troops to Lebanon.
	1990 The Gulf War. Iraq invades Kuwait. Syria joins the US-led coalition against Iraq.
	2000 Bashar al-Assad succeeds his father as president. Bashar releases some political prisoners but unrest builds as regime fails to deliver promised political and economic reforms.
	2005 Syria withdraws forces from Lebanon.
	2010 Arab Spring. Mass anti-government protests begin in Tunisia and spread across Arab world.
	2011 Syrian Uprising begins.
	March Arrest, torture and killing of teenagers in Daraa sparks pro-democracy protests in Damascus, Aleppo, Daraa and Homs.
	Day of Rage. Estimated 200 protesters gather in Damascus and Daraa demanding overthrow of Assad regime and calling for repeal of Emergency Law that bans public gatherings.
	Day of Dignity. Thousands protest in cities across Syria. Activists label Homs ‘Capital of the Revolution’. Security forces open fire on protestors in Daraa, killing fifteen demonstrators and seven police.
	April President Assad lifts Emergency Law. 5000 refugees flee harsh fighting in Talkalakh.
	May Estimated 1000 civilians and 150 soldiers killed and thousands detained as Syrian Army launches attacks in twenty cities. Siege of Homs begins with Syrian Army clashing with protestors following Friday prayers, killing fifteen protestors. Tanks enter Homs searching for activists.
	Day of Defiance. Mass gatherings in Damascus. US imposes sanctions on Assad and senior Syrian officials for human rights abuses.
	June–July More than 10 000 Syrians flee to refugee camps in Turkey. Defected Syrian officers form Free Syrian Army (FSA) – the first formal military resistance to Assad government. Heavy street fighting continues in Homs with significant casualties on both sides.
	September–December Major confrontation occurs in city of Rastan between FSA and the Syrian Army. Estimated 120 civilian deaths as Syrian Army takes control of Rastan. Syrian Army storms city of Homs. Heavy fighting in several neighbourhoods as Syrian Army gains control of city. United Nations (UN) human rights officer puts death toll for uprising at 3500 as worsening violence engulfs the country.
	2012 UN condemns the government’s use of heavy weaponry and militia killing of more than 100 civilians in Houla, near Homs. Za’atri Refugee Camp opens in Jordan. FSA seizes Aleppo.
	President Obama warns Assad against use of chemical weapons. United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) aid reaches 300 000 displaced people across Syria. Major opposition forces form National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.
	Worsening violence engulfs Syria. US, Britain, France, Turkey and Gulf States recognise Syria’s opposition National Coalition as the ‘legitimate representative’ of Syrian people. Increasingly sectarian war draws jihadist groups, including Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.
	Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt host half a million refugees.
	Several Western journalists die in Homs as they attempt to foil government’s efforts to control media coverage of attacks.
	2013 Government and Hezbollah forces recapture Qusair. US and Britain demand investigation into reports Syrian government forces used chemical weapons.
	Hundreds killed as sarin rockets fire at several districts around Damascus. Syrian Air Force drop barrel bombs on Aleppo, killing hundreds of civilians. UNHRC estimates suggest more than 4 million Syrians are internally displaced and the number of refugees exceeds 2 million.
	2014 UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva fail. UNICEF estimates 5 and a half million children are living in dire circumstances inside Syria and over 1 and a half million children are refugees in neighbouring regions.
	Syrian forces evacuate hundreds of rebels from Old City of Homs, centre of three-year resistance. President Bashar al-Assad maintains leadership in disputed election.
	Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggests death toll in the Syrian conflict exceeds 160 000 including military, civilians and rebels. UN estimates that each month there are 50 000 new refugee registrations in Lebanon as the conflict continues unabated.