Syria fell under the blows of the Ottoman Turks in 1516 and for four centuries was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. During this time, Syria has been a significant deterioration in the economic, social and political conditions. In 1916, using the First world war, the Arabs revolted against the Turks.

Britain gave the Arabs military aid, promising full independence at the end of hostilities. The sixth of may 1916 by the Turkish authorities in Damascus and Beirut were hanged dozens of national Syrian leaders. In Lebanon and Syria this day to this day remembered as the "Day of the martyrs. Arab army under the leadership of Sheriff of Mecca - Hussein soon gained the victory over the Turks, and in early 1918 the Arab-British forces occupied Damascus, ending the four centuries of Turkish occupation.

Later in 1918 king Faisal I, the son of Sherif Hussein, announced Syria independent Kingdom. However, France and Britain had its own plans. The agreement of the Sykes-Picot they divided the middle East into French and British spheres of influence". Syria was in French. In early 1920, the French troops landed on the Syrian coast and, after several battles with poorly equipped Syrian parts, took control of their country. In 1923, the League of Nations was officially recognized by the French mandate over Syria.

The Syrians decided to resist the new invaders. In 1925 they rebelled against French rule. Several clashes occurred in the province of Jabal al-Arab, and in Damascus. Due to raids French aviation, followed in response to the support of the rebels, the capital was severely damaged. In 1936, France provided Syria partial independence, signed a corresponding agreement in Paris, the French army remained on Syrian territory and continued to exert political influence. During the Second world war, a part of occupation forces supported the Vichy government, had concluded an Alliance with Germany, while the other stood on the side of Britain. In 1941, the country was occupied by the British army with their French allies, promising Syria full independence after the war.

However, the French again broke his word. The Syrians again rebelled, and may 29, 1945 French troops attacked the building of the Syrian Parliament in Damascus, causing more resentment and new demonstrations. The UN security Council, having considered the matter, issued a resolution demanding the complete withdrawal of French troops from Syria. The French were forced to obey the last French soldier left the territory of Syria on April 17, 1946. This day became a national of Syrian holiday.

The first years of independence were characterized by political instability. In 1948, the Syrian army was sent to Palestine, in order together with the armies of other Arab States to confront the newly formed Israel. The Arabs were defeated and Israel took 78 percent of the area of historic Palestine. In July 1949 Syria was the last Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel. However, this was only the beginning of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In 1949 the national Syrian government was overthrown in a military coup led Husni al Borrowing. Later that year he al-Zaim was overthrown in other war - Sami al Hinnawi. A few months later Hindawi was overthrown by Colonel Adiba al-Shishakli. Sheshekli ruled the country until 1954, while the growth of social discontent forced him to relinquish power and leave the country. Syria again led the national government, which had to face external challenges. In the mid-1950s on the strengthening of the Soviet-Syrian friendship, relations between Syria and the West deteriorated significantly. In 1957, Turkey, loyal U.S. ally and NATO member, has concentrated its troops on the Syrian border, threatening Syria's military invasion.

The threat from the West was also one of the reasons for the merger of Syria and Egypt in the United Arab Republic under the leadership of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in February 1958. Nasser agreed to the merger provided for the dissolution of all Syrian political parties. This was one of the many reasons which led to the collapse of the United Arab Republic on September 28, 1961 in the bloodless military coup in Damascus.

The eighth of March 1963, a coup, called the "March Revolution", the authorities in Syria took Arab socialist Party - Baath". Supporters of the BA'ath dissolved Parliament and introduced a one-party regime, which has also not reached stability in view of the contradictions within the BA'ath. In February 1966 the right wing of the BA'ath has achieved leadership in the party, declaring a national leader of the radical - Salah Jadid.

In the spring of 1967 on the border with Syria and Israel there were serious clashes. In April, Israeli officials openly threatened the Syrian military invasion. These threats, along with other important events caused a six-day Israeli war with neighboring Arab countries. The fifth of June 1967, Israel has carried out the attack on the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, and on the West Bank of the Jordan river. Then, the tenth of June, the Israeli connection attacked the Golan heights, which belonged to Syria. In the two-day fights Syria lost the strategic region, including the major city - Quneitra. The eleventh of June, at the request of the UN, the opposing sides stopped fighting. Later, in 1967, the UN Security Council adopted the famous resolution 242, which require the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the occupied territories occupied during the six day war in exchange for peace talks and recognition by the Arabs of Israel's right to exist.

on November 16, 1970 Hafez al-Assad, who served as defense Minister, he headed the "Movement Correction, since Syria stability and security after a long and turbulent period. Assad, elected in 1971 President by an overwhelming majority, began to prepare their country to fight for the lost territory. It brought together major political forces in the Progressive national Front and revived the people's Council (Parliament). The Syrians did not lose time. The sixth of October 1973, Syria and Egypt suddenly attacked Israeli forces in the Sinai and the Golan heights. A few days Syrian troops managed to almost completely withdraw from the occupied territories, however, due to the American air-bridge, the Israelis managed to beat off position. Syria was one against the USA and Israel. Given the cessation of hostilities on the Egyptian front, the Syrians agreed with peaceful initiatives of the United Nations. The Security Council issued a new resolution 338, demanding Israel's withdrawal from the Arab territories, as well as peace negotiations in order to achieve peace in the middle East.

For obvious reasons, the Syrians were not satisfied with this outcome. In early 1974, they started a war of attrition with Israeli forces in the Golan heights. Persistence and moral superiority of the Arabs forced the US to the settlement of relations between Syria and Israel. Mediated by U.S. Secretary of state Henry Kissinger had reached agreement on cessation of hostilities between the Syrian and Israeli forces on the Golan heights. In accordance with the reached agreements, Syria has regained control over part of the territory of the Golan heights, including the large town of Quneitra. President Assad has raised the Syrian flag over the liberated lands of 26 June 1974, but the Syrians were unpleasantly surprised to find that Kuneitra and many other settlements in the Golan heights were deliberately destroyed by the Israelis. The city was never rebuilt. To prevent violations of the ceasefire between the positions of the Syrian and Israeli armies were posted by UN forces.

In 1975 civil war began in Lebanon. In 1976 at the request of the Lebanese government of the Syrian troops entered Lebanon. In 1982 Lebanese troops resisted the Israeli military invasion of conducting full-scale combat operations on the ground and in the air. In 1990, Syria and its Lebanese allies put an end 15 years of civil war, and the Syrian troops remain in Lebanon to maintain peace and security. In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat signed a separate peace agreement with Israel, dealing a severe blow to Arab unity. Syria was among other Arab countries that condemned the decision Sadat. According to Assad, to achieve peace, the Israelites had only to return the territories occupied in 1967.

In 1980 Iraq started the war against Iran. Earlier, in 1979 Islamic revolutionaries in Iran broke its Alliance with the West and announced the support of Palestine. Syria condemned the war as untimely and aimed in the wrong direction. Few Arab countries shared the Syrian position. In August 1990, two years after the end of the barren and bloody war against Iran, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait is a small Arab country in the Persian Gulf, which caused a wave of condemnation around the world. Syria took part in the actions of the international coalition led by the United States, in order to protect Saudi Arabia and the liberation of Kuwait. Following these events, the Gulf war, ended with the defeat of Iraq and imposing a hard IUinternational sanctions. Another major Arab state was actually knocked out of the conflict with Israel.

After the Gulf war, Syria upon the invitation of the USA took part in the international conference on the Middle East. The conference, held in Madrid in November 1991, marked the beginning of bilateral Arab-Israeli peace talks. The basis for the negotiations was the UN resolution demanding Israel's refusal from the territories occupied in 1967, in the so-called formula "territories in exchange for peace". However, for many years, these negotiations have been frozen because of Israel's refusal to part with any Arab territories. The position of the Arabs has further weakened when Palestinians and Jordanians signed a separate peace with Israel in 1993 and 1994. Syria and Lebanon, however, vowed to sign a peace agreement only together, or not to sign them at all. Syria continued to provide support for the Lebanese resistance fighters headed "Hizbollah", opposing Israeli occupation forces in southern Lebanon. In may 2000, "Hizbollah" managed to liberate southern Lebanon from the 22-year Israeli presence.

Syrian-Israeli peace talks have been stalled since 1996, when Israel refused to discuss the question about the complete liberation of the Golan heights. In late 1999, Israel expressed willingness to resume negotiations. They continued in the USA with the participation of the Minister of foreign Affairs of Syria, Farouk al-Sugar and the Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak. Negotiations again stalled in 2000, when Barack tried to exclude from the contract Eastern shore of lake Tiberias. Syria has signaled it will not yield a single inch of our land.

The tenth of June 2000 President Assad died of a heart attack. The tenth of July, Syrian President was elected by his son Bashar al-Assad.