1961 Syrian coup d'état

The Syrian coup d'état of 1961 was an uprising by disgruntled Syrian Army officers on September 28, 1961, that resulted in the break-up of the United Arab Republic and the restoration of an independent Syrian Republic.

While the army had all the power, it chose not to rule directly and instead entrusted politicians from the traditional political parties of the earlier Syrian Republic to form the secessionist government. The restored country was a continuation of the Syrian Republic, but due to the influence of Nasserists and Arab nationalists it adopted a new name and became the Syrian Arab Republic. The restored regime was fragile and chaotic as internal army struggles influenced government policy. The traditionalist conservative politicians were increasingly out of touch with the radicalized army, which eventually swept the old order away in the coup of March 8, 1963.

After the rushed and overtly enthusiastic decision to unite with Egypt, Syrians realized that they had joined a very centralized, autocratic military dictatorship which increasingly destroyed Syria’s traditional politics and economy. In fact, during this period Syria did not exist, it was Northern Region of the UAR.

Political parties were dissolved. Communists were the first to be purged. The Ba’ath Party, despite being the champions of unity and the most natural political allies of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, was also removed from the positions of influence during 1959-1960. Syrian officers felt threatened in their previously secure positions. Hundreds of Syrian officers were either posted in far-away Egypt or sent into retirement. In their place came Egyptian administrators and officers. Syria was ruled by the secret police of Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj.

During the first months of 1961 state control over Syrian economy was greatly increased. The governor of the Central Bank of Syria resigned at the end of January, warning about the dangers of nationalization and planned currency unification (Egypt and Syria still had their own currencies). On February 5 currency control was introduced, all foreign currency deposits were frozen, export of currency over 100 Syrian piasters from Syria was prohibited. The official goal was to increase currency reserves and to prevent the flight of capital, in reality just the opposite occurred as the capital started to flee the country. On February 10 the import licenses also were revoked and importers had to reapply for new ones. On March 4 all banks had to become joint stock companies owned UAR Arab citizens. Of the 16 banks operating in Syria at this time, 6 were UAR-Arab owned, 6 were owned by non-UAR Arabs and 7 were owned by non-Arabs.

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