Civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War

Civil uprising prior to the Syrian Civil War
Part of Syrian Civil War and the Arab Spring
Demonstration in Homs against Syrian Government (18 April 2011).
Date	15 March 2011 (2011-03-15) – 28 July 2011 (2011-07-28) (some major protests continued into August)
Location	Syria
Causes	Government corruption Unemployment Islamist uprising in Syria (Muslim Brotherhood)
Goals	Resignation of Bashar al-Assad Democratic reforms Regime change Expanded civil rights Abolition of the Supreme State Security Court Lifting of the emergency law Equal rights for Kurds
Methods	Civil resistance Demonstrations Army defections
Status	Peaceful protests ended and deteriorated into an armed rebellion and later full-scale civil war
Lead figures
Syrian opposition: Local Coordination Committees of Syria Civilian protesters Anti-regime militants Muslim Brotherhood of Syria Syrian government: Bashar al-Assad Maher al-Assad Ali Habib Mahmud Syrian Army Syrian Navy Assad loyalist militants Syrian Police Shabiha
Casualties
Death(s)	1,800-2,154 civilians and 406-500 security forces killed (by 17 August) Total: 2,206-2,654
Injuries	Thousands of protesters 1,300-1,857 security forces
Arrested	12,617 (by 28 July)

Syrian opposition:

Syrian government:

The civil uprising prior to the Syrian Civil War was an early stage of protests – with subsequent violent reaction by the Syrian state – lasting from March to 28 July 2011. The uprising, initially demanding democratic reforms, evolved from initially minor protests, beginning as early as January 2011.

The uprising was marked by massive anti-government opposition demonstrations against the Ba'athist government of Bashar al-Assad, meeting with police and military violence, massive arrests and brutal crackdown, resulting in hundreds of casualties and thousands of wounded.

Despite Bashar al-Assad's attempts to pacify the protests with massive crackdown and use of censorship on one hand and concessions on the other, by the end of April, it became clear the situation was getting out of his control and the Syrian government deployed numerous troops on the ground.

The civil uprising phase created the platform for emergence of militant opposition movements and massive defections from the Syrian Army, which gradually transformed the conflict from a civil uprising to an armed rebellion, and later a civil war. The rebel Free Syrian Army was created on July 29, 2011.

Before the uprising in Syria began in mid-March 2011, protests were relatively modest, considering the wave of unrest that was spreading across the Arab world. Syria, until March 2011, for decades had remained superficially tranquil, largely due to fear among the people of the secret police arresting critical citizens.

Minor protests calling for government reforms began in January, and continued into March. Unrelenting protests were occurring in Cairo against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and in Syria on 3 February via the websites Facebook and Twitter, a "Day of Rage" was called for by activists against the government of Bashar al-Assad to be held on Friday, 4 February. This did not result in protests. Yet it is said that on the night of Mubarak’s February 11 downfall, the graffiti was seen under a Damascus bridge, “Now it’s your turn, doctor”– in reference to President al-Assad, an eye doctor by training.