The brutal legacy of the so-called ‘March Revolution’

The brutal legacy of the so-called ‘March Revolution’
More than half a century ago, the Ba’ath Party seized power in Syria by way of a military coup that drew little attention from the general public at the time.  

But the so-called ‘March Revolution’ would lay the groundwork upon which the Assad’s brutal dynasty would be built just the same.

The Syrian coup d’état of March 8, 1963, that is celebrated by the Assad regime was planned and executed by the military committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party.

Hafez Assad  was one of the members of that military committee and would go on to strong arm his way into becoming the uncontested Syria’s dictator for thirty years before passing his bloody legacy on to his son.

At the age of 16, Hafez had joined the newly founded Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party.  The Ba’ath Party, which translates "renaissance" or "resurrection", party, espoused secular pan-Arab nationalism wrapped in a veneer of socialist phraseology.

After finishing his schooling, Hafez joined the Air Force and was rapidly promoted. He was sent for training to the Soviet Union, and was later posted to Egypt during the abortive attempt to unite Egypt and Syria in the form of the United Arab Republic (UAR) at the end of the 1950s.

Prior to his participation in the 1963 coup, Hafez Assad had been discharged from his role as an air force officer after the dissolution of the UAR in 1961, and was transferred to the Maritime Transport Directorate which oversees the implementation of the Maritime Policy of the Syrian Ministry of Transport.

With what we know now of his character, the appointment must have been viewed as a humiliating demotion by the ambitious young Assad which would have further inspired him in planning the 1963 military takeover.

Along with Assad, Muhammad Umran and Salah Jadid were the leading members of the military committee throughout the planning process and in the immediate aftermath of taking power.

While Assad and other military leaders set into motion the takeover of military and media components inside Syria beginning the night before, Salah Jadid bicycled into the city of Damascus on the morning of March 8 and captured the Bureau of Officers’ Affairs which later became his personal fiefdom.

As head of the Bureau of Officers’ Affairs, 37 year-old Jadid would go on to appoint his Alawite friends and fellow Ba’athists to senior positions within the government while at the same time purging it of his enemies. Hafez Assad , 32, would be appointed commander of the Air Force.

In 1966, Assad would lead another coup by a radical left-wing group inside the Ba’ath Party, overthrowing the original Ba’ath leaders that had toppled the government three years earlier. Assad was once again rewarded by being appointed Minister of Defense at the age of 35.

Back in May of 1963, The Nation, the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States, had offered some unsolicited advice to the country’s new Ba’ath Party leadership. 

In an article titled “Syria: Test of Arab Unity”, journalists Gary LeCompte and Leo Hamalian wrote:

“In a country which has had far more coups than elections, it will not be easy to find a base on which to build a stable government. In fact, many foreign observers feel that the coup d’état has become part of the national sport of politics.”

At the time, the authors seemed more amused than surprised by the fact that no one in Syria appeared to be terribly distressed by the coup.

“No violent treatment is tolerated and only ‘civil isolation’ is partially enforced,” said The Nation after describing the informal jailing arrangements of the ousted prime minister.

“It is considered politically ethical to treat opponents very humanely, a practice in sharp contrast to the bloody habits of the Iraqis, but one hardly calculated to preserve the peace,” the authors continued. 

“The Ba’athists will have to find a way to render the opponents of their regime ineffective for a prolonged period without touching off the violence so characteristic of revolutions. As of this writing, they have succeeded. 

“At the same time, they must learn to avoid the temptation of crushing the voices of criticism and opponents who might be rallied in the interest of national welfare.”

Ironically, before the so-called March Revolution of 1963, there were 13 newspapers operating in the city of Aleppo which had a population at the time of around 500,000.

Rather than “avoid the temptation of crushing voices of criticism” as The Nation had suggested, the new Ba’ath party leaders effectively shut down the operation of all 13 newspapers and banned them from working.

Until 1969, Salah Jadid continued to run Syria, even though he preferred to remain away from public view. 

Considering the involvement of Russia in supporting the killing of Syrian civilians by the current Assad, it is the utmost irony that Jadid’s willingness to ally Syria with the Soviet Union at that time became a bone of contention between him and Minister of Defense, Hafez Assad, who was angered by Soviet meddling in Syrian politics. 

When Jadid attempted to fire Assad and his supporter, Mustafa Tlass, in November 1970, Assad launched another intra-party coup against Jadid, which the Assad regime has since lauded as the ‘Corrective Revolution’.

Under cover of this so-called ‘Corrective Revolution’, Hafez al-Assad seized power and installed himself as dictator, and appointed Tlass as his minister of defense in 1972. 

Tlass, who was known for his promotion of propaganda, conspiracy theories and government corruption, as well as despised and feared for his morbid brutality and oppression of dissent, was one of Assad’s most trusted loyalists during the 30 years of one-man rule in Syria that followed his appointment. 

Tlass was also on the committee that oversaw the transition of power to the current dictator who is responsible for destroying the country and killing more than 500,000 Syrians.

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