ABSTRACT
The rise of the Syrian Communist Party (SCP) was connected to the Syrian-Lebanese political group, until they split. The Syrian communists, in 1954, together with rebel soldiers and the Ba’ath Party, they actively collaborated in the overthrow of the conservative colonel and president Adib Shishakli. The SCP also benefited from its entente cordiale with the Ba’athists, as a result of which the party’s acceptance and prestige grew within the country. The end this unexpected growth in the SCP’s popularity led the Syrian Ba’ath Party to distrust and to be on the defensive with regard to the communists. The SCP enjoyed a period of realistic expectation, as a consequence of the Ba’athist leaders in power introducing a ‘socialist transformation programme’. The SCP published a communiqué ‘in light of the serious events’ that were taking place in the country: the protests and demonstrations are shared by the masses, who stand against colonialism and all forms of external intervention.
