Syria, 1949 — military coup
Event Summary
On August 14, 1949, Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi led a military coup that overthrew Syria's first military ruler, Husni al-Za'im, only about 137 days after Za'im had himself seized power in March. Unlike the bloodless March coup, this one ended with the execution by firing squad of both Za'im and his prime minister Muhsin al-Barazi the same day. Za'im had alienated fellow officers and the traditional elite through erratic and autocratic behavior, his extradition of Syrian Social Nationalist Party founder Antun Saadeh to Lebanon, and his move against Druze autonomy.
Hinnawi, who had helped carry out the March coup, pledged a return to constitutional government and installed the respected civilian statesman Hashim al-Atassi to lead a new government. Hinnawi's own rule proved brief; he was ousted in December 1949 by Colonel Adib al-Shishakli.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
65208141949
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Husni al-Za'im, President of Syria (overthrown and executed by firing squad).
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; killed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Luttwak (18 August 1949)
Wikipedia
New York Times
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →