Coup Atlas Research Database
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65202251954SuccessfulMilitary coup

Syria, 1954 — military coup

Syria (SYR)Western Asia, AsiaFebruary 25, 1954

Event Summary

On February 25, 1954, the military dictatorship of Colonel Adib al-Shishakli in Syria was overthrown in the country's fourth coup since independence, restoring the parliamentary order Shishakli had crushed in 1951. Opposition had built through 1953 among civilian politicians, disaffected army officers, the Druze community that Shishakli had repressed, and parties ranging from the People's Party to the Baath and the Communists. A military revolt that began in the north and spread, combined with an armed uprising in the Druze mountain and mass mobilization by political leaders, forced Shishakli's hand.

Rather than plunge Syria into civil war, he backed down and fled, first to Lebanon and then to Brazil, where he was assassinated in 1964. The veteran statesman Hashim al-Atassi, whom Shishakli had displaced, returned to the presidency and restored the pre-Shishakli constitutional government.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Adib al-Shishakli, President of Syria (overthrown, fled into exile)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Adib al-Shishakli (overthrown dictator)
Hashim al-Atassi (statesman restored to the presidency)
Sultan al-Atrash (Druze leader in the opposition)

Sources

Growing discontent led to a coup on 23 February 1954 which overthrew Shishakli; the plotters included his opponents in the army, Druze officers, and members of the Communist and Baath parties, and when the insurgency peaked Shishakli backed down and fled, first to Lebanon and then to Brazil.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "Adib Shishakli" open source ↗
The army, infiltrated by Shishakli's opponents, staged Syria's fourth coup on 25 February 1954 and restored the 1949 government.
SOURCE REVIEWED GlobalSecurity.org / Country Studies, "Syria - Shishakli Dictatorship" open source ↗
Shishakli was overthrown by a military revolt that drove him into exile in February 1954, after his Arab Liberation Movement failed to win political support and most parties united against it.
SOURCE REVIEWED Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Adib al-Shishakli" open source ↗
On 24 February 1954 the government of Adib al-Shishakli was overthrown; four days later, on 28 February, Hashim al-Atassi returned to Damascus and reassumed the presidency, restoring pre-Shishakli ministers and parliamentarians.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "Hashem al-Atassi" open source ↗

Editorial Note

Sources give slightly different exact dates for the coup's culmination (23, 24, or 25 February 1954); the Cline dataset codes 25 February, which matches the Country Studies account. Two Wikipedia articles, Britannica, and Country Studies were read directly and agree that a broad military-civilian revolt drove Shishakli into exile and restored Atassi. This closes the arc of the earlier Shishakli coup records (December 1949 and November 1951).

Cross-Reference

Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
65202251954
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-652-1954-02-25

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Adib al-Shishakli, President of Syria (overthrown, fled into exile).

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; fled the country. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Luttwak

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Syrian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

New York Times

“Syrian Army Deposes Shisekly,” February 26, 1954
“Atassi is Syrian President; Damascus Clashes Continue,” March 1, 1954
“Syrian Civil Rule Pledged by Atassi,” by Kenneth Love, March 2, 1954
“Syrian Premier Resigns, Failed to Hold Elections,” June 11, 1954

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 →

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Related Records

Syria — Military coup, 19511951-11-29SuccessfulWestern AsiaSyria — Military coup, 19491949-03-30SuccessfulWestern AsiaSyria — Military coup, 19491949-08-14SuccessfulWestern Asia