Syria War Ends! | Fall of Dictator Assad | Dhruv Rathee

"Under Assad's regime, not only chemical weapons," "but there were torture camps in Syria too. " "An incident in Tunisia," "changes the Middle East forever. " "As the result," "Syria turns into a deadly war zone.

" "Many governments were overthrown," "many dictators lost all powers. " "The situation was that Assad sent tanks to Deraa. " "Even funerals were banned," "because they were the hotspots for protests.

" "This proved to be one of Assad's biggest mistakes. " "There was a rebellion within the army. " "So the Syrian army began executing their soldiers.

" "Friends, this was the beginning" "of the Civil War in Syria. " Hello, friends! 8th December, 2024.

63 year old writer Bashar Barhoom, woke up in early morning in his prison cell in Syria, He was in jail for the last 7 months and this day was supposed to be his last. On this day, he was supposed to be executed. The thing is, Bashar Barhoom was Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad's supporter.

But some time ago, he gave a television interview where he criticised Iran. He accused Iran of exploiting the Syrians and so he was thrown in jail. On the morning of 8th December, he was minutes away from his death.

He knew that the door would open in a while and the security forces would take him to his execution. But when the door finally opened, he notices that it wasn't the Syrian security forces. In fact, they were the rebels opposing Assad.

They were there to release him from jail. He was told that Assad's rule in Syria was now over and the country was under the opposition forces' control. While people were celebrating this good news, Barhoom couldn't find his cell phone and other belongings in the jail.

He ran straight to his house and to inform his wife and daughters that he was alive. His fate was truly amazing. Because of the fall of one government, Bashar Barhoom literally got a new life.

But do you know what, friends, Bashar Barhoom was not the only one. Many were supposed to be executed that day. In Syria's Sednaya Prison, a child was also fated to be executed.

The child was saved too. In today's video, let's get to know Bashar al-Assad's story. Syria's dictator whom even ISIS couldn't defeat.

But today, his dictatorship, fell apart like a house of cards within two weeks. How did this happen? And what is going to happen to Syria now?

This is the story of Syria's Civil War. Before 1918, Syria was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Let's look at Syria's borders on the map today.

Iraq is in its East, Jordan and Israel in the South, Lebanon in the West, and Türkiye in the North. After defeating the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the European countries that had won this war, took over this region and divided it among themselves. Syria went to France.

So, from 1918 to 1946, France ruled this region. The citizens revolted against it. And after many wars, in 1946, Syria got independence from France.

But the problems began soon after the Independence. People believing in different religions and sects live in Syria. Look at its religious demographics.

According to 2014 data, 74% of the people here believe in Sunni Islam. Approximately 16% believe in Shia Islam and around 10% of the people are Christians. Out of these 16% Shia Muslims, most of them, approximately 12% are Alawites.

Alawites belong to another religious sect. Some people believe that it is completely different from Shia Islam. But on the other hand, some people believe that it is a sub-sect of Shia Islam.

This was the religious composition, but apart from this, based on ethnicity, there are two main groups in Syria. The Arabs and the Kurdish people. There are around 70-80% Arabs, and the Kurds are about 10% of the Syrian population.

When Syria got its independence, the power went into the hands of the rich Sunni Arab landowners. And they don't want to share this power with others. During this time, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath political party started becoming popular.

It was a secular and socialist party. So, students, minorities, and young army officers were attracted to it. Many things happened during the first 10-15 years after independence.

Like the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Syria participated in it. In 1958, a union was formed between Egypt and Syria. The two combine to form a new country, the United Arab Republic.

There were numerous military coups in Syria. In 1961, 1962, 1963, I won't go into the details, But after the military coup in March 1963 the Ba'ath Party supporters in the army come into power. There was an internal power struggle within this political party as well.

After which, in November 1970, General Hafez Al-Assad seized all powers. "An ambitious Minister of Defense seized control. " "His name was Hafez Al-Assad.

" In 1971, he became Syria's President. Soon after, he established a dictatorship in Syria. Interestingly, in a country dominated by Sunni Muslims, he was from the minority.

He was an Alawite. But despite this, he was popular among the masses because during his reign there was economic development and land reforms. Education was encouraged and the military was strengthened.

Not to say that he wasn't a cruel dictator. He was. He repressed his opponents to consolidate power.

Anyone who raised their voice against him, was suppressed. Like in 1982, Sunni militants in Hama rebelled against Hafez Al-Assad. But in retaliation, his military brutally killed 20,000 people.

This incident is called the 1982 Hama Massacre. Gradually, as years passed, the control of the Alawites over Syria began increasing. By the 1990s, Hafez was getting sick.

His eldest son, Bassel, was leading the race to become Syria's President after him. He was a popular and charismatic military figure. But in 1994, there was a car accident.

Bassel died in this car accident. Hafez's younger son, Bashar Al Assad, was studying in London to be a doctor. He wanted to become an eye doctor.

But he had to return to Syria. On 10th June 2000, Hafez died due to a heart attack. And Syria's new President was Bashar Al Assad.

To make Bashar the President, Syria's Constitution had to be changed. Because according to their Constitution, the President was supposed to be at least 40 years old. But this age limit was reduced to 34 years, because, at the time, Bashar was 34 years old.

Things began changing once he came into power. His father governed Syria like a state-controlled economy. There was a system in place which guaranteed a government job to every college graduate, as well as free services and cheap food for citizens.

But Bashar wanted to make Syria a market-oriented economy. Gradually, these services were withdrawn. The unemployment rate began rising.

Though people were living in a dictatorship till now. But they were happy to some extent. They were getting some development and education.

But after 2000, these services were gradually cut off. And then, in 2006, there was a terrible drought in Syria. The drought was so severe that it continued for 4 years.

During these 4 years, 60% of Syria's land turned into deserts. and more than 80% of the cattle perished. Experts hold climate change responsible for this drought.

After this, there was a large-scale desertification in Syria. Syria now needed to import most of the food from foreign countries. Food prices increased, inflation increased.

Apart from this, Syria's oil reserves started drying up. And so the money from oil exports stopped coming in as before. When life became this difficult for people, the citizens started turning against Bashar Al Assad.

On 17th December 2010, there was an incident in Tunisia which changed the entire Middle East region forever. In a small city in Tunisia, a vegetable vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, was out with his vegetable cart. That's when the police snatched his weighing scales, because he didn't have a permit to set up his cart.

He went to the provincial government building to complain about it to the Governor, but the governor refused to meet him. After this, Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire out on the streets. He died.

But people around him record this video and upload it on social media. This video got so viral that it reached international media. People took to the streets to protest.

And soon enough, the protests grew so fast that within a month, in Tunisia, dictator Ben Ali's government was overthrown. Seeing people's power against tyranny, people of the neighbouring country, Egypt were very impressed. There, protests against their President Hosni Mubarak began on 25th January 2011.

And by 11th February, he had to resign. This fire kept spreading rapidly. Libya was ruled by a dictator too, Muammar Gaddafi.

There were protests against him too. People were out on the streets. And on 20th October 2011, Gaddafi was found in the drain he was hiding, and was killed.

From 2010 to 2012, there were large-scale protests in many Arab countries. Many governments were overturned. Many dictators were thrown off their thrones.

Protests were seen all over Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Sudan, etc. This movement is known as the Arab Spring. "Protests which began 10 years ago in Tunisia, spread across the region," People in these countries were protesting for similar reasons.

Their falling economies, rising political corruption, rising unemployment and inflation rates. Around this time, we saw the rise of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. These platforms provided people a Videos of police brutality and corruption went viral all over.

And people began to be more aware of the injustice. The rich kept getting richer in these countries. The ruling class was enjoying life, while life was becoming increasingly difficult for the masses.

There were hardly any job opportunities. When a country can provide jobs for doctors, engineers, teachers, and civil servants, the citizens can spend more. This drives the economic growth.

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Because I'm absolutely certain that it'll help you. Now, getting back to our topic; Arab Spring's impact was seen in Syria too. When these protests began, Bashar al-Assad used to say that such protests would not happen in Syria.

That Syria is immune to such protests. But on 6th March 2011, the situation changed. In the small Syrian city of Deraa, some teenage schoolboys wrote slogans against the government on walls.

"Ejak el door, ya doctor" which meant, "It's your turn next, Doctor. " Assad could not tolerate any form of protest against him. The Secret Police arrested these children they were imprisoned and tortured.

When the parents and neighbours went to ask for their release, a government official told them to "forget about the children. " "And if they want children, they should have more. " "And if they don't know how to have children," "then they should send their women to these people," "they will breed them.

" After this, protests began in this city. The day after this incident, thousands of people were out on the streets, protesting. The Syrian Army went to the city and fired bullets, killing 4 people.

There are bigger protests at their funerals. On 23rd March, 15 protesters were killed and hundreds of people were injured. Moreover, water and electricity supply and mobile networks were shut down in Deraa.

Funerals were also banned because those were hotspots of protests. On 30th March, 2011 Assad gave a speech where he called these protests a foreign-backed conspiracy. The same typical tactic of such politicians where they declare anything they don't like to be foreign-funded.

After this, the protests get bigger as do the crackdown. On 22nd April, hundreds and thousands of people took to the streets and the human rights groups claim that more than 100 people were killed. By 25th April, the situation was so bad that Assad sent tanks to Deraa.

"In Deraa, army tanks were used for the first time in this uprising against the protestors. " By this time, there were reports from within the army that many soldiers of the Syrian army were refusing to fire at the protesters. A rebellion had begun within the army.

That's why the Syrian army started executing its soldiers. By July, so many soldiers had rebelled from the army that they defected and formed their separate army. The Free Syrian Army.

These protesters and the Free Syrian Army had only one goal. To free the country from the clasp of this tyrant. Within a few months, this Free Syrian Army had successfully removed Assad's Army from many parts of the country.

Cities like Aleppo and Raqqa fall under the control of the Free Syrian Army. And friends, this was the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. "A Syria in turmoil fits perfectly, to what experts say Al-Qaeda's leaders want.

" The protesting rebels who joined the Free Syrian Army, together form the Syrian National Coalition. They declare themselves to be Syria's government-in-exile. The "real" Syrian government.

Countries like America, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates recognise this government. These rebels had so much public support that in August 2012, Syrian Prime Minister, Riyad Hijab defected and joined the rebels. But by this point, this civil war was turning into a sectarian conflict.

When the protests began in 2011, they were non-sectarian, that is, they weren't discriminating against any religion or community. Those protests were only against Assad and his government. But because Assad belonged to a minority community and he had given more power to the people of his community in his government, while the majority of the population in the country was Sunni Muslims, gradually this war turned into a war between Sunni Muslims and other Syrian minorities.

These differences became unsurmountable when foreign countries interfered in Syria. Countries of Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia started supporting the rebels in Syria. Even Hamas in Palestine stopped supporting Assad and began supporting the rebels.

Why? One of the biggest reasons was that these countries had a Sunni-majority populations. At the same time, countries like Iran and groups like Hezbollah supported Assad, because of their Shia-majority population.

Apart from this, by 2015, many non-Muslim countries joined this war too. America, Britain, France, and Germany support the rebels. And countries like Russia start supporting Assad.

Many proposals against Syria's crackdown against political opponents were introduced in the United Nations, but Russia and China vetoed them. You might wonder why so many countries got involved in Syria's Civil War. This was because of the terrorist group, ISIS.

Here, extremist militant groups enter our story. During the Syrian civil war, around 2012, Al-Qaeda was following the updates carefully, and were eager to take advantage of it. In January 2012, a group called Jabhat al-Nusra was formed, which declared itself to be Al-Qaeda's Syrian franchise.

In February 2012, Al-Qaeda's Chief appealed to all Sunni Muslims to wage Jihad against the Syrian government. Interestingly, Bashar Al Assad played a role in this too. In mid 2011, Assad released hundreds of extremist militants from the jails.

These people were going to take up arms against Assad but still, Assad released them from jail because he had a plan. To present himself as the good guy, Assad wanted to create a worse villain. Assad wanted to show the world that he was secular and was fighting against Jihadi forces.

And by doing this, he wanted to show that the rebels opposing him were in cahoots with these extremists. Gradually, Jabhat al-Nusra gained more power, and the Free Syrian Army lost support. America refused to give weapons to the Free Syrian Army saying that those weapons could go into the hands of the extremists.

On the other hand, Assad's forces claimed to be fighting against terrorism, and started using warplanes and helicopters to attack rebel bases with missiles and barrel bombs. December 2012, America declared Jabhat al-Nusra a terrorist organization but it has the opposite effect. The next day, in Syria, many people marched in protest.

With slogans claiming that Assad was the only terrorist in Syria. 8th April 2013, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi combined the Islamic State of Iraq and Jabhat Al-Nusra to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. In short, ISIS or ISIL.

During this time, chemical weapons were used against Syrian rebels. In April 2013, America said that Syria used chemical weapons against its own people. Nerve agent Sarin is a gas which paralyses muscles and prevents a person from breathing.

According to international law, it is strictly prohibited to use such chemical weapons even while fighting foreign enemies. But in Syria, not only once, but multiple times, these chemical weapons were used against its citizens. On 21st August 2013, more than 1,000 people were killed by these chemical weapons.

United Nations' Weapons Inspectors went to Syria and they get evidence of the use of the Sarin gas. The UN Secretary General called it a war crime. At that time, American President Barack Obama said that it was a red line which shouldn't have been crossed.

And crossing it meant that America would take military action. "A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilised. That would change my calculations, that would change my equation.

" But under Assad's rule, not only chemical weapons, but there were torture camps too in Syria. One of such infamous prisons is the Sednayay Prison, Thousands of people were executed here. It was located on a hill near Damascus.

This camp was built in 1986, but during the civil war, this became the main prison camp. Anyone suspected to be linked to the rebels, were imprisoned here. But not only this, some people were thrown into this jail merely because they lived in an area where there were protests against Assad.

The prisoners later told the world about how mercilessly they were tortured. They were beaten with iron rods, cables, and electric sticks. It was common to hang them upside down and submerge them in water.

It was banned for prisoners to talk among themselves. The situation here was unimaginably bad. I can't even tell you everything in a YouTube video.

All I can tell you is that in its report, Amnesty International called this jail a 'human slaughterhouse. ' Between 2011 to 2018, more than 30,000 people were killed in this prison camp. On the other hand, the way people were treated under ISIS's rule was equally cruel.

By 2015, ISIS had taken over around one-third of Syria and 40% of Iraq. They declared these areas as their Caliphate with Raqqa in North Syria as their capital. During this time, this ISIS-controlled region acted like an independent country.

They made their government, their laws, and even their own currency. The Islamic State currency. By the end of 2015, they were ruling such a large area as you can see on the map.

Almost 12 million people were living under their rule. ISIS committed a horrific genocide against the minorities living in this area. Apart from this, they destroyed hundreds of cultural sites.

And the war crimes committed by them were so extreme that almost every country in the world were against them. From the United Nations to America, Russia, India, the European Union, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, Egypt, Singapore, Taiwan, China, and even Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declared ISIS to be a terrorist organisation. To stop ISIS, America and its allies had to directly get involved in the Syrian war and sent their military.

Additionally, even the Russian government opposed ISIS and promised to support the Syrian government in the fight against ISIS. But later it became clear that in the guise of fighting ISIS, Russia was targeting the rebels and civilians in Syria. Friends, this was the point, where the Syrian war became immensely complicated.

Think about it. On one hand, the USA and Russia were fighting. The US opposed Assad supported the rebels, but Russia fought in Assad's support.

But both these sides were fighting against ISIS. The Syrian opposition, ISIS, and the Kurds were fighting Assad. Assad, the Syrian opposition, and the Kurds were fighting ISIS.

And somewhere along, Turkey got involved too. Turkey and the Kurds had been fighting for years so seeing the Kurds gain power in Syria, Turkey comes to fighting against the Kurds. But because the US was supporting the Kurds, Turkey starts opposing the US on this point.

And Iran and Hezbollah which were supporting Assad were fighting against ISIS. As a result, Syria became a horrible war zone. This is why you would've come across such videos, where entire Syrian cities were destroyed.

There's only debris and abandoned buildings. So many cities were destroyed. This led to the Syrian refugee crisis of 2015-16.

"Syria is miserable, we were escaping airstrikes, barrel bombs, and ISIL. We're tired. " If so many groups and countries fight at a place, what will the citizens do?

There was no safe space for them. By 2016, after a big military campaign, the Syrian army took back control of the city of Aleppo from the rebels. "Syrian Army forces are now in control of more than 90% of the city since it began its operation to take back control of Aleppo.

" The US coalition launched thousands of airstrikes on ISIS. Because of which the Kurdish forces could nearly wipe out ISIS in North Syria. In the rest of the areas, Assad's forces, supported by Russia, could successfully overthrow ISIS.

Similarly, in neighbouring Iraq, the Iraqi army was successful in their fight against ISIS. Raqqa was taken back from ISIS. And by 2019, ISIS had been completely wiped out from nearly everywhere, except a few places.

Look at this map from March 2019, this was the situation back then. The yellow area at the top was controlled by the Kurdish forces. The red area was controlled by Assad's Syrian Army, they were still in control over about two-thirds of the country.

The green area was controlled by the rebels, with their base in the northwest near Idlib. They also controlled this small area in the south. And the small black-coloured regions here in the middle, by March 2019, these were the only areas occupied by ISIS.

After defeating ISIS, it became a stalemate situation. The following few years saw some major geopolitical changes. In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine.

This began the Russia-Ukraine war, it's still going on. "Tensions between Russia and the West are growing rapidly. " "President Biden considering deploying thousands of troops to eastern Europe.

" After that, in 2023, the Israel-Palestine war begun, Hezbollah and Iran were involved in that too. And because Hezbollah didn't have enough fighters, so it withdrew its fighters from Syria. Because of these two major wars, Assad's biggest supporters, Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, were now busy with their own fights.

In such a situation, you'd think that had you been in Bashar Al Assad's place, you would have sat quietly, and let Syria's newly brought peace continue. But in November 2024, Assad's government started attacking the rebels again. This proved to be Bashar Al Assad's biggest mistake.

On 27th November, 2024 the rebels started a counter-offensive against the government. Initially, they planned a small attack to retaliate against the government. But when they saw that the government forces were retreating easily, they kept moving forward.

Within just two days, by 29th November, the rebels reached the biggest city and economic capital of Syria, Aleppo. Assad did not have any support from Russia and Iran. So on 30th November, the rebels took over Aleppo.

"Celebrating their victory, the rebel fighters are in the streets of Aleppo. " "The Syrian government clearly abandoned both weapons and ammunition in a hurry. " "On the loose, at peace.

" The rebels saw that it was the perfect opportunity to strike. They might not have gotten a better chance. They advanced rapidly, and took over cities one after another.

Russia woke up in a little while and tried to support Bashar Al Assad by carrying out airstrikes on the rebel bases. But it wasn't enough to stop the rebels. Russia doesn't have enough army to fight the war in Ukraine, that they are paying to import troops from North Korea.

This should tell you how well could Russia support Assad in Syria. The 4th Armoured Division and the Republican Guards were considered to be the Syrian Army's strongest units. They were stationed around Damascus.

To prevent any attempt to overthrow the government. But, under Assad's regime, Syria's economic condition was so bad that since their currency lost its value, these guards weren't getting their salaries properly. Once the rebels came in front of the army, the army laid down their weapons.

8th December 2024, the rebels captured Damascus. "Big prize, the capital Damascus, fell without a fight. The Syrian Army, nowhere to be seen.

" I talked about this day at the beginning of this video. These rebels then reached the prison camp where countless people had been tortured. As soon as Bashar Al Assad realised that he was losing control, he immediately got on the aeroplane and fled the country.

There are reports that he might be given asylum in Russia. "Bashar Al Assad has reportedly arrived in Russia. " And this was the end of dictatorship in Syria.

In Syria, a large number of people were celebrating out on the streets. They celebrated their victory over dictatorship. As soon as Assad fled, people went to the Presidential Palace and began taking things or setting them on fire.

In this video, you can see people taking away cars, artwork, and even luxury handbags from the palace. The posters, banners, and statues of Assad's family were taken down all over the country. The Syrian Civil War lasted for almost 14 years.

More than 500,000 people died and about 13 million people were displaced. There are approximately 4. 8 million people who are living as refugees in foreign countries.

And now we come to perhaps the most important question: What will happen next? This story's ending might not be very hopeful. The rebels who overthrew Assad and his government, many of them are part of extremist organisations.

In 2012, when Jabhat al-Nusra was formed as Al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, most of these people went over to ISIS. But there were some who did not join ISIS. One of these leaders was Abu Muhammed Al-Julani.

In 2016, he announced that he had ended all ties with Al-Qaeda. Jabhat al-Nusra was then dissolved and created a new organization named Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham. Also known as HTS.

Later, many other organisations merged with HTS. HTS was running its salvation government in northwest Syria near Idlib. Although its leader has now tried to separate himself from Al-Qaeda, but America, Britain, and other countries consider HTS to be Al-Qaeda's supporter.

In fact, America has declared a bounty of $10 million to catch Abu Muhammed Al-Julani. This is because of another story related to Iraq and Saddam Hussein. But now, the biggest fear among Syrians is that there shouldn't be an extremist government which would put minorities in danger.

Al-Julani addressed this fear, and has tried to change his 'hardcore' image for some time. He has tried to get minorities to join him and is trying to establish himself as a religious nationalist leader instead of a jihadi. Apart from this, if you see the map now, there are two other major organisations.

As you can see, a large part of the northeast, is controlled by the Kurdish Syria's Democratic Forces. The area in yellow is controlled by the Syrian National Army supported by Turkey. For now, till 1st March 2025, Tahrir al-Sham has formed an interim government.

This government will provide basic services to the people and try to stabilise the country. And in the meantime, they said that they would try to form a government with the other factions. The Prime Minister of the rebels' Syrian Salvation Government, Mohd Al-Bashir, would head this interim government.

Bashar Al-Assad's father was Syria's dictator for 30 years. Following which, he was a dictator for 23 years. The Assad family's rule was long and strong.

But it took only 2 weeks for dictatorship to fall apart like a house of cards. Dictatorships are often brought down like this. Often the dictators aren't aware of what happens in their country.

This is known as Dictator's Dilemma. Every dictator is surrounded by people aiming to please him. They are always full of praise.

So he never gets to know the ongoing currents of the country. And so they keep making wrong decisions one after the other. It won't be wrong to say that dictators sow the seeds of their destruction.

But in reality, once a dictatorship ends, whether people get freedom or not depends only on the people. We hope that the Syrians will now get a better life and a better government. Whoever becomes the next leader of the country, hopefully, they will be better than the ones before.

But, will this really happen? Only time can tell. The link to download Testbook is given in the description below, And now, if you want to better understand the geopolitics in the Middle East, the three regional powers of this region, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran; The relationship between the three, the conflict between the three, and how it affects the neighbouring countries, I have explained it in detail in this video.

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