Syrian Communist Party

this article deals with the historical Syrian Communist Party 1944-1986. For the two current parties, see Syrian Communist Party and Syrian Communist Party .

The Syrian Communist Party (Arabic: الحزب الشيوعي السوري, transliterated as Al-hizb ash-shuyū'ī as-sūrī) was a political party in Syria, founded in 1944. It became a member of the National Progressive Front in 1972. The party split in two in 1986 with two separate parties claiming to represent the original Syrian Communist Party; the Syrian Communist Party and the Syrian Communist Party .

Beginnings

The party evolved out of the Communist Party of Syria and Lebanon, founded in Beirut in 1924. It was suppressed shortly afterwards, but was revived after an interlude of several years. In 1936, Khalid Bakdash, a Damascene who had been recruited to the party in 1930 and later studied at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East in Moscow, took control as secretary of the party, and set about building up its organisation.

Bakdash's leadership and organisational growth

The party was involved in opposition to the Vichy French presence in Syria, and when the Free French took control of the country it was legalised. In 1944, the Syrian and Lebanese parties became separate organisations. Bakdash sought to present the Syrian Communist Party as an essential part of the national movement, in the context of Syria's struggle against the French mandate. The party adopted a moderate programme...
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