The National Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC) was the twenty-man

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

and council set up to rule

Ba'athist Syria Ba'athist Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), was the Syrian state between 1963 and 2024 under the One-party state, one-party rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Syrian regional branch of the Ba'ath Party (Syri ...

between March 1963 and February 1966. Established by the 1963 coup d'état, which was undertaken by Ba'athists and

Nasserists Nasserism ( ) is an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President of Egypt, President. Spa ...

officers in the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

, it exercised both executive and legislative authority in Syria. The NCRC was composed of 12 Ba'athists and eight

and independents. Its exact membership was kept secret for the first few months. Though some civilians were admitted, it was dominated by

military officers An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

. Within the NCRC, the military officers created already before the NCRC was established, the military Committee to hold the real power described as a "Junta within a Junta." The military committee had five members:

Muhammad Umran Major General Muhammad Umran (; 1922 – 4 March 1972) was a Syrian military officer and founding member of the Military Committee of the unitary Ba'ath Party. He was a leading figure in Syrian politics from the 1963 Syrian coup d'état until t ...

(Chairman until 8 March 1963),

Salah Jadid Salah Jadid (; 1926 – 19 August 1993) was a Syrian military officer and politician who was the leader of the far-left bloc of the Syrian Regional Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and the ''de facto'' leader of Ba'athist Syria from 1966 until 1970 ...

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

Abdul-Karim al-Jundi Abd al-Karim al-Jundi (; 1932 – 2 March 1969) was a Syrian military officer and founding member of the Ba'ath Party's Military Committee which took over power in the country after the 1963 military coup. He also served as Minister of Agrarian ...

and Ahmad al-Miration. Also within the NCRC there was also a military organisation, which consisted of 12 branches resembling their civilian counterparts. The military organisation was led by a central committee, which represented the military committee. The new government's priority was to establish an

Arab union The Arab Union is a theoretical political union of the Arab states. The term was first used when the British Empire promised the Arabs a united independent state in return for revolting against the Ottoman Empire, with which the United Kingdom ...

with

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, where Ba'athists seized control in February 1963, and the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 to 1971. It was initially a short-lived political union between Republic of Egypt (1953–1958), Egypt (including Occupation of the Gaza Strip by the United Ara ...

(Egypt). Although the Syrian Baathists initially (under pressure from civilian pro-Nasserist demonstrators) declared their desire to return former union with Egypt, no serious steps toward unification were taken. Moreover, between 28 April -2 May, the junta purged dozens of

Nasserist Nasserism ( ) is an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President. Spanning the domestic a ...

officers in the Syrian army. And months later, Ba'athist regime in Iraq was overthrown. In May 1964, the NCRC implemented a provisional constitution providing for a cabinet, a Presidential Council, and an appointed legislature composed of "people's organizations." The NCRC was dissolved following the 1966 coup d'état by dissident army officers.

References

Ba'athism Nasserism 1963 establishments in Syria History of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region Military dictatorships Provisional governments Government of Syria Collective heads of state Political history of Syria Arab nationalism in Syria Ba'athist Syria {{Syria-stub