Editing Hashim al-Atassi (section)

=== Opposition to military rule ===
During the Shishakli years (1951 to 1954), Atassi spearheaded the opposition, claiming that the Shishakli government was unconstitutional. He rallied the support of disgruntled officers, pro-Hashemite politicians, and members of all outlawed political parties, and called for a national uprising. In February 1954, Shishakli responded by arresting his son Adnan and placing the veteran statesman under house arrest. Such was Atassi's stature in Syria as its elder statesman that Shishakli dared not subject him to the indignity of outright imprisonment.

The officers mutinied, political leaders mobilized against the government, and an armed uprising broke out in the Arab Mountain. On 24 February 1954, the government of Adib al-Shishakli was finally overthrown. Four days later, on 28 February, Atassi returned to Damascus from his home in Homs and reassumed his duties as President. He appointed [[Sabri al-Assali]] as Prime Minister, and restored all pre-Shishakli ambassadors, ministers, and parliamentarians to office. He tried to eradicate all traces of the four-year Shishakli dictatorship.