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The word appeared 2 times in the opening at its peak in 2010. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-02.

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What did Wikipedia remove from the Husni al-Za'im article?

The opening as it read in 2010

Husni al-Za'im (1897–1949) ( ) was a Syrian military man and politician.¹ Husni al-Za'im, whose family is of Kurdish ancestry, had been an officer in the Ottoman Army .² After France instituted its colonial mandate over Syria after the First World War, he became an officer in the French Army . After Syria's independence he was made Chief of Staff , and led the Syrian Army into war with the Israeli Army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War .³ The defeat of the Arab forces in that war shook Syria and undermined confidence in the country's chaotic parliamentary democracy . On April 11, 1949, al-Za'im seized power in a bloodless coup d'état . Syria's President , Shukri al-Kuwatli , was briefly imprisoned, but then released into exile in Egypt . Al-Za'im also imprisoned many political leaders, such as Munir al-Ajlani , whom he accused of conspiring to overthrow the republic. The coup was carried out with discreet backing of the American embassy, and possibly assisted by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party , although al-Za'im himself is not known to have been a member. Among the officers that assisted al-Za'ims takeover was Adib al-Shishakli and Sami al-Hinnawi , both of whom would later become military leaders of the country. Al-Za'im's takeover, the first military coup in the history of Syria, would have lasting effects, as it shattered the country's fragile and flawed democratic rule, and set off a series of increasingly violent military revolts. Two more would follow in 1949. While his rule was relatively mild, with no executions of political opponents and few arrests of dissenters, al-Za'im quickly made enemies. His secular policies and proposals for the emancipation of women through granting them the vote and suggesting they should give up the Islamic practice of veiling , created a stir among Muslim religious leaders ( Women's suffrage was only achieved during the third civilian administration of Hashim al-Atassi , a staunch opponent of military rule). Raising taxes also aggrieved businessmen, and Arab nationalists were still smouldering over his signing of a cease-fire with Israel , as well as his deals with US oil companies for building the Trans-Arabian Pipeline . He made a peace overture to Israel offering to settle 300,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria, in exchange for border modifications along the cease fire line and half of Israel's Lake Tiberias . Settling the refugees was made conditional on sufficient outside assistance for the Syrian economy. The overture was answered very slowly by Jerusalem and not treated seriously. Lacking popular support, al-Za'im was overthrown after just four and a half months by his colleagues, al-Shishakli and al-Hinnawi. As al-Hinnawi took power as leader of a military junta, Husni al-Za'im was swiftly spirited away to Mezze prison in Damascus, and executed along with Prime Minister Muhsen al-Barazi .⁴

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 361030819.

The opening as it stood in 2015 15 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Husni al-Za'im (1897 – August 14, 1949) ( ) was a Syrian military man and politician. Husni al-Za'im, whose family is of Kurdish ancestry, had been an officer in the Ottoman Army . After France instituted its colonial mandate over Syria after the First World War, he became an officer in the French Army . After Syria's independence in 1946 he was made Chief of Staff , and led the Syrian Army into war with the Israeli Army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War . The defeat of the Arab league forces in that war shook Syria and undermined confidence in the country's chaotic parliamentary democracy .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 662833402.

The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Husni al-Za'im (11 May 1897 – 14 August 1949; Ḥusnī az-Za’īm ) was a Syrian military officer and politician. Husni al-Za'im, had been an officer in the Ottoman Army . After France instituted its colonial mandate over Syria after the First World War, he became an officer in the French Army . After Syria's independence in 1946 he was made Chief of Staff , and was ordered to lead the Syrian Army into war with the Israeli Army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War . The defeat of the Arab league forces in that war shook Syria and undermined confidence in the country's chaotic parliamentary democracy , allowing him to seize power in 1949. However, his reign as head of state would be brief: he was executed within a few months.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 959864316.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Syrian military officer and politician (1897–1949) Husni al-Za'im ( Ḥusnī az-Za’īm ; 11 May 1897 – 14 August 1949) was a Kurdish military officer and who was head of state of Syria in 1949. He had been an officer in the Ottoman Army . After France instituted its colonial mandate over Syria after the First World War, he became an officer in the French Army . After Syria's independence in 1946 he was made Chief of Staff , and was ordered to lead the Syrian Army into war with the Israeli Army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War . The defeat of the Arab league forces in that war shook Syria and undermined confidence in the country's chaotic parliamentary democracy , allowing him to seize power in 1949. However, his reign as head of state was brief, he was tried and executed in August 1949 by his former coup co-conspirators. Al-Za'im infamously executed Lebanese intellectual Antoun Saadeh in July 1949.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1170615082.

The opening as it stood in 2025

( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Syrian military officer and politician (1897–1949) Husni al-Za'im ( Arabic : حسني الزعيم Ḥusnī az-Za’īm ; 11 May 1897 – 14 August 1949) was a Syrian military officer who served as head of state of Syria in 1949. He had been an officer in the Ottoman Army . After France instituted its colonial mandate over Syria after the First World War, he became an officer in the French Army . After Syria's independence in 1946 he was made Chief of Staff , and was ordered to lead the Syrian Army into war with the Israeli Army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War . The defeat of the Arab league forces in that war shook Syria and undermined confidence in the country's chaotic parliamentary democracy , allowing him to seize power in 1949. However, his reign as head of state was brief, he was tried and executed in August 1949 by his former coup co-conspirators. Al-Za'im infamously executed Lebanese intellectual Antoun Saadeh in July 1949. Histoire de la Syrie: de 1918 à nos jours .

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Husni al-Za'im

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