National Council for the Revolutionary Command

The National Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC) was the twenty-man military junta and council set up to rule Ba'athist Syria between March 1963 and February 1966. Established by the 1963 coup d'état, which was undertaken by leftist officers in the Syrian Army, it exercised both executive and legislative authority in Syria.

The NCRC was composed of 12 Ba'athists and eight Nasserists and independents. Its exact membership was kept secret for the first few months. Though some civilians were admitted, it was dominated by military officers.^[1] Within the NCRC, the military officers created a committee to hold the real power described as a "Junta within a Junta."^[1]

The new government's priority was to establish an Arab union with Iraq, where Ba'athists seized control in February 1963, and the United Arab Republic (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 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.^[2]