Rising more than 3,280ft (1,000m) above sea level, the wind-swept plateau controlled by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967 offered an uninterrupted view of the farmlands below. The Golan Heights also gave its occupier a valuable advantage: push a little farther northeast and the road to Damascus, the Syrian capital, beckoned. It was for this reason that Hafez al-Assad, a former air force officer who'd seized the Syrian presidency in a violent coup d'etat in November 1970, embraced the Soviet Union in a long-standing alliance. With Soviet assistance the battered Syrian military was rebuilt and re-organised. After a year of consultations with Cairo the war plans were settled, and Mossad's moles tried in vain to warn Israel's leadership of the impending attack. A useful bit of context regarding the Cairo-Damascus alliance was their short-lived experiment with the United Arab Republic (UAR). Even if the UAR did not work in bringing together the two countries there was still a consensus in 1973 that a pan-Arab federation was feasible, perhaps after Israel was defeated in a war of revenge. On the agreed date, 6 October, the Syrians shattered the Israeli Purple Line that served as an unofficial border with an intense artillery barrage.
Denne historien er fra Issue 118-utgaven av History of War.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra Issue 118-utgaven av History of War.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
COUPS & CHAOS
How the French armed forces lost the war in Algeria and almost destroyed French democracy in the process
BATTLE OF ALGIERS
When the Front de libération nationale FLN) took its war to the streets of the capital, France’s military responded with merciless wrath
THE RISE OF ALGERIAN RESISTANCE
How the anti-colonialist struggle around the globe helped inspire Algeria’s liberation movement to organise and fight back
ROOTS OF REVOLUTION
A century of French occupation led to a genocide in Algeria that provoked one of the bloodiest showdowns of the modern age
DWIGHT W BIRDWELL
In the opening hours of the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, this Specialist Five led his armoured cavalry detachment in repulsing a fierce communist assault against Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon
THE FIVE STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP
Phillips O’Brien discusses how this quintet of national leaders impacted the course of the Second World War
Great Battles FLODDEN
On the morning of 9 September 1513, King James lV of Scotland stood atop Flodden Hill with what seemed an insurmountable advantage over the English. Yet by the day's end he would lay slain and his army shattered
FERDINAND 'THE BLOODY'
Known for his brutal martial punishment and execution of his own men, Ferdinand Schérner’s ruthlessness was matched only by his devotion to Nazi ideology
AIRBORNE UNDER SIEGE ARNHEM
For nine days the heroic 1st Airborne fought desperately, waiting vainly for relief that never came
SCANDINAVIA UNDER ATTACK
Hitler’s forces smash through Denmark and Norway ina grim foretaste of the terrible fate awaiting the rest of Western Europe
