The Syrian civil war, also known as the Syrian uprising or Syrian crisis, is an ongoing conflict in Syria that began with the Syrian Revolution in March 2011 when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region. The Assad regime responded to protests with lethal force, sparking a civil war that culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. All revolutionary factions united into the First Syrian transitional government by 12 March 2025.