 After taking power in the 1963 Syrian coup d 'état , officially the 8th of March Revolution , a power struggle broke erupted between the Nasserites in the National Council for the Revolutionary Command and the Ba 'ath Party . The Nasserites sought to reestablish the United Arab Republic , the former federation encompassing Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961 , on Gamal Abdel Nasser 's terms , the Ba 'athists were skeptical of a new union with Nasser , and wanted a loose federation where the Ba 'ath Party could rule Syria alone without interference . The Nasserites mobilised large street demonstrations in favour of a union . It took time before the Ba 'ath Party knew how to respond to the issue , since the majority of Syrian Arab Nationalists were not adherents to Ba 'athism , but of Nasserism and Nasser in general . 
