Editing Homs (section)

===20th century===
Throughout the 20th century Homs held high political importance in the country and was home to several heads of state and other high-ranking government officials.<ref name="Dumper2"/> In October 1918, it was [[Pursuit to Haritan#Occupation of Homs|captured]] by the [[5th Cavalry Division (India)|5th Cavalry Division]] of the [[Allies of World War I|Allied forces]]. During the [[French mandate of Syria|French mandate]], Homs was part of the [[State of Damascus]]. It was considered for some time to become the capital of the [[Syrian Federation]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Philip Shukry Khoury|title=Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvP_AwAAQBAJ|page=138|isbn=9781400858392|date=14 July 2014|publisher=Princeton University Press |access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=23 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923075049/https://books.google.com/books?id=tvP_AwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> In Autumn 1925, the city joined Damascus and the southern [[Druze]] chieftains in a full-blown [[Great Syrian Revolt|revolt]] against French rule.<ref>Cleveland, 2000, p. 215.</ref> In 1932, the French moved their [[military academy]] from Damascus to Homs to be established in 1933, later known as [[Homs Military Academy]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/syria/syria121.html|title=Military Training|work=All Refer|access-date=3 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053653/http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/syria/syria121.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and it remained the only military academy in Syria until 1967.<ref name="commins">Commins, 2004, p. 130.</ref> The French authorities had created a locally recruited military force designated as the [[Army of the Levant|Special Troops of the Levant]], in which the [[Alawite]]s were given privileged positions. The military academy in Homs trained the indigenous officers for these ''Troupes Speciales du Levant''.<ref>Fisk, Robert. [https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-the-fearful-realities-keeping-the-assad-regime-in-power-7534769.html The fearful realities keeping the Assad regime in power] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615182323/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-the-fearful-realities-keeping-the-assad-regime-in-power-7534769.html |date=15 June 2012 }} ''[[The Independent]]''. pp.35–36. 4 March 2012. Retrieved on 4 March 2012.</ref> The Homs Military Academy played a major role in the years following Syria's independence, as many of its graduates went on to become high-ranking officers in the [[Syrian Army]], many of them taking part in the series of [[coup d'état]]s that were to follow. An important example was [[Hafez al-Assad]] who became the president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000.<ref name="Seale"/>

[[File:Camp Homs.jpg|thumb|The Homs camp of the [[Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade]] (1940)]]
[[File:Homs 13970819 18.jpg|thumb|The Syrian civil war caused major destruction in Homs]]
An oil pipeline between [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]] and [[Kirkuk]] was built in Homs in the early 1930s and it followed an ancient caravan route between Palmyra and the Mediterranean. In 1959, an oil refinery was built to process some of this oil for domestic consumption.<ref name="Dumper2"/> The city's oil refinery was bombed by the [[Israeli Air Force]] (IAF) during the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]].<ref name="Seale">Seale, 2007, p. 210.</ref>