The high flow of events concerning the present ‘conflict’ in Syria and its media coverage hide the continuity and the key components which created the present situation. I will argue that long term and short term histories shed light on how and why the oppositional movement has spread around the country. It also clarifies some specificities of the present movement compared to the previous ones known in Syria. Contrary to the confessional lecture on the present conflict, the underpinning structure that permits the movement to grow since 2011 is the quarter or the village. It became the place upon which local committees organized themselves and connected one to another. Moreover, the different geographical trends under which the movement extends to different parts of the country cannot be understood without taking the quarter or the village into consideration. Finally, the day-to-day crisis management such as in Yarmuk camp or Old Towns in Homs led to focus on this stage. Studying the long term history is essential in understanding the importance of the quarter and its leading role in the event. Three lenses prove this assumption. First, the quarter has historically been the place of socialization, and people identify with this place. Second, the network of the uprising followed the pattern of rural migration between the mid- 19th to the mid-20th century. Third, in some areas, memory had a key role in the commitment of the protestors. I will finally argue that this pattern is now leading to the regime’s fragmentation.