Syria: A Short History/19
UNDER THE FRENCH MANDATE
Early in June 1920 Faysal, who had become the symbol
of Syrian aspirations, returned to Damascus from his second
trip to Europe fully convinced that England and France
were in no mood to accept a fully independent status for
Syria. More than that, he had agreed with Georges Clemen-
ceau to accept assistance in administrative, financial and
technical affairs. But an over-enthusiastic Syrian congress,
convened at Damascus, rejected (March 8) this mild form
of mandatory tutelage and proclaimed Faysal king over
an expanded Syria c in its natural boundaries' 'from the
Taurus to Sinai'. In the congress Syria and Palestine were
adequately represented, but not Lebanon. On July 14 the
French high commissioner Henri Gouraud, one-armed hero
of the Marne, addressed an ultimatum to King Faysal
demanding unconditional acceptance of French authority
and shortiy afterwards moved his forces upon Damascus.
The seasoned troops had no difficulty in scoring a victory at
Maysalun against a handful of hastily assembled, poorly
trained Syrian soldiers. Faysal left the country and was
later installed by the British as king over Iraq, where his
grandson, until 1958, ruled. On September 1, 1920, Greater
Lebanon was declared by Gouraud.
Syria itself presented well-nigh insurmountable difficulties. It was at perhaps the lowest ebb in its history politically, economically, socially and spiritually. It had no developed institutions for self-rule, no proper implementation for democratic procedure, and its people had no experience in parliamentary affairs or modern civil service. The man- datory was from the outset confronted with the task of literally creating administrative and judiciary organs of state, repairing roads, establishing public education on a systematic basis and developing the natural resources.
Slowly the mandatory established comparatively modern administrative machinery, carried on land registration, organized an educational system, encouraged archaeological researches, gave fellowships for study in France especially in such neglected fields as art, set up a department of public health and sanitation and developed public security. Modern codes of law were promulgated. The customs were organized jointly with Lebanon, whose capital Beirut re- mained the chief port of entry for the entire hinterland. Public works, including roads, were not carried out on as large a scale as in Lebanon. But on the whole the govern- ment's energies were directed to political rather than economic problems and the people themselves concentrated on the political struggle.
They felt that mandatory administration differed more in theory than in practice from colonial rule. To them French control was more direct and more hateful than that exercised by the Turks. The first three high commissioners, Henri Gouraud (1919-1923), Maxime Weygand (1923- 1925) and Maurice Sarrail (1925), who were also com- missioners to Lebanon and commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, were military generals who had distinguished themselves in the World War. For aides they drew largely upon the reservoir of officers with colonial experience in Africa. Repeated attempts to reach a compromise between nationalist aspirations and French rule failed. A draft constitution submitted in August 1928 by an elected con- stituent assembly was rejected by the commissioner and the assembly itself was dissolved. Until 1930 the country was governed without a constitution. Even the one then pro- mulgated was drawn up by the commissioner himself but embodied much material, with reservations, from the one submitted by the assembly. Potential separatist movements — regional and religious — were given a chance to be actualized and the old-time principle of 'divide and rule 5 was applied. The country was divided into four states : the state of Damascus, the state of Aleppo, that of the Druzes in Hawran and that of the Alawites centring on Latakia.
A larger dose of French culture was administered than the people would tolerate. The French language was em- phasized at the expense of Arabic. Repressive measures were taken against nationalists. Shukri al-Quwatli, future president of the independent Republic, Faris al-Khuri, future prime minister, Salih al-Haffar, also prime minister- to-be, and other leaders of thought and action were, at some time or other, banished or jailed. Restrictions were placed on personal liberties to the exasperation of the population, who started to vent their discontent in strikes and local uprisings culminating in the general revolt of 1925. Sparked by Druzes, the revolt soon spread into Damascus, Aleppo, Hamah and other places and continued until the autumn of 1927, when the capital was subjected to a bombardment by artillery and aircraft which left scars on it for years to come. In face of the outburst of world-wide indignation the French replaced the high commissioner by a civilian, Henri de Jouvenel, whose attempt to negotiate peace terms were unsuccessful. Equally unsuccessful were the efforts of his successors. In January a nationalist congress met at the capital, formally condemned the French policy and issued a Pan-Arab manifesto.
The late 1930's were marked with even greater resent- ment because France, in violation of the terms of the man- date charging it with safeguarding the integrity of the territory entrusted to its care, granted Turkey privileges in the Sanjaq of Alexandre tta and finally ceded it in June 1939 to become incorporated in the Turkish Republic. The Turks had a sizable minority in the Sanjaq. This was the price — paid at Syria's expense — to win Turkey over to the Anglo-French side in the great war which was developing.
Map of Syria and Lebanon on the eve of the Second World War
On the political side, however, retrogression rather than progression marked the scene. In May 1939 Gabriel Puaux, high commissioner since early 1938, renounced in the name of his government the Franco-Syrian treaty which had been negotiated as early as 1936. He then proceeded to re-establish the mandatory regime on a firmer basis. Martial law was declared. With France's surrender to the Axis he pledged loyalty to the Vichy government and closely collaborated with the German commission sent to Syria-Lebanon. British and Free French troops had then to open hostilities for the recovery of the land. On June 8, 1941, their troops entered Syria from the east and the south and forced the Vichy commander-in-chief in Syria and Lebanon to ask for terms, thus cancelling German attempts to obtain control of these territories. Georges Catroux was appointed by the chief of the Free French, General de Gaulle, as commander of the troops of the Levant, delegate general and plenipotentiary. On the day of the invasion of Syria by Allied troops General Catroux had proclaimed to the Syrian people that he was sent 'to put an end to the mandatory regime and to proclaim you free and independent 5’. The United Kingdom government also declared that 'they support and associate themselves with the assurance of independence given by General Catroux on behalf of General de Gaulle to Syria and Lebanon'. On September 16 Catroux formally announced Syria's independence and eleven days later its new government formally proclaimed its status as an independent state. But all this was more nominal than real. There was little change in personnel and less in methods. No constitutional life was established until August 1943 when a newly elected chamber chose the nationalist leader Shukri al-Quwatli as president of the Republic. The national government sought to gain possession of the powers and prerogatives of independent rule. It inaugurated legations in Paris, London, Moscow and Washington and later in other capitals.
But points of dispute soon arose. Chief among them was the disposition of the so-called common interests involving matters of concern (such as customs) to both Syria and Lebanon. Then there were the 'special troops', locally recruited from Syrian, and Lebanese levies, trained and integrated with the army of occupation. France then demanded a new treaty giving her a privileged position in the country, which the Syrians categorically rejected. As late as May 1945, when Syria objected to the admission of new French troops and broke off relations with France, the army of occupation repeated its performance of eighteen years earlier and bombarded Damascus with aircraft and field guns. The day was May 29; delegates from all over the world were holding at San Francisco the charter meeting of the United Nations. No worse day could have been chosen. The shock was universal. The British intervened and restored order. By the end of the year France and Britain had agreed to consult about evacuating their troops from both Syria and Lebanon. The admission of both states to the United Nations on April 12, 1945, implied international recognition of the termination of the mandate. Twenty days before that Syria had signed the pact of the newly created Arab League, whose other members were Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan and Yemen. Under pressure from the United Nations the evacuation of Syria was at last completed on April 17, 1946; that of Lebanon on December 31, 1946. A public square in Damascus and a national holiday commemorate 'the day of evacuation' . Self-government then became completely established.