The
Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence was a treaty negotiated between
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
to provide for Syrian independence from French authority, which had been imposed under a
League of Nations MandateA League of Nations mandate refers to a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...
.
Explanation
The agreement was negotiated over a six-month period from March to September of 1936. The Syrian government ratified the treaty before the end of the year. France signed, but never ratified the document. The treaty was the first formal compact between France and a recognized nationalist movement in Syria, comprising several elected officials of the parliament in
DamascusDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and its current population is estimated at about 1,669,000...
.
History
In 1934, France attempted to impose a treaty of independence heavily prejudiced in favor of France. It promised gradual independence but kept the Syrian Mountains under French control. The Syrian head of state at the time was a French puppet,
Muhammad 'Ali Bay al-'AbidMuhammad Ali al-Abid was the president of Syria from 11 June 1932 until 21 December 1936.- Father :His father, Ahmad Izzat al-Abid, was born in Damascus to a rich family, where he learned, then he continued his education in Beirut, Lebanon. He was fluent in Arabic, French, and Turkish...
. Fierce opposition to this treaty was spearheaded by senior nationalist and parliamentarian
Hashim al-AtassiHashim Bay Khalid al-Atassi was a Syrian nationalist, statesman and its President during 19361939, 19501951, and 1954.- Background and early career :...
, who called for a sixty day strike in protest. Atassi's political coalition, the
National BlocThe National Bloc was a Syrian political party who rose in the fight for independence at the time of French Mandate of Syria.The party was created after a national conference in 1928, by Ibrahim Hananu....
, mobilized massive popular support for his call. Riots and demonstrations raged, and the economy came to a standstill.
In consequence, the new
Popular FrontThe Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period...
-led French government agreed to recognize the National Bloc as the sole legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, and invited Hashim al-Atassi to independence negotiations in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He traveled there on March 22, 1936, heading a senior Bloc delegation. The resulting treaty called for immediate recognition of Syrian independence as a sovereign republic, with full emancipation granted gradually over a 25 year period. The treaty guaranteed incorporation of previously autonomous
DruzeThe Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, whose traditional religion is said to have begun as an offshoot of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnostic, neo-Platonic and other philosophies, similar to other followers of Ismaili Shi'a...
and
AlawiteThe Alawis or Alawites are a prominent minority religious group in Syria who describe themselves as a sect of Shī‘ah Islam...
regions into
Greater SyriaGreater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
, but not
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
, with which France signed a similar treaty in November. The treaty further promised curtailment of French intervention in Syrian domestic affairs as well as a reduction of French troops, personnel and military bases in Syria. In return, Syria pledged to support France in times of war, including the use of her airspace and allowing France to maintain two military bases on Syrian territory. Other political, economic and cultural provisions were included. Atassi returned to Syria in triumph on September 27, 1936, and was elected President of the Republic in November.
The emerging threat of
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
induced a fear of being outflanked by
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
if France relinquished her colonies in the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. This, coupled with lingering imperialist inclinations in some levels of the French government, led France to reconsider its promises and refuse to ratify the treaty. In addition, France ceded the province of
AlexandrettaHatay is a province of southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast, with Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana and Osmaniye to the north. The province was annexed from the Ottoman Empire by France after World War I. In 1938, the province declared independence from France...
, whose territory was guaranteed as part of Syria in the treaty, to
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
. Riots again broke out, Atassi resigned, and Syrian independence was deferred until after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.