Remember George Santayana? No?
That’s ironic, since he reportedly coined the phrase, “those who cannot
remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Well, apparently, the US enjoys
repetition. But, as events unfold in Syria today, foreign intervention looming
on the horizon, it’s hard for Arabs not to remember how things went almost a
century ago, and dread that history may be repeated.
Even before World War I started,
Arabs were trying to break free from the Ottoman Empire and form their own
nations. In 1908, Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca declared himself King of the
new Kingdom of Hejaz. Throughout WWI the Hashemite royal family continued to
correspond with the British (first with Lord Kitchener in 1915, then Sir Henry
McMahon 1915 – 1916). On May 6, 1916 the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule was finally
triggered when the sultan had Arab nationalists executed in Marjeh Square,
Damascus. In the remaining years of World War I, Arabs helped England and
France prevail against the Ottoman Empire believing it was their best chance at
independence. Emir Faisal and a contingent of supporters attended western peace
talks after World War I in an effort to secure a future for the Arab people as
independent nations rather than colonial assets to foreign powers.
November 1917 was a particularly
disappointing year for the Arabs. On November 9, a paper publicized the Balfour
Declaration of November second, essentially giving Zionists official British
support for establishing a home in Palestine. On November 23 the new Bolshevik
government in Russia made the Sykes-Picot Agreement public, revealing the
French and English had been secretly negotiating throughout WWI to rule over
the Arabs while at the same time promising them self-determination.
Later an American report
(King-Crane Commission 1919) showed that Syrians opposed both the Balfour declaration
and the French and British mandates. The report was ignored as were Arab
demands for an independent and unified Syria.
Here’s the part you might be
familiar with. Emir Faisal – that guy who went across the desert with Lawrence
of Arabia – son of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, joined British General
Allenby in Damascus in October of 1918, and began establishing a local
government. At the same time, the French, demanding that the English honor the
Sykes-Picot agreement, arrived in what was becoming known as Lebanon and took
over.
At the Paris Peace Talks of 1919 –
which resulted in the Treaty of Versailles – the US Secretary of State Robert
Lansing identified the mandate system as a thinly veiled division of the spoils
of war. In July the newly formed Syrian Congress passed resolutions demanding a
constitutional monarchy with Faisal as King, and asking the US for assistance.
In November, the British left Damascus to avoid conflict with the French,
ending Syria’s hopes that the west would honor their requests.
In March of 1920, after
negotiations with the French collapsed under Arab pressure for independence,
the Syrian Congress declared Faisal King of a new state: the Arab Kingdom of
Syria. The Europeans responded by holding the San Remo Conference, and
allocating governance of former Ottoman territories as they saw fit.
Syria had no trained army to speak
of and no air force at all, so when the French bombed antiquities and
threatened to raze Old Damascus to the ground, the Syrians eventually
surrendered (see my Yousef Azmeh blog for an important footnote).
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“Henri Gouraud on horseback inspecting his French troops at
Maysalun” This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its
copyright has expired. It was reportedly taken on 24th
July, 1920 in Maysalun. The photographer is unknown. The file is from Wikimedia Commons.
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The French ran Syria for well over
the official 20 years of the mandate. The French Mandate of Syria was not
formally approved by the League of Nations until 29 September 1923, when they
had already been running Syria and Lebanon for three years and they did not
leave Damascus until 1946. The French disdain for Arabs is exemplified by the
story that after putting down a revolt in northern Syria, General Gouraud
kicked Saladin’s tomb and said, “Awake, Saladin. We have returned. My presence
here consecrates victory of the Cross over the Crescent.”
In 1946 when the French withdrew, they left a final mark in the memories of Syrians: they bombed parliament. One of my ancestors, a parliamentary guard, died in the attack. I don't know how many others died.
In 1946 when the French withdrew, they left a final mark in the memories of Syrians: they bombed parliament. One of my ancestors, a parliamentary guard, died in the attack. I don't know how many others died.
Though remnants of French influence,
good and bad, can be found throughout Syria, and French culture is
respected, Syrians have not forgotten the bad taste of imperial rule. So, you
see, perhaps the one thing that a Syrian fears more than a dictatorship is a
foreign dictatorship. Ironically the best hope for Syria to stay intact both
physically and as a government –we do have a parliament and a constitution - is
the United Nations, the entity that succeeded The League of Nations, who
created the mess in the Middle East in the first place.
The following links will help you find the bibliographies on wikipedia so you can get to primary sources, if you wish to learn more.
Citations:
partitioning of Ottoman Empire
French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon
Battle of Maysalun
Marjeh Square
Arab Revolt
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