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Syrian Republic | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930–1950 | |||||||||||||||
| Anthem: حُمَاةَ الدَّيَّارِ Ḥumāt ad-Diyār "Guardians of the Homeland"[1] | |||||||||||||||
 Territory of the Syrian Republic as proposed in theunratifiedFranco-Syrian Treaty of 1936. (Lebanon was not part of the plan). In 1938,Alexandretta was also excluded. | |||||||||||||||
| Status | French mandate(1930–1946) Sovereign state(1946–1950) | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Damascus | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic (official),French,Syriac,Armenian,Kurdish,Turkish | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Islam (all branches incl.Alawite), Christianity, Judaism,Druzism,Yazidism | ||||||||||||||
| Government | FrenchMandate (1930–1946) Parliamentary republic (1946–1949) Parliamentary republic under amilitary dictatorship (1949–1950) | ||||||||||||||
| High Commissioner | |||||||||||||||
• 1930–1933(first) | Henri Ponsot | ||||||||||||||
• 1944–1946(last) | Étienne Paul Beynet | ||||||||||||||
| President | |||||||||||||||
• 1932–1936(first) | Muhammad Ali al-Abid | ||||||||||||||
• 1945–1950(last) | Hashim al-Atassi | ||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||
• 1932–1934(first) | Haqqi al-Azm | ||||||||||||||
• 1950(last) | Nazim al-Kudsi | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
| 14 May 1930 | |||||||||||||||
| 9 September 1936 | |||||||||||||||
| 7 September 1938 | |||||||||||||||
• Syriansovereignty / UNadmission | 24 October 1945 | ||||||||||||||
| 17 April 1946 | |||||||||||||||
| 5 September 1950 | |||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||
• Total | 192,424 km2 (74,295 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Currency | Syrian pound | ||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Syria Turkey Israel (disputed) | ||||||||||||||
TheFirst Syrian Republic,[2][a] officially theSyrian Republic,[b] was formed in 1930 as a component of theMandate for Syria and the Lebanon, succeeding theState of Syria. Atreaty of independence was made in 1936 to grant independence to Syria and end official French rule, but the French parliament refused to accept the treaty. From 1940 to 1941, the Syrian Republic was under the control ofVichy France, and after the Allied invasion in 1941 gradually went on the path towards independence. The proclamation of independence took place in 1944, but only in October 1945 was the Syrian Republicde jure recognized by the United Nations; it became ade factosovereign state on 17 April 1946, with the withdrawal of French troops. It was succeeded by theSecond Syrian Republic upon the adoption of anew constitution on 5 September 1950.[4]
On 23 December 1925,Henri de Jouvenel was appointed asFrench High Commissioner for Syria, and on 28 April 1926, the High Commissioner appointedAhmad Nami as Prime Minister and Head of State, who formed a government consisting of six ministers, three of whom were nationalists, and it was agreed with the French High Commissioner on the government's work agenda made known the ten points, the most important points were:
The three governments which were formed byAhmed Nami between May 1926 and February 1928 were unable to fulfill their agenda. High commissionerHenri de Jouvenel’s replacement byHenri Ponsot in September 1926 with a change of direction regarding the Syrian question, and contrary to the general amnesty, the French arrested the three national government ministers in September 1926 and exiled them to Lebanon.[6]
The French High Commissioner began a series of discussions in Beirut with the main Syrian national leadersHashim al-Atassi andIbrahim Hananu on the future constitution, which failed to reach any agreement. On 15 February 1928, Ahmed Nami resigned, and the High Commissioner appointed SheikhTaj al-Din al-Hasani as the new interim head of state.[7]
The High Commissioner decreed an amnesty before the elections, terming it a general amnesty but excluding charges related to the great revolution and key Syrian-Lebanese nationalist leaders such asShukri al-Quwatli,Abdel Rahman Shahbandar,Fawzi Qawukji,Ihsan Jabri (Syria), Amin Rouhaiaha and Mohamed Shureiki (Alawi region),Sultan al-Atrash (Jabal Druze), as well asShakib Arslan, and Shaib Whab (Lebanon). Therefore,Great Syrian Revolt leaders were unable to participate in the elections.[8]
The nationalists formed a new political grouping in preparation for the elections that included the formerNational Party, some members of thePeople's Party, and independent figures, most of which are local, and called themselves theNational Bloc, andHashim al-Atassi was elected as its president. Elections were held in April 1928 and 70 members were elected, and the results were not decided, but in favor of urban nationalists and rural moderates.[2]
The project of a new constitution was discussed by a Constituent Assembly elected in April 1928, but as the pro-independenceNational Bloc had won a majority and insisted on the insertion of several articles "that did not preserve the prerogatives of the mandatary power".
The Constituent Assembly convened on 9 May 1928, at the Government Premises, and unanimously elected Mr.Hashem al-Atassi as its president, and after the arrival ofHenri Ponsott, the High Commissioner, andTaj al-Din al-Hasani, the Prime Minister and his ministers. The Constituent Assembly began to recite of the articles of the Constitution, then the meeting was suspended to the date of 11 August 1928, when the session opened again in the presence of the High Commissioner, the Prime Minister and his ministers, then the rest of the articles of the constitution were recited, and upon voting on it as a whole, approved by the Constituent Assembly for all its 115 articles, including the six articles (2, 72, 73, 75, 110, 112 and many relate to the authorities of the President and the Army), which was the men of the mandate are expecting for its abolition from the constitution, for inconsistency with the mandate system.
TheHigh Commissioner withdrew from the session angry and followed by the Prime Minister and ministers, and he issued a decision to postpone the convening of the Constituent Assembly for a period of three months, hoping that an agreement would be reached on the six articles of the Constitution that contradict the mandate policy, and postponement of the negotiations were repeated to no avail. Then when the Constituent Assembly opened its session on 5 February 1929, the head of the political division of the High Commission surprised them and read to the deputies the High Commissioner's memorandum containing the eliminate the six articles opposing the mandate's policy and declaring the suspension of the Constituent Assembly indefinitely.[9] [5]
On 14 May 1930 the French high commissioner promulgated a constitution for the Syrian State. On 22 May 1930 theState of Syria was declared the Republic of Syria and anew Syrian Constitution was promulgated by the French High Commissioner,[10] in the same time as the Lebanese Constitution, theRèglement du Sandjak d'Alexandrette, the Statute of theAlawi Government, the Statute of the JabalDruze State.[11] A new flag was also mentioned in this constitution:
The Syrian flag shall be composed as follows, the length shall be double the height. It shall contain three bands of equal dimensions, the upper band being green, the middle band white, and the lower band black. The white portion shall bear three red stars in line, having five points each.[12][13]
During 20 December 1931 and 4 January 1932, the first elections under the new constitution were held, under an electoral law providing for "the representation of religious minorities" as imposed by article 37 of the constitution.[13] The National Bloc was in the minority in the new chamber of deputies with only 16 deputies out of 70, due to intensive vote-rigging by the French authorities.[14] Among the deputies were also three members of theSyrian Kurdish nationalistXoybûn (Khoyboun) party, Khalil bey Ibn Ibrahim Pacha (Al-Jazira Province), Mustafa bey Ibn Shahin (Jarabulus) and Hassan Aouni (Kurd Dagh).[15] There were later in the year, from 30 March to 6 April, "complementary elections".[16] On 11 June 1932 the Syrian Chamber of Deputies electedMuhammad 'Ali Bay al-'Abid as president, theSyrian State was renamed theRepublicof Syria in July 1932.[17]
In 1933, 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-'Abid. Fierce opposition to this treaty was spearheaded by senior nationalist and parliamentarianHashim al-Atassi, who called for a60-day strike in protest. Atassi's political coalition, theNational Bloc, mobilized massive popular support for his call. Riots and demonstrations raged, and the economy came to a standstill.
After negotiations in March withDamien de Martel, the French High Commissioner in Syria,Hashim al-Atassi went to Paris heading a senior National Bloc delegation. The newPopular Front-led French government, formed in June 1936 after theApril–May elections, had agreed to recognize the National Bloc as the sole legitimate representatives of theSyrian people and invited al-Atassi to independence negotiations. The resulting treaty called for immediate recognition of Syrian independence as a sovereign republic, with full emancipation granted gradually over a 25-year period.
In 1936, the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence was signed, a treaty that would not be ratified by the French legislature. However, the treaty allowed Jabal Druze, the Alawite region (now calledLatakia), and Alexandretta to be incorporated into the Syrian Republic within the following two years. Greater Lebanon (now theLebanese Republic) was the only state that did not join the Syrian Republic. Hashim al-Atassi, who was Prime Minister during KingFaisal's brief reign (1918–1920), was the first president to be elected under a new constitution adopted after the independence treaty.
The treaty guaranteed incorporation of previously autonomous Druze and Alawite regions intoGreater Syria, but notLebanon, with which France signed a similar treaty in November. The treaty also 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 itsair space, and to allow France to maintain two military bases on Syrian territory. Other political, economic and cultural provisions were included.
Atassi returned to Syria in triumph on 27 September 1936 and was electedPresident of the Republic in November.
In September 1938, France separated the SyrianSanjak of Alexandretta, despite its territory being guaranteed as part of Syria in the treaty, and transformed it intoHatay State, which joinedTurkey in June 1939. Syria did not recognize the incorporation of Hatay into Turkey and the issue is still disputed until the present time.
The emerging threat ofNazi Germany induced a fear of being outflanked by it if France relinquished its colonies in the Middle East. That, coupled with lingering imperialist inclinations in some levels of the French government, led France to reconsider its promises and refuse to ratify the treaty. Riots again broke out, Atassi resigned, and Syrian independence was deferred until afterWorld War II.
With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II, Syria came under the control of theVichy Government until theBritish andFree Frenchinvaded and occupied the country in July 1941. Syria proclaimed its independence again in 1941 but it was not until 1 January 1944 that it was recognized as an independent republic.
In the 1940s, Britain secretly advocated the creation of a Greater Syrian state that would secure Britain preferential status in military, economic and cultural matters, in return for putting a complete halt to Jewish ambition inPalestine. France and the United States opposed British hegemony in the region, which eventually led to the creation of Israel.[citation needed]
On 27 September 1941, Free France proclaimed, by virtue of, and within the framework of the Mandate, the independence and sovereignty of the Syrian State. The proclamation said "the independence and sovereignty of Syria and Lebanon will not affect the juridical situation as it results from the Mandate act. Indeed, this situation could be changed only with the agreement of the Council of theLeague of Nations, with the consent of the Government of the United States, a signatory of the Franco-American Convention of 4 April 1924, and only after the conclusion between the French Government and the Syrian and Lebanese Governments of treaties duly ratified in accordance with the laws of the French Republic.[18]
Benqt Broms said that it was important to note that there were several founding members of the United Nations whose statehood was doubtful at the time of the San Francisco Conference and that the Government of France still considered Syria and Lebanon to be mandates.[19]
Duncan Hall said "Thus, the Syrian mandate may be said to have been terminated without any formal action on the part of the League or its successor. The mandate was terminated by the declaration of the mandatory power, and of the new states themselves, of their independence, followed by a process of piecemeal unconditional recognition by other powers, culminating in formal admission to the United Nations. Article 78 of the Charter ended the status of tutelage for any member state: 'The trusteeship system shall not apply to territories which have become Members of the United Nations, relationship among which shall be based on respect for the principle of sovereign equality.'"[20] So when the UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, after ratification of theUnited Nations Charter by thefive permanent members, as both Syria and Lebanon were founding member states, the French mandate for both was legally terminated on that date and full independence attained.[21]
On 29 May 1945, France bombedDamascus and tried to arrest its democratically elected leaders. While French planes were bombingDamascus, Prime MinisterFaris al-Khoury was at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco, presentingSyria's claim for independence from theFrench Mandate.[7][6]
Syrian independence wasde jure attained on 24 October 1945. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups and British pressure forced the French to evacuate their last troops on 17 April 1946.[2]
The constitution of 1930 was amended in 1947.
In 1947, Syria joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and pegged its currency to the U.S. dollar at 2.19148 pounds = 1 dollar, a rate which was maintained until 1961. TheLebanese andSyrian currencies split in 1948.
The Arab League failed in the1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Husni al-Za'im took power in 1949 but died later that year. He was succeeded by Atassi.
A new constitution was drafted and adopted in 1950, marking the beginning of theSecond Syrian Republic.
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