Fragile Nation, Shattered Land by Reilly James A.;

Author:Reilly, James A.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786724502
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2018-09-25T16:00:00+00:00

THE END OF THE FRENCH MANDATE

World War II brought the mandate to an earlier end than France would have wished. At the outset of the war (1939) the French declared martial law, suspended the constitution and restored the Druze and Latakia states. With France’s defeat by Germany in 1940, Syria and Lebanon came under the administration of the collaborationist Vichy regime and as such German and Italian agents and military personnel had access to the countries’ territory. After suppressing a pro-Axis coup in Iraq in May 1941, the British moved into Syria and Lebanon in June. They fought a brief war with the Vichy garrison, and then handed nominal authority over to their allies, the Free French of Charles de Gaulle (d. 1970). However, a condition of the handover was that the Free French pledge independence for Syria and Lebanon.

Constitutional life was restored, and the Druze and Alawite states reincorporated into Syria – this time for good – in 1942. After elections in 1943 the National Bloc re-emerged as the dominant political force. Now its major figure was Mardam Bey’s critic Shukri al-Quwatli, who became president and navigated the path to independence.

Following his election victory, Quwatli sounded confident and optimistic. On 2 August 1943 he exulted:

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