As World War I ended, the commander of the British forces in the region, General Allenby, divided the occupied Arab territories of the Ottoman Empire under his command into four districts, OETA North, West, East and South.
OETA North was the south central areas of what is now the Republic of Turkey. For a year OETA North was occupied and administered by both French and British forces. After British forces withdrew from OETA North and were replaced by French forces in the fall of 1919, local resistance and Turkish National Resistance forces began attacking the French forces in OETA North. The guerilla warfare and battles continued for two years until a peace treaty ended the combat in October, 1921, and the French forces completed their withdrawal, as called for in the peace treaty, from OETA North in January, 1922.
OETA West was the area along the eastern Mediterranean coast between OETA North and OETA South and was predominately under French occupation and administration. There was, however, also a local administration which the French and British occupation forces allowed to operate.
There was a wide gap in the understanding of the roll of this local administration. For many of the local residents it was the beginning of an independent state, but for the British and French it was only a temporary arrangement which would exist until other plans could be formulated.
In spite of the local administration’s efforts to establish an independent country in the zone, as soon as the French Government had formulated its plans, the local administration in OETA West was summarily dissolved and replaced by a French-appointed administration in the summer of 1922.
In the areas of OETA East which were included in the mandate for Syria and the Lebanon events unfolded in a similar manner. OETA East was occupied by British and Arab forces at the end of the war and initially put under an Arab administration which attempted to establish an independent country in the zone. This administration also was removed by the French, although in this case forcibly, and replaced by a French-appointed administration in the summer of 1922.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 is quite long and complex,
so it will be in six installments:
• The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part I
- Introduction
- Terms
- Excerpts from Documents Relevant to the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
• The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part II
- The Sinai and Palestine Campaign at the End of World War I
- OETA North - From the end of the war to August 10, 1920
- OETA North - August 10, 1920 to January 7, 1922
• The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part III
- OETA West - From the end of the war to August 10, 1920
• The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part IV
- OETA East - From the end of the war to August 10, 1920
• The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part V
- Lebanon - August 10, 1920 to December 31, 1946
• The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part VI
- Syria - August 10, 1920 to April 17, 1946
- * - * - * -
Please take the time to go over the ‘Terms’ section in Part I.
Understanding the information in it will make it easier to understand the timeline.
• Lebanon - August 10, 1920 to December 31, 1946
January 10, 1920 - The League of Nations officially came into existence.
January 16, 1920 - The Council of the League of Nations met for its first session in Paris.
January 21, 1920 - The Paris Peace Conference officially ended.
April 25, 1920 - The French Republic was selected to be the Mandatory for Syria by the Principal Allied Powers during the San Remo Conference.
The general terms established for the mandate for Syria by the Allied Supreme Council at the San Remo Conference were that ‘Syria and Mesopotamia shall ... be provisionally recognized as independent States, subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone’.
The borders of Mandatory Syria were left undefined and were to be determined by the Principal Allied Powers.
July 12, 1920 - The French High Commissioner in Beirut dissolved the Administrative Council of Mount Lebanon and appointed a committee to govern in its place.
August 10, 1920 - The Treaty of Sevres was signed by the Allies and the Ottoman Empire.
In the treaty the Ottoman Empire gave up all its rights to its Arab territories, agreed to the creation of the mandates of Syria, Mesopotamia and Palestine, and agreed that the Principal Allied Powers would select their mandatories and determine their borders.
However, the treaty was never ratified by the Ottoman Parliament and never came into effect. It was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923.
September 1, 1920 - The State of Greater Lebanon was created by a decree of the French High Commissioner in Syria and in the Lebanon. The state was governed by a French Governor who was assisted by an Advisory Council; both were appointed by the High Commissioner. The Advisory Council had 17 members proportioned according to the religious composition of the state.
The areas included in the State of Greater Lebanon were very similar to the areas which the Administrative Council of Mount Lebanon had listed in their December 9, 1918 resolution and had also submitted to the Council of Ten in their February, 1919 Memorandum.
Most of the Sidon District of the Province of Beirut - which was south of Mount Lebanon, the southern half of the Tripoli District of the Province of Beirut - which was north of Mount Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley and the Anti-Lebanon mountains of the Province of Damascus - which were east and northeast of Mount Lebanon, and the city of Beirut - which was the capital of the Province of Beirut, were annexed to the District of Mount Lebanon to create the State of Greater Lebanon.
The borders of the State of Greater Lebanon, however, were not clearly defined.
December 1, 1920 - The Council of the League of Nations created the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations.
December 1, 1920 - The French Government submitted its draft of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon to the Secretariat-General of the League of Nations for the approval of the Council of the League of Nations.
December 23, 1920 - The Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia was signed by the British and French Governments.
In the convention the borders between Mandatory Syria and the Lebanon and Mandatory Mesopotamia and between Mandatory Syria and the Lebanon and Mandatory Palestine were defined.
As the border between Mandatory Syria and the Lebanon and Mandatory Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee was very loosely defined in the convention, a commission was established in the convention to demarcate the borders on the ground and to prepare a final detailed report on the borders for the approval of the British and French Governments.
The convention also stated that if there were any disputes between the two governments about the report, the matter would be referred to the Council of the League of Nations for a final decision.
February 3, 1922 - The Demarcation Agreement containing the final report of the commission established in the Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia of 1920 was signed by the British and French Governments.
The report included in the agreement defined in detail the border between Mandatory Syria and the Lebanon and the Palestine territory of Mandatory Palestine. No changes to the border between Mandatory Syria and the Lebanon and the Transjordan territory of Mandatory Palestine or to the border between Mandatory Syria and the Lebanon and Mandatory Mesopotamia were made in the agreement.
May 25, 1922 - The appointed Advisory Council of Greater Lebanon was replaced by an elected Representative Council. By a decree of the High Commissioner the Advisory Council had been dissolved in March, 1922 and an election for the Representative Council had been held in April, 1922. The Representative Council was also proportioned according to the religious composition of the state.
July 24, 1922 - The Council of the League of Nations approved the terms of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, but with the condition that the Mandate would only go into force after matters regarding the mandate for Syria between France and Italy were resolved.
March 7, 1923 - The Demarcation Agreement (which included the final report of the commission established by the December 23, 1920 Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia) was ratified by the British and French Governments.
July 24, 1923 - The Treaty of Lausanne was signed by the Allies and the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The treaty came into force on August 6, 1924.
In Article 16 of the treaty Turkey renounced all rights and title to all territories situated outside the borders established in the treaty.
September 23, 1923 - The Council of the League of Nations was notified by the French and Italian Governments that the matters between them regarding the mandate for Syria had been resolved and the Council announced that, as the matters had been settled, the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon and the Mandate for Palestine entered into force.
Until this announcement the French Government had been administering Mandatory Syria and the Lebanon under the mandate which it had been assigned by the Principal Allied Powers at the San Remo Conference according to the general terms determined by the Allied Supreme Council, also at the San Remo Conference.
Following this announcement Mandatory Syria and the Lebanon was administered by the French Government on behalf of the League of Nations under the supervision of the Council of the League of Nations according to the terms of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon which was approved by the Council of the League of Nations on July 24, 1922 and entered into force on September 23, 1923 noted the provisional independence of the territory of Syria and the Lebanon, restated that the Government of the French Republic had been entrusted with rendering administrative advice and assistance until the territory was able to achieve full independence, and stated that the Government of the French Republic would exercise the mandate for Syria on behalf of the League of Nations in conformity with the explicitly defined terms of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.
Article 1 of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon stated:
“The Mandatory shall frame, within a period of three years from the coming into force of this mandate, an organic law for Syria and the Lebanon.
This organic law shall be framed in agreement with the native authorities and shall take into account the rights, interests, and wishes of all the population inhabiting the said territory. The Mandatory shall further enact measures to facilitate the progressive development of Syria and the Lebanon as independent states. Pending the coming into effect of the organic law, the Government of Syria and the Lebanon shall be conducted in accordance with the spirit of this mandate.
The Mandatory shall, as far as circumstances permit, encourage local autonomy.”
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon went on to state that the Mandatory (France) could maintain its forces in the territory, establish and command a local militia for the defense of the territory and the maintenance of order in the territory, impose taxes and customs duties in the territory, and develop the territory’s natural resources.
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon also stated that the Mandatory would have the full use of all facilities in the territory for its military at all times, had exclusive control of foreign relations, and would establish a judicial system in the territory.
There was also a provision in the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon which stated that ‘an arrangement shall be made’ between the Mandatory and the Governments which were to be established in the territory in which France would be reimbursed by those Governments for all the expenses it incurred while administering the territories under the mandate.
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon contained another provision which stated that the future financial obligations which had been assumed by the Mandatory during the mandate period would be fulfilled after the termination of the mandate by the Governments which were to be established in the territory.
January 23, 1924 - A convention to extend for 15 years, starting April 1, 1924, the concession of the predominately French-owned Bank of Syria to issue the currency of Lebanon and Syria was signed by the French Government and by the Lebanese and Syrian Governments, at the direction of the High Commissioner.
The concession had originally been granted by a decree of the High Commissioner on March 13, 1920.
In the convention the Bank of Syria was renamed the Bank of Syria and Great Lebanon, and the Syrian Pound was renamed the Lebanese-Syrian Pound. The currency was still tied to the French Franc and controlled by the French Treasury.
May 23, 1926 - The Representative Council of Greater Lebanon approved the constitution which it had begun writing a year earlier under the direction of the High Commissioner, and the State of Greater Lebanon became the Republic of Lebanon.
The High Commissioner then recognized the Representative Council as the Chamber of Deputies and two days later appointed the 16 members of the Senate. The next day the two chambers met and elected the first President of the Republic of Lebanon.
Under the constitution the system of proportioning political power according to the religious composition of the state continued. The High Commissioner controlled foreign affairs and had the power to veto legislation, dissolve the parliament, suspend the constitution, rule by decree, and appoint advisors to government offices.
The Senate was abolished by a constitutional amendment in October, 1927.
May 14, 1930 - The High Commissioner, by decree, issued a revised constitution for the Republic of Lebanon. The revised constitution reproduced the Lebanese constitution of 1926; however, a provision was added which stated that all powers conferred by the constitution would be exercised subject to the rights and authority of the Mandatory Power (France).
The revised constitution also stated that the Republic of Lebanon could apply for membership in the League of Nations ‘as soon as circumstances permit’ subject to the assistance of the Government of France in this application.
May 9, 1932 - During a political crisis in which a Muslim became the favored candidate in the upcoming election of a new President in the Chamber of Deputies, the High Commissioner suspended the Constitution of the Republic of Lebanon, dissolved the Chamber of Deputies and dismissed the President. The following day the dismissed President was reappointed by a decree of the High Commissioner.
The country was administered by a Secretary of State and a Council of Directors, both appointed by the High Commissioner, until the constitution was restored almost five years later.
January 29, 1934 - A new Chamber of Deputies was seated in Beirut. The Chamber had 25 members, 18 had been elected and 7 had been appointed by the High Commissioner. The President was still being appointed by the High Commissioner, and the country was still administered by an appointed Secretary of State and Council of Directors.
February 1, 1934 - The laws of the Republic of Lebanon, which were still predominately the Ottoman codes of 1911, were replaced by the Code of Civil Procedure by the High Commissioner without consulting the Chamber of Deputies.
January 20, 1936 - The Chamber of Deputies, at the instruction of the High Commissioner, met and elected a new President.
November 13, 1936 - Two months after the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Friendship and Alliance was signed by the French and Syrian Governments, the Franco-Lebanese Treaty, which had been prepared under the direction of the High Commissioner, was signed by the President of the Republic of Lebanon and the High Commissioner.
In the complex treaty the Republic of Lebanon was to become independent and a member of the League of Nations within three years, but France was to continue to have strong influence over the affairs of Lebanon for 25 years.
The Lebanese Chamber of Deputies ratified the treaty on November 17, 1936 but the Franco-Lebanese Treaty and the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Friendship and Alliance were never ratified by the French Government and never came into effect.
Changing domestic politics in France, serious economic problems in Syria and Lebanon, and the growing threat of war were all factors in the French Government’s decision not to ratify the treaties.
January 4, 1937 - The constitution of the Republic of Lebanon was restored by the High Commissioner.
According to the terms of the annexes to the Franco-Lebanese Treaty of 1936, which more formally proportioned political power in Lebanon according to religion, the President appointed a Muslim Deputy to be the Prime Minister and form a government.
Administration of the country was returned to the President, Prime Minister and Government of Lebanon, but the High Commissioner still exercised final authority.
May 29, 1937 - The concession, which was due to expire in 1939, of the predominately French-owned Bank of Syria and Great Lebanon to issue the currency of Lebanon was extended for 25 years by an agreement reached between the bank and the Lebanese Government.
According to the terms of the agreement the accounting for the Lebanese Pound and the Syrian Pound were to be separated and the currency circulated in Lebanon was to be clearly marked ‘Lebanon’ as of January 1, 1940, but the Lebanese Pound and the Syrian Pound could still be used interchangeably in both Lebanon and Syria. The currency was also still tied to the French Franc and controlled by the French Treasury.
The name of the bank was changed to the Bank of Syria and Lebanon in 1939.
February - March, 1938 - The Syria Petroleum Company, which was a subsidiary of Petroleum Concessions, Ltd., which was a subsidiary of the Iraq Petroleum Company, which was a joint British-Dutch-French-American oil company, was awarded a seventy-five-year concession on 60,000 square miles of Syrian territory by the Syrian Government and a seventy-five-year concession on 500 square kilometers of Lebanese territory by the Lebanese Government, with the approval of the High Commissioner.
A few wells were drilled but the onset of World War II halted drilling.
September 1, 1939 - World War II began.
September 21, 1939 - The Constitution of the Republic of Lebanon was suspended by the High Commissioner who also dissolved the Chamber of Deputies and dismissed the President. The President was then reappointed by a decree of the High Commissioner, but the country was administered by a Secretary of State who was appointed by the High Commissioner.
December 14, 1939 - The Council of the League of Nations met for the last time and suspended operations.
July 10, 1940 - With the surrender of France and the formation of the Vichy Government, the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon came under the control of Vichy France. The High Commissioner in office at the time in Beirut remained until a Vichy appointed High Commissioner arrived.
December 6, 1940 - The Vichy appointed High Commissioner took office in Beirut.
April 9, 1941 - The President and Secretary of State resigned and the Vichy High Commissioner appointed a Chief of State to administer the country.
June 8, 1941 – July 14, 1941 - During the Syria–Lebanon Campaign of World War II British and Free French forces invaded Syria and Lebanon and quickly defeated the Vichy French forces.
July 14, 1941 - The Vichy High Commissioner signed the Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre and surrendered Syria and Lebanon to the British and Free French forces.
Lebanon and Syria were then occupied by British and Free French forces.
Due to the volatility of the French Franc, the Lebanese Pound and the Syrian Pound were tied to the British Pound. However, the Central Treasury of Free France was to be used as an intermediary between the Bank of Syria and Lebanon and the Bank of England.
July 24, 1941 - The leader of the Free French, General de Gaulle, appointed the first Delegate General of Free France in Syria and Lebanon.
The title High Commissioner was not used for this position by the Free French.
November 26, 1941 - The Free French Delegate General declared the conditional independence of the Republic of Lebanon, but under the terms of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. The British Government recognized Lebanon’s independence.
December 1, 1941 - The Delegate General appointed a President. A Prime Minister was also appointed, and a cabinet was formed.
February, 1942 - The British Government appointed a Minister in Syria and in Lebanon who established his headquarters in Beirut. The Minister began pressuring the Delegate General to restore the Lebanese constitution and to call elections in Lebanon.
March 18 - 22, 1943 - The Delegate General dismissed the President and Prime Minister and appointed a Chief of State to administer the country.
March 25, 1943 - The Delegate General restored the constitution and called for elections.
July 21, 1943 - Amid controversy caused by his organization of the upcoming elections, the Chief of State was dismissed and a new Chief of State was appointed by the Delegate General.
The new Chief of State declared that the new Chamber of Deputies would have 55 Deputies, split in a six to five ratio - 30 Christian Deputies and 25 Muslim and Druze Deputies.
September 21, 1943 - The newly elected Chamber of Deputies convened and elected a President, a Christian, who then called on a Muslim Deputy to be the Prime Minister and form a government.
The government immediately began negotiating with the Delegate General to end the Mandate. The Free French resisted and stated they could not unilaterally end the Mandate without the approval of the Council of the League of Nations. The League of Nations, though, had suspended operations at its last meeting on December 14, 1939.
November 8, 1943 - While the Delegate General was in Algiers, the Chamber of Deputies passed a bill to amend the constitution. The constitutional amendments removed all references to the Mandate and French authority from the constitution, asserted Lebanese sovereignty, and discontinued the use of French as an official language.
The amendments were signed by the President and published in the official gazette the next day.
November 11, 1943 - The Delegate General returned to Lebanon and ordered the French forces in Lebanon to arrest the President, the Prime Minister, and four prominent leaders of the Chamber of Deputies. He also suspended the constitution, dismissed the Chamber of Deputies and the President, and appointed a Chief of State to administer the country.
Major uprisings and riots erupted throughout the country and the Free French were put under intense pressure by the British and American Governments to restore the Lebanese constitution and government.
November 22, 1943 - The Free French replaced their Delegate General. The new Delegate General freed the imprisoned Lebanese leaders and restored the constitution.
December 27, 1943 - The Government of France agreed to transfer its powers to the Republic of Lebanon as of January 1, 1944. Over the next year all French powers were transferred to the Republic of Lebanon. France, however, retained command of the Lebanese military despite Lebanese objections.
January 25, 1944 - The French-English-Lebanese-Syrian Protocol was signed by the Lebanese, Syrian and British Governments, and the Free French to set the parity of the Lebanese Pound and the Syrian Pound to the British Pound. The protocol also stated that the parity could not be modified without prior consultation with the Lebanese and Syrian governments.
October 7, 1944 - The Prime Ministers of the Republic of Lebanon, the Republic of Syria, the Emirate of Transjordan, the Kingdom of Iraq, and the Kingdom of Egypt signed the Alexandria Protocol in Alexandria, Egypt.
The protocol called for the establishment of a Council of the League of Arab States to strengthen relations and cooperation between Arab states and to promote the independence and sovereignty of Arab states.
Iraq, Egypt and Transjordan were occupied by British forces; Lebanon and Syria were occupied by British and French forces; and Lebanon, Syria and Transjordan were still under Mandatory administration at the time.
February 27, 1945 - The Republic of Lebanon declared war on the Axis Powers.
March 22, 1945 - The Charter of League of Arab States was signed in Cairo by the Presidents of the Republic of Lebanon and the Republic of Syria, the Emir of the Emirate of Transjordan, and the Kings of the Kingdom of Iraq, the Kingdom of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The charter established the Arab League in order to put into practice the objectives outlined in the Alexandria Protocol.
May 8, 1945 - World War II in Europe ended.
May 17, 1945 - Additional French forces landed in Beirut to reinforce the French Occupation Forces who had been in Lebanon and Syria since July, 1941, causing major protests, unrest and street fighting to break out in both Lebanon and Syria.
May 21, 1945 - The Lebanese and Syrian Governments broke diplomatic relations with France because the French Government had sent troops into both countries without prior consent.
May 29, 1945 - French forces in Damascus bombed the Syrian Parliament and tried to arrest the leaders of the Syrian Government.
May 31, 1945 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill demanded that General de Gaulle order the French Occupation Forces to cease fire and end the fighting in Syria and Lebanon.
June 26, 1945 - The Republic of Lebanon signed the United Nations Charter at the signing ceremony in San Francisco held at the end of the conference which had prepared the Charter.
August 1, 1945 - The French Government transferred command of the Lebanese military to the Republic of Lebanon.
August 15, 1945 - World War II ended with the surrender of the Empire of Japan. The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on September 2, 1945.
October 24, 1945 - The Republic of Lebanon became a founding Member of the United Nations as the United Nations Charter entered into force.
January 1, 1946 - The Arab League boycott of Zionist goods and services in and from the Palestine territory of the British Mandate for Palestine began.
January 10, 1946 - The first session of the United Nations General Assembly was held in London.
April 19, 1946 - The League of Nations was dissolved by a vote of the Assembly of the League of Nations. The League’s property and assets were transferred to the United Nations.
September 1, 1946 - The office of the French Delegate General in Syria and in the Lebanon ceased to exist.
December 31, 1946 - The last remaining French and British forces left Lebanon.
January 24, 1948 - The Franco-Lebanese Monetary and Financial Agreement was signed by the Lebanese and French Governments. In the agreement the French Government agreed to return to the Lebanese Government, over a period of ten years, the Lebanese treasury funds and other Lebanese assets which it had retained possession of.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
• The Series
The Arabian Peninsula during and after World War I
The Mandate for Mesopotamia Timeline 1916 - 1932 Part I
The Mandate for Mesopotamia Timeline 1916 - 1932 Part II
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part I
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part II
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part III
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Timeline 1918 - 1946 Part IV
• Treaties, Resolutions, Etc.
The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence - July 14, 1915 - January 30, 1916
The Sykes Picot Agreement - May 16, 1916
The Proclamation of Baghdad - March 19, 1917
The Declaration to the Seven - June 16, 1918
The Anglo-French Declaration - November 7, 1918
Memorandums by the Emir Feisal - January 1 and 29, 1919
The Faisal-Weizmann Agreement - January 3, 1919
Draft Resolutions in Reference to Mandatories - January 30, 1919
Council of Ten Meeting with Emir Faisal - February 6, 1919
The Covenant of the League of Nations - April 28, 1919
The King-Crane Commission Report - Syrian Congress - August 28, 1919
The Anglo-French Accord - September 15, 1919
Memorandum of Agreement at San Remo - April 24, 1920
The San Remo Resolution - April 25, 1920
The Draft of the Mandate for Mesopotamia - December 7, 1920
The Treaty of Ankara of 1921 - October 20, 1921
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon - July 24, 1922
The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of Alliance of 1922 - October 10, 1922
Council of the LoN Meeting Minutes - September 29, 1923
• Notes
I used many sources to collect this information and there is no way I can list all of them.
I have tried to present the information so that anyone who wants to look for more information can do searches easily.
- * - * - * -