Howdy.
This video is being done in collaboration with Project Middle East.
A whole host of fellow Youtube historians joining forces to each tell a piece of Middle
Eastern History.
A link to the playlist will be in the description below, so make sure to watch more after you're
done here.
For my part, we will covering the first major war in the region following the dissolution
of the Ottoman Empire, with local rulers aiming to rid themselves of the Europeans who now
claimed their land.
It is March the first of 1920, and the Franco-Syrian war, has begun.
Our tale begins with the McMahon Hussein Correspondence of 1915-1916, the catalyst to the Arab Revolt
against the Ottoman Empire.
In return for assistance against the empire, Britain would promise independence for the
Arabs who joined on her side.
However, this agreement went in stark contrast with the Sykes Picot Agreement, a separate
agreement between Britain and France over the division of the Middle East after the
conclusion of WW1.
Post war, Britain would attempt to play both sides.
Upon entering Damascus on September the 30th of 1918, a man by the name of Faisal bin Hussein
would enter the picture.
Faisal, the emir of Jeddah and son of the powerful king of Hejaz, was one of the main
proponents of the Arabian Revolt, with the desire to rule a kingdom of his own being
the main driver behind his allegiance to the Entente.
Faisal would establish an Arabian constitutional government under British protection on October
the 5th.
This government would de-facto over see the whole of the Levant, promising equality and
freedom of religion for all Arabs within its borders.
Yet, these aspirations were not to last long.
As the peace treaties with the central powers were being decided in Europe, the division
of the Middle East was a major talking point over the British and French delegates.
The Americans would come forward with the King Crane Commission, a commission aimed
to hear the desires of the local populace on what they wished to happen with the fall
of the Ottoman Empire.
British and French influence, while originally supportive of the plan, eventually worked
to undermine it, and block its findings from becoming public once it showed an overwhelming
desire by local arabs to rule independently, away from European interference.
With the fear of said report becoming public, the two powers came to an agreement on the
spheres of influence over the Middle East in May of 1919.
France would acquire guarantees over Syria, while in return, the British would extend
their zone of control to include TransJordan and Palestine, allowing the latter to have
linking territory all the way from the jungles of Malaysia to Libya's deserts.
These events, especially with the American involvement, prompted action by a number of
Arab nationalist organization, such as the Al-Fatat, to create a national congress.
With minimal opposition, one would be declared on June the 3rd of 1919, with them electing
Hashim al-Atassi as their president.
July the 2nd would see the Syrian Congress passing resolutions pertaining to the formation
of Syria as a completely independent constitutional monarchy, with Faisal as king.
They also asked for assistance from the United States, and the refusal for French claims
to be recognized.
The hopes that either the British or Americans would come to Syrias aid quickly faded with
the conclusion of the Anglo-French Agreement in August.
British troops leaving the region, and giving all influence they may have had, over to the
French occupiers.
With the withdrawal of British troops, French general Henri Gouraud was left to oversee
much of the territory, but trouble was already brewing.
The Alwai, a shia minority sect, would rise up in revolt near Al-Shaykh Badr and Idlib,
routing French forces that moved to quell them.
Further south, guerrilla groups, funded by the powerful Al-Saghir dynasty, would engage
French forces who had stationed themselves in Tyre, and in Aleppo itself, their was many
power noble families that hoped to reunite with Turkey.
Attempts by Faisal to secure support for recongiztion were ultimately failures, In January 1920,
he was forced into an agreement which stipulated that France would uphold the existence of
a nominal Syrian state and would not station troops in Syria as long as the French government
remained the only government supplying advisers, other military supplies, and most importantly,
gave French troops in the region full access to the vital railway that connected Aleppo
and Rijaq, the life line for French Troops that were operating in Turkey.
While he would agree to these terms, the more nationalist wing of the congress forced Faisal
to change tune.
They viewed that any French oversight would lead to little more then a vassalship, and
the refusal for French troops to leave the areas under attack already, only further cemented
this idea.
More revolts against French rule would be sparked across the country, and troops that
were once delegated to the Turkish campaign, were now being used to secure the flanks.
Gourand took control of the rail-line, and the Syrian delegation sent to him would be
unable to work out a peace deal that satisfied both parties.
These on going actions of violence prompted the Syrian Congress to declare full independence,
with Fasial as King, and the League of nations would come together to draft the San Remo
resolution.
The League Resolution, even with some on the council sympathetic to the Arab cause, would
reaffirm the French Mandate over Syria, and the French government, now with additional
international baking would issue an ultimatum to the congress.
In it, they demanded that the Syrian army was to lay down their arms, punish anyone
that rose up against the French, Give France unilateral control over the railway, and for
the congress to recognize the mandate.
Knowing that his nation would be unable to defeat the European army within the borders,
Fasial would agree to the demands.
But, defense minister Yusuf al-'Azma refused to surrender, and worked towards mustering
an army to defend Damascus.
The war in Syria, has begun.
The Syrians had little in the way of an established army, and Fasial made a call to arms at the
Umayyad Mosque, asking for volunteers to push out the invaders.
Roughly 4,000 would join around Damascus, and while largely green, a host of former
Ottoman officers gave this hastily raised militia some competent leadership.
However, the supply situation was poor, most rifles having either being left by the retreating
ottoman forces years ago, or what had managed to stay in the region from the Hejaz's Sharifian
Army from the Arab revolt.
Regardless, it was a mixing of various weapon types, and ammo in general was rather scarce.
Yet, the Syrians had the advantage in that other revolts were taking French attention,
as the Alwai's and Hananuins in the north were wrecking havok along the French lines,
and their was a fear that the recent peace with Turkey wouldn't hold.
Yet, their was still a large army marching towards Damascus, and his 4,000 strong militia,
was sent out, in an effort to stave off the European Army.
The French army in turn, under Gourand, would have 70,000 men at its disposal, 10,000 being
dedicated towards the Damascus march, as thousands were forced to stay and fight against the
guerrilla groups in Northern Syria.
Most of these men would be a mixture of veteran North African and Senegalese troops who had
taken part in the Mesopotamian campaign, or in the campaign against the Turks.
Rather well supplied, they would have at hand a contingent of 12 tanks, and 10 aircraft.
They made quick pace towards the capital, and would meet the Syrian forces at Maysalun,
just north of Damascus, in what would be the deciding factor of this war.
At 6:30 AM on the dawn of July 24th, Syrian scout cavalry would be the first to engage
French forces, as the two forces met, the Syrians had established three hastily dug
trench lines, backed by 7 artillery pieces, handled by former Ottoman troops, so the guns
had trained crews, which would cause devastating effect.
Infantry, supported by tanks would assault the Syrian center, with French cavalry assaulting
the Syrian left, and Senegalese troops the Syrian right.
Here, the Ottoman crewed artillery would be vital in holding back the French tanks, as
they lacked the mobility to properly engage.
The batteries would also hold back the majority of the Senegalese troops, so much that two
companies would get separated from the rest of the French forces, taking high causalities.
Nevertheless, these successes wouldn't last for long, as by 8:30, the Syrian center had
been broken, and by 10, the battle was effectively over.
Al-Azma, the defense minister that had rallied the army, would himself be shot dead, though
the circumstances of his death are in question.
King Faisal, who had watched the battle from the distance, turned to his cabinet and fled
south to Al-Kiswah to continue the fight, even though everyone present knew, that the
fight was ultimately futile.
By dawn of the following day.
Damascus itself would fall to minimal resistance, and a French government proclaimed under Jamil
al-Ulshi.
Faisal would flee south to Daraa on the border, gaining the allegiance of the local tribes
in the area.
While he would attempt to continue his rule via these new allies, an ultimatum from Gourand
would see Faisal move into Palestine, officially ending the Syrian Kingdom, and a Levant, free
of European rule.