SYRIA - A POLITICAL STUDY (1920-1950)

329 Pages·014.57 MB·English

by  KAYALI, NIZAR

SYRIA: A POLITICAL STUDY
(1920 - 1950)
iy
L'isar Kayali
Ribmitted in partial fulfi lunont uf the requirement,
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
Faculty of Political Science,
Colunibia Univer0ity
1911
TABLE OP CONTENTS
Chapter Page
INTRODUCTION................................. iii
FOREWORD.................................... xi
PART ONE: THE INTERN-WAR PERIOD
I. THE BACKGROUND..................... 1
II. SYRIA UNDER THE FRENCH MANDATE ......... IS
III. THE FIRST NATIONALIST REGIME ........... 45
PART TWO:THE SECOND WORLD WAR PERIOD
IV. OLD BOTTLES AND NEW WINES . ............ 73
V. THE FREE FRENCH IN SYRIA AND LEBANON ... 86
VI. THE RETURN OF THE NATIONALISTS ..... 102
VII. ARAB NATIONALISM ANE> THE ARAB LEAGUE .... 116
PART THREE: THE POST-WAR PERIOD
VIII. THE FRAN CO- SYR IAN DISPUTE .............. 146
IX. THE SYRO-K-LEBANESE QUESTION BEFORE THE
SECURITY COUNCIL.......................... 181
X. THE GREATER SYRIA QUESTION .............. 208
XI. THE AFTERMATH OF THE PALESTINE CONFLICT.. 234
XII. WHITHER SYRIA ? 264
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................. 302
INTRODUCTION
The road Syria has traveled since the end of World
War I is indeed a difficult and tortuous one. She and the
other Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire had revolted
against "the sick man of Europe" to liberate themselves
from an alien rule and realize their national aspirations
for independence and nationhood.
Instead, they found themselves in 1918 an easy
prey to the imperialist designs of their Western allies.
To the Arabs this new imperialism was a greater threat thajar
its predecessor had ever been. For under Ottoman ruleytfhe
unity of the Arab world was, at least formally, safeguarded,
and the division of the Arab lands into separate provinces
had an administrative character only. After 1918, how­
ever, not only were certain Arab territories deprived of
their independence promised to them by the Allied Powers,
but they were also divided by the latter into a motley of
petty states without any regard for the principle of self-
determination of peoples or for the wishes and national
aspirations of theip'llnhabitants. Thus the struggle for
nationhood had t/be fought again in two consecutive cam-
y
paigns to ac^l'eve independence first and unity later. But
it must be pointed out here that in this struggle the Arab
nationalists were fully aware that the main obstacle in the
way to unification lies less in Western imperialist poli­
cies and more in the dynastic rivalries between the Arab
rulers,each of whom desires to unify the Arab lands,but
under his own aegis. This obstacle is now the more con-
j
spicuous,since it is realized that after having won their
independence,the Arabs still have to thwart certain power­
ful divisive forces within the Arab world itself.
Of the Arab provinces, the fate of Syria is perhaps
the most typical, for it illustrates the way in which
the mandate system — then a new device in international
law and practice — was imposed upon a country, how it was
applied,why it broke down, and what were the weapons used
by the people of Syria to strive for their independence
and unity.
The purpose of this dissertation is,therefore,
twofold: first,to give an account of the struggle of
the Syrian people for independence and their indefatigable
efforts to achieve closer links with their Arab brethren
pending the day when Arab unity becomes a political rea­
lity ; second,to survey Syria's foreign relations during
the last thirty years.
The whole study is obviously made in terms of
Arab national aspirations. Indeed,any account of Syria’s
political life that-ignores the impact of Arab nationalism
upon it is doomed to be lame and incomplete.
x
■K
iv
In Its form the dissertation falls naturally into
three parts* The first Is devoted to the study of the
country*s political life under the French mandate. After
an historical bird*s-eye-view of the history of Syria from
the Arab conquest in 636 A*D* down to the occupation of the
country by the Allied Powers in 1918, Franco-Syrian rela­
tions between 1920-1939 &r® examined in two chapters. One
is devoted to the period of struggle for independence, cul­
minating in 1938 in the signature of a treaty of friendship
and alliance between France and Syria. The other deals with
the first Nationalist r§gime, which came into being to
carry out the obligations laid down in the treaty of 1938,
and to lead the country first to independence and ulti­
mately to some sort of unity with the other Arab countries.
The second part of the dissertation deals with
major political events that had taken place in Syria during
the period of World War II. It forms a sort of transition
paving the way from mandate to Independence, with all the
difficulties involved in this process. A special emphasis
is laid upon the formation of the Arab League, which consti­
tutes the first positive, though moderate, step towards
Arab unity.
The third part is a study of Syria's political af­
fairs in the post-war period. It comprises five chapters:
the first two are entirely devoted to an objective, factual
survey of the Franco-Syrian dispute of May, 19M>>
the discussion of the question of the withdrawal of foreign
troops from Syria and Lebanon. I have devoted a separate
chapter to study King Abdullah's scheme for a Greater
Syria. The historical and political implications of this
scheme are stated in clear terms, and all its developments
faithfully presented, as well as the reasons for Syria’s
reluctance to heed King Abdullah’s repeated appeals.
The country’s post-war relations with the Great
Powers are discussed in Chapter XI, with special emphasis
on the change in the political outlook of Syria after the
Palestine conflict. More perhaps than is generally real­
ized, the creation of the State of Israel and the failure
of Syria and the other Arab countries to face this challenge,
marked a turning point in the modern history of the Arab
East. I have devoted Chapter XII to study the effects of
this event upon Syria’s political life, and to answer the
crucial question, "Whither Syria?" For in less than a year
the country witnessed three successive military coups d> 6tat
which confronted her with new problems: How to restore con­
fidence and order within Syria? What is the best remedy for
the country’s political and economic instability^ Can she
nowadays count on her own forces to repel foreign aggression?
Is the formation of an Arab military alliance the only prac­
tical means to defend the Arab lands against further en­
croachments? Or are the Arab countries prepared to go fur­
ther and seek to form a closer national arrangement? These
are the questions Syria has to answer. Whether Arab unity
can be realized in the near future is improbable, largely
vi
because no Arab State Is strong enough to play the rols-of
Prussia or Piedmont and join to it willy-nilly the other
Arab countries. For the time being, therefore, the only
alternative is for the Arabs to seek to reach by consent
and for their own sake some kind of an understanding among
themselves. Such an understanding is the more desirable
now since upon it depend the collective security and the
self-preservation of the Arab nation.
* «• «■
In writing the first part of my dissertation, I
have drawn upon such unbiassed and authoritative sources
as H. W. Temperley, History of the Peace Conference of Paris,
volume VIJ A. J. Toynbee, Survey of International Affairs,
1925-1938j W. E. Hocking, The Spirit of World Politics; and
Q. Wright, Mandates under the League of nations, which is the
the standard work on this subject. The French case is pre­
sented from the French Government's annual Rapport S. la
Soci6t6 des Nations sur la situation de la Syrle et du Llban,
192ij.-1939, which Is a valuable and indispensable source of
information on all aspects of French administration in the
Levant, although perhaps not always candid. No less valuable
are R. de Gontaut-Biron, Comment la France s'est lnstallSe
en Syrle; B. G. Gaulis, La question Arabe; Jean Lapierre,
Le mandat frangals en Syrle; and Andrfi Bruneau, Les tradi­
tions frangalses en Syrle et au Llban. In presenting the
Nationalist case I have relied largely upon George Antonius,
vii
The Arab Awakening, which is the standard work on the de­
velopment of the Arab national movement from its beginning
until the late thirties; A* Hourani, Syria and Lebanon,
which provides the most penetrating work on the Levant States
and Dr. Abdul Rahman Ke.yali, RAponse k M. Ponsot, which ex­
pounds the thesis of the Nationalists and is particularly
valuable for its account of the early years of the struggle
of the Syrian people for independence. Another mature and
enlightening statement of the Nationalist case against
France is to be found In E. Rabbath, Unitd syrienne et
devenir arabe. I have sometimes quoted two rival sources
because it is essential to an adequate understanding of the
Issues involved to compare the two partisan claims. I have
also reproduced important passages from The Minutes of the
Permanent Mandate commission In order to indicate the views
of this international body on certain controversial questions
For the second part I have drawn upon various offi­
cial sources such as Le Journal Offlciel de la France
Combattante, Al-Jarldah Al-Rasmiyah (Official Journal of the
Syrian Republic), and others. A good deal of Information is
to be found in George Kirk, A Short History of the Middle
East; in William Reitzel, The Mediterranean - Its Role in
America18 Foreign Policy; and in a number of interesting
articles published in Foreign Affairs, International Affairs,
The Journal of the Royal Central Aslan Society, The American
Journal of International Law, The World Today, The London
Quarterly of World Affairs, The Nineteenth Century and After,
viii
etc. Many aspects of the modern Arab world are analyzed
in Philip Ireland (ed.), The Near East: Problems and Pros­
pects* An up-to-date history of the region and of its rela­
tions with the major powers is to be found in E. A* Speiser,
The United States and the Near East,
In regard to the post-war events, I have found it
useful and always rewarding to go to Hansard’s Parliamentary
Debates, the Security Council’s Official Records, Les dfebats
de l’Assemblfie consultative Provlsolre, the United States
Department of State Bulletin, and the Syrian Government’s
semi-official book, Arbaa Sanawat Min Al-Ahd Al-Watanl (pour
Years of Nationalist Regime). In discussing the question
of Greater Syria, I have extensively used the Jordan Govern­
ment’ s Al-Kitab Al-Abyadh (The White Book), King Abdullah’s
Memoirs, Nuri As-Said’s Muzakkarah Hawl Istlklal Al-Arab Wa
Wahdatlhlm (A Note on Arab Independence and Unity)j and
others. To discover the official reaction of the Syrian
Government and Parliament to the Greater Syria scheme I had
to go to the Chamber of Deputies’ Verbatim Records, as well
as to a number of short studies and documentary pamphlets
published in Arabic by Syrian writers. For day-to-day cover­
age of recent developments in Syria and the Arab world there
are no better sources than The Times of London, The New York
Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Al-Ahram of Cairo, and
Al-Hayat of Beirut. A vast amount of documents and accurate
summaries of important events in Syria and the Arab countries
is to be found in the monthly periodical Orlente MQderno,
ix
published by the Instituto pep l»Oriente of Rome. No less
valuable is The Middle East Journal, published by the
Middle East Institute of Washington under the able editor­
ship of Harvey P. Hall.
Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to Professor
Nathaniel Peffer, who has given me Invaluable advice and
suggestions in regard to the writing of this dissertation,
and influenced my way of thinking upon Arab problems more
perhaps than he knows.
x