French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon

A League of Nations mandate under which France governed Syria and Lebanon from 1923 until their independence in the 1940s. It followed the collapse of Ottoman rule and the Allied partition of the region.

League of Nations mandate: An international arrangement that entrusted a victorious power with governing former German or Ottoman territories under League of Nations supervision. The mandate system supplied the legal framework for French authority.
Sykes–Picot Agreement: A secret 1916 agreement in which Britain and France planned zones of influence in former Ottoman Arab territories. It anticipated French control over much of the Levant before the mandate was established.
Henri Gouraud: A French general and colonial administrator who served as High Commissioner in the Levant from 1919 to 1923. Gouraud proclaimed Greater Lebanon and led the French campaign against Faisal’s kingdom.
Great Syrian Revolt: A nationwide uprising against French rule that began in 1925 and was largely suppressed by 1927. It exposed the limits of French authority and strengthened Syrian nationalism.
British Mandate for Palestine: A League of Nations mandate under which Britain governed Palestine from 1920 until Israel’s establishment in 1948. It was the neighboring British mandate, with a different political program and outcome.
State of Greater Lebanon: A French-administered entity proclaimed in 1920 that expanded Mount Lebanon to include Beirut and surrounding regions. France established it as a separate unit within its mandated territory.
McMahon–Hussein Correspondence: A 1915–1916 exchange of letters between British official Henry McMahon and Sharif Hussein of Mecca about Arab revolt and postwar independence. Its competing interpretations sharpened Arab opposition to European rule.
Faisal I of Iraq: An Arab leader who briefly ruled the Kingdom of Syria in 1920 and later became king of Iraq under British auspices. His Syrian kingdom challenged France’s claim to govern the mandate.
Syrian independence: The end of French mandate rule in Syria, achieved in 1946 after a prolonged struggle for sovereignty. The mandate ended when French forces completed their withdrawal from Syria.
British Mandate for Mesopotamia: A League of Nations mandate under which Britain governed Iraq before its formal independence in 1932. It offers a comparison between French and British administration of former Ottoman Arab territories.

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