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The Franco-Syrian War took place during 1920, between the Hashemite rulers of the newly established Arab Kingdom of Syria and France. During a series of engagements, which climaxed in the Battle of Maysalun, French forces defeated the rebel forces of the Hashemite monarch King Faisal, and his supporters, entering Damascus on July 24, 1920. A new pro-French government was declared in Syria on July 25, headed by 'Alaa al-Din al-Darubi.〔(Tauber E. ''The Formation of Modern Syria and Iraq''. p.37 )〕 The British government, concerned for their position in the new mandate in Iraq, agreed to declare the fugitive Faisal as the new king of Iraq. Syria was effectively divided into several client states under the French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon. ==Background== Near the end of World War I, the Egyptian Expeditionary forces of Edmund Allenby captured Damascus on September 30, 1918, and shortly thereafter on October 3, 1918, Hashemite ruler Faisal entered Damascus as well, in the final stages of the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans. On October 5, 1919, with the permission of General Allenby, Faisal announced the establishment of an Arab constitutional government in Damascus. Following the implementation of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the occupied remnants of the Ottoman Empire between France and Britain, French military administration was established in the Levant. General Henri Gouraud was appointed as representative of the French government in the Middle East and commander of the French Army of the Levant, centered in Syria. While events transpired in Europe that would eventually render the Arab Kingdom of Syria into a French mandate, it would also catalyze Syrian nationalist societies like al-Fatat (the Young Arab Society) to make preparations for a national congress. These Syrian nationalist societies advocated complete independence for an Arab Kingdom, uniting the Arab world under the Hashemite ruler Faisal. The first official session of the Syrian Congress was held on June 3, 1919 and al-Fatat member Hashim al-Atassi was elected its president.〔Eliezer Tauber. The Formation of Modern Syria and Iraq. Frank Cass and Co. Ltd. Portland, Oregon. 1995.〕 On June 25, the King-Crane Commission arrived in Damascus to a flurry of leaflets which said “Independence or Death”. On July 2, 1919, the Syrian Congress passed a number of resolutions pertaining to the formation of Syria as a completely independent constitutional monarchy with Faisal as king, asking for assistance from the United States, and the refusal of any rights claimed by the French.〔 The hopes of Faisal that either the British or Americans would come to his aid and intervene against the French quickly faded with what many consider the defining catalyst for the creation and destruction of the Arab Kingdom of Syria: the Anglo-French Agreement. The Anglo-French Agreement provided for the withdrawal of British troops from Syria and signaled the end of the British military involvement in Syria. Eventually, Faisal would be forced into negotiations with Clemenceau in January 1920 which stipulated that the French would uphold the existence of the Syrian state and would not station troops in Syria as long as the French government remained the only government supplying advisers, counselors and technical experts.〔Elie Kedourie. England and the Middle East: The Destruction of the Ottoman Empire 1914-1921. Mansell Publishing Limited. London, England. 1987.〕 News of this compromise did not bode well with Faisal’s vehemently anti-French and independence minded supporters who immediately pressured Faisal to reverse his commitment to France, which he did. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Franco-Syrian War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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