What do you think?
Rate this book
The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon: The History and Legacy of France’s Administration of the Levant after World War I
*Includes pictures
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
*Includes a table of contents
The United Nations is one of the most famous bodies in the world, and its predecessor, the League of Nations, might be equally notorious. In fact, President Woodrow Wilson’s pet project was controversial from nearly the minute it was conceived. At the end of World War I, Wilson's pleas at the Paris Peace Conference relied on his Fourteen Points, which included the establishment of a League of Nations, but while his points were mostly popular amongst Americans and Europeans alike, leaders at the Peace Conference largely discarded them and favored different approaches. British leaders saw their singular aim as the maintenance of British colonial possessions. France, meanwhile, only wanted to ensure that Germany was weakened and unable to wage war again, and it too had colonial interests abroad that it hoped to maintain. Britain and France thus saw eye-to-eye, with both wanting a weaker Germany and both wanting to maintain their colonies.
Although the League of Nations was short-lived and clearly failed in its primary mission, it did essentially spawn the United Nations at the end of World War II, and many of the UN’s structures and organizations came straight from its predecessor, with the concepts of an International Court and a General Assembly coming straight from the League. More importantly, the failures of the League ensured that the UN was given stronger authority and enforcement mechanisms, most notably through the latter’s Security Council, and while the League dissolved after a generation, the UN has survived for over 70 years.
One of the League’s most lasting legacies was the manner in which it handed over administrative control of land in the Middle East to the victorious Allied Powers, namely France and Britain. The Ottoman Empire quickly collapsed after World War I, and its extensive lands were divvied up between the French and British. While the French gained control of the Levant, which would later become modern day nations like Syria and Lebanon, the British were given the Mandate for Palestine. The British Mandate for Palestine gave the British control over the lands that have since become Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
The intention of the mandate system was to have the administrators peacefully and gradually usher in independent states, and both European powers eventually attempted to withdraw from the region, but anyone with passing knowledge of the Middle East’s history in the late 20th century knows that the region has seen little peace. As with the British Mandate of Palestine, the French found themselves attempting to placate various ethnicities that they only had a passing familiarity with, and the lines they drew for states like Syria and Lebanon were ultimately arbitrary. The French would completely evacuate the region in the wake of World War II, but the ramifications are still being felt today, as Syria is wracked by civil war and Lebanon’s government has constantly been fragile and subject to foreign interference.
The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon: The History and Legacy of France’s Administration of the Levant after World War I examines how the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon came about, what happened over the span of those 30 years, and the lasting legacy of the French administration. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon like never before.
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
*Includes a table of contents
The United Nations is one of the most famous bodies in the world, and its predecessor, the League of Nations, might be equally notorious. In fact, President Woodrow Wilson’s pet project was controversial from nearly the minute it was conceived. At the end of World War I, Wilson's pleas at the Paris Peace Conference relied on his Fourteen Points, which included the establishment of a League of Nations, but while his points were mostly popular amongst Americans and Europeans alike, leaders at the Peace Conference largely discarded them and favored different approaches. British leaders saw their singular aim as the maintenance of British colonial possessions. France, meanwhile, only wanted to ensure that Germany was weakened and unable to wage war again, and it too had colonial interests abroad that it hoped to maintain. Britain and France thus saw eye-to-eye, with both wanting a weaker Germany and both wanting to maintain their colonies.
Although the League of Nations was short-lived and clearly failed in its primary mission, it did essentially spawn the United Nations at the end of World War II, and many of the UN’s structures and organizations came straight from its predecessor, with the concepts of an International Court and a General Assembly coming straight from the League. More importantly, the failures of the League ensured that the UN was given stronger authority and enforcement mechanisms, most notably through the latter’s Security Council, and while the League dissolved after a generation, the UN has survived for over 70 years.
One of the League’s most lasting legacies was the manner in which it handed over administrative control of land in the Middle East to the victorious Allied Powers, namely France and Britain. The Ottoman Empire quickly collapsed after World War I, and its extensive lands were divvied up between the French and British. While the French gained control of the Levant, which would later become modern day nations like Syria and Lebanon, the British were given the Mandate for Palestine. The British Mandate for Palestine gave the British control over the lands that have since become Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
The intention of the mandate system was to have the administrators peacefully and gradually usher in independent states, and both European powers eventually attempted to withdraw from the region, but anyone with passing knowledge of the Middle East’s history in the late 20th century knows that the region has seen little peace. As with the British Mandate of Palestine, the French found themselves attempting to placate various ethnicities that they only had a passing familiarity with, and the lines they drew for states like Syria and Lebanon were ultimately arbitrary. The French would completely evacuate the region in the wake of World War II, but the ramifications are still being felt today, as Syria is wracked by civil war and Lebanon’s government has constantly been fragile and subject to foreign interference.
The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon: The History and Legacy of France’s Administration of the Levant after World War I examines how the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon came about, what happened over the span of those 30 years, and the lasting legacy of the French administration. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon like never before.
- GenresHistory
60 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 18, 2019
12 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Charles River Editors
5,652 books277 followersCharles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 12, 2023
If a reader, like myself, asks "Why do both Syria and Lebanon, in 2023, seem to be perpetually ungovernable?" this book does not provide many answers.
While it initially reads like a cut and paste 8th grade term paper, "The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon" eventually does provide a basic -- very very basic -- overview of the history of France's administration of the Levant after WWI and the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire.
The book also purports to explain "the Legacy" of this French administration of the Levant. It offers no such thing. The LEGACY of the French administration is a mess: Syria and Lebanon, in 2023, seem to be perpetually ungovernable.
This book, frankly, is no help in answering the question, which, ironically, was what prompted me to pick up the book in the first place. I need to find a book that explains the legacy of perpetual chaos and political instability in Syria, or in Lebanon, or in both.
While it initially reads like a cut and paste 8th grade term paper, "The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon" eventually does provide a basic -- very very basic -- overview of the history of France's administration of the Levant after WWI and the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire.
The book also purports to explain "the Legacy" of this French administration of the Levant. It offers no such thing. The LEGACY of the French administration is a mess: Syria and Lebanon, in 2023, seem to be perpetually ungovernable.
This book, frankly, is no help in answering the question, which, ironically, was what prompted me to pick up the book in the first place. I need to find a book that explains the legacy of perpetual chaos and political instability in Syria, or in Lebanon, or in both.
January 25, 2024
Although this was a useful refresher on some history of the League of Nations sanctioned occupation of the divided Ottoman Empire, the second read through after I’ve revived a wider education makes me realize that this book is incredibly surface level and often leans pro-imperialism as a natural order of things rather than a construct of society. Also it upsettingly dances around the Nakba without mentioning a word of it. It implies that Israel just happened like a magical poof, minimizing the almost hundred years of oppression of the Palestinian people to an implied subtextual point.
February 15, 2023
I would not label this a book, but a pamphlet
More of an outline of the history leading to the creation of the Mandates for Syria and Lebanon. It’s a decent outline, but I would note consider this a full history by any definition.
More of an outline of the history leading to the creation of the Mandates for Syria and Lebanon. It’s a decent outline, but I would note consider this a full history by any definition.
February 28, 2024
Good read but, given that I'm a student of history, I knew a lot of this information.
March 26, 2024
Surface level, but still useful for the overarching brush strokes/timeline.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews