Arab Kingdom of Syria
The Kingdom of Syria, Kingdom of Greater Syria or Arabian Kingdom of Syria (Arabic: المملكة السورية العربية, al - Mamlaka al - DMG ʿ arabiyya as- sūriyya ) was a country in Western Asia, and consisted of 8 March to 24 July 1920 on the territory of the present states of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories. The Kingdom was the first independent Arab state of modernity, whose story continues to resonate in today's politics of Syria, and was ruled by King Faisal, who later became the first King of Iraq.
Prehistory
In the Hussein -McMahon correspondence of 1915/1916 negotiated Emir Hussein ibn Ali and the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, about the future of the Arab countries and the participation of Arabs in the fight against the Ottomans. From the Arab side, the correspondence was interpreted as recognition of the Arab desire for independence, after Hussein ibn Ali called on 10 June 1916, resistance to the Ottoman rulers and founded the Kingdom of Hejaz.
In the same year his son Emir Faisal I succeeded in uniting the Bedouin tribes on the Arabian Peninsula in the fight against the Ottomans in the First World War. Together with British support under Lawrence of Arabia the Arabs were the expulsion of the Ottomans from Palestine and Syria, and the capture of Damascus on September 30, 1918. Faisal on October 3, reached the city.
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Faisal argued for the independence of the Arab Emirates from the Ottoman Empire, but this was unsuccessful, as Britain and France had already split in the secret Sykes- Picot Agreement of 16 May 1916 Middle East among themselves what the founded in 1920 the League of Nations has been accepted.
The Faisal - Weizmann Agreement of 3 January 1919, the Emir Feisal signed and later President of the World Zionist Organization, Chaim Weizmann, recognized the Arab side of the Balfour Declaration for a Jewish state in Palestine. However, the agreement never came by later events in the Middle East in force.
Development
For participation in the battle of the Entente Cordiale against the Central Powers Faisal got Lebanon and Syria awarded on the basis of a national assembly. In early March rejected the government under Hashim Khalid al - Atassi the Faisal - Weizmann Agreement from and took place on March 7, 1920 by the Syrian National Congress in Damascus, the proclamation of the independence of Syria, including Palestine, under King Faisal and the next day saw the establishment of the Arab kingdom of Syria. On 9 March 1920 the new government of Ali Rida ar - Rikabi was formed. On April 8, 1920, the simultaneous coronation took place Faisal as king of Syria and of Abdallah ibn Husain I, King of Iraq.
After the conference of San Remo from 19 to 26 April and the Treaty of Sèvres of 25 April 1920, the League of Nations France transferred the mandate for Syria and Lebanon and Britain the mandate for Palestine and Jordan. This led to violent protests by the Arabs and the formation of a new government under Hashim al - Atassi on May 7, 1920.
The Christians in Lebanon described the reaction of the government in Damascus as a coup and obtained a declaration of independence from the government in Lebanon. The government ordered the mobilization of the army. The French General Gouraud introduced Faisal on July 14, an ultimatum, leaving him the choice between resignation and subordination. The king decided to work, prompting him but his defense Yousef Al- Azama refused allegiance, and the confrontation with the French sought. So it was on 23 July 1920, Battle of Maysalun, in which the French prevailed under General Mariano Goybet. On July 24, the French marched into Damascus and forced to abdicate Faisal, who then went to the United Kingdom into exile.