The End Of World War I - 1329 Words

Before World War I, the countries of Europe competed with one another in a race to colonize the world. The end of World War I brought national sovereignty, and an end to colonization to the forefront of the Allies’ concerns as they drew up plans for peace, and as a result, the Allied countries received former enemy colonies to watch over and guide to independence1. As a result of this mandate system, among other colonies, France received Syria. Instead of guiding Syria to independence, however, as the conflict dragged on, France forgot its mission and attempted to subdue Syrian resistance to her humanitarian efforts. This paper will address the following questions: Who is more to blame for the violence, the Syrians or the French? What did†¦show more content†¦Without the assistance of France or any other European power, Syria proved it was ready for independence. However, France ignored the objective of the mandate system and hounded Feisal and his government. Franceà ¢â‚¬â„¢s Prime Minister at the time, Alexandre Millerand refused to negotiate with Feisal, the man a majority of Syrians wanted as their ruler, and did anything he could to oust him from power5. The mandate system put the colony in the charge of a European nation with the intention that it would be helped along to independence, but France did the opposite of this, despite her leaders’ insistence that France’s mission â€Å"was not imperialistic.†6 Even before Syria became France’s under the mandate system, France asserted a degree of influence over the region while it still sat under the Ottoman Empire. While the Ottomans ruled over Syria, France had established a protectorate for Catholics and even had ties to the Uniate churches in that area7. In addition to having religious ties to the region, the French government before the First World War also had invested in Syria financially, and one company formed by the Comte de Perthius built the railroad that ran from Beirut to Aleppo and Damascus8. France put a lot of money into assisting the development Syria and the surrounding areas, so it seems to be only natural that France would want to mandate over Syria after World War I. The French occupation of Syria parallels much of what happened with the French