About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

20 Am. J. Int'l L. 263 (1926)
The Bombardment of Damascus

handle is hein.journals/ajil20 and id is 269 raw text is: THE BOMBARDMENT OF DAMTIASCUS By QuIcY WRIGHT Of the Board of Editors The Syrian insurrection culminating in the bombardment of Damascus in October, 1925, is an incident of a kind which has frequently marred the rela- tions of western Powers with less advanced peoples. Thus it may be of more than passing interest to examine the conduct of the parties concerned from the standpoint of international law. The principal Allied Powers, in pursuance of various interallied war treaties, authorized France to undertake the mandate for Syria at the San Remo Conference of April 25, 1920. The mandate was drawn up by France, approved by the United States, confirmed by the League of Nations Council on July 24, 1922, and came into force September 29, 1923. Turkey had given up all claim to Syria within the mandate boundaries by the Franklin- Bouillon Treaty of October 20, 1921, confirmed by Articles 3 and 16 of the Lausanne Treaty of July 24, 1923.1 The King-Crane Commission, sent to Syria by President Wilson in 1919, had reported that of 1863 petitions received, over sLx-ty per cent were ex- pressly opposed to a French mandate and less than fifteen per cent (mostly from the Lebanon) were expressly favorable to France, in spite of consider- able propaganda by French forces in occupation of the coastal area.2 On March 10, 1920, a congress of 135 notables, claiming to represent all Syria, met at Damascus and proclaimed the independent Kingdom of Syria with the Emir Feisal as king. Damascus and the interior, which had actually been under the Arab administration of Feisal since the withdrawal of General Allenby in 1919, was forcibly occupied by the French on July 25, 1920.3 After this, Syrian complaints against French rule were numerous and were manifested by several petitions to the League of Nations and by several in- surrections of slight military significance before 1925. French troops were reduced from some 70,000 in 1920 to about 10,000 in July of 1925, two-thirds of which were Algerians, Tunisians, Senagalese and other Mohammedan colonials.' 1 See Wright, The United States and the Mandates, Michigan Law Rev., Vol. 23, pp. 11, 22, May, 1925. 2 Full text printed in Editor and Publisher, Vol. 55, No. 27, 2nd Ser., pp. 1-28, Dec. 2, 1922. See also Baker, Woodrow Wilson and World Settlement, Vol. 2, Chap. 34. 3 Chrol, The Occident and the Orient, pp. 170-177; Republique Francaise, Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Rapport sur la situation de la Syrie et du Liban, 1922-23, p. 37 et seq.; Buell, International Relations, pp. 88-89. 4 Wright, Syrian Grievances against French Rule, Current History, Feb. 1926, pp. 687-693.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most