Coll 6/17 'Syria: Political situation in Syria' [33r] (65/180)
The record is made up of 1 file (88 folios). It was created in 20 Nov 1931-4 Jul 1946. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
5* Kaantimo the cleavage In the nationalist ranks
(paragraph 8 and 7 of my despatch No.36 of May 7th) is
aooentnated. a party headed by Shuleri Quwwatll and /tref el
N*q*dl proclaims its exclusive title to the name of
Nationalist and roundly condemns Jamil Mardao and the
nationalist deputies for treating with the French before
making sure of the terms of the fdture treaty. Opposition
is an easy path to popularlty t and as each group of
nationalists becomes more amenable, it is replaced by a fresh
group of irreconoilables, «ho will no dount in their tern
undergo the same process.
6 . The ca» emoratlon of the twelfth anniversary of the
battle of Meiaalun on the 24th July furnished clear evidence
of the divisions in the nati nalist party. Two years ago,
Jamil Mardam gave vent to a violent denunciation of the
government of shaykh TaJ-ed-ittn and extolled the Nationalists
as the apostles of ocmplete independence. Ifcis year if he
had been present at Meisalun he would have heard his own
excommunication pronounced by dhukri uwwatll in much the
same terms.
7. The ceremony was attended by three processions, the
first representing the nationalists including those in office,
the second the retired Turkish officers from the Turkish
army, (whose secession was reported in my despatch No. 6 C of
the 13th July,) and lastly the extreme nati nalists. Beki
bey el ihatib delivered a speech which was chiefly the
apologia of the official nationalists; he was followed by
Shukri Cuvrwatli, who accused them in set terras of treachery
to their own party in collaborating with the French without
first securing the two primordial demands of the Nationalists -
Syrian unity and Syrian sovereignty. Ihey wore no longer the
leaders of the National larty. *ref el Naqadi’s accusations
About this item
- Content
This file relates to changes to the administration of French-ruled Syria during the 1930s and early to mid-1940s.
The file consists of copies of received Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. Most of the correspondence received by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir John Simon; Anthony Eden; Viscount Halifax) is either from His Majesty's Consul at Damascus (Edwyn Cecil Hole, succeeded by Gilbert Mackereth) or from His Majesty's Consul at Aleppo (George Evelyn Arthur Cheyne Monck-Mason, succeeded by Archibald William Davis).
The French material in the file consists of copies of decrees, correspondence and a communique produced by the French High Commissioner in Syria and Lebanon (Auguste Henri Ponsot; Damien de Martel; Gabriel Puaux).
Items of discussion include the following:
- The political atmosphere in Aleppo and Damascus in the run-up to Syria's first parliamentary elections under its new constitution, in late 1931 and early 1932.
- An attempted assassination of Subhi Bey Barakat [Subhi Bay Barakat al-Khalidi], former President of Syria, by a student from Homs, in 1932.
- Reports of tense relations in Aleppo, between Syrians identified as 'moderates' and 'extremists' by the British, following the elections.
- Reports on the first sessions of the new Syrian Parliament in June 1932.
- Details of a 1937 decree issued by the French High Commissioner, granting a general amnesty to those referred to in the correspondence as 'political offenders'.
- The resignation of the Syrian Government in March 1939 and the resignation of the Syrian President [Hashim Bay Khalid al-Atassi] on 7 July 1939.
- The resignation of the Syrian Defence Minister, Nabih el Azmeh [Nabi al-Azmeh], in June 1946.
The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (88 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 89; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An external leather cover wraps around the documents; the front inside of this cover has been foliated as folio 1.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/17 'Syria: Political situation in Syria' [33r] (65/180), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2083, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034951640.0x000044> [accessed 20 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2083
- Title
- Coll 6/17 'Syria: Political situation in Syria'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:8r, 10r:21v, 26r:73v, 81r:84r, 87r:89v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
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