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Coll 6/17 'Syria: Political situation in Syria' [6r] (11/180)
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.
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
o
EASTERN (Syria).
CONFIDENTIAL .
[E 5213/5/89]
A O
j
July 21, 1939.
Section 1.
Copy No. 9 7
Consul Davis to Viscount Halifax.—(Received July 21.)
(No. 56.)
My Lord, Aleppo, July 12, 1939.
WITH reference to Damascus despatch No. 46 o f the 3rd July, 1939, I have
the honour to report that recent changes in the political status of Syria, beginning
with the communique issued by the French High Commissioner on the 2nd July
and ending with the resignation of the President of the Syrian Republic and the
suspension of the Constitution, have been received with the most complete and
extraordinary calm at Aleppo. Not a voice has been raised in protest, not one
workman has gone on strike, not a single street demonstration has been organised.
Neither the Nationalist bloc nor the Opposition parties have by any sign or token
displayed an intention to resist a policy which hut a short time ago would have
been regarded as reactionary and totally unacceptable to all patriotic Syrians.
2. For this tame acquiescence three main reasons are responsible. The first
is the discredit and virtual disruption which has overtaken the Nationalist bloc
here since the end of the strike reported in my despatch No. 37 of the 29th April
last. The second is the general feeling of disillusionment, not to say disgust,
which has been engendered among the essentially unpolitically-minded population
of Aleppo, who, having not without misgiving entered the political arena in 1936
to help the Nationalists into power, found that their only reward was maladmini
stration, lack of stability and increasing subordination to Damascus. The third
is a better perception of the bitter realities of the international situation, driven
home by the object lesson of the loss of the sanjak of Alexandretta to Turkey.
This has brought the erstwhile masters of Aleppo within 30 miles of the city
gates on the west as they were already on the north, and has given rise to a
feeling that the only chance of averting the loss of Aleppo also to Turkey is by
encouraging the French to stay in Syria and keeping them in as strong a position
as possible.
3. The indefinite postponement of the doubtful boon of independence is also
compensated to some extent by the consideration that the increased local
independence to be enjoyed in future by the Mohafazat will give an impetus to the
natural development of the town and district of Aleppo, which has in the past
been too often sacrificed to Damascus.
4. A copy of this despatch is being sent direct to His Majesty’s Ambassador
at Paris and to His Majesty’s consular officers at Beirut and Damascus.
I have, &c.
A. W. DAVIS.
[655 x— 1 ]
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' [6r] (11/180), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2083, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034951640.0x00000e> [accessed 10 July 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