1936 Syrian general strike
| 1936 Syrian general strike الإضراب الستيني |
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Crowds in Damascus cheering National Bloc leaders headed by Jamil Mardam Bey before they left for talks in Paris on 31 March 1936.
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| Date | 20 January – 6 March 1936 | ||
| Location | Mandatory Syria | ||
| Causes | Closure of National Bloc offices and arrest of two nationalist leaders | ||
| Goals | Independence | ||
| Methods | Riots, Strike, Protests | ||
| Result | French concessions in the form of the 1936 Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence | ||
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The 1936 Syrian general strike (Arabic: الإضراب الستيني) was a 50-day strike that was organized as a response to the policies of the French occupation of Syria and Lebanon. The strike action paralyzed the country for two months and forced France to negotiate the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence with the National Bloc.
On 11 January 1936, the National Bloc held a commemoration for one of its leaders, Ibrahim Hananu, who had died in November 1935. The meeting featured several speeches that lamented and attacked the French occupation. Soon thereafter the French mandate authorities closed the office of the National Bloc in Damascus, and arrested two prominent nationalist leaders from the party, Fakhri al-Baroudi and Sayf al-Din al-Ma'mun. In response, the Bloc called for strike action against the French occupation policies. The strike, which started on 20 January with work stoppages and student protests in Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo, soon spread to all major towns.
Leaders from the National Bloc, including Nasib al-Bakri, Jamil Mardam Bey, Lutfi al-Haffar and Faris al-Khoury actively participated and organized demonstrations against the French occupation and the French-appointed president, Taj al-Din al-Hasani, and demanded the reinstatement of the 1930 constitution that was suspended in 1933. The League of National Action supported the strike and participated in organizing marches and protests in Damascus. The civil disobedience action paralyzed the economy and quickly brought the country to the "verge of a complete shutdown."
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Wikipedia