Mandatory Syrian Republic

Syrian Republic
République syrienne (French) الجمهورية السورية (Arabic) al-Jumhūrīyah as-Sūrīyah
Component of the Mandate of Syria and the Lebanon (1930–1946)
1930–1946
Flag
Anthem حُمَاةَ الدِّيَار "Ħumāt ad-Diyār" (English: "Guardians of the Homeland")
Territory of the Syrian Republic as proposed in the unratified Franco-Syrian Treaty of 1936. (Lebanon was not part of the plan). In 1938, Alexandretta was also excluded.
Capital		Damascus
Languages		Arabic French Syriac Armenian Kurdish Turkish
Religion		Islam (all branches incl. Alawite) Christianity Judaism Druzism Yezidism
Government		French Mandate (1930–1946)
High Commissioner
•	1930–1933 (first)	Auguste Ponsot
•	1944–1946 (last)	Étienne Beynet
President
•	1932–1936	Muhammad Ali al-Abid
Prime Minister
•	1932–1934	Haqqi al-Azm
Historical era		20th century
•	Republic formed	14 May 1930
•	Treaty of Independence	Mar–Sep 1936
•	Hatay State	1938
•	Syrian sovereignty / United Nations admission	24 October 1945
•	Full independence	17 April 1946
•	Evacuation of French troops	17 April 1946
Area
•	1938	189,880 km2 (73,310 sq mi)
Population
•	1938 est.	2,721,379
Density		14/km2 (37/sq mi)
Currency		Syrian pound
Preceded by Succeeded by State of Syria (1924–30) Alawite State Jabal al-Druze (state) Syrian Republic (1946–63) Hatay State
Today part of		Syria  Turkey

The Syrian Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية السورية‎ al-Jumhūrīyah as-Sūrīyah; French: République syrienne), known as Mandatory Syrian Republic, or simply Mandatory Syria was formed in 1930 as a component of the French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon, succeeding the State of Syria. A treaty of independence was made in 1936 to grant independence to Syria and end official French rule, but the French parliament refused to accept the agreement. From 1940 to 1941, the Syrian Republic was under the control of Vichy France, and after the Allied invasion in 1941 gradually went on the path towards independence. The proclamation of independence took place in 1944, but only in October 1945 Syrian Republic was de-jure recognized by the United Nations; it became a de-facto sovereign state on 17 April 1946, with the withdrawal of French troops.

The project of a new constitution was discussed by a Constituent Assembly elected in April 1928, but as the pro-independence National Bloc had won a majority and insisted on the insertion of several articles "that did not preserve the prerogatives of the mandatary power", the Assembly was dissolved on August 9, 1928. On May 14, 1930, the State of Syria was declared the Republic of Syria and a new Syrian constitution was promulgated by the French High Commissioner, in the same time as the Lebanese Constitution, the Règlement du Sandjak d'Alexandrette, the Statute of the Alawi Government, the Statute of the Jabal Druze State. A new flag was also mentioned in this constitution:

During December 1931 and January 1932, the first elections under the new constitution were held, under an electoral law providing for "the representation of religious minorities" as imposed by article 37 of the constitution. The National Bloc was in the minority in the new Chamber of deputies with only 16 deputies out of 70, due to intensive vote-rigging by the French authorities. Among the deputies were also three members of the Syrian Kurdish nationalist Xoybûn (Khoyboun) party, Khalil bey Ibn Ibrahim Pacha (Al-Jazira province), Mustafa bey Ibn Shahin (Jarabulus) and Hassan Aouni (Kurd Dagh). There were later in the year, from March 30 to April 6, "complementary elections".