Study French Mandate In Syria And Lebanon

Mandates System is the solution to territories of losing sides in World War I by League of Nations. Mandate of France in Middle East was conducted in Syria and Lebanon between1920and1946, which influenced political, economic, national and religious relations of mandated territories significantly and opened the first page of modern history of Syria and Lebanon. This article focused on the historical process of Syria and Lebanon in the period of mandate by France, exploring the background of mandate system established, nature and policy features of mandate.Mandate system reflected competition for interests between British and France after World War I. Its nature implied continuation of colonialism of Britain and France. France divided mandate territories into several separated administrational parts. In economics, France plundered resources and implanted French capital in mandate territories. Meanwhile, France paid much attention on assimilating local people by cultural colonization.Mandate by France stimulated modernization of Syria and Lebanon. For national relation, the policy of divide and rale exacerbated national separatism and religious conflict, which caused local society conflicting and impeded the progress of local modernization. In economics, France neither developed foundation of industrialization nor transformed economic model, instead causing poor of local in long term. In culture, western culture input crashed traditional Islam culture, which prompted local people rethink themselves and explored road of defending Western to save country.Generally speaking, Mandate of France started the modernization of Syria and Lebanon in the20th century, whereas the modernity brought in did not match traditional social context, aggravating turbulence of Mandate territories and its difficulty to realize modernization.