The draft treaty of 1936 and the return of tyranny

03The draft treaty of 1936 and the return of tyranny

• Because the atmosphere of the world in the mid-1930s was filled with the coming of a new world war, France turned to placing Franco-Syrian relations on an agreed basis, and the two states reached the draft treaty of 1936, which put Syria's resources at the service of France's political, military, economic and social aims.
• Lebanon gained from the Syrian struggle France's intention to sign a similar treaty with it.
• But the French National Assembly (parliament) rejected both draft treaties, so France went on ruling Syria and Lebanon under the charter of the mandate; the constitution was suspended and the French ruled the countries tyrannically.
• The French worked to separate the sanjak of Alexandretta from Syria, until Turkey took possession of it in 1939.