State of Damascus

Infobox Former Country
native_name = دولة دمشق
conventional_long_name = State of Damascus / État de Damas
common_name = Aleppo|
continent = moved from Category:Asia to the Middle East
region = Middle East
country = Syria
era = Interwar period
status = League of Nations Mandate
empire = France
year_start = 1920
year_end = 1925|
event_start = Mandate granted
date_start = April 25, 1920
event_end = Unification of Aleppo and Damascus
date_end = December 1, 1924
event1 = Federation established
date_event1 = June, 1922|
p1 = Ottoman Empire
flag_p1 = Ottoman Flag.svg
s1 = French Mandate of Syria
flag_s1 = Flag of Syria French mandate.svg

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capital = Damascus
currency =
common_languages = Arabic, French

The State of Damascus (1920-1925) ( _fr. État de Damas) ( _ar. دولة دمشق) was one of the six states established by the French General Henri Gouraud in the French Mandate of Syria which followed the San Remo conference and the defeat of King Faisal's short-lived monarchy in Syria.

The other states were the State of Aleppo (1920), the State of Alawites (1920), the State of Jabal Druze (1921), and The Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921). The State of Greater Lebanon (1920) became later the modern country of Lebanon.

Establishment

The State of Damascus was declared by the French General Henri Gouraud in September 1920, with Damascus as its capital. The first president of the new state was Haqqi Al-Azm. The state of Damascus included Damascus and its surrounding region, in addition to the cities of Homs, Hama and the Orontes river valley.

The new Damascus state lost four Qada's (sub-districts) that had been part of the Vilayet (district) of Damascus during Ottoman times to the mainly Christian Mount Lebanon to create the new State of Greater Lebanon. The territory separated from Damascus corresponds today to the Biqa' valley plus south Lebanon. Damascus, and later Syria, continuously protested the separation of these lands and kept demanding them back throughout the mandate period. The population of these regions, which was mainly Muslim, also protested the separation from Damascus.

The Syrian Federation and the State of Syria

In 1923, general Gouraud announced the Syrian Federation (la Fédération syrienne) which included the states of Damascus, Aleppo, and the Alawite state. In 1924, the Alawite State was separated again. The Syrian Federation became the State of Syria in Decimber 1, 1924.

ee also

*French Mandate of Syria
*State of Alawites
*Jabal el Druze (state)
*Alexandretta/Hatay
*State of Aleppo