The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Quotes

“The first elections were held under the new constitution over the new year of 1931-1932. The nationalists contested the election under the flag of a united front known as the “National Bloc,” founded in 1928 by Ibrahim Hananu, a leading Ottoman figure and a staunch nationalist. The National Bloc was less of a political party than a coalition of disparate anti-French interests in Syria, and although it was the clear favorite, it emerged with just 16 seats out of 70 in the Chamber of Deputies, a result reliably put down to a rigging of the vote by the French.”
― Charles River Editors, The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon: The History and Legacy of France’s Administration of the Levant after World War I

“Eventually, the spark that ignited the Great Syrian Revolt was a deep-seated sense of grievance among the Druze at the usurpation of their traditional systems of rule and administration by the French. With the establishment of the state of Jabal al-Druze, there was an expectation that some degree of autonomy would be implemented. Instead, traditional rule was bypassed, and direct French government resulted in a series of reforms and modernization that proved to be deeply unpopular. On August 23, 1925, the Druze Sultan Pasha al-Atrash announced a revolution, calling on the dispersed tribes of Syria to rise against the French. The call was incredibly successful, and tribal leaders across the mandated region responded. While the response was not universal, it was certainly widespread and focused mainly on a traditional leadership suffering marginalization by the French. In an initial series of battles, the French, who were taken utterly by surprise, suffered defeats and lost cities, including Damascus, but it did not take long for massive French reinforcements, drawn mainly from Lebanon, Morocco and Senegal, to turn the tide. The French army was well equipped and well trained, and it was always likely to defeat a hastily  mounted rebellion. Most of the captured cities were retaken, and the rebels were pushed back into the countryside, from where resistance ebbed and flared for another two years.  Sultan al-Atrash and various other national leaders were captured and sentenced, while others scattered, taking refuge outside the borders of the Mandate.”
― Charles River Editors, The French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon: The History and Legacy of France’s Administration of the Levant after World War I