The Struggle for Independence 163
Britain handed over to her the military occupation of the Syrian
coastlands, while the independent Arabs under Faisal still governed
the cities of the interior. The situation was very unstable. The Arabs
resented and feared the very presence of the French: France's part
in the campaign against the Turks had been confined to the pre-
sence of a small token-force, and the Arabs could not be expected
to agree that her enormous sacrifices on the Western Front en-
titled her to claims on Syria. The French, on the other hand,
had no sympathy for the Arab Revolt or for Arab nationalism in
general, having in mind their millions of Arabic-speaking subjects
in North Africa; they regarded these phenomena as a British
manoeuvre to trick France out of her rightful legacy in Syria. Her
claim was carried back to the Crusades, in which France had played
a preponderant part, and was reinforced by the educational mis-
sions, and railways and other public utilities she had established in
the country. Nevertheless, over 60 per cent, of the petitions pre-
sented to the King-Crane Commission in 1919 protested directly
and strongly against a French mandate.
In April 1920, one month after a 'General Syrian Congress'
of nationalists had proclaimed an independent kingdom of
Greater Syria, including Lebanon and Palestine, with Faisal as
King, the San Remo Conference awarded France the mandate
for the whole of Syria. The French now had legal authority
to deal with the unfriendly Arab administration in the interior,
whose troops had unofficially attacked French military positions
near the demarcation-line between the two zones, while the
Arab authorities had carried on anti-French propaganda,
and obstructed French commerce; the French in their turn
were not guiltless of counter-provocation. In July 1920 General
Gouraud sent Faisal an ultimatum demanding satisfaction on
all these points, and the unqualified acceptance of the -French
mandate for the whole country. While Faisal was attempting to
negotiate, there were armed clashes between his troops and the
French. The latter then occupied Damascus and expelled him from
the country. Masters of the situation, they could now reshape the
prostrate bulk of Syria at their will. Conscious that their main
support lay in the Maronites of the Lebanon, that the other
Christian communities were only lukewarm, and that they were
cordially disliked by the bulk of the Muslims, they decided to ease
their task by an unashamed policy of fidivide-and-rule5, by ex-