French Mandate imposed; the modern borders drawn — Key Events — Syria

What happened

The San Remo conference assigns Syria to French mandate; French forces defeat the short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria at Maysalun in July 1920 and enter Damascus. Mandate rule divides the territory — separate Alawite and Druze statelets, Lebanon detached — and the border with the new Turkish republic is drawn through Kurdish-populated areas.

The Mandate fixed the borders, the minority geographies and the memories of separate status that the civil war would reopen: the Alawite coast, the Druze south and the divided Kurdish north all date their modern political shape to this decade.

Confidence: High

When1920

WhereDamascus

KindPolitical · Territorial change

Confidence: High Sources: Established historical record Methodology Corrections

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Connected records

1 record that this event names, or that name it — every one an explicit reference in a published record, nothing inferred from subject matter.

Actors1

Actor records this event names.

Kurdish self-administration (AANES)

Where this fits

This is one entry in the Syria timeline. The full Key Events surface carries every dated turning point with its filters and its essential subset, and this event in place shows what came before and after it. How Vigil grades, dates and sources its claims is set out in the methodology.