[BLANK_AUDIO] Now we move to the establishment of Syria. Like Mount Lebanon, Syria was a mosaic of minorities too, but without a distinct territorial core like the Maronites of Mount Lebanon. The sectarian composition of the population of just over 2 million, was as follows. Sunni Muslims in Syria were about were about 70% of the population. Of the 70%, 60% were Sunni Arabs. And about 8% to 10% were Kurds. That is, people who speak Kurdish and not Arabic. Sunni Muslims by religion, but Kurds by their ethnic identity. There were various minorities. The Alawites, that break away group from Shia. 11 to 12% of the population, and other smaller minorities, like the Druze and the Shi'is. And there were about 12% of different Christian religious groups. Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, and Armenians. [BLANK_AUDIO] The Ottoman legacy, and French political contact, ruled Syria in a way that tended to maintain and even to exacerbate sectarian differences in Syria. Syria was not a consolidated unit historically. And rivalry means city and the village between the Sunni urban elite and between the rural Sunni population and rural minorities was very much part and partial of the Syrian political heritage. In Syria there was also this overlap, between sect and social class. Like Sunni landowners in the Alawite regions, that is the Sunnis were the upper class. The Alawite's were not only a religious minority, but also the under class. [BLANK_AUDIO] This elite group of Sunni urban notables was the only one which fully identified with Ottomanism and with the Ottoman Empire. But even amongst these, there were opponents of the Tanzimat and it is from these that came the attacks on the Christian population in Aleppo in 1850, and in Damascus as we have already seen, in 1860. Hostility towards Christians was due to their relative affluence. There was also suspicion towards Christians as a possible European fifth column. Christian-Arab nationalists could not really enjoy the support of the Sunni elite. The Sunnis' Arab nationalism was shaped as we've already seen, more by their disappointment with the Ottomans and by Islamic reformism. Muslims and Christians were also educated in separate schools. [BLANK_AUDIO] So at the time of the establishment of the Syrian state, there was no sense of political community, centralized authority, or any widely accepted ideology. At first, the French even divided Damascus and Aleppo to two different states. Until 1924, when they succumbed to nationalist pressure and united Damascus and Aleppo in one state. But they gave autonomy to the Druze and to the Alawites. These were incorporated in Syria in 1936. So as opposed to the British in Iraq, who united the whole country in the name of Arabism, Syria was ruled by the French, with a great emphasis on minority distinctiveness and autonomy. Syria was overtaken by local rebellion against the French between 1925 and 1927. But this was more of a tribal, than a nationalist affair. And it began amongst the Druze minority in southern Syria in the summer of 1925. They demanded greater Druze autonomy, and less French presence in interference in their affairs. They were joined by Arab nationalists, who were similarly disaffected by French rule and who demanded independence. The French resorted to considerable force, reconquered the Druze mountain area, Jebal-Druze by April, 1926 and by early 1927, the rebellion was suppressed. It was often presented as a nationalist uprising, but it wasn't really. Not much general participation in the, in the rebellion, which was dominated by Druze and by Bedouin tribes. It was a traditional affair. Fueled by religion and factional rivalries. Some Muslim merchants were involved because of Christian competition, but the Christians, for the most part, opposed the rebellion. As for the French, general hostility and suspicion towards Arab nationalism, determined a minority preference. The French were extremely concerned that the rise of Arab nationalism in Syria would affect their situation in North Africa. If Arab nationalism spread through North Africa, to Algeria, and to Morocco, and to Tunisia, it would be much harder for the French to maintain their presence there. The French therefore had this minority preference. They preferred to have Christians in administrative positions, they preferred to have minorities serve in the army. Whatever they could, to subdue Arab nationalism, the French did. [BLANK_AUDIO] After the rebellion, in 1925-27 the French tried to be a little more accommodating towards the nationalists, but they never managed to achieve a real agreement with them. And unlike the British, who had greater success in their dealings with Arab nationalism, and as opposed to Egypt, there was great difficulty in consolidating the Syrian state and in maintaining stability during the first decades of independence because of the strong continued identity of minorities with their own separate groups, as had been encouraged by the French and the Ottomans before them. Syria became the most unstable of Arab states. There were more coups in Syria than in any other Arab state, and Syria was only stabilized finally by the Ba'ath Party in the mid 1960s. And to that, we will come at a later phase.
