1- Thread👇
Excerpts of a speech given by General Henri Gouraud in Damascus, June 20, 1920; a Speech-Program" of sorts, meant to guarantee Lebanese sovereignty but also stymie Faysal's "Arab Syria" program. #Maysalun was 34 days later. My grandfather was there, under Gen. Goybet!
2- "Lebanon, with proud traditions & a history all its own, ought to remain free, and shan't be constrained to enter into any regional union. It may wish to be associated economically in a joint customs & monetary regime with a future Syrian federation, but this ought to be
3- the outcome of negotiations conducted & agreed to by sovereign states recognizing the imperative that is Lebanese independence, but also conciliating the marked particularism of certain regions of Syria, Aleppo for instance, vis-a-vis of Damascus. A serious study of the Syrian
4- region reveals that ONLY A FEDERAL SYSTEM IS THE ADEQUATE SYSTEM TO RECONCILE AND HARMONIZE SYRIAN DISCORD, PREVENT ANTAGONISMS, AND GUARANTEE UNITY IN DIVERSITY, AS DEMONSTRATED IN THE EXAMPLES OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE HELVETIC CONFEDERATIONS." My emphasis
5- Source, my book-in-progress "Lebanon in 200 Exceptional Documents, 1918-1923"
This source is from the Archives des Affaires Étrangères, Quai d'Orsay
Levant 1918-1940
Syrie-Liban
Volume 133
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