This October marks 93 years of the French bombing of Damascus in 1925, predating by 12 years the Luftwaffe’s destruction of Guernica, which claimed an equal number of lives but is far better remembered. 
In result of the bombardment, around 5000 people were killed, and property for near $9 million were completely destroyed, equal to $128,249,479 today.
In its April Issue The American Journal of International Law reports the French bombardment of Damascus. The publication takes into account the different data. According to the information, the killed were from 1000 to 5000 while the French authorities report 137 killed.
The cause for the bombardment was the Great Syrian Revolt in 1925-1927 which at its height saw some 50,000 French troops deployed to put it down. General Maurice Sarrail bombed the city for 48 hours. The French bombed again in March 1926 and, later revolts also saw bombing.
Despite the harsh French answer, guerrilla warfare by the Syrian rebels continued. Even when the leadership of the revolt spent the next ten years in exile and under sentence of death, they continued to agitate for Syrian independence.
