This chapter moves backward in time to the “mandate period,” when, in the aftermath of the first World War and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the territory of Syria was placed under French colonial rule. The chapter begins with the Syrian Revolt of 1925-27. Launched by the “Patriotic Club,” a group made up of tribal leaders from the Druze religious sect in the mountainous Jabal Hawran region of South-Western Syria, this revolt shares many similarities with the early stages of Nepal’s Maoist uprising in that it was initiated amongst a relatively isolated ethnic community with few ties connecting them to the broader national population. The chapter then turns to an often overlooked case of mass civil resistance: the Syrian General Strike of 1936. The strike was led by an opposition political group called the “National Bloc,” whose leaders, while almost entirely older Sunnis from prominent families, stood at the top of extensive clientelistic networks that they were able to leverage to generate mass participation. The strike compelled the French administration to negotiate a treaty with the opposition leadership that set the groundwork for eventual independence.