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The Origin of the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon: The Railroad Question, 1901–1914
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 January 2009
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France's acquisition of Syria and Lebanon as mandated territory after the First World War has often been described as the result of war-time arrangements such as the Sykes–Picot Agreement and the MacMahon–Hussein Correspondence. In fact, however, the French claim to these parts of the old Ottoman Empire was recognized internationally even before the war erupted. The nineteenth century had witnessed the tremendous penetration of French religious influence into Syria and Lebanon through the establishment of clerical schools, hospitals, asylums and orphanages.
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page 133 note 1 The most useful primary source material on this question is unpublished but is available in the Archives of the Quai d'Orsay: France, Ministère des Affaires étrangères. Saint-Siège. Protectorat catholique de la France. Dossier général (1897–1918), N.S. 28 N.S. 38; Ecoles et missions françaises (1897–1918), N.S. 39-N.S. 50; Ecoles et missions étrangères (1897–1914), N. S. 52-N.S. 57. Interesting but often polemical sources include: André, Bruneau, Traditions et politique de la France au Levant (Paris, 1932); Pierre, Ghalib, Le protectorat religieux de la France en Orient (Avignon, 1920);Google Scholar René, Ristelhueber, Traditions françaises au Liban (Paris, 1918). Also of value on this question are the articles from 1905 to 1914 in the Bulletin du Comité de l'Asie française.Google Scholar
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