Alawite State

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دولة العلويين
State of Alawites / État des Alaouites
Mandate of France

1920 – 1936

Flag of Alawite

Flag

Location of Alawite
The Alawite State (green) in the Mandate of Syria.
Capital Latakia
Language(s) Arabic, French
Religion Alawite Islam
Political structure League of Nations Mandate
Governor
 - 1920-1921 Niéger
 - 1925-1936 H. Schoeffler
Historical era Interwar period
 - French occupation 1918
 - Established September 2, 1920
 - State declared September 29, 1923
 - Named Alawite State January 1, 1925
 - Names Sanjak of Latakia September 22, 1930
 - Disestablished December 5, 1936

The Alawite State (Arabic: العلويين‎), also known in French as Alaouites, after the locally dominant Alawite sect of Shi'a Islam, was a French mandate territory in the coastal area of present-day Syria after World War I.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Military parade to commemorate the independence of the Alawite country, on the eighth of March.
Military parade to commemorate the independence of the Alawite country, on the eighth of March.

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the Great War brought on a scramble to take control of various provinces of the disintegrating empire. France occupied Syria in 1918, and received the Alawite Territory as a mandate from the League of Nations on September 2, 1920. Initially it was an autonomous territory under French rule, but on 1 July 1922 was incorporated into French Syria.

On September 29, 1923, it was declared a state with the port city of Latakia as its capital, and on 1 January 1925 was formally renamed the Alawite State.

On September 22, 1930, it was renamed the Sanjak of Latakia. The population at this time was 278,000.

On 5 December 1936 (effective in 1937) it was fully incorporated into Syria.

[edit] French Governors

  • 2 September 1920 - 192. Niéger
  • 192. - 1 July 1922 Gaston Henri Gustave Billotte (b. 1875 - d. 1940)
  • 1 January 1925 - 1925 Léon Henri Charles Cayla (b. 1881 - d. 1965)
  • 1925 - 5 December 1936 H. Schoeffler

[edit] Postage stamps

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Alawite Territory (Latakia), From worldstatesmen.org

[edit] External links