The Levant refers to the eastern Mediterranean region consisting of modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel/Palestine, and parts of Iraq and Turkey. In the contemporary world order, the Levant is in turmoil. The genocide in Gaza has led to the explosive entry of Palestine on the scene of global politics, highlighting the settler-colonial character of Zionism and questioning the moral legitimacy of Israel. The Lebanese Shia political party and paramilitary group carried out a 14-month long conflict with Israel to pressure it into ending the killings in Gaza. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad, the country’s president since 2000, was toppled by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in December 2024. Given these rapid developments in the Levant, it is essential to look into its history.
Ottoman Rule
For over 400 years, from 1516 to 1918, the Levant was governed by the Ottoman empire. The Ottoman system was characterized by adaptability: 1) it gave a degree of political autonomy to local notables; and 2) due to Islamic principles of toleration and realistic assessments of feasibility, it allowed the non-Muslim subjects to preserve their religious customs, educational structures, and community leadership.
The Ottoman system soon suffered a decline due to its inability to confront the West. Under Ottoman rule, surplus agricultural product was either shipped to the capital or appropriated by the local notables. No organized attempt was made to use this output for productive investments. As a result, manufacturing continued to stagnate in the stage of small-scale artisanal and handicraft production, without industrialization. When European trade reached the eastern Mediterranean, the local, small-scale Ottoman industry, encountering increasing costs and rigid price regulation, found itself incapable of competing with the cheap manufactured goods of Europe. This economic unevenness made the Ottoman empire dependent on European countries, laying the ground for its eventual collapse.
Franco-British Imperialism
In 1916, the Sykes-Picot agreement between Britain and France envisioned the post-Ottoman restructuration of the Middle East into British and French spheres of influence, based on the certainty that the Ottoman empire would be defeated in World War I. Two years later, this plan transformed into reality when the Ottoman Empire surrendered and signed the Armistice of Mudros, formally bringing the termination of Ottoman rule in the Levant. After the San Remo Conference (April 1920), the League of Nations gained legal control over former Ottoman territories. These territories were held to be unprepared for independent rule, so they were placed under the governance of Britain and France. Rather than being annexed directly, ex-Ottoman lands were categorized as “mandates,” which meant that the European powers would be functioning as temporary guardians rather than permanent rulers.
The paternalistic and civilizing goals of European nations masked their imperialist objectives. Britain’s mandates included Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan. Palestine was a key land bridge linking Egypt (Suez Canal) to British-controlled Iraq and India. Iraq had large oil reserves, particularly in Mosul and Kirkuk, which were crucial to British energy requirements. Furthermore, British control over the Iraqi port of Basra provided it with access to the Persian Gulf, allowing it to manage the Gulf shipping routes. Finally, Transjordan created a buffer zone between Palestine, Iraq, and French-controlled Syria.
France’s mandate of Syria and Lebanon included its support for Maronite Christians. For French politicians, an empire in the eastern Mediterranean was an integral objective of the Francophone civilizing mission. Based upon mythic narratives of Frankish Crusaders, Catholic missionaries, the belligerent colonial army, and business interests, France presented a strident defense for the creation of a French Mediterranean empire. Given the imperialist concerns of European countries, they created structures of powers that created and exacerbated religion and ethnic divisions within the Levant.
Lebanon
Before the establishment of the French Mandate, Mount Lebanon was an autonomous province under Ottoman rule with a largely Maronite Christian population. In 1920, French High Commissioner General Henri Gouraud expanded Mount Lebanon into Greater Lebanon, incorporating the Muslim-majority regions of Akkar (Sunni-majority, north), Beqaa Valley (Shia-majority, east), Jabal Amel (Shia-majority, south), and Tripoli and Sidon (Sunni-majority coastal cities). There were three major reasons for the expansion: 1) Mount Lebanon didn’t have substantial agricultural land; and 2) the French required a port city like Beirut. Given that France aimed at creating a Christian-dominated state, it unleashed conflicts between Maronites and Muslims. In order to manage religious diversity, the French institutionalized sectarian power sharing in the 1926 Lebanese Constitution by allocating political positions along religious lines: the President would be Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister would be Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of Parliament would be Shia Muslim. By giving the powerful post of President to Maronites, France continued its agenda of Christian domination. Even though the Muslim population increased over time, the political system favored Christians. This power-sharing arrangement was reinforced by the National Pact of 1943 – the year Lebanon gained independence. The colonial legacy of religious division ultimately led to Lebanon’s 15-year long civil war (1975-1990).
Syria
The French Mandate in Syria (1920–1946) was driven by a divide-and-rule policy using sectarian, ethnic, and regional divisions. France tried to weaken Arab nationalism by fragmenting Syria into small states: the State of Damascus, the State of Aleppo, the Alawite State (Latakia), the Jabal al-Druze, and the Sanjak of Alexandretta. Sunni Arab leadership was enfeebled through the separation of Damascus and Aleppo – the two largest Sunni-majority cities. Furthermore, the French sharpened the communal boundaries of Alawites and Druze to reinforce sectarian divisions. They were recruited into the French military in large numbers, thus making the Sunni majority resentful. This division would later influence the structure of the Ba’athist regime under the Assad family, where the Alawite-dominated military would play a central role in governance.
The French mandate also manufactured ethnic divisions. France used the displaced communities of Kurds and Armenians to undermine Arab nationalist unity. The Sanjak of Alexandretta, a region with a mixed population of Arabs, Turks, and Armenians, was given over to Turkey in 1939, creating the basis for future Arab-Turkish antipathies. There were also regional divides. A separation emerged between the urban Sunni elites in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, and Hama, who led the anti-colonial resistance, and the rural minorities, who were regarded as French collaborators.
Jordan
In 1921, the British government established Transjordan – originally part of the Palestine mandate – under the leadership of Abdullah I, who belonged to the Hashemite family. After gaining full independence in 1946, Jordan has acted as a regional actor loyal to the West. This is evident in its key role in the Palestinian question, supporting imperialist interests rather than Palestinian self-determination. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, King Abdullah’s Arab Legion (trained by the British) moved into Palestine, seizing and later annexing the West Bank in 1950. By integrating the West Bank into his monarchy, Abdullah weakened the territorial foundations for a future Palestinian state. After losing control of the West Bank to Israel in 1967, there was an influx of Palestinian guerilla fighters into Jordan. The growth of Palestinian militancy in Jordan led to the Black September conflict in 1970: the Hashemite monarchy killed thousands of Palestinian fighters and civilians in order to maintain its power. This event showed how the colonial legacy of monarchical, centralized power functioned as a strong hindrance to the revolutionary aspirations of the Palestinian movement.
Israel
The origins of Israel lie in the British mandate for Palestine, established in 1922. Britain’s handling of Palestine was driven by the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which had promised to create a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. While the League of Nations’ Covenant under Article 22 recognized the need for the eventual independence of mandates like Iraq and Syria, it didn’t consider Palestinians as a people with national rights. Meanwhile, the mandate supported the Zionist movement. The Jewish Agency was recognized as the official body of the Jewish community, whereas no such body was created for Palestinians. British Mandate rule enabled Jewish immigration, land acquisition, and settlement in Palestine, particularly in strategic and fertile areas. As a result, the Jewish population grew from 6% of the population in 1917 to 30% by 1939. In essence, Britain built a parallel Zionist administration that regulated central structures of governance. These colonial efforts helped in the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians.
Conclusion
If there is anything that the history of the Levant demonstrates, it is that external interventionism can never guarantee stability. However, this is what we continue to see even after the cessation of the genocide in Gaza. President Donald Trump has said that the US will “take over” and “own” Gaza after expelling Palestinians from the territory. This, he adds, will eventually turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East”. From the history of the Mandates system that governed the Levant, it is clear that the colonial fantasy of paternalistic control can never benefit the colonized. Rather, it treats a certain group of people as the object of a strong benefactor’s efforts, thus curtailing their democratic ability to take decisions on their own. It remains to be seen how the battle for democratic power unfolds in the Levant.
The author is Vice-Chancellor, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri, Jammu
