Articles

Confessional management in colonial issues of Syria and Lebanon in the 1920s

Vostok/Oriens '2017, №6

DOI: 10.7868/S0869190817060024

 
On the basis of documents of the Comintern Archives at the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI), author analyses the political tactics of France against religious minorities in the sub-mandate countries of Syria and Lebanon in the 1920s. Special attention is payed to the national liberation war in Syria, when the approaches of mandatory administration were vividly reflected towards social relations by setting at variance of religious communities and social disintegration. The use of inter-confessional and inter-ethnic conflicts in their interests turned to be very successful for the Mandatory Powers. Manipulative religious politics in the Middle East was a key means of the Mandatory Powers at the time. Nowadays, such politics is successfully used by the Western countries to promote their vision of rebuilding the region.

Keywords: Middle East, Syria, Lebanon, France, Mandate period, religious communities, interfaith relations, the manipulation, the Syrian uprising

Pages: С. 18–28