Creation of Greater Lebanon and international border formation (1918–1926)

1. Anglo–French arrangement formalizes OETA framework

   Sep 30, 1918Labels: Anglo French, OETA West

   Britain and France concluded a wartime/postwar arrangement that helped structure how OETA would operate across the Levant. In practice, it reinforced a division between a French-led zone along the northern Mediterranean coast (including Lebanon) and other areas led by British or Arab administrations. This mattered because later border and state-building decisions often built on these early administrative separations.

   • Modus Vivendi
   • OETA

2. Allied military administration begins in Ottoman Syria

   Oct 23, 1918Labels: Occupied Enemy, OETA West

   After Ottoman forces collapsed in the Levant at the end of World War I, Britain and France set up the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) to govern former Ottoman districts temporarily. This military administration created separate zones, including a French-led coastal zone that covered much of what would become Lebanon. OETA provided the immediate administrative bridge from Ottoman rule to the later mandate system.

   • OETA
   • Britannica

3. Syrian independence declared; Faisal proclaimed king

   Mar 8, 1920Labels: Faisal I, Arab Kingdom

   Syrian nationalists meeting in Damascus declared independence and proclaimed Faisal as king of an Arab Kingdom of Syria. The declaration asserted sovereignty over a broad “Greater Syria” concept that included areas later separated into different mandate territories. These competing visions—local independence versus Allied mandate plans—set the stage for conflict and new borders.

   • Syrian Decl
   • Faisal I

4. San Remo Conference assigns mandates to France and Britain

   Apr 25, 1920Labels: San Remo, League of

   At San Remo, the Allied powers agreed that France would receive the mandate for “Syria and Lebanon,” while Britain would receive the mandate for Palestine (and also Mesopotamia/Iraq). This decision was a major turning point because it gave international backing to French authority in Lebanon’s future territory and made border-making a diplomatic project between European powers.

   • Britannica
   • San Remo

5. French victory at Maysalun ends Arab Kingdom of Syria

   Jul 24, 1920Labels: Battle of, French Army

   French forces defeated Syrian troops at the Battle of Maysalun, clearing the way for French control in Damascus and the broader mandate area. The defeat effectively ended Faisal’s short-lived kingdom and removed a key political alternative to the mandate system. With armed resistance broken, France could proceed with creating new administrative states, including Greater Lebanon.

   • Maysalun
   • Franco Syrian

6. OETA West ends as French civil states replace military rule

   Aug 31, 1920Labels: OETA West, French civil

   The French-led OETA zone on the coast (OETA West) was formally wound down as France shifted from wartime military administration to civilian governance structures. In this transition, French authorities organized several new states in the mandate area, including Greater Lebanon. This step mattered because border formation increasingly moved from battlefield control to mapped administration and legal instruments.

   • OETA
   • Britannica

7. State of Greater Lebanon proclaimed by France

   Sep 1, 1920Labels: Henri Gouraud, State of

   French High Commissioner Henri Gouraud proclaimed the State of Greater Lebanon. The new entity expanded beyond the prewar Mount Lebanon area by incorporating Beirut and other coastal towns, the Bekaa Valley, and additional districts. This proclamation created the main territorial framework for modern Lebanon, but it also intensified border and identity disputes with surrounding Syrian nationalist movements.

   • Britannica
   • Cambridge
   • OETA

8. Syrian Federation created; Greater Lebanon kept separate

   Jun 28, 1922Labels: Syrian Federation, Greater Lebanon

   France created the Syrian Federation by grouping several Syrian statelets (such as Aleppo and Damascus) under a federal structure. Greater Lebanon was not included, reinforcing it as a distinct political unit within the broader French mandate. This separation helped harden the idea that Lebanon’s borders and institutions would develop on a different track from those of Syria.

   • Syrian Fed
   • State Syria

9. League of Nations Council approves Syria–Lebanon mandate terms

   Jul 24, 1922Labels: League of, Mandate for

   The League of Nations Council approved the terms of the mandate for Syria and Lebanon, providing formal international oversight for French administration. This approval strengthened the legal basis for French state-building and for future border decisions. It also tied local political developments to League procedures and international diplomacy.

   • US Historian
   • Mandate

10. Paulet–Newcombe Agreement fixes boundary with Palestine

    Mar 7, 1923Labels: Paulet Newcombe, Boundary Commission

    Britain and France accepted the Paulet–Newcombe Agreement, following joint fieldwork by a boundary commission, to define the boundary between the French mandate (Syria/Lebanon) and British Mandatory Palestine. The agreement and its mapped line helped turn earlier political claims into a surveyed border, shaping Lebanon’s southern frontier in international practice.

    • Paulet Newc
    • Leb Army

11. Mandate for Syria and Lebanon enters into force

    Sep 29, 1923Labels: Mandate Enactment, League Council

    The mandates for Syria and Palestine were recorded as entering into force simultaneously once pending negotiations were settled, and the League Council took note of this change. For Lebanon, this marked the transition from provisional postwar arrangements to a fully operative League mandate administration under France. In practice, it reinforced border-making and governance as matters of international legal order, not only military control.

    • UNISPAL
    • Mandate

12. Constitution adopted; Lebanese Republic proclaimed

    May 23, 1926Labels: Lebanese Constitution, Lebanese Republic

    A constitution adopted under the French mandate established the Lebanese Republic and set the basic structure of government. It is widely noted for institutionalizing confessionalism—a system that allocates political representation by religious community—as a way to manage Lebanon’s plural society. This constitutional step capped the 1918–1926 border-and-state formation period by pairing Greater Lebanon’s territory with enduring state institutions.

    • WHO Mindbank
    • Britannica