Showing posts with label French League of Nation Mandates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French League of Nation Mandates. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

The conflict in Lebanon. A few items.

By Sergey Kondrashov - http://www.katagogi.com/LV2009/LebMap.aspx?l=EN, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23421707

Israel is not "fighting Lebanon".  I've seen that claim made, but it isn't. 

It's striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, which translates as the "Party of God" is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group.  The party does control large sections of Lebanon where Shia is dominant religious group.  

Lebanon itself was carved out of Syria by the French during the French mandate period as it had a majority Christian population.  It's one of the few areas of the Middle East which still does, with Islamic repression over centuries having forced conversions and emigration throughout the Middle East.  Be that as it may, Lebanon is no longer a majority Christian state, and its a mess because of internal strife and division.

That came in due to the conflicts in the region, with the Palestinian refugee population of the 1970s being particularly problematic.  The country fought a civil war that lasted in one form or another from 1975 to 1990.  It's never been stable since.

It's very difficult to see a positive future for Lebanon in any form. That doesn't mean it won't occur, but it's hard to see.  

What can be seen, in my view, is an Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon coming in the next week or so.

Friday, August 30, 2024

Saturday, August 30, 1924. Late summer scenes.

The Dawes Plan went into effect.

Germany replaced paper marks with a coin, due to hyperinflation.

Clashes with the Ku Klux Klan resulted in six deaths in Herrin Illinois.

The French High Commission of the Levant created Lebanese citizenship.

Edwards, Prince of Wales, met with Calvin Coolidge.

Saturday magazines were out.




Last edition:



Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Thursday, July 10, 1924. Before electronics.

The around the world flight of pilots and aircraft from the U.S. Army flew 560 miles from Aleppo, Syria, to Constantinople, Turkey.

I unfortunately have not tracked a lot of the flight, which had gone from Japan, to China, to Indochina, and on into India.

A glimpse into the pre electronic age (although radio was coming on strong), a short story magazine that ran 196 pages in length.  

The first few pages:



Monday, January 1, 2024

Saturday, January 1, 1944. Sort of independence.

Syria became independent theoretically, but the French mandate continued.

The RAF bombed Berlin again.

The War Department was pondering its policies regarding African American soldiers.





From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—January 1, 1944: Gen. Alexander Vandegrift replaces Gen. Thomas Holcomb as commandant of the US Marine Corps. US penny production switches from steel to a copper & brass alloy.

USC Trojans beat the Washington Huskies 29-0 in the Rose Bowl, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defeated Tulsa Golden Hurricane 20-18 in the Sugar Bowl., the LSU Tigers beat the Texas A&M Aggies 19-14 in the Orange Bow, the Cotton Bowl Classic ended in a 7–7 tie between the Randolph Field Ramblers and the Texas Longhorns.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Monday, December 17, 1923. Closing in on Mexico City.


The revolution in Mexico looked as if it was about to topple the government.

Subhi Bey Barakat was elected President of the Syrian Federation, a French mandate. He'd be its only president as the state would be succeeded by the State of Syria, also a French mandate, which he'd also be the chief executive of.


Thailand adopted the metric system.

An agreement was reached on the formation of the Imperial Air Transport Company, which soon became Imperial Airways.