“The French claim to Syria was based on a combination of religious, economic, and strategic interests.” Economic interests in Syria “stemmed from the extensive investments in railways, port facilities, and commercial exchanges that French enterprises had undertaken during the last Ottoman decades”. French acquisition of Syria would also counterbalance British power in the Middle East, and supplement “its North African empire”.

The San Remo Conference held in April 1920, drew the terms of the Ottoman settlement, which were later “incorporated into the Treaty of Sèvres”. A major outcome of the San Remo Conference was the decision to detach “the Arab provinces from Ottoman authority and appropriate them between Britain and France”… “Britain received the mandates for Iraq and Palestine, France the mandate for Syria”. It is worth noting that Iraq was a “new state created out of three Ottoman provinces – Basra, Baghdad, and Mosul”, this gave Britain unprecedented access to petroleum and “approaches to India”.

Cleveland, William L. A History of the Modern Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2004. 164, 218.