Syria: alternate development

How would things have developed in Syria if these areas had become independent states?

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How would things have developed in Syria if these areas had become independent states?

You mean like they were briefly, before Aleppo and Damascus merged and then annexed the other bits, except where stopped by external forces?

There was too much pan-Syrian sentiment at the time. Unless someone (probably France) enforces the separation, these states will naturally tend to merge together - that includes, by the way, Lebanon, as well as Palestine and Transjordan.
 
You mean like they were briefly, before Aleppo and Damascus merged and then annexed the other bits, except where stopped by external forces?

There was too much pan-Syrian sentiment at the time. Unless someone (probably France) enforces the separation, these states will naturally tend to merge together - that includes, by the way, Lebanon, as well as Palestine and Transjordan.

Wasn´t it more pan-Arab sentiments? And in OTL, after all, Syria did not merge with Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. Of course, the two latter were controlled by Britain, and Palestine ended up divided, but both France and the UK eventually gave up their jurisdiction. Still, both Jordan and Lebanon survived as separate entities (although Syria has been heavily involved in Lebanon). As far as I understand, Lebanon was created in order to have a Christian majority. In addition Lebanon got some border areas to make the country easier to defend.

Why were the other entities, like the Alawite and Druze state, not able to survive? Did the French put less effort into making them survive than they did with Lebanon?
 
Wasn´t it more pan-Arab sentiments?

Nope. Pan-Arabism wouldn't start becoming an important movement until well into the '50s, whereas pan-Syrianism was very prominent in the immediate wake of the Ottoman collapse.

Why were the other entities, like the Alawite and Druze state, not able to survive? Did the French put less effort into making them survive than they did with Lebanon?

In a word: yes. The French felt very strongly about Lebanon because its population were not only Christians, but in (rather uniquely among Arab Christians) in communion with the Bishop of Rome. The French had served, in one way or another, as defenders of the Christian population in the Beirut region since the mid-19th century. So they were much more concerned with propping up the Lebanese as a separate entity than anyone else. If Syria had tried to annex Lebanon before WWII, France would almost certainly have intervened militarily.
 
Wast the pro-Syrian sentiments strong in all groups? If so, why did it change so drastically?
 
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