Nawras Aziz
This research is part of a documentary series specific to the Rezqa platform, prepared and presented by Nawras Aziz, where you can find the link to the episode on YouTube below.
Introduction:
In Swaida, we witness a clear absence of references that discuss the beginning of the French entry into the Djebel between 1920-1921, and its archives and libraries suffer from a scarcity of information that can provide researchers with a clear foundation upon which they can build their studies.
It appears that there are some misconceptions about that period, as we find confusion among a number of researchers and interested parties, leading them to face the problem of a lack of documented information and difficulty in distinguishing during that era the pivotal figures and their roles, whether those figures were French or prominent personalities in the Djebel.
Here, it was necessary to review the most prominent documents preserved in the French Diplomatic Archives and the French Ministry of Defense Archives that clarify the intricacies of that period, so as to place in your hands a clear idea and a solid foundation for building discussion and research upon it.
We see that after the Sykes-Picot Agreement entered its actual implementation phase, the French took their share represented by Syria and Lebanon, and As-Suwayda was on the border separating them from the British share on the side of the Emirate of Transjordan. With the French administration’s decision to divide Syria and Lebanon into six small states on an ethnographic basis, it was necessary to bring in an intelligent figure with experience to engineer these small states and work on drawing a new political reality that keeps absolute control in the hands of the French.
General Henri Gouraud summoned Lieutenant Colonel George Catroux to plan and oversee the division process, to head the administration in Damascus, and to establish the State of Jabal al-Druze.
Who is George Catroux? What was his pivotal role in the establishment of the State of Jabal al-Druze? And what were the means he used to enter As-Suwayda without military battles for the first time in the history of the Djebel?
- The Pivotal Figure
In mid-1920, Lieutenant Colonel Georges Catroux was appointed governor of Damascus and organizer of the administration and governance of Syria (1). Catroux possessed cunning, military, diplomatic, and administrative expertise resulting from his service in the French colonies in Indochina and French Morocco, where he was able to learn Arabic in the French colonies in Algeria.(2)
Georges Catroux played the primary role in shaping the political and administrative form of the State of Djebel-Druze until he submitted his resignation in 1923.
Afterward, Catroux rose to the rank of general and returned in 1940 to become the Free French Delegate-General in the Middle East, and one year later became the Commander-in-Chief of the Free French Forces in the Levant (3).
- Official Documents from the French Archives
A group of letters sent by Georges Catroux to General Henri Gouraud, the French High Commissioner in Syria and Lebanon, outlined the blueprint for the new state. Among the most prominent are four official letters preserved in the French Diplomatic Archives in the city of Nantes:
2.1 First Letter
Dated 3 September 1920, under the title (4) ” a.s. des Chefs Druzes ” On the Druze Leaders, Catroux reviews the relationships between local leaders in the Djebel and their roles, focusing on the existing disputes between them and their wavering stance toward the events of Deraa following the dispatch of a French military campaign in August 1920 in response to the killing of Syrian Prime Minister Alaa al-Din al-Drubi, appointed by the French.
This letter also mentions the lack of agreement among the four most prominent figures in the Aṭrash family: Mutʻib, Abdul Ghaffar, Salim, and Nasib al-Aṭrash.
2.2 Second Letter
Dated 1 October 1920, under the title (5) ” Autonomie administrative des tribus bédouines et des Druzes ” Administrative Autonomy of Bedouin Tribes and the Druze, Catroux addresses in this document a deep analysis of the situation of the Bedouins and Druze and their relationship with the central authority in Damascus, stating that Damascus authority can control the Bedouins because they rely in their lives on grazing in lands under Damascus control, and that authority there can curb any Bedouin rebellion by threatening to prevent their seasonal movement and grazing in government-controlled areas.
As for Djebel-Druze, Catroux speaks clearly about the importance of its independence under the guidance and supervision of a Druze office linked to the French mission in Damascus, but he emphasizes that separating Djebel-Druze from Damascus is a costly process and that the French must bear the costs of improving life there, and that it is dangerous to disdain Druze aspirations.
He explains in this document the importance of setting the borders of the Djebel-Druze state on an ethnographic basis, meaning that the state’s borders include all villages inhabited or owned by Druze, and suggests the villages that should form the western borders of the new state. However, Catroux leaves a recommendation that the proposed borders be examined and reviewed precisely by a specialized committee to be appointed later.
2.3 Third Letter
Dated 9 October 1920, under the title (6) ” Politique à l’égard des druzes ” Policy toward the Druze, Catroux outlines a practical strategy in which he proposes to consult the Druze people on the shape of the new state and that a leader for the Djebel be chosen to play the role of supporter of the mandate and mediator with the Druze people, and that this leader must be Salim al-Aṭrash, and that the French must stay away from direct intervention in a calculated manner.
To achieve this, Catroux proposes a practical plan that involves sending an agent he named (Agent 15) to Salim Pasha to inform him of what France wants from him and what it will offer him, and similarly sending Agent 15 and other agents to the Djebel to work on shaping public opinion there in line with the plan Catroux had drawn up.
2.4 Fourth Letter
Placed under a secret seal and under the title (7) ” Action au Djebel Druze ” Measures in Djebel-Druze, dated 1 November 1920, Catroux mentions in it some results achieved by his plan in Djebel-Druze and that he provided financial amounts as gifts to some leaderships in the Djebel, each gift valued at 200 Egyptian pounds (the currency in circulation at the time) (8) , equivalent to more than 90 thousand dollars at today’s exchange rate.
Catroux mentions that one of the leaders refused to receive the mentioned amount and three others accepted it.
Catroux cultivated the leaders’ support away from public scrutiny by allocating a budget for Salim al-Aṭrash to begin implementing his plan, estimated at 3000 Egyptian pounds, equivalent to more than one million three hundred thousand dollars at today’s exchange rate, and gave him half of this amount upfront. However, Salim also requested allocating monthly salaries to ensure some leaderships’ agreement to his assumption of the position of Prince of the Djebel. In a document attached to this letter, Salim sent a list containing 16 names to be granted varying monthly amounts, totaling required salaries of 460 Egyptian pounds, equivalent to more than 200 thousand dollars monthly at today’s rate, where some were approved and others rejected.
At the end of the letter, Catroux requested sending an investigative mission to Djebel-Druze under the cover of “study and organization” that includes an officer with political experience, the military engineers’ commander, in addition to a doctor.
- Summary
The French documents reviewed reveal a meticulously crafted strategy by Georges Catroux to establish the State of Jabal al-Druze without bloodshed, based on three fundamental pillars:
First: The intelligent exploitation of internal divisions among Druze leaderships, where Catroux did not view Jabal al-Druze as a unified bloc, but as a mosaic of competing interests that could be rearranged.
Second: The systematic use of money as a political tool; through allocating massive amounts estimated at more than one and a half million dollars in today’s value, he was able to buy the loyalties of many leaders and transform them from potential opponents into partners in the French project.
Third: Covert operations, as Catroux realized that the success of his plan depended on making the Druze feel that the decision was theirs and that their leader was their choice, while in reality, Catroux was pulling the strings from behind through a network of agents and intermediaries.
Thus, within a few months of autumn 1920, Catroux succeeded in shaping the political form of the State of Djebel-Druze, setting its borders on Druze ethnographic bases, and ensuring the appointment of Salim al-Aṭrash as a pro-French prince of the Djebel.
Sources and References
- https://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr/compagnons/georges-catroux
- www.lesclesdumoyenorient.com
- Georges CATROUX | L’Ordre de la Libération et son Musée
- CADN (Centre d’Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes), carton 1Sl/1/V/551, Section militaire Nº 01, septembre 1920
- CADN, carton 1Sl/1/V/551, Mission Française de Damas, n 5/S.P, 1er octobre 1920
- CADN, carton 1Sl/1/V/551, Mission Française de Damas, n 47/S.P, 09 octobre 1920
- CADN, carton 1Sl/1/V/551, Mission française de Damas, Nº 152/S.P, 01 novembre 1920
- Sammân, Ahmad. Le régime monétaire de la Syrie. Thèse de doctorat, Paris, Université Paris, Faculté de droit, Librairie L. Rodstein, 1935, p. 29.
About the Author
Nawras Aziz is a journalist and researcher from As-Suwayda, holding a Master’s degree from the University of Nantes (France) in the Department of History, specializing in international geopolitical conflicts. He is an expert on Druze issues in As-Suwayda and manages the Rezqa documentary platform. Aziz specializes in collecting, digitizing, and archiving Druze documents from French and non-French archives. He has worked for several years in the television field as a programs producer and has created numerous documentaries and documentary series.
Swaida Intellectual Digital Magazine 1, 2026, ISSN: 3099-3172 (online)
