NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 2, 2 July 1940, Page 8

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

SYRIA & LEBANON

MEANING TO BRITAIN

REASONS FOR DEFENCE

; The British Government has.,- ---> cleared up the situation of Syria--and Lebanon, which France ;„ t holds under mandate from theLeague of Nations and in which ■ the French army has ceased to I play an active part in the war..,, Syria and Lebanon will be de« I fended against an aggressor, and. , x [ will not be left to fall the prey„.. : of the dictator States. • Independent Now. i Syria and Lebanon have become in? ' dependent States, Syria by a Treaty of Friendship and Autonomy, which was concluded with France in 1936, arid which included a separate military convention enabling France to maintain armed forces in the Jebel Druze arid in Latakia, to supply army instructors to the Syrian forces, and to have two military airports for her use. - The Lebanese Republic dates from 1920, when Beirut was made the seat of Government ana) the frontiers were fixed as Palestine in the south, the Nahr-el-Kebir in the north, and the heights of Anti-Lebanon in the easE. In the west is the sea coast. The two territories may be estimated at 58,000 square miles. The population of the four territories (including the Jebel Druze and Latakia) was 3,600,000 in 1935, 1,700,000 of these being Syrians and 860,000 Lebanese. However, Arabic is the prevailing language, and there are many nationalities—Turks, Kurds,' Circassians, Armenians, Persians, Jews, and a certain number of Europeans, v -~ French in Occupation. The French army has been in occupation of the whole country for years. Early in 1938 the effective strength, was 300 officers and 10,000 other ranks and the defence budget was 100,000,000 francs. Since the war the number has enormously increased, and many units from the French colonies have been brought here. Some estimates placed the total fighting forces in this part of the world as high as 100,000 men. Syria is an agricultural country, most of the people cultivating the soil and breeding cattle, and the principal products are wheat, barley, maize, sorghum, oats, cotton, olive oil, and fruits. Mineral resources are poor, possibly because of inadequate exploration. Northern Lebanon has yielded iron of good quality since ancient times. There is lignite in South Lebanon, and indications of oil are found in various places. The work of laying a pipeline was completed in 1934; it runs to Tripoli. Industries are on a very small scale. : : Britain's Interest- ' r "~~r:' iC Britain's interest in the fate of Syria and Lebanon is soon understood when, the map is seen. To the west is the island of Cyprus, a British Crown Colony, less than 100 miles from the Syrian coast. To the south is Palestine, the mandated territory which haij been the subject of such concern in the last few years. To the east is Irak, which is in Britain's sphere of influence and which she is bound'^ to defend. ;; vi Moreover, Irak is the source of some of Britain's supplies of oil, and the Haifa pipeline reaches the coast close to the Syrian border. At Haifa the Irak Petroleum Company has constructed refineries and huge storage tanks. Any move against Syria, moreover, would have the effect of stiiriu? lating Turkey to action, and Britain could count on that country moving in self-defence. Turkish and Syrian frontiers march together in the north. The French Merchant Fleet. Coincidentally with the decision*to defend the position in Syria which has been abandoned by= the French cornea an appeal to French merchant captains and to the French Fleet, to put into Allied harbours and not to abandon the struggle with the common enemy. ■ If it is possible to obey this appeal (which is issued as a command), the merchant tonnage of Britain and her associates should be considerably increased for the duration of the war. The 1939 statistics show the French mercantile marine to have been 2,933,000 tons, more than a million tons greater than it was in the World War. This is roughly equal to the tonnage owned by the British Dominions and makes France the eighth mercantile Power in the world, after Britain, the United States, Japan, Norway, Ger-. many, Italy, and Holland. Between them, Britain, Norway, Holland, and France own about 42 per cent, of the world's steamship arid motor-ship tonnage. Whereabouts Uncertain. It is not possible to determine where French shipping has been in the last few weeks, though the probability is that a good deal of it has been headed for the south coast of France, especially during the German advance in the north. Much of it, of course, is in colonial or neutral ports in the course of ordinary voyages. The introduction of the convoy system, however, has meant that it will be easy for the British Government to . know where to find the French merchant fleet. This fleet has not suffered greatly in the German sea war. Earlier this year the French mercantile losses were officially stated to be 2 per cent, of the total tonnage. The picture has not been changed very greatly since then. In the Mediterranean. The French Navy, apart from ships on foreign stations, appears to have been concentrated in the Mediterranean, though smaller ships have been operating on the north and west coasts of France. There would be two fleets in the Mediterranean, one at either end of the sea. The western fleet would be charged with the defence of the French coast and the eastern fleet with the holding of the French colonies and protectorates in the Near and Middle East, Egypt, and the Suez Canal, and with the keeping of Italy within the bounds set by the Canal in the east and Gibraltar in the west. Whether this fleet would be able to return to France if it determined to do so is perhaps problematical. measure of war finance it will work In the direction of reducing consumpb tion and will release productive resources for the Government. But it will not solve either problem. It will be a very modest and indirect contribution to both, ' -. ' "::i