Levant Crisis

Levant Crisis
Part of Decolonization of Asia
British armoured cars moving through the streets of Damascus during the Levant Crisis in May 1945
Date 19 May – 19 July 1945 (2 months) Location French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Result British-enforced ceasefire French withdrawal from the Levant Syria and Lebanon gain full independence
Belligerents
United Kingdom  Syria	France
Commanders and leaders
Winston Churchill Bernard Paget Shukri al-Quwatli	Charles de Gaulle Fernand Olive

The Levant Crisis, also known as the Damascus Crisis, the Syrian Crisis, or the Levant Confrontation, was a military confrontation that took place between British and French forces in Syria in May 1945 soon after the end of World War II in Europe. French troops had tried to quell nationalist protests in Syria against the continued occupation of the Levant by France. With hundreds of Syrian nationalists being killed by French troops, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, wanting to maintain friendly relations with the Arabs, opposed French action and sent British forces into Syria from Transjordan with orders to fire on the French if necessary.^[1]

British armoured cars and troops then reached the Syrian capital of Damascus, following which the French were escorted and confined to their barracks.^[2] With political pressure added, the French ordered a ceasefire.^[3] Syria became fully independent in July 1946. The crisis infuriated the French leader Charles de Gaulle and almost brought Britain and France to the point of war.^[4][5]