The Mandate

The French Mandate of Syria & the Lebanon was formed by the League of Nations after WWI, according to the Sykes-Picot Agreement. While in control, France's main plan was to 'Divide and Rule', their division was according to ethnicity - Christians, specifically Maronites, were given Mt. Lebanon, or Great Lebanon, Muslims were given Damascus and Aleppo, Alawite muslims were given the Alawite State, and Druze were given Jebel ad-Druze.