chronology

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CHRONOLOGY (1904 - 1949)

1904

March 1, Antun Saadeh is born in Shuwayr, Mount Lebanon.

1914

October, the Ottoman empire enters the First World War on the side of Germany and Austria.

1916

May, The Sykes-Picot agreement.

1917

November 2, the Balfour Declaration.

December 9, the fall of Jerusalem to British troops.

1918

October 1, occupation of Damascus by British and Arab forces after the withdrawal of Ottoman troops.

October 8, French forces land in Beirut.

1919

Saadeh emigrates with his siblings to the New World to join their father. After a brief stay in Marseilles, they arrive in New York where their uncle meets them and escorts them to New Mexico.

January 18, the Paris Peace Conference.

July, Syrian National Congress convened.

Open revolt against the French in the Alawite

mountains, south Lebanon, the Bekaa and the northern Syrian provinces (Aleppo and Alexandretta).

The King-Crane commission.

1920

April 25, San Remo Conference, Mandate over Syria assigned to France and Britain.

March 11, Syrian National Congress elects Feisal king of a united western Syria.

July 24, the French army defeats the Syrian army in the battle of Meysalun.

July 25, French enter Damascus.

August 10, Treaty of Sevres.

September 1, partition of western Syria by proclamation of 'Greater Lebanon' and the two separate states of Damascus and Aleppo.

1921

The British carve the Transjordanian Emirate that later became the Hashimite kingdom of Jordan in 1948.

France cedes Cilicia to Turkey.

February 7, Saadeh and his siblings arrive in Brazil to join their father.

June 4, Saadeh writes in al-Jarida the first of 4 articles during the month on national issues.

1922

Jabal Druze and Alawite areas with Latakia proclaimed separate states.

Saadeh continues to write in al-Jarida and assists his father in its publication.

1923

July, Treaty of Lausanne.

Dr. Saadeh and Saadeh the son re-issue al-Majalla, a monthly journal.

1925

Start of the 'Great Revolt' in Syria against the French Mandate.

Saadeh founds the 'Syrian Patriotic Association" then abandons it the same year after the other members indulge in fatuous demonstrative activities.

Saadeh founds the 'Free Syrians Party' which remained active for most of 1926, 1927 and 1928. The activities of the Party on behalf of the Syrian cause and against the French mandate bring it to the attention of the French ambassador in Brazil who writes in a report to the French Foreign Ministry that Antoun Saadeh has sent an anti-French memorandum to the Pope, the League of Nations and the press in South America and Europe.

1926

Saadeh teaches Arabic language and literature in the Syrian-Brazilian College in Sao Paulo, and continues until 1928. During the same period he studies Russian.

1928

Saadeh teaches at the National Arts and Sciences College until his return to Syria.

1930

Saadeh leaves Brazil in June and arrives in Syria by the end of July.

1930-1931

Saadeh works and writes for three newspapers in Damascus. He publishes in Beirut two novellas.

1932

Saadeh returns to Beirut and tutors students at the American University of Beirut in German.

By the fall of the year he founds the SSNP.

1933

March, Saadeh re-issues al-Majalla in Beirut for four monthly issues.

1934

April 10, death of Dr. Khalil Saadeh in Brazil.

November 21, Saadeh draws up the party constitution.

1935

June 1, the first official meeting of the SSNP constituency is held in secret in Beirut.

November 16, Saadeh is arrested by the French Mandate authorities on the charge of founding a secret political organization.

1936

January 23, first trial of Saadeh and his lieutenants at which he is sentenced for 6 months in prison. During this period, Saadeh finishes writing his book 'The Genesis of Nations'.

May 12, Saadeh is released from his first jail.

June 26, second arrest during which Saadeh writes the pamphlet 'The Teachings of the SSNP'.

November 12, Saadeh is released from his second prison.

December 14, SSNP memorandum to the League of

Nations regarding the district of Alexandretta-

Rebellion in Palestine.

1937

January 8, memorandum to French High Commissioner declaring the readiness of the party to defend the district of Alexandretta against Turkish aggression.

March 1, police tries to prevent and disband a celebration by the SSNP. The confrontations leads to violent clashes and the third arrest of Saadeh on the 9th of March.

May 1 5, Saadeh released from 3rd jail.

July 8, the Peel Commission report regarding the Palestinian question. Saadeh and the SSNP submit a memorandum on the 14th of the month to the League of Nations objecting to the partition plan.

October 14, the SSNP publishes its first daily newspaper, al-Nahda (The Renaissance).

1938

January, the case of the feminist May Ziadeh.

January, persecution and arrest of SSNP members in Emessa and other cities of the Syrian Republic.

February 12, the French High Commissioner de Martel suspends the publication of al-Nahda for 8 days.

March, the first edition of The Genesis of Nations is published in Beirut.

June, Saadeh embarks on a tour of the centers of Syrian emigrants. After a brief stay in Cyprus, he visits Italy in September, and Germany in October. From there he travels to Brazil. In June, the Mandate and local authorities suspend the publication of al-Nahda indefinitely and start a search and seize policy towards SSNP constituency.

1939

June, France cedes Alexandretta to Turkey.

March 11, the first issue of 'Souria al-Jadida' (The New Syria) appears in Sao Paulo.

May, Saadeh arrives in Argentina.

October 7, French authorities arrest SSNP leaders in Lebanon.

1940

August 1, the first issue of 'al-Zawbaah' (The Cyclone) appears in Buenos Aires.

October 15, the first article in the series 'The Folly of Immortality' appears in the sixth issue of al-Zawbaah.

1941

April, Saadeh marries Juliette al-Mir.

June, release of party leaders from jail.

June, Allied invasion of the Levant.

August, Saadeh obtains residency permit in

Argentina.

August, the Brazilian government suspends the publication of all foreign language newspapers in Brazil including Souria al-Jadida

1942

August 15, the first article of the series 'Intellectual struggle in Syrian literature' appears in the 50th issue of al-Zawbaah.

1944

April, SSNP given permission from the government to operate under the name The Nationalist Party.

1946

Reestablishment of contact between Saadeh and the SSNP leadership in Syria.

1947

January 18, Saadeh leaves Argentina and arrives in Sao Paulo, Brazil, using a temporary French passport. In Sao Paulo, he obtains a Lebanese passport.

February 15, Saadeh leaves Brazil to Portugal.

February 18, Saadeh arrives in Cairo-

March 2, Saadeh returns and lands in Beirut where he is met by the Party constituency.

March 4, Saadeh addresses a letter to the Chief of Police regarding the allegations of subversion entertained by the Lebanese government.

March 6, Saadeh addresses a public statement to the people in Lebanon refuting the arguments of the Lebanese government as to the issuance of a warrant for his arrest.

May 25, elections in Lebanon.

October 9, retraction of the arrest warrant.

November 2, Saadeh had called for a general meeting of the SSNP constituency and their supporters in Beirut on the 'anniversary' of the Balfour declaration. The Lebanese government, however, prohibited the gathering and the potential for a violent confrontation was raised, so Saadeh called off the meeting and substituted a public statement in which he reviewed the course of the Palestinian question and the position of the SSNP.

November 29, General Assembly of the United Nations votes the partition of Palestine.

1948

January 7, first of ten lectures in the Party's cultural club.

March 1, the first issue of al-Nizam al-Jadid (The New Order) is published in Beirut.

May 14, proclamation of the State of Israel.

1949

March 31, General Husni Zaeem overthrows the civilian government of the Syrian Republic in Damascus.

June 9, Jummayzeh incident.

July 4, the First Social Nationalist Revolution.

July 8, Saadeh is executed.

July 22, six SSNP members are executed.

August 14, Overthrow of Husni Zaeem.