The process of political radicalization in Syria was initiated during the era of the French mandate, the legacy of which was almost a guarantee of Syria's political instability. Discuss

Mandate system is a system in which the governing country acts as a trustee until the inhabitant country would be able to stand up on their own. At that time mandate would be terminated and an independent state would be born.
As part of Ottoman empire Syria did not exist as an entity and was more commonly referred to as “Greater Syria,” “Geographical Syria,” or “Natural Syria,” which was actually comprised of Jordan, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, and modern day Syria. At San Remo conference (1920) post WW-I, a resolution was passed through which Great Britain and France agreed to recognize the provisional independence of Syria and Mesopotamia, while claiming mandates for their administration.
However, to take full control over Syria , France relied on a divide and rule strategy to undermine nationalism by separating people along sectarian and religious line. This strategy involved dividing Syria into segments to block any chance at an overriding sense of nationalism. Hence, minority consciousness, reinforced by a combination of geography, religious differences, communal segregation and regional separatism, had a damaging impact on Syrian political life even long after the mandate system. Hence Political upheaval and instability were the dominant political feature of Syria until Assads came to power.

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