View source for Evacuation Day (Syria)

{{Infobox person
| image         = DeirEzZor1946CelebratingIndependence.jpg
| caption       = Residents of Damascus burning French books on the eve of France's independence from Syria on April 17, 1946<ref>{{cite web |title=Syrian History - Residents of Damascus burning French books on the eve of France's independence from Syria on April 17, 1946 |url=http://www.syrianhistory.com/en/photos/2744?search=evacuation+ |website=www.syrianhistory.com |publisher=Haykal Media |access-date=23 April 2024}}</ref>
| holiday_name  = Independence Day<br>{{nobold|عيد الجلاء}}
| official_name = Independence Day
| observedby    = [[Syrians]]
| duration      = 1 day
| frequency     = Annual
| date          = 17 April<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pAy-BQAAQBAJ&pg=PT9 |page=9 |title=Political Performance in Syria: From the Six-Day War to the Syrian Uprising |author=Edward Ziter |publisher=Springer |year=2014|isbn=9781137358981 }}</ref><ref name="AANES2021"/>
| observances   = Parades, flowers
| type          = National
| significance  = Independence of the last French soldier and Syria's proclamation
}}
'''Independence Day'''<ref name="Newsweek20180417">{{cite news |last1=Kwong |first1=Jessica |title=Syrian Independence Day Facts: Syria Celebrates Freedom From France Days After Airstrike |url=https://www.newsweek.com/syrian-independence-day-facts-syria-celebrates-freedom-france-days-after-888257 |work=Newsweek |date=17 April 2018 |language=en |quote=The holiday is referred to as Jalaa Day and translates to Evacuation Day or Clearance Day |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=26 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126134501/https://www.newsweek.com/syrian-independence-day-facts-syria-celebrates-freedom-france-days-after-888257 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=On Independence Day, A Subdued Syrian Capital |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/04/17/177614460/on-independence-day-a-subdued-syrian-capital#:~:text=April%2017%20is%20called%20Jalaa,French%20soldier%20vacating%20Syrian%20soil. |access-date=16 April 2021 |work=NPR |date=17 April 2013 |language=en |quote=April 17 is called Jalaa Day, which translates to Clearance Day, a reference to the last French soldier vacating Syrian soil. |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416121614/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/04/17/177614460/on-independence-day-a-subdued-syrian-capital#:~:text=April%2017%20is%20called%20Jalaa,French%20soldier%20vacating%20Syrian%20soil. |url-status=live }}</ref> is Syria's national day commemorating the evacuation of the last [[Military of France|French soldier]] at the end of the [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|French mandate of Syria]] on 17 April 1946 after Syria's proclamation of full independence on 27 September 1941.

==History==

After [[World War I]], the [[Ottoman Empire]] was [[Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire|divided]] into several new independent states, creating the modern [[Arab world]] and the [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]]. Following the [[Sykes–Picot Agreement]] between France, the United Kingdom, and Russia in 1916, the [[League of Nations]] granted France mandates over present-day Syria and Lebanon in 1923.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25299553|title=Why border lines drawn with a ruler in WW1 still rock the Middle East|author=Tarek Osman|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=13 December 2013|accessdate=17 April 2014|archive-date=2 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802095247/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25299553|url-status=live}}</ref>

France divided the region into six states based in part on the sectarian makeup on the ground in Syria. However, nearly all the Syrian sects were hostile to the French mandate and to the division it created. This was best demonstrated by [[Great Syrian Revolt|the numerous revolts]], including the [[1925 Hama uprising]], that the French encountered in the Syrian states.<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/578856/Syria/29921/The-French-mandate|title=Syria: The French mandate|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|date=11 November 2013|accessdate=17 April 2014|archive-date=13 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213094229/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/578856/Syria/29921/The-French-mandate/|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[1936 Syrian general strike|six-day general strike in the spring of 1936]] paralyzed the country and in part forced the French government to negotiate the [[Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence (1936)|Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence]] with the [[National Bloc (Syria)|National Bloc]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moubayed |first1=Sami M. |title=Steel & Silk: Men and Women who Shaped Syria 1900–2000 |date=2006 |publisher=Cune Press |isbn=978-1-885942-40-1 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sC-xU8QHSooC&q=French+government+agreed+to+recognize+the+National+Bloc+leaders+as+the+sole+representatives+of+the+Syrian+people+1936&pg=PA170 |access-date=16 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref> However, the French did not withdraw right away after the treaty was signed in the autumn of 1936.

With the fall of France in 1940 during [[World War II]], Syria came under the control of the [[Vichy Government]] until the British and [[Free France]] [[Syria–Lebanon Campaign|invaded]] and occupied the country in July 1941. Syria proclaimed its independence in 1941 but it was not until 1 January 1944 that it was recognized as an independent republic. With the advent of the [[Levant Crisis]] in 1945, prompted by a British invasion authorised by Sir [[Winston Churchill]], the French evacuated the last of their troops on 17 April 1946.<ref name="bbc2">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14703995|title=Syria profile|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=19 March 2014|accessdate=17 April 2014|archive-date=18 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418084030/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14703995|url-status=live}}</ref> The French regime had proposed to depart on 18 April, [[Good Friday]] in 1946, but Syrian officials opted for a slightly earlier date to avoid holding ceremonies on the Christian holiday.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jansen |first1=Michael |title=Syria marks 'independence day' to the beat of mortars and the march of security forces |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/syria-marks-independence-day-to-the-beat-of-mortars-and-the-march-of-security-forces-1.1765775 |access-date=16 April 2021 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=18 April 2014 |language=en |quote=April 17th is a day of complications and contradictions. The French colonial regime proposed the 18th, but in 1946, as now, the date fell on Good Friday so the Syrian nationalists decided it should be a day earlier to accommodate Christians.  The holiday commemorates the departure of the last colonial soldier from Damascus. He was an Indian from a British regiment rather than a French trooper serving the sour mandatory power, which had wanted a dependent rather than an independent Syria. |archive-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129092613/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/syria-marks-independence-day-to-the-beat-of-mortars-and-the-march-of-security-forces-1.1765775 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018, with the [[Syrian Civil War]] ongoing, and merely days after the [[Douma chemical attack]] and the [[2018 missile strikes against Syria|retaliatory military strikes carried out by the US, UK, and France]], Independence Day commemorative activities held in [[Umayyad Square]] in Damascus were attended by thousands of people carrying Syrian flags.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tidey |first1=Alice |title=Syria celebrates independence from France, days after Western military strikes |url=https://www.euronews.com/2018/04/17/syria-celebrates-independence-from-france-days-after-western-military-strikes |access-date=17 April 2021 |agency=[[Euronews]] |date=17 April 2018 |language=en |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417164222/https://www.euronews.com/2018/04/17/syria-celebrates-independence-from-france-days-after-western-military-strikes |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of 2021, Independence Day is observed by the [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria]].<ref name="AANES2021">{{cite web |title=AANES declare April 17 an official day-off – ANHA |url=https://www.hawarnews.com/en/haber/aanes-declare-april-17-an-official-day-off-h24073.html |website=www.hawarnews.com |publisher=[[Hawar News Agency]] |access-date=17 April 2021 |language=en |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415082613/https://www.hawarnews.com/en/haber/aanes-declare-april-17-an-official-day-off-h24073.html |url-status=live }}</ref>