The Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party (, ''Al-Ḥizb al-shuyū'ī al-sūrī al-lubnānī'';

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Parti communiste de la Syrie et du Liban'') was a communist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, operating in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and founded in 1924 by the Lebanese Egyptian Fu'ad al-Shimali, the Lebanese

Yusuf Yazbek Yusuf Yazbek (1901–1982) was a Lebanese journalist and politician who cofounded the Lebanese People's Party which was the forerunner of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party. He also involved in the establishment of the Syrian–Lebanese Commun ...

and the Armenian

Artin Madoyan Artin Madoyan () (born 10 April 1904 in Adana) was a Lebanese-Armenian communist politician. He was the most prominent Armenian leader of the Lebanese Communist Party. He was seen as the 'right hand' of Syrian communist leader Khalid Bakdash. Yout ...

.Claude Palazzoli, La Syrie - Le rêve et la rupture, Paris, Le Sycomore, 1977 Its general secretary was

Khalid Bakdash Khalid Bakdash (occasionally spelled Khalid Bagdash or Khaled Bekdache, ) (1912 – July 15, 1995) was a Syrian-Kurdish politician who was the founder of the Syrian Communist Party (SCP) and lead it from 1936 until his death in 1995. In 1954, Bakd ...

. It was the second communist party to be formed in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, after the

Communist Party of Palestine The Communist Party of Palestine () was a communist party in Palestine 1922-1923. It was formed through a split in the Poale Zion which led to the formation of the Jewish Communist Party and another faction forming the Palestinian Communist Pa ...

, but it was the first to be largely

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

, as the Palestinian party initially drew largely from the Jewish community. In its earliest years, the party supported the Syrian Revolt of 1925, but was quickly repressed by the forces of General

Maurice Sarrail Maurice Paul Emmanuel Sarrail (6 April 1856 – 23 March 1929) was a French general of the First World War. Sarrail's openly socialist political connections made him a rarity amongst the Catholics, conservatives and monarchists who dominated the ...

. Their newspapers were closed down and party leaders remained imprisoned until an amnesty law secured their release in 1928.They supported the rebel force led by

Sultan al-Atrash Sultan al-Atrash (; 5 March 1891 – 26 March 1982) was a Syrian nationalist revolutionary who led the Great Syrian Revolt against the French colonial administration in Syria. One of the most influential figures in Syrian and Druze history, he ...

. The party was represented at the 6th Congress of the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

in 1928 by Fu'ad al-Shimali. It was also in 1928 that the party, despite operating in what is now both Syria and Lebanon, adopted the name "Communist Party of Syria (''Al-Ḥizb al-shuyū'ī al-sūrī''), reflecting its commitment to Syrian unity and rejection of the division of the historic region under colonial mandates. However, it later reverted to its original name. Under the

French Mandate The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (; , also referred to as the Levant States; 1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning the territori ...

, it was an underground organization, then legalized in 1936–1939 by the French ''

Front Populaire The Popular Front (, ) was an alliance of French Left, left-wing movements in France, including the French Communist Party (PCF), the socialist French Section of the Workers' International, SFIO and the Radical Party (France), Radical-Socialist ...

'' government, and again in 1941. The party took a new option of collaboration with the nationalist movement and playing down its socialist themes in 1936, in accordance with the

7th World Congress of the Comintern The Seventh World Congress of the Communist International (Comintern) was a multinational conference held in Moscow from July 25 through August 20, 1935 by delegated representatives of ruling and non-ruling communist parties from around the worl ...

in 1935. Later, the party was divided into the

Syrian Communist Party The Syrian Communist Party () was a political party in Syria founded in 1944 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party, which later split into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party. In 1972, it became a memb ...

and the

Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP; , transliterated: ) is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1943 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, but the divi ...

, but the decision, taken at the end of 1943, was only implemented in 1964. In between, common central committee and political bureau were maintained.

References

Sources

* Comintern sections Communist parties in Syria Defunct political parties in Syria Defunct political parties in Lebanon Defunct communist parties Communist parties in Lebanon Lebanese Communist Party Transnational political parties Political parties established in 1924 Political parties disestablished in 1964 {{Syria-party-stub