Martyrs' Day (Lebanon and Syria)
Martyrs' Day () is a Syrian and Lebanese national holiday commemorating the Syrian and Lebanese nationalists executed in Damascus and Beirut on 6 May 1916 by Jamal Pasha, also known as 'Al Jazzar' or 'The Butcher', the Ottoman wāli of Greater Syria. They were executed in both the Marjeh Square in Damascus and Burj Square in Beirut. Both plazas have since been renamed Martyrs' Square. History: The rise of nationalism in the beginning of the 20th century. The Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey) ruled over Lebanon and Syria from its conquest in the sixteenth century, year  1516, until the end of World War I in 1918. It was during Ottoman rule that the term "Greater Syria" was coined to designate the approximate area included in present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Turkish nationalism. In the beginning of the 20th century, a new wave of Turkish nationalism started seething in Istanbul. It came to be known as Jön Türkler, from French "Les Jeunes Turcs" (The Young Turks) where for the first time Turks spoke of specific Turkish nationalism against the generalized Islamic Ottoman Empire. The movement resulted in an unlikely union of reform-minded pluralists, Turkish  nationalists, Western-oriented secularists, and indeed anyone who accorded the Sultan political blame for the harried state of the Empire. The movement grew and resulted in the Young Turk Revolution, which began on 3 July 1908 and quickly spread throughout the Empire. Arab nationalism. Inspired by the Young Turk Revolution, Arab delegates and political figures of the Empire started speaking of the Western notion of Arab nationalism () as well. The Arabs' demands were of a reformist nature, limited in general to 'autonomy', 'greater use of Arabic in education', and 'changes in conscription in the Ottoman Empire in peacetime for Arab  conscripts' that allowed local service in the Ottoman army. At this stage Arab nationalism was not yet a mass movement, even in Syria where it was strongest. Many Arabs gave their primary loyalty to their religion or sect, their tribe, or their own particular governments. The ideologies of Ottomanism and Pan-Islamism were strong competitors of Arab nationalism. Yet as the Turkish nationalism grew, discussion of Arab cultural identity and demands for greater autonomy for Greater Syria grew. These demands had been predominantly taken up by Christian Arabs for years but were now joined by some Syrian Muslim Arabs. Various  public or secret societies (the Beirut Reform Society led by Salim Ali Salam, 1912; the Ottoman Party for Administrative Decentralization, 1913; al-Qahtaniyya, 1909; al-Fatat, 1911; and al-Ahd, 1913) were formed to advance demands ranging from autonomy to independence for the Ottoman Arab provinces. Members of some of these groups came together at the request of al-Fatat to form the Arab Congress of 1913. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire had begun. Resultantly, in 1913, intellectuals and politicians from the Arab Mashriq met in Paris at the first Arab Congress where desired reforms were discussed. They produced  a set of demands for greater autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. They again demanded that Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army should not be required to serve in other regions except in time of war. The fall of Arab nationalism. Jamal Pasha. The situation, however, lost momentum and took a blow with the events that unfolded next. In 1914, the Ottoman Empire allied itself with the German Empire and formed the Ottoman–German Alliance. It was this binding alliance that ultimately led the Ottoman Empire to enter the First World War in August 1914 on the side of the Central  Powers (composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria) in battling the Triple Entente or the Allied Forces of Britain, France and Russia later joined by the United States. The outbreak of World War I brought Greater Syria further problems. The Turkish government abolished Lebanon's semi-autonomous status and appointed Jamal Pasha, then minister of the navy, as the commander in chief of the Turkish forces in Greater Syria, with discretionary powers. Known for his harshness, Jamal Pasha was nicknamed "Al Jazzar", or "The Butcher." He militarily occupied Lebanon and indirectly killed a  quarter of its population by starvation. Indeed, in February 1915, frustrated by his unsuccessful attack on the British forces protecting the Suez Canal, Jamal Pasha initiated a blockade of the entire eastern Mediterranean coast to prevent supplies from reaching his enemies. Lebanon suffered more than any other Ottoman province. The blockade resulted in a grave food shortage with swarms of locust invading Lebanon. The result was famine, followed by plague, which killed more than a quarter of the population. French and British support. Because of the growing dissent against Jamal Pasha and the Ottoman Empire, there was a movement on  behalf of the Arab Nationalists within Greater Syria in favor of an alliance with France and Great Britain. Resultantly, the French and the British took advantage of the opportunity to support the Arab Nationalists in order to weaken the Ottoman Empire. The Arab nationalists in Greater Syria, thus, started secretly corresponding with the French Consul in Beirut explicitly asking the Allies for support. The French Consul in accordance with the British authorities promised support, ammunition and future sovereignty to the Arab nationalists, provided they revolt. In the meanwhile, the British authorities were also secretly corresponding with the Sharif of Mecca , Hussein bin Ali. In those correspondences, the British encouraged the Arabs to revolt in the Ottoman Empire, and promised in return the recognition of Arab independence upon the Allies' victory. See Hussein-McMahon Correspondence. French and British betrayal. At the same time, collusion was happening across the borders. A secret agreement was struck between the governments of the United Kingdom and France where they agreed to subdivide the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire (excluding the Arabian peninsula) into areas of future British and French control or influence. This agreement came to be known as the infamous Sykes-Picot Agreement  should the Triple Entente succeed in defeating the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The terms were negotiated by the French diplomat François Georges-Picot and British Sir Mark Sykes. Nothing in the plan precluded rule through an Arab suzerainty in the areas. In a devious scheme, when the French consul had to escape Beirut which was Ottoman territory, it is said that the French purposely left behind evidence of the Arab Nationalists' correspondence with the French Consulate in order for the Turkish authorities to find them. The French Consulate burned all diplomatic papers except the specific letters of the  Arab Nationalists. The purpose is proclaimed to be the premise of the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Should the allies win the war, the Arab nationalists will never let them divide their lands and "rule" over them since the promise was to help them gain autonomy. Execution of Arab nationalists. The Turkish authorities found the evidence of the Arab-French correspondence which incriminated the Arab nationalists as "traitors" to the Ottoman Empire. On May 6, 1916, Jamal Pasha publicly executed simultaneously seven Arabs in Damascus and fourteen in Beirut for alleged anti-Turkish activities. The date, May 6, is commemorated annually in  both countries as Martyrs' Day, and the site in Beirut has come to be known as Martyrs' Square. Nationalists executed in Damascus. The following nationalists were executed in Marjeh Square, which came to be known as Martyrs' Square, in Damascus on May 6, 1916: Nationalists executed in Beirut. The following nationalists were executed in "Sahat al-Burj" or "Place des Canons", which later came to be known as Martyrs' Square, in Beirut on May 6, 1916: The martyrs of May 6, 1916 have been immortalized in Lebanese history textbooks, and historical events leading to their hanging are often compulsively memorized  by school children. Martyrs' Square in Beirut has become an even more pivotal landmark for the Lebanese people as it held the famous 2005 Cedar Revolution following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Consequences of the war. The periphery of the Empire started to splinter under the pressures of local revolutions and Allies' victories. The Ottomans eventually lost the war and the Ottoman Empire was dissolved. The Arabs' were given none of the things that were promised by the Allies. The Sykes-Picot agreement is seen by many as a turning point in Western/Arab relations. It negated  the promises made to Arabs through T. E. Lawrence for a national Arab homeland in the area of Greater Syria, in exchange for their siding with British forces against the Ottoman Empire. The agreement's principal terms were reaffirmed by the inter-Allied San Remo conference of 19–26 April 1920 and the ratification of the resulting League of Nations mandates by the Council of the League of Nations on 24 July 1922. It is impossible to say what directions the proposed Arab Nationalistic reforms of 1913 would have taken if the war, the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the  Balfour Declaration didn't happen. It is clear, however, that the Arabs never gained the freedoms they sought from the Ottomans, or from the Allies. The different form of Arab nationalism that came about after World War II is attributable to other factors such as the decline of colonial influence, rather than the constructive hopes of reforms which debate back in 1913. Current day. Some remains of the old Cinema Opera building (now a Virgin Megastore) and the bronze Martyrs statue are the only features left of the Martyrs' Square. The statue, which was inaugurated on March 6, 1960, is  the work of Italian sculptor Renato Marino Mazzacurati. The statue, riddled with bullet holes, has become a symbol for all that was destroyed during the Lebanese Civil War. The Martyrs' Square is a common location for protests and demonstrations, among the more notable demonstrations were the 2005 Cedar Revolution protests, that led to the expulsion of the Syrian army presence in Lebanon, and 2019–20 Lebanese protests, that is cross-confessional anti-government protests still ongoing and the largest country-wide protests the country has experienced. Commemoration. Traditionally, on this day the presidents of both countries pay their respect by visiting  the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.