In the aftermath of the Clemenceau negotiations in January 1920, violent attacks against French forces occurred sporadically across Syria and effectively the Syrian Congress assembled in March 1920 to declare Faisal the king of Syria, as well as to officially set up the Arab Kingdom of Syria with Hashim al-Atassi as Prime Minister. An independent Arab Kingdom of Syria was proclaimed in Damascus on March 8, 1920, in an apparent dispute with the French over the nature of its rule. This action was immediately repudiated by the British and French and the San Remo Conference was called together by the League of Nations in April 1920 to explicitly establish the mandate of the French over Syria. Shortly, the war of Syrian Arab nationalists with the French became a devastating campaign for the new proclaimed Arab Kingdom of Syria. Several violent incidents in the region initiated by Arab militias, like the Battle of Tel Hai, led to further international support of the French. The League of Nations having given the French Mandate of Syria as planned, the French General Gouraud issued an ultimatum to the Syrian government to disband its troops and submit to French control. Worried about the results of a long bloody fight with the French, King Faisal himself surrendered on July 14, 1920, but his message would not reach the general  and King Faisal's defense minister Yusuf al-'Azma, who ignoring the King, led an army to Maysalun to defend Syrian Arab Kingdom from French advance. The Hashemite government of Damascus submitted reluctantly to the French ultimatum and disbanded its troops.. What happened first, the declaration of Faisal as the king of Syria, or the the declaration of an independent Arab Kingdom of Syria?