A chronology of key events:
1918 October – Arab troops led by Emir Feisal, and supported by British forces, capture Damascus, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule.
1919 – Emir Feisal backs Arab self-rule at the Versailles peace conference, following the defeat of Germany and the Ottoman Empire in World War I.
1920 March – National Congress elected the previous year proclaims Emir Feisal King of Syria from the Taurus mountains of Turkey to the Sinai desert in Egypt.
French control
1920 June – San Remo conference puts Syria-Lebanon under a French mandate and Palestine under British control. King Feisal flees abroad ahead of French occupation forces the following month.
1920-21 – Syria is divided into three autonomous regions by the French, with separate areas for the Alawis on the coast and the Druze in the south. Lebanon is separated off entirely.
Uprising
1925-6 – Nationalist agitation against French rule develops into uprising. French forces bombard Damascus.
1928 – Elections held for a constituent assembly, which drafts a constitution for Syria. French High Commissioner rejects the proposals, sparking nationalist protests.
1936 – France agrees to work towards Syrian independence and dissolves the autonomous regions, but maintains military and economic dominance and keeps Lebanon as a separate state.
1941 – British and Free French troops occupy Syria. General De Gaulle promises to end the French mandate.
1943 – Veteran nationalist Shukri al-Kuwatli is elected first president of Syria, leads the country to full independence three years later.
Read more at the BBC.com.