For nearly 400 years France held a special status in the Ottoman Empire called the French Protectorate of Jerusalem, which was part of the capitulation system in the empire. The capitulations were unilaterally abolished by Turkey in 1914, at the start of the First World War. Following this, France attempted to restore the protectorate and to gain possession of parts of Palestine; but for all practical purpose the French role in Palestine came to an end in 1918 with the British takeover of Palestine. The last vestiges of the protectorate exercised by France for four centuries over the “Latin” Christians of the former Ottoman Empire were formally abolished by article 28 of the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (, ) is a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923 and signed in the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially resolved the conflict that had initially ...

(1923). The era of the privileged French presence in Palestine and more specifically in Jerusalem had come to an end, and marked France's ultimate diplomatic defeat in the region. However, thanks to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, France continued to enjoy liturgical honors in Mandatory Palestine until 1924, when the honors were abolished.Custodia Terrae Sanctae:
The Question of the Holy Places.
France did not willingly accept the loss of its special status in the Middle East, and continues to take a special interest in the area, especially the French claims in Jerusalem.

History

In 1535, the Ottoman

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

granted Francis I of France, whose kingdom was dubbed the “Elder Daughter of the Church”, the right to protect his subjects residing in the Ottoman Empire. This protection was expanded in 1740 both individually and collectively to cover all the members of the clergy adhering to the Latin rite settled in the Levant, regardless of nationality or institution. These legal privileges were extended by custom to Orthodox Christians, and came to be known as the French Protectorate of Jerusalem. Through what became known as capitulations, France extracted in the 16th and then in the 18th centuries from the weakened Empire individual and religious freedom for French subjects, providing the legal basis of the protectorate system. On 9 September 1914, upon the outbreak of war in Europe, the Ottoman government unilaterally abolished the capitulations system. At the San Remo conference (19-26 April 1920), the

Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British Empire, British administration of the territories of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine and Emirate of Transjordan, Transjordanwhich had been Ottoman Syria, part of the Ottoman ...

was allocated by the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. France sought a continuation of its religious protectorate in Palestine but Italy and Great Britain opposed it. France lost the religious protectorate but, due to the

, continued to enjoy liturgical honors in Mandatory Palestine until 1924, when the honors were abolished. The precise boundaries of all territories, including that of the

British Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

, were left unspecified, to "be determined by the Principal Allied Powers". During that time, the British were in control of Palestine and the France was given control of Syria and Lebanon, and a mandate.Sergio I. Minerbi, ''The Vatican and Zionism: Conflict in the Holy Land, 1895–1925'' ().Catherine Nicault,
The End of the French Religious Protectorate in Jerusalem (1918–1924)
(''Bulletin du Centre de recherché français à Jérusalem'', No. 4, March 1999, pp. 77–92).

References

{{Holy See Mandatory Palestine Properties of the Holy See