Spillover The Alawite revolt (also called the Shaykh Saleh al-Ali Revolt) was a rebellion, led by Shaykh Saleh al-Ali against the French authorities of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration and later as part of the Franco-Syrian War against the newly established French Mandate of Syria, primarily in the coastal Jabal Ansariyah mountain range.

The revolt was one of the first acts of armed resistance against the French forces in Syria, and its leader, Shaykh Saleh, declared his allegiance to the provisional Arab government in Damascus.

The Latakian administration declared its allegiance to the Hashemite leader of the Sharifian army, Emir Faisal, who established a provisional government based in Damascus.

[3] According to historian Dick Douwes, the conflict in al-Qadmus "cannot readily be attributed to class or sectarian factors" due to the "clannish nature of local politics" in the region.

[4] The conflict began when a new set of leaders in the vicinity of al-Qadmus emerged in the aftermath of the Ottoman withdrawal and challenged the traditional authority of the town's Ismaili emirs.

[5] French representatives, who Douwes described as "ill-informed" about politics in the area,[5] attempted to negotiate with the Alawite chiefs involved in the conflict, including Shaykh Saleh al-Ali.

[5] Shaykh Saleh was determined to prevent foreign interference in the affairs of Jabal Ansariyah and saw the Arab government in Damascus as much less of a threat to his authority than the French.

[5] These were contributing factors to Shaykh Saleh's declaration of allegiance to Emir Faisal and the announcement of solidarity with the growing Arab nationalist movement.

Shaykh Saleh called the meeting in response to news that French military forces were occupying the Syrian coast and were moving to assert their control over the mountains.

[6] The result prompted the British general Edmund Allenby to intervene by requesting Shaykh Saleh cease hostilities and retreat from al-Shaykh Badr.

[6] With the assistance of the Committee of National Defense units from Hama and Homs, Shaykh Saleh subsequently opened a military camp in al-Qadmus to train recruits.

[3] The Dandashi-led revolt in Talkalakh was backed by the Committee of National Defense units from Homs and Tripoli and armed volunteers from Damascus led by Druze leader Sultan al-Atrash.

Shaykh Saleh also received material military support from the Haroun and Shraytih families, which were the two most prominent Sunni Muslim clans of Latakia, and their militias, in addition to similar aid from Faisal's government and Turkish irregulars from southern Anatolia.

[9] The balance of power began to shift in favor of the French when they conquered Damascus and brought an end to the Arab Kingdom of Syria, a day after defeating al-'Azma's makeshift army at the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920.

[7] Despite the setback of losing the Arab government as a source of support, arms and funds, which hindered the progress of the revolt, Shaykh Saleh's rebellion received a boost from the opening of a major front in the Aleppo countryside northeast of Jabal Ansariyah.

Meanwhile, a French force consisting of three columns was assembled and surrounded Shaykh Saleh's positions from Latakia and Baniyas in the west and Hama in the east.

[10] A French court-martial in Latakia sentenced Shaykh Saleh to death in absentia,[12] and offered a reward of 100,000 francs for information on his whereabouts, but the latter effort did not succeed.