The new Popular Front-led French government then agreed to recognize the National Bloc as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people and invited Hashim al-Atassi to independence negotiations in Paris.

The resulting treaty called for immediate recognition of Syrian independence as a sovereign republic, with full emancipation granted gradually over a 25–year period.

The emerging threat of Adolf Hitler induced a fear of being outflanked by Nazi Germany if France relinquished its colonies in the Middle East.

That, coupled with lingering imperialist inclinations in some levels of the French government, led France to reconsider its promises and refuse to ratify the treaty.

Riots again broke out, Atassi resigned, and Syrian independence was deferred until after World War II, when the last French troops evacuated in 1946.