High Commissioner of the Levant in the context of "Free France"

Maxime Weygand (French pronunciation: [vɛɡɑ̃]; 21 January 1867 – 28 January 1965) was a French military commander in World War I and World War II, as well as a high ranking member of the Vichy regime.

Born in Belgium, Weygand was raised in France and educated at the Saint-Cyr military academy in Paris. After graduating in 1887, he went on to become an instructor at the Saumur Cavalry School. During World War I, Weygand served as a staff officer to General (later Marshal) Ferdinand Foch. He then served as an advisor to Poland in the Polish–Soviet War and later High Commissioner of the Levant. In 1931, Weygand was appointed Chief of Staff of the French Army, a position he served until his retirement in 1935 at the age of 68.

The State of Aleppo (French: État d'Alep; Arabic: دولة حلب Dawlat Ḥalab) was one of the six states that were established by the French High Commissioner of the Levant, General Henri Gouraud, in the French Mandate of Syria which followed the San Remo conference and the collapse of King Faisal I's short-lived Arab monarchy in Syria.

The other states were the State of Damascus (1920), the Alawite State (1920), the State of Jabal Druze (1921), the Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921), as well as the State of Greater Lebanon (1920), which later became the modern country of Lebanon.

Henri Gouraud (17 November 1867 - 16 September 1946) was a French army general. He played a central role in the colonization of French Africa and the Levant. During World War I, he fought in major battles such as those of the Argonne, the Dardanelles, and Champagne. An important figure in the aftermath of the Ottoman Empire, he served as High Commissioner of the French Republic in the Levant from 1919 to 1922, during which he led military campaigns in Cilicia and Syria.

Affiliated with the colonial party, Gouraud was an active colonizer, influenced by figures such as Joseph Gallieni and Hubert Lyautey. His name remains closely associated with the conquest of Sudan, Mauritania, Chad, and Morocco, and his arrest of Samory Touré in September 1898 marked a turning point in the French colonization of West Africa. This act brought him to prominence at a time when France sought to overcome the humiliation of the Fashoda Incident.

Henry de Jouvenel des Ursins (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʁi də ʒuvnɛl dez‿yʁsɛ̃]; 5 April 1876 – 5 October 1935) was a French journalist and statesman. He was the French High Commissioner in Syria and Lebanon from 23 December 1925 until 23 June 1926.