The Battle of Maysalun (Arabic: معركة ميسلون‎), also called The Battle of Maysalun Pass, took place between Syrian and French forces about 12 miles west of Damascus near the town of Maysalun on July 23, 1920.

An independent Kingdom of Syria was proclaimed in Damascus after an Arab army, which included British colonel T. E. Lawrence, defeated the Ottoman forces in Syria and captured Damascus. However, as a result of negotiations between the western powers at the San Remo conference, and the Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France, the French had set up the republic on the remnants of a former Ottoman Christian-majority autonomous province. In a dispute of French authority, the Hashemite king and Arab sheikhs decided to lead an open revolt against the French.

The French forces advanced out of Beirut, led by General Gouraud. Some Maronite Lebanese reportedly fought on the French side, unwilling to join a Muslim-dominated Kingdom of Syria. Understanding the futility of opposing the French forces, King Faisal submitted to the French and fled to Iraq where he was made ruler of the Kingdom of Iraq by the British. However, Syrian defense minister General Yusuf al-Azmah, who was 36 years old at the time, insisted that Syrians could not allow the French to enter unopposed. He led a small force from Damascus, which consisted of a few hundred regular soldiers from the newly formed army and some hastily-summoned citizen volunteers on what was essentially a suicide mission.

Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, (Arabic: فيصل بن حسين بن علي الهاشمي‎ Fayṣal ibn Ḥusayn; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq (today Iraq) from 23 August 1921 to 1933. He was a member of the Hashemite dynasty.

Faisal encouraged overcoming cleavage between Sunni and Shiite to foster common loyalty and promote pan-Arabism in the goal of creating an Arab state that would include Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Fertile Crescent. While in power, Faisal tried to diversify his administration by including different ethnic and religious groups in offices. He faced great challenges in achieving this because the region was under European, specifically French and British, control and other Arab leaders of the time were hostile to his ideas as they pursued their own political aspirations for power. In addition, Faisal’s attempt at pan-Arab nationalism inevitably isolated certain religious groups.