elected permanent President of the National Bloc. In 1928, he was also elected President of the Constituent Assembly, and charged with laying out Syria's first republican constitution. The assembly was dissolved by the French high commissioner in May 1930 because of its adherence to the 1920 proclamation, and Atassi was imprisoned by the French for several months at Arwad Island. After being freed, he renominated himself for the presidency but lost the first round of elections and dropped out of the second, giving his endorsement to the independent Mohammad Ali al-Abid, who became president in the summer of 1932. In 1928 and 1932, he became a deputy for Homs in Parliament. First President of the Republic Atassi initially supported the Abid government but became disenchanted from the new President when Abid appointed two French stooges, Haqqi al-Azm as Prime Minister and Subhi Barakat as Speaker of Parliament. In 1934, Abid negotiated a treaty with France that promised gradual independence from the mandate but kept the Syrian Mountains under French control. Atassi severely criticized the treaty, arguing that no independence was valid unless it encompassed all of Syria's territory. He called for a 60-day strike to protest Abid's proposed treaty. The Bloc mobilized massive street-wide support for Atassi's call, and most shops and enterprises closed down and riots raged daily, crippling the economy and embarrassing Abid before the international community. In defeat, the French government agreed to recognize the National Bloc leaders as the sole representatives of the Syrian people and invited Hashim al-Atassi for diplomatic talks in Paris. On 22 March 1936, he headed a senior Bloc delegation to France, and, over 6 months, managed to formulate a Franco-Syrian treaty of independence. Atassi's treaty guaranteed emancipation over 25 years, with full incorporation of previously autonomous territories into Greater Syria. In return, Syria pledged to support France in times of war, offer the use of her air space, and the right for France to maintain military bases on Syrian territory. Other political, cultural, and economic attachments were made and Atassi returned to Syria in triumph on 27 September 1936. Hailed as a national hero, he was elected President of the Republic by a majority vote in November 1936, the first head of state of the modern state of Syria. World War II However, by the end of 1938 it became clear that the French government had no intention of ratifying the