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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Lebanon
Index
On September 3, 1840, Bashir III was appointed amir of
Mount Lebanon (see Glossary)
by the Ottoman sultan. Geographically, Mount
Lebanon represents the central part of present-day Lebanon, which
historically has had a Christian majority. Greater Lebanon, on the
other hand, created at the expense of Greater Syria, was formally
constituted under the League of Nations mandate granted to France
in 1920 and includes the Biqa Valley, Beirut, southern Lebanon (up
to the border with Palestine/Israel), and northern Lebanon (up to
the border with Syria). In practice, the terms Lebanon and
Mount Lebanon tend to be used interchangeably by historians
until the formal establishment of the Mandate.
Bitter conflicts between Christians and Druzes, which had been
simmering under Ibrahim Pasha's rule, resurfaced under the new
amir. Hence, the sultan deposed Bashir III on January 13, 1842, and
appointed Umar Pasha as governor of Mount Lebanon. This
appointment, however, created more problems than it solved.
Representatives of the European powers proposed to the sultan that
Lebanon be partitioned into Christian and Druze sections. On
December 7, 1842, the sultan adopted the proposal and asked Assad
Pasha, the governor (wali) of Beirut, to divide the region,
then known as Mount Lebanon, into two districts: a northern
district under a Christian deputy governor and a southern district
under a Druze deputy governor. this arrangement came to be known as
the Double Qaimaqamate. Both officials were to be responsible to
the governor of Sidon, who resided in Beirut. The Beirut-Damascus
highway was the dividing line between the two districts.
This partition of Lebanon proved to be a mistake. Animosities
between the religious sects increased, nurtured by outside powers.
The French, for example, supported the Christians, while the
British supported the Druzes, and the Ottomans fomented strife to
increase their control. Not surprisingly, these tensions led to
conflict between Christians and Druzes as early as May 1845.
Consequently, the European powers requested that the Ottoman sultan
establish order in Lebanon, and he attempted to do so by
establishing a majlis (council) in each of the districts.
Each majlis was composed of members who represented the
different religious communities and was intended to assist the
deputy governor.
This system failed to keep order when the peasants of Kasrawan,
overburdened by heavy taxes, rebelled against the feudal practices
that prevailed in Mount Lebanon. In 1858 Tanyus Shahin, a Maronite
peasant leader, demanded that the feudal class abolish its
privileges. When this demand was refused, the poor peasants
revolted against the shaykhs of Mount Lebanon, pillaging the
shaykhs' land and burning their homes.
Foreign interests in Lebanon transformed these basically
sociopolitical struggles into bitter religious conflicts,
culminating in the 1860 massacre of about 10,000 Maronites, as well
as Greek Catholics and Greek Orthodox, by the Druzes. These events
offered France the opportunity to intervene; in an attempt to
forestall French intervention, the Ottoman government stepped in to
restore order.
On October 5, 1860, an international commission composed of
France, Britain, Austria, Prussia, and the Ottoman Empire met to
investigate the causes of the events of 1860 and to recommend a new
administrative and judicial system for Lebanon that would prevent
the recurrence of such events. The commission members agreed that
the partition of Mount Lebanon in 1842 between Druzes and
Christians had been responsible for the massacre. Hence, in the
Statue of 1861 Mount Lebanon was separated from Syria and reunited
under a non-Lebanese Christian mutasarrif (governor)
appointed by the Ottoman sultan, with the approval of the European
powers. The mutasarrif was to be assisted by an
administrative council of twelve members from the various religious
communities in Lebanon.
Direct Ottoman rule of Lebanon remained in effect until the end
of World War I. This period was generally characterized by a
laissez-faire policy and corruption. However, a number of
governors, such as Daud Pasha and Naum Pasha, ruled the country
efficiently and conscientiously.
Restricted mainly to the mountains by the mutasarrifiyah
(district governed by a mutasarrif) arrangement and unable
make a living, many Lebanese Christians emigrated to Egypt and
other parts of Africa and to North America, South America, and East
Asia. Remittances from these Lebanese emigrants send to their
relatives in Lebanon has continued to supplement the Lebanese
economy to this day.
In addition to being a center of commercial and religious
activity, Lebanon became an intellectual center in the second half
of the nineteenth century. Foreign missionaries established schools
throughout the country, with Beirut as the center of this
renaissance. The American University of Beirut was founded in 1866,
followed by the French St. Joseph's University in 1875
(see Education
, ch. 2). An intellectual guild that was formed at the
same time gave new life to Arabic literature, which had stagnated
under the Ottoman Empire. This new intellectual era was also marked
by the appearance of numerous publications and by a highly prolific
press.
The period was also marked by increased political activity. The
harsh rule of Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) prompted the Arab
nationalists, both Christians and Muslims, in Beirut and Damascus
to organize into clandestine political groups and parties. The
Lebanese, however, had difficulties in deciding the best political
course to advocate. Many Lebanese Christians were apprehensive of
Turkish pan-Islamic policies, fearing a repetition of the 1860
massacres. Some, especially the Maronites, began to contemplate
secession rather than the reform of the Ottoman Empire. Others,
particularly the Greek Orthodox, advocated an independent Syria
with Lebanon as a separate province within it, so as to avoid
Maronite rule. A number of Lebanese Muslims, on the other hand,
sought not to liberalize the Ottoman regime but to maintain it, as
Sunni (see Glossary)
Muslims particularly liked to be identified
with the caliphate. The Shias and Druzes, however, fearing minority
status in a Turkish state, tended to favor an independent Lebanon
or a continuation of the status quo.
Originally the Arab reformist groups hoped their nationalist
aims would be supported by the Young Turks, who had staged a
revolution in 1908-1909. Unfortunately, after seizing power, the
Young Turks became increasingly repressive and nationalistic. They
abandoned many of their liberal policies because of domestic
opposition and Turkey's engagement in foreign wars between 1911 and
1913. Thus, the Arab nationalists could not count on the support of
the Young Turks and instead were faced with opposition by the
Turkish government.
Data as of December 1987
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