Allied forces blockaded the Eastern Mediterranean, as they had done with the German Empire in Europe, in order to strangle the economy with the knowledge that it might lead to a profound impact on civilians in the region. The situation was exacerbated by Jamal Pasha, commander of the Fourth Army of the Ottoman Empire, who barred crops from neighbouring Syria from entering Mount Lebanon. Additionally, a swarm of locusts devoured the remaining crops, creating a famine that led to the deaths of half of the population of the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, a semi-autonomous subdivision of the Ottoman Empire and the precursor of modern-day Lebanon.