1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus

The **1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus** (also called the **1860 Syrian Civil War**) was a civil conflict in Mount Lebanon during Ottoman rule in 1860–1861, fought mainly between the local Druze and Christians. 

The Druze are a religious group that incorporate many beliefs from different religions, there are Druze communities across the world, but large numbers are found in Israel, Lebanon and Syria. 

The violence was at the beginning of the conflict targeted at the Maronites, but other Christian groups were targeted as well, such as members of the Greek orthodox church in Damascus. Many Christian villages were destroyed in this war, along with their churches and monasteries. People were forced to abandon their homes and villages and became refugees. Also many people were killed.

## Historical background 
There has been tensions and periods of conflict between the Druzes and Maronites in Mount Lebanon, even before the civil war in 1860 started. 

The region in Mount Lebanon was divided in a Christian division and a Druze division, with each having their own governor. This all happened under Ottoman rule. The friction started to grow between the two groups, partly because of the involvement of outside powers. The British supported the Druzes and the French supported the Christians, while the Ottomans wanted to maintain its power all the way.

### Peasant uprising in 1859 
The motivation for the Maronite peasant uprising was driven by economic factors and had a class-related struggle for equality.

The publication of *Hatt-i humayun* caused a reaction among Maronite peasants in Keserwan. It highlighted the social inequality and their low status: along with the daily abuse they endured they got inspired to demand for a stop on their feudal duties. Tanyus Shahin, a Maronite peasant leader, demanded that the feudal class would abolish its privileges. The feudal class refused. This started a revolutionary wave of Lebanese peasants preparing for an armed struggle against the Druzes. As a reaction, Druzes started to arm themselves too. At the end of June 1860, there were an estimated 80,000 people on the run for the violence in Mount Lebanon, many of them went to Damascus.

### Damascus 
The war started to spread from Mount Lebanon and Damascus got involved. Many people who lived in Damascus were not directly involved in the war at first, but the tensions rose in the city because of the many Christian refugees that had fled to Damascus. Napoleon Bonaparte had the perfect opportunity to gain Syria as a territory, while also claiming to save the Christians from the violence that they had to endure.

The Ottomans did not want France to intervene because they were afraid that it would enlarge French power in the Ottoman region. The Ottomans negotiated the partition of Mount Lebanon between Christians and Druze which led to division between sects and created tensions. As a reaction to the coming of French troops they send Fuad Pasha to Damascus, with the intention to end the conflict before the French had arrived. When this agreement came to an end, Bonaparte tried to extend the stay of his troops, but got threatened by England and Austria with war. In July 1861 the French troops left and Bonaparte’s plan to gain Syria as a territory failed. 

## References