Lebanon

**The State of Lebanon** is a small country centered in the historic Syrian Levant region in West Asia. It borders Syria to the east and Israel to the south.

Since achieving independence nearly ten years prior, Lebanon is an unstable and fractured country, arguably kept alive only by Italian support. Lebanon is currently at a crossroads, as they're quite dependent on the use of Italy for diplomatic/military protection as well as economic aid, while the threat of war looms high as Syria has remained vengeful over the land they lost years back. Officially in Syria, Lebanon is a "rebellious province", while due to Israel being an Italian ally, Lebanon is unable to press their claim on the occupied city of Tyre, now stripped of its Arab influence.

**WIP**

# History

## Lebanon in the Ottoman Empire and the Ottoman Revolution

In the year 1516, the small province of Mount Lebanon was annexed into the Ottoman Empire, then being under the rule of the Mamluk Sultanate, and for almost 400 years, Lebanon would be under Ottoman Rule. Lebanon, despite being a small province was rich in cultural and ethnic diversity, but not everything was peaceful under Constantinople. Sectarian violence plagued the province, and after violence broke out in 1860 involving the massacre of over 11,000 people, Lebanon would be turned into a Mutasarrifate. Throughout the years, especially under the rule of Bashir II, much of Lebanon’s economy was altered and changed as it grew closer and closer to the French.

When the year 1893 passed, and rumors over increasing violence in Eastern Anatolia reached Beirut, it was mostly met with shrugs and apathy. Most people at the time did not believe that the ethnic and religious conflict brewing in far away provinces would affect Lebanon, but as more people died, and especially as Operation Ararat became a failure, leading to many towns and villages to fall under Armenian occupation, it raised some concerns back in the mountainous province, and the situation would rapidly escalate. As rebellions broke out in the mountains of Hakkari, in Salonica, Palestine and the Hejaz, the people in Lebanon began wondering if the Empire might fall after all.

By this point, the Lebanese economy as with all other Ottoman provinces were in a free fall, and before European powers intervened in the war many groups and militias formed hastily in order to protect their people, assets, and ensure that Lebanon does not fall into the hands of the enemy. In 1895, the once peaceful territory of Lebanon saw the first round of violence as militias clashed in the street. Many wanted the Ottoman Empire gone once and for all, but none of these organizations could agree on much else. Lebanon was de-facto in a state of civil war by March, with militia forces scrambling to take over Beirut and secure the province.

As a result, Beirut for the next few weeks became a war zone, filled with different cliques vying for support, only ending with the sudden declaration of war by France, Britain and Russia against the Empire. With the Ottomans already struggling with the numerous ethnic rebellions breaking out in their provinces, they were unable to stop the British and French from dominating the seas.

After two months of never ending, low-intensity war Beirut was suddenly shelled by the Royal Navy in May as they made various naval invasions in the Levant, and Lebanon was no exception. As the British landed in Gaza Beirut, previously destroyed was finally taken by incoming British troops, who, through force were able to pacify any active resistance in the next few weeks as they expanded and invaded the Ottoman Empire. Peace finally came to Lebanon after ethnic tensions erupted in the Ottoman Revolution, but the fact that the Lebanese were now occupied by a foreign power never sat well with anyone.

## Lebanon as a British Colony

### Rise of nationalism

As the Treaty of Baku was signed and the borders of West Asia were adjusted into partitioning the Ottoman Empire, Lebanon stayed a quiet yet dissatisfied colony, unwilling to trust British authorities especially as anti-colonial sentiments grew nearly immediately after peace prevailed in the region. With the rise of the Pan-Arab movement which was mainly centered in Damascus, Jerusalem and Baghdad, anti-British sentiment had a different effect in Lebanon.

While Pan-Arabism was surely effective in resistance targeting London, Lebanese nationalism instead rose to prominence in the coming years. Many, including Christian Maronites and Sunni Muslims were frustrated by the lack of progress for Lebanon, even in the point of view of colonial development. British Lebanon, unlike Palestine, did not become a hotbed for ethnic tensions despite many believing that it would be. The British in the 1900s, using the same tactic in Palestine, began using the plight of the Lebanese Christians and their mistreatment at the hands of the Ottomans as a bulwark against the mostly Muslim dominated ideas of Pan-Arabism, though it had a menial effect on the populace at best.

The British tactic to pit the Christians (who were hoped to become British allies) against the Muslims did not go to plan. While the British offered Jews amnesty, rights and protections in Palestine as antisemetism grew in the Arab world, any promises and hopes of reform fell through with the Christians, especially the Maronites, who saw little change in the situation as Lebanon was often exploited as an economic colonial possession.

### Economic growth

With Lebanon staying relatively stable despite the unpopularity of their British overlords, many colonial rulers and economists had grand plans for developing Lebanon agriculturally and industrially. Much of Beirut was destroyed in the fighting, and the economic situation wasn’t much better off. Lebanon remained a stagnant colony as Lebanese profits and their agricultural industry was redirected into the hands of London.

Partially developed as a way to mend Lebanese-British ties, economic development started in the colony in around 1903 and remained ongoing until the Cairo War of 1919. Much needed land reform helped spur the population out of poverty, while Beirut’s port became a vital center for Mediterranean trade, something it lost during the Ottoman Revolution. With this new economic activity, many cities started to expand throughout the country, while the once high unemployment rate finally dropped.

While London for years prided itself on turning Lebanon from a “backwater, destroyed country” into a “modern and thriving colony”, many Lebanese had issues with the British-led economic expansion. For one, the land reforms, while effective, enforced new privatization measures which hurt Lebanese peasants, as the measure was unequal across the colony, only furthering the economic divide that existed prior. At the same time, many of the profits Lebanon was now reaping again went to London, and infrastructure was largely left alone and wasn’t touched if it wouldn’t help the Lebanese economy grow. In effect, Lebanon from 1903-1919 arguably became a society divided by economic mismanagement.