A History of Modern Lebanon

Fawwaz Traboulsi

Description

This is the first history of Lebanon from the Ottoman Empire to the modern period. Based on previously inaccessible archives, it is a fascinating account of one of the world's most fabled countries.



Starting with the formation of Ottoman Lebanon in the 16th century, Traboulsi covers the growth of Beirut as a capital for trade and culture through the 19th century, it's independence and experiences as a republic, before moving onward to Lebanon's development in the late 20th century and the conflicts that led up to the major wars in the 1970s and 1980s and beyond.



This is a stunning history of Lebanon over five centuries, bringing to life its politics, its people and the crucial role that it has always played in world affairs.

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Chronology

Glossary

Section One: Ottoman Lebanon

1. The Emirate of Mount Lebanon (1523--1842)

2. The Bloody Death of the Muqata`ji System (1842--1861)

3. Grandeur and Misery of the Mutasarrifiya (1861--1915)

4. Beirut, Capital of Trade and Culture (1820--1918)

Section Two: State and Society

5. Dialectics of Attachment and Detachment (1915--1920)

6. From Mandate to Independence (1920--1943)

7. The Merchant Republic (1943--1952)

8. The Pro-Western Authoritarianism of Kamil Chamoun (1952--1958)

9. Shihabism and the Difficult Autonomy of the State (1958--1970)

10. The Pre-War Crises (1968--1975)

Section Three: the Wars of Lebanon

11. Reform by Arms (1975--1976)

12. The Longest Coup d’Etat (1977--1982)

13. The War Order (1983--1990)

14. Ambiguities and Contradictions of the Taif Agreement

Bibliography

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Middle Est
• Histoire
• History of the Middle East
• Lebanese Civil War
• Ottoman Empire
• Lebanon
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 14 juin 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849647281
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

A HISTORY OF MODERN LEBaNON

A History of Modern LebAnon

sEcOND eDITION

Fawwaz Traboulsi

fIRST puBlIShED 2007 sEcOND EDITION puBlIShED 2012 BY PluTO PRESS 345 ARchwaY rOaD, LONDON n6 5AA

www.pluTOBOOkS.cOm

dISTRIBuTED IN ThE UNITED sTaTES OF AmERIca ExcluSIvElY BY PalgRavE MacmIllaN, a DIvISION OF sT. MaRTIN’S PRESS LLC, 175 fIFTh AvENuE, nEw yORk, ny 10010

COpYRIghT © fawwaz tRaBOulSI 2007, 2012

thE RIghT OF fawwaz tRaBOulSI TO BE IDENTIED aS ThE auThOR OF ThIS wORk haS BEEN aSSERTED BY hIm IN accORDaNcE wITh ThE COpYRIghT, dESIgNS aND PaTENTS AcT 1988.

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978 0 7453 3274 1

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LIBRaRY OF CONgRESS CaTalOgINg IN PuBlIcaTION daTa applIED FOR

thIS BOOk IS pRINTED ON papER SuITaBlE FOR REcYclINg aND maDE FROm FullY maNagED aND SuSTaINED FOREST SOuRcES. LOggINg, pulpINg aND maNuFacTuRINg pROcESSES aRE ExpEcTED TO cONFORm TO ThE ENvIRONmENTal STaNDaRDS OF ThE cOuNTRY OF ORIgIN.

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dESIgNED aND pRODucED FOR PluTO PRESS BY ChaSE PuBlIShINg sERvIcES LTD tYpESET FROm DISk BY sTaNFORD dtP sERvIcES, nORThampTON, eNglaND sImulTaNEOuSlY pRINTED DIgITallY BY CPi ANTONY rOwE, ChIppENham, UK aND eDwaRDS bROS IN ThE UNITED sTaTES OF AmERIca

CONTENTS

List of Maps Preface Acknowledgements

vi vii x

PART I: OTTOMAN LEBANON  1 The Emirate of Mount Lebanon (1523–1842) 3  2 The Bloody Death of theMuqata`ji24System (1842–1861)  3 Grandeur and Misery of theMutasarrifiya(1861–1915) 41  4 Beirut, Capital of Trade and Culture (1820–1918) 52

PART II: STATE AND SOCIETY  5 Greater Lebanon: The Dialectics of Attachment and Detachment (1915–1920)  6 From Mandate to Independence (1920–1943)  7 The Merchant Republic (1943–1952)  8 The ProWestern Authoritarianism of Kamil Sham`un (1952–1958)  9 Shihabism and the Difficult Autonomy of the State (1958–1970) 10 From Social Crisis to Civil War (1968–1975)

75 88 110

129

139 157

PART III: THE WARS OF LEBANON 11 Reform by Arms (1975–1976) 193 12 The LongestCoup d’état(1977–1982) 211 13 The War Order (1983–1990) 226 14 Ambiguities and Contradictions of the Ta’if Agreement 246

Chronology Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

253 261 263 281 291

LIST OF MapS

1. Modern Lebanon 2. TheMutasarrifiya 3. Thewilayetof Beirut 4. Greater Lebanon in the partition of Syria, 1920 5. Beirut in the civil war, 1975–76 6. Sectarian representation of parliamentary seats since Ta’if

vI

xi 43 53 89 194

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PREFacE

An updated history of modern Lebanon is long overdue, as the last such attempt dates from the mid1960s. Much has happened since and a lot of new historical material uncovered and researched. The last civil war (1975–90) was the occasion for a wealth of intellectual production on Lebanon in a variety of fields, some of which are remarkable pathbreaking works. Nevertheless, the modern history of Lebanon is still full of serious gaps, especially concerning the postIndependence period. On the other hand, researchers have extensively drawn upon European government archives, leaving important primary sources untapped. The Ottoman archives, for one, have recently been organised and made accessible to the public. Unfortunately, the results of most of the research on this vast stock are not yet available for use. Other, more recent, untapped primary sources have been strangely ignored, such the US State Department Archives. Nevertheless, a number of secondary sources produced in Arabic, French and English have made precious contributions to the study of different periods of Lebanese history and various aspects of Lebanese life. I am referring here to the works of Àbd alRahim Abu Husayn, Albert Hourani, Engin Akarli, Leila Fawaz, Irene Gendzier, Michael Johnson, Kamal Salibi, Meir Zamir, Carolyn Gates, Theodor Hanf, George Corm, Wajih Kawtharani, Salim Nasr, Ahmad Beydoun, Samir Kassir, Marwan Buheiry, Mas`ud Dhahir, Waddah Sharara, Eyal Zisser, and others. Their contributions have enriched the present volume in many ways. Two distinctive features have had a significant impact on the shaping of modern Lebanon: its sizeable Christian population, on the one hand, and the country’s long exposure to the West, on the other. Their combined effect largely accounts for the main themes around which Lebanon’s modern history is articulated: (1) a political system based on the institutionalisation of religious sects (‘sectarianism’); (2) an extroverted liberal economic system based on the service sector; and (3) a problematic relationship with its regional setting. Though my approach to the history of Lebanon will be mainly chronological, events and developments will be related and analysed in the light of these three themes.

vII

vIII History of Modern LebAnon A

The relationship between external and internal factors acquires crucial importance in a country with Lebanon’s size and exposure. As many writings have tended to emphasise external factors and external interpretations of its historical events, the present work would emphasise the oftenneglected and obscured internal factors. Writings on Lebanon, and perceptions of Lebanon, have often sacrificed economic and social history in favour of an exclusively political perspective. In order to avoid this political fixation and bring out the underlying economic and social factors that have also shaped Lebanon’s development, a political economy approach will be employed here in order to contribute to a more comprehensive historiography. Religious and identitarian discourses greatly colour writings on Lebanon. The reduction of the identity of the Lebanese to one unique form of identity – their sectarian affiliation – is too simplistic and reductionist an approach to an extremely complex situation. Politicised religious sects would be treated as historical products, rather than ahistorical essences rooted in religious differences or as mere political entities. Sects in Lebanon are a perfect example of the way precapitalist formations are recycled to play new roles in a peripheral capitalist economy. They constitute multifunctional forms of identification and solidarity that came to permeate all aspects of Lebanon’s life with a specific mode of articulation between the struggle for power, on the one hand, and socioeconomic structures and interests, on the other. Two major functions of sects are often neglected: first, their role as enlarged clientelist networks designed to resist the inequalities of the market, and compete for its benefits and for the appropriation of social wealth and services of the state; second, their longstanding habit of enlisting outside help in their struggle for power or for sheer survival. This book will address both these roles in the context of Lebanon. State–society relations in Lebanon have long been strained due to the combined effects of extremelaissezfairepolicies and the extensive political, legal and, often, military, autonomy enjoyed by Lebanon’s sects. Hence the resilience of the question of statebuilding, which has acquired a large bearing upon Lebanon’s national unity, its social cohesion, even upon the country’s very existence. Finally, culture plays a major role in Lebanese life. The different approaches to the creation of Lebanon, perceptions of its role in the region as well as the representation and justification of its economic, social and political systems and the country’s role as a cultural

PrefACe Ix

producer, provider and intermediary for the Arab region will be given the importance they deserve throughout the work. This book, addressed to both the general and the specialist reader, hopes to weave together the disparate and yet interrelated facets of Lebanese society and state in order to offer a comprehensive, insightful and nuanced look at the modern history of this complex country.