ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the modern political origins of Lebanese political sectarianism, dating back to the insurrection of Mount Lebanon in 1841.A chronological account of European involvement and the development of Lebanon being partitioned into two administrative areas between the Maronite Christians and Druze is given. The evolution of the first constitutional arrangement – the Organic Laws of Lebanon (Règlement Organique du Liban) – is discussed, illustrating the early political institutionalization of sectarian division. Different periods in the development of the region are discussed, with reference to the period of modernization and prosperity (1861-1914), the League of Nations Mandate (1922-1943), and the nature of the Lebanese sectarian demography under the Mandate.
