ABSTRACT

The area now called Lebanon was, just as neighbouring present-day Syria, until 1918 an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire. After the end of the First World War, France received the protectorate mandate for both territories. At that time, Lebanon comprised 18 religious communities, called confessions. Its mountainous landscape, difficult to access, had always been a centre of attraction for minorities looking for protection, which is why Lebanese society contains groups that form minorities elsewhere in the Arab region, especially Shi’a Muslims and Christians. The census of 1932 showed that Lebanese society was made up of 28 per cent Maronite Christians, 22.4 per cent Sunni Muslims, 19.6 per cent Shi’a Muslims, 9.7 per cent Greek Orthodox, 6.8 per cent Druze (a Muslim sect), 6.8 per cent Armenians and 5.9 per cent Greek Catholics.1 In total, the number of Christians, at 50.4 per cent, slightly outweighed the number of Muslims. Much more important, however, was the fact that the Christians, first and foremost the Maronites, were by far the most politically active group, and looked back on a long-lasting friendship with France. It was for this reason that they lobbied successfully for the separation of Lebanon from Syrian territory, and the establishment of a sovereign, independent state of Lebanon in 1943. As a Christian minority, they feared being overwhelmed in a territory dominated by Sunni Muslims. The political counterpart to the Maronite Christians was the Lebanese Sunni Muslims, marked strongly by pan-Arabism and seeking an Arab state comprising all Arab territories – and hence objecting to an independent Lebanon. However, the other Muslim groups did not side with the Sunnis: Shi’a Muslims, at that time mostly apolitical, and the Druze community could only gain from an independent state where they constituted one group among others rather than being included in a pan-Arab construct that was dominated by Sunni Muslims. It was in this context that the Pacte National came into being in 1943. This oral agreement stipulates that Lebanon shall renounce foreign protection (France or the United States), as feared by the Sunni Muslims, while at the same time a connexion with Syria or a pan-Arab entity was excluded (as feared by the Maronite Christians). Furthermore, it was decided that the President of Lebanon shall always be a Maronite, while the prime minister shall always be a Sunni.