ABSTRACT
As surveyed above, Lebanon’s independence from France came over a period of time and through a series of troublesome events. From the Allied proclamation of June 1941, the arrest and release of the government in November 1943, and the protracted diplomacy that rid the country of French forces in 1946, the Lebanese demonstrated surprising talents in pressing their case before the world. They demonstrated both a degree of tenacity and an ability to finesse their way through the many problems they encountered. According to Walter L.Browne, Lebanon’s success in achieving independence “was a political miracle.” 1 Yet in the wonderful acts of winning independence—the strikes and protests, the intercommunal solidarity, the careful diplomacy—the effort to determine what was to be independent and how it was to be organized was lost. It was easier to oppose the French than to establish Lebanon.
