Editing History of Lebanon (section)

==League of Nations Mandate (1920–1939)==
{{Main|French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|Greater Lebanon}}
[[Image:French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon map en.svg|thumb|right|[[Greater Lebanon]] (green) in the [[Mandate of Syria]]]]
{{multiple image
|align  = right
|footer = The first map, drawn by the French in 1862, was used as a template for the 1920 borders of [[Greater Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zRwOcE9wJAQC&pg=PA18| title = Inventing Lebanon: Nationalism and the State Under the Mandate, Kais Firro, p18| isbn = 9781860648571| last1 = Firro| first1 = Kais| year = 2003| publisher = Bloomsbury Academic}}</ref> The second map shows the borders of the 1861–1918 [[Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate]], overlaid on a map of modern day Lebanon showing religious groups distribution
|image1 = Carte du Liban d'apres les reconnaissances de la Brigade Topographique du Corps Expeditionnaire de Syrie en 1860-1861.jpg
|caption1 = 1862 map drawn by the French expedition of [[Charles-Marie-Napoléon de Beaufort d'Hautpoul|Beaufort d'Hautpoul]]<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=W3asKDHYERwC&dq=carte+du+liban+d%27apres+les+reconnaissances+de+la+brigade+topographique&pg=PA287| title = The Origins of the Lebanese National Idea: 1840-1920, Carol Hakim, p287| isbn = 9780520273412| last1 = Hakim| first1 = Carol| date = 19 January 2013| publisher = University of California Press}}</ref>
|width1 = 150
|image2 = Lebanon religious groups distribution with Mount Lebanon 1862-1917 borders shown.svg
|caption2 = Black dashed line shows the borders of the 1861–1918 [[Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate]]
|width2 = 153
}}

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after [[World War I]], the [[League of Nations]] mandated the five provinces that make up present-day Lebanon to the direct control of France. Initially the division of the Arabic-speaking areas of the Ottoman Empire were to be divided by the [[Sykes–Picot Agreement]]; however, the final disposition was at the [[San Remo conference]] of 1920, whose determinations on the mandates, their boundaries, purposes and organization was ratified by the League in 1921 and put into effect in 1922.

According to the agreements reached at San Remo, France had its control over what was termed [[Ottoman Syria|Syria]] recognised, the French having taken Damascus in 1920. Like all formerly Ottoman areas, Syria was a [[League of Nations mandate#Class A mandates|Class A Mandate]], deemed to "... have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory." The entire French mandate area was termed "Syria" at the time, including the administrative districts along the Mediterranean coast. Wanting to maximize the area under its direct control, contain an Arab Syria centered on Damascus, and ensure a defensible border, France moved the Lebanon-Syrian border to the [[Anti-Lebanon Mountains]], east of the [[Beqaa Valley]], territory which had historically belonged to the province of Damascus for hundreds of years, and was far more attached to Damascus than Beirut by culture and influence. This doubled the territory under the control of Beirut, at the expense of what would become the state of [[Syria]].

[[Image:Flag of Lebanon (1920-1943).svg|thumb|150px|left|Flag of Greater Lebanon during the French mandate (1920–1943)]]On October 27, 1919, the Lebanese delegation led by [[Maronite Christianity in Lebanon|Maronite]] Patriarch [[Elias Peter Hoayek]] presented the Lebanese aspirations in a memorandum to the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]]. This included a significant extension of the frontiers of the Lebanon Mutasarrifate,<ref name=Salibi26/> arguing that the additional areas constituted natural parts of Lebanon, despite the fact that the Christian community would not be a clear majority in such an enlarged state.<ref name=Salibi26>{{harvnb|Salibi|1990|p=26}}: "Since the turn of the century, however, the Maronites had pressed for the extension of this small Lebanese territory to what they argued were its natural and historical boundaries: it would then include the coastal towns of Tripoli, Beirut, Sidon and Tyre and their respective hinterlands, which belonged to the Vilayet of Beirut; and the fertile valley of the Bekaa (the four Kazas, or administrtative districts, of Baalbek, the Bekaa, Rashayya and Hasbayya), which belonged to the Vilayet of Damascus. According to the Maronite argument, this 'Greater Lebanon' had always had a special social and historical character, different from that of its surroundings, which made it necessary and indeed imperative for France to help establish it as an independent state. While France had strong sympathies for the Maronites, the French government did not support their demands without reserve. In Mount Lebanon, the Maronites had formed a clear majority of the population. In a 'Greater Lebanon', they were bound to be outnumbered by the Muslims of the coastal towns and their hinterlands, and by those of the Bekaa valley; and all the Christian communities together, in a 'Greater Lebanon', could at best amount to a bare majority. The Maronites, however, were insistent in their demands. Their secular and clerical leaders had pressed for them during the war years among the Allied powers, not excluding the United States."</ref> The quest for the annexation of agricultural lands in the Bekaa and Akkar was fueled by existential fears following the death of nearly half of the [[Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate]] population in the [[Great Famine of Mount Lebanon|Great Famine]]; the Maronite church and the secular leaders sought a state that could better provide for its people.<ref>Harris 2012, pp. 173–174</ref> The areas to be added to the Mutasarrifate included the coastal towns of Beirut, [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]], [[Sidon]] and [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] and their respective hinterlands, all of which belonged to the [[Beirut Vilayet]], together with four [[Kaza]]s of the [[Syria Vilayet]] ([[Baalbek]], the [[Beqaa Valley|Bekaa]], [[Rashaya]] and [[Hasbaya]]).<ref name=Salibi26/>

As a consequence of this also, the demographics of Lebanon were profoundly altered, as the added territory contained people who were predominantly Muslim; Lebanese Christians, of which the Maronites were the largest subgrouping, now constituted barely more than 50% of the population, while [[Sunni Islam in Lebanon|Sunni Muslims]] and [[Shia Islam in Lebanon|Shi'ite Muslims]] saw their numbers increase. [[Constitution of Lebanon|Modern Lebanon's constitution]], drawn up in 1926, specified a balance of power between the various religious groups. The president was required to be a Christian (in practice, a Maronite), the prime minister a [[Sunni Islam in Lebanon|Sunni Muslim]]. On the basis of the 1932 census, parliament seats were divided according to a six-to-five Christian/Muslim ratio. The constitution gave the president veto power over any legislation approved by parliament, virtually ensuring that the 6:5 ratio would not be revised in case the population distribution changed. By 1960, Muslims were thought to constitute a majority of the population, which contributed to Muslim unrest regarding the political system.