Editing Lebanon (section)

==== Pressure on German-occupied France ====
[[File:French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon map en.svg|thumb|right|Map of the [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|French Mandate]] and the states created in 1920]]

Lebanon gained a measure of independence while France was occupied by Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoors/glossary.html |website=WWII Behind Closed Doors | title = Glossary: Cross-Channel invasion| access-date = 17 October 2009| publisher = [[Public Broadcasting Service]]| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091028211604/http://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoors/glossary.html| archive-date = 28 October 2009| url-status=dead | df = dmy-all}}</ref> General [[Henri Dentz]], the [[Vichy France|Vichy]] [[High commissioner]] for Syria and Lebanon, played a major role in the independence of the nation. The Vichy authorities in 1941 allowed Germany to move aircraft and supplies through [[Syria]] to [[Iraq]] where they were used against British forces. The United Kingdom, fearing that [[Nazi Germany]] would gain full control of Lebanon and [[Syria]] by pressure on the weak Vichy government, [[Syria–Lebanon campaign|sent its army into Syria and Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East |publisher=Simon & Schuster |last=Barr |first=James|isbn=978-1-84983-903-7|location=London|oclc=990782374|date = 27 October 2011}}</ref>

After the fighting ended in Lebanon, General [[Charles de Gaulle]] visited the area. Under political pressure from both inside and outside Lebanon, de Gaulle recognized the independence of Lebanon. On 26 November 1941, General [[Georges Catroux]] announced that Lebanon would become independent under the authority of the [[Free French]] government. Elections were held in 1943 and on 8 November 1943 the new Lebanese government unilaterally abolished the mandate. The French reacted by imprisoning the new government. Lebanese nationalists declared a provisional government, and the British diplomatically intervened on their behalf. In the face of intense British pressure and protests by Lebanese nationalists, the French reluctantly released the government officials on 22 November 1943, and accepted the independence of Lebanon.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barr |first=James |date=10 August 2020 |title=Who are Lebanon's real friends? |url=https://unherd.com/2020/08/who-are-lebanons-real-friends/ |access-date=17 August 2024 |website=UnHerd |language=en-GB}}</ref>[[File:Beirut's Martyrs' Square during celebrations marking the release by the French of Lebanon's government from Rashayya prison on November 22, 1943, the day of Lebanon's independence. Adib Ibrahim.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Martyrs' Square, Beirut|Martyrs' Square in Beirut]] during celebrations marking the release by the French of Lebanon's government from [[Rashayya prison]] on 22 November 1943]]