Editing History of Lebanon (section)

==Ottoman rule==
{{Main|History of Lebanon under Ottoman rule|Ottoman Syria|}}

Starting from the 16th century, the [[Ottoman Turks]] formed an empire which came to encompass the Balkans, Middle East and North Africa. The Ottoman sultan [[Selim I]] (1516–20), after defeating the Persians, conquered the [[Mamluk]]s. His troops, invading Syria, destroyed Mamluk resistance in 1516 at [[Battle of Marj Dabiq|Marj Dabiq]], north of Aleppo.<ref name=":0">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite encyclopedia|title=Lebanon: a country study|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/88600488/|last=McGowan|first=Afaf Sabeh|date=1989|editor-last=Collelo|editor-first=Thomas|pages=12|isbn=|oclc=44356055|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2019-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420165415/https://www.loc.gov/item/88600488/|url-status=live}}|entry=Ottoman Rule, 1516-1916}}</ref>

Ottoman control was uncontested during the early modern period, but the Lebanese coast became important for its contacts and trades with the maritime republics of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] other [[Italy|Italian]] city-states. (''See also [[Levantines (Latin Catholics)|Levantines]]'')

The mountainous territory of [[Mount Lebanon]] has long been a shelter for minority and persecuted groups, including its historic [[Maronite Christianity in Lebanon|Maronite]] Christian majority and [[Druze]] communities. It was an autonomous region of the Ottoman Empire.

During the conflict between the Mamluks and the Ottomans, the amirs of Lebanon linked their fate to that of [[Janbirdi al-Ghazali|Ghazali]], governor (pasha) of Damascus.<ref name=":0" /> He won the confidence of the Ottomans by fighting on their side at Marj Dabiq and, apparently pleased with the behavior of the Lebanese amirs, introduced them to Salim I when he entered Damascus.<ref name=":0" /> Salim I decided to grant the Lebanese amirs a semiautonomous status.<ref name=":0" /> The Ottomans, through the two main feudal families, the [[Maan family|Maans]] who were Druze and the [[Shihab dynasty|Chehabs]] who were Sunni Muslim Arab converts to Maronite Christianity, ruled Lebanon until the middle of the nineteenth century.<ref name=":0" /> During Ottoman rule the term [[Syria (region)|Syria]] was used to designate the approximate area including present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine.<ref name=":0" />

===Maans dynasty (1517–1697)===
The [[Maan family|Maans]] came to Lebanon in 1120.<ref name=":1">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite encyclopedia|title=Lebanon: a country study|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/88600488/|last=McGowan|first=Afaf Sabeh|date=1989|editor-last=Collelo|editor-first=Thomas|pages=12|isbn=|oclc=44356055|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2019-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420165415/https://www.loc.gov/item/88600488/|url-status=live}}|entry=The Maans, 1120-1697}}</ref> They were a tribe and dynasty of [[Qahtanite|Qahtani Arabs]] who settled on the southwestern slopes of the Lebanon Mountains and soon adopted the Druze religion.<ref name=":1" /> Their authority began to rise with [[Fakhr ad-Din I]], who was permitted by Ottoman authorities to organize his own army, and reached its peak with [[Fakhr ad-Din II]] (1570–1635).<ref name=":1" /> (The existence of "Fakhr ad-Din I" has been questioned by some scholars.<ref>Salibi, Kemal: "The Secret of the House of Ma’n", International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 4 (1973), pp 272-287</ref>)

==== Fakhreddine II ====
[[File:Emir Faḫereddin Ibn Ma'n ( Faḫereddin II)-2.png|thumbnail|[[Fakhreddine II]]]]
[[Fakhr al-Din II]] was  born in [[Baakleen|Baakline]] to a Druze family, his father died when he was 13, and his mother entrusted her son to another princely family, the Maronite [[Khazen family|Khazens]].
In 1608, Fakhr-al-Din forged an alliance with the Italian [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]. The alliance contained both a public economic section and a secret military one.
Fakhr-al-Din's ambitions, popularity and unauthorized foreign contacts alarmed the Ottomans who authorized Hafiz Ahmed Pasha, Muhafiz of Damascus, to mount an attack on Lebanon in 1613 in order to reduce Fakhr-al-Din's growing power. Professor Abu-Husayn has made the Ottoman archives relevant to the emir's career available.
Faced with Hafiz's army of 50,000 men, Fakhr-al-Din chose exile in Tuscany, leaving affairs in the hands of his brother Emir Yunis and his son Emir Ali Beg. They succeeded in mainlining most of the forts such as Banias (Subayba) and Niha which were a mainstay of Fakhr ad-Din's power. Before leaving, Fakhr ad-Din paid his standing army of soqbans (mercenaries) two years wages in order to secure their loyalty.

Hosted in Tuscany by the Medici Family, Fakhr-al-Din was welcomed by the grand duke [[Cosimo II]], who was his host and sponsor for the two years he spent at the court of the Medici. He spent a further three years as guest of the Spanish Viceroy of Sicily and then Naples, the Duke Osuna. Fakhr-al-Din had wished to enlist Tuscan or other European assistance in a "Crusade" to free his homeland from Ottoman domination, but was met with a refusal as Tuscany was unable to afford such an expedition. The prince eventually gave up the idea, realizing that Europe was more interested in trade with the Ottomans than in taking back the Holy Land. His stay nevertheless allowed him to witness Europe's cultural revival in the 17th century, and bring back some Renaissance ideas and architectural features.
By 1618, political changes in the Ottoman sultanate had resulted in the removal of many of Fakhr-al-Din's enemies from power, allowing Fahkr-al-Din's return to Lebanon, whereupon he was able quickly to reunite all the lands of Lebanon beyond the boundaries of its mountains; and having revenge from Emir Yusuf Pasha ibn Siyfa, attacking his stronghold in Akkar, destroying his palaces and taking control of his lands, and regaining the territories he had to give up in 1613 in Sidon, Tripoli, Bekaa among others. Under his rule, printing presses were introduced and Jesuit priests and Catholic nuns encouraged to open schools throughout the land.

[[Image:DeirAlQamar-FakhredinePalace.jpg|thumb|left|240px|[[Fakhreddine Palace|Fakhreddine II Palace]] in Deir el Qamar]]

In 1623, the prince angered the Ottomans by refusing to allow an army on its way back from the Persian front to winter in the Bekaa. This (and instigation by the powerful Janissary garrison in Damascus) led Mustafa Pasha, Governor of Damascus, to launch an attack against him, resulting in the [[Battle of Anjar|battle at Majdel Anjar]] where Fakhr-al-Din's forces although outnumbered managed to capture the Pasha and secure the Lebanese prince and his allies a much needed military victory. The best source (in Arabic) for Fakhr ad-Din's career up to this point is a memoir signed by [[al-Khalidi as-Safadi]], who was not with the Emir in Europe but had access to someone who was, possibly Fakhr ad-Din himself.
However, as time passed, the Ottomans grew increasingly uncomfortable with the prince's increasing powers and extended relations with Europe. In 1632, [[Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha]] was named Muhafiz of Damascus, being a rival of Fakhr-al-Din and a friend of Sultan Murad IV, who ordered Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha and the sultanate's navy to attack Lebanon and depose Fakhr-al-Din.

This time, the prince had decided to remain in Lebanon and resist the offensive, but the death of his son Emir Ali Beik in Wadi el-Taym was the beginning of his defeat. He later took refuge in Jezzine's grotto, closely followed by Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha. He surrendered to the Ottoman general Jaafar Pasha, whom he knew well, under circumstances that are not clear.
Fakhr-al-Din was taken to Constantinople and kept in the Yedikule (Seven Towers) prison for two years. He was then summoned before the sultan. Fakhr-al-Din, and one or two of his sons, were accused of treason and executed there on 13 April 1635. There are unsubstantiated rumors that the younger of the two boys was spared and raised in the harem, later becoming Ottoman ambassador to India.[[File:Fakhreddine toscany druze emir.jpg|thumbnail|Portrait of Fakhreddine while he was in Tuscany, stating "Faccardino grand emir dei Drusi" translated as "Fakhreddine: great emir of the Druze"]]

Although Fakhr ad-Din II's aspirations toward complete independence for Lebanon ended tragically, he greatly enhanced Lebanon's military and economic development.<ref name=":2">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite encyclopedia|title=Lebanon: a country study|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/88600488/|last=McGowan|first=Afaf Sabeh|date=1989|editor-last=Collelo|editor-first=Thomas|pages=12–13|isbn=|oclc=44356055|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2019-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420165415/https://www.loc.gov/item/88600488/|url-status=live}}|entry=The Maans, 1120-1697}}</ref> Noted for religious tolerance, the prince attempted to merge the country's different religious groups into one Lebanese community.<ref name=":2" /> In an effort to attain complete independence for Lebanon, he concluded a secret agreement with Ferdinand I, grand duke of [[Tuscany]].<ref name=":2" />

Following his return from Tuscany, Fakhr ad-Din II, realizing the need for a strong and disciplined armed force, channeled his financial resources into building a regular army.<ref name=":2" /> This army proved itself in 1623, when Mustafa Pasha, the new governor of Damascus, underestimating the capabilities of the Lebanese army, engaged it in battle and was decisively defeated at Anjar in the Biqa Valley.<ref name=":2" />

In addition to building up the army, Fakhr ad-Din II, who became acquainted with Italian culture during his stay in Tuscany, initiated measures to modernize the country.<ref name=":2" /> After forming close ties and establishing diplomatic relations with Tuscany, he brought in architects, irrigation engineers, and agricultural experts from Italy in an effort to promote prosperity in the country.<ref name=":2" /> He also strengthened Lebanon's strategic position by expanding its territory, building forts as far away as Palmyra in Syria, and gaining control of Palestine.<ref name=":2" /> Finally, the Ottoman sultan [[Murad IV]] of Istanbul, wanting to thwart Lebanon's progress toward complete independence, ordered Kutshuk, then governor of Damascus, to attack the Lebanese ruler.<ref name=":2" /> This time Fakhr ad-Din was defeated, and he was executed in Istanbul in 1635. No significant Maan rulers succeeded Fakhr ad-Din II.<ref name=":2" />

Fakhreddine is regarded by the Lebanese as the best leader and prince the country has ever seen. Lebanon has achieved during Fakhreddine's reign enormous heights that the country had and would never witness again.

===Shihab dynasty (1697–1842)===
The [[Shihab dynasty|Shihabs]] succeeded the Maans in 1697<ref name=":3">{{source-attribution| {{cite encyclopedia|title= Lebanon: a country study|publisher= [[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|location= Washington, D.C.|url= https://www.loc.gov/item/88600488/|last= McGowan|first= Afaf Sabeh|date= 1989|editor-last= Collelo|editor-first= Thomas|pages= 13–14|isbn= |oclc= 44356055|entry= The Shihabs, 1697-1842|access-date= 2021-07-16|archive-date= 2019-04-20|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190420165415/https://www.loc.gov/item/88600488/|url-status= live}} }}</ref> after the Battle of Ain Dara, a battle that changed the face of Lebanon when a clash between two Arab clans, the Qaysis and the Yemenis, broke out. The Qaysis, then led by Ahmad Shihab, won, and expelled the Yemenis from Lebanon to Syria. This has led to an enormous decrease to the Druze population in Mount-Lebanon, who were a majority at the time and helped the Christians overcome the Druze demographically. This Qaysi "victory" allowed the Shihab, who were Qaysis themselves and the allies of Lebanon, to rule over Mount-Lebanon. The Shihabs originally lived in the [[Hauran|Hawran]] region of southwestern Syria and settled in [[Wadi al-Taym]] in southern Lebanon.<ref name=":3" />

During the [[Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)|Russo-Turkish War of 1768 to 1774]], responding to Admiral [[Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov|Alexei Orlov]]'s [[Imperial Russian Navy|Russian naval]] [[First Archipelago Expedition]] operating in the Mediterranean, local Lebanese authorities briefly attempted to place themselves under [[Russian Empire|Russian]] protection.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Kobishchanov
 |first1               = Taras Y.
 |editor-last1         = Michalak-Pikulska
 |editor-first1        = Barbara
 |editor-last2         = Piela
 |editor-first2        = Marek
 |editor-last3         = Majtczak
 |editor-first3        = Tomasz
 |chapter              = On the eve of colonialism: Arab rulers and Russian authorities at the last third of the 18th century
 |title                = Oriental Languages and Civilizations
 |date = 19 October 2020
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=ckwvEAAAQBAJ
 |location             = Kraków
 |publisher            = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskego
 |publication-date     = 2020
 |page                 = 235
 |isbn                 = 9788323371274
 |access-date          = 27 January 2022
 |quote                = On June 28, {{sic|1772|hide=y|expected=1772,}} the emir of Mount Lebanon Yusuf Shihab (1752–1790) announced the transition to the Russian 'protectorate' and the consent to pay an annual tribute [...]. [...] The mutual rapprochement was interrupted by the armistice between Russia and the Ottoman Empire concluded on May 20, {{sic|1772|hide=y|expected=1772,}} in Focsani. [...] on January 1 of 1774 on the eve of the departure of Russian ships from Beirut, the emir of Mount Lebanon appealed to count Orlov with a petition to extend the subjection of the empress Catherine II to him.
}} 
</ref>

The most prominent Shihab, [[Bashir Shihab II]],<ref name=":3" /> ruled as Emir of Mount Lebanon from 1789 to 1840. The [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|events of 1799]] tested his ability as a statesman when [[Napoleon]] besieged [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], a well-fortified coastal city in Palestine, about forty kilometers south of Tyre.<ref name=":3" /> Both Napoleon and Al Jazzar, the governor of Acre, requested assistance from the Shihab leader; Bashir, however, remained neutral, declining to assist either combatant.<ref name=":3" /> Unable to conquer Acre, Napoleon returned to Egypt, and the death of Al Jazzar in 1804 removed Bashir's principal opponent in the area.

The Shihabs were originally a [[Sunni Islam in Lebanon|Sunni Muslim]] family, but converted to Christianity<ref name=":3" /> in the late-18th century.

==== Emir Bashir II ====
[[File:BashirChehab.jpg|thumbnail|[[Bashir Shihab II]]]]
In 1788 [[Bashir Shihab II]] (or Bachir in French sources) would rise to become the Emir. Born into poverty, he was elected emir upon the abdication of his predecessor, and would rule under Ottoman suzerainty, being appointed ''wali'' or governor of Mt Lebanon, the Biqa valley and Jabal Amil. Together this is about two thirds of modern-day Lebanon. He would reform taxes and attempt to break the feudal system, in order to undercut rivals, the most important of which was also named Bashir: Bashir Jumblatt, whose wealth and feudal backers equaled or exceeded Bashir II—and who had increasing support in the Druze community. In 1822 the Ottoman wali of Damascus went to war with Acre, which was allied with [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]], the [[pasha]] of Egypt. As part of this conflict one of the most remembered massacres of Maronite Christians by Druze forces occurred, forces that were aligned with the wali of Damascus. Jumblatt represented the increasingly disaffected Druze, who were both shut out from official power and angered at the growing ties with the Maronites by Bashir II, who was himself a Maronite Christian.

Bashir II was overthrown as wali when he backed Acre, and fled to Egypt, later to return and organize an army. Jumblatt gathered the Druze factions together, and the war became sectarian in character: the Maronites backing Bashir II, the Druze backing Bashir Jumblatt. Jumblatt declared a rebellion, and between 1821 and 1825 there were massacres and battles, with the Maronites attempting to gain control of the Mt. Lebanon district, and the Druze gaining control over the Biqa valley. In 1825 Bashir II, helped by the Ottomans and the Jezzar, defeated his rival in the Battle of Simqanieh. Bashir Jumblatt died in Acre at the order of the Jezzar. Bashir II was not a forgiving man and repressed the Druze rebellion, particularly in and around Beirut. This made Bashir Chehab the only leader of Mount Lebanon. However, Bashir Chehab was depicted as a nasty leader because Bashir Jumblatt was his all-time friend and has saved his life when the Keserwan peasants tried to kill the prince, by sending 1000 of his men to save him. Also, days before the Battle of Simqania, Bashir Jumblatt had the chance to kill Bashir II when he was returning from Acre when he reportedly kissed the Jezzar's feet in order to help him against Jumblatt, but Bashir II reminded him of their friendship and told Jumblatt to "pardon when you can". The high morals of Jumblatt led him to pardon Bashir II, a decision he should have regretted.

Bashir II, who had come to power through local politics and nearly fallen from power because of his increasing detachment from them, reached out for allies, allies who looked on the entire area as "the Orient" and who could provide trade, weapons and money, without requiring fealty and without, it seemed, being drawn into endless internal squabbles. He disarmed the Druze and allied with France, governing in the name of the Egyptian Pasha Muhammad Ali, who entered Lebanon and formally took overlordship in 1832. For the remaining 8 years, the sectarian and feudal rifts of the 1821–1825 conflict were heightened by the increasing economic isolation of the Druze, and the increasing wealth of the Maronites.

During the nineteenth century the town of Beirut became the most important port of the region, supplanting Acre further to the south. This was mostly because Mount Lebanon became a centre of [[silk]] production for export to Europe. This industry made the region wealthy, but also dependent on links to Europe. Since most of the silk went to [[Marseille]], the French began to have a great impact in the region.

===Sectarian conflict: European powers begin to intervene===
[[File:Christian Church and Druze khalwa in Maaser el Chouf.jpg|thumb|[[Christian Church]] and [[Druze Khalwa]] in [[Chouf District|Shuf Mountains]]: Historically; the [[Christianity and Druze|Druzes and the Christians]] in the Shuf Mountains lived in complete harmony.<ref name="Hobby 1985 53">{{cite book|title= Near East/South Asia Report|last=Hobby|year=1985| page =53|publisher=Foreign Broadcast Information Service|quote= the Druzes and the Christians in the Shuf Mountains in the past lived in complete harmony..}}</ref> ]]
The discontent grew to open rebellion, fed by both Ottoman and British money and support: Bashir II fled, the Ottoman Empire reasserted control and Mehmed Hüsrev Pasha, whose sole term as Grand Vizier ran from 1839 to 1841, appointed another member of the Shihab family, who styled himself Bashir III. Bashir III, coming on the heels of a man who by guile, force and diplomacy had dominated Mt Lebanon and the Biqa for 52 years, did not last long. In 1841 conflicts between the impoverished Druze and the Maronite Christians exploded: There was a massacre of Christians by the Druze at Deir al Qamar, and the fleeing survivors were slaughtered by Ottoman regulars. The Ottomans attempted to create peace by dividing Mt Lebanon into a Christian district and a Druze district, but this would merely create geographic powerbases for the warring parties, and it plunged the region back into civil conflict which included not only the sectarian warfare but a Maronite revolt against the Feudal class, which ended in 1858 with the overthrow of the old feudal system of taxes and levies. The situation was unstable: the Maronites lived in the large towns, but these were often surrounded by Druze villages living as ''perioikoi''.
[[Image:18620eventsChristianrefugees.jpg|thumb|Christian refugees during the [[1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus|1860 strife between Druze and Maronites in Lebanon]]]]

The relationship between the [[Druze]] and [[Christians]] has been characterized by [[harmony]] and peaceful [[Plurinationalism|coexistence]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Druze Community and the Lebanese State: Between Confrontation and Reconciliation| first=Yusri|last=Hazran|year= 2013| isbn= 9781317931737| page = 32|publisher=Routledge|quote= the Druze had been able to live in harmony with the Christian}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Confrontation and Coexistence| first=Pinḥas |last=Artzi|year= 1984| isbn= 9789652260499| page =166 |publisher=Bar-Ilan University Press|quote=.. Europeans who visited the area during this period related that the Druze "love the Christians more than the other believers," and that they "hate the Turks, the Muslims and the Arabs [Bedouin] with an intense hatred.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= The Druzes and the Maronites|last=CHURCHILL|year= 1862| page =25 |publisher=Montserrat Abbey Library|quote= ..the Druzes and Christians lived together in the most perfect harmony and good-will..}}</ref><ref name="Hobby 1985 53"/> with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including [[1860 Mount Lebanon civil war]].<ref name="google">{{cite book |title=An Occasion for War: Civil Conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860 |last=Fawaz |first= L.T. |date=1994 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=9780520087828 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_nE7RjS91_E4C |access-date=2015-04-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vocke |first=Harald |title=The Lebanese war: its origins and political dimensions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fvu6AAAAIAAJ&q=The+Lebanese+war:+its+origins+and+political+dimensions |year=1978 |publisher=C. Hurst |isbn=0-903983-92-3 |pages=10 }}</ref> In 1860, this would boil back into full scale [[1860 Druze-Christian conflict in Lebanon|sectarian war]], when the Maronites began openly opposing the power of the Ottoman Empire. Another destabilizing factor was France's support for the Maronite Christians against the Druze which in turn led the British to back the Druze, exacerbating religious and economic tensions between the two communities. The Druze took advantage of this and began burning Maronite villages. The Druze had grown increasingly resentful of the favoring of the Maronites by Bashir II, and were backed by the Ottoman Empire and the wali of Damascus in an attempt to gain greater control over Lebanon; the Maronites were backed by the French, out of both economic and political expediency. The Druze began a military campaign that included the burning of villages and massacres, while Maronite irregulars retaliated with attacks of their own. However, the Maronites were gradually pushed into a few strongholds and were on the verge of military defeat when the [[Concert of Europe]] intervened<ref>White (1899)</ref> and established a commission to determine the outcome.<ref>Shehadi (1992)</ref> The French forces deployed there were then used to enforce the final decision. The French accepted the Druze as having established control and the Maronites were reduced to a semi-autonomous region around [[Mount Lebanon]], without even direct control over Beirut itself. The Province of Lebanon would be controlled by the Maronites, but the entire area was placed under direct rule of the governor of Damascus, and carefully watched by the Ottoman Empire.

The long siege of [[Deir al-Qamar]] found a Maronite garrison holding out against Druze forces backed by Ottoman soldiers; the area in every direction was despoiled by the besiegers. In July 1860, with European intervention threatening, the Turkish government tried to quiet the strife, but Napoleon III of France sent 7,000 troops to Beirut and helped impose a partition: The Druze control of the territory was recognized as the fact on the ground, and the Maronites were forced into an enclave, arrangements ratified by the Concert of Europe in 1861. They were confined to a mountainous district, cut off from both the Biqa and Beirut, and faced with the prospect of ever-growing poverty. Resentments and fears would brood, ones which would resurface in the coming decades.

[[Image:LebaneseFighters.jpg|thumb|left|Lebanese soldiers, 1861–1914]]

[[Youssef Bey Karam]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ehdenfamilytree.org/getperson.php?personID=I1&tree=ehden |title=Youssef Bey Karam on Ehden Family Tree website |access-date=2019-04-10 |archive-date=2019-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329220258/https://www.ehdenfamilytree.org/getperson.php?personID=I1&tree=ehden |url-status=dead }}</ref> a Lebanese nationalist played an influential role in Lebanon's independence during this era.

In December 1831 Tyre fell under the rule of [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]] of Egypt, after an army led by his son [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]] had entered Jaffa and Haifa without resistance.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ottoman Wars, 1700–1870: An Empire Besieged|last=Aksan|first=Virginia|author-link=Virginia H. Aksan|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=9780582308077|location=New York|pages=370–371}}</ref> Two years later, Shiite forces under Hamad al-Mahmud from the Ali al-Saghir dynasty rebelled against the occupation. They were supported by the [[British Empire]] and [[Austria-Hungary]]: Tyre was captured on 24 September 1839 after allied naval bombardments.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Politics of Interventionism in Ottoman Lebanon, 1830–61|last=Farah|first=Caesar E.|publisher=I.B.Tauris / Centre for Lebanese Studies|year=2000|isbn=978-1860640568|location=Oxford / London|pages=42}}</ref> For their fight against the Egyptian invaders, al-Mahmud and his successor Ali El-Assaad – a relative – were rewarded by the Ottoman rulers with the restoration of Shiite autonomy in Jabal Amel. However, in Tyre it was the Mamluk family that gained a dominant position. Its head Jussuf Aga ibn Mamluk was reportedly a son of the anti-Shiite Jazzar Pasha.

=== Late 19th century to early 20th century ===
[[Image:Maronite from Lebanon, Inhabitant of Jeïbel, Christian Woman from Lebanon.jpg|thumb|right|Lebanese dress from the late 19th century.]]
The [[Maronite]] [[Catholic]]s and the [[Druze]] founded modern [[Lebanon]] in the early eighteenth century, through the ruling and social system known as the "[[Christianity and Druze|Maronite-Druze dualism]]" in [[Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate]].<ref name="Deeb 2013">{{cite book|title=Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah: The Unholy Alliance and Its War on Lebanon| first=Marius|last=Deeb|year= 2013| isbn= 9780817916664|publisher=Hoover Press|quote= the Maronites and the Druze, who founded Lebanon in the early eighteenth century.}}</ref> The remainder of the 19th century saw a relative period of stability, as Muslim, Druze and Maronite groups focused on economic and cultural development which saw the founding of the [[American University of Beirut]] and a flowering of literary and political activity associated with the attempts to liberalize the Ottoman Empire. Late in the century there was a short Druze uprising over the extremely harsh government and high taxation rates, but there was far less of the violence that had scalded the area earlier in the century.

In the approach to World War I, Beirut became a center of various reforming movements, and would send delegates to the Arab Syrian conference and Franco-Syrian conference held in Paris. There was a complex array of solutions, from pan-Arab nationalism, to separatism for Beirut, and several status quo movements that sought stability and reform within the context of Ottoman government. The Young Turk revolution brought these movements to the front, hoping that the reform of Ottoman Empire would lead to broader reforms. The outbreak of hostilities changed this, as Lebanon was to feel the weight of the conflict in the Middle East more heavily than most other areas occupied by the Syrians.

====Great famine in Lebanon, 1915–1918====
{{main|Great Famine of Mount Lebanon}}
{{blockquote|They lost so many loved ones during that time. My father once said that the rich families survived as they were able to bribe and get supplies on the black market. It was the unemployed, the middle class and the poor that were dying in the streets.|author=Teresa Michel, son of famine survivors<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/lebanon-s-dark-days-of-hunger-the-great-famine-of-1915-18-1.70379?videoId=5587173110001| title=Lebanon's dark days of hunger: The Great Famine of 1915-18| date=14 April 2015| access-date=6 October 2017| archive-date=6 October 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006161936/https://www.thenational.ae/world/lebanon-s-dark-days-of-hunger-the-great-famine-of-1915-18-1.70379?videoId=5587173110001| url-status=live}}</ref>}}

About half the population of the Mount Lebanon subdivision, overwhelmingly Maronites, starved to death (200,000 killed out of 400,000 of the total populace) throughout the years of 1915–1918 during what is now known as the [[Great Famine of Mount Lebanon]],<ref>Harris 2012, p.174</ref> as a consequence of a mixed combination of crop failure, punitive  governance practices, naval blockade of the coast by the Allies, and an Ottoman military ban on exports from Syria into Lebanon, during [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tanielian|first1=Melanie Schulze|title=Charity of War: Famine, Humanitarian Aid and World War I in the Middle East|date=2018|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=9781503603523|url=http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28143|access-date=2017-11-14|archive-date=2023-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713003402/http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28143|url-status=live}}</ref> Dead bodies were piled in the streets and starving Lebanese civilians were reported to be eating street animals while some even resorted to cannibalism.<ref>{{cite news|last1=BBC staff|title=Six unexpected WW1 battlegrounds|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30098000|access-date=24 January 2016|work=BBC News|agency=BBC News Services|publisher=BBC|date=26 November 2014|archive-date=3 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803005322/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30098000|url-status=live}}</ref>