Middle East Kingdoms

Shihabi Amirs of Lebanon
AD 1697 - 1842

The Golden Age of Lebanon (former Phoenicia) is considered by many to have come in the reign of the Amir Bashir II Shihabi. The Shihabis were originally Sunni Moslems, but they came to rule an area dominated by the Druzes, practitioners of a religious off-shoot of Islam and regarded by many Moslems as apostates from Islam. When the amirs themselves converted to Maronite Christianity, this created an alliance, which was sometimes uneasy, between the largest communities in Lebanon, the Maronites, and the Druzes. In 1697 they became semi-independent from the Ottoman empire.

1697 - 1707

Bashir I

1707 - 1732

Haydar

1732 - 1754

Mulhim

1754 - 1770

Mansur

1770 - 1788

Yusuf

First Maronite Amir.

1788 - 1840

Bashir II

Overthrown by Britain & Turkey.

1840 - 1842

Bashir III

1842 - 1918

Direct Ottoman rule follows until the end of the First World War, when the French take control, and the country of Lebanon is created.

Modern Lebanon
AD 1918 - Present Day

When the Ottoman empire collapsed in 1918, five Mediterranean coastal provinces in western Syria formed the new state of Lebanon, which was controlled under a French Mandate. The modern state of Syria surrounded it to the north and east, while Palestine, and later Israel bordered it to the south.

Following independence in 1943, the country became a prosperous financial hub for the region, as well as one of the main tourist spots. However, tensions were rising, due mainly to the political situation left by the dismantling of the Ottoman empire, and factional stresses between the Christian, Moslem, and more recently-arrived Palestinian communities. The Lebanese Civil War erupted in 1975, and apart from a period of peace in 1976, lasted until 1990, destroying much of the old international feel of the country, and of the capital, Beirut (ancient Biruta), especially. A slow recovery took place afterwards, but alleged continual interference by Syria, amid a series of assassinations of anti-Syrian politicians, has confused the situation.

1918 - 1943

The Ottoman empire collapses following the First World War, and a French mandate is established.

1943

The newly-created state of Lebanon achieves independence from France, with the last French troops withdrawing three years later.

1975 - 1990

The Lebanese Civil War breaks out, pitching Christian, Moslem, and Palestinian groups against each other as they vie for control, with involvement from Syria and Israel further confusing an often violent situation with continually shifting loyalties.

2006

With the country more stable than at any time in a generation, and the reconstruction of Beirut nearing a degree of completion, Israel launches a military attack on 12 July which lasts a month and seriously damages the country. The (Second) Lebanon War (or July War) is caused primarily by Palestinian militants firing rockets at Israeli targets from inside Lebanon. The war is a military and political disaster for Israel.