French military campaign in Mount Lebanon 1860-1861

Abstract

The sectarian strife that took place in Mount Lebanon in 1860 of the most important political events suffered in the mountain in particular and the Ottoman Empire in general in the nineteenth century, and almost led to a major war is not limited to the Ottoman Empire only, but enter European countries have their particular concerns in the Orient Arab in general and Mount Lebanon in particular, and was the most prominent of those countries France. The French government believed in the strife that hit the Mount Lebanon a chance to restore its influence is strongest, particularly France pro-Egyptian control over Syria policy has weakened the position of France in Syria, especially among the children of the Catholic denominations, including the Maronite community, as well as that France has taken from its involvement in these events and the way to put pressure on the Porte to pass economic projects in the Ottoman Empire, particularly silk factories in Mount Lebanon and the Suez Canal project. Hence, this study was to shed light on the role of France in the military campaign in Mount Lebanon and the policy pursued by there to consolidate its influence in the mountain and then Syria in general. The study relied on multiple sources came to her head and documentation for the British Foreign Office documents correspondence French military campaign against Syria 1860-1861 also adopted other important sources as a message master researcher Ihsan Saeed tagged (foreign interference in Lebanon's affairs from the year 1840 to 1861) as well as the book of France's policy in the Near East researcher for the Russian Marina Pantychenkova and historical bases system of Lebanon's sectarian Researcher Mohamed Ahmed Trahina .