Read on Twitter
How French Colonialism destabilized modern Lebanon (and why this petition is horrid): a thread https://twitter.com/nptluiromulus/status/1291361201994309633
This began with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire via the Allied powers. Two of these, Britain and France, made a secret agreement called the Sykes-Picot Agreement to maintain power over the dissolved states, which are the modern Middle East.
Britain and France looked at these states as animalistic and in need of a “mother country”. Basically they wanted to reap economic benefits from them and keep them from becoming self-sufficient. France gained control of two major mandates: Syria and Lebanon.
Lebanon was created by French general Henri Gouraud in 1920. His only objective in keeping French control of Lebanon was to protect the small Maronite Christian population living near the Syria-Leb border. Maronites were only a tiny fraction (about 30%) of Lebanon’s population.
The Lebanese Muslim majority wanted independence and control, but France kept them weak. They established the National Pact, which ensured that certain political roles were always occupied by Christians, and others by Muslims. This led to disproportionate power structures.
It also led to a disdain between France and the Lebanese Muslim population. Tensions between Muslims and Christians escalated, and France stoked them intentionally to keep the country divided enough for Maronite Christians to maintain political sway.
French control based politics in Lebanon on a faulty census, saying Christians outnumbered Muslims 6:5 (wildly inaccurate), and created a system based on maintaining this ratio. This shut the Muslim majority out of having a voice in their own politics.
These policies all led to Lebanon being established for over 20 years without a distinctive majority voice, giving it next to no room to develop a proper foundation for economics, politics, or globalization. Lebanon was sabotaged by the French, along with fellow mandate Syria
The British mandates had to fight back violently against their “mother” country—see the histories of Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine.
Putting trust in this mandate system, a disguised colonialism, is the worst idea possible. These western powers created the complex conflicts we see in the Middle East today. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW BAD IT IS THAT PEOPLE WANT TO RE-INVEST IN THIS SYSTEM!
Reminder that Britain and allies are so responsible for the Middle East’s problems that even the name “Middle East” comes from the fact that the states are halfway between Britain and India, Britain’s prized colony of the era.
