No Lebanon

[Hashasheen]

what if Lebanon was never seperated from Syria by the French? or any other PoD's that make it possible. how much will this effect history?

[yourworstnightmare]

Syria will have a territory full of rebellious minorities that hate each other as much as they hate the Syrian government.

[Hashasheen]

Originally Posted by yourworstnightmare

Syria will have a territory full of rebellious minorities that hate each other as much as they hate the Syrian government.

how so? and i didnt say they would stay together now did I?

[Dan1988]

Have the Syrian Federation (the federal French Mandate of Syria) survive from 1920 onwards, and don't let the Sanjak of Alexandretta go to Turkey. Thus, Greater Lebanon remains a state within Syria (as is Jabal Druze, Damascus, Aleppo, Alexandretta, and the Alawite State). Thus, once Syria becomes independent, it will have a federal system intact.

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

Originally Posted by Temporary Username

what if Lebanon was never seperated from Syria by the French? or any other PoD's that make it possible. how much will this effect history?

Lebanon wasn't "separated" from Syria - it had an autonomous administration dominated by Maronites under the Ottomans, and after WWI, the French added the Bekaa Valley to it to make it self-sufficient in grain, and Beirut, it's port. It had not ever really had a history as an integral part of "Syria".

What you are suggesting is actually combining them, and that would be contrary to the direction of French policy over centuries. It would also be violently resisted by a majority of Lebanese, very few of whom are Sunni Muslims.

If the French had combined the two, they would have to force the inhabitants into the union; the only other alternative would be to maintain the autonomous status of Lebanon, which would lead to it declaring independence from Syria when independence from France rolled around.

[yourworstnightmare]

The problem with Lebanon is that it is full of small religious and ethnic groups that all have some quarrel with each other. I can't really see Lebanon functioning within Syria (and not as independent either, too much bad blood).

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

Originally Posted by yourworstnightmare

The problem with Lebanon is that it is full of small religious and ethnic groups that all have some quarrel with each other. I can't really see Lebanon functioning within Syria (and not as independent either, too much bad blood).

Lebanon functioned perfectly well from 1860-WWI. The problem is that the French undermined the multi-sectarian regime by supporting the Maronites, while adding a large Sunni population in the Bekaa Valley that didn't really get much say in the government. If they had just left it alone, it would have been fine.

The idea that it's full of little groups that have been fighting forever is just lazy blame-passing by the people that mucked it up. Prior to the 19th c, there was no ethnic or sectarian conflict at all - in fact most people were even unaware the Emir of Lebanon was Maronite, and some members of his family were Muslim.