Warmed or Burnt by Fire? The Lebanese Maronite Church Navigates French Colonial Policies, 1935

Malek Abisaab Malek Abisaab

doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.36.4.0292

Abstract

This article sheds light on the development in the relationship between the Lebanese Maronite church and the French colonial authorities during the mid-1930s. It focuses on the confrontational stance of the church toward the French under the leadership of Patriarch Antoine 'Arida (1863–1955). I delineate 'Arida's resistance to the imposition of the tobacco monopoly, the Régie, and his diplomatic and political maneuvers, culminating with the 1935 popular uprising against the French, which cut across Muslim and Christian lines. Through the analysis of French archival documents and reports, I argue that the deterioration in Maronite-French relations was primarily caused by the colonial mapping of Grand Liban and its disruptive consequences for Mount Lebanon's leadership and economy. With the French imposition of the tobacco monopoly, the conflict took the form of a nationalist resistance against the French. Ultimately, the Maronite Church pursued a delicate balance between the interests of its parish and commitments to the French. The crisis sparked a critique of the French colonial logic, pushing the Maronite Church and the nationalist Lebanese elite to struggle for independence from the French.

Highlights

This article sheds light on the development in the relationship between the Lebanese Maronite church and the French colonial authorities during the mid-1930s
In 1935, the French authorities in Grand Liban (1920-43) re-imposed the Régie tobacco monopoly on Syria and Lebanon unleashing a wave of labor demonstrations by tobacco farmers and workers that turned into a wide national and anticolonial opposition to the French Mandate and its economic policies in the region
This article examines the role played by Patriarch Antoine ’Arida (1863-1955), the head of the Lebanese Maronite Church and a former ally of the French in the national political resistance to the French. ’Arida’s leading role in this national movement was met by diverse French responses in Grand Liban and France starting with a dismissal of the economic setback to Lebanese entrepreneurs and businessmen caused by the Régie monopoly and ending with the dismantling of ’Arida’s power base and tarnishing his clerical reputation

Summary

WARMED OR BURNT BY FIRE?

Officers and to their own national partners, namely, the Lebanese Muslims. Against the prevalent emphasis on the harmonious and stable bonds between the French architects of Grand Liban and the Maronite community, the article brings to the fore the growing differences and disagreements between an important segment of the Maronite elite represented by ’Arida and the French colonial powers. It discloses the increasing restlessness of a group of Maronite entrepreneurs and clerical leaders due to decline in their economic profits following their integration into Grand Liban, expressing “nostalgia” for Petit Liban or the mutasarrifiyya (Règlement Organique, 1864-1918). The resistance to the Régie, one report noted, was not “founded on arguments about economic or fiscal stability.” Rather, it was an expression of private interest and individualism, which overlooked collective benefit and rose in protest when “struck by a measure of public order.” These reports added that the Lebanese would end their opposition to the tobacco monopoly if they only understood the latter’s significance in generating state revenues They complained that their explanations fell on deaf ears because “the Patriarch does not reason, neither does his people.” To prop up their private interests, anti-Régie protesters (like ’Arida) used propaganda and public agitation to rally wide sectors of society against the French. The French continued to marginalize Patriarch ’Arida and spread rumors about an agreement with the Vatican to remove him from his post and replace him by another person. Patriarch ’Arida, continued to agitate for a sovereign Lebanon and remained in the Seat of the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch until 1955

Conclusion

French archival sources

Findings

Western sources