15 Lebanon Civil War Flashcards
What was Lebanon like in the 1960s?
The Paris of the Middle East
How are Lebanon’s religions spread out?
The most religiously-diverse country in ME/NA
When did Lebanon gain independence from France?
1943
When was the Lebanon Civil War?
1975-1990
When did the League of Nations give France the mandate for Lebanon?
1920s
How many religious groups are there in Lebanon?
18
What was the population of Lebanon in 1932?
800,000
What was the religious make-up in 1932?
28% Maronite Christians
22% Sunni
20% Shia
What was the 1943 National Pact?
Pres. = Maronite
PM = Sunni
Speaker = Shia
What happened in 1948?
Israel created and opposed by Arabs
What did the first war do to Lebanon?
270k Palestinians ended up on Jordan’s West Bank
190k = Egypt Gaza Strip
100k to Lebanon
What did the Arab League do in 1964?
Met to represent the interests of the Palestinians.
What was formed?
The Palestinian Liberation Oranization.
What was the PLO’s mission?
Liberate Palestine through armed struggle.
What was the armed wing of the PLO?
The Palestinian Liberation Army.
What were the PLA tactics?
Guerilla tactics including soft targets like schools.
What happened in the 1967 6-day war?
300,000 more Palestinian refugees were created.
Who were they?
Many were refugees from the 1948 war that had settled on the West Bank of Jordan.
How did this create a problem in Lebanon?
Most of the refugees they received were Muslims.
What else?
The PLO began launching attacks on Israel from Lebanon.
What happened in the 1970s?
There was a worldwide increase in terrorism.
Patty Hearst, Weather Underground, Red Brigade (Italy)
In 1970, how many Palestinians lived in Jordan?
500,000
out of 3 million
Who were the Fedayeen?
It was a term referring to any terrorist group.
What did the Jordanian Fedayeen do?
Attempted to overthrow King Hussein in Jordan.
Who were the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)?
A Marxinst-Leninist branch of the PLO
What did the PFLP do in 1970?
HIjacked 4 airplanes, 3 bound for New York, forcing them to land in Jordan
What did they do?
They blew up the airplanes after they were evacuated.
Whay did King Hussein do?
Called for Martial Law and dismissed the civilian government
Then what?
The military rooted out the PLO and expelled them.
Where did the Fedayeen re-settle?
Lebanon
What was created out of this?
Black September terrorist group
What did they do?
Targeted Jordan government and massacred Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics
Who were the Falangists?
phalanx = a military group in close formation
Maronite Christian paramilitary organization
How did the Falangists start the Civil War in April 1975?
They attacked a busload of Palestinians and killed 27.
How did the PLO respond?
Violently in Beirut
Who joined the PLO?
Pan-Arab and Muslim groups
How many had died by 1976?
50,000
Where did the PLO stand in 1976?
They had gained control of 80% of the country.
Who did the Maronites turn to?
Syria
How did al-Assad respond?
He was happy to help. He was anti-Israeli but also did not trust the PLO.
What did Syria do?
Sent troops which gave stability until 1982.
What happened in 1982?
Israel invaded to try to stop PLO attacks from Lebanon.
How far did they get?
Beirut
How did America respond?
They led a multi-national group which negotiated the PLO leaving Lebanon
Where did they move to?
Tunis.
What did America do next?
American troops were withdrawn.
What did this lead to?
3,500 Palestinians & Lebanese Shia were massacred by Maronite Catholics
including women and children
What did the Isaraeli forces do?
Stood by and did nothing and blocking exits.
In 1983, what did the UN conclude?
That this was a genocide and Israel was responsible.
Who personally was held responsible?
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon
What happened to him?
He was forced to resign but was later elected Prime Minister.
What did the rest of the world do?
The US-led international force returned.
What happened in April 1983
The US Embassy in Beirut was bombed, killing 64.
What was unique about the bombing?
It was one of the first suicide bombings in the region.
What did the PLO do 6 months later?
Housing for US and French peacekeepers was bombed, killing 307 people.
Who claimed responsibility?
A Lebanese Shia group called Islamic Jihad.
Who likely financed the Islamic Jihad?
Iran
What did the Islamic Jihad do next?
Kidnappings, including journalist Terry Anderson And Irishman Terry Waite who had gone there to negotiate Anderson’s release.
What other groups emerged?
Miltant Shia groups financed by Iran.
Which was the most famous of these groups?
Hezbollah
Hezbollah = Party of God
Why was Iran involved?
The new theocratic regime.
What happened by 1988?
Internal groups were weakened and peace talks began
What was included?
Syria was allowed involvement in Lebanon’s political affairs.
When did the war end?
1990
When did Syria leave?
in 2005
What immigrants does Lebanon host today?
1 million from the later Syrian Civil War
