Abstract
Lebanon is a very complex entity. We need to understand some concepts about the historical features of the country to grasp a better understanding of its current state. First, Modern Lebanon is part of a larger unit: historical Syria, as opposed to the present Syrian Arab Republic, which now includes the sovereign states of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. Many tensions stem from this dual belonging (Hourani, 1986). Second, two kinds of authority coexisted throughout almost all Lebanese history: a feudal political system based on allegiance to the "lords of the valley" and a bureaucratically organized government. Thus, one can wonder whether these two concomitant phenomena, Beirut's stunning emergence as a major Mediterranean harbor and the rise of nation-state ideologies, are somehow related or not. Having all the aforementioned remarks in mind, I will try to determine the impact of Beirut's rise on the Lebanese political cultures and on the nationalist discourses that started taking shape in the nineteenth century. To that end, this paper will focus on two major events of Lebanese history: the events of 1860 and the creation of Greater Lebanon by the French mandatory power.
