Beirut 1883: The Silk Boom That Wove Lebanon's Future

Before the civil wars and foreign interventions, Lebanon's economy was built on silk. In the 1880s, the silk trade from Mount Lebanon to the looms of Lyon made Beirut a wealthy Mediterranean hub. This episode explores the empire of the silk merchants—the Khazin, Sursock, and Bustros families—who built palaces, schools, and printing presses with their profits. We discuss the Lebanese silk boom under the Ottoman Empire, the development of steam-powered filatures in villages like Bikfaya and Deir al-Qamar, the rise of a manufacturing bourgeoisie, and the fragile sectarian balance that the industry both relied on and destabilized. The story also covers the impact of cheap Japanese silk and World War I, which together brought the boom to an end. A forgotten economic foundation that shaped modern Lebanon.

#LebaneseSilk #MountLebanon #BeirutHistory #OttomanEmpire #SilkTrade #KhazinFamily #Sursock #Bustros #Bikfaya #DeirAlQamar #Lyon #19thCentury #EconomicHistory #Industrialization #Maronite #Druze #History #FexingoHistory

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