Beirut 1919: The Paris Peace Conference and the Fight for Lebanon

In the aftermath of World War I, Lebanon's future hung in the balance as diplomats in Paris redrew the map of the Middle East. This episode follows the Lebanese delegation to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, led by Maronite Patriarch Elias al-Hoyek and including Muslim and Druze representatives. They argued for an independent Greater Lebanon under French mandate, facing opposition from Arab nationalists and the British-backed Hashemites. We explore the King-Crane Commission's visit to Beirut, the petitions and counter-petitions that flooded the city, and the forgotten alternative of a fully independent Lebanon. Through the eyes of delegates like Daud Ammoun and the writings of Lebanese intellectuals, we see how the dream of sovereignty collided with the realities of Great Power politics. Featuring the secret correspondence between the French and the Maronite Church, the episode uncovers how a small delegation's efforts shaped Lebanon's borders and its fraught relationship with its neighbors, planting the seeds for a century of conflict.

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