Beirut 1925: The Great Syrian Revolt and Lebanon's Fractured Soul

In 1925, a Druze rebellion in southern Syria spiraled into a full-blown uprising against French rule that threatened to engulf the newly created state of Greater Lebanon. This episode follows the revolt from its spark in Jabal al-Druze to the French bombardment of Damascus, and examines how Lebanese communities—Maronite, Sunni, Druze, and Shia—responded differently. We focus on the neglected role of the Shia peasants of Jabal Amil, who briefly rose in sympathy with the rebels, and on the political calculations of Maronite patriarch Elias al-Huwayyik, who saw the revolt as a threat to Christian Lebanon. Through the lens of the French general Maurice Sarrail and the Druze leader Sultan al-Atrash, we explore how the revolt tested the fragile borders and sectarian compromises of the French Mandate, and how its brutal suppression hardened communal identities for decades to come.

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