The Lebanon, officially still a part of the French League of Nations Mandate under High Commissioner Gabriel Puaux, is called for different reasons "the Switzerland of the Near East".
Its population of 1.1 Million inhabitants is very mixed: About one half of it are either Christians (Greek-Orthodox, Maronites, Greek-Catholic, Armenians, and smaller Groups) or Muslims (Sunnites, Shiites, Alawites, and Druze), not to mention the Jews and other minorities.
Peace is held by an intricated constitutional System: The President has to be a Maronite, the Prime minister a Sunni, the Parlament's president a Shiite. There has to be both a Greek Orthodox and a Druze cabinet member.
Despite the fact that this mix of people, cultures, and Religions works better than many would think, some people living here exist who believe that Fascism was the way of the future. They're organised in the Phalange under Pierre Gemayel; the secret service of Mussolini's Italy has been involved.
The French Army of the Levant (about 40,000 men strong) is stationed here and in Syria.
During November 1929 to November 1931, Charles de Gaulle was stationed in Beirut.
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