Written by Rihab Abul Hosn

Translated by Assaad Maalouf

NNA - The real concept of independence is a question of national entity, more than it is an annual anniversary like any other occasion that we celebrate. Independence Day is a question of nation, people, well-secured, and stable life. It's an independence that expresses the protection and security which all the Lebanese aspire for, especially in the midst of the current hard times where yearning for independence from all disasters and difficulties has become an obdurate demand.

Seventy years have passed since the day of independence, during which Lebanon suffered critical wars and hard political circumstances, as well as foreign interferences. Yet, nothing has been able to kill or weaken the faith of establishing a free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon that forms the essential base for the nation's sustainability. And in the course of safeguarding Lebanon and preserving it, Lebanon has paid huge sacrifices.

Our predecessors trusted us with Lebanon. They struggled for its welfare by living the peak of darkness in jails and prisons and sacrificed a great number of martyrs along the national path of honor.

Accordingly, it's highly expected of us on the 70th glorious anniversary of Lebanon's independence to recall, in brief, the story of independence back in 1943.

After the World War I and the withdrawal of Ottoman forces from Lebanon and other Arab regions, the French Army entered into Lebanon to effectuate the French mandate term over the country.

In September 1920, the Honorary Commissioner of the French Mandate, General Goro, declared the set-up of Greater Lebanon's state, with Beirut as capital. Thereupon, the area of Lebanon expanded from 3500 square kilometers to 10452 square kilometers, and the population arose from 414000 persons to 628000.

On May 23, 1926, the Council of Representatives approved on Lebanon's Constitution and the establishment of the Lebanese Republic, with Charles Debbas being elected as the first Lebanese President of Lebanon's Republic.

Lebanon's Muslims refused at first the state of Greater Lebanon and sought instead an affiliation with the Arab State which was headed hitherto by Emir Faysal. However, a great number of Lebanese like Riad Solh, Bechara Khoury, were able to find between 1930 and 1943 a "formulation" known thereafter as the Lebanese National Charter.

At the onset of World War II, the Vichy Army suffered from a difficult military situation in the East Mediterranean - something that easily led said army to comply to the commands of the Coalition: stopping war and surrendering on July 8, 1941. Negotiations were thereby set between the British Command and Vichys in Akka upon which a truce accord was signed on July 14, 1941 that stipulated Vichy's withdrawal from both Lebanon and Syria.

Afterwards, the French authority replaced Vichy's in both countries, with General Castro assuming the post of the Free France's General Commissioner, and promising Lebanese in a statement on June 8, 1941, of Lebanon's independence.

Yet, the Lebanese rejected Castro's "independence"," especially that France was practicing authority over Lebanon in an anarchic method, in terms of choosing by itself Lebanon's President, Alfred Naccache, and interfering in Lebanon's interior.

In protest of the French performance, notably by Sheikh Bechara Khoury and Riad Solh, a big national meeting was held in Bkerki on December 25, 1941, under the auspices of Maronite Patriarch Antoine Arida and in presence of representatives of different Lebanese confessions and regions. The meeting called for a Lebanese independence in the full meaning of the word and for restoring a constitutional life, holding parliamentary elections and forming a proper national government.

As the Lebanese felt that the French mandate might be transforming into a bad occupation, they hasted to form a cabinet under the chairmanship of Riad Solh. The cabinet made a ministerial statement that comprised Lebanon's charter, which declared Lebanon as a free and independent republic, with all its confessions, opposing any foreign interference or any allegation or affiliation to an Arab state. However, the charter has not found impression on ground before a Lebanese struggle against the French which ended by a true independence on November 22, 1943.

====================A.M.