The Second World War changed the fate of Arab countries. Among them was Lebanon, a small country with a predominantly Christian population. France, having received a mandate from the League of Nations to govern Lebanon, agreed in 1926 to grant it a special constitution, a national parliament and the post of president. However, this was only the beginning of Lebanon's 20-year struggle for real independence. The factors of this struggle were the rivalry of Britain and France with the Axis powers in the Middle East, the Anglo-French contradictions during the Second World War, the position of the progressive forces of the anti-fascist coalition, and the unification of numerous political, social and religious factions within Lebanese society. Key words: mandate, National Pact of 1943, Maronites, Sunnis, Shiites, Druze, confessionalism. The coming to power of the Popular Front government in France in the summer of 1936 led to the conclusion in November of the same year of a treaty between Paris and Beirut, according to which, after three years, France was to give up the League of Nations mandate to govern Lebanon, from control over its customs, finances and communications system. In fact, this was the consent of the mother country to the independence of the colony, but with important restrictions: Lebanon had to coordinate its foreign policy with France, keep its troops on its territory, and most importantly, recognize its right to protect ethnic and religious minorities in Lebanon. And since the number of such minorities in the country at that time reached 20 (the most influential were Maronite Christians and Sunni Muslims) and there were serious contradictions and mutual claims between them, France thus had the opportunity to constantly interfere in the affairs of Lebanon, playing the role of "supreme arbiter" (Istoriya Vostoka, 2006, p. 152).. In January 1939, the French Parliament refused to ratify the 1936 treaty renouncing the League of Nations ' mandate to govern L ... Читать далее