Lebanese Republic

Origins

On 23 May 1926 the constitution adopted by the representative council turned Greater Lebanon into the Lebanese Republic, with Charles Debbas as first president, still under the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.

Rule and society

The unwritten National Pact of 1943, agreed by Bechara El Khoury and Riad Al Solh, reserved the presidency for a Maronite, the premiership for a Sunni and the speakership for a Shia. Independence was won in November 1943. Beirut became a banking, trade and cultural centre, but sectarian and social tensions, the 1958 crisis and the presence of Palestinian armed groups led to the civil war of 1975-1990.

To the present

The Taif Agreement of 1989 ended the war, though Syrian troops stayed until 2005, leaving after the assassination of Rafic Hariri. Lebanon then suffered the 2006 war, the 2019 financial collapse, the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah; Joseph Aoun became president in 2025.