Local History in Mount Lebanon in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

The local history of Mount Lebanon is a cultural phenomenon that is only paralleled by the history of coastal Arab cities such as Tripoli, Beirut, and saida, and other inland cities such as Baalbek. In other words, it is a result of socio-economic developments. This history has dealt with cities that are, by their very nature, geo-polar cities, That is, it played economic and political roles in relation to its surroundings, and is distinguished by its demographic, social, and climatic characteristics, to the extent that summer marketing was one of the goals of local historians. The process of chronicling these towns has been characterised by common features, the first of which is their affiliation with the positivist school, which focuses on working with documents after critiquing them, and drawing on some auxiliary human sciences such as geography and archaeology. It also draws on Arab heritage in its treatment of family structures and their clannishness. After describing the historical method used, the geographical reality was described, the chronological patterns used, and the socio-economic, institutional, and educational history were examined. The research concluded with a descriptive-analytical summary of the characteristics of this history.