An 1861 peasant-class conflict metastasized into a sectarian massacre of 11,000 Christians

Evidence

In 1858, a development occurred of far-reaching significance. This was a rising among the Maronite peasantry of Kisrawan against their predominantly Druze landlords. The struggle was transformed into a more general conflict be­ tween Christians and Muslims, especially Druzes, culminating in what was, by the gentler standards of the mid-19th century, a major massacre. Some 11,000 Christians are said to have been killed in the Mountain and a few thousand more in Damascus. This led directly to French military intervention and, under West­ ern diplomatic pressure, to the creation in 1861 of a special regime for Lebanon known as the Re`glement Organique. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1399

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the theme of how class grievances transmute into sectarian/communal violence — relevant to modern Lebanon’s civil war trajectory and to any study of communal identity politics.