On the path to the Mount Lebanon Civil War and Keserwan Revolt: Re-establishing the order in the Mount Lebanon

In 1516, the Ottoman Empire annexed the Mount Lebanon. This however, did not cause any change in the religious life and services, vernacular language, the culture and the social life of the community, as the Ottoman Empire did not dictates any modifications on the society where it conquered. The region had been partially autonomous due to its internal dynamics and its distance from the capital city of the Ottoman Empire. At that time (as now) there existed a number of religious parts and sects. Inevitably, sometimes conflicts and various revolts had occurred between religious groups in the region. As a result of these revolts, the regime of the Mount Lebanon evolved into "Double Qaimaqamate or District System" in 1841. Nevertheless, this regulation was insufficient to resolve the conflict, therefore, the regulation was updated in 1845. Unfortunately, this could not prevent the upcoming conflicts in the region. In 1858, a peasant revolt occurred in Keserwan. The villagers rebelled for various reasons including but not limited to political, social and economic problems taking place in the region and the empire; the reaction against the tyranny of the ruling the Khazin family, the economic crisis of 1857, the hardened living conditions and impayable taxes due to the fall of the silk harvest; new regulations that aggravated the silk trade imposed by the Europe. However, as time passed, both the discourse and the direction of this socio-economic revolt had changed over time and had turned into a conflict between religious groups. The region affected by the Keserwan Revolt, had expanded over time and spread to all of Mount Lebanon. The Keserwan Revolt, of which sphere of influence was expanding, has evolved into the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war. After the 1860 civil war, "Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate" was established with the "Règlement Organique" in 1861 for the purpose of preventing further conflicts in the region. Thanks to this new system, Mount Lebanon had lived its relatively calm years from 1861 until the region was lost its place under the Ottoman Empire.