Lebanon’s Recurring Cycle of Crisis: From 1858 Uprising to Modern Collapse
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A new novel draws stark parallels between a 19th-century peasant revolt and the ongoing turmoil in Lebanon, exposing a pattern of systemic failure and elite impunity.
The echoes of history resonate powerfully in Lebanon’s present crisis. A recently published novel, “Tanios Shaheen, What did I do to deserve this?” by researcher and writer Hassan Al-Zein, revisits the first Lebanese uprising of 1858, revealing unsettling continuities between the struggles of a marginalized peasantry then and the nation’s current economic and political devastation. The book recounts how the hopes of Sheikh Shaheen and his fellow villagers in the Keserwan region and Mount Lebanon were ultimately crushed, replaced by “misery, regret, and unhappiness.”
The Uprising and Its Discontents
The 1858 “people’s uprising” successfully ousted the Al-Khazen family – described as “tyrannical” Muqataji sheikhs – from villages across Keserwan. Peasants seized control, displacing their former rulers and consolidating their own influence, even resorting to burning homes. However, the revolution’s leader, Al-Makari, ultimately met a tragic fate, a consequence of the uprising’s entanglement with broader sectarian conflicts and international power plays. The uprising, fueled by the “blood of his murdered father,” represented the first major peasant protest against the oppression of the sheikhs and the Muqataji system.
This nascent movement unfolded amidst a complex geopolitical landscape. A Maronite patriarch independent of the ruling families emerged, coinciding with the burgeoning “Eastern Question” and the Ottoman Sultanate’s reform efforts through the Humayun Sultani’s line, also known as “Sharif Kalkhana’s line.” These factors, coupled with sectarian strife between Druze and Maronites in 1860, triggered regional and international intervention, ultimately restoring the status quo and returning the peasants to their previous, impoverished conditions.
The aftermath saw the establishment of the Mutasarrifiya system, which enshrined Lebanon’s sectarian quota system in administration and politics – a system that, according to Al-Zein’s analysis, remains “stable and worsening” today.
Echoes of Exploitation: From Usury to Banking Crisis
Throughout the novel, the protagonist repeatedly expresses fear of a return to the control of the Muqataji sheikhs should the movement fail. These sheikhs, the narrative emphasizes, controlled every aspect of peasant life, aided by those practicing “religion by excess” – wealthy individuals who exploited farmers through high-interest loans and usury.
Al-Zein draws a direct line between these historical “debtors in excess” and the current Lebanese banking elite. He alleges that bank owners, having flouted international banking standards, siphoned funds out of Lebanon and seized depositors’ savings, wielding “power” and control over the Lebanese people. These same figures, he contends, are now poised to seize remaining public assets.
A Systemic Failure of Governance
The core of Lebanon’s current predicament, Al-Zein argues, is not merely financial or technical, but a profound failure of state administration and a “brutal and corrupt political administration” prioritizing populism over responsibility. He cites the staggering $50 billion spent on the electricity deficit without establishing new production capacity or enacting meaningful reforms as a prime example.
This pattern of mismanagement extends to infrastructure projects, such as the ill-conceived Al-Masailha dam, which Al-Zein describes as part of a broader culture of “conspiracy, silence, taking advantage of cronies, and turning a blind eye.” He asserts that the root cause of the catastrophe lies in the violation of laws, the constitution, and the Lebanese National Accord Document of Taif.
“If I had followed normal professional rules, we could have known the certain fate towards which we were headed,” Al-Zein writes, suggesting a deliberate disregard for impending disaster by a “clique of populist officials.” The exodus of capital before and during the financial collapse, he notes, underscored the inevitability of the crisis.
From Financial Collapse to Beirut’s Devastation
The financial collapse, Al-Zein contends, triggered a sweeping economic decline and national degradation from which recovery will be arduous. The Beirut port explosion of 2020 serves as a stark illustration of this systemic failure. Even the captain of the Roussus, the ship carrying the explosive cargo, expressed disbelief that Lebanese port authorities accepted and improperly stored the dangerous material.
Reports indicate that security services and officials were aware of the risks but failed to act, resulting in a catastrophic explosion that “essentially destroyed” the capital once again. To date, those responsible – dubbed “Madoff of Lebanon” and his associates – remain unaccountable.
Compounding these crises is the unilateral decision by Hezbollah, with alleged Iranian support, to engage in conflict, further destabilizing the nation.
A Nation Asking “What Did We Do to Deserve This?”
The culmination of these “crimes, violations and transgressions” has led many Lebanese to question their nation’s fate. As the novel’s title suggests, the question echoes throughout the country: “What did Lebanon do to deserve this fate?” And, perhaps more importantly, is a return to normalcy even possible? The narrative, rooted in a 19th-century uprising, serves as a haunting reminder that Lebanon’s current struggles are not isolated incidents, but rather the latest chapter in a long and tragic cycle of systemic failure and elite impunity.
