133 entries on 121 dates · the books disagree on 42
dates 1–60 of 121 next
May 1971
Tuesday, 25 May 1971
The road to war · From the books day (planned strike)
A general strike set for 25 May is put off after a 5 per cent wage rise.
The General Workers' Union set a general strike for 25 May 1971 but deferred it when a 5 per cent wage rise was decreed. It sought 11 per cent more pay, lower rents, state imports of medicines and basic foods, a law for farm labourers and no more arbitrary dismissals.
\_this day in full \_on this day
June 1971
June 1971: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Jordan outlaws Palestinian groups and fighters; the resistance shifts its centre to Beirut.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian fighters, with the resistance's offices, hospitals, research and press centres, were now in Lebanon, chiefly Beirut, its main base once Jordan barred Palestinian political groups and fighters in June 1971.
\_this day in full
summer 1971: day not established
The road to war · From the books
First strikes led by workers' committees in Beirut's industrial suburbs.
By early 1971 OCAL's workers' committees were in the main factories of Beirut's southern suburbs; that summer workers struck at Seven-Up, Snibois, Unifid and Pioneer-Jabre. Some strikes were broken up by force; beyond the rehiring of some sacked workers, no demand was met.
\_this day in full
August 1971
Wednesday, 18 August 1971
The road to war · From the books
Yuhanna Bassul is elected Greek Catholic bishop of Zahle.
Elected Greek Catholic bishop of Zahle on 18 August 1971, Yuhanna Bassul was welcomed with ceremony in the town and in Christian villages of the northern Bekaa. His journals, covering 1971-1976 and long unknown, are a rare source on how the war came to Zahle.
Art and memory- book Bishop Yuhanna Bassul's journals for 1971-1976, kept at the Greek Catholic archbishopric of Sayyidat al-Najat in Zahle, surfaced during fieldwork in 2016. They trace tensions over the Palestinian question in Zahle and Ta'labaya.
\_this day in full \_on this day
1971
1971: day not established
The road to war · From the books
AUB students strike and occupy against fee increases.
In 1971 police and Phalange militiamen ended an American University of Beirut students' strike against higher fees, and students were expelled. Strikers had occupied buildings and marched in force.
The road to war · From the books
About 150 'believing teachers' start presenting Islam as an ideology in South Lebanon schools.
From 1971 about 150 'believing teachers' brought an ideological Islam into schools in South Lebanon, an early sign, in de Clerck and Malsagne's account, of Shi'i mobilisation.
The road to war · From the books
Peasants of Hanin clash with Speaker Kamel al-As'ad over land.
Twenty-three villagers of Hanin, in the south, were arrested in 1971 during a violent land-ownership dispute between its peasants and Speaker Kamel al-As'ad. A similar dispute arose that year at Qantara, owned by the 'Usayran family.
The road to war · From the books
The Japanese Red Army settles in Lebanon.
Founded by Fusako Shigenobu, close to George Habash's PFLP, the Japanese Red Army settled in Lebanon in 1971 and first struck abroad with the 1972 Lod airport massacre.
\_this day in full
January 1990
Wednesday, 3 January 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
General Michel Aoun admits the existence, in France, of a bank account in his name, with the amount of 15 million dollars. However, he explains that this money is only used for the defense of his country.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun has three officers arrested for dealing with General Lahoud.
Aoun accused three of his officers of plotting to put the Amchit garrison under General Emile Lahoud, the Hoss government's army commander, and to move south, and had them arrested; they had been in talks with Lahoud.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 5 January 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After having spent 43 days in the military casern of Ablah, President Elias Hraoui leaves the Bekaa and settles in Ramlet-el-Beida. The photographer of L'Orient-Le Jour and the Nahar, Georges Semerdjian dies while on the field.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 27 January 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Fighting breaks out between the army and the Lebanese Forces over a school in Furn al-Chebbak.
Both sides had Iraqi weapons. The spark was a school in Furn al-Chebbak, a strategic point between Baabda and East Beirut, which the Lebanese Forces had requisitioned and Aoun's government wanted back for the Ministry of Education. When the militia would not leave, the army fired, and heavy fighting broke out in many places within hours.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the outbreak at Furn al-Chubbak to 31 January (entry 1177); Picard's chronology gives 30 January.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 31 January 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 31 January 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Fights opposing the Lebanese Forces and General Aoun’s army were reported and deprived certain regions of electricity, phone, and water.
What the books addHistorians date the start of this second round of fighting between General Aoun's army and Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces to the last days of January 1990. De Clerck and Malsagne give 31 January, when the army tried to retake positions the militia held at Furn al-Chubbak; they add that the militia's own attack had been planned for 7 February. Hanf dates the first shots to 27 January, over a school in Furn al-Chebbak that the militia refused to hand back to the Ministry of Education. Picard's chronology gives 30 January. The fighting lasted until a ceasefire in May (accounts of its end range from March to July). Aoun's side called it the war for 'unifying the guns'; it is often remembered as the 'War of Elimination'.
Art and memory- artwork Aoun's paper L'Eveil wrote of a people 'born sixty days ago'; posters at the 1989-90 rallies around the Baabda palace cast him as Saint George killing the dragon.
- testimony Among demonstrators polled at Baabda in early 1990, three quarters were under 40 and 95 per cent opposed the Taif decisions (Professor Labaki's unpublished survey, cited by Hanf).
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 27 January 1990, Tuesday, 30 January 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The army garrison at Amchit surrenders to the Lebanese Forces.
Amchit capitulated to the Lebanese Forces on 31 January; they had struck the lightly held coastal garrisons while much of Aoun's army faced the Syrians on the enclave's edges.
\_this day in full \_on this day
winter 1989-1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Hoss government stops paying the army and civil servants in Aoun's area.
Hanf argues that the financial sanctions imposed by Hoss's government set Aoun on course for a clash with the Lebanese Forces. Civil servants in his zone were told to leave government offices and the Central Bank was barred from paying his soldiers and officials; the only money left in the enclave was what the militia still raised as 'taxes'.
\_this day in full
early 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun postpones indefinitely the elections he had called.
General Aoun's government had set elections for January 1990 when it dissolved parliament in November 1989. Since a vote could not be held anywhere, even where no foreign troops were present, Aoun postponed it indefinitely early in 1990.
\_this day in full
February 1990
Thursday, 1 February 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Residents of the Syriac quarter take refuge in a hospital basement.
The service basements of the Hôtel-Dieu de France in East Beirut sheltered 150 people from the Syriac quarter on the night of 1-2 February. Staff worked day and night for several days, then lived in the hospital until July.
Art and memory- testimony Emilie Rizk's Confluences article on the Rizk hospital cites the Hôtel-Dieu de France nursing sisters: during the 1990 fighting in East Beirut the hospital sheltered people from the Syriac quarter, and staff lived there until July.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 2 February 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Sarba garrison and the Jounieh naval base fall to the Lebanese Forces.
Within a few days Geagea held the whole coast of the Christian enclave. Sarba and the Jounieh naval base capitulated to his militia; the smaller army unit in Beirut harbour went to West Beirut and joined General Lahoud.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 3 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
February 3, 4
The army takes control of Dbayeh after a tough battle.
What the books addHanf: the army's counter-offensive of 6 February 1990 reached the coast near Antelias and took Dbayeh, home to Lebanese Forces barracks and the militia's finance department.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 6 February 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 9 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
New dividing lines appeared in the Eastern region and the medias war raged. Hospitals suffered from a serious penury and the Lebanese continued to flee by thousands. That week, 417 were killed and 1,655 wounded.
What the books addTotals for the whole army-Lebanese Forces war differ. De Clerck and Malsagne count over 1,500 victims, fighters and civilians, and say the first three weeks claimed more than the six months of the 1989 war against Syria; the army alone lost 21 officers and 221 soldiers, about 100,000 people moved elsewhere in Lebanon and close to 200,000 went abroad. Hanf estimates about 1,000 dead and 3,500 wounded; Picard 1,000 dead and 3,000 wounded for January-July; Fisk 'well over a thousand' dead in Beirut from end January to end May.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 31 January 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 10 February 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Paul Fares proclaims a 'neutral army'; Lebanese Forces' Kleiat offensive stalls.
Colonel Paul Fares, out of the army for some weeks, proclaimed a 'neutral army' on the day the Lebanese Forces moved on the army's mountain position at Kleiat; soldiers from garrisons that had surrendered to the militia joined him. The offensive soon lost momentum.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 11 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Kesrouan was now at the center of the Aoun-Geagea conflict. Despite all mediations and attempts to maintain the precarious truce, belligerents were fighting on the new front of Daraya, separating the Metn and the Kesrouan.
What the books addColonel Paul Fares declared himself head of a 'neutral army' on 10 February 1990, as a Lebanese Forces push on the army's Kleiat mountain position stalled (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 10 February 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 15 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Despite Mgr Sfeir's pathetic call, a blaze of fire hits the 'Christian country'. The army takes control of Ain el Remmaneh.
What the books addHanf: after the army took Ain al-Rummaneh on 16 February 1990, having attacked the eastern suburbs on the 11th, the Lebanese Forces fell back to Ashrafieh through West Beirut. A Reuters reporter with the troops said it was 'like an earthquake had hit it'.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 11 February 1990, Friday, 16 February 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 17 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Army evacuates 400 soldiers from the Adma base, surrounded for over two weeks. The evacuation takes place with the assistance of the Lebanese Red Cross.
What the books addAoun lost almost all his helicopters when the Lebanese Forces, as a diversion, besieged the Adma base in Kisrawan; the outnumbered commandos held out until a deal let them leave armed (Hanf).
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 25 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Baroness, a civilian ship transporting passengers from Cyprus to the Eastern regions, is attacked resulting in 1 death and 25 injured. The attackers remain unidentified and the liaison between Jounieh and Larnaca is temporarily interrupted.
\_this day in full \_on this day
after 16 February 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Geagea asks the Hrawi government for help.
The four Fouga-Magister aircraft seized at Halat went to General Lahoud's Qlayaat base as a goodwill gesture from Samir Geagea, who after losing Ain al-Rummaneh appealed to the 'legal authorities', the President and the Hoss cabinet. Hrawi's price: unreserved acceptance of the Taif Agreement and of the government's authority.
Sources differ: Entry 1190 dates Geagea's rapprochement with Hrawi to 3 April.
\_this day in full
March 1990
Thursday, 1 March 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Army push on Sin el-Fil and Nabaa; the intra-Christian war ends in deadlock.
Short of ammunition, and facing hard militia resistance in mined streets and houses, Aoun's troops stalled in Sin el-Fil and Nabaa. After little more than a month the war of movement became a stalemate, with Jbeil, Kisrawan, Ashrafieh and Karantina left to the Lebanese Forces, and the Metn, the Baabda area and the coast from Beirut to the Dog River to the army.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 2 March 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Maronite Patriarch threatens to excommunicate Aoun and Geagea, as well as those how obey them, if they continue their fightings. The threat will remain vain despite its reiteration.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date Sfeir's threat to late April or early May 1990: Christian soldiers in Aoun's army faced excommunication, and their dead the denial of Christian burial. They list it among the pressures that halted the army's advance on the Lebanese Forces headquarters at Karantina. The original speaks of a reiterated threat.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 14 March 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Six weeks of inter-Christian fightings cost Lebanon over a third of its annual GNP and continue to paralyze the country's industrial heart.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 31 January 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 28 March 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Pastor William Robinson who was accused of planning the implantation of a Jewish colony and who was expelled from Lebanon, is killed on the bordering band in the South of Lebanon.
\_this day in full \_on this day
mid-March 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun offers to negotiate with Hrawi; Hrawi refuses.
In mid-March Aoun offered Hrawi talks, saying the latest battles proved the conflict could be settled 'only by dialogue'; Hrawi refused until Aoun accepted Taif. The two Christian camps' fire on each other's ports prolonged Syria's 1989 blockade.
\_this day in full
April 1990
Tuesday, 3 April 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The chief of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, joins President Hraoui, while General Michel Aoun turns to the Arab Troika. At the same time, the N.L.P. withdraws from the commandment of the Lebanese Forces.
What the books addHanf: Hrawi made unconditional acceptance of Taif the price of help when Geagea, after losing Ain al-Rummaneh, turned to the 'legal authorities' (Hrawi and the Hoss government) and passed four captured Fouga-Magister aircraft to General Lahoud's Qlayaat base. Aoun, low on fuel and ammunition, was supplied by the SSNP and Hobeika's pro-Syrian militia (Hanf); de Clerck and Malsagne also name Frangieh and Jumblatt.
Other date in the books: Friday, 16 February 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
Monday, 23 April 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the blockade war rages between the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese Forces, the President of the Republic declines Geagea's offer to surrender to him the barracks of Jbeil and the Kesrouan.
Other date in the books: Friday, 16 February 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
April to early May 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The army is stopped short of the Lebanese Forces headquarters at Karantina.
In April, Vatican, US and Israeli pressure stopped the army short of Karantina, the Lebanese Forces' headquarters, which it was preparing to storm after taking the Metn and upper Kisrawan in weeks of fighting that killed several hundred. De Clerck and Malsagne also cite the jamming of army radios by Israeli radars in militia hands, officers won over or bought by the militia, and Patriarch Sfeir's threat to excommunicate Christian soldiers.
Sources differ: Hanf sees stalemate from March, the Lebanese Forces keeping Karantina, with no hint it was about to fall; for Fisk, by July Aoun and Geagea each held half the Christian enclave.
\_this day in full
by Easter 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Christians flee East Beirut for the western sector.
By Easter, Fisk writes, Christians were fleeing Aoun's enclave, most for Muslim West Beirut, where some had not been for fifteen years; 600 Maronite students returned to the American University. In 1982 West Beirutis had sheltered in the east; now, Hanf notes, tens of thousands of East Beirutis did the reverse.
\_this day in full
May 1990
Tuesday, 8 May 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
General Aoun decides to close all the roads communicating with the regions controlled by the Lebanese Forces while the battle continues to rage.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Forces shell the Military Academy; its commander, General François Zein, is mortally wounded.
Lebanese Forces guns deliberately and repeatedly shelled the Military Academy, killing its commander, General François Zein, the most senior officer to die in the war. De Clerck and Malsagne see the army, with many Muslim officers and cadets, as a symbol of national unity and a prime target for the militia, whose 'military school' at Ghosta was losing Christian cadets to it.
Sources differ: Entry 1195 on the same day records Aoun closing the roads to Lebanese Forces areas.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Monday, 21 May 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire between the army and the Lebanese Forces takes effect.
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire took effect between Aoun's army and the Lebanese Forces. Mutual exhaustion held it; their hatred did not abate, and the Christian enclave stayed divided between them through the summer.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the truce to 26 May. Accounts of when the war ended differ: March (Quéméner), May (Traboulsi, Fisk), July (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 26 May 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Hezbollah attacks Amal in West Beirut; Syria restores order.
Renewed in Iqlim al-Tuffah in December 1989, the Amal-Hezbollah conflict reached the capital: by May 1990 Hezbollah could strike Amal in central West Beirut. Syria intervened again, restoring calm without letting either militia win.
\_this day in full
June 1990
July 1990
Wednesday, 11 July 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Hrawi government appeals to all parties to 'side with legality'.
On 11 July 1990 the Hrawi government appealed to every political force, with none excluded, 'to side with legality'. Its plan of action opened with all militias leaving both halves of Beirut. Syria had agreed beforehand; the Maronite Patriarch, the Vatican, France and the troika supported it. Aoun dismissed the appeal as issued 'from illegal offices', while Geagea accepted on condition that Aoun gave up Baabda and Yarze.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 15 July 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lakhdar Ibrahimi met, for the first time since the Taef agreement, with General Michel Aoun, after having conferred with Presidents Hraoui, Husseini and Hoss. Later on, he met with the chief of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea.
What the books addAoun answered Ibrahimi's offer of a national unity cabinet including himself and Geagea with conditions of his own: a stronger president, no appointed deputies, and the militias dissolved and elections held before the Taif amendments were ratified. Hanf counts at least four meetings between the two in summer 1990; Ibrahimi confessed he could not tell what Aoun wanted.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 11 July 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The war of Iqlim al-Tuffah between Amal and Hezbollah begins.
Amal and Hezbollah fought mainly over Iqlim al-Tuffah, high ground east of Sidon and a route to the Israeli-held border strip. Hanf has the clashes there resuming in December 1989; Hezbollah's official account starts its 'war of Iqlim al-Tuffah' in July 1990, with an Amal siege lasting nearly 100 days.
Sources differ: Hanf: from December 1989. The Confluences article is by the same authors as the 2025 book.
\_this day in full
end of July 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun courts Damascus.
Isolated, Aoun began courting Damascus. In late July he described Lebanese and Syrians as one people by custom, tradition and culture, and asked why the two should not be bound more closely than by 'privileged relations'. He had also opened contacts with Hezbollah, though opposition to Taif was all they shared.
\_this day in full
August 1990
Thursday, 2 August 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Iraq invades Kuwait; Syria joins the coalition against Iraq.
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait changed Lebanon's situation. Syria, Iraq's long-time rival, joined the US-led coalition and sent an armoured division to Saudi Arabia. Aoun, armed by Iraq and silent on the invasion, was now opposed by Washington and Damascus alike. The books agree that, in return for joining the coalition, Syria got a free hand to bring Aoun down: the 'red line' that had barred Syrian warplanes from the Christian enclave was lifted.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 10 August 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syria votes to condemn Iraq at the Arab League summit.
Syria backed the Arab League summit's condemnation of Iraq. For Picard, joining the anti-Iraq coalition signalled that Damascus accepted the new American order, partly so as to tighten its hold on Lebanon.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Tuesday, 21 August 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The second Lebanese Republic was born and the National Assembly approved with a majority of 48 deputies the constitutional reforms included in the Taef agreement. However, General Aoun continued to contest the legality of the Chamber.
What the books addSources disagree on the dates. Hanf dates the parliamentary vote (48 for, 1 against, 2 abstentions out of 51 deputies) to 26 August 1990 and its promulgation by President Hrawi to 21 September 1990. De Clerck and Malsagne, and Picard, give 21 September as the date the constitutional law was adopted. Haugbolle says parliament approved the Taif Agreement in August 1990. Traboulsi's postscript gives '21 September' but places it in 1991, probably by mistake. The vote started the Taif timetable: six months to disband the militias, and two years before Syrian troops withdrew to the Bekaa. Aoun called it a comedy, arguing that parliament had been dissolved.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 26 August 1990, Friday, 21 September 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Suleiman Frangieh takes over the family leadership in the north.
In August 1990 Suleiman Frangieh, son of the assassinated Tony, succeeded his uncle Robert as head of the family, which kept some autonomy under Syria in the Christian north.
\_this day in full
September 1990
Thursday, 13 September 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun rejects the government's last offer: 'I embody the solution.'
On 13 September Aoun, declaring 'I embody the solution', refused to talk to the 'puppets in West Beirut'. He was rejecting the government's final offer after the vote: a ministry of state for him, Baabda to General Lahoud, the Lebanese Forces out of Ashrafieh.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 21 September 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President Hrawi promulgates the amended Constitution of the Second Republic.
Hrawi promulgated the revised Constitution, with the Taif reforms written in, and announced on air that it would found the Second Republic. Three ex-army commanders then urged Aoun's soldiers to accept General Lahoud's authority; some officers did.
Sources differ: Hanf calls 21 September the promulgation, after a vote on 26 August; de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard call it the adoption. Entry 1204 dates the vote to 21 August.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Thursday, 27 September 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The blockade against the Eastern region gets tougher and tougher. The goal is proclaimed: force General Aoun to give up before schools reopen.
What the books addHanf notes the blockade had little support even outside the enclave, as civilians rather than Aoun's soldiers bore it. On 28 September 1990, he records, Lahoud's troops tightened it by taking every checkpoint around Aoun's area; Aoun's followers protested daily there and at Baabda.
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 September 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
dates 1–60 of 121 next
