Invented ‘Français de l'Orient’: Memories of Lebanese Maronites and France

This paper delves into the concept of the ‘Français de l'Orient,’ invented by the Lebanese Maronite intellectuals and the French Romantic intellectuals in the 19th century. The downfall of Mehmet Ali Pasha in 1840, coupled with the banishment of Bashir Shihab II, triggered a crisis within the Maronite Church due to its close political, social, and religious ties with Bashir II, the contemporary political leader. Seeking to restore the Shihab dynasty, the Maronite Church turned to Western powers for assistance, with France responding to their plea. Positioning itself as the protector of Catholics within the Ottoman Empire, France supplanted the Holy See. However, the defeat of Mehmet Ali by the Ottoman Empire and Allied forces also jeopardized France's influence over Syria. Amid this dual crisis, the Maronite Church and France embarked on constructing an imagined identity called ‘Français de l'Orient,’ drawing from the shared historical context of the ‘Crusade.’ This identity portrayed the Maronites, who had previously established a Christian state in the Levant with French crusaders, as the ‘Crusaders of the East.’ Essentially, the Lebanese Maronites were presented as brethren of France, united by cultural, religious, and historical bonds. Therefore, this paper posits that the ‘Français de l'Orient’ is a fictional entity created by the Maronite Church and France to serve their political interests, subsequently exploited by the French during their colonization of Syria and Lebanon.