1958 Lebanon crisis

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1958 Lebanon crisis
Part of the Cold War and the Arab Cold War

American Marine in a foxhole outside Beirut
Date15 July – 25 October 1958
(3 months, 1 week and 3 days)
Location
Port of Beirut, Beirut Intl. Airport, Lebanon
Result Lebanese government victory
Belligerents

Lebanon Government

Lebanon Opposition

 United States
Commanders and leaders
United States Dwight D. Eisenhower
United Arab Republic Gamal Abdel Nasser
Casualties and losses
± 1,000 killed or injured
United States:
1 killed
1 wounded		 + 5,000 killed or injured

The 1958 Lebanon crisis was a political crisis in

Beirut International Airport
. With the crisis over, the United States withdrew.

Background

Arab Cold War

Main article: Arab Cold War

After the end of

Egypt and Syria. The crisis also encouraged pan-Arabism and increased the popularity and influence of Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt. The United States feared that the region was susceptible to the spread of communism.[5]

The

Middle East Force and several Air Force units. 11,000 soldiers were made ready for combat in the region.[7] While the doctrine was never formally invoked,[5] the US supported Hussein of Jordan in 1957 against an alleged coup attempt and moved to prevent communism from spreading in Syria.[8]

Situation in Lebanon

The

Greek Orthodox Christians, Greek Catholic Christians and Druzes.[11]

Camille Chamoun was elected as the second President of Lebanon in the presidential elections in 1952, replacing Bechara El Khoury in the post. Described as "quite openly anti-Communist", the United States viewed Chamoun as "definitely our friend."[12] In 1956, Prime Minister Abdallah El-Yafi and Minister of State Saeb Salam resigned in protest due to Chamoun's refusal to condemn the British-French invasion of Egypt during the Suez Crisis. This caused Muslim opposition groups to form the United National Front in 1957. The United States agreed to provide military assistance to the Lebanese government from 6 June 1957.[13]

In 1957, shortly after the announcement of the

Wilbur Eveland) to the region, who provided "campaign contributions" towards pro-West politicians.[14] In late May 1957 pro-Chamoun troops killed seven and wounded seventy-three protesters in Beirut and the following month opposition leaders argued that Chamoun "had bought so many votes and gerrymandered so many districts that the balloting would be meaningless." The election was an American success, as fifty-three out of sixty-six parliamentarians supported Chamoun. The US continued to provide aid to Chamoun, fearing Soviet and UAR influence in the region. Chamun's opponents maintained that the election was invalid and needed to be re-held.[15]

On 8 May 1958 a Lebanese journalist, Nasib Al Matni, was assassinated in his office in Beirut.[16] He was a pro-Nasserist and anti-Chamoun Maronite.[16] Following this incident intensive protests occurred in Beirut and Tripoli.[16]

In 1958, Camille Chamoun was in the sixth and final year of his term as President of Lebanon.[17]

Heightened tensions

On 1 February 1958, Syria and Egypt united, forming the UAR.[18][19] The United States feared initially that the new nation would become the dominant power in the Middle East, but recognized it on February 25 after deciding that the UAR could be beneficial in halting communism's spread and keeping Nasser contained.[19] Chamoun and Charles Malik worried that "the peril of subversion in Lebanon" by the UAR "was immediate" and asked for American aid.[20]

Tensions were increasing in Lebanon throughout early 1958. Although Chamoun's term would have expired on 23 September 1958, he intended to run for president again, which was not permitted in the

Lebanese Army, was the most likely figure to succeed Chamoun. Robert M. McClintock, American ambassador to Lebanon, described Chehab as "a neutral legume who would require careful pruning to grow in the right direction."[23] As a result, the US did not formally support Chamoun's effort.[24]

Protests by various groups—mainly the Sunnis and the Druzes—began in February against the Christian Chamoun, who had also aligned himself in support of the US and Britain, actions that protesters considered breaches of the National Pact.

US Information Service library down. Heightened tensions existed around the country, including in the Beqaa Valley, where Shia militants were receiving weapons from Syria.[27] The New York Times dated the beginning of a formal armed rebellion to 10 May 1958.[28] Chamoun requested American military intervention in early May against the threat to his power under the Eisenhower Doctrine, although McClintock noted that there was an "absence of overt Communist aggression".[29]

The leader of the UAR, Nasser, began publicly calling for Arab unity. Various nations, including Lebanon, blamed Nasser's actions for the increase in sectarian unrest, and the Lebanese government filed a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on 22 May 1958, accusing the UAR of meddling in the nation's affairs.[30] The UNSC passed a resolution on 11 June 1958 that recommended sending a group to Lebanon "to ensure that there is no illegal infiltration of personnel or supply of arms or other material across the Lebanese borders". A "Group of Three"—Galo Plaza, Rajeshwar Dayal and Odd Bull—Dag Hammarskjöld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and members of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization were soon dispatched to Lebanon to form the United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL).[31][32]

Operation Blue Bat

US Marines on patrol in Beirut

Eisenhower responded by authorizing Operation Blue Bat on 15 July 1958, in the first application of the Eisenhower Doctrine in which the US announced that it would intervene to protect regimes that it considered to be threatened by international communism. The goal of the operation was to bolster Chamoun's pro-Western Lebanese government from internal opposition and threats from Syria and Egypt. The plan was to occupy and secure

Beirut International Airport
, a few miles south of the city, and then to secure the port of Beirut and the approaches to the city.

The chain of command for Operation Blue Bat was as follows: the Eisenhower administration at the strategic level; Specified Command, Middle East (SPECCOMME, a 'double-hat' for Commander in Chief, US Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean) at the operational level; the United States Sixth Fleet, with aircraft carriers USS Saratoga, USS Essex and USS Wasp, cruisers USS Des Moines and USS Boston, and two destroyer squadrons, including the USS The Sullivans DD-537, USS Leary, USS Vesole and the USS William M. Wood. At the end of June, Essex and Boston were anchored at Piraeus, Greece, while Des Moines, from which Vice Admiral Charles R. Brown was flying his flag, was at Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.[33] Land forces included the 2nd Provisional Marine Force (Task Force 62) and the United States Army Task Force 201 at the tactical level.[34] Each of these three components influenced Operations Plan 215-58 and its execution.

Eisenhower in a newsreel on Lebanon

The operation involved more than 14,000 men, including 8,509 US Army personnel, a contingent from the 1st Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry from the 24th Infantry Division and 5,670 officers and men of the United States Marine Corps (the 2nd Provisional Marine Force, of Battalion Landing Teams 1st Battalion, 8th Marines and 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines under Brigadier General Sidney S. Wade). The 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines arrived on July 16 after a 54-hour airlift from Cherry Point, North Carolina.[35] They were supported by a fleet of 70 ships and 40,000 sailors.[36] On 16 July 1958, Admiral James L. Holloway Jr., CINCNELM and CINCSPECCOMME, flew in from London to Beirut airport and boarded USS Taconic from which he commanded the remainder of the operation.[37] The US withdrew its forces on 25 October 1958.

Eisenhower sent the diplomat Robert Daniel Murphy to Lebanon as his personal representative. Murphy played a significant role in convincing both sides of the conflict to reach a compromise by electing the moderate Christian general Fouad Chehab as incoming president, but allowing Chamoun to continue in power until the end of his term, on September 22.

Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami formed a national reconciliation government after the end of the 1958 crisis.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9780671456542
    .
  2. ^ "Milestones: 1945–1952". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  3. ^ "What was the Cold War?". CBBC Newsround. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  4. S2CID 159381348
    .
  5. ^ a b c "The Eisenhower Doctrine, 1957". United States Department of State. 2007-04-02. Retrieved 2020-11-25.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ Hahn 2006, p. 38.
  7. ^ Hahn 2006, pp. 40–41.
  8. ^ Hahn 2006, pp. 42–43.
  9. ^ French Mandate 1923, p. 1.
  10. ^ Traboulsi 2012, p. 108.
  11. ^ Faruki 1974, p. 28.
  12. ^ Little 1996, p. 31.
  13. ^ "21. Lebanon (1943–present)". uca.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  14. ^ Little 1996, pp. 34–35.
  15. ^ Little 1996, pp. 35–37.
  16. ^
    JSTOR 40393919
    .
  17. ^ a b Tucker 2020, p. 276.
  18. ^ Cotran 1959, p. 347.
  19. ^ a b Hahn 2006, p. 44.
  20. ^ a b Little 1996, p. 37.
  21. ^
    S2CID 218578102
    .
  22. ^
    ISBN 978-1-317-84877-6
    .
  23. ^ Little 1996, p. 38.
  24. ^ Little 1996, pp. 38–39.
  25. ^ Rowayheb 2011, pp. 416–417.
  26. ^ Rowayheb 2011, p. 416.
  27. ^ Little 1996, p. 39.
  28. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  29. ^ Little 1996, pp. 39–40.
  30. S2CID 218578102
    .
  31. S2CID 218578102
    .
  32. ^ Mesquita & White 2015, p. 154.
  33. Metuchen
    (NJ) and London, 1980, 128.
  34. ^ Scott Jackman, Political Success in War: A Criterion for Success, DTIC.
  35. ^ For more on the naval and Marine Corps forces involved, see Bryson, 1980, 126–140.
  36. ^ "Amphibious Warfare History". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
  37. ^ Bryson, 1980, 131.

Bibliography

Further reading

Books and studies

Other languages

  • Pierrick el Gammal, Politique intérieure et politique extérieure au Liban de 1958 à 1961 de Camille Chamoun à Fouad Chehab, Sorbonne University (Paris), 1991. (French)
  • Nawaf Salam, L'insurrection de 1958 au Liban, Sorbonne University (Paris), 1979. (French)

Primary sources

  • Mohammed Shafi Agwani, ed. The Lebanese Crisis, 1958: A Documentary Study, 1965.

External links

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