On 8 November 1943, the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies voted on a constitutional revision that removed the provisions relating to the French mandate. On that day, the government of Riad al-Solh and President Bechara al-Khury claimed independence in the very text of the institutions. France challenges their right to act without its consent. Three days later, his authorities arrested the main Lebanese leaders.
This session preceded by two weeks the date that became the national holiday. Nor should it be confused with the date of the legal text: the vote took place on 8 November, while the constitutional law was dated 9 November 1943. The stakes are then clear: can the authorities elected in Beirut remove the provisions that place them under guardianship themselves?
8 November 1943: sovereignty enters the Constitution
The 1926 Constitution organizes a Republic with a President, a Government and a Parliament. But several of its articles reserve prerogatives to the power of attorney. The existence of Lebanese institutions therefore does not mean that they freely exercise all the attributes of sovereignty. The provisions concerning France and the League of Nations maintain this limitation in the basic law.
The November reform targets these references. Article 1 ceases to make the definition of territory dependent on French recognition and that of the League of Nations. In Article 52, the Presidential competence in treaty matters is no longer subject to a provision of the mandate. Article 102 loses the sentence which placed the Constitution under the protection of France’s agent.
Articles 90 to 94, dealing with mandate arrangements, are repealed. These abolitions affect the relationship between the Lebanese institutions and the French authority. They give a legal translation to the government’s independent program. However, they do not regulate the transfer of each administrative department or the departure of foreign forces by adoption alone.
The question of French, that of the flag
Rule 11 is another important point in the debate. The revision removes French as a second official language. Arabic becomes the official national language; a special law must determine the cases of use of French. The distinction counts: the vote amends a constitutional rule, it does not pronounce a general ban on speaking or teaching French.
The following day’s US diplomatic report describes a lively debate on this article. Several Members wish to remove any reference to the French language. However, the formula retained the possibility of organizing certain uses by law. The break with the mandate thus requires a new legal hierarchy of languages, not the immediate elimination of all administrative or cultural practices.
The flag belongs to another stage. The amendment to Article 5, which concerned the national emblem, was not decided in that first revision. The government postpones the review. It would therefore be incorrect to attribute all the symbolic and institutional decisions associated with independence today to the meeting on 8 November.
A vote retained despite French requests
In the autumn of 1943, the dispute concerned both the procedure and the content. The French authorities maintain that the terms of reference are the result of international commitments and cannot be modified without their consent. Lebanese officials refuse that the recognition of their sovereignty depends on a new authorization from the agent.
The draft was distributed to Members on 6 November. The following day, Lebanese and Syrian officials met in Chtaura. In his telegram of 9 November, US representative George Wadsworth reported that the Syrian leadership was supporting the Lebanese approach. This regional coordination accompanies the preparation of the meeting, without replacing the decision of the Chamber.
On 8 November, French representatives are still trying to get a postponement. They invoke the imminent return of Jean Helleu, delegate general of France, and the presentation of proposals from Algiers. The Lebanese Government maintains the meeting. His refusal to postpone the vote did not exclude, in his reply, subsequent negotiations with the French representative.
The session is held in a tense atmosphere, but remains orderly. According to Wadsworth’s contemporary account, a motion to refer the draft to committee was rejected. Émile Eddé and another MP then left the meeting. Forty-eight of the fifty-three Members of Parliament continue the debate; the final vote by roll call is unanimous among the present. This clarification avoids the confusion between the unanimous vote and the presence of the whole House.
The battle continues in the newspapers
Voting immediately becomes an information issue. The American telegram reports that the French press officer called representatives of local newspapers that evening. They are forbidden to mention the session and its results. The editorial staff nevertheless decided to publish the facts.
The next day, the Sûreté française seized the newspapers, with the exception of copies already distributed or released from the printing works. Censorship thus seeks to prevent the dissemination of a decision that the Lebanese authorities consider an act of sovereignty. This conflict no longer takes place only between chanceries: it also affects the flow of information in Beirut.
From voting to Rachaya arrests
On 11 November, the French authorities arrested Bechara al-Khoury, Riad al-Solh and several political leaders. The detainees are taken to the Rachaya citadel. Jean Helleu suspended the Constitution and entrusted the power to Émile Eddé. The French measures attempt to neutralize the institutions that have just voted for the constitutional breakdown.
The Lebanese mobilization and diplomatic pressure, including the British, led to the release of the leaders on 22 November. They’re back in office. The U.S. State Department then welcomes their reinstatement and the repeal of the French decrees of 11 November. The calendar thus retains three distinct benchmarks: the vote of 8th, the constitutional law of 9th and the release of 22.
Transformations do not end with this liberation. The transfer of Lebanese military units to the State took place on 1 August 1945. In November 1943, the constitutional review opened the decisive conflict over authority: the text no longer reserved France for its mandate.
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