1958 Lebanon crisis

Lebanese political crisis November 2025 November 2025 1958 Lebanon crisis the Cold War & Arab Cold War Foxhole - Lebanon - Beirut - July 1958.jpg American Marine in a foxhole outside Beirut 10 May – 25 October 1958 (05 10 1958 10 25 1958) Lebanon (Mainly in Beirut) Inconclusive Reconciliation government formed Flag of Lebanon (1943-1990).svg Lebanese Government Former Flag of the Lebanese Army.svg Lebanese Army United States 1912(from 15 July)Flag of Lebanon (1943-1990).svg Pro-Government Factions:Flag of Kataeb Party.svg Kataeb PartyFlag of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.svg SSNP-LArmenian Revolutionary Federation Flag.svg ARF Flag of Lebanon (1943-1990).svg Anti-Government Factions:Najadeh.png Najjadeh Party Flag of the Progressive Socialist Party.svg PSP Flag of the Lebanese Communist Party.svg LCP Flag of Mourabitoun.svg Al-Mourabitoun Supported by: United Arab Republic Flag of Lebanon (1943-1990).svg Camille Chamoun Flag of Lebanon (1943-1990).svg Naim Moghabghab Flag of Lebanon (1943-1990).svg Sami Solh Former Flag of the Lebanese Army.svg Gen. Fouad Chehab United States 1912 Dwight Eisenhower Flag of Kataeb Party.svg Pierre Gemayel Flag of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.svg Chawki Khairallah Armenian Revolutionary Federation Flag.svg Movses Kaloustian Flag of Lebanon (1943-1990).svg Rashid Karami Flag of Lebanon (1943-1990).svg Saeb Salam Najadeh.png Adnan Al-Hakim Flag of the Progressive Socialist Party.svg Kamal Jumblatt Flag of the Lebanese Communist Party.svg Farajallah Helou Flag of Mourabitoun.svg Ibrahim Kulaylat The 1958 Lebanon crisis was a political crisis in Lebanon caused by political and religious tensions in the country that included an American military intervention, which lasted for around three months until President Camille Chamoun, who had requested the assistance, completed his term as president of Lebanon. American and Lebanese government forces occupied the Port of Beirut and Beirut International Airport. With the crisis over, the United States withdrew. Background Arab Cold War Arab Cold War After the end of World War II in 1945, the United States and Soviet Union were the two major world powers. Two years later, the Truman Doctrine was issued, aimed at containing the spread of communism and the Soviet Union.McCullough David https://archive.org/details/truman00mccu Truman 1992 Simon & Schuster 9780671456542 New York 547-549 David McCullough registrationMilestones: 1945–1952 https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/truman-doctrine 2020-11-25 Office of the Historian The Cold War is generally considered to have begun around this time.23 May 2019 What was the Cold War? en-GB CBBC Newsround https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47122488 2020-11-25 As the world divided into the Eastern (communist) and Western (capitalist) Blocs, a struggle for ideological geopolitical supremacy between the US and USSR emerged. One of the ways it manifested was through proxy wars in various global regions. One of those regions was the Middle East, where the Arab Cold War took place.Citino Nathan J. 2019-07-03 The Middle East and the Cold War https://doi.org/10.1080/14682745.2019.1576677 Cold War History 19 3 441–456 10.1080/14682745.2019.1576677 159381348 1468-2745 subscription After the Suez Crisis in 1956, there was an increase in Arab hostility to the West as well as increased Soviet influence in 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.2007-04-02 The Eisenhower Doctrine, 1957 https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/lw/82548.htm 2020-11-25 United States Department of State en The Eisenhower Doctrine was announced by President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower in January 1957. It pledged American economic and military aid to prevent communism from spreading in the Middle East.Hahn 2006 38 The United States Congress passed the doctrine on 7 March and it was signed into law on 9 March.Historical Documents - Office of the Historian https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v17/d4 2025-08-25 history.state.gov James P. Richards began to tour the Middle East and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and United States European Command began to make plans for intervention in the region. Their plan centered around the United States Sixth Fleet, stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East Force and several Air Force units. 11,000 soldiers were made ready for combat in the region.Hahn 2006 40–41 While the doctrine was never formally invoked, the US supported Hussein of Jordan in 1957 against an alleged coup attempt and moved to prevent communism from spreading in Syria.Hahn 2006 42–43 Situation in Lebanon The partition of the Ottoman Empire divided present-day Lebanon under the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon in 1923.French Mandate 1923 1 Lebanon completely became an independent nation on 22 November 1943 when the French Mandate formally ended.Traboulsi 2012 108 Around the time of independence, the National Pact was agreed upon, stating that, among other things, Lebanon was to be a completely independent sovereign state.Paksoy 2025 82 "The Christians were to forego seeking foreign [...] protection or attempting to bring Lebanon under foreign control or influence. In return, the Muslims were to forego making any attempt to bring Lebanon into any political union with Syria, or into the formation of any Arab Union". The Pact marked a compromise between several religious sects living in the country—namely Maronite Christians, Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Greek Orthodox Christians, Greek Catholic Christians and Druzes.Faruki 1974 28 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."Little 1996 31 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 National Union Front in 1957.Paksoy 2025 90 The United States agreed to provide military assistance to the Lebanese government from 6 June 1957.21. Lebanon (1943–present) https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/middle-eastnorth-africapersian-gulf-region/lebanon-1943-present/ 2024-02-26 uca.edu en-US In 1957, shortly after the announcement of the Eisenhower Doctrine—which Chamoun's regime had been the only Arab government to openly endorse "without reservation"—the United States became concerned that parliamentary elections set for June would result in the election of a parliament that was hostile to the US.Paksoy 2025 89 Many Muslims in the nation supported Nasser and the United Arab Republic (UAR). Kamal Jumblatt and Rashid Karami, Druze and Sunni leaders, respectively, condemned Chamoun's support for the doctrine as violating the National Pact.Paksoy 2025 96 US attempts to influence the election included approving the sending of $12.7 million in military or financial aid and sending operatives from the Central Intelligence Agency (including David Atlee Phillips, Miles Copeland Jr. and Wilbur Eveland) to the region, who provided "campaign contributions" towards pro-West politicians.Little 1996 34–35 In late May 1957 pro-Chamoun troops killed seven and wounded seventy-three protesters in Beirut. In 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.Paksoy 2025 89 The US continued to provide aid to Chamoun, fearing Soviet and UAR influence in the region. Chamoun's opponents maintained that the election was invalid and needed to be re-held.Little 1996 35–37 On 8 May 1958, a Lebanese journalist, Nasib Al Matni, was assassinated in his office in Beirut.K. S. The Lebanese Crisis in Perspective The World Today September 1958 14 9 369–380 40393919 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40393919 He was a pro-Nasserist and anti-Chamoun Maronite. Following this incident intensive protests occurred in Beirut and Tripoli.Paksoy 2025 93 In 1958, Camille Chamoun was in the sixth and final year of his term as President of Lebanon.Tucker 2020 276 Heightened tensions On 1 February 1958, Syria and Egypt united, forming the UAR.Cotran 1959 347Hahn 2006 44 The United States feared initially that the new nation would become the dominant power in the Middle East, but recognized it on 25 February after deciding that the UAR could be beneficial in halting communism's spread and keeping Nasser contained.Hahn 2006 44 Chamoun and Charles Malik worried that "the peril of subversion in Lebanon" by the UAR "was immediate" and asked for American aid.Little 1996 37 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 Constitution of Lebanon, and asked for American support in his effort.Little 1996 37Kona Nayudu Swapna 2018-04-03 'In the very eye of the storm': India, the UN, and the Lebanon crisis of 1958 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682745.2018.1445997 Cold War History en 18 2 221–237 10.1080/14682745.2018.1445997 218578102 1468-2745 subscriptionHasou Tawfig Y. https://books.google.com/books?id=4PODDwAAQBAJ&q=lebanon+Al+Telegraf&pg=PT147 Struggle For The Arab World 2019-01-22 Routledge 978-1-317-84877-6 en While the United States feared that a movement against Chamoun could harm their interests in the region, they were reluctant to withdraw support for him, as Fouad Chehab, the chief of staff of 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."Little 1996 38 As a result, the US did not formally support Chamoun's effort.Little 1996 38–39 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.Rowayheb 2011 416–417 Demonstrations also protested that Chamoun had not allowed Lebanon to join the UAR.Tucker 2020 276 The protesters felt that "Chamoun was not willing to modify his foreign policy unless he was forced to."Rowayheb 2011 416 Tensions between Maronite Christians and Arab Muslims continued to rise after the killing of Nasib Al Matni on 8 May. Matni was the editor of Al Telegraf and had been critical of Chamoun's rule. Fighting erupted on the streets of Beirut as a Muslim mob burned the US Information Service library down. Heightened tensions existed around the country, including in the Beqaa Valley, where Shia militants were receiving weapons from Syria.Little 1996 39 The New York Times dated the beginning of a formal armed rebellion to 10 May 1958.Brewer Sam Pope 1958-08-01 LEBANON ELECTS A NEW PRESIDENT;; CHEHAB IS CHOSEN Parliament's 2d Vote Is 48-7 for General -- Premier Absent CHEHAB ELECTED IN LEBANON VOTE (Published 1958) en-US The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/01/archives/lebanon-elects-a-new-president-chehab-is-chosen-parliaments-2d-vote.html 2020-11-23 0362-4331 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".Little 1996 39–40 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.Kona Nayudu Swapna 2018-04-03 'In the very eye of the storm': India, the UN, and the Lebanon crisis of 1958 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682745.2018.1445997 Cold War History en 18 2 221–237 10.1080/14682745.2018.1445997 218578102 1468-2745 subscription 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).Kona Nayudu Swapna 2018-04-03 'In the very eye of the storm': India, the UN, and the Lebanon crisis of 1958 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682745.2018.1445997 Cold War History en 18 2 221–237 10.1080/14682745.2018.1445997 218578102 1468-2745 subscriptionMesquita White 2015 154 Operation Blue Bat August 2022 thumb|upright=1.2|US Marines on patrol in Beirut Eisenhower responded by authorizing the American military intervention Operation Blue Bat on 15 July 1958, in the first application of the Eisenhower Doctrine, in which the U.S. announced that it would intervene to protect regimes that it considered to be threatened by international communism.Paksoy 2025 94 Following a bloody coup in Iraq that killed the pro-American King Faisal II, and the uncovering of a plot against the King of Jordan, the goal of the operation was to bolster Chamoun's pro-Western Lebanese government from internal opposition and threats from Syria and Egypt.Beirut 1958: America's origin story in the Middle East https://www.brookings.edu/articles/beirut-1958-americas-origin-story-in-the-middle-east/ 2025-08-28 Brookings en-US 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, U.S. Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean) at the operational level; the U.S. Sixth Fleet, with aircraft carriers Saratoga CV-60 6, Essex CV-9 6 and Wasp CV-18 6, cruisers Des Moines CA-134 6 and Boston CA-69 6, and two destroyer squadrons, including the USS The Sullivans, Leary DDR-879 6, Vesole DDR-878 6 and the William M. Wood DD-715 6. 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.Thomas A. Bryson, Tars, Turks, and Tankers: The Role of the United States Navy in the Middle East, Scarecrow Press, Inc.: Metuchen (NJ) and London, 1980, 128. Land forces included the 2nd Provisional Marine Force (Task Force 62) and the United States Army Task Force 201 at the tactical level.Scott Jackman, Political Success in War: A Criterion for Success, DTIC. Each of these three components influenced Operations Plan 215-58 and its execution. thumb|thumbtime=03:02|Newsreel about Eisenhower's statement on Lebanon and departure of marines The operation involved more than 14,000 men,Operation Blue Bat: The 1958 U.S. Invasion of Lebanon https://photorientalist.org/exhibitions/operation-blue-bat-the-1958-u-s-invasion-of-lebanon/article/ 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 16 July after a 54-hour airlift from Cherry Point, North Carolina.For more on the naval and Marine Corps forces involved, see Bryson, 1980, 126–140. They were supported by a fleet of 70 ships and 40,000 sailors.https://sobreviveaprendiendo.com Amphibious Warfare History GlobalSecurity.org 2011-03-22 On 16 July 1958, Admiral James L. Holloway Jr., CINCNELM and CINCSPECCOMME, flew in from London to Beirut airport and boarded Taconic 6 from which he commanded the remainder of the operation.Bryson, 1980, 131. The US withdrew its forces on 25 October 1958.McClintock Robert 1962-10-01 The American Landing in Lebanon https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1962/october/american-landing-lebanon 2025-08-31 U.S. Naval Institute en Eisenhower sent the diplomat Robert Daniel Murphy to Lebanon as his personal representative.Paksoy 2025 94 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 22 September.Paksoy 2025 94 Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami formed a national reconciliation government after the end of the 1958 crisis.Paksoy 2025 95 See also Multinational Force in Lebanon Lebanese Civil War 1982 Lebanon War List of extrajudicial killings and political violence in Lebanon Foreign interventions by the United States United States involvement in regime change References Bibliography Ben-Zvi Abraham September 2005 The July 1958 Jordanian Crisis and the Origins of the American–Israeli Alliance: A New Perspective https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13531040500195729 Journal of Israeli History en 24 2 215–228 10.1080/13531040500195729 145271287 1353-1042 subscription Cotran Eugene 1959 Some Legal Aspects of the Formation of the United Arab Republic and the United Arab States https://www.jstor.org/stable/755809 The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 8 2 346–390 10.1093/iclqaj/8.2.346 755809 0020-5893 subscription Faruki Kemal A. 1974 The National Covenant Of Lebanon: Its Genesis https://www.jstor.org/stable/41403854 Pakistan Horizon 27 3 19–31 41403854 0030-980X Fawaz A. Gerges The Lebanese Crisis of 1958: The Risks of Inflated Self-Importance Beirut Review 1993 83–113 Hahn Peter L. 2006 Securing the Middle East: The Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27552745 Presidential Studies Quarterly 36 1 38–47 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2006.00285.x 27552745 0360-4918 subscription Hughes Ann December 2002 'Impartiality' and the UN Observation Group in Lebanon, 1958 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/714002772 International Peacekeeping en 9 4 2–20 10.1080/714002772 143815962 1353-3312 subscription Karam Jeffrey G. September 2017 Missing revolution: the American intelligence failure in Iraq, 1958 https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2016.1275138 Intelligence and National Security 32 6 693–709 10.1080/02684527.2016.1275138 157492629 0268-4527 subscription Kona Nayudu Swapna 2018-04-03 'In the very eye of the storm': India, the UN, and the Lebanon crisis of 1958 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682745.2018.1445997 Cold War History en 18 2 221–237 10.1080/14682745.2018.1445997 218578102 1468-2745 subscription Labelle Maurice M. February 2013 A New Age of Empire? Arab 'Anti-Americanism', US Intervention, and the Lebanese Civil War of 1958 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07075332.2012.707134 The International History Review en 35 1 42–69 10.1080/07075332.2012.707134 154926637 0707-5332 subscription David W. Lesch Prelude to the 1958 American Intervention in Lebanon Mediterranean Quarterly 7 3 1996 87–108 Little Douglas 1996 His Finest Hour? Eisenhower, Lebanon, and the 1958 Middle East Crisis Diplomatic History 20 1 27–54 10.1111/j.1467-7709.1996.tb00251.x McAlexander Richard J. August 2011 Couscous Mussolini: US perceptions of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the 1958 intervention in Lebanon and the origins of the US–Israeli special relationship https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682745.2010.482960 Cold War History en 11 3 363–385 10.1080/14682745.2010.482960 153604066 1468-2745 subscription Mesquita Ana Guedes White Nigel D. https://books.google.com/books?id=7CTvCQAAQBAJ United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL) Oxford Handbook of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Koops Alexander MacQueen Norrie Tardy Thierry Williams Paul D. 2015 Oxford University Press Oxford, United Kingdom 978-0-19-968604-9 153–159 Ritchie Ovendale Great Britain and the Anglo-American Invasion of Jordan and Lebanon in 1958 The International History Review 16 2 1994 284–304 10.1080/07075332.1994.9640677 Paksoy Taylan 2025 The Myth of 'Zaim'/'Zuema': Revisiting 1950s Lebanese Elite Taxonomy and Circulation https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21520844.2025.2450867 The Journal of the Middle East and Africa 16 1 75–98 10.1080/21520844.2025.2450867 subscription 11693/116917 free Rowayheb Marwan George December 2011 Political Change and the Outbreak of Civil War: The Case of Lebanon http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13698249.2011.629871 Civil Wars en 13 4 414–436 10.1080/13698249.2011.629871 143827435 1369-8249 subscription Shlaim Avi May 1999 Israel, the great powers, and the middle east crisis of 1958 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03086539908583063 The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History en 27 2 177–192 10.1080/03086539908583063 0308-6534 subscription Traboulsi Fawwaz From Mandate to Independence (1920–1943) 2012 https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt183p4f5.12 A History of Modern Lebanon 88–109 Pluto Press 10.2307/j.ctt183p4f5.12 j.ctt183p4f5.12 978-0-7453-3274-1 2020-11-25 subscription Edouard de Tinguy The Lebanese crisis of 1958 and the U.S military intervention Revue d'Histoire Diplomatique Paris A. Pédone 4 2007 fr Tucker Spencer C. https://books.google.com/books?id=YBAFEAAAQBAJ The Cold War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection [5 volumes] 2020-10-27 ABC-CLIO 978-1-4408-6076-8 en 1923 French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon https://www.jstor.org/stable/2212963 The American Journal of International Law 17 3 177–182 10.2307/2212963 2212963 163370230 0002-9300 French Mandate 1923 subscription Further reading Books and studies Alin, Erika G. The United States and the 1958 Lebanon Crisis, American Intervention in the Middle East, 1994. Brands, H.W. Into the Labyrinth: The United States and the Middle East, 1945-1993 (1994) excerpt pp 72–80. Gendzier, Irene L. Notes from the Minefield: United States Intervention in Lebanon and the Middle East 1945–1958, 1997 Korbani, Agnes G. U.S. Intervention in Lebanon, 1958–1982: presidential decisionmaking, 1991. Riedel Bruce Riedel Bruce Beirut 1958: How America's Wars in the Middle East Began 2020 Brookings Institution Press Washington, D.C. 978-0815737292 Schulimson, Jack. Marines in Lebanon 1958, Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, Department of the Navy, United States Marine Corps, 1966, 60 p. Wright, Quincy. "United States intervention in the Lebanon." American Journal of International Law 53.1 (1959): 112–125. Yaqub, Salim. Containing Arab Nationalism, The Eisenhower Doctrine and the Middle East, 2003. http://www.history.army.mil/documents/AbnOps/TABD.htm The Lebanon Operation United States Army Center of Military History Contingency Operations Historical Manuscript Collection 2–3.7 AC.F Tab D 2 July 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100612074132/http://www.history.army.mil/documents/AbnOps/TABD.htm 12 June 2010 dead 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 Global Security – Operation Blue Bat Rapid Deployment Logistics: Lebanon, 1958 https://web.archive.org/web/20181211183457/http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/RapidDeploymentLogistics.pdf 2018-12-11 Crisis Lebanon Crisis Category:Arab nationalism in Lebanon Category:Arab nationalist rebellions Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Cold War military history of the United States Category:1958 conflicts Category:Proxy wars Category:United States Marine Corps in the 20th century Category:Lebanon–United States relations Category:United Arab Republic Category:Military operations involving airports