In August 1920, France shaped ‘Greater Lebanon’ as per its ‘natural boundaries’: to Mount Lebanon were added the port cities of Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre; the Druze areas; and the Bekaa valley, which had a large Shia population. The French succeeded in obtaining a state which then had a 52 per cent Christian population and provided a Constitution that was based on ‘confessionalism’, i.e., political offices were divided among different groups on religious/sectarian basis. This system ensured that faith-based differences would define state affairs.
