Taras Y. Kobishchanov Christians of Syria During the French Expedition to the Middle East (1798—1801)

Abstract

The presented article is an attempt at a comprehensive analysis of the reaction of the Christian communities of Syria to the invasion of French troops in 1799. The theme of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Eastern Campaign is extremely popular. However, there has not yet been a separate work analyzing the perception of the French invasion by Christians in Great Syria: both its occupied areas and those remaining under Ottoman rule. As a result, the mindset of Syrian Christians during the first European invasion of the Holy Sites of Palestine since the Crusades remained a mystery. Another purpose of the research was to study the stages of deformation of the system of ethno-confessional relations in the Middle East in the period preceding the full-scale crisis of the 19th century. As a result, it can be concluded that although the French invasion led to an increase in interconfessional tensions, there was no wave of Christian pogroms in Syria. The religious peace based on the principles of Sharia was observed by the Ottoman authorities almost flawlessly. This did not stop Turkish officials from using Christian communities and their wealthy leaders as one of the sources of funds needed to wage war. As for the Christians themselves, the church elites perceived the bearers of the ideas of the French Revolution mostly negatively, although, when faced with Republican soldiers, they hid their feelings. The Syro-Christian common people, on the contrary, demonstrated their sincere joy at the arrival of the European military and provided them with various services. The French invasion led to a change in the balance of power, a deformation of the Sharia system of dependence and patronage. There was a split between the church elites and their flock. The struggle for the possession of the Holy Places of Palestine has intensified. In Mount Lebanon, the Maronite community began to claim power for the first time. All these factors will increase over the next decades and lead Syria to an inter-confessional explosion in the middle of the 19th century.

Keywords

history of Syria, Syrian Christians, the Eastern Campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte, the French expedition to Syria, ethno-confessional relations in the Middle East, the struggle for the Holy Places of Palestine

For citation

Kobishchanov T.Y. Christians of Syria During the French Expedition to the Middle East (1798–1801) // The Historical Reporter. 2025. Vol. LIV. P. 120–179. DOI: 10.35549/HR.2025.2025.54.003

Taras Y. Kobishchanov

C.Sc. (History), Associate Professor at the Department of Middle and Near East History, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Moscow, Russian Federation.

e-mail: kobischanov@mail.ru

SPIN-код: 5280-3310

AuthorID: 1001917

ORCID: 0000-0001-8165-0897

ResearcherID: AAV-6437-2021

Scopus AuthorID: 57220932499

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