Great Famine of Mount Lebanon

[2][3][4] The situation was exacerbated by Jamal Pasha, commander of the Fourth Army of the Ottoman Empire, who deliberately barred crops from neighbouring Syria from entering Mount Lebanon, in response to the Allied blockade.Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate was one of three entities in Greater Syria or 'Bilad al-Asham' under Ottoman control, including the Syrian and Beirut Vilayets.Mount Lebanon's economy relied heavily on sericulture; raw silk was processed in looms and finished goods were shipped to the European market.[11] While there was ample grain and wheat in Damascus,[10] moving it to the mountainous region of Mount Lebanon when the price of hiring a railway carriage had tripled became almost impossible.[12] The region's ability to export silk, a backbone of the economy, to European countries such as France was inhibited as a result of Ottoman military alliances and the subsequent Entente Blockade.[10] Low rainfall and record-breaking locust infestations laid waste to the remaining crops,[7][5] which further exacerbated the situation and put increasing pressure on already limited food supplies.[10] Growing crops was already a challenge in the mountainous region, and the inhabitants relied on food imports from the adjacent Bekaa Valley and Syria.[7] Jamal Pasha, commander of the Fourth Army of the Ottoman Empire in Syria, barred crops from entering Mount Lebanon.In urban areas such as Beirut, the American University (formerly known as the Syrian Protestant College or SPC) distributed aid to locals on conditions of religious and moral 'worthiness'.Acquiring train freight cars to transport anything to the Beirut Vilayet was impossible without paying large bribes to military commanders and to the railroad authorities.[27] Tawfiq Yusuf 'Awwad's landmark full-length novel Al-Raghif (The loaf) is set in the impoverished mountain village of Saqiyat al-Misk during World War I.From her bosom jutted out a scratched and battered breast that the infant kneaded with his tiny hands and squeezed with his lips, then gave up and cried.Despite the Lebanese government, or any other governmental body, not officially recognizing the Great Famine of Mount Lebanon as a genocide, some Maronites have pushed for its recognition as such.