Lebanon since Independence

Following are key events in Lebanon's history since independence, leading up to Sunday's parliamentary elections:    

- Independence -

On November 22, 1943 Lebanon becomes independent after 23 years under French mandate.

A "national pact" is agreed under which Christians agree to abandon protection from the West and Muslims that of Arab nations. 

It also lays out the sectarian power-sharing agreement that still rules the country today, with the post of president allocated to a Maronite Christian, prime minister to a Sunni Muslim and speaker of parliament to a Shiite Muslim. 

The pact, however, sows the seeds of internal conflicts, fueled by interference by foreign powers.

- Civil strife -

In the 1950s, under the influence of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Muslims again begin to dream of Arab unity.

A five-month civil war breaks out in 1958 when Lebanon's Muslims, backed by Nasser and Syria, take up arms against the pro-Western regime of president Camille Chamoun.

Chamoun calls for U.S. help. American troops arrive in July, their first military intervention in the Middle East. With the rebellion quelled, they pull out three months later.

- PLO to Lebanon -

After the Arab defeat in the June 1967 Israeli-Arab war, the first Palestinian bases are established in south Lebanon the following year, on the border with Israel and Syria.

In 1969, Lebanon legalizes the armed Palestinian presence on its soil under the Nasser-sponsored "Cairo accord".

The Palestinians set up their own authority, including policing, in Palestinian camps.

Following the bloody "Black September" clashes in Jordan, in 1970, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) retreats to Lebanon.

In 1973, military operations by the PLO and reprisal raids by the Israelis sour relations between Palestinians and the Lebanese state.

- Civil war -

On April 13, 1975 a 15-year-long civil war starts. Christian militias battle with Palestinians, who are quickly backed up by leftists and Muslim forces.

In 1976 the Syrian army intervenes, with U.S. approval, after an appeal by embattled Christian forces.

In 1982 Israel invades Lebanon and besieges Beirut. Arafat and 11,000 Palestinian fighters evacuate the capital.

In September at least 1,000 people in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Shatila are massacred by Christian militia.

The Taef agreement officially ends the war in 1990, after more than 150,000 people were killed, 17,000 went missing and hundreds of thousands were exiled or displaced. 

- Syrian domination -

Despite the war's end, Syria's military and political dominance over Lebanon is crystallized with a May 1991 treaty between Damascus and Beirut. 

Israel also maintains its occupation of southern Lebanon, withdrawing only in 2000. 

On February 14, 2005, former prime minister Rafik Hariri is killed in a massive Beirut bombing along with 22 others. Those opposed to Syria blame Damascus, which repeatedly denied any role.

The assassination sets off rival protests, with demonstrators gathering on March 8 in support of Syria but a bigger demonstration on March 14 attracting more than one million people in Beirut to denounce Damascus. 

The rival protests become the namesake of Lebanon's opposing political camps. 

On April 26, 2005 the last Syrian troops leave Lebanon under opposition and international pressure. Syrian forces had peaked at 40,000 during their 29-year deployment.

- Israel-Hizbullah conflict -

In July 2006, a conflict starts between Israeli forces and the powerful Shiite movement Hizbullah after the latter captures two Israeli soldiers from the southern Lebanon border area.

The ensuing 34-day war costs Lebanon around 1,200 lives, mostly civilians. 

With the withdrawal of Israeli troops in October, the Lebanese Army -- aided by the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon -- deploys in the south after a 40-year absence.

- Syria war -

The Syrian conflict breaks out in March 2011 amid constant fears it would spill over into Lebanon. 

In April 2013 Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says his fighters have intervened in Syria on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. 

Several deadly attacks hit Hizbullah bastions in Lebanon, claimed by small extremist Sunni groups.

The Syrian conflict further entrenches Lebanon's divided political blocs, one led by Iran-backed Hizbullah and the other by Saad Hariri, the son of the assassinated ex-PM, who is backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia.