Lebanese Front
| Lebanese Front الجبهة اللبنانية |
|
|---|---|
| Participant in Lebanese Civil War (1975–1986) | |
| Active | Until 1986 |
| Groups |
Kataeb Party National Liberal Party Marada Movement Guardians of the Cedars Al-Tanzim Other minor Christian organizations |
| Leaders |
Pierre Gemayel Camille Chamoun Suleiman Franjieh |
| Headquarters | Beirut |
| Strength | 20,000–25,000 |
| Allies |
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) South Lebanon Army |
| Opponents |
Lebanese National Movement (LNF) Lebanese National Resistance Front (LNRF) Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Lebanese Communist Party (LCP) Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) Syrian Armed Forces 1976–1990 |
The Lebanese Front (Arabic: الجبهة اللبنانية| al-Jabha al-Lubnaniyya) or Front libanais in French, was a coalition of mainly Christian parties formed in 1976 during the Lebanese Civil War. It was intended to act as a counter force to the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) of Kamal Jumblatt and others.
The Lebanese Front was presided by the charismatic former president of Lebanon, Camille Chamoun, and its main participants were Pierre Gemayel, the founder and leader of the then-largest political party in Lebanon, the Kataeb Party, president Suleiman Frangieh, who had just finished his presidential years in office. It also included first class intellectuals, such as distinguished professor of philosophy and eminent diplomat Charles Malik who had been president of the United Nations General Assembly in 1958, and Fouad Frem al-Boustani, the president of the Lebanese University. The front also included religious figures such as Father Charbel Qassis, who was later replaced by Father Bulus Naaman the "head of the permanent congress of the Lebanese monastic orders". For a brief while the poet Said Aql was a member.
As soon as the war erupted in Lebanon, and before the Lebanese Front was formed, many of the future leaders of the Lebanese Front organized their political parties into militias, most notably Camille Chamoun's National Liberal Party, Pierre Gemayel's influential longstanding Kataeb Party, and Suleiman Frangieh's Marada Brigade. The number of men totalled around 18,000, which was a relatively large number given that the total population of Lebanon was less than three million.
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