Causes for Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990)?

Question

What factors were crucial as the underlying causes for the civil war in Lebanon (internal and external factors)?

Answer 1

As Lebanon is essentially divided into two groups - Maronite christian and Shia Muslim, there was always the potential for war, combine that with the palestinian refugee influx and the iranian revolution (from secular to islamic state) then the stage was set for a war.
There were international connections to consider as well.
Traditionally Christians have been connected to France, also allied to Israel.
The Muslims have been supported by Iran & Syria.
This is avery general answer though!

Answer 2

Actually, there are Sunnis in Lebanon also. They are influential, Rafik Hariri, killed on 14 Feb 05 was Sunni. There are also Druze. So it is a very mixed bag, and I used to tell people, if you think you understand Lebanon, I haven't explained it very well.

Answer 3

Please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Civil_War

there are also many more items to be found by a web search,
some of which need care reading as they are obviously posted from a particular political-religious bias.

1. Political.

2. Religious.

3. Syrian interest in destabilising the area for its own gains.

4. P.L.O. Refugee Camps and P-L-O. attacks on Israel causing instability.