●Arrest of the independence leaders at Rashaya

At dawn on 11 November 1943, after parliament had amended the constitution and deleted the Mandate articles, the French authorities arrested President Bechara el-Khoury, Riad al-Solh and the members of the government and imprisoned them in the castle of Rashaya; Habib Abou Chahla and Sabri Hamadeh formed a provisional government in Bchamoun, and demonstrations and a general strike spread.