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Research dossier · History & Society

Black Saturday (Lebanon)

1975 massacre during the Lebanese Civil War

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 21, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Black Saturday was the massacre of between 150 and 200 Lebanese Muslim and Druze civilians by Phalangist forces on Saturday 6 December 1975, during the early stages of the Lebanese Civil War. It set a precedent for later outbreaks of violence such as the Battle of the Hotels, the Karantina massacre and the Damour massacre.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Black Saturday (Lebanon)” as 1975 massacre during the Lebanese Civil War. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Black, Saturday and Lebanon.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1975—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Black, Saturday and Lebanon providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Black Saturday (Lebanon)”, the useful work is to connect “1975 massacre during the Lebanese Civil War” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1975.

Critical limits

Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Black Saturday (Lebanon)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Black Saturday (Lebanon) primary sources, Black Saturday (Lebanon) archive and Black research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Black Saturday (Lebanon)”?
  2. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
  3. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Black Saturday (Lebanon)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.