Transcript Formation of the Modern Middle East

Formation of the Modern
Middle East
The Middle East After 1919
The Middle East in WWI: The
Ottoman Empire
 Ottomans fought with
Germany and Austria
Hungary
 Challenge British
control of the Suez
canal & their colonies
 Regain territory lost to
Nationalist groups in
the Balkans
Ottoman Empire 1915-1918
 Outgunned
 Undermanned
 Industry couldn’t keep
up
 Eventually defeated by
British invasions into
modern day Iraq and
Russia from the north
British Wheelings And Dealings
Muslims:
 Promise disgruntled
regions full
independence if they
help Allied Powers in
WWI.
Lawrence of Arabia
Hussein-McMahon Letters, 1916
....Britain is prepared to
recognize and uphold the
independence of the
Arabs in all regions lying
within the frontiers
proposed by the Sharif of
Mecca....
Wheeling and Dealing continue
The Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916, officially known as
the "Asia Minor Agreement", was a secret agreement
between the governments of the United
Kingdom and France, with the assent of Russia, defining their
respective spheres of influence and control in Western
Asia after the expected downfall of the Ottoman
Empire during World War I.
It effectively divided the Arab provinces of the Ottoman
Empire outside the Arabian peninsula into areas of future
British and French control or influence. (Turkey)
Sykes-Picot secret Agreement
British Wheeling and Dealing con’t
Jews- Balfour Declaration:
1917
His Majesty’s Government views
with favor the establishment in
Palestine of a national home
for the Jewish people and will
use their best endeavors to
facilitate the achievement of
this object, it being clearly
understood that nothing shall
be done which may prejudice
the civil and religious rights of
existing non-Jewish
communities in Palestine…
Sir Arthur James Balfour,
Br. Foreign Sec.
Ottoman Empire-Collapse 19191922
 Great Britain, and other Arabs eventually defeat the
Ottomans
 Empire is dissolved by British at end of war
 Ottoman Empire NOT mentioned in Versailles
Treaty (ending WWI) but Great Britain gets
jurisdiction over former Ottoman territory.
 Lands are partitioned (divided)
 Nationalist Groups want independence (those that
were friendly to England were put in charge)
 Turkey gains independence (former Ottoman Empie reduced
to 1 independent country)
War Ends- Arab world expects
deals to be honored
1917 – Bolshevik revo occurs, they (Russia) leak the
Sykes-Picot agreement, Arab mistrust begins
King Faisal of Syria
Elected by congress
Treaty of Versailles
 Allied Powers “Win”
 Central Powers (Germany, Ottoman
Empire, Italy) lose colonies, see territories
broken up
 League of Nations
– Mandate System
• UK, France administer regions until they’re
“Ready” for independence
• How is this different from a colony?
Oil discovered in the Middle East
 First discovered on Masjid-I Suleiman in
Persia (Iraq) in 1908.
 Turkish-Petroleum Co. [TPC] founded in 1911
drill for oil in Mosul, Mesopotamia (Iraq)
 Britain signed a secret agreement with the
sheikh of Kuwait who, while outwardly
pledging allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan in
Istanbul, promised exclusive oil rights to the
British.
 Kuwait became a British protectorate in
November, 1914.
 In 1927, oil was struck in Kirkuk, Iraq, and
the Iraq Petroleum Co. [IPC] was created.
Allies attempt to maintain control over Turkey following WWI
conquest of Ottoman Empire, but Mustafa Kemal lead successful
fight for independence, establishing modern Turkey.
This derails Allied plans to settle the Kurds and Assyrians inside
modern Turkey borders, forcing them into Northern Iraq instead, a
cause of ongoing conflict with the majority Arab population.
Mustafa Kemal
Caliphate
 The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph ('successor')“refers to the first
system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity
of the Muslim community.
 In theory, it is an aristocratic–constitutional republic, which means that the
head of state, the Caliph, and other officials are representatives of the people
and of Islam and must govern according to constitutional and religious law, or
Sharia.
 On March 3, 1924, Mustafa Kemal , as part of his reforms, constitutionally
abolished the institution of the Caliphate. Its powers within Turkey were
transferred to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the parliament of the
newly formed Turkish Republic.
 What about the rest of the Arab territories?
Arab Independence?
 When the Ottomans departed, the Arabs
proclaimed an independent state in
Damascus (Syria), but were too weak,
militarily and economically, to resist the
European powers for long, and Britain and
France soon established control and rearranged the Middle East to suit themselves.
New Middle East
 Syria became a French protectorate thinly disguised as
a League of Nations Mandate.
 The Christian coastal areas were split off to become
Lebanon, another French protectorate.
 Iraq and Palestine became British mandated
territories. Iraq became the "Kingdom of Iraq" and
one of Sharif Hussein's sons, Faisal, was installed as the
King of Iraq.
 Iraq incorporated large populations of Kurds and
Assyrians, many of whom had been promised
independent states of their own.
New Middle East Con’t
 Palestine became the "British Mandate of Palestine" and was split
in half.
– The eastern half of Palestine became the "Emirate of
Transjordan" to provide a throne for a politically connected
family, (one Hussein's sons), Abdullah.
– The western half of Palestine was placed under direct British
administration.
 The already substantial Jewish population was allowed to increase.
Initially this increase was allowed under British protection.
 Most of the Arabian peninsula fell to another British ally, Ibn
Saud. Saud created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. (Oil was
discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938)
•
The Pahlavi Family: put on the throne of Persia. (In 1935, Reza
Shah Pahlavi instructed foreign embassies to call Persia by its
ancient Persian name, Iran)
Persia/Iran 1925
 The Pahlavis came to power after Ahmad Shah
Qajar, the last ruler of the Qajar dynasty, proved
unable to stop British and Soviet encroachment on
Iranian sovereignty, was overthrown in a military
coup, abdicated his throne and went to exile in
France.
 The National Assembly, known as the Majlis,
convening as a constituent assembly on December
12, 1925, deposed the young Ahmad Shah Qajar,
and declared Reza Shah the new monarch of the
Imperial State of Persia.
 In 1935, Reza Shah instructed foreign embassies
to call Persia by its ancient Persian name, Iran.
Reforms in Iran
 Secularization  seizure of
religious lands.
 Adoption of the French civil
code.
 Built the Trans-Iranian
Railroad.
 Improved education.
Problems with the division of the
Middle East
 Many Nationalist groups not granted independence
 Boundaries are drawn indiscriminately
*No attention paid to tribal lands*
Result: Arabs are distrustful of European powers
especially the British
English
controlled
side
King Abdullah
controlled
side
Oil and the Middle East
• American oil companies
[Texaco & Chevron], gain
oil concessions in Bahrain
in 1929.
• In 1933, American oil
companies win an oil
concession in Saudi Arabia.
• ARAMCO [Arab-American
Oil Co,] is created in 1939.
Middle East during WW2
 Germans wanted North African Colonies,
the Suez Canal in order to gain access to
Arabian oil fields.
 Germans offered full independence to
middle east and African states if they
supported Axis cause
– Some political and religious leaders supported Germans
in order to attain independence from British, French
Middle East Post WW2
 Independence is granted to many states
- In 1945, at British prompting, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, Transjordan, and Yemen formed the Arab League to coordinate
policy between the Arab states.
 The state of Israel is formed by a British Mandate (with support of the
UN & US) in 1948. (impact of Holocaust)
-large Jewish populations of Europe leave to go back to their
homeland.
Settlemment
 On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved a plan
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
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to resolve the Arab-Jewish conflict by partitioning Palestine into two states,
one Jewish and one Arab.
Each state would comprise three major sections, linked by extraterritorial
crossroads; the Arab state would also have an enclave at Jaffa.
The Jews would get 56% of the land, of which most was in the Negev Desert;
their area would contain 499,000 Jews and 438,000 Arabs.
The Palestinian Arabs would get 42% of the land, which had a population of
818,000 Palestinian Arabs and 10,000 Jews.
In consideration of its religious significance, the Jerusalem area, including
Bethlehem, with 100,000 Jews and an equal number of Palestinian Arabs, was
to become a Corpus separatum, to be administered by the UN.
Stop here
Arab Reaction & the Cold War
 US and Western powers support Israel
 USSR tries to influence Arab countries
 Several Regional conflicts break out:
Arab Israel War of 1948
1967 Six day war
1968-72 War of Attrition
1981 attacked Iraq
1982 Lebanon
Israel holds its independence to this day (extreme
Anti-Israeli stance in many Middle East countries)
Elsewhere
Iran:
 1950s saw US-backed installation of a Shah
 1970s: Shah forced from throne again by
Fundamentalist Clerics, led by Ayatollah
Khomeini
Elsewhere
Iraq:
 1960s Baath party takes control of Iraq
 Secular Government
 Late 1970s: Saddam Hussein takes control
Elsewhere
Afghanistan:
 1970s- invaded by Soviet Union
 US-backed muhajideen against Soviets
 After Soviet Collapse, establishment of
Taliban Government
Elsewhere
Saudi Arabia:
 people enjoy decent standards of living
financial benefits from government
 Little- to no social reforms
– Women can’t drive
– Limited ability to criticize govt
RESULTS:
 US is last major super power left after 1991
with a great interest in the Middle East (no
one else left to blame)
 Middle Eastern countries have been pawns
of the western powers since the early 20th
century.
 Anti-American, Anti- Western, and AntiIsraeli thought common in many countries
and organizations.