Transcript Africa and the Middle East

Africa and the Middle East
Ch. 30
African Independence
Africa in
early 1900s
African Independence
• Africa
today
Independence Gained
• European rule starts to
end after WW II
• England and France no $
to support colonies
• Ghana, 1st nation to gain
independence
• Led by Kwame Nkrumah
• 17 more independent
nations in 1960
Independence problems
• France fought to maintain
control in Algeria
• National Liberation Front
(FLN) fought guerilla war to
win freedom – granted in
1962 (after 8 years)
• South Africa
• African National Congress
(ANC) fights for black
equality – Nelson Mandela
• Apartheid pushed by
Afrikaners (Dutch)
• Desmond Tutu, F.W. de
Klerk
With New Independence Comes…
• Economic questions
– Kenya and Congo = capitalism
– Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea =
African socialism
– Dependent on exports
(Liberia/rubber, Nigeria/oil)
• Pan-Africanism (unity of all
black Africans)
• Led by Nkrumah and Jomo
Kenyatta (Kenya)
• Hunger (Ethiopia, Sudan)
• AIDS (2/3 of global total in subSaharan Africa)
• Poverty (3/4 of people live off
land; drought)
• Civil War (Nigeria, Rwanda)
Society and Culture
• African cities look a lot like
western cities
• Rural areas missing modern
amenities
• After independence women
allowed to vote and run for office
• Still lack range of career options
• Rural areas – traditional attitudes
(arranged marriages, etc.)
• Art = balance between tradition
and western
• Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart)
– influence of western culture on
traditional African village
Middle East
Conflicts a go-go
Palestine
• Pre-WWII Palestine home to Arabs
• Zionists wanted Palestine as home for Jews
• 1948, state of Israel created by United Nations (failed
invasion by Arab nations)
• Arabs still claim land as their own and refuse Israel’s right
to exist
Nasser and Pan-Arabism
• In Egypt, Britain and France
controlled the Suez Canal
• In 1956 Gamal Abdel Nasser
(leader of Egypt) took it back
• Britain, France, and Israel
attacked to get control – Egypt
was backed by US and USSR
• With new power, Nasser
promoted Pan-Arabism
• Concerns over oil profit-sharing
led to failure of united Arab state
Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Six Day War (1967)
• Israel vs. Arab Nations, over
in…6 days
• Israel took control of Golan
Heights, West Bank and Sinai
Peninsula
• Egypt leads attack in 1973
(new president Anwar elSadat)
• War led to rise in oil prices set
by OPEC
• 1977 peace treaty – Camp
David Accords (Egypt and
Israel, with Pres. Jimmy Carter
mediating)
Further Arab-Israel Stuff
• Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) – led by
Yasir Arafat
• Terrorist attacks against Israel
• Intifada occurred in 1980s and early 2000s
(militant uprising)
• Some agreements made but slow in progress
Iran
• In 1950s-1970s under
leadership of USsupported Shah (leader)
• Muslims opposed
westernization
• Led by Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini
• 1979 Islamic Revolution –
take US Hostages
• Poor Iran-US relations
since
Iraq
• Saddam Hussein takes
over in 1979
• Attacks Iran in 1980 (war
ends in 1988, US
supported Iraq)
• Invades Kuwait in 1990
• US leads attack against
Iraq (1st Persian Gulf
War)
Afghanistan
• Developed close ties with USSR ($ help)
• Internal fighting to overthrow communism led to USSR
invasion 1979
• US supports Afghani resistance – USSR leaves in 1989
• Taliban takes over (human rights violations)
• US invades and drives out Taliban – now looking for
terrorists (Osama bin Laden)
Society and Culture
• Islamic law, Islamic militants
– Sadat assassinated in 1981
– Terrorism
• Women’s roles
– Oppressive by western
standards (used to be relaxed
and open for women)
• Literature
– More secular (non-spiritual)
writings
– Naguib Mahfouz (Cairo
Trilogy) – shows changes in
Arab family as well as in Egypt