European colonialism in the Middle EastIntervention, Transformatio

n,Independence

A romanticized painting of Napoleon inspecting a mummy at the Pyramids.

Definitions Imperialism

– Policy of extending control over foreign entities either thru direct or indirect political or economic intervention

Colonialism– System in which a

state claims sovereignty over territory & resources beyond its borders, displacing or ruling its local population Cecil Rhodes, “From Cape to Cairo”, as

depicted in a 19th c. Punch magazine.

Why did Europe become so strong?

New state types emergence of the national state

around 1500– well-defined territory– relatively centralized– Professional armies– New accumulation of wealth

New economies– Exploration of the “New World,” 1450-

1700.– Industrial capitalism

W. European Transformation

New ideas– Science and Enlightenment – Development of a new scientific

discourses

New identities – “Us” and “Them,” “Civilized world and

“uncivilized” world, Orient & Occident– emergence of nationalism

Responses:Transformations in Ottoman

rule Ottoman reform: The Tanzimat, 1830s-1870s

– New centralization– New technologies (railroad)– New education– New institutions– Autonomous reforms (Egypt)

Erosion of Ottoman economic and political independence– Capitulations

European protection of non-Muslim minorities– 1881 Public Debt Administration

Nationalism– loss of Ottoman territories in Europe– Turkish and Arab nationalism– Communal violence

The Age of Empire, 1875-1914

Growing global division between the very powerful and the less powerful

Rise of colonial empires – Between 1876 & 1914 about 25% of the

world’s land surface distributed as colonies among about 6 states (E. Hobsbawm)

– Reasons: economics (new markets & new resources), strategic reasons, political symbolism, nationalism

In the late 19th c. around 60% of Britain’s cotton exports went to India & further east…

Imperialism in Africa, late 19th-early 20th century

European colonialism in the Middle East, late 18th-late 19th c.

– 1798-1801 French invasion of Egypt

– British outposts on the Arabian Peninsula, 1799

– French annexation of Algeria, 1834 (settler colonialism)

– British administrative occupation of Egypt, 1882

– Russian and British imperialism in Iran

Gerome’s Napoleon in Egypt (1863)

European colonialism in the Middle East, 20th century

WWI and Competing promises:– Husayn-McMahon Correspondence,

Sykes-Picot agreement; Balfour Declaration

Post WWI: League of Nations-sanctioned Mandate System gives Britain and France administrative control of Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria, & Lebanon

Many other areas remain under direct or indirect colonialism

Sykes-Picot Agreement

The Mandate System certain parts of the world put under

“trusteeship” of various victorious European powers

British mandates in the MidEast: Palestine, Iraq, Transjordan

French mandates in the MidEast: Syria, Lebanon

Mandates both sanctify western colonialism but also circumscribe it

ARTICLE 22 OF THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONSJune 28, 1919

1. To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant.

2. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the League.

3. The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographic situation of the territory, its economic conditions and other similar circumstances.

Outside the Mandate True independence: Turkey Mostly independent: Yemen, S.

Arabia Direct colonial rule: Libya (Italy);

Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia (French) External control & influence: Iran

(Britain, Russia, U.S.), Egypt (Britain) British treaties of protection: Kuwait,

Oman, U.A.E.

Map Correction: Iran and Egypt were not fully independent until much later than indicated here. Both continued to have extensive external involvement in their economic and political affairs.

Full Independence: How and When

Military Coup: Egypt (1952), Iraq (1958) Revolution: Iran (1979) War: Turkey (1920-1923), Algeria (1954-

1962), Israel (1948) Uprising and Int. Agreement: Libya, Syria,

Lebanon (after WWII) Treaty: Jordan (1946/8), Tunisia (1956),

Morocco (1956) Communities promised states/autonomy

that did not receive them: Palestinians, Kurds, Armenians

Colonialism: Overarching effects

Creation of new, national states in place of the Ottoman Empire (Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, etc.)

Implanting of western-supported regimes (especially monarchies) that use violence to maintain authority. In many cases, these would later be violently overthrown.

Centralization of political power. Loss of rural autonomy.

Reorganization of social relationships among different groups. Privileging of some religious and social groups over others, leading to future conflict.

Massive economic disruption. New economic relationships, with arrangements particularly benefiting western powers

New models: nationalism, “modernity vs traditional”

Colonialism & Imperialism,summed up (a perspective)