The Middle East in the 20th Century

AP World History

Presentation Outline1) Collapse of the Ottoman Empire2) Post-World War One Settlement3) Arab Nationalism4) Zionism5) Arab-Israeli Conflict6) Oil7) Islamic Fundamentalism and Iran

The Middle East in 1914

1) Ottoman Empire-Collapse 1919-1922

• 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 Empire reduced to

1 independent country)

2)Post-World War One Settlement 1) Sykes-Picot Agreement2) Mandate System3) Treaty of Sevres and Modern Turkey

Sykes-Picot Agreement•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.

•It defined 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.

Mandate System

The League of Nations • established the Mandate system whereby

Britain and France would administer regions until they were ``ready” for independence

Syria and Lebanon • administered directly by France• French troops left in 1946 and two new

countries were formed

Mesopotamia (Iraq)• Install puppet king (Faisal)• Establish 75-year-long oil concession

Transjordan (Israel, Jordan, Palestine)• Don’t give full independence• Support more power, land for Jewish

repatriation in region

The Treaty of Sevres

• 1920 Treaty signed between the defeated Ottoman Empire and the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference

• The Treaty left the Turks with a small rump state

• Kemal Attaturk and the Young Turks rejected the Treaty of Sevres and launch the Turkish War of Independence

• The Turkish Army defeated the Greeks (in the west) and the Armenians (in the east)

• The Turkish victory led to a renegotiation of a better treaty for Turkey

Modern Turkey• Turkey signed the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923

which solidified the borders of the modern state of Turkey• Attaturk implemented several reforms: democratic constitution abolition of millet system multi-party elections secular Western education system

Attaturk`s forces marching into Izmir.

3) Arab Nationalism

1) Arab Revolts during WW12) Gamel Abdel Nasser and Pan-Arab Nationalism3) Saddam Hussein and Hafez Assad and the Baath Party

Arab Revolts during WW1

• From 1916-1918 Arab nationalists revolted against Ottoman rule and joined forces with the British to defeat the Ottoman Empire

• The Arabs were under the impression that by helping out the British they would get a large independent Arab state after the war

• This did not happen- only Saudi Arabia became independent in 1925

• The Arab peoples of Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq were under British or French Mandate rule

Arab soldiers carrying the flag of Arab resistance.

T.E. Lawrence- a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia- fought alongside Arab armies against the Ottomans

Gamel Abdel Nasser

• Overthrew the Egyptian monarchy and established an Arab Republic • Served as President from 1956-1970• Saw himself as the leader of the Arab World• Opposed British and French colonialism in

the Suez War (1956) by nationalizing the Suez Canal• Implemented education, housing, and health

care reforms in Egypt• Led the Arab wars against Israel (1956-1967)

Iraq• Former British Mandate which was granted independence in 1932• Became a republic in 1958• Saddam Hussein came to power in a coup in 1979• His Baath Party championed Arab nationalism and socialism• Mired in 3 unsuccessful wars (Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War (1991), and Iraq

War (2003) - which ultimately led to his demise in 2003

Syria• Former French Mandate which was granted independence in 1944• Baath Party came to power in 1963• Hafez Assad ruled Syria from 1970-2000• Championed secular Arab nationalism and socialism

Hussein, Assad, and the Baath Party

4) Zionism

1) Theodor Herzl and Zionism2) The Balfour Declaration3) The establishment of the State of Israel

Theodor Herzl and Zionism

Theodor Herzl (1860-1904)• Founder of Zionism (Jewish nationalism)

• After centuries of persecution he believed that Jews needed their own national state to protect them against anti-Semitism and further the national interests of the Jewish people

• Herzl encouraged Jewish immigration to Palestine

• He favored the return of the Jewish people to their ancestral homeland (Jews had been exiled from Judea by the Romans in 70 CE)

Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe making their way to Palestine. Circa 1920

Balfour Declaration

• British support for a Jewish homeland was expressed in the 1917 Balfour Declaration

The establishment of the state of Israel• The U.N. partition plan envisioned the

creation of two states: one for the Jews and one for the Arabs• The Jews accepted but the Arabs

rejected this plan• The state of Israel was proclaimed on

May 13, 1948• Several states immediately recognized

the new Jewish state including the USA, Canada, the Soviet Union, and Britain, among others• The Declaration of Independence

triggered the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

Israel`s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence.

5) Arab-Israeli Conflict

1) 1948 Arab-Israeli War2) 1967 Six Day War3) 1973 Yom Kippur War4) Peace with Egypt and Jordan5) Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)

1948 Arab-Israeli War• Arab opposition to a Jewish state had been mounting

since the 1930s• The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a fierce opponent

of Jewish immigration and openly collaborated with Hitler

• After 9 months of fighting in 1948 the Israeli army defeated the numerically superior forces of the Arab League (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia…)

• During the war over 200,000 Jews were expelled from Arab lands and relocated to Israel

• Over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs were expelled or fled from Palestine in the wake of the Arab defeat

• Israel expanded its territory

At the time of the U.N. Partition Plan Palestinian Arabs made up the majority of the population of Palestine.

1967 Six Day War• The Israeli started launching a

series of pre-emptive air strikes against Egypt• War soon broke out between Israel

and her Arab neighbours (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq)• Israel scored a decisive victory

against the combined Arab forces and acquired a significant amount of territory

1973 Yom Kippur War• War broke out when the armies of Egypt

and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur

• Although the war ultimately resulted in an Israeli victory, the Syrians and Egyptians gave the Israelis much more trouble than they had in the Six Day War

• Cold War Aspect: Soviets sent military aid to the Arab side, while the Americans sent aid to the Israelis

• Impact: Arab states realized that Israel could not be defeated militarily

Peace with Egypt and Jordan

• With the support of US President Jimmy Carter the Egyptians and Israelis signed the Camp David Accords in 1978 (a peace treaty which normalized relations)

• In 1994 Jordan and Israel normalized relations by signing a peace treaty

• Israel is technically still in a state of war with two of her neighbours: Lebanon and Syria

Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin shake hands while US President Carter stands in the middle.

Jordan’s King Hussein and Israeli prime minister Yitzchak Rabin shake hands while US President Bill Clinton claps.

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)• Established in 1964, the PLO aimed to liberate

Palestine from Israeli rule and create a Palestinian state• Between 1967 and 2004 the organization was

led by Yassar Arafat• Before 1993 the organization encouraged and

engaged in terrorist acts such as kidnappings and plane hijackings aimed at bringing international attention to its cause• The PLO planned and orchestrated the 1972

Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes

Yassar Arafat

6) Oil

1) Discovery of Oil2) The oil states3) Wars and oil

Discovery of Oil• First discovered on Masjid-I Suleiman in Persia (Iran) in 1908.

• Turkish-Petroleum Co. [TPC] founded in 1911 -drill for oil in Mosul, Mesopotamia (modern day 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.

Oil and the Middle East• American oil companies

[Texaco & Chevron], gainoil concessions in Bahrainin 1929.

• In 1933, American oil companies win an oilconcession in Saudi Arabia.

• ARAMCO [Arab-American Oil Co,] is created in 1939.

OPECin OPEC

• Several Middle Eastern countries belong to OPEC including:

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates

• OPEC has tremendous influence over the supply of oil production and worldwide oil prices

Oil and wars

1973 Yom Kippur War:• In retaliation for support for Israel during the war, several Arab OPEC members

imposed an oil embargo on exports to Western countries• The sudden increase in the price of oil was a shock to the economies of the US

and Western Europe

1991 Gulf War• Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait and took control over the Kuwaiti

oil fields- the war affected the oil supply and impacted prices• Concerned about Iraqi and aggression and the oil supply, the USA and its coalition

partners declared war on Iraq and liberated Kuwait

7) Islamic Fundamentalism and Iran1) Collapse of Shah’s regime2) Iranian Revolution3) Shi’a and Sunni divisions

Features of the Pahlavi dynasty under Collapse of the Shah’s regime Shah

• The Shah assumed the throne from his father in 1941

Features of his regime:

• Authoritarian

• Corruption

• Modern, Western, and secular

• Pro-US

Why did the Why did the Shah’s regime fail? regime fall?

1) Authoritarianism alienated the middle classes

2) Corruption weakened the regime’s legitimacy

3) The Shah’s Pro-US alliance and emphasis on modernization and Westernization alienated Iran’s Muslims

• Riots and violence broke out on the streets of Tehran

• A power vacuum was created and the Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers stepped in to lead the revolution

The Islamic Republic of IranEstablished in 1979 after the

abdication of the Shah

Features:

Theocratic- laws are based on Islamic sharia law

Totalitarian: the regime imposes strict codes on conduct and morality

Some democratic elements: an elected assembly and an elected president

Shi’a and Sunni divisions

• Numerous conflicts in the Middle East have pitted Shi’a Muslims against Sunni Muslims• The Lebanese civil war(1975-1990) was a consequence of this

division• The Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) was another consequences of this

division• Iran (main Shi'a power and Saudi Arabia (main Sunni power) have

become geopolitical rivals