The Ottoman Empire and the Interwar

Period

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Imperial History Timeline Map

The Rise of Islam (634 CE)The Arab Empire (634-1258)

• Arabs conquer the Middle East from the Roman Empire.

• Islam replaces Christianity as the dominant religion.• Arab Muslims build a huge empire by controlling

Mideast trade• Christians from Europe now must pay Muslim traders

to buy goods from Asia.• Europe is a poor continent – Middle East is the center

of learning and civilization.

The Arab Empire (634-1258)

The Silk Road

• All major trade routes go through the Middle East

• Whoever controls the region charges fees on everything that travels through.

• Huge amounts of wealth flow into the Middle East through trade.

• Most valuable items include:– Silk– Spices

Ottoman Turks Conquer the Middle East

The Ottoman Turks are an Islamic but non-Arabic people living in what is today Turkey.

Beginning in the 1200’s the Ottomans started to gain power and build an empire. Allowed people to practice their own religion.

They were fine soldiers and gained land easily. They had a more superior military organization than other empires.

Ottoman TurksThis empire eventuallyunited most of the MiddleEast and North Africa. It encompassed much ofwhat had once been theIslamic and the ChristianByzantine Empires.

Turkish expansion reached its peak in the 16th century.

The Beginning of the End• Tensions rise between Muslim Ottomans and Christians in Europe.

Christians don’t want to pay fees on goods brought in from Asia

• European merchants don’t have to pay Ottoman fees if they go around the Middle East. Major trade routes no longer run through the Middle East they go around Africa to avoid the Ottoman’s.

• Middle East becomes very poor as European Empires control world trade routes

• Ottoman Empire shrinks and is bankrupt by 1900 CE

• The Middle East is a poor region that no one cares much about.

End of Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire lasted until the 20th century, lasting almost 600 years.

However, the Ottomans did not modernize like the rest of the world.

They were economically, socially, and militarily falling behind.

Unlike the previous Muslim Empires they did not value education and cultural achievement.

By the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was shrinking.

Indeed, by time of the beginning of World War I, the Ottoman Empire, weakened and collapsing through the slow loss of territory, was regarded as "the sick man of Europe and Asia,” though it still remained a political power in Europe and the Middle East.

“The Great War”WWI (1914-1918)

• WWI breaks out in Europe in 1914– Russia, Britain, and

France vs. Germany, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire

– Why would the Ottomans choose to fight on the side of the Germans?

Reasons for Joining the Central Powers

• Germany had won early battles in war and believed the Central Powers would win the war.

• Russia badly wanted Ottoman land and the Ottomans hoped Germany would stop Russia from taking over their land.

• The Ottomans owe money to British and French money which held major Ottoman resources

• They also joined the Central Powers to gain needed technology from the Germans.

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

Dissolution of Ottoman Empire

• Germany loses and the Ottoman Empire is dissolved and partitioned (divided) among the Allied Powers– The Holy Land is occupied by Britain and France

• Nationalist Groups want independence (those that were friendly to England were put in charge).

• Turkey gains independence

How did the Ottoman empire end?

The Europeans destroyed their strengths.

Ottoman Strength #1: Control of trade.

Europeans broke this strength by going around Africa and gaining control of trade.

Ottoman Strength #2: Wealth

Discovery of the New World leads to great wealth for Europe from the gold and silver found there.

Ottoman Strength #3: Technology

The technology of Europeans surpassed the Ottoman superiority especially in production of guns, munitions and other products necessary for war.

Colonial Powers Were Planning to Grab What They Could of a Collapsing Ottoman Empire.

• The Sykes-Picot agreement was a secret understanding concluded in May 1916 during World War I

• It was between Great Britain and France, with the assent of Russia, for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.

• The agreement led to the division of Turkish-held Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine into various French and British-administered areas.

• The agreement took its name from its negotiators, Sir Mark Sykes of Britain and Georges Picot of France.

Territory remaining in the Ottoman Empire (green) by start of WWI

• During the Interwar Period [from the end of the First World War (1914-18) to the beginning of the Second World War (1939 – 1945)], the Paris Peace Conference parceled out former Ottoman territories to the victorious nations for administration.

• The territories were called “mandates,” a term that was meant to signify that the European countries were not establishing colonies, but instead were assisting these countries in moving toward self-government and independence.

• The European countries were to administer the mandates under the guidance of the newly-formed League of Nations.

League of Nations• The League of Nations, a forerunner of the United Nations

(UN), supervised the governing countries in the administration of the territories. The League expected the governing countries to improve living conditions in the territories, and to prepare the people for self-government.

• Britain received mandates for Mesopotamia (later renamed Iraq) and Palestine. Palestine was later divided into Palestine and Transjordan (later renamed Jordan).

• France received Syria, which was later divided into Syria and Lebanon.

What is a protectorate?

• Protectorate- A relationship between a strong sovereign nation and a weak nation or area not recognized as a nation.

• Once the strong nation has established a protectorate over a weak nation, it can control the latter's affairs.

• Also: the relation of a strong state toward a weaker state or territory that it protects and partly controls.

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. They were promised independent Arab nations if they revolted against the Turks. This did not happen!!

TAG Links

• http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome02/index.php

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saud/

• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1244627