WHY IS THE MIDDLE EAST THE WAY IT IS?

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WHY IS THE MIDDLE EAST THE WAY IT IS?

• FOUNDATIONS OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST AFTER
  WORLD WAR I

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CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN MIDDLE EAST

• GREAT WEALTH (GULF STATES) OR GREAT POVERTY
• RELIES ON EXPORT OF RESOURCES Little
  manufacturing
• UNDEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS (DICTATORSHIPS OR
  ONE-PARTY STATES)
• FAILED STATES and ROGUE STATES
• RISE OF MILITANT ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
• CONFLICT AND STRIFE HOLY HOT SPOTS
• BORDERS ARE GEOMETRIC, NOT NATURAL

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• MODERN MIDDLE EAST TAKES SHAPE DURING AND AFTER
  WORLD WAR I

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WORLD WAR I DECLINING OTTOMAN EMPIRE (Sick man
of Europe) SIDES WITH GERMANY

• DEFEATS INVASION AT GALLIPOLI

• MASSACRE OF CHRISTIAN ARMENIANS

5
ARABS REVOLT

• LAWRENCE OF ARABIA British agent, helps
  organize Arab tribes

• BRITISH PROMISE ARABS INDEPENDENCE
• After the war

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SYKES-PICOT AGREEMENT

• Just kidding.
• British and French divide
• up most Arab lands from
• Ottoman empire after the
• war.

7
TREATY OF SEVRES 1920Allies propose to break
up the Ottoman empire. Christian Greece and
Armenia get territory, Kurdistan to be
independent.

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TREATY OF LAUSANNE - 1923

• Oops, jk again!
• Turks under General Ataturk defeat Greece, expel
  Greeks from
• Anatolia, and proclaim republic. New treaty
• has to be signed recognizing Turkish republic
  under Ataturk.

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TURKEY MODERNIZES UNDER ATATURK

• Ataturks laws
• Replaces Arabic alphabet with Western
• Bans wearing traditional dress like mens fez or
  womens headscarves
• All marriages must be civil
• Army, schools strengthened
• Manufacturing introduced
• LEGACY Today, Turkey REALLY REALLY WANTS to join
  European Union is only Muslim country allied to
  Israel.

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PERSIA BECOMES INDEPENDENT IRAN

• Iran becomes a Shiite nation under the Safavid
  dynasty, 1521-1722. Shiite Islam becomes the
  state religion, with a formal hierarchy of
  clergy.
• In 1906, the weak kings are overthrown and a
  parliament (majlis) established.
• Oil already discovered in Persian Gulf.
• The kingdom is a pawn of Britain and Russia
  through spheres of influence and
  extraterritoriality.

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THE SHAHS

• Reza Shah Pahlavi stages a coup in 1921,
  strengthens central authority, begins
  modernization, builds railroads.
• Under his son Mohammed, (right) Iran becomes an
  ally of the U.S. in the Cold War.

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A NEW COUNTRY SAUDI ARABIA

• A powerful Sheik, Saud ibn Abdul-Aziz, unites
  Bedouin tribes in alliance with strict
  WahhabiMuslims the Ikhwan.
• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is created in 1926.
• Oil discovered in 1930s.
• US forms alliance during World War II.

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NEW COUNTRY CREATED - IRAQ
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MESSPOT

• British put Iraq together, partly to secure oil
  near Mosul in north.
• Hope to control it with Indian troops
• Lots of revolts and problems British reportedly
  gas Kurdish villages
• British pull out in 1930, leaving a monarchy

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PALESTINE

• Jewish settlers hoped to establish homeland for
  their people in Palestine (Zionism). Bought
  mostly waste land from locals under Ottoman law.
• By World War I, local Arabs were already
  beginning to clash with the settlers, who used
  only their own labor.
• However, more Arabs were moving in to the
  territory because the general economy was
  improving.

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BALFOUR DECLARATION

• BRITISH APPEAR TO PROMISE ZIONISTS A FUTURE
  HOMELAND IN PALESTINE AFTER THE WAR
• BID TO ENCOURAGE AMERICAN JEWS TO SUPPORT THE WAR

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McMAHON AGREEMENT

• Hoping to get the Arabs support against Turks,
  British officials appear to promise them
  Palestine also. Woops!

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• "Sir Henry McMahon (1862-1949), British High
  Commissioner in Cairo, negotiated in 1915-16 with
  Husain Ibn Ali, the Sherif of Mecca. The British
  government promised to support his bid for the
  restoration of the Caliphate (and leadership in
  the Arab world)...."
• October 24, 1915. I have received your letter of
  the 29th Shawal, 1333, with much pleasure and
  your expression of friendliness and sincerity
  have given me the greatest satisfaction.
• I regret that you should have received from my
  last letter the impression that I regarded the
  question of limits and boundaries with coldness
  and hesitation such was not the case, but it
  appeared to me that the time had not yet come
  when that question could be discussed in a
  conclusive manner.
• I have realised, however, from your last letter
  that you regard this question as one of vital and
  urgent importance. I have, therefore, lost no
  time in informing the Government of Great Britain
  of the contents of your letter, and it is with
  great pleasure that I communicate to you on their
  behalf the following statement, which I am
  confident you will receive with satisfaction. -
• The two districts of Mersina and Alexandretta and
  portions of Syria lying to the west of the
  districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama.and Aleppo
  cannot be said to be purely Arab, and should be
  excluded from the limits demanded. With the above
  modification, and without prejudice to our
  existing treaties with Arab chiefs, we accept
  those limits.
• As for those regions lying within those frontiers
  wherein Great Britain is free to act without
  detriment to the interests of her ally, France, I
  am empowered in the name of the Government of
  Great Britain to give the following assurances
  and make the following assurances and make the
  following reply to your letter
• (1) Subject to the above modifications, Great
  Britain is prepared to recognise and support the
  independence of the Arabs in all the regions
  within the limits demanded by the Sherif of
  Mecca.
• (2) Great Britain will guarantee the Holy Places
  against all external aggression and will
  recognise their inviolability.
• (3) When the situation admits, Great Britain will
  give to the Arabs her advice and will assist them
  to establish what may appear to be the most
  suitable forms of government those various
  territories.
• (4) On the other hand, it is understood that the
  Arabs have decided to seek the advice and
  guidance of Great Britain only, and that such
  European advisers and officials as may be
  required for the formation of a sound form of
  administration will be British.
• (5) With regard to the vilayets of Bagdad and
  Basra, the Arabs will recognise that the
  established position and interests of Great
  Britain necessitate special administrative
  arrangements in order to secure these territories
  from foreign aggression to promote the welfare of
  the local populations and to safeguard our mutual
  economic interests. I am convinced that this
  declaration will assure you beyond all possible
  doubt of the sympathy of Great Britain towards
  the aspirations of her friends the Arabs and will
  result in a firm and lasting alliance, the
  immediate results of which will be the expulsion
  of the Turks from the Arab countries and the
  freeing of the Arab peoples from the Turkish
  yoke, which for so many years has pressed heavily
  upon them.
• (Signed) A. HENRY MCMAHON.

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