Download Formation of the Modern Middle East

Learning Objectives:
Each student will be able to:
-Describe the political situation and the emotional motivations that
existed during the early 1900 in the area controlled by the Ottoman
Empire (modern day Middle East)
-Explain the role the various documents/agreements (Damascus Protocol,
Belfour Agreement, Sykes-Pecot Agreement, United Nations Mandate,
etc) played in creating the confusion and hard feelings that are still
present in the region today
-List and explain in a timeline format the major turning points in Middle
East history as it relates to the Israeli/Palestinian territories
The Birth of Modern Zionism–1897
Zionism is the national liberation movement
of the Jewish people who sought to restore
their independence in their ancestral homeland.
The dream of restoration and return had been at the
core of Judaism and Jewish identity for 2,000 years.
Zionists integrated this historic dream with modern
political ideals.
Germany, Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary VS Russia,
France, GB, Italy and eventually USA
Good Guys win, now what to do with the conquered land?
Formation of the Modern
Middle East
The Middle East up to and After 1919
The Middle East in WWI:
The Ottoman Empire
 Controlled large areas of
modern day Turkey, Syria,
Israel, Jordan, Iraw, and
parts of Western Saudi
Arabia.
 Ottomans fought on the
side of Germany and
Austria Hungary in WW1
 Challenge British control
of the Suez canal & their
colonies
British Interests and Protectorates
Suez Canal Kuwait
Ottoman Empire 1915-1918
 Outgunned by allied Forces
 Undermanned
 Industry couldn’t keep up on
destroyed weapons, etc
 Eventually defeated by
British invasions into modern
day Iraq and Russia from the
north
British Wheelings And Dealings
Muslims:
 Promised
independence if they
assisted in the defeat
of the Ottoman Turks
Lawrence of Arabia
Hussein-McMahon Letters, 1916
The Arab inhabitants of the area were already
looking toward a large revolt against the
Ottoman Empire.
The British encouraged the Arabs to revolt and
thus hamper the Ottoman Empire, which
had become a German ally in the War after
November 1914.
See docs – (end for today)
Sharif Hussein of Mecca
Wheeling and Dealing continue
•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.
•This conflicted with the promise of self rule negotiated with
the Hussein-McMahon letters of 1916.
Sykes-Picot - defined
 France was to exercise direct
control over the coastal strip of
Syria, Lebanon, and the greater
part of Galilee, up to the line
stretching from north of Acre to
the northwest corner of Lake
Kinneret -referred to as the
"blue zone."
Sykes-Picot - defined
 East of that zone, in the Syrian
hinterland, an Arab state was to
be created under French
protection (Area "A").
Sykes-Picot - defined
 Britain was to exercise control
over southern Mesopotamia
(the "red zone"), the territory
around the Acre-Haifa bay in
the Mediterranean, with rights
to build a railway from there to
Baghdad.
Sykes-Picot - defined
 The territory east of the Jordan
River and the Negev, south of
the line stretching from Gaza to
the Dead Sea, was allocated to
an Arab state under British
protection (Area "B").
Sykes-Picot - defined
 South of France's "blue zone,"
in the area covering the Sanjak
of Jerusalem, and extending
southwards toward the line
running approximately from
Gaza to the Dead Sea, was to be
a "brown zone" under
international administration.
Sykes-Picot secret Agreement
British Wheeling and Dealing con’t
Jews- Balfour Declaration:
1917
His Majesty’s Government views
with favor the establishment in
Palestine of a national home
for the Jewish people and will
use their best endeavors to
facilitate the achievement of
this object, it being clearly
understood that nothing shall
be done which may prejudice
the civil and religious rights of
existing non-Jewish
communities in Palestine…
Sir Arthur James Balfour,
Br. Foreign Sec.
Ottoman Empire-Collapse 19191922
 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 Empie reduced
to 1 independent country)
War Ends- Arab world expects deals to be honored
1917 – Bolshevik revo occurs, they (Russia) leak the Sykes-Picot agreement,
Arab mistrust begins
•The King of Syria, was the title briefly used following the
partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War
I. King Faisal proclaimed the seat for himself, but it was not
recognized by either France or BG (Skyes-Picot)
•France sends in troops to get him out, and he is expelled
•On 10 August, the Treaty of Sèvres divided the region into
League of Nations mandates governed by France and the United
Kingdom.
•The British government decided to step back from direct
administration and create a monarchy to head Iraq while they
maintained the mandate.
•Faisal agreed to become King following a referendum showing
96% in favor, and on 23 August 1921, Faisal was crowned King of
Iraq.
King Faisal
of Syria
Faisal-Weizmann Agreement
 On 4 January 1919, Faisal and Dr. Chaim Weizmann, President of the
World Zionist Organization signed the Faisal–Weizmann Agreement
for Arab-Jewish cooperation, in which Faisal conditionally accepted
the Balfour Declaration based on the fulfillment of British wartime
promises of development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and on
which subject he made the following statement:





The agreement committed both parties to conducting all relations between the groups by the most
cordial goodwill and understanding, to work together to encourage immigration of Jews into
Palestine on a large scale while protecting the rights of the Arab peasants and tenant farmers, and to
safeguard the free practice of religious observances. The Muslim Holy Places were to be under
Muslim control.
The Zionist movement undertook to assist the Arab residents of Palestine and the future Arab state
to develop their natural resources and establish a growing economy.
The boundaries between an Arab State and Palestine should be determined by a Commission after
the Paris Peace Conference.
The parties committed to carrying into effect the Balfour Declaration of 1917, calling for a Jewish
national home in Palestine.
Disputes were to be submitted to the British Government for arbitration.
King Faisal (background info only)
 Faisal fostered unity between Sunni and Shiite to foster common
loyalty and promote pan-Arabism in the goal of creating an Arab state
that would include Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Fertile Crescent.
 While in power, Faisal tried to diversify his administration by
including different ethnic and religious groups in offices.
 He faced great challenges in achieving this because the region was
under European, specifically French and British, control and other
Arab leaders of the time were hostile to his ideas as they pursued their
own political aspirations for power.
 In addition, Faisal’s attempt at pan-Arab nationalism inevitably
isolated certain religious groups.
Mandate System- Post WW1
 UK, France administer
regions until they’re
“Ready” for independence
 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
Oil discovered in the Middle East
 First discovered on Masjid-I Suleiman in
Persia (Iran) in 1908.
 Turkish-Petroleum Co. [TPC] founded in 1911
drill for oil in Mosul, Mesopotamia (Iraq)
 Britain signed a secret agreement with the
sheikh of Kuwait (1911) 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.
Allies attempt to maintain control over Turkey following WWI
conquest of Ottoman Empire, but Mustafa Kemal lead successful
fight for independence, establishing modern Turkey.
This derails Allied plans to settle the Kurds and Assyrians inside
modern Turkey borders, forcing them into Northern Iraq instead, a
cause of ongoing conflict with the majority Arab population.
Mustafa Kemal
Arab Independence?
 When the Ottomans departed, the Arabs
proclaimed an independent state in
Damascus (Syria), (1917) but were too
weak, militarily and economically, to resist
the European powers for long, and Britain
and France soon established control and rearranged the Middle East to suit themselves.
New Middle East
 Syria became a French protectorate thinly disguised as
a League of Nations Mandate.
 The Christian coastal areas were split off to become
Lebanon, another French protectorate.
 Iraq and Palestine became British mandated
territories. Iraq became the "Kingdom of Iraq" and
one of Sharif Hussein's sons, Faisal, was installed as the
King of Iraq.
 Iraq incorporated large populations of Kurds and
Assyrians, many of whom had been promised
independent states of their own.
New Middle East Con’t
 Palestine became the "British Mandate of Palestine" and was split
in half.
– The eastern half of Palestine became the "Emirate of
Transjordan" to provide a throne for another of Husayn's
sons, Abdullah.
– The western half of Palestine was placed under direct British
administration.
 The already substantial Jewish population was allowed to increase.
Initially this increase was allowed under British protection.
 Most of the Arabian peninsula fell to another British ally, Ibn
Saud. Saud created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
•
The Pahlavi Family: put on the throne of Persia. (In 1935, Reza
Shah Pahlavi instructed foreign embassies to call Persia by its
ancient Persian name, Iran)
Rezah Khan (1877-1944)
 In 1921 he headed a British orchestrated coup and
occupied Tehran.
 He negotiated the evacuation of the British forces
stationed in Iran since World War I in 1924 and
declared himself SHAH in1925.
 created the Pahlavi Dynasty.
 ruled from 1925-1941.
 initiated some modern
reforms.
 forced to abdicate his throne by the Allied armies in
1941.
Reforms in Iran
 Secularization  seizure of
religious lands.
 Adoption of the French civil
code.
 Built the Trans-Iranian
Railroad.
 Improved education.
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
Oil and the Middle East
• 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], gain
oil concessions in Bahrain
in 1929.
• In 1933, American oil
companies win an oil
concession in Saudi Arabia.
• ARAMCO [Arab-American
Oil Co,] is created in 1939.
The Middle East between the Wars
Middle East during WW2
 Germans wanted North African Colonies,
the Suez Canal in order to gain access to
Arabian oil fields.
 Germans offered full independence to
middle east and African states if they
supported Axis cause
– Some political and religious leaders
supported Germans in order to attain
independence from British, French
Middle East Post WW2
 Independence is granted to many states
-same issues arise as in Africa in many cases tribal loyalties etc.
 Cold War begins and both sides lobby for power
and influence in the region.
 The state of Israel is formed by a British Mandate
(with support of the UN & US) in 1948. (impact
of Holocaust)
-large Jewish populations of Europe leave to go
back to their homeland.
Stop here
Arab Reaction & the Cold War
 US and Western powers support Israel
 USSR tries to influence Arab countries
 Several Regional conflicts break out:
Arab Israel War of 1948
1967 Six day war
1968-72 War of Attrition
1981 attacked Iraq
1982 Lebanon
Israel holds its independence to this day (extreme
Anti-Israeli stance in many Middle East countries)
Elsewhere
Iran:
 1950s saw US-backed installation of a Shah
 1970s: Shah forced from throne again by
Fundamentalist Clerics, led by Ayatollah
Khomeini
Elsewhere
Iraq:
 1960s Baath party takes control of Iraq
 Secular Government
 Late 1970s: Saddam Hussein takes control
Elsewhere
Afghanistan:
 1970s- invaded by Soviet Union
 US-backed muhajideen against Soviets
 After Soviet Collapse, establishment of
Taliban Government
Elsewhere
Saudi Arabia:
 people enjoy decent standards of living
financial benefits from government
 Little- to no social reforms
– Women can’t drive
– Limited ability to criticize govt
RESULTS:
 US is last major super power left after 1991
with a great interest in the Middle East (no
one else left to blame)
 Middle Eastern countries have been pawns
of the western powers since the early 20th
century.
 Anti-American, Anti- Western, and AntiIsraeli thought common in many countries
and organizations.