University of San Agustin Iloilo City

Social Science Department

History 113 - Asian Civilization

Course Description: The course is a general survey of history of Asian civilization with emphasis on China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia. It deals with the development and formation of their traditional culture and transformation in modern times. General Objectives: By the end of the semester, the students are expected to:

1. know the different civilizations and regions in Asia, their historical and cultural background and their significant contributions to the world;

2. describe the similarities and differences among Asian civilizations in terms of political, economic, social, religious, ethical and cultural aspects;

3. appreciate and have a better understanding of the contributions and influences of Asian nations to the enrichment of world civilization;

4. realize that we live in one world and what happens in one part of the globe affects us directly or indirectly; 5. analyze gender issues by describing the history of women oppression in Asia; 6. analyze the impact of "globalization" to the Asian region. 7. identify the contributions of Filipinos to the enrichment of world civilization; and 8. evaluate the significance of Asian civilization to oneself and their course

Course Requirements:

Long tests internet surfing Quizzes insight papers Group works/research collage presentation Recitation reports Debate field trips extemporaneous speech photo exhibits visit to museums visit to temples Grading System:

Class Standing Periodic Exam + Class Standing long test 2 quizzes class participation assignments/projects Final Rating = PG + MG + FG

3

Class Format

Discussion and open debate are encouraged in this classroom. Given the important role of open discussion in this class it will be especially important to be respectful of others and their opinions. Ideas should be based on a balanced understanding of the topic, not based on taken-for-granted assumptions or stereotypes.

Expectations • attend all class meetings and arrive on time • complete all assigned readings prior to class, as outlined, for this is an important component of maintaining a

discussion-based style of learning • participate in discussions • work and not “free ride” on the back of fellow group members • turn in all assignments on the dates and times specified • take all tests in the times and places for which they are scheduled

Please note that ALL cellular technology must be turned off (or on silent) and out of sight throughout the period.

Also, please follow these class rules:

Please do not disrupt class by interrupting other participants, excessively talking, constantly text messaging,

or by keeping cell phone ringers on during class. If it is absolutely necessary for you to use the phone, please leave the classroom.

Please do not study for other classes, read material for other classes or read newspapers or magazines during class. This disrupts me and those around you and I will ask you to put it away.

Class Notes:

It is likely that some of you will miss at least 1 class over the course of a semester. In the event of absences, you are solely responsible for obtaining missed assignments, notes, and announcements. Final Note

1. Be in your prescribed uniform Monday to Thursday. 2. Wear your school ID properly while inside the campus. 3. Use white intermediate paper only, except otherwise indicated. 4. Only blue or black ink is allowed. 5. When taking the test always remember to :

a. write your family name first b. indicate your course, year, section, and the date

6. Maintain cleanliness. Do not write anything on the wall and on the chair. There is always a proper place for your garbage.

7. Do not loiter in the corridor during class hour. 8. Bring your own school materials (paper, pen, book, etc.) 9. Observe proper seating arrangement. 10. Ask permission before leaving the room. 11. CHEATING means FAILING GRADE. 12. Be courteous! Be polite!

Edwin C. Samis

History 113 – History of Asian Civilization

Course Outline I. Introduction VI. The Contemporary Age

A. History as Discipline A. Changing Asia B. Rationale behind the study C. Geography of Asia 1. Communist Rule Brings Change in China D. Common Socio-Cultural Patterns 2. Japan Becomes an Economic Power E. Asian Religions 3. New Nations are Created in South Asia

4. Conflicts Disrupt Southeast Asia II. The First Civilizations in Asia

B. The Changing Middle East A. Southwest Asia B. South Asia 1. Nationalist Come to Power in the Middle East C. East Asia 2. Conflicts Disrupt the Middle East D. The Rise of Islam

III. Empires of India and China VII. Asia Today

A. Hinduism and Buddhism B. Powerful Empires of India C. Schools of Thoughts in China D. Strong Rulers Unite China

IV. Spread of Civilizations in East Asia Reference

A. The Golden Ages of China World History: Connections to Today B. The Mongol and Ming Empires Elizabeth Gaynor Ellis and Anthony Ester (1999) C. Korean and its Traditions D. An Island Empire Emerges A History of World Societies E. Japan’s Feudal Age John P. McKay, Bennett Hill and John Buckler (1992)

V. Imperialism A History of the World

Marvin Perry (1989) A. Imperialism in South Asia

A History of Asia 1. European Nations Build New Empires. Rhoads Murphy (1992) 2. Trade Brings British Rule in India. 3. Changes Take Place in British India. People and Nations

Anatole Mazour B. East Asia in the Age of Imperialism John Peoples

Theodore Rabb 1. Imperialist Nations Bring Change to China. 2. Revolution Ends the Chinese Empire 3. Japan Becomes a Modern Nation.

History of Asian Civilization

“History is the witness of the times, the light of the truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life,

and the messenger of antiquity.”

- Cicero Roman Statesman The word HISTORY is taken from the Greek word HISTORIA, which means learning by investigation or

inquiry. Division of the World For the sake of convenience, geographers divided the world into: ORIENT - East, the Asian world, the region of the rising sun OCCIDENT - West, Europe and North America, the region of the setting sun In the highest pass of the Urals, Russian geographers mark the boundary between East and West by means of a stone cross which bears the word : Asia - facing the East Europe - facing the West

Geography of Asia Although it is described as the largest continent, Asia is, in fact, the eastern section of an even greater landmass called EURASIA. The Ural Mountains, which lie within Russia and Kazakhstan, are the chief natural boundary between Asia and Europe. The Black Sea, the Bosporus Strait, and the Mediterranean Sea form similar boundaries. None of these features, however, is impassable as some of the landforms within Asia, such as the Himalayan Mountains. What that tells us is that the modern-day distinction between the two continents is more the results of separate cultural histories than of geographical barriers. In fact, Southwest Asia was an ancient crossroads for trade and other contacts between Europe and the rest of Asia. Asia’s very name is a reminder of such early contacts. The ancient Greeks, who were among the founders of European civilization, named the land to their immediate east “Asia.” The term ASU, which meant the “region of the rising sun,” gradually came to apply to all lands between Europe and the Pacific Ocean. (The term Europe has been derived from Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (ops); or from the Akkadian erebu meaning “sunset.”)

Regions within Asia

A. Southwest Asia

A region where the first known human civilization emerged thousands of years ago. This is the region that produces one-third of the world’s oil. Coincidentally, it has been the stage for a long, unresolved conflict between Israel and the Arab world.

B. South Asia

South Asia is a peninsula, separated from the rest of the continent by the Himalayas and other mountain ranges. The region is dominated by India, which has the second-largest population in the world.

C. Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia embraces a peninsula, sometimes referred to as Indochina, and several major

island nations.

D. East Asia

This region is home to five nations. The global impact of these nations is enormous. China has more than 1 billion people. Japan is by far the continent’s most economically successful member.

E. Central and North Asia

For centuries this huge expanse has been dominated by Russia, which spans land in both

Europe and Asia. When the Soviet Union disintegrated in late 1991, five new independent countries replaced the Central Asian Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Another country in the region is Mongolia. Northern Asia, generally known as Siberia, remains part of the European-centered Russia.

The Land Including both mainland and island nations, Asia covers more than 17 million sq. mi. (44 million sq. km.). Measured along the 49th parallel – from Istanbul, Turkey, to a point north of Tokyo, Japan – Asia spans over 6,000 mi. (9,656 km.), west to east. The distance from its northernmost tip to the southern coast of Indonesia is just about the same. Topography Obviously, no single feature could dominate so vast an area as Asia. The most awe-inspiring landforms are the great mountain ranges that radiate from the Pamir highlands of Central Asia, extending eastward through China and as far west of Turkey. To climbers, the best known of these ranges is the Himalayas. Its towering peaks are topped by Mount Everest, which – at 29,028 ft. (8,850 m.) – is the highest mountain in the world. Other Asian ranges include the Hindu Kush, which extends west of the Pamirs, through Afghanistan; the Tien Shan and Altai, which thrust into China and North Asia; and the Karakoram and Altyn Tagh, close neighbors of the Himalayas.

Associated with these ranges are the great plateaus of Mongolia, Xizang (Tibet), and India. Xizang, an autonomous region of China, is sometimes referred to as the “roof of the world,” a reference to its elevations of more than 3 mi. (4.8 km.).

As Asia’s terrain spreads northward, it unfolds in successive belts of deserts, steppes, dark forests, and frozen tundra. Northern Asia, which encompasses almost a third of the continent’s area, is known as Siberia. Of Asia’s many desert regions, the largest are the Thar, in India and Pakistan; the Taklamakan, in China; the Syrian and Rub’ al-Khali, in Southwest Asia; and the vast Gobi, in Mongolia. The Gobi is particularly well known to modern-day paleontologists for its treasures of massive dinosaur skeletons. Climate Spreading from the Arctic Ocean to the equator, Asia includes every major type of climate zone. Yet, despite its vast size and varied climes, much of Asia (particularly in the center and in the north) is not hospitable to human life. Furthermore, it has been estimated that only 10 percent of the continent is capable of supporting crop growth. Over much of Asia, the annual average rainfall is too slight to permit dry farming – the growing of crops without artificial irrigation. Thus, for centuries, dams, canals, and devices to raise water from rivers and wells have been vital necessities. Rivers Asia has more than a third of the world’s principal rivers. Among the longest are the Yangtze and Yellow (Hwang Ho) rivers in East Asia; the Ob, Yenisey, Irtysh, Amur, and Lena in North Asia; the Mekong and Irrawaddy in Southeast Asia; the Brahmaputra, Indus, and Ganges in south Asia; and the Tigris-Euphrates rivers in Southwest Asia. Except for North Asia, where bitter winter temperatures freeze many rivers right down to their beds, Asia’s waterways have always been vital to the economies of its various peoples. Indeed, rivers are the key to Asia’s past.

Shared Cultural Outlooks By the time that Arab traders were plying their vessels eastward across the India Ocean, several distinct characteristics had become part of the legacy of most Asian peoples. Religious and Philosophical Teachings Without exception, all the great religions of the modern world evolved in Asia. The coincidence has a lot to do with the emergence of Asian civilization. But it also comes from the deep curiosity about the origins and meaning of life that prevailed among Asian peoples during the time of their ancient history. The shocking effects of typhoons and floods and earthquakes imprinted a fear and awe of nature on early Asians, as it did on peoples of other continents. By the time they developed civilized societies and the ability to write, Asian peoples had learned to assign the cause of such disasters to all-powerful spirits. Such legends and myths, perpetuated in writing, became the forerunners of organized religions

Admiration of Strong, Charismatic Leaders To many early Asians, the ruler of their state, kingdom, or empire had the qualities of a demigod. He was alternately, high priest or (as in Japan) an offspring of the gods. In real life, he very often was a conqueror, whose victories seemed to confer glory on his people.

Accepting One’s “Proper Place” In every organized Asian society in early times, there was a privileged elite, in which membership was the result of birth, appointment, or victory in war. The rest of the population worked hard for a meager living, and there was little to break up the daily cycle of work, meals, and sleep. Loyalty to One’s Family Group and Tribe In ancient Asia, the vast majority of people were members of an agricultural community or a nomadic tribe. Nomads followed a code based on loyalty to other tribal members. In such places as Iran, Arabia, and Mongolia, nomads were completely dependent on what nature provided for the survival of their animal herds and themselves. The location of pasturage, for example, determined where they would next pitch their tents. A nomad owned only as much as animals on the move could carry. With such lifestyle, the ever-present threat of disaster – a drought, a contagious disease, or a raid by enemies – bound the members of each tribe or village to one another in hard work and mutual help. At the very heart of every social group was the family unit, whose responsibility was to instill and reward community loyalty and punish disloyalty. One of the outcomes of such cultural experiences was a strong tendency to seek group consensus before acting. This goal nurtured habits of long discussion, patient listening, and attention to courtesies that still persist among many Asians today. Technological Excellence Despite the harsh daily working conditions that Asians faced in early times, the civilizations they were a part of often flourished for long periods. In such circumstances, skilled craftwork became a cultural legacy. For centuries, anonymous Asians created great works of artistic value – brilliant handwoven silks, vessels of gleaming metal and fine pottery, jewelry encrusted with gems, and breathtaking works of architecture. Among the latter, several “wonders of the ancient world” stand out. Common Cultural Patterns of Asians

1. The basic importance of the extended family and kin network and its multiple roles. 2. The respect for and importance attached to learning, for its own sake as the path to worldly success. 3. The veneration of age and its real or fancied wisdom and authority. 4. The traditional subjugation and submissive roles of women, at least in the public sphere (although

Southeast Asia is a qualified exception). 5. The hierarchical structuring of society. 6. The awareness of and importance attached to the traditional past. 7. Most societies remain patriarchal and male dominant. 8. Individuals have always been subject to group direction and subordinate to group interest.

Emergence of Civilization

Gradually, over thousands of years, some of the early agricultural villages evolved into highly complex societies, known as CIVILIZATION.

The word CIVILIZATION comes from the Latin word CIVITAS, meaning “city”, or CIVILIS for “city

life,” and most historians equate the rise of civilizations with that of cities.

Many of the earliest civilizations had one thing in common: they rose from agricultural settlements in river valleys.

The earliest cities that archeologists have uncovered so far lie in the valley of the TIGRIS and

EUPHRATES rivers in Southwest Asia (Mesopotamia) and date back to about 3500 B.C.

Cities arose in the INDUS RIVER VALLEY in South Asia (India) some 1500 years later.

The first urban community in East Asia appeared about 1500 B.C. in the HWANG RIVER VALLEY (China).

In these river valleys, people first developed the advanced form of culture known as

CIVILIZATION.

CIVILIZATION is a state of human society characterized by a high level of intellectual, social, and cultural development.

Suggested Reasons Why Civilizations Developed First in River Valleys

1. Rivers were a source of food and fresh water for both human beings and a variety of wild animals.

2. As agriculture developed, the rivers supplied water for growing crops and raising livestock. 3. Some rivers flooded each year and deposited fertile soil on the fields. 4. Because travel by water was easier than travel on foot, rivers encouraged trade.

Features of Civilization Historians distinguished eight basic features found in most early civilizations. These eight features are

(1) cities, (2) well-organized central governments, (3) complex religions, (4) job specialization, (5) social classes, (6) arts and architecture, (7) public works, and (8) writing.

Rise of Cities The central feature of civilization was the rise of cities. The first cities emerged after farmers began cultivating fertile lands along river valleys and producing surplus, or extra, food. These surpluses in turn helped populations to expand. As population grew, some villages swelled into cities. Organized Government As cities grew, they needed to maintain a steady food supply. To produce large amounts of foods and oversee irrigation projects, new forms of government arose. City governments were far more powerful than the councils of elders and local chiefs of farming villages. At first, priests probably had the greatest power. In time, warrior kings emerged as the chief political leaders. They took over the power of the old councils of elders and set themselves up as hereditary rulers who passed power from father to son. Almost always, rulers claimed that their right to rule came from the gods. They thus gained religious power as well.

Complex Religions Like their Stone Age ancestors, most ancient people were polytheistic. That is, they believed in many gods. People appealed to sun gods, river goddesses, and their spirits that they believed controlled natural forces. Other gods were thought to control human activities such as birth, trade, or war. In ancient religions, priests and worshippers sought to gain the favor of the gods through complex rituals such as ceremonies, dances, prayers, and hymns. To ensure divine help, people built temples and sacrificed animals, crops, or sometimes other humans to the gods. Sacrifices and other ceremonies required the full-time attention of priests, who had special training and knowledge. Job Specialization and Social Classes Urban people developed so many new crafts that a single individual could no longer master all the skills needed to make tools, weapons, or other goods. Skilled artisans. For the first time, individuals began to specialize in certain jobs. Some became artisans, or skilled craftworkers, who made pottery or finely carved or woven goods. Cities had other specialists, too. Bricklayers built city walls. Soldiers defended them. Merchants sold goods in the marketplace. Singers, dancers, and storytellers entertained on public occasions. Such specialization made people dependent on others for their various needs. Social ranking. In cities, social organization became more complex. People were ranked according to their jobs. Such ranking led to the growth of social classes.

Arts, Architecture, and Public Works The arts and architecture of ancient civilizations expressed the beliefs and values of the people who created them. Temples and palaces dominated the city scenery. Such buildings reassured people of the strength and power of their government and religion. Closely linked to temples and palaces were vast public works that strong rulers ordered to be built. Such projects included irrigation systems, roads, bridges, and defensive walls. Although they were costly in human labor and even lives, such projects were meant to benefit the city, protecting it from attack and ensuring its food supply. Writing A critical new skill developed by the earliest civilizations was the art of writing. It may have begun in temples, where priests needed to record amounts of grain collected, accurate information about the seasons, and precise rituals and prayers.

♦ Calendar ♦ Technology

TECHNOLOGY refers to the skills and useful knowledge available to the people for collecting material and making the objects necessary for survival.

Where is Asia? North - Arctic Ocean South - Indian Ocean East - Pacific Ocean West - Ural Mountains, Caspian Sea, Black Sea, and Aegean Sea Bering Strait - separated Asia from North America Suez Canal - separated Asia from Africa Importance of Knowing Asia

1. We are Asians and, thus, we should know more about Asia than any other region in the world.

2. The East has gained ascendancy in world technology, political importance and social upheavals in the late 20th century.

3. The Philippines, due to its location and heritage, has always been the “light of Asia.”

Information Highlights Continent Size - 44,579,000 sq. km. - 17,212,000 sq. km. Asia Percent of Earth’s Land : 30% Population : 3,830,751,125 Coastline : 80,000 miles Northernmost Point : Cape Chelyuskin, Russia Southernmost Point : Tanjong Point, Malaysia Easternmost Point : Cape Dexhnev, Russia Westernmost Point : Cape Baba, Turkey Asia Largest Population Smallest Population China - 1,261,832,482 Cyprus - 62,887 India - 1,014,003,817 Bahrain - 45,361 Indonesia - 224,784,210 Maldives - 10,764 Asia Three Largest Countries by Area China - 3,705,400 sq. mi. (9,596,960 sq. km.) India - 1,269,350 sq. mi. (3,287,590 sq. km.) Khazakstan - 1,049,150 sq. mi. (2,717,300 sq. km.)

Smallest Countries Singapore - 250 sq. miles Bahrain - 240 sq. miles Maldives - 100 sq. miles Asia Largest Islands Borneo (Indonesia, Malaysia, Bruenei) Java (Malaysia) Sumatra (Indonesia) Luzon (Philippines) Honshu (Japan) Mindanao (Philippines) Celebes (Indonesia) Hokkaido (Japan) Asia Populous Cities

Tokyo, Japan - 28,025,000 Bombay, India - 18,042,000 Shanghai, China - 14,173,000 Calcutta, India - 12,900,000 Dhaka, Bangladesh - 12,579,000 Seoul, South Korea - 12,215,000 Beijing, China - 12,033,000

Asia Most Spoken Languages Mandarin - 885 million Arabic - 211 million Hindi - 375 million Japanese (Niponggo)- 125 million English - 347 million Malay-Indonesian - 58 million Great Lakes Largest : Caspian Sea Deepest : Lake Baikal Longest : Caspian Sea Mountains Highest : Mt. Everest, Tibet Longest Mountain Range : Tien Shan, China Oceans and Seas Ocean Depth : Marianas Trench Widest : South China Sea Deepest : Sea of Japan

Southwest Asia and Its Civilization

SOUTHWEST ASIA is the region where the first known human civilization emerged thousands of years ago. This is the region that produces one-third of the world’s oil.

Eighteen nations are located in Southwest Asia. These 18 nations are part of a larger region that is often referred to as the Middle East. The term MIDDLE EAST today refers to a huge swatch of land – those parts of northern Africa and Southwest Asia where Islamic culture predominates.

Southwest Asia is a region of the Asian continent nearest to Europe – Near East. It has served as an entryway to the Orient. It has an area of nearly one million square miles and covers about 10% of the whole continent of

Asia. It produces the world’s largest petroleum supply It lies within 12N to 40N Latitude

Bounded by

East - Afghanistan South - Arabian Peninsula Northwest - Turkey North - Black Sea, the Urals, the Caspian Sea

The Fertile Crescent The first known civilization in the Fertile Crescent was uncovered in the 1800s in Mesopotamia. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers define Mesopotamia, which means “between the rivers” in Greek. The control of the Tigris and Euphrates was key to developments in Mesopotamia. The rivers frequently rose in terrifying floods that washed away topsoil and destroyed mud-brick villages. To survive and protect their farmland, villages along the riverbanks had to work together. Temple priests or royal officials provided the leadership to ensure cooperation. They organized villagers to build dikes to hold back flood waters and irrigation ditches to carry water to their fields. Gradually, Sumerian civilization emerged as the first of many to flourished in the Fertile Crescent.

About 5000 B.C., groups of herders started to journey north from the Arabian Peninsula

- Rainfall had declined over the years in the peninsula, and the lakes and grasslands there had begun to dry up.

Other peoples – from the highlands near present-day Turkey – moved south at the same time.

- Driven by poor weather, they also fled war and overpopulation.

Many of the peoples migrating from the North and South chose to settle in MESOPOTAMIA, the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent.

By 4000 B.C., the Mesopotamian farmers were producing food, especially grain crops, in

abundance.

The Sumerian Civilization

Around 3500 B.C., a people from either Central Asia or Asia Minor – the Sumerians – arrived in Mesopotamia.

- They settled in the lower part of the Tigris-Euphrates river valley, known as SUMER SUMER - means “black-haired”

The Sumerians were the first settlers who occupied the land. They cultivated wheat and barley (their staple food) and reared cattle, oxen, and donkeys to

help them. They were known for their craftmanship The Sumerians worshipped many native gods (polytheistic) and built temples on mounds and

hills in their honor. These temples are called ZIGGURATS. The Sumerians developed independent city-states which were governed by PATESIS (priest-

kings) Kingship which was hereditary served not only as military leader but as high priest as well

(theocracy). Most punishment consisted of fines and did not involve bodily injury or loss of life. Sumerian society was stratified

- The highest class included the ruling family, leading officials, and high priests - The middle class was made up of merchants, artisans, and lesser priests and scribes - At the base were the peasant farmers

Medicine was characterized by the use of herbal plants and magic. Medical practitioners used charms to exorcise the evil spirits which were believed to be the cause of diseases.

The highest achievement in literature is the Epic of Gilgamish The Sumerians are non-Semitic people. Their capital was in the ancient city of UR They dominated the Near East for about 2500 years

The Roles of Men and Women

Men exercised great authority over their wives and children A man could sell his wife or children into slavery if he needed the money to pay a debt. A man can also divorce his wife but this is difficult to obtained by a woman. Women could buy and sell property Women could operate their own business Women can own and sell their own slaves

Inventions

Developed the wagon wheel Arch to build sturdier buildings Potter’s wheel to shape containers Number system based on 60 Devised a 12-month calendar based on the cycles of the moon Make bronze out of copper and tin and to develop a metal plow By 3200 B.C., the Sumerians had invented the earliest known system of writing called

CUNEIFORM (wedge-shaped)

■ Sumerian wishing to learn cuneiform and become scribes studied for many years at special schools called EDDUBAS or “tablet house.”

Introduced precise system of weights and measures Animal skins were tanned by soaking them in a solution of alum and gall-nut, then rubbed with

fats and oils to make them supple, from which leather shoes and sandals, harnesses and saddles, bags and water bottles are made.

Goat hair was used extensively for carpets Sheep’s wool was the foundation of a textile industry

2800 B.C. – the dynasty established by the Sumerians ended when they were captured by

the Akkadians.

The Rise of the Akkadians (2500 – 2300 B.C.)

Sargon I - the first empire builder in Mesopotamia; he built the first empire known to history.

The AKKADIANS, Sargon’s people, were Semites; they established a kingdom called AKKAD.

- Sargon united all the kingdoms in the Northern and Southern Mesopotamia and build his empire.

- Under Sargon’s rule the people of Mesopotamia began to use the Akkadian language instead of Sumerian.

- His empire extended from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean

- He is considered to be the first “world conqueror”

After Sargon died, the weakened state of Akkad was overthrown by the GUTIS.

Babylonia Empire Under Hammurabi (1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C.)

About 2000 B.C., Mesopotamia witnessed the rise of another Semitic tribe called the AMORITES

which had settled in the Old Babylonia, thus the Amorites were called as the Babylonians. Their famous ruler was HAMMURABI, “the world’s first great legal genius.” He conquered the whole Mesopotamia and enjoyed a long spell of peace and prosperity. As

such, it was considered as the “Golden Age” in the history of Mesopotamia.

Hammurabi Code “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”

A legend says that he receive the code of laws from the Sun God SHAMASH.

Hammurabi was not the author of the code. Most of the laws had been around since Sumerian times. Hammurabi, however, wanted people to know the legal principles his government would follow. So he had artisans carve the 300 laws on a stone pillar for all to see. On it, he proclaimed his goals: “To cause justice to prevail in the land, To destroy the wicked and evil, That the strong may not oppress the weak.” Hammurabi’s Code was the first major collection of laws in history.

There was rigid division between classes and it was difficult for freemen to become slaves. The slaves were nothing more than pieces of property that could be bought, sold, or mortgaged. Women interests were promoted although they had fewer legal rights than men. Babylonians believe in many gods and superstitions. (Hammurabi promoted the chief

Babylonian god, MARDUK, over older Sumerian gods.) An Astrology, planets were identified with names of the gods. Based from their observation of the cycles of the moon, they were able to develop a twelve-

month calendar and divided the week into seven days. After the death of Hammurabi, his Babylonian Empire fell after the attacks of the barbarians

called the KASSYTES. Mesopotamia was later conquered by another most powerful and civilized group – the HITTITES

of the Asia Minor.

The HITTITES

In about 1600 B.C., the Hittites invaded Mesopotamia. Hittites’ invasion put an end to the first Babylonian dynasty. They were the first ones to use iron mainly for religious objects or for swords. They developed light horse-drawn chariots which created a revolution in the nature of warfare.

The main reason for their success was their use of light, horse-drawn chariots in battle. Their main contribution to Mesopotamia was the HORSE. The HITTITES entered and settled in ANATOLIA (modern Turkey). Although it is not yet known whether the Hittites were first to discover the possibilities of iron

and the ways to use it, they mastered iron technology before anyone else in the Near East. Their knowledge permitted them to craft weapons and tools far superior to their neighbors and

gave them a decided advantage in both war and commerce. The Hittites were efficient warriors and statesmen. They had an advanced law code and a

constitution that limited the power of their kings.

The Kingdom of Lydia

When the Hittites Empire fell in the 8th century B.C., it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Lydia. They established their rule in what is now the territory of the Turkish republic in Anatolia. Their one original contribution to civilization is the COINAGE of money out of electrum or

“white gold,” a natural mixture of gold and silver found in the sands of one of the rivers.

The Phoenicians Semitic groups that migrated from Arabian Peninsula about 3000 B.C., settled in Northern

Canaan. The Phoenician people gained their ascendancy from the break-up of Aegean supremacy. But the Phoenicians were neither conquerors nor builders of an empire. They exerted their

influence through the art of peace, especially through commerce. The territory they occupied was a narrow land between the Lebanon Mountains and

Mediterranean Sea. They were adventurous mariners. Established themselves in present day LEBANON.

Phoenician Achievements

They were renowned for their glass and metal industries. They produced purple dye obtained from a mollusk. They developed the art of navigation to such a stage that they can sail by the stars at

night. The completion and diffusion of the alphabet; they adopted a system of signs

representing the sounds of the human voice. The most important Phoenician achievement was an alphabet of 22 consonants, modified by the Greeks, who added vowels, this alphabet became the basis of Latin writing and in turn the writing of the modern West.

The Assyrians

The Assyrians, a Semitic people, settled in the region north of Babylonia. They built their capital in ASHUR.

Tiglath Pileser I was the first Assyrian conqueror-statesman who founded the Assyrian empire. The Assyrians, originally a mountain people in northern Mesopotamia, invaded Syria in the 9th

century B.C. Within 200 years, under such kings as Sargon II, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon, they controlled

almost all of the Near East. In addition they conquered Egypt. From their splendid capital at Nineveh on the Tigris river they ruled the biggest empire yet

known in the world. The whole empire was divided into units or provinces called SATRAPIES.

Assyrian Warfare

Primarily the Assyrians were warriors. They developed irresistible armies, well organized into infantry, cavalry, engineers, and supply

troops. Their engineers used catapults to hurl rocks and flaming pitch over the walls of besieged cities. A tradition of cruelty is associated with Assyrian rule. The kings boasted on the way they

mutilated, flayed, impaled, and roasted their captives. The Assyrian Achievements

They built the world’s first known aqueduct (artificial channel for carrying water). The Assyrian carvings of animals in low reliefs have never been excelled They appeared to have divided the circle in 360 degrees. They recognized and named five planets (Mercury, Mars, Earth, Venus, and Jupiter).

During the reign of Assurbanipal (Ashurbanipal), the empire began to collapse.

The Chaldeans (The New Babylonian Empire)

In 612 B.C., the Chaldeans, who lived in the ancient city of Babylon, formed an alliance with the Medes from the East. The alliance captured Nineveh and brought down the Assyrian Empire.

Soon after the Assyrians fell, the Chaldean Empire succeeded in dominating the entire Fertile Crescent.

The Chaldeans reached the apex of their power during the reign of one of their greatest rulers, King NEBUCHADNEZZAR, from 605 to 562 B.C.

He extended the boundaries of the Chaldean Empire as far as west of Syria and Canaan, conquering the city of Jerusalem and the Phoenician city-state of Tyre and forcing the people of the kingdom of Judah into a Babylonian exile in 586 B.C.

Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon into one of the largest, most stunning cities of the ancient world.

The Chaldeans were noted for their interest in astrology. As such they developed as ASTRAL RELIGION (The people believed in the influence of stars on human life). The gods were exalted into transcendent, omnipotent beings.

1. Fatalism – man should resign himself to the gods, trust in them implicitly, with the vague

hope that the results in the end would be good. 2. Stronger spiritual consciousness

Their studies laid the foundations for the science of astronomy. The Chaldeans invented the seven (7)-day week After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, a series of weak kings held the throne. In 539 B.C., the Persian under Cyrus II, seized Babylon, and then conquered the Chaldean

empire.

The Persian Empire

The Persian had originated from a larger group now called Indo-Europeans.

Indo- Europeans refers to a large family of languages that includes English, most of the languages of modern Europe, Greek, Latin, Persia and Sanskrit, the sacred tongue of ancient India.

In about 2000 B.C., they settled on a plateau between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea,

today part of the country of Iran. During the 540s B.C., Cyrus had developed a strong army, conquered the Medes, and advanced

into neighboring islands. He quickly added northern Mesopotamia, Syria, Canaan, and the Phoenician cities to his empire

and brought an end to the Jews’ Babylonian empire. CYRUS also took over the kingdom of Lydia and the Greek city-states in Asia Minor. In 525 B.C., CAMBYSES ( kam BY seez), Cyrus son, conquered Egypt, bringing all the Middle East

under Persian control. The best organizer among the Persian kings was DARIUS I, who reigned from 522 to 486 B.C. Under Darius I, the empire, the largest yet known in world history, reached its greatest extent,

from northwest India to the Mediterranean. To administer his empire effectively, Darius I divided the realm in 20 provinces, called

SATRAPIES. The Persians were tolerant rulers who allowed conquered peoples to retain their own

languages, religions, and laws. The Persians won the loyalty of conquered peoples by respecting local customs.

Darius built PERSEPOLIS, the most magnificent city in the empire. To encourage trade among the peoples of the empire and aid the movement of soldiers, he had

Persian engineers improve and expand the network of roads first laid down by the Assyrians. The Royal Road, the most important thoroughfare in the Persian Empire, stretched more than

1,500 miles from Susa in Persia to Sardis in Asia Minor. The Persians introduced the CAMEL to Egypt. They were responsible for bringing the chicken to the West.

Founding of Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. It was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.

For 1000 years Zoroastrianism was one of the most powerful religions in the world. It was the

official religion of Persia (Iran) from 600 BCE to 650 CE. Characteristics

1. DUALISM – the religion taught that there were two great powers in the universe. These two powers perpetually fight for control of the world.

Ahura Mazda – the god of light and goodness Ahriman – treacherous and malignant, presided over the forces of darkness and evil;

a demon

2. Eschatological – Eschatology is the doctrine of last or final things. It included such ideas as the coming of the Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, and the translation of the redeemed into an eternal paradise.

Man, with free will, may side with good or evil. The followers also believed in an afterlife in heaven or hell following a last judgment The cult of Mithra, the god of war and light, had both baptism and a sacramental meal. The followers of Mithra celebrated December 25, then believed to be the day after the

shortest day of year, as the annual victory of light over darkness. The Persians used an egg to symbolize the world, over which the principles of good and

evil contended. The Christian later adapted the egg symbol to celebrate Easter.

Persian religion in its concepts, rituals, and symbols had vast influence on the development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

God called Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord) and He created the world. Zoroastrians are not fire-worshippers, as some Westerners wrongly believe. Zoroastrians believe

that the elements are pure and that fire represents God's light or wisdom. Ahura Mazda revealed the truth through the Prophet, Zoroaster. Zoroastrians traditionally pray several times a day. Zoroastrians worship communally in a Fire Temple or Agiary. The Zoroastrian book of Holy Scriptures is called The Avesta.

Zoroastrian beliefs about God Zoroastrians believe in one God, called Ahura Mazda (meaning 'Wise Lord'). He is compassionate, just, and is the creator of the universe. Ahura Mazda is:

Omniscient (knows everything) Omnipotent (all powerful) Omnipresent (is everywhere) Impossible for humans to conceive Unchanging The Creator of life The Source of all goodness and happiness

God is worshiped as supreme. Zoroastrians believe that everything he created is pure and should be treated with love and respect. This includes the natural environment, so Zoroastrians traditionally do not pollute the rivers, land or atmosphere. This has caused some to call Zoroastrianism 'the first ecological religion'. Towers of Silence Zoroastrians believe that as soon as the breath has left it, the body becomes impure. Death is considered to be the work of Angra Mainyu, the embodiment of all that is evil, whereas the earth and all that is beautiful is considered to be the pure work of God. Contaminating the elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) with decaying matter such as a corpse is considered sacrilege. Instead of burying the corpse, Zoroastrians traditionally laid it out on a purpose built tower (dokhma or 'Tower of Silence') to be exposed to the sun and eaten by birds of prey such as vultures.

The Hebrew Civilization Hebrew origin

The origin of the Hebrew people is usually traced to the Bible. The Hebrews believed that they were the chosen people of God, based on the covenant

between God and Abraham. The Hebrew conquest of Palestine was inspired by the promise given to them by Yahweh.

About 2000 B.C. there was a mention of HABIRU in Mesopotamia. In all probability the HABIRU were the Hebrews.

• The early Hebrews were nomadic herders who worshiped many gods. • they lived in fear of demons • their temper was vindictive • they practiced human sacrifice

• Between 2000 and 1600 B.C. they left their home in the land of Ur (modern Iraq) in Mesopotamia.

Under the leadership of Abraham – who told them there was only one god – they went into the land of Canaan. This is approximately the modern nation of Israel.

• In time Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, became leader. It is from this name that the Jewish people took

the name Israelites. • Jacob, or Israel, had twelve (12) sons. Their descendants later became known as the Twelve Tribes

of Israel.

• During the 1200s B.C., a man named Moses was born among the Israelites in Egypt. According to the Old Testament, Moses was a prophet. He told the Israelites that God would deliver them from slavery. After threatening the pharaoh with God’s anger if he did not free the Israelites, Moses was allowed to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and back toward Canaan. This journey is known as the Exodus.

• Once in Canaan the Israelites had to fight to survive. Under military leaders called Judges, they

fought such enemies as the Philistines, Canaanites (Phoenicians), and Aramaeans. It was from the name Philistine that the land of Canaan later became known as Palestine.

At an undetermined time the Hebrews began to penetrate Palestine When they entered Palestine, the Hebrews were disunited and ignorant, armed with stone axes

and flint knives in the face of an enemy who had chariots, heavy fortifications, and weapons of iron

During the reign of Saul, the Hebrews strengthened their foothold in Palestine and achieved some degree of political unification.

The most successful statesman of the Hebrew monarchy was David. Under Solomon, David’s favorite son, the little kingdom achieved its greatest strength, with a

centralized administration, efficient army, and an expanding foreign trade. Because of internal discords after Solomon’s death the kingdom split into two parts :

Israel in the North Judah in the South

In 722 B.C. the Assyrian took Samaria, Israel’s capital, and deported thousands of its citizens. In later time, Judah fell under Egyptian control. In 597 B.C. and again in 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar (Chaldean empire) sacked Jerusalem and sent

thousands of Hebrews into exile. During the so-called Babylonian captivity the Hebrews lived for the most part in peace and

comfort. Some grew wealthy. When Cyrus of Persia took Babylon in 538 B.C., he liberated the exiled Hebrews, but only a few

returned to Palestine. In due course Palestine came under the control of Persia, Macedon, and Rome. In A.D. 70, Roman troops destroyed Jerusalem. Thousands of the inhabitants were killed or

enslaved. The destruction of Jerusalem marks the beginning of the Great Dispersion. The Hebrews, having

lost their identity as a state, now fled to all parts of the ancient world. The Jews

• Around 925 B.C.. After Solomon died, a division occurred among the Israelites over taxation. As a result, two kingdoms were formed. The two southern tribes became the Kingdom of Judah. Its capital was Jerusalem. It is from the name Judah that the word Jew comes. The ten tribes in the north made up the Kingdom of Israel.

• Around 721 B.C. the Assyrians overran the Kingdom of Israel. The ten tribes were scattered across the Middle East. Their identity as a people was lost. They are known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

• In 586 B.C. the Chaldean king, Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. He deported

most of the people to Babylon. This period in Jewish history is known as the Babylonian Captivity. • After Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, he allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. Around

539 B.C. they rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple.

• Around 63 B.C. the Romans took control of Palestine and its people. During Roman rule there were many revolts. One, which lasted from 66 to 70 A.D., ended in the second destruction of the Temple. The Jews revolted again in 135 A.D. This time the Romans scattered the Jews throughout the empire. This is known as the Diaspora. From then until 1948, when the independent state of Israel was established, many Jews were without a country.

Government

Hebrew government tended to be THEOCRATIC, with religious leaders exercising a high degree of political control.

Divine justice rather than worldly sanctions.

Law

Highly ethical in its standard and religious in its application It was so moralistic in tone that many appear to be counsels of perfection. Extremely detailed and rigid, with insistence on circumcision, fasting, holy days, and such dietary

rules as not eating pork. Society

Social structure was patriarchal, the father exercised virtually absolute power over the other members of the family.

Women had few privileges. Religion

Originally, the Hebrews believed in many gods, along with demons, spirits, and ghosts. YAHWEH was one of several nature-gods.

Moses introduced MONOLATRY, that is, the worship of one god to the exclusion of all others. Of all the prophets, it was AMOS who first thought of YAHWEH as a god not only of the Hebrews

but of other people as well. HOSEA described YAHWEH as a god of love and mercy, a gentle father, sympathetic and kindly

in his dealings with mankind. ISAIAH insisted that men should dedicate themselves absolutely to YAHWEH. For the first time

in history of Hebrew religion, theoretical MONOTHEISM appeared – that there is only one God.

Judaism The first of the three great world religions to begin in the Middle East is Judaism (JOOD-uh-iz-uhm). The ancient Hebrews gave to the world knowledge of the one God whom they called Yahweh (YAH-way). THE BIBLE The Jewish Bible consists of three parts:

Pentateuch (PENT-uh-tyook), Prophets, and Hagiographa (hag-ee-AHG-ruh-fuh).

A. The Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses, is also known as the Torah (TOHR-uh).

The first book is Genesis (JEN-uh-suhs). It begins with the creation of the world and ends with Joseph in Egypt. The other four books concern Moses and the covenant- or agreement-made between the Hebrews and God.

Exodus, the second book, relates the journey of the Israelites out of Egypt. Leviticus (lih-VIT-ih-kuhs)is a set of instructions for worship. Numbers is an account of the Hebrews’ 40 years of wandering in the desert. In Deuteronomy ( dyoot-uh-RAHN-uh-mee) Moses summarizes the Law that God gave to the

Hebrews. The book ends with his death at the edge of the Promised Land. B. The second part of the Jewish Bible, the Prophets, is an account of the activities, sermons, and words of the prophets. C. Hagiographa means sacred writings. It is a collection of psalm, poems, proverbs, and history.

In the Christian Bible, these three parts are called the Old Testament. Testament also means covenant. Christians believe that after the coming of Jesus Christ, a new covenant was made with God. The New Testament – the second half of the Christian Bible-is an account of the teachings of Jesus and his disciples. THE TORAH The term Torah is also used in a broader sense. It can mean all the laws found in the Jewish Bible for personal and community conduct. Torah also describes all the revealed instructions and guidance which are the basis of the Jewish way of life. Teachings of the Torah direct the spiritual, social, and physical lives of Jews. A synagogue is the Jewish place of worship.

THE TALMUD

The Talmud is the collection of oral laws. The Bible is known as the Written Law. Besides laws, the Talmud contains biographies, stories, debates and discussion with unbelievers, practical wisdom, and a code of ethics. Jews believe that true worship of God requires morality in thought and actions. They are concerned with social justice, universal peace, harmony, and leading a moral life. Three Major Groups of Modern Judaism

a. Orthodox Judaism emphasizes tradition and observance of ritual. Extremely orthodox Jews believe in the actual coming of the Messiah (muh-SY-uh)—the promised leader. They believe the Messiah will establish political autonomy and begin the Kingdom of God on earth. This will be a time of peace and harmony. To most Jews, however, the coming of the Messiah is not the coming of one person. It means to them a time when all humanity will begin to work together for peace and harmony.

Orthodox Jews strictly observe Saturday as the Sabbath—the day of rest and worship. No business, work, or travel is allowed. The Hebrew language is used for prayers and ceremonies. Women sit in separate places in the synagogue. Dietary laws, which were given in the Book of Leviticus, are carefully followed. These laws called kosher (KOH-shuhr)—that is, correct according to ritual. These dietary laws show a deep concern for not inflicting pain on living creatures. Animals for food must be killed painlessly and quickly. Jewish laws also forbid eating the meat of animal that hurt or kill other animals. Killing animals for sport is forbidden.

b. Conservative Jews follow many of the practices of Orthodox Jews. But they are less strict about it.

Conservative Jews observe the Sabbath, holy days, and traditional festivals. However, they believe that it is sometimes necessary to change traditions. They are more flexible in their hours of religious service and in the use of Hebrew for prayers. Women sit with men at services.

c. Reform Jews depart more from tradition than do Conservative Jews. They allow women equality in

the synagogue. Prayers are said mostly in the vernacular(ver-NAK-yuh-luhr)—the language of the region. Reform Jews are less strict about dietary laws and have simplified such rituals as the wedding ceremony.

TEACHINGS AND STUDENTS Early Jewish scholars came to be known as rabbis(RAB-eyes). This is a Hebrew word meaning teachers. The term is used today to describe those in the Jewish community who pass along learning to others. Judaism has no religious hierarchy. Rabbis are trained at school called yeshivas(yuh-SHEE-vuhs). Rabbis preach, conduct religious services, and offer guidance to members of their congregation when needed. They also perform religious ceremonies concerned with birth, confirmation, marriage, and death. Cantors are also important in Jewish worship. Jewish prayers are not spoken. They are chanted. As the cantor begins each prayer, the congregation takes up the chant. The cantor also helps with the religious education of the congregation, especially in preparing a young man for his Bar Mitzvah. This is a Hebrew term meaning son of the Law.

The Hellenistic Age in Southwest Asia The Persian Wars

In 546 B.C. the Persian armies, led by CYRUS, conquered the Greek city-state of Ionia, in Asia Minor.

In 499 B.C., the Ionians revolted against the Persians, but Darius I of Persia defeated the Ionians.

In 490 B.C., Darius tried to conquer the Aegean to the coastal plain of Marathon, about 25 miles (40 kms) north of Athens.

In this Battle of Marathon, the Persians being outnumbered by the Athenians (20,000 to 10,000) suffered a terrible defeat.

According to legend, the Athenians sent a messenger named Pheidippides ( fy DIPH uh deez) to carry news if victory back to Athens.

When he reached the agora of the city he shouted “NIKE!” – the Greek word for victory – he fell to the ground, died of exhaustion.

Ever since, people have used the word MARATHON to describe a long-distance race. In 359 B.C. Philip II became king of Macedonia (Greece). As king, Philip II determined to do three (3) things:

- create a strong standing army - unify the quarelling Greek city-state under Macedonian rule - destroy the Persian empire

But in 336 B.C., just as he was ready to carry out his plans, Philip II was murdered by an assassin

hired by his first wife, OLYMPIAS. He was succeeded by his son, Alexander the Great In 334 B.C., Alexander led 30,000 soldiers and 5,000 cavalry into Asia to open his campaign of

“West against East.” The first major encounter with the Persians took place at the GRANICUS RIVER in western Asia

Minor. Alexander’s forces won. The second major battle between the Greeks and Persians took place in 333 B.C. at ISSUS, Syria.

Once again, Alexander won forcing Darius III to flee. Because of his victory, Alexander and his troops captured the seaports of Phoenicia and invaded

Egypt. In Egypt, he was declared a PHARAOH. As Pharaoh, he established a new city and named it

ALEXANDRIA after himself. In 331 B.C., Alexander invaded Mesopotamia and smashed Darius’s main army in the Battle of

Gaugamela near the Tigris River. Then Alexander captured the key cities of the Persian Empire : Babylon, Persepolis, and Susa. When Darius was killed by one of his generals, Alexander declared himself King of Kings, ruler of

the Persian Empire. In 327 B.C., he extended his rule to Indus River Valley. In 323 B.C., Alexander the Great died at the age of 33 due probably to MALARIA.

Major Contributions

Hellenistic culture

•Alexandria was made a major intellectual center •Its museum was the first ever and included a library of nearly a million volumes, an institute for scientific research, a zoo, and a botanical garden.

•Around 250 B.C. Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. This translation, known as the SEPTUAGINT, was later used by Apostle Paul and is used in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Hellenistic Philosophies

Hellenistic philosophers shunned political and social questions. Instead, they focused on personal behavior, especially the question of how to achieve peace of mind.

Three systems of thought attracted most Hellenistic intellectuals : Cynicism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism

CYNICISM

The CYNICS taught that people should seek virtue only. They scorned pleasure, wealth, and social position.

According to Diogenes (dy AHJ uh neez), the best known Cynics : “People would be happy if they give up luxuries and lived simply, in accord with nature.” •The meeting of Diogenes and Alexander the Great: “If I were not Alexander, I would prefer to be Diogenes.” “ If I were not Diogenes, I would prefer to be any man except Alexander.” Today the word CYNIC means a person who is sarcastic and believers that the motives for people’s

actions are always selfish and insincere.

The EPICUREANS (Epicurus)

The aim of life was to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. Pleasure to him was intellectual, no physical EPICURUS argued that people should avoid both joy and pain by accepting the world as it was, ignoring politics, and living simply and quietly with a few close friends. •The motto of his followers, however, became “Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow you will die.” Today the word EPICURE means a person who enjoys the pleasures of the senses, particularly someone who enjoys fine food.

The STOICS (Zeno)

The STOICS believed that the world was directed by divine reason. That is, whatever was, was right. People should not complain. They should learn to accept whatever the laws of nature might bring and to be indifferent to grief, fear, pain, and pleasure.

The word STOIC now means – a person who remains outwardly unaffected by either pain or pleasure.

Rise of Islam

South of Asia Minor and the Fertile Crescent was the Arabian Peninsula, home of the Arabs. This location placed the Arabs at the furthest reaches of the great Middle East civilization. The Arabs were descended from Semitic tribes. Archeologists have traced Arab civilizations in the Arabian Peninsula, or Arabia, to at least 3000

B.C. The relative geographic remoteness of the Arabian Peninsula kept the empires in the northern

part of the region from invading Arab lands. Their isolation allowed the Arabs to create their own civilization.

Arab Life

In ancient times many of the Arabs were BEDOUIN, nomadic Arabs who herded sheep, camels, and goats.

The Bedouin lived in tribes, each made up of related families. Arabs valued family ties because they ensured protection and survival in the harsh desert

environment. Leading each tribe was a SHEIK, or chief, appointed by the heads of the families.

Growth of Towns

By the A.D. 500s, many tribes had settled around OASES or in fertile valleys to pursue either agriculture or trade.

Groups of merchants soon emerged and founded prosperous market towns. Of these towns, MECCA was by far the most prominent.

MECCA was not just a trading center, but a place of pilgrimage for Arabs from all over peninsula. A shrine was built around a huge meteoric Black Stone called KAABA, meaning “cube.” The Arabs believed the angel Gabriel had given to Adam.

The business the pilgrims brought to Mecca made its merchants wealthy. The Arabs were polytheistic.

Revelation of Islam

Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was born in Mecca around A.D. 570 He was orphaned at an early age and spent his youth in poverty. Having little formal education,

Muhammad probably never learned to write. While still a young man, Muhammad began to think seriously about religious and ethical

problems. At that time the Arabs worshiped many gods. Through meditation and prayer, Mohammad became convinced that there was but one Supreme Being, one God, whom he called ALLAH.

When he was about 40 years old, Mohammad had a great religious experience. He believed that the archangel GABRIEL ordered him to preach to the Arabs to bring them religious purity.

Opposition to Islam

Muhammad’s preaching was bitterly opposed by the ruling families in Mecca. The rich people were worried that this new religion would ruin their profits. The rich felt that if Muhammad was successful, less Arabs would go on them pilgrimage to their

polytheistic shrine, and thus business would suffer. Drive by these fears, the Meccan merchants began to persecute Muhammad and his followers. Choosing to get out while they could. They fled the city of Mecca and went to the nearby town

of MEDINA. This retreat was known as HEGIRA (hih – JYE – ruh), the Arab word for “retreat” or “breaking of former ties,” or “emigration” or “flight”

This escape was a total success. The people of Medina flocked to the ideas of Muhammad.

The year in which the HEGIRA took place, A.D. 622, marks the beginning of the Islamic era and is the first year of the Muslim calendar.

The TRIUMPH

Angry, the rich people of Mecca organized an army to attack Medina. Much to their surprise, Muhammad’s enthusiastic followers overwhelmed the opposition.

The followers of Muhammad launched an offensive against the forces of Mecca. The followers of Muhammad started a JIHAD or “holy war.”

A warrior who died when spreading the faith of Muhammad’s teaching is guaranteed a

place in heaven. This helped make them fearless fighters.

Then Muhammad returned to Mecca, in triumph. The city which had rejected him then now embraced him. That was in A.D. 630.

They destroyed the idols in the KAABA and turned the shrine into a place of worship for the pilgrims.

Mecca, the holy city, became the spiritual capital of Islam, and Medina remained its political capita.

The Expansion

Following their victory in Mecca, Muhammad and his followers extended their control into other parts of Arabia.

By A.D. 631 the Islamic state included the entire peninsula and was supported by a strong army recruited from all the Arab tribes.

Within one hundred years, Moslem warriors on the JIHAD had taken more territory than the Roman Empire possessed. Islamic civilization had taken over the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, Arabian Peninsula, and even penetrated India.

By 632 A.D., when Muhammad died, almost all Arabia had accepted Islam. Major achievements

- a new Monotheistic religion - a well-organized religious-political community

Beliefs and Practices

The religion is called ISLAM, which means “Surrender to God” Believers of Islam are called MUSLIM of MOSLEM meaning “the surrendering ones” The Holy Book of Islam is KORAN, meaning “recital” Muhammad instructed that the true version of the Koran should be in ARABIC (the language of

the Bedouins) Law cannot be separated from religion in Islamic society. Their Code of Law is know as

SHARI’AH (Shuh REE uh). Islam has no religious images because Muhammad forbade his followers to make

representations of human or animal forms. There is no formal priesthood, but there are men called MULLAHS, learned in Islamic faith and

law. The Muslim temple is MOSQUE where the people pray together under the guidance of a leader. FRIDAY is the holy day in the week when all male worshipers must gather at noon for sermon

and prayer.

Muslim Society In Islamic families the father was the absolute head of the household. The family provided the individual with both economic security and physical protection. Age was respected, and there was a constant concern for the needs of the family as a whole. Islamic families were large and included parents, children, and grandparents, as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins. The position of women in Islamic society was clearly defined. In the Koran is the pronouncement, “Good women are obedient.” A father or husband was responsible for a woman’s behavior. Parents arranged marriages for their children, and a purchase price was paid by a groom to his bride. This money was kept by the bride in the unlikely event of divorce. However, if either husband or wife had a complaint against the other, it would be heard before a religious court. If the problem could not be resolved there, a husband simply had to say “I divorce thee” three times. After a waiting period of three months, the divorce would become final. Moral Values

Muslims are commanded to honor their parents, show kindness to their neighbors, protect orphans and widows, and give generously to the poor.

Murder, stealing, lying, and adultery are condemned. Quran forbids gambling, eating pork, or drinking alcoholic beverages.

Five Pillars of Islam (5 Chief Obligations)

1. The profession of faith

“There is no God but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet”

2. Prayer five (5) times a day facing Mecca 3. Giving alms to the poor 4. Pilgrimage to Mecca (at least once). 5. Fasting in the month of Ramadan (from sunrise to sunset)

RAMADAN – the ninth month of the Muslim year

The month is considered sacred because it was the month in which Muhammad had his

vision of the archangel Gabriel and received Allah’s instructions, which were later written in Koran.

Islam Divides

When Muhammad died in A.D. 632, he had left no clear instructions about who was to succeed him as the leader of Islam.

Muslims knew that no one could take Muhammad’s place as the messenger of God. They realized, however, that the Islamic community needed a strong political-religious leader

who could preserve its unity and guide its daily affairs. A group of prominent Muslims met and chose a leader, whom they called KHALIF or CALIPH,

meaning “successor” This CALIPH was Muhammad’s successor only as a leader of the Muslim community, not as a

prophet.

Abu Bakr (632 – 634 AD)

He was the first Muslim caliph, who was the father of Aisha, the wife of the prophet Mohammed.

The people in Mecca and Medina pledged their allegiance to the first caliph, but there were some tribes who revolted after Mohammed’s death. In fact, much of Abu Bakr’s short reign was spent putting down as series of local rebellions against the Islamic rule known as the “Wars of Apostasy,” or the Riddah wars.

Omar I (634 – 644 AD)

Abu Bakr, who ruled for only two years, chose his close friend and adviser Omar to succeed him. Omar maintained that he occupied the caliphal office only as a representative of the one rightful prince, the prophet Mohammad.

Under Omar, the conquered Jews, Christians and Samaritans were compelled to recognize the Islamic ruler. However, these groups were allowed to maintain their customs, religions, as well as their properties.

Omar’s most important achievement was his order to undertake a census of all Muslim Arabs. Whole communities, including the women and children, were included in the list of those who would receive a wager from the government. Each Muslim’s stipend was based on the length and kind of service one has rendered in the name of Islam.

In 644, a Persian slave murdered Omar. He left behind an Islamic empire that included Egypt, Jerusalem, Palestine, Syria and Iraq.

Othman (644 – 656 AD)

Although deeply religious and became a Muslim convert early on, Othman’s family figured prominently in going against the Prophet. As such, his caliphate was very much influenced by his family. Notwithstanding many cases of corruption and abuse, Othman appointed his relatives as commanders. He lived extravagantly and allowed his family to appropriate huge parcels of land and other private property for themselves.

A group of rebels led by Abu Bakr’s son entered Othman’s home and mercilessly killed him while he was reading the Qur’an.

Ali (656 – 661)

Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph of Islam was the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. Ali was the first converts to Islam and one of the most faithful followers of the Prophet. He married Mohammad’s daughter Fatima, who bore him two sons, Hasan and Husayn.

In his first year of reign, Ali was forced to deal with a rebellion led by Aisha, whom Mohammed had married after the death of Fatima’s mother and who bitterly opposed Ali’s claim of succession. Ali was even accused of being responsible for Othman’s death.

Although the rebellion was suppressed in late 656, disputes over Ali’s right to the caliphate were not resolved.

Ali tried to prevent the eventual fall of the capital city of Kufa, but failed. A Syrian commander and a member of Othman’s family, Muawiyah I, refused to recognize Ali as caliph and even orchestrated the plot to oust him. This dispute continued until 661, when a member of the Kharijite sect murdered Ali as Al Kufah; Muawiyah I was then acknowledged caliph.

Discord between Ali’s adherents and his opponents continued to shake the Muslim world. This conflict led to the first and most important rupture in Islam, between the Shiites (adherents of Ali) and the Sunnites (orthodox Muslims).

Disputes over the interpretations of the Koran 1. SUNNIS - claimed that the only mediator between believers and Allah was the Koran 2. SHIITES - believed that a person, rather than the Koran itself, was the proper

intermediary between Allah and believers. This person had to be a direct descendant of Muhammad and was called the IMAM.

Expansion of Islamic Power

After Mohammed’s death his friend Abu Bakr became his successor and was given the title caliph (KAY-lif)

The caliph was regarded as the Defender of the Faith, who was given his authority by Allah.

Under the first four caliphs, who ruled from 632 to 661, Muslim armies conquered Palestine, Syria,

Egypt, and most Persia.

Arab warriors went into battle with a sword and a militant faith. They believed they were engaged in a holy war to spread Islam to nonbelievers, or infidels.

According to the Koran, those who died in a holy war, or jihad, were assured of a place in

Paradise. The Umayyads ♣ The fourth caliph, Ali, was married to Mohammed’s daughter Fatima. When Ali was murdered in 661, a member of the powerful Umayyad family claimed the caliphate.

Rivalry broke out between the Umayyad supporters and the Shi’a, those who thought that only direct descendants of the Prophet should rule.

The Shi’a refused to accept the Ummayads and broke away from the main group

♣ With the support of the Muslim majority, the Umayyads ruled from 661 to 750 and made widespread

conquest

In 750, several discontented groups, both Arabs and non-Arabs, rebelled against the Umayyad rulers and put a new dynasty in power.

The Abbasids

The Ababassids remained the rulers of Islam for 500 years. Though they also were Arabs, the Abbasids had a wider outlook than the Umayyads. They chose

their officials from many peoples, not just Arabs. Moving the capital to Baghdad in 763, they established a brilliant court where science, art, and

learning flourished. ♣ The Arab Muslims had built a vast empire stretching from India to Spain. The empire was unified by a

common language (Arabic), a common faith, and a common culture.

By the 11th century, however, the empire founded by the Arabs was losing its position of dominance in the Islamic world.

The Threats

In the late 10th century, the Seljuk Turks, originally from Central Asia, entered Muslim lands and converted to Islam. The Seljuks soon conquered much of Persia, Syria, and Palestine and took control of Asia Minor from the Byzantines.

While the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad remained the religious and cultural leaders of Islam, Seljuk

sultans had the political power.

In the 13th century anew wave of invaders burst out of Central Asia. They were Mongols, nomadic tribes who for centuries had wandered the highlands and plains of Mongolia, fighting one another and seeking pasture for their herds.

Early in the 13th century, a remarkable leader united the Mongol tribes. His name was Temujin, but

he was known by the title Genghis Khan, which means “ruler of the world.” Eager for plunder and glory, Genghis Khan first turned to the rich civilization of China. By the

year 1215 his forces had destroyed its capital city and gained enormous wealth. The superb Mongol archers, mounted on fast-moving ponies, poured across Asia into Persia.

By 1227, when Genghis Khan died, the eastern part of the Muslim world had fallen to the

Mongols. ♣ Genghis’s grandson, HULAGU, invaded Persia. Storming Baghdad in 1258, the Mongols burned, plundered, and killed with savage fury. Among the 50,000 people slaughtered in the city was the

last Abbasid caliph. ♣ The Mongols’ brutal advance westward was finally stopped in 1260 in Palestine by the army of the

Mamluks, the Turkish rulers of Egypt.

In the same year, the Mongol Empire was divided among several princes. The most powerful was KUBLAI KHAN, ruler of China.

The Mongol Invasion

By the beginning of the 14th century, the Muslim world seemed more secure. In the Near East, the Muslims had recaptured the last Christian state founded by crusaders. The Mongols had by this time converted to Islam.

In the late 1300’s the Mongols once again menaced the Near East. Tamerlane (Timur the Lame)

was the son of a Central Asian chieftain who claimed descent from Genghis Khan. His armies swept through Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Persia, and Syria. After Tamerlane’s death in 1404, his empire disintegrated.

The Ottoman ♣ The collapse of Tamerlane’s empire left the way open for another group of empire-builders: the

Ottoman Turks.

In the last part of the 13th century, the leaders of several Turkish tribes had been granted land in Asia Minor by the Seljuks. One warrior, OSMAN, established a small but strong state. In the late 13oo’s, the Ottoman Turks (whose name came from Osman) overran Asia Minor and much of the Balkan Peninsula.

The Ottoman Empire reached its height in the 16th century, with the conquest of Egypt, North

Africa, Syria, and the Arabian coast (including the Muslim centers at Mecca and Medina). Suleiman “the Magnificent,” who ruled as Ottoman sultan from 1520 to 1566, invaded

southeastern Europe. Contributions

The Muslims perfected ALGEBRA as a science. Our word ALGEBRA comes from the Arabic words AL-JABR, meaning “the reunion of broken parts.”

Arabic numerals Muslim physicians founded the science of OPTICS, or the study of sight. Ibn al-Haytham, the

founder of optics, discovered that the eye sees because it receives light from the object seen. The world’s first chemical laboratories were developed in Baghdad, and from these, we got the

word ALCHEMY, the branch of Chemistry that attempted to change lead into gold.

Early Civilization in India

In 1922, archeologists made a startling discovery in northwestern India. While digging in the Indus River valley, they unearthed bricks, small statues, and other artifacts unlike any they had seen before. They soon realized that they had uncovered a “lost civilization” – forgotten for some 3,500 years. Geography The Indus Valley is located in the region known as South Asia or the subcontinent of India. A subcontinent is a large landmass that juts out from a continent. The India subcontinent is a huge, wedge-shaped peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean. Three Regions The Indian subcontinent is divided into three major zones: the well-watered northern plain, the dry triangular

Deccan plateau, and the coastal plains on either side of the Deccan. The Monsoons

A defining feature of Indian life is the MONSOON, a seasonal wind. In October, the winter monsoon blows from the northeast, bringing a flow of hot, dry air that withers crops. In late May of early June, the wet summer monsoon blows from the southwest. These winds pick up moisture over the Indian Ocean and then the drench the land with daily downpours. Natural Boundaries

Natural boundaries separate the subcontinent of South Asia from the rest of Asia. Water surrounds the landmass on the east and west.

West - Arabian Sea East - Bay of Bengal North - two lofty mountain ranges Himalayas Hindu Kush ■ Plains dominate the landscape to the south of the mountains

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

The first Indian civilization is cloaked in mystery. It emerged in the Indus River valley, in present-day Pakistan.

This civilization flourished for about 1,000 years, then vanished without a trace.

Archeologists have not fully uncovered many Indus Valley sites. Nor have they deciphered the

fragments of its writings found on stone seals.

When exactly Indus civilization emerged is difficult to determine, beyond the rough guess of approximately 3000 B.C.

The INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVLIZATION reached its height at about the time of the Akkadian and Babylonian empires between about 2500 and 1500 B.C.

The modern nations – India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh – trace their cultural roots to the Indus

River Valley civilization. These countries are located on the subcontinent of South Asia. The chief urban centers so far discovered are KALIBANGAN in modern day Rajastan (probably

the oldest city site found in India), HARAPPA in what is now the Pakistani part of Punjab, and the MOHENJO DARO on the lower course of the Indus.

We know much less about the Indus civilization and its cities than about Sumer of ancient Egypt,

in part because the Indus script has not yet been deciphered despite more than a generation of effort by cryptologists and linguists.

INDUS VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

Archeologists named the Indus Valley settlements HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION after one of its major cities, HARAPPA, located in what is now northern Pakistan. MOHENJO-DARO, is another important city, lay nearer the Arabian Sea.

The ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are outstanding examples of urban planning. A citadel, or fortress, built on a brick platform overlooked each city – possibly serving as government and religious center.

The citadel enclosed a granary, a grand hall, and a public bath, perhaps used for religious

ceremonies.

Below the citadel Harappan engineers skillfully laid out each city in a grid of pattern of straight streets crossing each other at right angles.

Most of the houses had an upper storey connected by a narrow stair-case.

Another remarkable thing about this civilization was the planned layout of its cities, including

wells, a piped water supply, bathrooms, and waste pipes or drains in nearly every house.

The importance attached by the Indus people to personal use of water already suggests the distinctively Indian emphasis both on bathing or washing and on ritual purity.

One of the unique features of the city is found in its elaborate drainage system. It is a fact that

no other city in the world at that time had such an excellent drainage system The Harappans grew grain and fruit on irrigated farmlands and domesticated many animals,

including elephants, sheep, goats, cats, and dogs. They seem to have been one of the earliest peoples to grow cotton and make cotton cloth. Harappan artisans worked with copper, bronze, and gold. They baked building bricks and pottery in large ovens on the edge of the city.

Statues found in the two Harappan cities show women and men with long hair and men with

beards. Patterned or embroidered robes, probably of cotton cloth, left one shoulder bare. Harappan jewelry included necklaces, earrings, and bracelets of gold and semiprecious stones.

Harappan Life

Most of the Harappan people are farmers. In the fields of the Indus valley floodplain they cultivated wheat, barley, rice, and cotton. Supported by the agricultural surplus from these farms, Harappan city dwellers could engage in

industry and commerce. The Harappan inscribed pictograms on the seals they placed on packages of goods. The lack of written records has made it difficult to learn as much about the Harappan

civilization. Artifacts found in the ruins, however, have provided archeologists with some clues:

For examples - the many children’s toys found that the Harappan delighted play - the absence of weapons leads archeologists to question whether these people had

enemies - Animal and humanlike figurines suggest that the Harappan worshiped gods associated

with natural forces, possibly believing that these gods lived in water, trees, and animals. Indus Valley religion indicates that it was a form of ANIMISM

Collapse of a Civilization

By about 2000 B.C., the once-thriving Harappan civilization began to fade By 1500 B.C. it had disappeared

Founders of Harappan Civilization

By all indications have made some scholars believed that Dravidian founded the Harappan culture.

There are strong indications to show that the Harappan culture was essentially native in character.

The ARYAN Invaders

By around 1500 B.C., the ARYANS from Eastern Europe north of the Black and Caspian seas invaded the Hindu Kush Mountains into the Indus River Valley and from there into Northern India.

They spoke a language known as SANSKRIT. They were a simple people who herded sheep and cow.

Each of these loosely organized tribes was led by a RAJAH, or chief.

The Aryans had no use for cities and trading. They also were no builders. They had no written language. What we do know comes from the VEDAS, the great literature of

the Aryan religion.

The period from 1500 to 1000 B.C. is known as the VEDIC AGE in Indian history.

CATTLE were the basis of their diet and economy, even serving as money.

Wealth was measured in cattle, and so the Aryans soon settled down into an agricultural way of

life. Dozens of Aryan words describe cattle, indicating their continued prominence in Aryan life. Cattle provided meat, fresh milk, and GHEE, or liquid bottle. Later, their herds would be considered so sacred that a ban was placed on eating meat.

Men dominated the Aryan world. Women took part in religious ceremonies and social affairs, and they were allowed to remarry if

they were widowed.

Both boys and girls from families of high rank attended school, where they learned Aryan traditions.

The VEDAS

The word VEDA means “knowledge” The VEDAS are books of sacred knowledge – collections of religious rituals and hymns to the

gods. The four major surviving books are:

There are four Vedas

a. the Rig Veda - the oldest and most important of the Vedas. b. the Sama Veda c. the Yajur Veda, and d. the Atharva Veda

The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism.

The Rig Veda: The Book of Mantra The Rig Veda is a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a main source of information on the Rig Vedic civilization. It is the oldest book in any Indo-European language and contains the earliest form of all Sanskrit mantras that date back to 1500 B.C. - 1000 B.C. The rig Veda accounts in detail the social, religious, political and economic background of the Rig-Vedic civilization. Even though monotheism characterizes some of the hymns of Rig Veda, naturalistic polytheism and monism can be discerned in the religion of the hymns of Rig Veda. The Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda were compiled after the age of the Rig Veda and are ascribed to the Vedic period. The Sama Veda: The Book of Song The Sama Veda is purely a liturgical collection of melodies (‘saman’). The hymns in the Sama Veda, used as musical notes, were almost completely drawn from the Rig Veda and have no distinctive lessons of their own. Hence, its text is a reduced version of the Rig Veda. As Vedic Scholar David Frawley puts it, if the Rig Veda is the word, Sama Veda is the song or the meaning, if Rig Veda is the knowledge, Sama Veda is its realization, if Rig Veda is the wife, the Sama Veda is her husband.

The Yajur Veda: The Book of Ritual The Yajur Veda is also a liturgical collection and was made to meet the demands of a ceremonial religion. The Yajur Veda practically served as a guidebook for the priests who execute sacrificial acts muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and the sacrificial formulae (‘yajus’). The Atharva Veda: The Book of Spell The last of the Vedas, this is completely different from the other three Vedas and is next in importance to Rig-Veda with regard to history and sociology. A different spirit pervades this Veda. Its hymns are of a more diverse character than the Rig Veda and are also simpler in language. In fact, many scholars do not consider it part of the Vedas at all. The Atharva Veda consists of spells and charms prevalent at its time, and portrays a clearer picture of the Vedic society. RIG-VEDA - It records legends that tell us about Aryan life

- the world’s oldest religious text still in use.

Since the Aryans had no system of writing, the VEDAS were memorized and handed down by word of mouth.

ARYAN RELIGION

The earliest gods mentioned in the VEDAS were forces of the nature, such as the sky, sun, earth, light, wind, storm, water, and rain.

These natural objects and forces were personified – that is, they were regarded or represented

as persons. The Vedic religion of the Aryan people was not fixed, but changing and developing. The

development of the god VARUNA best shows how Aryan religion changed. He began as the heaven. His garment was the sky, his breath the storm. As the spiritual understanding of his worshipers matured, so he did.

VARUNA became the guardian of ideas of right and wrong. He watched over the world through

his eyes, the sun. He rewarded good and punished evil. Thus he became the enforcer of an eternal law of morality – of right and wrong.

The early Aryans believe in personal immortality. After death the soul was either thrust by

Varuna into a dark pit of eternal punishment or raised into a heaven where every earthly joy was endless.

Through repeated ritual sacrifices and correct ritual action (karma), a person would reach this

heaven free of his or her earthly body.

There were apparently no temples or images in the early Vedic religion. Rituals consisted of burnt offerings. New altars were built after each sacrifice.

As time passed, the rituals of sacrifice became more complicated. The spoken language of the

people also changed, until it became quite different from the Sanskrit of the first Aryan invaders.

Since proper observance was so important, priests who knew the proper forms and were learned in Sanskrit also became important. These priests were called BRAHMANS. They fixed the proper ceremony for almost every occasion of life and changed heavily for their services.

Early Aryan Society

The Aryans had been nomads, with the habits and customs of wanderers. In the Indus-Ganges plain, however, they found one of the richest and most fertile areas in the world. With farming and settled living, they also developed simple forms of government.

Aryan tribes joined to form small states. Each tribe was led by a chief and a tribal council. Each

state was ruled by a king and a council of warriors, but each state was made up of nearly independent villages. Each village was governed by an assembly of heads of families.

There were physical and social differences between conquerors and conquered.

- Aryans were light-skinned. Their original Indus Valley people were dark skinned. - Aryans had been nomads. The Indus Valley people had been city dwellers. - The conquerors looked down on the people they had conquered.

● Because of the Aryans belief that they have to maintain their identity, they passed laws

prohibiting marriages between Aryans and the valley dwellers. Class divisions began to form during the Vedic Age, but it was not until later that fixed hereditary

classes appeared. The early Aryans considered warriors to be the most admirable members of society. But when peace came, and farmers needed the help of religion against the forces of nature, the BRAHMANS PRIESTS became important.

The Vedas provide a great deal of information about family life in the Vedic Age.

◙ Marriages took place by kidnapping, by purchase, or mutual consent It was considered a great compliment for a woman to be stolen To be bought and paid for was more flattering than to be married by consent.

►Men were permitted to have more than one wife ►They were considered to own their wives and children ►In certain circumstances, a man might sell his wives and children

The Aryan Economy

When the Aryans took up farming in the Indus-Ganges plain, they raised barley as the principal

crop. Each village divided its land among its families, but irrigation was the responsibility of the village

as a whole. Land could not be sold to outsiders. It could be willed only to male heirs. Most Aryans owned

their land. To work for someone else was considered a disgrace. Handicrafts gradually appeared in the villages. There was not much trade because

transportation and trading methods were poor. Early trade was BARTER, the exchange of one item for another without the use of money. Later, CATTLE were used as money.

The Great Epics

The Vedic Age was named after the VEDAS, collections of religious rituals and hymns to the gods.

Vedic Age is also known as the EPIC AGE (1000 to 500 B.C.) Interpretation of the rituals and hymns of the Vedas was left to priests called BRAHMANS. During the Epic Age, the Brahmans composed the UPANISHADS, a complex philosophical

explanation of the Vedic religion. The story of the UPANISHADS told from generation to generation produces two epics:

MAHABHARATA and RAMAYANA.

MAHABHARATA is the longest epic poem in world literature and is considered a part of sacred Hindu scripture. It primarily tells the story of a great civil war in a kingdom near Delhi, in what is now northern India today. The last 18 chapters of this epic are known as BHAGAVAD-GITA. Their theme is religious. They stress that doing one’s moral duty (called DHARMA) according to one’s responsibilities is the highest fulfillment in life. KHRISNA, a human incarnation of the god VISHNU, also explains in the BHAGAVAD-GITA how love and devotion to Vishnu can be another way to reach salvation.

The RAMAYANA is the story of two royal heroic figures – RAMA (another human

incarnation of god Vishnu) and his devoted wife SITA. By their faithfulness to duty and their devotion to each other as well as to people of their kingdom, RAMA and SITA are the ideals of Indian manhood and womanhood.

From these literary works, scholars have been able to piece together the origins of two most

important influences in Indian history – the Caste System and Hinduism.

The Caste System

The CASTE SYSTEM was a form of social organization. It began in Northern India when the invading Aryans laid down rules to prevent intermarriage between themselves and the peoples they had conquered. In Aryan belief, both human beings and gods were part of a universal order. The priests

taught that each detail of a ritual or sacrifice had to be perfect so that this order would not be upset and destroyed.

By the beginning of the Epic Age, four distinct classes had emerged in Indian society

(1) At the top were the rulers and warriors, called KSATRIYAS (2) Next came the priests, scholars, and wise men, called BRAHMANS

During the Epic Age, the Brahmans and the Ksatriyas changed position, with the

Brahmans becoming first.

(3) Next came the merchants, traders, and owners of small farms, called VAISYUS (Vy-syuz) or common people

(4) At the foot of the social ladder were the SUDRAS, who were peasants bound to work the fields of large landowners. They included the conquered Indian peoples as well as the descendants of Aryans who married non-Aryans.

The fifth group of people in Indian society were not even on the ladder. These people were the PARIAHS. They were also called untouchables, because it was thought that merely to touch them would make one impure. Indeed, it was believed that even a pariah’s shadow would contaminate a Brahman.

HINDUISM

The major religion of India, HINDUISM, developed through interpretations of the Vedas by Brahman scholars.

Unlike most major religions, Hinduism has no single founder and no single sacred text. Instead, it

grew out of the overlapping beliefs of the diverse groups who settled India. The process probably began when the Aryans added gods of the Indus Valley people to their own. As a result, Hinduism became one of the world’s most complex religions, with coutless gods and goddesses and many forms of worship existing side by side.

Many gods – or one?

“God is one, but wise people know it by many names.” This ancient proverb reflects a central feature of Hinduism. By the late Vedic age, Hindu thinkers came to believe that everything in the universe was part of the unchanging, all-powerful spiritual force called Brahman. To Hindus, Brahman is too complex an idea for most people to understand, so they worship gods that give a concrete form to Brahman. The most important Hindu gods are Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Shiva, the Destroyer. Each represents aspects of Brahman. Each of these gods can take many forms, human or animal, and each has his own family.

According to the Upanishads, everything in the world is filled with a basic divine essence known

as BRAHMAN.

ATMAN – or self – refers to the essence of an individual person.

When Hindus say that Brahman and Atman are one and indivisible, they mean that God and human beings are one. This idea is called MONISM.

The world known to our senses is merely an illusion called MAYA, which betrays people, giving

them sorrow and pain. People can be delivered from their suffering if they identify what MAYA is. However, this requires lifetimes of experience. This experience, according to a major belief Hinduism, is provided by REINCARNATION, or the soul does not die with the body but enters the body of another being and thus lives second, third, and more lives.

The progress of the soul toward deliverance from suffering depends upon the life each person

lives as a fulfillment of moral duty – DHARMA. The present condition of one’s life is wholly the result of what was done or not done during the previous life of one’s soul. Ultimately each person hopes to be one who ends the repeated transmigrations and enables the soul to be reunited with the soul of Brahman.

Hindu Religious Practices

Good persons are rewarded, evil ones are punished. Reward means that the soul enters the

body of someone of a higher caste. Evil people are punished when their souls are reborn in the bodies of people of lower castes.

Since all souls are part of the UNIVERSAL SOUL, or BRAHMAN, Hindus respect the sanctity of all life in all forms. Brahmans have to be particularly careful not to bring injury or violence to any living thing – AHIMSA.

The Brahmans taught that salvation could be achieved by fulfilling one’s dharma and by worship of any aspect of Brahman. Brahman’s aspects included a basic trinity of god composed of

BRAHMA the Creator VISHNU the Preserver SIVA the Destroyer

One key moral principle of Hinduism is ahimsa, or nonviolence. To Hindus, all people and things are aspects of Brahman and should therefore be respected. Many holy people have tried to follow the path of nonviolence. The teacher MAHAVIRA (muh hah VEE ruh) developed an extreme form of ahimsa. About 500 B.C., he founded JAINISM (JIN ihz um), a new religion that grew out of Hindu traditions. Jain teachings emphasized meditation and self-denial. To avoid accidentally killing a living thing, even an insect, Jains carried brooms to sweep the ground in front of their feet. Opposition to the Brahmins Mahavira lived in a time of frequent warfare. During this troubled period, Brahmin priests acquired great power by insisting that they alone could perform the sacred rites to bring victory in battle or ensure adequate rainfall. Reformers like Mahavira rejected Brahmin domination and offered other paths to truth. In the foothills of the Himalayas, another reformer, Siddharta Gautama, founded a new religion, Buddhism. His teachings eventually spread across Asia to become one of the world’s most influential religions.

BUDDHISM

Buddhism began in India as an intellectual and emotional revolt against the emptiness of Vedic ritualism. Originally an earthly philosophy that rejected the idea of immortal life and the gods, it was turned into a supernatural belief soon after the death of its founder, the Buddha (“Enlightened One”). What was the essence of the Buddha’s teachings? The Buddha taught that everyone, regardless of caste, could attain Nirvana, which is the Buddhist equivalent of Hindu moksha: release from human life and its woes. Nirvana is attained through the self-taught mastery of oneself: the gods have nothing to do with it, and priests are superfluous. The way to self-mastery lies through the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, which the Buddha laid out in his teachings.

According to Buddha, salvation cannot come through self-torture or from the sacrifice of animals. Salvation comes from knowing the FOUR NOBLE TRUTH and following the MIDDLE WAY. The FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

1. All human life is full of suffering and sorrow. 2. Suffering and sorrow are caused by a greedy desire for pleasure and material things. 3. By renouncing desire, people are freed from suffering and their souls attain NIRVANA (the

perfect peace in which their soul is freed from having to be born again) 4. Renunciation of desire and attainment of NIRVANA may be gained by following the MIDDLE

WAY.

The MIDDLE WAY may be pursued by following the EIGHTFOLD PATH, eight guides to thought and conduct:

1. Right Belief is the renunciation of worldly things and the dedication to a sacred life. 2. Right Intention is the means by which the individual aspires the achievement of nirvana. 3. Right Speech enables the individual to serve as a model for others to follow. 4. Right Conduct acknowledges the sanctity of life. 5. Right Living is a life of service rather than selfishness. 6. Right Effort – the individual keeps his inner self free from evil thoughts. 7. Right Midfulness is constant awareness that craving is pointless. 8. Right Meditation enables the individual to be selfless in his mind and actions.

What made Buddhism so appealing? Much of the popularity of Buddhism stemmed from its

democracy of spirit. Everyone, male and female, high and low, was able to discover the Four Truths and follow the Eightfold Path. No one was excluded because of caste restrictions or poverty.

Tripitaka (Three Baskets of Wisdom) – sacred text of Buddhism

Two Schools

Theravada Buddhism or Hinayana (Small Vehicle)

Theravada Buddhism seems to adhere closer to the Buddha’s original teaching and uses meditation to find wisdom.

Theravada Buddhism required a life devoted to hard spiritual work. Only the most dedicated seekers, such as monks and nuns, could hope to reach nirvana. Mahayana Buddhism (Great Vehicle) Mahayana Buddhism is more liberal with the teachings of the Buddha. The teachings of the Buddha are still prominent but in order to be more palatable to a wider range of people, local customs and beliefs such as deities and mysticism have become enmeshed with the teachings of Buddha.

JAINISM

• The founder of the Jains (JYNES) was given the name MAHAVIRA (“Great Hero”) by his followers • Mahavira described karma as actual substance that clung to the soul and diminished its original purity

and brightness. • Unlike the Buddha, he thought that strict self-denial and life in a monastery were the only way to purify

the soul and rid it of karma.

Jains Practices • Jains did not pray or worship gods. • They took vows not to steal, lie, or desire anything, and they would not kill any living being. Ahimsa, or

non-violence, was their central belief. • Interpreting this idea in its fullest sense, Jains did not go to war or fight back if attacked. They would

not eat meat or even do farm work, because working the soil would kill plant and animal life.

• To avoid stepping on insects as they walked, strict Jains hired people to sweep the ground in front of

them. • They strained the water they drank, and some even wore masks to filter the air they breathed.

Jainism is an ancient religion from India that teaches that the way to liberation and bliss is to live

lives of harmlessness and renunciation. The essence of Jainism is concern for the welfare of every being in the universe and for the health of

the universe itself. Jains believe that animals and plants, as well as human beings, contain living souls. Each of these

souls is considered of equal value and should be treated with respect and compassion.

Jains are strict vegetarians and live in a way that minimizes their use of the world's resources. Jains believe in reincarnation and seek to attain ultimate liberation - which means escaping the

continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth so that the immortal soul lives for ever in a state of bliss.

Liberation is achieved by eliminating all karma from the soul.

There are no gods or spiritual beings that will help human beings.

The texts containing the teachings of Mahavira are called the Agamas.

INDIA

In the 500’s B.C., DARIUS sent a Persian army to invade the Indus Valley and organized the area as a part of the Persian Empire.

The Persian conquerors introduced ARAMAIC writing, ZOROASTRIANISM (Persian religion still existing among the Parsees of Bombay), and PURDAH, the custom of secluding women at home and in public.

In the 4th century B.C. the Persian Empire declined.

Indian kingdoms slowly reduced Persian control of northwestern India. This area in the Ganges Valley was traditionally known as HINDUSTAN (“Stan” means country).

This region was finally absorbed by the kingdom of MAGADHA, in Northeastern India. MAGADHA was ruled from 413 to 322 B.C. by a dynasty called the NINE NANDAS. It was a

NANDA ruler and his army that were defeated by Alexander the Great at the Indus River in 326 B.C.

When Alexander the Great of Macedonia left in 324 B.C., India was opened to Europe trade and he paved the way for Indian unity.

It must be recalled that Alexander’s campaign in India was against PORUS, King of West Punjab. When PORUS was defeated, Alexander asked him how he wished to be treated, PORUS replied :

“As befits me – like a king!” Alexander was so impressed that he gave him back his kingdom as an ally, a pact that PORUS

kept to his death.

Alexander died in 323 B.C.

Powerful Empires in India

“The king’s good is not that which pleases him, but that which pleases his subjects.”

- Ancient Indian Handbook for Rulers

The MAURYA Empire

By 322 B.C. CHANDRAGUPTA had emerged as head of an empire that included the whole of Hindustan and most of the northwest.

CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA - founded the first Indian empire and the Maurya dynasty. PATALIPUTRA - capital city of the empire

All mines and forests were owned by the state Prostitution was controlled by the state Mauryan India was a place of great wealth and prosperity There was already an extensive seaborne trade He maintained an efficient postal service that moved swiftly over excellent roads He took over all of northwestern India up to the Hindu Kush He maintained order through a well-organized bureaucracy.

- Royal officials supervised the building of roads and harbors to benefit trade

Chandragupta’s rule was effective but harsh

- Fearful of his enemies, he had specially trained women warriors guard his palace - Servants tasted his food to protect him from poisoning - Secret passages in the palace let him slip about unseen

Emperor ASHOKA (about 274 – 237 B.C.)

Emperor Ashoka was the greatest Mauryan ruler; he was the grandson of Chandragupta He has a habit of inscribing his name and empirical edicts on rocks and pillars In the 9th year of his reign he led an expedition against KALINGA, which was conquered after a

bloody war. The sight of the bloodshed was considered a turning point in the life of ASHOKA. Converted to Buddhism with its doctrine AHIMSA (Sanskrit AHIMSA, meaning non - injury of

living creatures), he vowed to spend the rest of his life, and his great imperial power and prestige, in spreading the Noble Truths. He rejected violence, and resolved to rule by moral example.

According to BUDDHA, salvation cannot come through self-torture or from the sacrifice

of animals. Salvation comes from knowing the FOUR NOBLE TRUTH and following the MIDDLE WAY

Ashoka became the greatest patron of Buddhism – the state religion of his empire. He sent

missionaries, women as well as men, across India and to Sri Lanka. He thus paved the way for the later spread of Buddhism throughout Asia.

He established asylums for orphans and hospitals for the sick. He encouraged his people to be courteous, kind, obedient and truthful. When Ashoka died about 230 B.C., the Maurya Empire began to fall apart.

When the last Maurya ruler was assassinated in 184 B.C., series of foreign rulers controlled

Northern India. One of which was a Greek kingdom called BACTRIA, a remnant of Alexander’s empire.

BACTRIA was conquered by a nomadic tribe, the KUSHANS, who had been driven from their home in central Asia by the HUNS.

When the last known Kushan king died in 220 A.D., there followed a period of 100 years in which Indian civilization was chaotic and about which little is known.

Tamil culture is dominant in the south

The cultures of South India developed quite separately from those in the north. Not even the huge Mauryan Empire included all the south, and none of the invaders of India reached the land south of the Deccan.

This southern region was settled by people from the Indus Valley who had fled southward from the Aryan invaders. Called DRAVIDIANS, they established a distinctive culture in south India.

The Dravidian language, still spoken today in India and Sri-Lanka, is TAMIL.

Golden Age of the Guptas (about A.D. 320 to about 550)

The GUPTA first came to power in the Ganges Valley, but through intermarriage and conquest they extended their power over a wide area of India.

The GUPTA rulers were autocratic. The GUPTAS claimed that they had been appointed to rule by the Gods. They favored Hinduism over Buddhism, since Hinduism stressed the gods and Buddhism did not.

CHANDRAGUPTA I – reunited a large part of India.

SAMUDRAGUPTA (son of Chandragupta I) – brought GUPTA dynasty to the height of its greatness. As hero of 100 battles, he is called the “Napoleon of India.” CHANDRAGUPTA II (son of Samudragupta) removed the last trace of foreign rule in India.

The period is considered as India’s GOLDEN or CLASSICAL AGE - It was during this period that art, literature, and science reached the highest level.

By about A.D. 550 the GUPTA power was destroyed by new invaders, they called WHITE HUNS (probably Iranians or TURKS from Central Asia.)

● The new invaders did not succeed in building their own empire.

India Comes Under Muslim Rule

In 712, the first Muslim invaders crossed the mountains from Persia and moved into the Indus Valley. Their advance was stopped by the barren Thar Desert and by the Rajputs, the warrior clans of the northwest. The Hindu Rajputs claimed to be the direct heirs of the Kshatriya class of Aryans. Proud and warlike, they held to a strict code of honor and chivalry.

The next invasion of India was launched by the Turkish Muslims from one of the mountain

kingdoms, GHAZNI (in present-day Afghanistan). Its ruler, Mahmud, was rapidly expanding his empire. He did not want Indian land but did want the gold and treasure of the cities, temples, and monasteries.

Since Hindus were “infidels” to the Muslim invaders, the raids were encouraged by the caliph of

Baghdad as a holy war.

About 1175 the empire of Ghazni was taken over by a group of Turks led by a chieftain named MUHAMMAD GHORI. The Rajput confederacy, which depended on elephants, could not hold off the fast-moving Turkish archers mounted on horseback. Muhammad Ghori’s victorious armies occupied India as far south as the Deccan.

When Muhammad died in 1206, one of his generals , a freed slave named AYBEK, declared the

Indian territories a separate Muslim kingdom or sultanate, with its capital at Delhi.

The Delhi Sultanate

◙ The rulers of Delhi were proclaimed sultans of India by the caliph of Baghdad, and they

remained in power for more than 300 years. ◙ At its greatest extent, the sultanate included the entire northern plain, much of the Deccan,

and even parts of the south. ◙ In the early 1200’s, Genghis Khan led his fierce Mongol warriors across Asia, conquering and

destroying as he established a huge empire. The Mongols then turned west and attacked many of the great cultural centers of the Muslim empire, destroying

Baghdad in 1258.

◙ In the late 1300’s, the conqueror Tamerlane led his Mongol armies through Central and Western Asia, looting and destroying. Although he was a zealous Muslim himself, Tamerlane devastated the great Muslim cities in Asia.

◙ In 1398, Delhi was destroyed and thousands of people killed The Mogul Dynasty begins ● In the early 1500’s, BABER, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, led his army into India. ► Though Baber died shortly after the conquest, he succeeded in establishing a new empire in India, called the

MOGUL EMPIRE (from the Persian word for Mongol). ● Baber’s grandson AKBAR was only 13 years old when he inherited the throne in 1556 ☻ Akbar was an excellent general. During his 49-year reign, the Mogul Empire expanded to include all the north of India and much of the Deccan. He was also a wise statesman. He understood how important compromise was in uniting the many different people and religions within the empire. ☻ Akbar’s son Jahangir (1605-1628) married a clever and beautiful Persian woman, Nur Jahan. She and her family influenced both politics and the ways of living in the empire.

◘ Nobles spoke Persian, while a new mixed language, URDU, gradually formed from a blend of Indian languages and the Persian spoken by soldiers.

● Shah Jahan, Jahangir’s son, led a rebellion against his father and had his brothers murdered to secure the Mogul throne in 1628.

► Shah Jahan is best remembered for the tomb he had built for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal, in the Mogul city of Agra, is one of the architectural wonders of the world.

♦ Shah Jahan’s son Aurangzeb (nicknamed the “World Shaker”), who imprisoned his father, seized the

throne in 1658. New Forces Rebel Against the Moguls

Hindu Rajputs became a constant source of rebellion in the north The Sikhs, neither Hindu nor Muslim, adopted distinctive names and customs and formed a small,

self-sufficient society. Their center of power lay in the Punjab. In the Deccan, the Marathas, a Hindu people living along the western coast, established a small

indeopendent empire within the Mogul empire. ♣ European traders, who began to establish outposts in India in the 17th century, took advantage of this

disunity to gain control of the country. Social Life

Woman’s status was lower than man’s; the wife, worship he husband as a god Polygamy, or marriage to more than one wife, was widespread. SUTTEE became a common practice where a widow would commit suicide by throwing herself

on top of her husband’s flaming funeral pyre.

Literature

People enjoyed the stories in the PANCHATANTRA, a series of fables from the Gupta period. Next to the Bible, the PANCHATANTRA is the most widely translated book in the world today.

Mathematics

Indians actually invented the numeral system that we call Arabic – 1 through10 and the zero. It was brought to the West from India by Arab traders.

Had a concept of negative numbers Calculated the square root of 2 and prepared a table of sines.

East Asia

An Overview East Asia covers 17% of the land area of the continent Asia which includes most of China ( the world’s largest nation in population). Other nations in East Asia include Japan, Korea and Taiwan. East Asia as a whole is accordingly sometimes called the SINIC culture (from Latin word for China, of Chinese), one of that also inherited most of the Chinese agricultural system as well as its system of writing, philosophy, literature, and social institution and art forms.

The Beginning

The archaeological record of human in East Asia begins some 500,000 years ago. At that time, a kind of ape-man inhabited Northern China; with a brain capacity about 2/3 that of modern man, this ape man walked erect ( Homo Erectus), could fashion simple tools, and lived by hunting and gathering. He may also have used fire. Until recently the earliest representative of this proto-human was famous PEKING MAN, discovered in a limestone cave southwest of Peking in 1927.

Many specimens of Neanderthal man (200,000 - 100,000 B.C) and Homo Sapiens (100,000 -

25,000 B.C), the direct ancestor of modern man, have been unearthed in both North and South China Sea; the area watered by Yellow river, however, seems consistently to have been in the forefront of early cultural advance

In the late Neolithic Period ( from about 5000 B.C onward), this area, with its fertile worked soil

and abundant water supply, proved especially hospitable to people whose livelihood was coming to depend more and more on agriculture.

-hunting, fishing, farming -domesticated animal -produced a wide variety of implements

Their pottery included a three-legged vessel called LI that became the ancestor of the beautiful bronze tripods of later period.

Elaborate religious practices included a well-developed ancestor cult, agricultural rites, and

SCAPULIMANCY (oracle bones), a means of divination in which the answers to previously asked questions are determined by interpreting the cracks induced by applying heat to animal bones.

By about 2000 B.C, the late Neolithic culture called LUNG SHAN (or black pottery), had begun to

build a walled settlements larger than villages, to make bronze tools, weapons and ornaments, and to use a pictographic and ideographic script clearly recognizable as the ancestor of written Chinese. Their towns or cities included large groups of nonfarmers – scribes, metallurgists, artisans, and perhaps officials – and already the LUNG SHAN people have learned the art of SILK MAKING, long and exclusive Chinese skill and trademark.

Legendary Background In every ancient times, relates a Chinese legend, flood waters rose to the top of the highest hills. Yu, a hard-working official, labored for 13 years to drain the waters: “I opened passages for the streams throughout the nine provinces, and conducted them to

the sea. I deepened channels and canals, and conducted them to the streams.” While taming the rivers, Yu did not once go home to see his wife and children. As a reward for his selfless efforts, he later became ruler of China. The legend of Yu offers insights into early China. The ancient Chinese valued the ability to control flood waters and to develop irrigation systems for farming. The legend also shows how highly the Chinese prized devotion to duty. Both these values played a key role in the development of Chinese civilization. EARLY CHINA

For many centuries the Chinese lived in relative isolation from the rest of the world. They called their homeland ZHONG GUO (joong gwah), or the MIDDLE KINGDOM. To them it was the center of the world and the one truly supreme civilization.

The lack of outside contacts allowed the Chinese to develop one culture across many regions and strong sense of national identity as well. As a result, China has the oldest continuous civilization in the world. China’s Varied Geography

The landforms of China account for the isolation of the Chinese. Everywhere stand barriers to communication and movement.

Mountains made up a third of China’s area:

- the HIMALAYAS close off China to the Southwest - Just north of this range (the Himalayas) is the formidable Plateau of Tibet, sometimes called the

”Roof of the World.” - The KUNLUNG SHAN and the TIAN SHANG ranges rise on the western border north of Plateau

of Tibet. - To the east of the Tian Shan stretches the vast GOBI, an inhospitable desert extending over

China’s northern frontier. Rivers

China is land of many rivers. - Of the northern Rivers, the HUANG HE (Yellow River) is the longest. On its way to the Yellow

Sea, it cuts through thick layers of loess (loos), a rich yellow soil. The river carries away large quantities of loess, which it deposits farther down its course. The abundance of yellow soil suspended in the water of the Huang gives it the name YELLOW RIVER. The Chinese sometimes call the Huang River “the Great Sorrow,” or “China’s Sorrow,” because of the tragedy it brings with its floods.

- In Central China, the longest river is YANGTZE ( Chang Jiang). Its valley has rich agricultural land and numerous industrial centers.

- XI JIANG ( Pearl River) one of the most important river in China. Its humid valley

produced about 50% of China’s grain.

CHINESE DYNASTIES

Beginning with XIA or HSIA Dynasty (2200 B.C- 1500 B.C), China had been governed for over 4000 years by a series of ruling families, or DYNASTIES. The XIA or HSIA Dynasty Emperor Yu- founded the first great dynasty

It is believed that his people helped tame the wild Yellow River. They have descended from a wide-spread Yellow River Valley Neolithic culture known as

LONGSHAN culture, famous for their black lacquered pottery. Whether the Hsia was real state and dynasty or not, the name was certainly used, and the Shang

could not have appeared without a predecessor. Hsia may still be convenient label for the Lung Shan.

- Yang Shao (painted pottery) culture is the last stages of its evolution.

The SHANG Dynasty About 1650 B.C., a Chinese people called the Shang gained control of a corner of northern China, along the Huang He. The Shang dynasty dominated this region until 1027 B.C. During the Shang period, Chinese civilization took shape. Despite many changes, ideas and achievements of this early civilization have survived to the present.

This is the first dynasty that has proof that it existed.

“DRAGON BONES or ORACLE BONES”

- ground into powder, these aged tortoise shells and shoulder bones of oxen and deer were used in mixing remedies for nervous disorders an other ailments.

This was China’s BRONZE AGE A fairly advanced writing system, which formed the basis of the present one, was in used. (Based

on the “oracle bones” deciphered by the priest) Religion was an important state activity, monopolized by priests. Practiced “ancestor worship.” Slaves are often buried alive with the king. Slaves were not thought to have souls or spirits and

thus could safely be killed. Sacrificial vessels were in used. Calendar (10 day week, 60 day cycle) SERICULTURE, or the raising of Mulberry trees for silkworms to feed on and produce silks, was

developed.

Silk became China’s most valuable export. The trade route that eventually linked China and the Middle East became known as the Silk Road.

Peasant villages also existed based on HOE culture. Hunting remained a subsidiary source of

food in addition to domesticated animals. According to their social structure people belonged to different classes. They practiced cruelty

toward man, and made sacrifices to their gods. They had a very odd system of succession; instead of a patrilineal system where power was

passed from father to son, the kingship passed from elder brother to younger brother, and when there were no brothers, then to the oldest maternal nephew.

YIN and YANG The Chinese believed the universe reflected a delicate balance between two forces, YIN AND YANG. YIN was linked to Earth, darkness, and female forces, while YANG stood for heaven, light, and male forces. To the Chinese, these forces were not in opposition. Rather, the well-being of the universe depended on harmony between yin and yang. People could play a role in maintaining this harmony. For example, the king had to make the proper sacrifices to heaven while at the same time taking practical steps. The ZHOU or CHOU Dynasty The Zhou conquered the last Shang dynasty king around 1028 B.C, claiming the MANDATE OF HEAVEN (the divine right to rule) or the heaven’s approval. They called their king the SON OF HEAVEN, saying the Shang had lost the mandate by ruling poorly. To control their holdings, Zhou kings set up an agricultural system, in which nobles own the land and serfs, or peasants, worked it (feudalism). They appointed their relatives to govern, giving each one a city-state – a walled town and the surrounding countryside.

the longest dynasty in China the beginning of China’s iron age metal was made into coins and served as a medium of exchange feudalism was institutionalized

FEUDALISM was a system which a lord owned a loyalty or allegiance to higher-ranking nobleman or ruler. In turn, the lord claimed of lower-ranking lords and ruled the people living on his land.

FEUDALISM is a system of government in which local lords governed their own lands but owed

military service and other forms of support to the ruler.

The Zhou emperors gave land (fiefs) to loyal subjects (vassals) for support of the emperor. They held this land by force. The lords who ruled each district owed loyalty to the emperor. In time, the lord claimed of lower-ranking lords and ruled the people living on his land.

WAR was so frequent that it is referred to as the “Age of Warring States.” (5th century

B.C.)

- attacking an enemy before he had time to mobilize his forces was prohibited. - Defeated enemy were not killed - Used chariots in battle

Those who do not follow the rules of conduct were regarded as OUTSIDERS or BARBARIANS.

- can gain the acceptance by showing the proper respect for the values of Chinese

civilization.

CHOPSTICKS came into use Iron axes and ox-drawn iron plows replaced stone, wood, and bronze tools; farmers produced

more food. Commerce expanded; The Chinese began to use money for the first time. Chinese copper coins

had holes in the center so they could be strung on cords. Economic expansion led to an increase in population Astronomers studied the movement of planets and recorded eclipses of the sun. Their findings

helped them develop an accurate calendar with 365 ¼ days

The Chinese made the first books. They bound thin strips of wood or bamboo together and then carefully drew characters on the flat surface with a brush and ink.

۩ The earliest Chinese books included histories and religious works. I Ching, a handbook for

diviners, is still used by people who want to foretell the future.

The development of SPIRIT OF INQUIRY is the greatest contribution of this age

Man began to question the purpose of existence and to develop original ideas on what ideal behavior was.

Was man good or evil? Could he be happy when passed on to the next world?What rules should man used to

lead a good life?

The time of Great Philosophers

“Lead the people by laws and regulate them by punishments, and the people will simply try to keep out of jail, but will have no sense of shame. Lead the people by virtue … and they will have a sense of shame and moreover will become good.”

- Confucius The great philosopher Confucius (kon Fuzi, or Master Kong) offered this advice to China’s ruler about 500 B.C. Government, he felt, was more than enforcing laws. Rulers must also set a good example.

The Wisdom of CONFUCIUS

Five Relationships Confucius taught that harmony resulted when people accepted their place in society. He stressed five key relationships:

- father to son - ruler to subject - husband to wife - elder brother to younger brother - friend to friend

Confucius believed that, except for friendship, none of these relationships was equal. Older

people were superior to younger ones; men were superior to women. ◙ Everyone had duties and responsibilities, depending on his or her position. Superiors should care for their inferiors and set a good example, while inferiors owed loyalty and obedience to their superiors.

◙ Correct behavior would bring order and stability. ◙ Confucius put filial piety, or respect for parents, above all other duties, even loyalty to the

state. ◙ Other values included honesty, hard work, and concern for others, which would promote

harmony. “ Do not do to others what you do not wish yourself.”

Government ☻Confucius believed that people were naturally good. The best ruler was a virtuous man who

led by example:

“If a ruler is upright, all will go well without orders. But if he himself is not upright, even though he gives orders, they will not be obeyed.”

☻Confucius put great faith in education for men.

“By nature, men are pretty much alike. It is learning and practice that set them apart”

☻He urged rulers to take the advice of wise, educated men.

TAOISM/DAOISM : The Unspoken Way

- founded by Lao Tse or Lao Tzu

Daoists had no interest in bringing order to human affairs. Instead, they sought to live in

harmony with nature. According to Lao-tzu, people should strive for learning, riches, or power. They should try to

bring themselves into harmony with Tao by being quiet, thoughtful, and humble. As Lao-tzu said, “He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty.”

He advised people to withdraw from public affairs and not to participate in them. He praised a very simple society

- It is a society in which nature is placed above all else and man-made institutions like law,

trade and commerce are not important.

Daoists rejected the world of conflict and strife. Instead, they emphasized the virtue of yielding. Water, they pointed out, does not resists, but yields to outside pressure. Yet it is unstoppable force.

Seeking “ the Way” Lao Tzu looked beyond everyday worries to focus on the Dao, or “the way” of the universe as a whole. How does one find the Dao? “Those who know the Dao do not speak of it. Those who speak of it do not know.”

THE LEGALIST Philosophy

- A school of thought which grew out of the teachings of Hanfeizi

According to Hanfeizi, “the nature of man is evil. His goodness is acquired.”

The only way to achieve order was to pass strict laws and enforce them with harsh punishments.

Strength, not goodness, was a ruler’s greatest virtue. “The ruler alone possess power, wielding it like lightning or like thunder.”

MOIST Philosophy (Mo Tzu)

“… all humans ought to love each other … this could be accomplished best in a simple society that produced only what was absolutely necessary for people’s basic needs.”

The Moist argued that man had free will (that is, he could make choice between good and evil) and could change his life.

MENCIUS

Reemphasized the importance of ethical, or honest relationships between men; and he stressed the dignity of man.

“Government should provide for the welfare and happiness of the whole people. If the government fails to do so, people have the right to rebel.”

“He who gains the hearts of the people gains the throne and he who loses the people’s heart loses the throne.”

Strong Rulers Unite China

In 221 B.C., Zheng proclaimed himself Shi Huangdi, or “First Emperor”. Though his methods were brutal, he ushered in China’s classical age.

QIN or CH’IN Dynasty (founded by Cheng) 221 B.C

China finally became unified under the leadership of one man SHI HUANGDI (Shir’ Hwang’Dee) - the name means the “first emperor.”

He destroyed the power of feudal lords. The name CHINA came from this period Achieved a high degree of centralization of control based on political and social standard. Ch’in leadership was very harsh. It was based on the Legalist principles. Dictatorship was the rule. On the emperor’s orders, books were burned and enemies were sent

to special camps as slaves or else beheaded. The purpose was to destroy the influence of Confucian ideas.

The GREAT WALL was begun to keep out invaders from the north (around 1500 years to complete)

Nobility became a reward for military merit rather than a right by birth. Highways were constructed linking the entire country to the capital. Along the highways,

inscribed stone tablets praised the regime’s accomplishments. The writing system was standardized, as were weights and measures , coinage and the calendar. To guard against revolts, only imperial soldiers were allowed to possess weapons. He sent out expeditions to search for the Fountain of Youth in the islands on unknown ocean.

The HAN Dynasty

In 202 B.C., LIU PANG established the HAN Dynasty. Fiefdoms were retained but limited to imperial family.

- 154 B.C.- rebellion of imperial princess holding the largest fief.

HAN WU TI (The Martial Emperor) - the most famous Han emperor. For the first time in its history, the Chinese people were aware of another great civilization;

extended Chinese territory northward into Manchuria and Korea, southward to Indochina, and westward to central Asia.

The Chinese recognized that Rome would be a great market for their silk.

A profitable trade never developed because the safety of traders and their caravans over the heartland of Asia (the Silk Road) was threatened by the Persians who controlled the area.

Chinas trade flourished particularly silk and ceramics (they made improvements in their glazed

or coated pottery process) Confucianism became the state of ideology. China enjoyed a 400-year period of prosperity and stability, later referred to as the PAX SINICA,

the Chinese Peace. Buddhism from India was introduced to China. CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS was established. LITERACY became the means to advancement. Invented and used sun dials, water clocks and simple water instruments Invention of gunpowder, the wheelbarrow, the kite; first use of coal

Tsai Lun - invented paper. Hau Shen - compiled the first Chinese dictionary. Pan Chao - China’s greatest woman historian, completed the History of Han,

first dynastic history. Ssuma Chien -“ Father of Chinese History”

So great was the impact of Han Dynasty on Chinese history and culture that even today Chinese still refer to themselves as “The Son of Han”

DYNASTIC CHANGE

When the Han Dynasty ended at 220 B.C., China entered a period of disorder. One of the most noted rulers during this period of Dynastic power was WENDI, the founder of

SUI (Swee) Dynasty. GRAND CANAL was built which became an important route for shipping. Buddhism became widespread.

THE TANG DYNASTY-established by Li Yuan

The Golden Age of China. China reaches greatness during this period. Culture and art was flourished, but Buddhism declined Empress WU TSE T’IEN became the first and the only woman to actually bear the title of

“Emperor” or “Empress”. Bureaucratic instead of autocratic government Relied on the examination system on beauracy. Paper money made its first appearance. Block printing was invented.

THE SUNG DYNASTY

Civilian scholar officials control the government including supervision on military affairs. Ended a century of Militarism and Regional Separatism. As a result of its trade with China, Europe was introduced to many inventions and products such

as gunpowder, the compass, pottery and porcelain.

THE YUAN (MONGOL) DYNASTY KUBLAI KHAN- a Mongol who founded the Yuan Dynasty

The time when China was completely in the hands of “ Barbarians”. Europe learned of the Mongols through travelers like Marco Polo. When Marco Polo returned to Europe , he spoke of the riches, the beautiful cities, and the

famous wealth of China, thus begun the interest in China by European merchants. THE MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)- founded by Chu Yuan-Chang

Represented the return of Chinese rule. Once again the Great Wall was built and became a boundary line. Restored Local culture. China became the Mistress of Oriental Seas Reunited China and became the capital on Nanjing in Southern China.

-In 1644, invaders from the north known as MANCHUS captured China, overthrew Ming Ruler and established a new dynasty called QING (Ching)

THE QING or CH’ING (Manchu) DYNASTY -(founded by Nurhachi)

•Like the Mongols the Ch’ing were foreigners who borrowed aspects from Chinese culture but kept themselves apart from the Chinese.

•The Chinese maintained their traditional belief that China was “the Middle Kingdom” , the center of the world.

•In spite of contacts with foreigners through trade, the Chinese did not borrow new ideas and practices.

•To the Chinese, foreigners were Barbarians, or uncivilized people. •To show respect and that they recognized the Chinese, visiting Barbarians were expected to bow

down before the emperor, present gifts, and perform certain ceremonies. Ambassadors were expected to perform the KOWTOW. Upon command of a lowly usher, the ambassador would kneel three times and touch his head to the ground three times.

•During this period Chinese man wore their hair braided into a queue or long pigtail. China’s new rulers demanded that their subject adopt the Manchu hair style as a symbol of their subjugation.

•By 1840’s Chinas weakness was plain to the world. The British were engaged to a profitable trade

selling OPIUM to the Chinese in the port city of Canton.

The Central Kingdom

At the end of the 1800s China's four million square miles held 450 million people, up from 200 million a century earlier. The ruling dynasty was the Ching, established by Manchus from Manchuria, who in 1644 had superseded the Ming. These descendants of the Tatars appreciated Chinese civilization and adopted a conciliatory attitude toward their subjects. They refused, however, to allow intermarriage with the Chinese, for they realized that only their blood difference kept them from being assimilated and conquered. By and large, however, the Manchus gradually became Chinese in their attitudes and habits.

The Manchu emperors were remarkably successful. The reign of Chien-lung (1736-1795) was a time of great expansion. The Manchus gained Turkestan, Burma, and Tibet. By the end of the eighteenth century Manchu power extended even into Nepal, and the territory under the Ching control was as extensive as under any previous dynasty.

The Western Response

The foreigners were especially irritated by the high customs duties the Chinese forced them to pay and by the attempts of Chinese authorities to stop the growing import trade in opium. The drug had long been used to stop diarrhea, but in the seventeenth and eighteenth century people in all classes began to use it recreationally. Most opium came from Turkey or India, and in 1800 its import was forbidden by the imperial government. Despite this restriction, the opium trade continued to flourish. Privately owned vessels of many countries, including the United States, made huge profits from the growing number of Chinese addicts. The government in Peking noted that the foreigners seemed intent on dragging down the Chinese through the encouragement of opium addiction.

In the meantime, the empire faced other problems. The army became corrupt and the tax farmers defrauded the people. The central bureaucracy declined in efficiency, and the generally weak emperors were unable to meet the challenges of the time. The balance of trade turned against the Chinese in the 1830s, and the British decided to force the issue of increased trade rights. The point of conflict was the opium trade. By the late 1830s more than 30,000 chests, each of which held about 150 pounds of the extract, were being brought in annually by the various foreign powers. Some authorities assert that the trade in opium alone reversed China's formerly favorable balance of trade. In the spring of 1839 Chinese authorities at Canton confiscated and burned the opium. In response, the British occupied positions around Canton.

In the war that followed (1840 – 42), the Chinese could not match the technological and tactical superiority of the British forces. In 1842 China agreed to the provisions of the Treaty of Nanking. Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain, and other ports, including Canton, were opened to British residence and trade. It would be a mistake to view the conflict between the two countries simply as a matter of drug control; it was instead the acting out of deep cultural conflicts between east and west.

The French and Americans approached the Chinese after the Nanking Treaty's provisions became known, and in 1844 gained the same trading rights as the British. The advantages granted the three nations by the Chinese set a precedent that would dominate China's relations with the world for the next century. The "most favored nation" treatment came to be extended so far that China's right to rule in its own territory was limited. This began the period referred to by the Chinese as the time of unequal treaties - a time of unprecedented degradation for China. The humiliation the Central Kingdom suffered is still remembered and strongly affects important aspects of its foreign policy. Meanwhile, the opium trade continued to thrive.

The British and French again defeated China in a second opium war in 1856 to 1860. By the terms of the Treaty of Tientsin (1858) the Chinese opened new ports to trading and allowed foreigners with passports to travel in the interior. Christians gained the right to spread their faith and hold property, thus opening up another means of western penetration. The United States and Russia gained the same privileges in separate treaties.

Spread of Civilizations in East Asia

Korea and Its Traditions

Like the nations of Southeast Asia, Korea and Japan adopted elements of Chinese culture. Bit also like other nations, they retained their own rich tradition. Geography: The Korean Peninsula A glance at Korea on the map will reveal why a Korean proverb describes the country as “a shrimp between whales.” Korea forms a peninsula on the east coast of Asia, extending southward toward the western tip of Japan. Thus, it acts as a bridge between its two powerful neighbors, China and Japan.

Low but steep mountains cover nearly 70 percent of the Korean peninsula. Since farming is difficult on the mountains, most people live along the western coastal plains,

Korea’s major farming region. Korea has 5,400-mile (8,700-km-coastline with hundreds of good harbors. In addition, the

offshore waters feature thousands of islands.

Koreans have depended upon seafood for most of the protein in their diet.

Early History

By legend, the Koreans claim descent from Tangun, the son of a bear and a god who supposedly founded the first Korean Kingdom 5,000 years ago. ◘ Historians believed that the first Korean people were immigrants from northeast Asia.

These settlers lived in villages, grew rice, and made tools and other implements of bronze. They were animists who practiced shamanism, a belief that good and evil spirits inhabit

both living and nonliving things

☻ SHAMANS interceded between the spirit world and humans.

In 109 B.C. China firs invaded Korea, putting Korea under the control of the Han dynasty A.D. 220, Koreans regained control of their peninsula A.D. 313, three kingdoms were formed

Silla (Shilla) in the southeast Paekche in the southwest Koguryo in the north

In 668 AD, with the support of the Tang empress Wu Zhao, the kingdom of Silla conquered all of

Korea, ushering in a period of peace, prosperity, and creativity. Silla Dynasty ◙ Korea became a tributary state, acknowledging Chinese overlordship but preserving its

independence ◙ Younger brother owed respect and loyalty to an older brother ◙ Koreans adopted the Confucian emphasis on the family as the foundation of the state ◙ Women’s public roles were restricted, and their position within the family became

subordinate to the male head of the household

◙ Korean scholars compiled the Tripitaka Koreana, the largest collection of Buddhist scriptures in the world today.

◙ Adapted the Chinese civil service examination to reflect their own system of inherited ranks

In China, even a peasant could win political influence by passing the exam. In Korea, only

aristocrats were permitted to take the test. Koryo Dynasty ◙ Buddhism reached its greatest influence in Korea ◙ Korean scholars wrote histories and poems based on Chinese models, while artists

created landscape paintings following Chinese principles. ◙ Koreans used woodblock printing from China to produce a flood of Buddhist texts ◙ Korean learned to make porcelain from China, but then perfected techniques of making

celadon ware with an unusual blue green glaze. ♣ In the 1200s, when the Mongols overran Korea and destroyed many industries, the

secret of making celadon was lost forever. Choson: The Longest Dynasty In A.D. 1392 a dynasty called the YI came to power in Korea. The YI called their kingdom CHOSON and built Hanyang – today the city of Seoul – as their capital.

They opened schools to teach Chinese classics to civil service and candidates and made neo-Confucianism the state doctrine.

◙ In 1443, King Sejong (SHE JONG) decided to replace the Chinese system of writing. He had experts develop HANGUL, an alphabet that uses 14 consonants and 10 vowels to represent Korean sounds. ◙ King Sejong ordered bronze instruments to be used in measuring rain. As a result, Korea now has the oldest record of rainfall in the world.

☻ Although the Japanese tried to capture Korea in A.D. 1592, the Choson dynasty managed to successfully rebuff the Japanese invaders, mainly because of an invention created by Korean Admiral Yi-Sun-shin. ►The admiral’s ironclad warships, or “turtle ships,” devastated the Japanese fleet

● In the years that followed, Koreans increasingly avoided contact with the outside world and eventually isolated themselves so thoroughly that Korea became known as the HERMIT KINGDOM.

An Island Empire Emerges

The Great Island Country

Long centuries ago, when the world was a shadowy mist, the islands of Japan were born of the sea. Among the many gods inhabiting this misty abode were Izanagi and Izanami. One day, while they were standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, talking with each other, Izanagi said: “I wonder what is down below us!” This aroused Izanami’s curiosity, and they began to think how they might find out.Taking the Jewels-Spear of Heaven, Izanagi lowered it into the air and swung it around in an effort to strike something, for he could not see through the dense mist.

Suddenly the spear touched the ocean. When Izanagi raised it, salty water dripping from it was dried by the wind, becoming hard, and forming an island in the middle of the sea.

“Let us go down and live in the island,” said Izanagi. And so they descended from the

Floating Bridge of Heaven to live on the island. Soon they had created the Great-Eight-Island-Land and given birth to three noble children: the Sun Goddess andher brother Moon god and the Storm God. The Sun Goddess, whose name was Amaterasu-Omi-Kami, also had a family. Her [great-great-great] grandson Jimmu became the first emperor (Tenno or Mikado) of Japan.

This myth, or traditional story, about the origin of Japan comes from an eight-century Japanese work called the Kojiki, or Records of Ancient Matters. In this and such other early works as the Nihong, or Chronicles of Japan, were some of the first descriptions of Japan and its environment. The descriptions referred to a land of mountainous islands surrounded by and ever-present ocean. The land had numerous clear streams and was favored with a temperate climate. Today, the Japanese archipelago, or chain of islands, is about 145,000 square miles (376,000 square kilometers) in area. It forms a curve off the coast of East Asia. There are four main islands – Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu – and thousands of smaller ones. Honshu is the largest and most populated island and is a leading cultural center of Japan. After living in Japan for a while, Izanagi and Izanami returned to heaven. There they created many other gods and goddesses, including a sun-goddess called Amaterasu and a storm-god called Susanowo.

Amaterasu was a gentle, lovely goddess. She gave life to everything around her. But

Susanowo was wild and fierce. He stormed around causing trouble. One day Susanowa visited Amaterasu. He behaved so badly that she hid in a cave. The

other gods and goddesses had to play a trick with a mirror to get her back out. Another day Susanowa killed an eight-headed dragon who was about to eat a young girl. In

the dragon’s tail he found a sword. Susanowa gave the sword to Amaterasu to make up for his bad behavior. Then he married the girl he saved.

Susanowa and his wife had many children. But none of them was good enough to rule

Japan. So Amaterasu sent her grandson, Ninigi, to rule. She gave him three [items] to take with him. One was the mirror that had brought her from the cave. The second was jewel[s] from inside the cave. And third was [a] sword from the dragon’s tail. “Use these to rule Japan,” said Amaterasu. “You and your descendants will rule forever.”

Ninigi married and had three sons. One of them, Hoori, married the daughter of the sea-

god. They had one son, who married and had four children. And one of those children was Jimmu Tenno, the great-great-grandson of the sun goddess and the first human emperor of Japan.

This legend describes what the people of traditional Japan, Japan before 1`868, believed about the beginnings of the Japanese monarchy. Like most legends, it has its basis in fact. For example, although the origins of the three items described in the legend are unknown, the items known as the Regalia probably did exist. A replica of the mirror is housed in a palace shrine. Replicas of the sword and the jewels are in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The regalia symbolize Japan’s imperial family, one of the oldest royal families in the world.

The first mention of Japan in written history was in a dynastic history of China compiled about 792 AD. The Chinese did not think that the people of the land they called WA were especially important, except for trade and occasional military threat. In their history, the Chinese wrote the following about their “barbarian” neighbors:

The people of Wa … dwell in the middle of the ocean on the mountainous islands southeast of … Tai-fang …. Today, thirty of their communities maintain [communication] with us through envoys and scribes ….

The land of Wa is warm and mild. In winter as in summer the people live on raw vegetables

and go about barefooted. They have (or live in) houses; father and mother, elder and younger, sleep separately. They smear their bodies with pink and scarlet …. They serve food on bamboo and wooden trays, helping themselves with their fingers ….

… In their meetings and in their deportment, there is no distinction among the people, and some men are vassals of others. Taxes are collected. There are granaries as well as markets in each province, where necessaries are exchanged under the supervision of the Wa officials. The people of Wa did not agree fully with the Chinese view. They felt they were equal – and perhaps even superior – to the Chinese. Despite the strong Chinese influence on their lives, the people of Wa continued to develop their own way of life. They display an usual ability to adapt other ways of life to their particular environment.

The Geographical Setting ◘ Japan consists of some four (4) thousand island strung out in an extended arc off the coast of

Northeastern Asia. ◘ The country lies chiefly in the temperate zone. It receives good rainfall, it has fairly fertile soil,

and is located near China and Korea from whom Japan early adopted some of their basic cultural concepts.

The Four Principal islands

North

Yezo or Hokkaido – cold, underpopulated and has remained outside the mainstream of Japanese history.

Main Island Honshu – the largest and the most populated containing huge cities and the chief agricultural areas,

it has been the stage for important events in Japanese national life. South Shikoku- traditionally known as the FOUR PROVINCES

Kyushu – the NINE PROVINCES

- subtropical climate - played an important role in Japanese cultural history as the nearest and the most

receptive of the four chief islands.

For administrative purposes, Japan is divided into 46 prefectures or provinces. Climate and Location

All of Japan is mountainous, and only about 1/6 of the land can be used for farming. There is much rainfall in Japan, which means abundant water for irrigation and large supply of timber. But nature is not wholly kind to Japan. Earthquakes, tidal waves, and typhoons (from a transliteration of a Chinese meaning “big wind”) often strike the islands, causing intensive damage. Until modern times, the seas surrounding Japan shielded the islands from unwanted foreign influences. Even the Mongols under Kublai Khan were unable to conquer Japan, although they tried several times. Once, in 1281, a Mongol fleet of 3,500 ships carrying more than 100,000 soldiers assembled to invade Japan. However, the fleet was dispersed by the “Divine Wind” which the Japanese called the “KAMIKAZE”. It was a typhoon of extra ordinary power.

Japan’s Beginnings

The people of Japan migrated to the islands long ago from the Asian mainland. The two oldest and most basic characteristics of their society have been the Shinto religion and a deep reverence for their emperor. SHINTO means “the way of the gods”. It is animistic, teaching that spirits are present in such objects as sand, waterfalls, and great trees. Shinto has a number of gods, called KAMI, which means “superior”.

☻ acknowledged the divinity of the emperor ☻ worshippers believed in KAMI, a superior thing or person ☻ possessed no founder, no inspired sacred book, no teachers, no saints, and no martyrs ☻ emphasis was placed on CLEANLINESS

◘ The Shinto religion is based on the belief that all things of nature, such as animals, birds, plants, seas, rocks, and mountains have spirits. These spirits are called kami. There are over eight million kami, including ancestors (relatives who have died).

◘ There are many Shinto shrines in Japan. Each shrine is for an individual kami so, in a way, each shrine

represents its own religion. The kami of the shrine may be a stream or a mountain. One shrine is built on a huge rock which is supposed to hold down a giant catfish, said to be responsible for causing earthquakes. Each shrine is marked by a gate called a tori.

◘ Ancestors are deeply revered and worshipped. All of humanity is regarded as Kami's child. Thus all human life and human nature is sacred. Believers revere musuhi, the Kamis' creative and harmonizing powers. They aspire to have makoto, sincerity or true heart. This is regarded as the way or will of Kami. Morality is based upon that which is of benefit to the group.

◘ Shinto emphasizes right practice, sensibility, and attitude.

There are Four Affirmations in Shinto:

Tradition and the family: The family is seen as the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved. Their main celebrations relate to birth and marriage.

Love of nature: Nature is sacred; to be in contact with nature is to be close to the Gods. Natural objects are worshipped as sacred spirits.

Physical cleanliness: They take baths, wash their hands, and rinse out their mouth often. Matsuri: To worship and honor gods and ancestral spirits.

♣ Reverence and respect for the emperor is also foundation of Japanese life. According to tradition, JIMMU, the first emperor, was crown in 660 B.C. JIMMU probably was a mythical figure. The first real, or historic, emperor was SUJIN, who reigned in the 300’s A.D. Japanese emperors claimed a divine descent from the sun goddess. This belief was not officially denied until 1945, after the Japanese were defeated in the World War II. The Japanese have had one imperial family in their entire history, making it the longest unbroken dynasty in the history of the world. Historical Periods and Records ☻ Japanese call their country NIPPON or NIHON. These are transliterations of the Chinese characters

JIH-PEN, roughly pronounced “urban” in the northern China, which means “The Land of the Rising Sun”.

☻ Marco Polo, who served in China under Mongol rulers in the 13th century, heard of this designation

for the country that lay across the sea, a country that the Venetian never visited. In a later transcription of his memoirs in Europe, and approximate of this terminology was translated as CHIPANGO of ZIPANGO. In time these became Latinized as JAPAN.

Ancient Japan Ca. 400 – Chinese writing was adopted by the Japanese, who possessed no native script. The oldest present inhabitants are the AINU, once spread out over Japan but now restricted chiefly to

government reservations in Hokkaido. Archeological records note several successive cultures in prehistoric Japan. These records consist

entirely of artifacts, for none of the ancient records include written symbols or primitive hieroglyphics.

●The first major Japanese culture dates back to the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age, and lasted roughly

3000 B.C. to 300 B.C.

JOMON CULTURE ▪ It was called JOMON from a Japanese word meaning “cord pattern,” because most of the pottery

discovered had such a pattern pressed into external surfaces. ▪ Stone implements and pottery were used for ceremonial purposes or for cooking. ▪ The Jomon were not a settled agricultural people, but were nomads who hunted, gathered roots and

nuts, and ate fresh and water shell fish. ▪ Jomon people were animist worshipping natural objects out of reverence rather than fear.

YAYOI CULTURE

▪ Lasting approximately 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. ▪ The Yayoi, a Neolithic, or New Stone Age people, practiced rice cultivation to augment hunting and fishing. ▪ Yayoi pottery is found in more than three dozen types and was created by the potter’s wheel ▪ Most interesting artifacts are the bronze bells or dotaku.

KOFUN CULTURE ▪ The tomb culture (ca. 300 to 600 A.D.) was superimposed on the existing inhabitants by new waves of

immigrants from Korea.

▪ The way of life of these mound-builders has been called the KOFUN, or “tomb culture.” The burial mounds were often surrounded by thousands of haniwa, clay statues of horses and other animals, boats, houses, and people, including knights in armor.

▪ They are militant and aristocratic people

The Beginning ٠ It was during the time of the Tomb Culture that references to Japan began to appear in the Chinese

histories of the day. The Chinese regarded the early Japanese as barbarians, and for this reason their written references to the islands are brief.

٠ The Chinese called Japan WA, a derogatory term meaning “dwarf.” ٠ Another and earlier Chinese dynastic history, compiled around 300 A.D., incorporated a fairly authentic

account of Japanese life as it was evolving from Yayoi to tomb culture. The history recorded the existence in Japan of a hundred states, or more properly tribes.

The political units varied in size, and they were headed by kings or queens, of whom the most

remarkable was a Queen Himiko or Pimiko, an archaic Japanese term meaning “Sun Daughter.” The Legend According to myth and tradition, in about the 7th century B.C., the grandson of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, descended to earth with three sacred objects: a bronze mirror representing Amaterasu. The iron sword of her brother storm god, and a jewel naturally carved in the shape of a comma. (A mirror, a sword, and a carved jewel are still the symbols of Japanese imperial authority). A later descendant of Amaterasu, known as Jimmu, is traditionally regarded as the first emperor of Japan and the founder of the imperial family, the Yamato.

Yamato Japan (ca.400 – 710) February 11,660 – traditional date for founding of Yamato state by Jimmu Tenno Society

A. NOBILITY

Yamato society was aristocratic, hereditary and closed. It revolved around a loose federation of extended families or clans called UJI.

They consisted of hereditary members who claimed descent from a common god and who worshipped this deity (UJIGAMA) under the patriarchal chief (UJI NO KAMI).

Imperial UJI are said to be descendant of the SUN GODDESS.

B. BE or TOMO – subsidiary attendants; labor forces; provided necessary economic and agricultural support services.

C. SLAVES - lowest on the social and economic scale

Monogamy usually prevailed, but those who could afford concubines or

secondary wives kept them.

An Emerging Civilization About 587 AD, Empress Suiko and her adviser, Prince Shotoku, encouraged the Japanese to accept Chinese political ideas. They believed that by adopting the Chinese system of imperial rule they could increase the power of the dynasty. In order to do so, the Confucian values of orderly society and obedience to authority were especially stressed.

Taika Reforms • Almost 50 years later, another Japanese emperor, Kotoku, and his advisers began the TAIKA, or “Great Change,” reforms that introduced the Japanese to more features of the Chinese style of government. These included

proclaiming the emperor ruler and landlord of all Japan establishing a bureaucracy to carry out government duties putting into effect a central system of taxation and a land distribution program

• In 710, to provide a setting for the government, a capital city called Nara was built. With its broad

streets and rows of wooden homes, palaces, and Buddhist temples, it soon became the political and religious center of Japan.

• The construction of Nara symbolized Japan’s emergence as an important Asian civilization. The Heian Period (790 – 1100) In the 790’s, a new capital was built. Called Heian, later it was renamed Kyoto.

• During this period, a powerful noble family named Fujiwara gained power over the emperor and his court.

• Because the emperor and court officials had little political authority, they used their time to develop

court ceremonies and to support the arts. Before long, court life was symbolized by elegance, manners, and love of natural beauty.

Japan’s Feudal Age

The Shogun • The rule of the Fujiwara, who were opposed by several great clans, came to an end in 1185. • A dispute had developed between two of the most powerful clans – the Taira and the Minamoto.

• Minamoto Yoritomo gained support from warriors in the provinces, and in 1185, he and his forces fought and defeated the Taira in the naval battle of Dannoura.

The Kamakura Shogunate After Yoritomo defeated the Taira, he pledged loyalty to the emperor. In return, the emperor awarded Yoritomo the title shogun, or commander-in-chief. Yoritomo became the real ruler of Japan. He and his warriors left the court at Kyoto and settled in the small seaside town of Kamakura.

• In Kamakura, a shogunate, or military government, which the Japanese called bakufu, or “tent government” was set up.

• Yoritomo died in 1199.

The Tokugawa Shogunate While China enjoyed stability in the 1400s and 1500s, Japan experienced a period of turmoil. The shogun was mere figurehead, and the emperor performed only a religious functions. Daimyos, who controlled their own lands, waged war against their neighbors as feudal lords had done in Europe in the 1400s. “The strongest eat and the weak become the meat” was a Japanese expression of the time. Warriors showed no chivalry or loyalty. This time of local wars left Japan with a political system known as the TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE that combined a central government with a system of feudalism. ♦ From about 1460 to 1560 Japan experienced a period of complete, or “high,” feudalism. There no longer was any central political authority. Emperors continued to reign in Heian (Kyoto), but they had long since ceased to rule the entire country. Instead, several hundred daimyo, or local feudal lords, controlled the land and people in their own domains. ♦ In the late 1400’s the Japanese daimyo began fighting among themselves for survival and supremacy. The struggle among the daimyo resulted in a political system that was roughly halfway between feudalism and a centralized monarchy. This was the TOKUGAWA shogunate.

Founding of the Tokugawa Shogunate ♠ In 1467, at about the same time as the Wars of the Roses in England, rival branches of the Ashikaga family in Japan became involved in a dispute over the naming of the next shogun. This conflict marked the beginning of one hundred years of almost constant warfare in Japan. ♠ Three daimyo emerged in the late 1500’s as victors in this long struggle. They were able to establish themselves as overlords to the other daimyo, but not as absolute rulers of all Japan.

Oda Nobunaga ☻ He was the first military leader to begin uniting the warrior daimyos. He announced his ambition on his personal seal: “to bring the nation under one sword.” ☻ He succeeded, by means of conquest and alliances, in capturing Kyoto in 1568. Nobunaga ended the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573 and then began to establish his power in central Japan.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi ☻ In 1580’s Hideyoshi defeated several powerful daimyo in battle and won the submission of others by threats and diplomacy. ☻ In 1588 he ordered the “great sword hunt,” demanding that all peasants turn in their weapons. To stabilize the daimyo to realms he controlled, he imposed laws that prevented warriors from leaving their daimyo’s services to become merchants or farmers. The laws also prevented farmers and merchants from becoming warriors. ☻By 1590 Hideyoshi had forced Japan’s daimyo to pledge their loyalty to him. Acting as military dictator, Hideyoshi further his goal of unity by disarming the peasants to prevent them from becoming warriors. ☻ In 1592 Hideyoshi invaded Korea. At first the Japanese invasion force was successful. However, the Korean navy sank Japanese ships carrying troop reinforcements, and a Chinese army pushed the invaders back to the coast of Korea.

Admiral Yi’s Korean turtle ships thwarted Hideyoshi’s conquest.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Completed the work of unification that Nobunaga and Hideyoshi had began

• At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, a general named Tokugawa Ieyasu won an important victory and united all of Japan.

• He had the emperor name him shogun and took measures to ensure that power stayed in the

Tokugawa family.

• the center of Tokugawa rule was the village of Edo, which later became known as Tokyo. • To maintain social stability and to limit rivals, the Tokugawa shoguns imposed a rigid social structure.

The people were divided into four classes – warriors, artisans, merchants, and peasants.

◘ At the top were the samurai, including the daimyos. They alone could wear as symbols of authority a sword and a distinctive topknot in their hair.

◘ The farmers, as major food producers, were the second-highest class ◘ They were followed by artisans who made goods ◘ Merchants were at the bottom of society, because they only exchanged goods and thus were

not productive.

All class positions were hereditary, passed from one family member to the next, and members of one class were not allowed to perform tasks that belonged to another class.

The Way of the Warrior During the period of the shogunates, political power was held by various ranks of warriors. Directly under the emperor and the shogun were lords known as daimyo, who built castles and controlled vast rural estates. To protect their lands and the peasant who farmed the lands for them, the daimyo secured the services of warrior-retainers. These warriors were called samurai.

The chief symbol symbols of every samurai’s honor were his two swords – one long, one short. A samurai’s life was devoted mostly to developing and perfecting skills in swordsmanship and

archery.

His ideals were personal bravery and loyalty to his lord, which was considered more important than loyalty to friends, family, or the emperor.

The samurai code came to be called Bushido, or “the way of the warrior.” It called for a life of

discipline, duty, and self-control, on and off the battlefield.

• Honor was supremely important to a samurai. If he felt dishonored in any way, he considered himself obliged to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide. (Seppuku is popularly called hara-kiri, which means “belly-slitting.”)

Seclusion Policy

The Tokugawa rulers, deciding that contact with outsiders posed too many dangers, laid down edicts. Their seclusion policy lasted 200 years.

The Act of Seclusion of 1636 forbade any Japanese to leave the country and added. “All

Japanese residing abroad shall be put to death when they return home.”

Japan barred all Europeans except the Dutch. Unlike the Spanish and Portuguese, the Dutch were interested only in trade, not conquest or religious conversion of the Japanese.

Changes in Japanese Society

Despite Japan’s geographic isolation and the Tokugawa policy of isolation, Japan’s society and economy continued to change internally.

♦ Agriculture brought wealth to daimyos and samurai, who profited from the rice produced on their

lands. ♦ Merchants grew wealthy by lending money to daimyos and samurai. As the daimyos became the

debtor class, the merchant class became more powerful

Social life converged on amusement centers – bathhouses, restaurants, and theaters – where people could enjoy themselves. Japanese merchants and samurai could relax in the company of geishas, women who were professional entertainers. Geishas were trained in the arts of singing, dancing, and conversation.

Cities became the leading centers of Japanese culture. The arts flourished because townspeople had money to spend on leisure activities. At this time the KABUKI (“to lean in the direction of fashion”)theater developed, along with the elaborate Japanese puppet theater called BUNRAKU, in which three-man teams manipulated each puppet as a backstage chorus sang a story.

A new form of poetry called HAIKU (17 syllables) also became popular among city people.

KARATE Karate is a Japanese word that means “empty hand” or “Chinese hand.”

It is a martial art, or form of unarmed combat in which a person uses primarily hands or feet to strike a blow at an opponent.

During the 1600s, a Japanese clan had conquered the population of the

island of Okinawa. The new Japanese rulers passed laws against owning weapons. As a result, many Okinawans learned how to make their hands and feet into

weapons that were strong enough to smash through bamboo armor or break the arm of an attacker. The art of karate was passed down from one generation to another and spread to main islands of Japan soon after Okinawa became a province of Japan.

Imperialism in South Asia Imperialism is the policy of empire-building, or extending a nation’s control over other

lands to gain economic and political advantages. ☻ The period from 1870 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914 is commonly called

the Age of Imperialsim Late in the 19th century, the Western nations began to compete intensely in their efforts to gain

control overseas possessions. Trade expansion was no longer the main reason for imperialism.

Countries sought colonies to acquire territory and prestige To make up for losses in war To stay ahead in the struggle for power To resettle the expanding populations in Europe

Trade Brings British Rule in India

When the Portuguese established the first European trading posts in India in the early 1500’s, the Indian peninsula, or South Asia, was not a single nation. The political disunity, combined with the religious division between Hindus and Muslims, left India unable to resist European traders and adventurers. In the 1700’s the British government gradually took over the concessions (special trading privileges, rights to certain territory, or access to natural resources) and territories of the East India Company, thus maintaining British control in India. ● In 1613 the Mogul emperor Jahangir granted the East India Company permission to establish a trading

post at Surat ► Just as the European wars of the mid-1700’s led to war between French and British settlers in the

Americas, they also brought the French and British into conflict in India. ► Both the British and French trading companies had given fairly broad powers to defend their settlements, negotiate treaties with local rulers, and otherwise promote trade. ☻ Local rulers could grant trading privileges to whichever country helped them (due to

internal wars). ☻ The Indian rulers used the long-standing rivalry between the French and British to gain

help in their wars. ♣ The outbreak of war in Europe in the 1740 (The War of the Austrian Succession) led to open war between the French and British in India. Clive Begins to Build British Power

Robert Clive, an East India Company clerk, joined the fighting and proved to be a brilliant military leader.

In early 1750’s, he led British troops in several daring captures of French ports.

► The ruler of Bengal, helped by the French, had captured Calcutta in June, 1756. About 150 British residents had been imprisoned an in small room without adequate food, water, and air. All but 23 prisoners had died from suffocation, the heat, or their wounds, making the prison notorious as the “Black Hole” of Calcutta.

Clive and his army of 3,000 British and Indian soldiers recaptured Calcutta, took other French posts, and defeated and Indian army of more than 50,000 at Plassey in June, 1757.

Roibert Clive’s administration of the rich territory of Bengal firmly established the British in

India.

In 1760 he returned to England a wealthy man and was given numerous honors. India Becomes Important to Britain

In 1784 Prime Minister William Pitt drafted the Indian Act. Instead of the powers it had assumed as a “government within a government,” the East India Company was now limited to trading activities.

The first governor-general appointed under the India Act was Lord Cornwallis, the general who

had surrendered to the Americans at Yorktown in 1781.

► His administration marked the beginning of the Indian Civil Service, which produced many able and efficient administrators. High-level civil service jobs, however, were not open to Indians.

The British Make Changes in Indian Ways ◙ In 1829 the governor-general abolished SUTTEE, the Hindu practice in which a widow committed

suicide on her husband’s funeral pyre. Many Hindus were outraged that the British had abolished a Hindu custom

◙ Indian soldiers in British service, called SEPOYS, were required to serve in other parts of Asia.

According to Hindu tradition, however, a caste member would lose status be leaving the country.

◙ In 1856, the new governor-general passed a law that abolished still another age-old tradition. It

allowed Hindu widows to remarry. Violence Comes in the Sepoy Rebellion The following year, 1857, the British introduced a new kind of rifle into the Indian army. In order to load the rifles, the sepoys had to bite off the tops of the greased cartridges. Rumors spread that the cartridges were smeared with a mixture of beef and pork grease. Hindus hold cows sacred, and the Koran forbids Muslims to eat pork. The sepoys refused to load their rifles.

Result ► On a Sunday morning in May, 1857, three Sepoy divisions near Delhi rose in

revolt. They freed their fellow soldiers who had been jailed and then marched to Delhi, where they declared the Mogul ruler to be emperor of India.

☻ Some sepoys, particularly the battalions formed by the Sikhs, fought on the

side of the British, while some independent rulers in northern India joined the rebels.

♣ The 1857 rebellion was a turning point in Indian history. The British called the event

the Indian Mutiny. Indian nationalists called it the first war for independence.

East Asia in the Age of Imperialism

In the late 1700’s, both China and Japan were following policies of isolation imposed by their rulers. European nations attempted to break through this isolation and extended their trade and influence in Asia. Contacts with the West affected China and Japan in very different ways. The Chinese Empire clung to its ancient Confucian traditions. Believing themselves superior to other peoples, the Chinese resisted ideas and practices brought by the Westerners. Soon the imperialist nations established spheres of influence in China. Unable to resist superior European weapons and technology, China was forced to take toward modernization. In Japan, however, leaders quickly came to realize they could not resist the new ideas coming form the West. In a startlingly short period, Japan moved from feudalism to modern industrialism. By the outbreak of World War I, Japan had become a major world power.

Imperialist Nations Bring Change to China

During the long isolation begun by Ming rulers in the 1400’s and the 1500’s, the Chinese Empire remained a great civilization. In 1644 the Ming rulers were overthrown by rebellious armies. Nomadic Manchus from the north seized power, establishing the Ch’ing dynasty. Manchus maintain the tributary system Established under the Ming rulers, the system reflected the Confucian principle of relationships

between “superiors” and the “inferiors.”

Because China considered all foreign countries inferior, those countries were expected to send lavish gifts, or tribute, to the emperor as a sign of respect.

☻ An important aspect of the tributary system was the ceremony that went with it. The person paying tribute was required to kowtow – to kneel on both knees and bow three times, touching his nose to the floor. This ritual acknowledged the emperor’s superiority over foreign nations.

Foreign Trade is Controlled The Chinese viewed trade as a privileged given to foreigners, not as a right. Chinese officials selected

a few commercial firms, known as hongs, to act as agents for the government. All hongs were situated in Canton, the only port open to foreigners.

The British Demand Changes By the late 1700’s, trade in Asia was expanding. In 1793 Lord Macartney went to Peking representing King George III of England. His instructions were

to establish normal trading relations between Britain and China. He asked that more ports be opened to trading. He also requested a local residence for traders and permission to preach Christianity.

The Chinese had little desire for Western goods while the Europeans were eager for Chinese tea and

silks.

The British and other European traders had to buy these goods with silver. To increase their supply of silver, the British began to import opium from India to sell to the Chinese.

Opium, a narcotioc drug made from poppies, had been used for centuries in China as medicine. By the 1700’s, however, opium smoking was widespread.

By the 1830’s millions of Chinese were addicted.

The Opium War Concern about opium addiction, combined with an economic crisis, finally prompted the Chinese

government to act decisively against the trade. Silver had once flowed into Chinese banks from British traders to pay for tea and silk. Now silver was leaving China as payment for opium (many Chinese officials took bribes from the British traders that large quantities of opium continued to be smuggled into Canton with their help).

In 1839 the Chinese government began a serious campaign against opium use.

☻ The official imprisoned British traders and government authorities in their own warehouses and confiscated the traders’ stock of opium. ► From the British point of view, this treatment of British citizens was caused for war. ♦ The British moved from Canton and occupied the island of Hong Kong. From their base, British warships and troops attacked Chinese coastal cities. The British called their actions the Trade War, arguing that the right to trade freely was the main issue. The Chinese called the conflict the Opium War, claiming that the real issue was the illegal opium trade.

◘ Treaty of Nanking (1842) ended the war and

►established a new pattern for European trade with Asia: the “unequal treaty” system. The Chinese no longer made the rules, as they had done under the tributary system

►It gave the British the right to trade in five ports cities, or treaty ports, where traders would be allowed to live

►Britain gained possession of Hong Kong The Taipings In the 1840’s a young religious fanatic named Hung Hsiu-ch’uan (HOONG SHOO-choo-AHN) started

a new secret society. After failing the civil service examination several times, he suffered a breakdown. In his illness he became convinced that he was the “Heavenly Younger Brother” of Jesus and was meant to be the savior of China.

In 1851 Hung declared himself ruler of the “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace.” His rebel

movement took its name from Chinese words that meant “great peace” : t’ai-p’ing.

☻ Hung and his men called for many changes

► Taiping men cut off their queues, which the Manchu rulers had forced the Chinese to wear ► Proposed dividing land equally among all peasants ► Urged equal rights for women, including the right to take civil service examinations and become government officials ► Foot-binding, arranged marriages, and other practices that degraded women were

abolished

Revolution Ends The Chinese Empire

The Taiping Rebellion failed to overthrow the Manchus, yet it marked a turning point in Chinese history.

In the 1860’s, the imperial court was taken over by new Manchu rulers determined to regain control.

The new emperor was a young boy. Real power was held by his mother, the Dowager Empress – Tz’u-hsi.

■ Neither Tz’u-hsi nor her advisers really understood China’s need to modernize. They were willing to adopt just enough Western ways to try to make China strong. These attempted reforms were called the “self-strengthening”movement.

Policy of Self-strenghtening - attempted to introduce Western methods and technologies, while retaining

traditional Confucian values in the Chinese educated class.; it failed The son of Tz’u-his had died, and the emperor was now her nephew, the 24-year old K’uang-hsu

(GWAHNG-SHOO). Only a few years earlier, he had taken the ruling power away from his aunt, the Dowager Empress, and forced her to retire.

He introduced changes in basic institutions: law, government, education, the examination

system 1894-1895 – First Sino-Japanese War

- fought over Korea - Japan won; Korea was annexed to Japan; Vietnam now the property of the

French colonialists; Manchuria to Russia Hundred Days Reforms June 11, 1898 – the emperor began to issue imperial orders for changes and reforms. Few actually went into effect, for they threatened almost everyone in a position of power. ☻ The educational reforms endangered those who had studied the classics for the civil

service examination ☻ The political reforms upset those in office, who prospered from the system of bribes and

favors. ☻ Religious reforms, which called for converting Buddhist temples into schools, alarmed the monks.

September 21, 1898 – a hundred days after the emperor issued the call for far-reaching reforms – K’uang-hsu was dethroned by Dowager Empress.

● The young emperor was imprisoned for life ● Tz’u-shi returned China to a pattern of slow change

Western Nations Make New Demands The weakness and confusion in the Manchu government encouraged European nations to make still more demands for concessions and sphere of influence. Many were granted, and China’s unity seemed threatened. To prevent the break-up of the Chinese Empire, in 1899 the American government called on other countries to agree to an “open door” policy that would give all countries equal trading rights.

Sphere of Influence – a piece of territory in which a foreign nation enjoyed exclusive rights to exploit resources and trade.

Open Door Policy (1899) – This meant equal business opportunities for all nations in China. China’s leaders tried to blame the country’s problems on the growing influence of foreign nations

The Boxers (or “Righteous and Harmonious Fists”) dedicated to driving all foreigners out of

China. The Boxers were particularly hostile toward missionaries and Chinese Christian converts. Some Reforms Follow Rebellion Some foreign nations demanded compensation for the Boxer’s actions against their citizens. A huge cash settlement and more concessions further weakened the Chinese government. Reforms were made in the army, with the help of Western advisers.

The ancient civil service examinations were ended in 1905

Students were sent abroad to study in Europe, the United States, and Japan

In 1908 (just before her death at the age of 73) the Dowager Empress agreed to gradual establishment

of a constitutional parliamentary government in China

The imprisoned emperor had died the day before, and rumors spread that he had been poisoned. The only heir to the imperial throne was three (3) years old.

Sun Yat-sen The first Chinese revolutionary to call for a complete change in government was a doctor educated in Western ideas named Sun Yat-sen. Working with the secret societies, he led an anti-Manchu uprising in 1895 but soon had to flee to Japan. Sun developed a program for a republican revolution and established an organization later called the

KUOMINTANG (gwoh-min-DAHNG), roughly meaning “Nationalist Party.” In 1905 he expressed political, economic, and social goals as the “Three Principles of the People.”

1. Nationalism

- To develop a feeling of national unity. This means not only the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty but also the removal of all foreign powers from Chinese soil.

2. Democracy, or “people’s rights”

- Opposed the Confucian class system and called for equality. He wanted a constitutional government combining Western and Chinese traditions to replace rule by an absolute monarch.

3. “People’s livelihood”

- Emphasized a fairer distribution of land and of the profits made by large landowners, to be accomplished mainly through taxation. Sun also believed that the government should help in the development of industries that would make China less dependent on western nations.

The Nationalist Revolution The Nationalist Revolution came about through a sudden rebellion of soldiers and students on the

morning of October 10, 1911. Four thousand (4,000) years of unbroken dynastic rule suddenly came to an end.

The last Manchu emperor (only five years old) left the throne in February, 1912. A statement was

issued that the rulers had lost the “mandate of heaven”. The Republic

When Sun Yat-sen returned to China, he was named temporary president of the new republic. But Sun and other revolutionary leaders agreed that the republic must have a solid foundation and military support.

☻ Their choice as president was a strange one – the Manchus’ most powerful general, Yuan Shih-kai. ♣ Yuan was loyal to neither side and used power mainly for his personal benefit.

In 1913, Sun challenged Yuan and lost. Sun again fled to Japan. Yuan disbanded the new parliament and became

a dictator. His aim now was to restore the empire with himself as emperor. After Yuan’s death in 1916, China fell into chaos. Warlords began to carve up sections of the country

for themselves, while Japan continued its attempts to gain power and territory. As in the past, it was China’s peasants who suffered most.

Warlords struggled for control of China for more than a decade. Sun Yat-sen tried in vain to bring

order to an increasingly fragmented society. By the time of his death in 1925, his hopes and dreams seemed further out of reach than they had been before the republican revolution

Japan Becomes A Modern Nation

In the 1630’s, the Tokugawa shoguns had adopted a policy of isolation from the West. They stopped trade and travel by the Japanese and refused to allow foreign ships to enter Japanese ports. The only Europeans allowed in Japan were the Dutch, who kept a small trading port at Nagasaki. By 1850, however, European nations dominated much of Asia. The Japanese realized that it was only a matter of time before one of the Western powers would successfully enter Japan. In 1851, US President Millard Fillmore dispatched a naval squadron to Japan, carrying a letter to the

emperor.

On July 8, 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry sailed unhindered in Tokyo Bay. Perry presented the shogun (the feudal leader who ruled Japan) with the President’s message. It

asked for fair treatment for shipwrecked sailors (who had sometimes been refused help or mistreatment), the establishment of a refueling station, and a statement of friendship from the government of Japan.

Rather than fight an uneven war that would cost Japan dearly, the shogun signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in March, 1854.

♦ The TREATY of KANAGAWA was a turning point in Japanese history. Two Japanese ports were opened to Americans, both for shelter and trade. Such ports were known as treaty ports. The treaty also provided for better treatment of shipwrecked sailors.

Within two years Japan signed similar treaties with Great Britain, Russia, France, and the Netherlands. They opened several Japanese seaports where representatives of foreign nations had the right to live, trade, purchase naval supplies, and establish consulates – diplomatic offices headed by consuls. Consulates protect a nation’s citizens and business interests in a foreign country.

☻ On January 3, 1868, the forces of the rebel lords seized control of the imperial court in the name of the emperor. ☻By May, 1868, the rule of the Tokugawa shoguns had ended. The last Tokugawa shogun resigned and turned his extensive domain over to the emperor, a boy of 15, MUTSUHITO.

As the name of his reign, the young emperor chose MEIJI, meaning “enlightened government.” During his long reign (1868-1912) the Meiji emperor took little part in politics but was an important symbol of loyalty and national unity. The Meiji era saw the transformation of Japan from a feudal society into a modern state.

Meiji Rule Begins The actual rule of Japan during the Meiji era was in the hands of the group of young samurai who had

led the rebellion against the shogun

As military men they recognized the gap between Japan’s military power and that of the West. They felt that industrialization was Japan’s only hope of competing. Once that decision was made, they went to work quickly. One of their earliest decisions was to move the imperial government to Edo (the shogun’s capital). The city was renamed TOKYO, which means “eastern capital.”

In April, 1868, the Meiji emperor issued the Charter Oath.

The oath called for an assembly that would decide important matters by public debate It ended feudalism and opened many new occupations to commoners. The direction that Japan would take in the future was clearly stated in the last of the oath’s five

points:

“Knowledge shall be sought from all over the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule.”

To centralize authority, the daimyo had to give up direct control of their lands to the imperial

government. The samurai was abolished. The samurai were ordered to discard their two swords, the centuries-old

symbol of their position The Meiji government issued Japan’s first draft law in 1973. All men were subject to the draft and so

could carry weapons (once the exclusive right of the samurai). Japan’s military forces were being reorganized.

Modernization Moves Quickly Reasons that made Japan ready to modernize quickly and successfully

♠ Strong national feeling. National loyalties were more important than loyalties to one’s family or to the feudal lord. ♠ Absence of poverty on a large scale. When the Americans and Europeans first arrived, the Japanese people had a generally high standard of living. During the years of Japan’s isolation from the Western world, trade and agriculture had prospered, and the country had become urbanized. ♠ A willingness to see value in new ways of doing things. There was little resistance among the Japanese to borrowing ideas that seemed useful or practical. Unlike the Chinese, who could not decide whether or not to modernize, the Japanese were eager to

learn the secrets of Western industrialization.

Western advisers in industry, agriculture, and education were sought out Sent Japan’s outstanding students to universities in Europe and the United States to study modern

banking methods, government, and education. To avoid borrowing from foreign nations, it changed the system of collecting taxes. Instead of

paying taxes on their crops, peasants paid an annual tax based on the value of their land. The government itself provided much of the capital needed to create an industrial state

◙ It helped to build military strength, such as shipyards and ironworks ◙ It also built ships and ports for foreign trade and developed the textile industry to make silk and

cotton cloth for export. ◙ A government-financed factory turned out weapons and munitions for Japan’s growing army and

navy.

To speed up communications and transportation, the Meiji government introduced the telegraph and built a railroad. In Japan’s hilly terrain the railroad was an efficient and inexpensive method of transportation.

The Meiji leaders also emphasized education as essential to modernizing. They set up a system of compulsory education for men and women as well as for children.

Japan’s Constitution Ito Hirobumi led a delegation to Europe in 1882 to study the various forms of government. A

military man, Ito conferred with Bismarch in Germany and took many ideas from the organization of the German state.

In 1889, the new constitution for Japan was completed and handed down to the people as a gift from the emperor.

Important Provisions

The emperor remained hereditary head of state and the highest source of power in the country A prime minister was appointed to take charge of the day-to-day running of the government. Japan’s elder statesmen were called genro. The DIET, Japan’s parliament, makes the laws and advise the emperor on government policy The constitution gave the Japanese people specific civil rights

☻ By 1894, the West began to see Japan more as an equal than as a potential colony or sphere of

influence. The Japanese, however, still mistrusted the presence of Western nations in Asia. Japan Expands in Asia Obtaining enough food had always been a problem in Japan. Japan had to import much of its food

supply as well as most of the raw materials needed for industrialization.

► Japan leaders adopted the same solution as the Western nations – building an empire. Overseas possessions would provide land, food supplies, and raw materials for industry.

By the 1890’s Japans modernized army and navy had become the equal of some of the armed forces in the West. With this advantage, Japan defeated China in the brief Sino-Japanese War fought in 1894-1895 for control of Korea. The peace treaty gave Japan the island of Formosa (present day Taiwan) and some small neighboring islands, as well as the Liaotung Peninsula in the southern part of Manchuria. In addition, China recognized Korea’s independence.

Western reaction to Japan’s victory was mixed. Some European nations were concerned that their spheres of influence in Asia might be endangered. Port Arthur, a naval base on the Liaotung Peninsula, was a major concern.

Germany, France, and Russia were so uneasy that they pressured Japan not giving up its rights in

Manchuria in exchange for a large cash settlement in gold.

☻ Three years later, however, the Chinese granted the Russians a lease for Port Arthur. Russia also extended the Trans-Siberian railroad across Manchuria to its port at Vladivostok.

Japan Makes an Alliance with Britain Russian moves into Manchuria appeared threatening to both Japanese and Western interests. The

British believed that Japan’s military strength, shown in its surprising victory over China, would curb Russia’s plans for expansion in East Asia.

In 1902 delegates from Great Britain and Japan signed a ten-year Anglo-Japanese alliance

Japan and Russia Clash Over Manchuria (The Russo-Japanese War) On February 8, 1904, without warning, the Japanese navy attacked the Russian fleet of battleships and

cruisers anchored at Port Arthur.

Nearly a year later, after a long and bloody siege, Port Arthur fell to Japan. In a desperate effort to hold Manchuria, Czar Nicholas II dispatched Russia’s Baltic fleet to Japan.

Because of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, the British would not allow the Russian fleet to use the Suez Canal.

President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States offered to find a diplomatic solution to end the Russo-Japanese War.

The treaty signed in 1905 confirmed Japan’s claim to the Liaotung Peninsula (including Port

Arthur), the South Manchuria Railway, and Russia’s mines and industry in Manchuria. Russia also agreed to recognize Japan’s interest in Korea, while Japan took over the southern half of Sakhalin Island.

Japan Becomes the Leading Power in Asia The ending of the Russo-Japanese War forced Western nations to acknowledge that Japan was now an

imperialist power and the leading country in Asia. Still expanding its Asian empire, the Meiji government annexed Korea in 1910, with no interference from the West. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s rapid growth inspired nationalist movements in countries that were still controlled by European imperialist powers.

In 1912, the Meiji emperor died, bringing to a close an era of dynamic progress. Two years later, World War I broke out in Europe.

During the war, Japanese trade and industry prospered as the Japanese supplied military equipment

and other goods to the Allies. After the war, Japanese delegates attended the peace conference as one of the “Big Five” nations, and

Japan became a permanent member of the League of Nations Council. With both China and Russia in turmoil, Japan had clearly become the strongest nation in Asia.

Changing Asia

Before World War II, much of Asia was under the control of the Western imperialist nations. China was weak and divided. Of all the countries in Asia and the Pacific, only Japan was a world power.

World War II brought independence for the Asian colonies and new directions in China and Japan. Political independence, however, did not solve the underlying problems that faced many countries of Asia. Rapid population growth, combined with a slow rate of economic growth, kept standards of living low. At the same time, people’s expectations for a better life continued to rise.

In China, the Communist government was able to raise living standards, but not as much as the nation’s leaders had hoped. India continued to struggle with poverty and religious divisions. Poverty, rebellion, and war plagued much of Southeast Asia. Japan, however, created an “economic miracle” and became a world economic leader.

COMMUNIST RULE BRINGS CHANGE IN CHINA

The struggle between nationalist and communist forces in China began in the 1920’s and continued during the conflicts with Japan that led into World War II. Despite American support, Chang Kai-Shek’s Nationalists lost the battle for mainland China. The new communist regime brought great changes in the Chinese way of life.

The United States Aids Nationalist China

World War II in China was a three-way struggle among the Chinese Nationalists, the Chinese

Communists, and the Japanese. As before the war, the United States and other Western powers continued to support Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government. The United States in particular supplied millions of dollars’ worth of military aid, medical supplies, and food. Chiang, however, considered Mao Tse-tung and the Communists the greater enemy. Chiang therefore depended on the Allies to oppose the Japanese, while he kept his best troops to fight Mao’s Red Army. The Communist win control

The Communist harassed the Japanese forces with skillful guerilla tactics during the war, gaining

needed supplies and weapons. Mao, however, also kept in mind the coming struggle with the nationalists. Many Chinese were impressed by the success of Mao’s Red Army, and popular support for the Communists continued to grow. With the end of the war against Japan, civil war broke out again between Mao’s Communist troops and the forces of the Nationalist government. By 1949, the Communists had gained control of mainland China. Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang (Nationalist) loyalists fled to the island of Taiwan, where they claimed to be China’s legitimate government. On the mainland, Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the birth of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

COMMUNIST RULE IN CHINA The People’s Republic faces great difficulties

As Mao established his authority, he also set up a new form of government for the People’s Republic.

• As Mao established his authority, he also set up a new form of government for the People’s

Republic. A popular assembly, the National People’s Congress was made up of several thousand members elected by provincial congresses and the army. It met seldom, however, and its real work was carried on by a Standing Committee whose chairman was president of the People’s Republic.

• Actual power in China rested with the Communist Party, which was under Mao’s firm control. He also held the post of president until 1959.

The problems facing China’s new government after twenty (20) years of war were colossal. Industries were producing at less than half of their prewar level. Railroads, bridges, ports, and roads were in disrepair. Trade had come to a halt, and inflation was so high that paper money was nearly worthless. Mao Initiates a Five Year Plan for Industry and Agriculture China’s economy began to recover slowly in the early years of Communist rule. The government took

over large factories and began land reforms.

By 1953, Mao was able to impose a strict economic program on the nation – the first of a number of Five-Year Plans aimed at increasing industrial and agricultural production

The Five Year Plan

The Five Year Plan was an attempt by China to boost her industry and set her on the path to

become a world class power. When Mao came to power in 1949, China was many years behind the industrial nations of the world. Mao wanted this to change.

On an international level, Mao’s China had the same status as Stalin’s Russia. Communism

was feared throughout the western world and here was the world’s most populated nation turning to communism.

The only country who would want a treaty with China was the Soviet Union. In December

1949, Mao met Stalin in Moscow. They signed the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. This treaty gave China money and technical assistance to modernize her industry. Though the money received from Russia was minimal ($300 million over five years), Russia did provide 10,000 engineers to boost China’s industry and therefore her economy.

Influenced by the Russian engineers, and also by the success of Stalin’s Five Year Plans, China

introduced her own Five Year Plan in 1953. Heavy industry was targeted as being in need of major reform. The Five Year Plan attempted to tackle steel, coal and iron production. As in the Russian model, each factory or mine was given a target to achieve. Failure to meet a target was the equivalent of failing your people.

China attempts a Great Leap Forward

Communist leaders were not satisfied with the modest gains of the First Five Year Plan. On 1958 they initiated an ambitious Second Five Year Plan called the GREAT LEAP FORWARD. Its goal was to increase both industrial and agricultural production rapidly.

The Great Leap Forward

The Great Leap Forward took place in 1958. The Great Leap Forward was Mao’s attempt to

modernize China’s economy so that by 1988, China would have an economy that rivaled America.

Mao had toured China and concluded that the Chinese people were capable of anything and the two primary tasks that he felt they should target was industry and agriculture. Mao announced a second Five Year Plan to last from 1958 to 1963. This plan was called the Great Leap Forward.

The Great Leap Forward planned to develop agriculture and industry. Mao believed that

both had to grow to allow the other to grow. Industry could only prosper if the work force was well fed, while the agricultural workers needed industry to produce the modern tools needed for modernization. To allow for this, China was reformed into a series of communes.

The geographical size of a commune varied but most contained about 5000 families. People

in a commune gave up their ownership of tools, animals etc so that everything was owned by the commune. People now worked for the commune and not for themselves. The life of an individual was controlled by the commune. Schools and nurseries were provided by the communes so that all adults could work. Health care was provided and the elderly were moved into "houses of happiness" so that they could be looked after and also so that families could work and not have to worry about leaving their elderly relatives at home.

The commune provided all that was needed – including entertainment. Soldiers worked

alongside people. The population in a commune was sub-divided. Twelve families formed a work team. Twelve work terms formed a brigade. Each sub-division was given specific work to do. Party members oversaw the work of a commune to ensure that decisions followed the correct party line.

By the end of 1958, 700 million people had been placed into 26,578 communes. The speed

with which this was achieved was astounding. However, the government did all that it could to whip up enthusiasm for the communes. Propaganda was everywhere – including in the fields where the workers could listen to political speeches as they worked as the communes provided public address systems. Everybody involved in communes was urged not only to meet set targets but to beat them. If the communes lacked machinery, the workers used their bare hands. Major constructions were built in record time – though the quality of some was dubious.

The Great Leap Forward also encouraged communes to set up "back-yard" production

plants. The most famous were 600,000backyard furnaces which produced steel for the communes. When all of these furnaces were working, they added a considerable amount of steel to China’s annual total – 11 million tones.

The figures for steel, coal, chemicals, timber, cement etc all showed huge rises though the

figures started at in 1958 were low. Grain and cotton production also showed major increases in production.

Mao had introduced the Great Leap Forward with the phrase "it is possible to accomplish

any task whatsoever." By the end of 1958, it seemed as if his claim was true.

The Consequences of the Great Leap Forward

However, in 1959, things started to go wrong. Political decisions/beliefs took precedence over commonsense and communes faced the task of doing things which they were incapable of achieving. Party officials would order the impossible and commune leaders, who knew what their commune was capable of doing or not, could be charged with being a "bourgeois reactionary" if he complained. Such a charge would lead to prison.

Quickly produced farm machinery produced in factories fell to pieces when used. Many thousands of workers were injured after working long hours and falling asleep at their jobs. Steel produced by the backyard furnaces was frequently too weak to be of any use and could not be used in construction – it’s original purpose. Buildings constructed by this substandard steel did not last long.

Also the backyard production method had taken many workers away from their fields – so desperately needed food was not being harvested. Ironically, one of the key factors in food production in China was the weather and 1958 had particularly good weather for growing food. Party leaders claimed that the harvest for 1958 was a record 260 million tons – which was not true.

The excellent growing weather of 1958 was followed by a very poor growing year in 1959. Some parts of China were hit by floods. In other growing areas, drought was a major problem. The harvest for 1959 was 170 million tons of grain – well below what China needed at the most basic level. In parts of China, starvation occurred.

1960 had even worse weather than 1959. The harvest of 1960 was 144 million tons. 9 million people are thought to have starved to death in 1960 alone; many millions were left desperately ill as a result of a lack of food. The government had to introduce rationing. This put people on the most minimal of food and between 1959 and 1962, it is thought that 20 million people died of starvation or diseases related to starvation.

The backyard furnaces also used too much coal and China’s rail system, which depended on coal driven trains, suffered accordingly.

By 1959, it was obvious that the Great Leap Forward had been a failure and even Mao admitted this. He called on the Communist Party to take him to task over his failures but also asked his own party members to look at themselves and their performance.

Some party members put the blame of the failure of the Great Leap Forward on Mao. He was popular with the people but he still had to resign from his position as Head of State (though he remained in the powerful Party Chairman position).

The day-to-day running of China was left to three moderates: Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. In late 1960, they abandoned the Great Leap Forward. Private ownership of land was reinstated and communes were cut down to a manageable size. Peasants also had the incentive to produce as much spare food as was possible as they could sell any spare that they had a market.

These three moderates had restricted Mao’s power but his standing among the ordinary Chinese people was still high as he was seen as the leader of the revolution. He was to use this popularity with the people to resurrect his authority at the expense of the moderates. This was in the so-called Cultural Revolution.

The Red Guards and the Cultural Revolution

In response to Mao’s call, high school students in Beijing began forming groups called the Red Guards. Mao signaled his approval of these groups, and high school and university students around the country quickly formed other bands of Red Guards. These students began to criticize teachers, school administrators, and government leaders. Mao himself received millions of Red Guards in a mass review at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on August 18, 1966. Schools were ordered closed and students from all over the country traveled to Beijing for the chance to see Mao, who was worshiped by many as a godlike hero. Schools and universities remained closed from 1966 to 1969. Mao appealed to the students to “smash the four olds”: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. Chaos ensued as Red Guards destroyed temples, artwork, books, and anything associated with traditional or foreign cultures. Radical leaders and Red Guards also persecuted artists, writers, and those with foreign connections. Victims were subjected to public criticism, humiliation, and physical abuse in meetings known as struggle sessions. Intellectuals such as the writer Lao She and the historian Wu Han were among the thousands of victims who committed suicide or who died from Red Guard abuse. Many others were imprisoned or forced to do menial labor.

In 1967, amidst the anarchy of the Red Guard activities and fighting between rival Red Guard groups, China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was called in to restore order. From 1967 to 1969 thousands died in violent clashes between Red Guard factions, and between the Red Guards and the military. In an attempt to rein in the chaos, Mao and his supporters placed most government organizations under the control of the PLA and launched a new phase of the Cultural Revolution, the “Campaign to Purify Class Ranks.” Beginning in 1969 urban government officials and intellectuals were sent to the countryside to do hard labor and to study Mao’s works. Many urban youths from age 16 to age 19 were dispersed to the countryside where they were instructed to learn from the peasants. Family members were often split up and forced to live in harsh conditions thousands of miles from one another. Unable to receive permission to return, many youths remained in the countryside for years.

Throughout the early 1970s Mao continued his goal of reducing the economic gap between the city and the countryside. The children of urban elite lived and worked among rural peasants. The children of peasants, workers, and soldiers attended the reopened schools where they studied the works of Mao and the accomplishments of peasants. Thousands of students received rudimentary medical training and went to the countryside as so-called barefoot doctors; they provided basic health care to peasants who otherwise had no access to medical facilities. Urban culture was replaced by new revolutionary ballet, opera, and literature, much of it produced under the patronage of Jiang Qing. The new work expressed the struggles of the peasants and glorified Chairman Mao.

While most of the radical excesses of the Cultural Revolution had diminished by the mid-1970s, some of its rhetoric and policies continued even after Mao’s death in 1976. Jiang Qing and the rest of the Gang of Four were arrested that year. Their arrest was declared the official end of the movement, but it was not until 1981 that the Gang of Four were convicted for their crimes and the Communist Party leadership under Deng Xiaoping officially condemned the Cultural Revolution. Mao’s Leadership Changes China

The revolution in China had cost millions of lives. By the time of chairman Mao’s death in September, 1976, however, China had moved into modern world. ◙ The country had made important advances under Mao’s leadership. ► Famine was wiped out, health care was dramatically improved, and illiteracy was almost

eliminated. ► Agricultural reforms were successful enough to supply people’s basic needs for food and

clothing. ► Women were treated as the equals of men for the first time in China’s 4,000-year history

His version of Marxism emphasized social change and influenced millions of followers who read his “Little Red Book,” The Sayings of Chairman Mao.

China and the World

In the years immediately after the Communist victory in 1949, the People’s Republic of China concentrated on rebuilding the war-torn country. Relations with most other nations were limited, and the Western nations and Japan viewed the new regime with suspicion. China and the United States

The United States in particular had long supported Chiang Kai-shek, and the idea of a Communist-controlled China was alarming to most American.

Domino Theory

The domino theory is a theory which was promoted by American foreign policy analysts during the 1950s and 1960s. According to the theory, nations on the borders of communist nations could be considered under threat, potentially falling like dominoes to communist influence and setting up a situation in which communism would rapidly spread across a region or perhaps even an entire continent. As late as the 1980s, the domino theory was revived to justify American intervention overseas. Another source of conflict between the two nations was the status of Taiwan. The United States and the United Nations continued to recognize Chiang’s government on Taiwan as the only government of China. The United States signed a mutual-defense treaty with Chiang and gave Taiwan economic and military aid. The Korean War increased the hostility between the United States and China. While Americans wanted to halt the spread of Communist rule, the Chinese leaders feared that the United States, as the leader of the UN forces, was preparing to invade China. American concern over communism in Southeast Asia led to involvement to Vietnam. Relations with the Soviet Union Deteriorate

Although Mao and Stalin had long disagreed over how the revolution in China should be carried out, the People’s Republic and the Soviet Union for a time appeared to present a solid communist front. They also disagreed with the policy of peaceful coexistence with the West.

In 1966, the war of words intensified over a border dispute. The Chinese claimed that 750,000 square miles of fertile and under-populated Soviet territory along the Amur River rightfully belonged to China.

Chinese-American relations Improve

While Sino-Soviet relations worsened, the climate between China and the United States improved. With the end of the Cultural Revolution, the new leadership in China adopted a more flexible foreign policy. China’s leaders realized that American technology would help efforts to modernize.

In 1971 President Richard M. Nixon announced that he had accepted an invitation to visit mainland China the following year. With this shift in American policy, the General Assembly of the United Nation voted in November, 1971, to oust Taiwan as their representative of China and admit the Peoples Republic. On Nixon’s visit to China, He and Chou En-lei discussed the establishment of better relations between their two nations. New Leaders Look to the West

The new leaders moved away from some of Mao’s doctrines of Chinese self reliance and isolation. Emphasis was placed on rapid development in agriculture, industry, defense, and science. China’s new

approach recognized the need for industrialization and for technical assistance from other nations. Teng Hsiao-p’ing, a senior Party official and a veteran of the Long March emerge as the most powerful person in China.

On January 1, 1979, the People’s Republic of China and the United States formally established diplomatic relations.

JAPAN BECOMES AN ECONOMIC LEADER

After the Allied victory in World War II, the United States army occupied Japan from 1945 to 1952. Under American influence, Japan made changes in its government without completely abandoning its own traditions. A remarkable economic recovery made Japan a leader among the world nations. The American occupation brings changes in government The long-range objective of the American occupation was to make Japan a democratic country. Rather than impose a new form of government, however, the United States decided to work in partnership with the existing Japanese government structure. To carry out these goals, President Harry Truman appointed Gen. Douglas MacArthur to direct Allied occupation forces. The first step of the occupation was to demilitarize Japan. Military leaders were removed from official posts and forbidden to hold government positions; trials for war crimes were hel. A new constitution establishes a democracy In 1947 the authoritarian Japanese constitution of the Meiji era was placed by a democratic constitution. The constitution established a two- house Diet (legislature) elected by the people, with a prime minister and cabinet government responsible to the Diet. Japanese emperors had always been considered divine, but the Emperor Hirohito was to serve only as the “symbol of the state”. • Bill of rights guaranteed education, freedom of speech and religion, and other rights. • The Japanese would “forever renounce war” and would not maintain military forces. • Women won equal political and economic rights, as well as legal equality in marriage and family affairs. Long-standing Japanese custom and traditions, however, often stood in the way of these new

freedoms. Reforms help the spread of democracy For centuries, much of the land in Japan had been in the hands of large land owners. Most small farmers had rented the land they cultivated. After the World War II, the government limited the amount of land each farmer could own, purchase and surplus, and sold it at low prices to landless peasants. This reform created a prosperous class of land owning farmers.

The zaibatsu- great industrial firms owned by a handful of powerful families – were ordered to disband and sell their stocks on the open market. Industrial workers were encouraged to form unions.

The Japanese also reformed the system of education. Prewar education in Japan had emphasized

the virtues of loyalty and obedience to the emperor and the nation. Postwar education reforms focused on introducing democratic values, establishing more colleges, and using modern methods of teaching. Japan and the United States Become Allies One reason for the success of the occupation was MacArthur’s leadership in carrying out the American decision not to seek revenge on Japan. Another was the Japanese people’s own skill in changing the system that had involved their country in a disastrous war. In April, 1952, Japan regained its full independence when a peace treaty, signed by Japan, the United States, and 47 other nations, went into effect. Another treaty allowed American forces to use Japanese bases and gave the United States a firm ally in Asia. The United States, in turn, guaranteed Japan’s security against attack, while Japan itself re-established some military “self defense” forces.

Japan’s Economy Flourishes While post-war Japan underwent great political changes, its economic recovery was even more remarkable. Between 1946 and 1967, Japan’s gross national product grew at a rate of 10 percent a year - higher

even than the growth rate in West Germany, the fastest growing European economy.

Japan led the world in shipbuilding; its automobile industry became second only to that of the United States. Japanese automobiles, ships, steel, cameras and electronic equipment were exported in record quantities.

Less than 25 years after its defeat, Japan had become the third largest economic power in the world. The economic miracle in Japan was due to many factors. Prewar Japan had a thriving industrial and business community, providing the nation with a basis for rebuilding and modernizing. The Japanese government had a uniquely cooperative relationship with this business community. In other countries, corporations raised the money through the sale of stocks and bonds. In Japan the government loaned money to business indirectly through the government-owned Bank of Japan. Because of the small military budget and tax policies that encouraged savings, more capital was available for investment. Business could spend large sum of money on research and development, particularly on high- technology fields such as electronics. In addition, during Japan’s economic recovery, Western nations allowed the country to protect its growing industries with high tariffs on import. Friction develops with trading partners At a time when the most nations had huge trade deficits, Japan enjoyed a trade surplus- that is it exported a greater value of goods than it imported. By the 1980’s, other countries were demanding that Japan reduce its exports and buy more foreign goods. This pressure came especially from the United States, where automobile makers and other industries faced heavy competition from Japanese imports. In 1986, Prime Minister Nakasone pledged to take steps that would reduce friction with Japan’s trading partners. Japan faces the problems of industrialization Despite Japan’s economic success, problems remained. Always short of land and natural resources, Japan was dependent on foreign sources for food and raw materials. Agricultural production increased after the war, but Japan still had no imports almost all of its crude oil, cotton, iron ore, soybeans, wheat, and sugar and about a half of its lumber. In addition, the emphasis on rapid economic growth led to neglect of people’s needs in other areas. More and more Japanese moved to the already overcrowded cities creating problems with public transportation, roads, sewage systems, and housing. Like other industrialized nations, Japan also suffered from severe environmental pollution. International Relations affect Japanese Defense Policies Close ties with the United States had played a part in Japan’s economic success since World War II. As relations between the United States and the people’s republic of China began to improve in the early 1970’s, the Japanese became uneasy. They felt America’s commitment to Japan as its ally in Asia might be weakening. As provided in the anti-war clause of the constitution. Japan had only a small defense force and depended on the United States for military security. Some Japanese became increasingly fearful of their pact with the United States might not be enough to guarantee Japan’s security. These fears were reflected in Japan’s growing military budget. Still small by American standard, it rose sharply in the 1980’s. This development brought controversy between those Japanese who wanted Japan to take greater part in its own defenses and those who oppose military build-up. Japanese Relations with China Improve

Like the United States, Japan did not recognize the new communist leadership in China for many years, even though many Japanese businesses hoped to expand trade with Chinese mainland. After the death of Mao, however Japan was encouraged by the less revolutionary attitudes in China’s leadership. Diplomatic relations were established in 1972, and in 1978 China and Japan signed a ten-year Treaty of Peace and Friendship. China’s efforts toward modernization provided a new market for Japan’s industries, and two nations established better trade relations.

New Nations are Created in South Asia

In the late 1800’s a movement for independence was under way in India but the Indian nationalists

postponed their demands at the outbreak of World War I. India contributed raw materials, money, and troops to the war effort and, in return, Britain promised greater self-rule for India. In 1919, when the war ended, the British parliamentary passed a new Government of India Act, which increased India’s self-rule in domestic affairs but left Britain in control of India’s foreign policy and national security. Many Indians were not satisfied with these changes, and demands for independence grew strong.

The Independence Movement The Amritsar Massacre Strengthen the Independence Movement

Violence was used by the nationalist because the people in India were disappointed by the response of the British to their demands for greater participation in government. The British parliamentary response was the passage of several restrictive laws which includes banning of all political meetings.

As strikes and riots happened, the British troops responded harshly. The most serious incident occurred at the town of Amritsar (in the Punjab) on April 13, 1919; the British general ordered his troops to fire at hundreds of Indians attending a political meeting. Four hundred Indians were killed and twelve hundred were wounded. The British asked for apology but the India’s leader was not convinced and the only solution in their problem was HINDI SWARAJ, Indian home rule. Gandhi Calls for Nonviolence Resistance

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi dominated India’s independence for thirty years. He is a respected and most admired protest leader that sought an end to repression but rejected violence in any form. He is a small frail man who showed no interest in worldly possession and he attracted millions of follower who called him Mahatma which means great soul. In between 1893 and 1915 Gandhi had lived in South Africa where he led a series of boycotts to repeal laws that discriminates Indians who live there. He develops the tactic using CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE - nonviolent resistance to law and acts that are thought unjust. Indians Participation in Boycotts

Nonviolent protest in India took the form of boycotts in which Indians halted all work and dedicated the day for fasting and praying. Gandhi called a nationwide boycott for the massacre of Amritsar and the protesters boycotted their work, disrupted elections and refused to pay taxes.

When British troops and policemen tried to disperse the crowds with clubs and rifles, the advocates of nonviolence did little more than protect their own bodies. Gandhi Calls for a Return to Traditional Industries

In defiance of the law he encouraged Indian’s to restore such traditional industries as spinning cotton, rather than buying finished cloth from British. He led nonviolence demonstrations, such as a march to the sea in protest for the tax on salts. Gandhi was arrested a number of times but then, they couldn’t stop the act of civil disobedience. This nonviolent act gained worldwide publicity and he won much sympathy and support. Gandhi Attacks the Caste System

Gandhi’s did not just want to struggle for India’s freedom and dignity but also he wants equality for all, where he attacked the aged-old tradition of the untouchables. He pleaded to gain equality for India’s millions of outcastes, whom he called the Harijians or “God’s Children”. He believes that the country cannot be independent if it is divided. The Independence Movement has Divided Goals

Gandhi began to share leadership with Jawaharlal Nehru who is a British-educated political leader

whose family was long active in nationalist movement. The two dreamt different future of India. Gandhi hoped for a self-sufficient India that would return to a simple peasant life while Nehru’s vision is an India patterned on the industrialized nation of the West. The two has somehow same intention for India to be independent in which Muslims and Hindu live in harmony. • Events in the 1930’s undermined that hope, as Muslim leaders began to call for the formation of a separate state in northwestern India, to be named Pakistan from words meaning “Land of the Pure.” Britain Enacts New Reform

The British parliamentary rejected the proposal of the Muslims and passed the Government of India Act in 1935. The new act reacted new elected legislature for India that had control all over domestic affairs. The act increase the number of voters and attempt to strengthen the representation of minorities, an important concession to the Muslims. Six million women were legible to vote and the parliamentary pledge that India will soon be guaranteed independence.

In the first election for India’s legislature, the Hindu-led Indian National Congress, was voted into power throughout most of India. The Indian Muslim was disturbed of the idea of being the minority in a Hindu state. Mohammed Ali Jinnah, asked the Congress party to endorse his group, known as the Muslim League, as the single representative for India’s Muslim. Nehru, the leader of the Congress party, rejected Jinnah’s proposal, however, setting the stage for a later violent confrontation. World War II Promotes Resistance

During World War II the Indian supported the war effort. The India provided the allies with troops, supplies and military bases. The powerful Congress leader declared that no one would cooperate unless the British will agree to immediate independence for India because they remembered in World War I the British promised for their independence was not granted. The British doesn’t want to meet the nationalist’s demands and the war effort was disrupted, so they captured Gandhi, Nehru and other nationalists and imprisoned. Disagreement Delays Independent

Independence riot broke out in India after the war. In response, Britain offered to grant India its independence. The original plan is for united India but Jinnah called for a Direct Action Day to protest British decision. The protest was peaceful in most part of the country but in Calcutta, rioting took 5000 lives of Hindu and Muslim.

Convinced by these protests that a united India was impossible, the British Parliament and Indian leaders agreed in 1947 that the British would leave India and the subcontinent would be divided into two nations – a Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan. Partition was set mid-August 1947. Partition Brings Unrest and Violence

The boundaries for partition were hastily drawn along religious lines, based on the predominance of Hindu and Muslim members. Muslim Pakistan was formed in two parts - West Pakistan in the Punjab and East Pakistan in part of Bengal. Within the new boundaries of Indian and Pakistan there are millions of Hindus and Muslims and some of them suddenly found themselves in a wrong country. Many chose to remain and some fled to the safety of the new homeland. On both sides fanatics committed atrocities and between 300,000 and one million refugees lost their lives during the partition.

Distressed at the violence, Gandhi decided to fast in protest against the inhumane actions by the members of both religions. This concern for all Indian people eventually cost Gandhi’s life. In January 1948 a fanatical Hindu, Nathuram Godse , believing Gandhi to be a traitor to his own religion, assassinated him.

Independent India

Many Indians Gain New Rights After Independence

Despite the violence surrounding partition, Indians celebrated their independence on August 15, 1947. Within three years India formed the first constitution which was molded on the constitution of the United States and the Britain.

Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister until his death in 1964. Under his leadership

the nation followed the democratic course and was viewed as the model of newly independent country.

The caste system imposed was outlawed and over 60 million outcasts were able to have jobs,

education, political offices, and public buildings. The constitution removed many restrictions and made women active in politics. The constitution guaranteed them to have greater voting and property rights.

Nehru’s hardest task is to make the nation a sense of unity. Never in India’s long history had the

subcontinent been united; the different regions had been separated from one another by different religions, languages and customs. After independence, India remained culturally divided. Although Hindu is dominant religion, it has many subdivisions. India Become Concerned with Defense Hostility in India and Pakistan continued after independence. In 1947, India clashed in his neighbor over Kashmir, a region that both countries coveted for its water

and other resources. Although Kashmir’s population was predominantly Muslim, its former ruler, a Hindu prince, had given

the state to India at the time of the partition. Kashmir’s population was predominantly Muslim but its former ruler was a Hindu prince who gave his state to India.

Pakistan demanded that the people of Kashmir be allowed to vote to determine their status, but Indian refused.

Indian and Pakistan troops fought in Kashmir until a UN truce was arranged in 1949. The territory was divided but still a cause of conflict.

KASHMIR is an area in southwestern Asia whose sovereignty is disputed between Pakistan and India The Congress Party Declines in Power

The Indian National Congress had led the independence movement in India and remained in control of the government after the independence. The Congress Party began to lose votes in 1960’s when it attempt to introduce cooperative and collective farming along the lines followed in China. This cost the government the valued support of landlords. The Chinese invasion also lost votes for Congress Party and the death of Nehru further undermined the party’s prestige.

Indira Gandhi Leads India

In 1966 the Congress party elected Indira Gandhi, Nehru’s daughter, to the office of prime minister. During her first five years in office, Gandhi won admiration for her effective leadership, administrative abilities and encouragement of economic development. The government took some control of India’s economy, nationalizing banks, coal mining and other industries.

The next few years brought serious problems and renewed unrest. Severe drought cut food production, and hunger became more widespread. In addition, the rising price of oil on the world market hampered both industrial and agricultural development. Thousands of refugees who were fleeing from civil war in East Pakistan were addition to India’s problem. The United States and other wheat-growing countries sent millions of tons of grain to India. Nevertheless, food riots, strikes and violent demonstrations erupted. Indira Gandhi was Charged with Abuse of Power

During the troubled period, Indira was blamed of the mismanagement and corruption. in June 1975, the court found Indira guilty for election campaign fraud and barred her for holding the office for the period of six years. Two weeks later the Prime Minister declared state of emergency. Over next two years Indira Gandhi had thousands of its opponent jailed, censored the press, and barred India’s Supreme Court from reviewing her decision. Indira Gandhi’s opponents were disturbed of her authoritarian rule. In March 1977, she and her party was voted out of office. She gained popular support and however re-elected in 1980. Indira Gandhi is Assassinated

Indira’s goal is to maintain united India. When she believed that unity is threatened she used a strong method to meet the treat. Critics charged that her methods severely weakened India’s democratic institution. For example, she repeatedly suspended state government in order to implement her own policies in 1980’s. In 1984, she sent military forces to crush a Sikh rebellion in the Punjab, where Sikh extremists had been using violence in waging a campaign for greater political independence. Hundreds of people were killed in the fight; the Sikhs throughout India were outrage when government forces stormed the golden temple in Amritsar the Sikhs holiest shrine.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguard four months later. Her son, Rajiv Gandhi was chosen to be her successor. The new prime minister vowed to continue his mother’s policies. In election held in Dec. 1984, India’s voter gave Ravjiv Gandhi’s party a record number of seats in India’s parliament. The Sikh-Hindu conflict remained one of his more difficult problems.

Gandhi’s Assassination

Gandhi's later years were bedeviled with problems in the Punjab. In June 1984, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's Sikh separatist group were camping and amassing weapons within the walls of the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine. Despite the presence of thousands of civilians in the Golden Temple complex at the time the army opened fire resulting in civilian casualties. Gandhi's order to approve Operation Blue Star was highly condemned by international media. Government and independent accounts differ in the number of military and civilian casualties. Government estimates include four officers, 79 soldiers, and 492 sikhs; independent accounts are much higher, perhaps 500 or more troops and 3,000 Sikhs, including many women and children caught in the crossfire. While the exact figures related to civilian casualties are disputed, the lack of decent records and the timing and method of the attack were widely criticized. Most of the criticism was directed against Indira Gandhi, claiming that she used the operation as a personal attack on Sikhs. Ms Gandhi justified the attack by stating that the aim was to flush out the terrorist Bhindaranwale who was creating animosity by preaching anti-government ideas such as the independence for sikhs, and idea of forming a separate state called Khalistan.

Indira Gandhi had numerous bodyguards, two of whom were Satwant Singh and Beant

Singh, both Sikhs. On 31 October 1984 they assassinated Indira Gandhi with their service weapons in the garden of the Prime Minister's Residence at No. 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi. As she was walking to be interviewed by the British actor Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television, she passed a wicket gate guarded by Satwant and Beant. According to information available immediately following the incident, Beant Singh shot her three times using his side-arm and Satwant Singh fired 30 rounds, using a Sten submachine gun. Beant Singh was shot dead and Satwant Singh was shot and arrested by her other bodyguards.

Operation Blue Star

June 3-6, 1984 was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists who were amassing weapons in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The operation was launched in response to a deterioration of law and order in the Indian state of Punjab.

The operation was carried out by Indian army troops with tanks and armored vehicles.

Militarily successful, the operation aroused immense controversy, and the government's justification for the timing and style of the attack are still under debate

Official reports put the number of deaths among the Indian army at 83 and the number of

civilian deaths at 492, though independent estimates ran much higher.

The impact of the military assault, its aftermath and the increased tensions led to assaults on members of the Sikh community within India and uproar amongst Sikhs worldwide. In India, many Sikhs resigned from armed and civil administrative office and returned their government awards. Revenge for the desecration of the Sikh shrine was pledged by some in the Sikh community, and Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two (2) of her Sikh bodyguards on 31 October 1984.

India Remains a Land of Contradiction

India’s agricultural output doubled in between 1960’s and 1980’s because of a combination of modern technologies, improves agricultural techniques, and an absence of natural disasters. India was the tenths largest industrial producer in the world in 1980’s. While it continued to produce and sell the traditional staples of sugar and textile, iron, steel, and engineering products made up a greater share of its exports. Economic in 1980’s were intended to increase the jobs by improving agricultural and industrial products.

There are still serious problems in India in the midst of its success. Unemployment remained high, and many people lived in crushing poverty, undernourished and often ill. Well over half of India’s people remained illiterate. The overcrowded cities faced problems of inadequate health care, housing, and sanitation facilities.

Pakistan and Bangladesh Pakistan is a Divided Nation

The partition of the Indian subcontinent created a Pakistan that was divided geographically and culturally. A thousand miles of India’s territory separated East and West Pakistan. Other factors also separated the people of the two regions. West Pakistan was a dry, hilly, and moderately populated region. Its main language was URDU, and its

people were better educated and had a higher standard of living than East Pakistan. East Pakistan was hot, rainy, and densely populated. Floods and famine were common. They spoke

Bengali and in their customs and traditions were closer to the Hindus than to the West Pakistan.

For the first 20 years of Pakistan’s existence, West Pakistan dominated the government. East Pakistan overcrowded and impoverished looked with envy at the other half of the country. Political problems also beset the new nation from the beginning. Mohammad Ali Jinnah died in 1948; a year after Pakistan was founded. For the next 10 years the nation suffered through short lived governments that cared little for the people’s need.

In 1958, General Mohammed Ayub Khan seized power. He imposed martial law and ruled as a military dictator. He rid Pakistan of corrupt officials and of markets where goods were sold at inflated price. He increased peasants in politics. Pakistan under Khan’s rule begin to progress in land redistribution and industrial development. By 1965 the national income had increased by 25 percent.

In 1969, faced with protests and riots, he resigned and turned over the government to army leaders. He was replaced by general Mohammad Yahya Khan. East Pakistanis Revolt

Relations between East and West Pakistan grew worse. In the 1970 elections, the East Pakistanis won enough votes to gain control of the national Assembly. This meant that Mujibur Rahman, leader of the Bengali party, would become prime minister of Pakistan.

Yahya Khan, however, refused to accept the election results and had Rahman and other opposition leaders arrested. The arrest turned into a massacre as hundreds of thousands of East Pakistanis were slaughtered by the army. Millions of refugees fled to India, and terror and civil war swept the region. Bangladesh Becomes Independent

In March, 1971, East Pakistan declared its independence as the new nation of Bangladesh (meaning “the Bengal nation”). The army of the Pakistani government invaded, but India intervened on the side of the rebelling Bengalis and the invasion was halted. MUHIBUR RAHMAN became the new country’s first prime minister and then its president.

Problems of independent Bangladesh

• Its economy was mainly agricultural but could not produce enough food for its growing population as an aftermath of civil war.

•Floods, famine, and plague caused widespread suffering and death. Millions of tons of grain

were imported to help feed the more than 90 million people.

•Bangladesh was troubled by political instability. After a series of coups and assassinations, military leaders took over the country in 1982 and declared martial law.

Pakistan Emphasizes Islamic Ways

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became prime minister in 1970. In an attempt to stabilize the country’s economy, Bhutto nationalized Pakistan’s agricultural and textile industry. This action, along with Pakistan’s shaky economic status, discouraged foreign investors. In addition, Bhutto made many enemies and was accused of corruption.

In 1977, for the third time in thirty (30) years, the army seized control of the government. Bhutto was imprisoned and later executed. The new regime, headed by General Zia ul-Haq , replaced Pakistani civil law with traditional Islamic law. Islamic laws and traditions were also given greater emphasis in Pakistan’s schools. Although elections for a new national legislature were held in 1985, leaders of opposition parties were barred from taking part. In 1986 Benazir Bhutto, daughter of the executed prime minister, returned to Pakistan from exile to lead an opposition movement.

CONFLICTS DISRUPT SOUTHEAST ASIA

Ancient kingdoms become colonial possessions

Since ancient times, Southeast Asia has been an important crossroads for world trade. Great kingdoms, such as those of the Khmer and Thai peoples, developed as early as the sixth (6th) and tenth (10th) centuries A.D. Once Vasco da Gama found his way around Africa to India, Europeans became rivals for control of the resources and trade of Southeast Asia.

By the end of the 1800’s, foreign powers controlled much of the region. Siam (modern Thailand), once most powerful kingdom in Southeast Asia, signed trade treaties with Britain and France in 1855 to keep them from taking over the country. In 1863 troops sent by Napoleon III made Cambodia a French protectorate. Four years later the French began to expand to what is now Vietnam and created a federation of states called Indochina. Earlier in the century, Britain had bought the island of Singapore, and by 1886 Burma came under the British rule. In 1898 the United States acquired the Philippines through the Treaty of Paris.

The colonial powers developed Southeast Asia's natural resources, establishing prosperous

plantations that grew rubber, rice sugar and coffee.

Bowring Treaty (1855) is an agreement between Siam (Thailand) and Britain that achieved commercial and political aims that earlier British missions had failed to gain and opened up Siam to Western influence and trade.

The treaty lifted many restrictions imposed by Thai kings on foreign trade. It set a three (3) percent duty on all imports and permitted British subjects to trade in all Thai ports, to own land near Bangkok, and to move freely about the country. In addition, it granted extraterritoriality (exemption from the jurisdiction of Thai authorities) to British subjects—a privilege which, in time, proved so irritating that its removal became a chief goal of Thai policy.

The Bowring Treaty ushered in a new era in Siam’s foreign relations. The progressive King Mongkut (Rama IV) recognized that the expansion of British power and the decline of traditional Asian powers required new policies. The treaty was followed by a succession of similar agreements between Siam and many European powers, the United States, and Japan. Mongkut’s policies, though costing Siam a degree of legal and fiscal independence, spared the country the military incursions and colonial subjugation other Southeast Asian states experienced.

World War II Leads to Independence

From the beginning, the Southeast Asia resented foreign rule. As dissatisfaction with colonial rule grew, nationalist movements emerged. When World War II broke out in Europe, Great Britain, France and the Netherlands were forced to leave their colonies unprotected while they defend their homelands against Nazi aggression. Once the European powers had left, the Japanese had overrun and occupied most of Southeast Asia.

After the war, nationalists gained control of the governments in many Southeast Asian countries and proclaimed their independence. Throughout Southeast Asia, however, independence and national unity were achieved only after violent struggles.

THE ISLAND NATIONS Indonesia suffers economic problems

The Netherlands tried to regain control of the East Indies after the war, but nationalist forces bitterly resisted Dutch control. Pressure from the United States persuaded the Netherlands to give the area its independence, and in 1949 it became the Republic of Indonesia. The country first president was a nationalist leader named Sukarno.

Sukarno ruled for fifteen (15) years but was unable to manage the economy successfully. Massive funds went toward projects as stadiums and monuments, while agriculture and development of the country’s resources were neglected. Because so much food had to be imported, rising prices in the world food market caused rapid inflation in Indonesia.

Sukarno had considerable communist support, and in 1965 Communists tried to take over the government. In a bloody civil war, the army suppressed the revolt. Its leader, General Suharto, became president.

Suharto's government was able to reduce inflation and increase production but severe problems continued. Because many of Indonesia’s businesses were foreign-owned, profits seldom remained in the country. In 1970 students and workers rioted against foreign ownership. In response to this protest, the government restricted investment ffrom abroad and required foreign companies to establish partnerships with Indonesians.

In an attempt to solve these economic problems, Indonesia began to exploit its vast resources of petroleum, natural gas, and minerals. Like India, Indonesia emphasized industries that depended on the use of natural resources and human labor. Malaysia is Plagued by Ethnic Conflicts

When World War II ended, Malaya became a British protectorate. After years of rebellion, it gained independence in 1957 and in 1963 it united with Sabah, Sarawak, and the former crown colony of Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia, which became part of the British Commonwealth.

Problems soon arose between the Federation's two dominant cultures. Most of the people in the islands were Malays, but in Singapore most were Chinese. Fearing that the Chinese would gain control of their government, leaders forced Singapore to withdraw from the Federation in 1965.

Despite the nation's internal strife, Malaysia's economy remained one of the soundest in Asia. The country was the world's leading exporter of rubber.

The independence of Malaysia is different from much of the independence of other countries. What makes it so different? It is a peaceful independence achieved by holding talks with the British. No other country has ever done that before Malaysia. Additionally, the Malaysian independence was realized by three people with different culture and religion. It is amazing how independence was gained that way. On the glorious day of 31 August 1957, Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman proudly declared the independence of Malaya (now Malaysia) by shouting out “Merdeka” seven times at the Merdeka Stadium.

Merdeka is a word in the Malay language meaning independence. It is derived from a Sanskrit word used to designate former Portuguese and Dutch slaves from India in the East Indies, whence the Malay meaning of "free(dom)" is derived. The term was significant during the anti-colonialist and pro-independence movements of the colonies of Malaya, Singapore and Indonesia, in the history of Malaysia, the history of Singapore and in the history of Indonesia. It became a battle-cry for those demanding independence from the colonial administrations of the United Kingdom and Netherlands.

Singapore Has a Strong Economy

Singapore's economy prospered after it left the Federation of Malaysia in 1965. Led by an anti-Communist government that controlled the aspects of political life, Singapore had one of the strongest economies in Asia. Manufacturing, shipping, oil refining, and banking were its important economic activities. Singapore separated from Malaysia on August 9, 1965, and became an independent republic

Lee Kuan Yew is a former Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore. He was the first person to hold

the office, and did so from 1959 to 1990. • As leader of the People's Action Party (PAP), he oversaw the separation of Singapore from the

Federation of Malaysia in 1965 and its subsequent transformation from a volatile, underdeveloped colonial outpost with no natural resources into a stable, First World Asian Tiger.

MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA The French Withdraw from Indochina

The French returned to Indochina after World War II to find much of it under the control of the Vietminh, a nationalist movement founded in 1941 by Ho Chi Minh. Ho, a communist had set up a government in the northern part of Vietnam. Unwilling to part with its colonies in Indochina, France sent troops to fight against the nationalist army. Vietnamese peasants, who looked on the French as imperialists, gave help and supplies to Ho’s guerilla forces. Communist China also aided the Vietminh, while the United States helped France. In March, 1954, the Vietminh severely defeated the French troops at Dien Bien Phu, and the French left Indochina.

The 1954 peace talks, held at Geneva, Switzerland included representatives from North and South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, France, China, Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. In the settlement, known as the Geneva Accords, France granted independence to Laos and Cambodia, and Vietnam was temporarily divided in the 17th parallel of latitude. Elections to unite the country were scheduled for 1956. Until then, it was agreed, that Ho Chi Minh's Communist government would control the north, and a non-communist government would lead the south.

Vietnam is Engulfed in War

South Vietnam's leaders refuse to sign the Geneva Accords. They would not accept a divided nation particularly one in which the Communist north was so much richer in industry, minerals and farmland. In addition, South Vietnam’s leaders feared that since the division put a majority of Vietnamese under Communist rule, the Communists would win the 1956 elections.

Ho Chi Minh and his Communist forces were nonetheless determined to reunite the nation under their leadership. North Vietnamese soldiers crossed the 17th parallel to recruit and train South Vietnamese who were sympathetic to the north's cause. These southerners became known as the Vietcong.

Meanwhile, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem tried to restore order but failed. He was overthrown by a military coup and murdered late in 1963. The United States Sends Troops

The successes of the Vietcong and the instability of South Vietnam worried United States leaders. Determined to prevent the spread of communism, the U.S. had set up the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954. SEATO members pledged aid against aggression in the region.

South Vietnam’s dependence on United States support grew greater. In 1964, North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked American destroyers in the gulf of Tonkin. As a result, the United States Senate passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson the power to send United States forces to Vietnam. From 1965 through 1967, Johnson continued to increase the number of troops and the frequency of bombing raids. The Communists Launch a Major Offensive

In January of 1968, during a Vietnamese religious holiday, Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces struck at virtually all important cities and towns in the south. (The attack became known as the Tet offensive after the holiday.)

The Tet Offensive of 1968 was an initiative of the North Vietnam Army to have the civilian population of South Vietnam join them in their offensive and efforts to overthrow the South Vietnam Government, forcing the withdrawal of the United States Armed Forces.

United States Forces Slowly Leave Vietnam

Peace talks began in Paris in 1968, but American troops remained in Vietnam for another five years. In 1969 President Richard M. Nixon ordered the withdrawal of troops but continued bombing raids and ground fighting. Early in 1973 a peace agreement was signed, and soon all United States forces had left Vietnam. In April, 1975, when the capital city of Saigon fell to the north Vietnamese, South Vietnam

surrendered. (Saigon was then renamed Ho Chi Minh City).

By 1976, Vietnam was a united country, ruled by the former North Vietnamese leaders. Thousands of anti-Communists began to flee from Vietnam during this period of change. Crowding

into small boats to seek refuge, they became known as “boat people.”

Cambodia Becomes the Communist Nation of Kampuchea

The turmoil of the Vietnam War spread to neighboring nations. Cambodia had been independent since 1953 under its ruler Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Sihanouk's government had hoped to remain neutral during the war in Vietnam, but North Vietnamese and Vietcong troops used Cambodian territory as an escape route and for supply bases. In 1969 United States planes began to bomb these bases in Cambodia.

In 1970, the United States supported the overthrow of Sihanouk by Lon Nol, a strong anti-Communist.

In 1975, the Khmer Rouge, a group of Communists in Cambodia, successfully overthrew Lon Nol.

• Under their leader Pol Pot, they declared Cambodia a Communist nation and renamed it

Kampuchea. The new regime proved to be one of the most brutal of the 2oth century. Mass executions became common. As many as one million people, about a sixth of the total population, were killed outright by the new government. In 1979, Pol Pot was overthrown and replaced by Heng Samrin, a Communist leader friendly to

Vietnam. Communists Take Control in Laos

Laos won its independence in 1954 and had hoped to remain neutral among Communist and non-Communist neighbors. Civil war beset the nation, however involving three factions – pro-Western forces, neutralists, and the Communists (called the Pathet Lao). In the early 1960's, a fourteen- nation conference met and installed a neutralist leader called Souvanna Phouma, but the new ruler failed to end the fighting. The Pathet Lao gained control of more and more of the country, finally taking complete control of the

government in 1975. Thailand Tries to Maintain Peace with its Neighbors

Thailand was never colonized by Europeans. Occupied by Japan during World War II, the kingdom regained its independence after Japan's defeat. Pro-Western in its outlook, Thailand sent troops to fight in Korean and Vietnam wars and also helped to organized SEATO. During the Vietnam War, Thailand allowed the United States to set up military bases within its borders.

The Changing Middle East The Changing Middle East

World War 1 brought the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and freed the Middle East from Turkish rule. Much of the region, however, was under European control in the years after the war. As nationalist movements developed, the countries of the Middle East began to win their independence and struggled to build strong, modern economies. Profits from rich oil deposits greatly aided some Middle Eastern nations on their road to modernization. Oil also gave political power to the Middle East and, in addition, led to competition between the superpowers for influence in the region. Nationalist Come to Power in the Middle East

The region known as the Middle East is defined more by language, religion, and customs than by geography. Except for the Jewish state of Israel , the countries of the Middle East are predominantly Muslim. In the nations of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, most of the people are Arabs nations of Turkey and Iran by their Islamic faith. Three Issues: Nationalist

Oil And the Conflict between Arabs and Jews

- provide a background for the history of the Middle Eastern nations in the 20th century. Nationalist leaders who came to power hoped to modernize their nations. Oil production not only provides capital for modernization but also focused world attention on the region. The conflict between Arabs and Jews, however, disrupted the lives of the people of the Middle East and slowed development.

ARABS OPPOSE JEWISH IMMIGRATION

The growth of Arab nationalism in the 1920’s was spurred by events in the British mandate of Palestine. During World War 1, Britain had issued the Balfour Declaration, stating that it “viewed with favor the established in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” Leaders of the Zionist movement, such as Chaim Weizmann, pressed for action to set up a Jewish state. Some Jews already lived in Palestine, and others began to migrate there. Arab nationalist, however, where enraged at the thought of a Jewish home land in what they considered to be Arab territories. Opposition to Zionism thus became another issued in the growth of Arab nationalism. THE RISE OF NATIONALISM

Much of the Middle East was once part of the vast Ottoman Empire, which, at its height, stretched from the Danube River to the Persian Gulf . Ottoman power began to crumble in the 19th century. After the empire’s defeat in World War 1, it lost all of its Middle Eastern lands expect Turkey . Nationalism became a powerful force in the former Ottoman lands. NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS GAIN STRENGTH

Nationalist had gained strength among the Arab peoples of the Middle East during World War 1. Arabs had fought on the Allied side against the Ottomans, hoping that victory would bring them independence. At the war’s r end, however, the League of Nations divided most of the Arab lands into mandates ruled by Britain or France . Britain controlled Iraq and Palestine, while France ruled Syria and Lebanon . Egypt and the Arabian kingdom remained under British influence. As they had been since the late 1800’s. Arab nationalist felt betrayed; they demanded independence from foreign control.

Beginning in the 1920’s nationalist movements succeeded throughout the Middle East . The nations of Turkey and Iran were established, and Arab territories gradually gained their independence. In 1948 the United Nations established the Jewish state of Israel . In the 1950’s Egyptian nationalist set up a republic and ended British control in their nation.

ARABS OPPOSE JEWISH IMMIGRATION

The growth of Arab nationalism in the 1920’s was spurred by events in the British mandate of Palestine. During the Word War I, Britain had issued the Balfour Declaration, stating that it “viewed with favor the establishment in the Palestine of a national home for Jewish people”. Leaders of the Zionist movement, such as Chaim Weizmann, pressed for action to set up a Jewish state. Some Jews already lived in Palestine, and others began to migrate there. Arab nationalist, however, were enraged at the thought of the Jewish homeland in what they considered to the Arab territories. Opposition to Zionism thus became another issue in the growth of Arab nationalism. OIL BRINGS POLITICAL POWER

Foreign control of oil industries also became an important issue to the new leaders of some Middle Eastern nations. Throughout most of the 20th century, the Middle East has been major producer of oil, a fuel essential to industrialized societies. By 1945, oil was the region’s most important export. For many years, however, the profits from oil went to foreign companies and investors, often with little resistance from the Middle Eastern nations, which had unstable governments and weak economies.

As nationalist movements gained strength, leaders began to demand a great share of oil profits for their nations. In 1960 the world’s 13 major oil-producing nations formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Through this organization, these countries could act together in setting oil prices and dealing with the industrial nations.

TURKEY AND IRAN

Kemal modernizes Turkey- One of the earliest nationalist movements in the Middle East was the “Young Turks” who sought to take control in the Ottoman Empire . By the end of World War 1, the crumbling empire held only Asia Minor and a strip of territory around Constantinople . An attempt the Allies to end the empire altogether brought a Greek invasion of Turkey I 1919. As Ottoman forces could not resist the Greeks, Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish military hero and member of the Young Turks, formed a nationalist army. By 1923 the nationalist had defeated the invaders, overthrown the last Ottoman sultan, and declared Turkey a republic. As Turkey ’s first president, Kemal took the name Ataturk – “Father of the Turk’s. Turkey was backward, tradition-bound country where ways of living had changed since the 50’s. It was clear to Ataturk that his nation had to modernize, and he believed tha strong authoritarian rule was the road to reform. Ataturk’s first move was to separate the government from the Islamic religion and its traditions. He began by eliminating the official government position held by the caliph as the leader of the Muslim world. Ataturk’s government next took control of the educational and legal systems from religious leaders. He replaced the Arabic script with the roman alphabet. Ataturk granted them equal rights with men including the right to vote and to hold office. He abolished the Islamic practice of permitting a man to have more than one wife. Ataturk even demanded that Turks abandon traditional dress and adopt western styles. Besides trying to transform Turkish society. Ataturk was determined to eliminate Western control of industry and trade. He set up state banks, agricultural training stations, and cooperative. His program was hampered, however, by poor industrial planning and resistance to change. Many of Ataturk’s reform were just starting up take hold when the dictator died in 1938. Political and economic problems plague Turkey Turkey remained neutral during most of World War 2, joining the Allies early in 1945, when victory seemed certain. Turkey remained friendly with the United States after the war, and in 1947. President Harry Truman sent aid to Turkey to keep it from falling under Communist control. During the 1950’s new Turkish leaders favored foreign investment and les government control over the economy. These policies greatly increased the national debt, and a military coup in 1960 returned the country to the more nationalistic programs of Ataturk. Sever inflation, high unemployment, and political unrest continued in Turkey . Hundreds of people were killed each other in clashes between political factions. Military leaders once again seized power in 1980 and manage to reduced inflation and end the violence. With aid from Western Nations, Turkey ’s economy began to show signs of improvement.

Strong Leadership Modernizes Iran and other strong, authoritarian leader directed the revolution that created Iran . Persia (as the nation was called until 1935) was dominated by Great Britain and Russia during the Age of Imperialism. The two nations shared control of Persia ’s government and commerce, and Britain controlled Persia ’s oil fields. In 1921 Riza Khan, an army commander, overthrew Persia ’s weak government. Four years later he deposed the shah- Persia ’s traditional ruler- and took the crown and the name Riza Shah Pahlavi.

A new shah continues modernization. When he refused to side with the allies in World War II. Riza Shah was forced from his throne by British and Russian troops. He was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Riza Pahlavi, who allowed the Allies to station troops in Iran and to use the nation’s railways. The new shah continued the work of modernizing Iran after the war. In the 1950’s, however, his power was challenged by nationalists. Led by Iran ’s powerful prime minister. Mohammed Mossadeh, the nationalists overthrew the shah and took over foreign-owned oil facilities. The nationalists were soon thrown out themselves, however, and the shah returned to leadership with strong Western support. The shah enacted many reforms that rejected ancient traditions.. Large estates were broken up and land was distributed to peasants. The government encouraged greater used of modern agricultural methods. In 1963 women were given both the right to vote and the right to serve as members of the Iranian parliament. The shah also sought to strengthen Iran ’s huge oil revenues; he built a formidable military force armed with modern weapons.

The Shah faces Opposition- Critics increasingly charged that the shah was a dictator. He was denounced for spending billions on defense while Iran ’s standard of living remained low, for maintaining close ties with United States , and for allowing the secret police to used brutal methods. Conservative Muslims condemned his modernization programs and adoption of western ways. They demanded a return to traditional Islamic laws and customs. Islamic leaders take control increasing political violence forced the shah to leave Iran in 1979. the new government, headed by the Shi’te religious leader. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (koh-may-nee), abolished most of the shah’s reforms and ruled the nation according to Islamic law. Many Iranians fled the country. In November 1979, a mob seized the American embassy. The Islamic revolution spread- The Islamic revolution in Iran stirred religious passion throughout the Middle East . Rapid social change and years of Western domination had produced dislocations and resentments that made fertile ground for the growth of revolutionary religious fanaticism. Fundamentalist movement demanding a return to ancient ways of life sprang up in many countries during the next decade, threatening governments as different from each other as Socialist Iraq and monarchist Saudi Arabia .

Iran goes to war with Iraq- As unrest swept Iran, Saddam Hussein. The ruler of neighboring Iraq , ordered an invasion of Iran in 1980. Hussein hoped seized disputed border regions and islands in the Persian Gulf . The Iraqis failed to follow up their early victories, however. Moreover, Iranian leaders used the invasion to arouse the nationalist feelings of their people

Small Arab states thrive on oil wealth- Seven small Arab nation’s lies on Saudi Arabia’s border along the coasts of the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The two Easternmost of these nation are: The Yemen Arab Republic (north Yemen) and the people’s democratic republic of Yemen (South Yemen) both remained poor and under developed nations. Oil profits, however, created riches for the other five small nations – Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait. Egypt’s modernization begins in the 1800’s- Egypt was able to begin its modernization programs early in the 1800’s. Under Mohammad Ali, Egypt modernized industry and agriculture, improved its transportation system, and expanded education. Mohammad Ali’s successors continued modernization programs, including the building of the Suez Canal . Britain 's financial and strategic interest in the Canal gave it a foothold in Egyptian Affairs, and British Troops remained in Egypt , from the 1880’s on.

A New Egyptian Government claims the Suez Canal - many Egyptian had long resented British control of their country. Many also resented the corrupt rule of King Farouk and the serious economic inequalities in Egyptian Society. In 1952, Egyptian Army Officers overthrew the King and took over the Government. A year later they declared Egypt a republic. A leading figure in the revolt was Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, who buy 1954 gained sole authority in Egypt.

Political Turmoil drains Syria’s economy - Jordan neighbor Syria became a French mandate after World War 1 and gained its independence after World War 2. Economic development was hamper by involvement in the turbulent politics of the Middle East . Syria was determined to regain lands taken by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. In 1979, Syria condemned the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Syria’s economy was further drained when Syrian’s troops were sent into the conflict that raged in its neighbor, Lebanon.

Civil war shatters Lebanon – Also a French mandate after World War 1 , Lebanon was granted its independent in 1943, and three years later all French troops left. The newly independent nation prospered but was troubled by political unrest that led to civil war. In 1975 a bitter civil war broke out us Christian fought Muslims and Palestine . By the 1980’s tens of thousands had died in the war. Tensions where heightened as Syria and Israel both entered the conflict. Nasser strengthens Egypt’s Economy-Nasser’s next goal was to make Egypt economically strong. To help the peasants, he limited the amount of land one person could own, reduce rents, and set up cooperatives were farmers could get tools and seeds at low prices. In 1956 Nasser began the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River , with the help of technical and financial aid from the Soviet Union . The Dam stored water to irrigate new farmlands and provided hydroelectric power. Nasser Calls for Pan – Arabism- Despite Egypt ’s continuing problems, Nasser gaved Arabs a new sense of pride. He rapidly became the most prominent and popular figure in the Arab world. Nasser became the leader in the movement for Pan-Arabism or Arab Unity. He express the goals of the movement as their following: 1. Elimination of all foreign control over Arab affairs, 2. Unification of the Arab world 3. The destruction of Israel. In 1958 Syria and Egypt join together to form the united Arab Republic, but 3 years later, military leaders took over in Syria and withdrew it from the union. After Nasser ’s death in 1970, no Arab leader commanded sufficient power and respect to unite the Arab world. Unrest troubles Iraq- Oil wealth helped the nation of Iraq avoid the economic weaknesses that Egypt suffered. North African nations modernize- Politically and culturally the North African nations of Libya . Tunisia , Algeria and Morocco are considered a part of the Middle East . North Africa shares the religion, language, and culture of the Arab Nation: these ties to the Middle East began with the early expansion of Islam and where strengthened under Ottoman rule. When Ottoman power declined in the 1800’s, North Africa came under European control. European influence, however, was largely restricted to the cities and the coastal area. After World War 2 the peoples of North Africa finally gained independence. NATIONALIST COME TO POWER IN THE MIDDLE EAST The region known as the Middle is defined more by language, religion, and customs than by the geography. Except for the Jewish state of Israel, the countries of the Middle East are predominantly Muslim. In the nations of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, most of the people are Arabs, but they are linked with the non-Arab nations of Turkey and Iran by their Islamic faith. Three issues – nationalism, oil, and the conflict between Arabs and Jews – provide a background for the history of the Middle Eastern nations in the twentieth century. Nationalist leaders who come to power hoped to modernize their nations. Oil production not only provided capital for modernization but also focused world attention on the region. The conflict between Arabs and Jews however disrupted the lives of the people of the Middle East and slowed development.

THE RISER OF THE NATIONALISM Much of the Middle East was once part of the vast Ottoman Empire, which, at its height, stretched from the Danube River to the Persian Gulf. Ottoman power began to crumble in the nineteenth century. After the empire’s defeat in Word War I, it lost all of its Middle Eastern lands except Turkey. Nationalism became a powerful force in the former Ottoman lands. NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS GAIN STRENGTH Nationalism had gained strength among the Arab peoples of the Middle East during World War I. Arabs had fought on the Allied side against the Ottomans, hoping that victory would bring them independence. At the war’s end, however, the League of Nations divided most of the Arab lands into mandates ruled by Britain or France. Britain controlled Iraq and Palestine ( including Trans-Jordan ), while France ruled Syria and Lebanon. Egypt and the Arabian kingdoms remained under the British influence, as they had been since the late 1800’s. Arab nationalist felt betrayed; they demanded independence from foreign control. Beginning in the 1920’s, nationalist movement succeeded throughout the Middle East. The nations of Turkey and Iran were established. And Arab territories gradually gained their independence. In 1948 the United Nations established the Jewish state of Israel. In the 1950’s Egyptian nationalist set up a republic and ended British control in their nation. ARABS OPPOSE JEWISH IMMIGRATION The growth of Arab nationalism in the 1920’s was spurred by events in the British mandate of Palestine. During the Word War I, Britain had issued the Balfour Declaration, stating that it “viewed with favor the establishment in the Palestine of a national home for Jewish people”. Leaders of the Zionist movement, such as Chaim Weizmann, pressed for action to set up a Jewish state. Some Jews already lived in Palestine, and others began to migrate there. Arab nationalist, however, were enraged at the thought of the Jewish homeland in what they considered to the Arab territories. Opposition to Zionism thus became another issue in the growth of Arab nationalism. OIL BRINGS POLITICAL POWER Foreign control of oil industries also became an important issue to the new leaders of some Middle Eastern nations. Throughout most of the twentieth century, the Middle East has been a major producer of oil, a fuel essential to industrialized societies. By 1945, oil was the region’s most important export. For many years, however, the profits from oil went to foreign companies and investors, often with little resistance from the Middle Eastern nations, which had unstable governments and weak economies. As nationalist movements gained strength, leaders began to demand a greater share of oil profits for their nations. In 1960 the world’s thirteen major oil-producing nations formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Through this organization these countries could act together in setting oil prices and dealing with the industrial nations. The group included the eight largest oil producers of the Middle East – Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. While OPEC controlled world oil production, the profits and power of its member nations soared. During the 1970’s, OPEC tried to use its power to influence the foreign policies of oil – consuming countries. In response, industrialized nations cut their consumption and increase their own production of oil. World oil prices fell sharply during the mid - 1980’s as a result, and competition for markets caused dissension among the OPEC countries. TURKEY AND IRAN Kemal modernizes Turkey. One of the earliest nationalist movements in the Middle East was the “Young Turks” who sought to take control in the Ottoman Empire. By the end of World War I, the crumbling empire held only Asia Minor and a strip of territory around Constantinople ( renamed Istanbul in

1930 ). An attempt by the Allies to end the empire altogether brought a Greek invasion of Turkey in 1919. As Ottoman forces could not resist by the Greeks, Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish military hero and member of the Young Turks, formed a nationalist army. By 1923 the nationalist had defeated the invaders, overthrown the last Ottoman Sultan, and declared Turkey a republic. As Turkey’s first president, Kemal took the name Ataturk – “Father of the Turks”. Turkey was a backward, tradition – bound country where ways of living had change little since the 1500’s. It was clear to Ataturk that his nation had to modernize, and he believed that strong authoritarian rule was the road to reform. Ataturk’s first move was to separate the government from the Islamic religion and its traditions. He began by eliminating the official government position held by the caliph as leader of the Muslim world. Ataturk’s government next took control of education and legal systems from religious leaders. Ataturk enacted other reforms that broke with Islamic traditions. He replaced the Arabic script with the Roman alphabet and began a full-scale attack on illiteracy. In a nation where women had long been placed in a lesser position. Ataturk granted them equal rights with men, including the right to vote and to hold office. He abolished the Islamic practice of permitting a man to have more than one wife. Ataturk even demanded that Turks abandon traditional dress and adopts Western styles. Besides trying to transform Turkish society. Ataturk was determined to eliminate Western control of industry ad trade. He set up state bank’s, agricultural training stations, and cooperatives. His programs were hampered, however, by poor industrial planning and resistance to change. Many of Ataturk’s reforms were just starting to take hold when the dictator died in 1938. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS PLAQUE TURKEY Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II, joining the Allies early in 1945, when victory seemed certain. Turkey remained friendly with the United States after the war, and in 1947. President Harry Truman sent aid to Turkey to keep it from falling under Communist control. During the 1950’s, new Turkish leaders favored foreign investment and less government control over the economy. These policies greatly increased the national debt, and a military coup in 1960 returned the country to the more nationalistic programs of Ataturk. Severe inflation, high unemployment, and political unrest continued in Turkey. Hundreds of people were killed each year in clashes between political factions. Military leaders once again seized power in 1980 and managed to reduce inflation and end the violence. With aid from Western nations, Turkey’s economy began to show signs of improvement. STRONG LEADERSHIP MODERNIZES IRAN. Another strong, authoritarian leader directed the revolution that created Iran. Persia (as the nation was called until 1935) was dominated by Great Britain and Russia during the Age of Imperialism. The two nations shared control of Persia’s government and commerce, and Britain controlled Persia’s oil fields. In 1921 Riza Khan,an army commander, overthrew Persia’s weak government. Four years later he deposed the shah – Persia’s traditional ruler – and took the crown and the name Riza Shah Pahlavi. An admirer of Ataturk, Riza Shah launched a program of modernization. His goal was to strengthen the nation and free it from foreign control. Aided by growing oil profits, Riza Shah promoted the building of roads and railroads, improved the postal system, and developed programs to bring about industrial and agricultural growth. In addition, he improved medical care, promoted public edeation, and like Ataturk, encouraged Western styles of dress. In 1935, the country returned to its older name, Iran, meaning, “ land of the Aryans”. A NEW SHAH CONTINUES MODERNIZATION. When he refused to side with the Allies in World War II, Riza Shah was forced from his throne by British and Russian troops. He was succeeded by his son, Mohammed Riza Pahlavi, who allowed the Allies to stations troops in Iran and to use the nation’s railways. The new Shah continued the work of modernizing Iran after the war. In the 1940’s, however, his power was challenged by nationalist. Led by Iran’s powerful prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, the nationalists

overthrew the Shah and took over foreign – owned oil facilities. The nationalists were soon thrown out themselves, however, and the Shah returned to leadership with strong Western support. The Shah enacted many reforms that rejected ancient traditions. Large estates were broken up and land was distributed to peasants. The government encouraged greater use of modern agricultural methods. In 1963 women were given both the right to vote and the right to serve as members of Iranian parliament. The Shah also sought to strengthen Iran’s military power. Using the Iran’s huge oil revenues, he built a formidable military force armed with modern weapons. THE SHAH FACES OPPOSITION. Critics increasingly charged that the Shah was a dictator. He was denounced for spending billions of defense while Iran’s standard of living remained low, for maintaining close ties with the United States, and for allowing the secret police to use brutal methods. Conservative Muslims condemned his modernization programs and adaptation of Western ways. They demanded a return to traditional Islamic laws and customs. Islamic leaders take control. Increasing political violence forced the Shah to leave Iran in 1979. The new government, headed by the Shi’ite religious leader. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, abolished most of the Shah’s reforms and ruled the nation according to Islamic law. All dissent was suppressed, and thousands of Iranians were imprisoned and executed. Many educated Iranians fled the country. In November 1979, a mob seized the American embassy in Iran’s capital city. Tehram. For over the year, the Khomeini government refused to return the Americans who were held hostage in the embassy. THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION SPREAD. The Islamic revolution in Iran stirred religious passions throughout the Middle East. Rapid social change and years of Western domination had produced dislocations and resentments that made fertile ground for the growth of revolutionary religious fanaticism. Fundamentalist movements demanding a return to ancient ways of life sprang up in many countries during the next decade, threatening governments as different from each other as Socialist Iraq and monarchist Saudi Arabia. IRAN GOES TO WAR WITH IRAQ. As unrest swept Iran. Saddam Hussein, the ruler of the neighboring Iraq, ordered an invasion of Iran in 1980. Hussein hoped to seize disputed border regions and islands in the Persian Gulf. He also hoped that the invasion would bring down the Khomeini government, shatter the Iranian army, and make Iraq the dominant power in the Persian Gulf region. The Iraqis failed to follow up their early victories, however. Moreover, Iranian leaders used the invasion to arouse the nationalist feelings of their people, who railed behind the Khomeini government. Most of the Arab states backed Iraq and provided money and arms. Iran was openly supported only by Libya and Syria. The cost of the Gulf War as the conflict was called, were tremendous. By the mid – 1980’s a million and a half people may have died and valuable oil facilities in both countries had been destroyed. Neither side appeared anywhere near victory: yet both sides determined to fight on in this bitterly fought conflict. THE ARAB STATES OIL CHANGES SAUDI ARABIA. Unlike the other Arab territories in the Ottoman empire, Saudi Arabia did not become a mandate after World War I. It became an independent kingdom in 1932, after the conquests of Abdul Azizlbn Saud had united the region. Most of the people of Arabia, however, were improvised Bedouin whose loyalty was to their tribe. They had little interest in political matters or national unity. With the discovery of vast oil reserves in the 1930’s. Saudi Arabia suddenly moved into the twentieth century. Bedouin whose parents had been herders started driving trucks and working on oil rigs. They became familial with Western technology and ways of living. Saudi leaders – nearly all of them members of the powerful Saud family – worked to build a prosperous and literate nation. They brought modern technology into their highly traditional Islamic society. In the 1950’s Prince Faisal, the nations prime minister used oil profits to begin a modernization program, building hospitals, schools, and extensive irrigation works. By the time Faisal became king in 1964, modern urban centers had grown up in Saudi Arabia. The government invested heavily in projects to bring water to its arid

lands and to improve agricultural production. It used the knowledge and skill of technical advisers from the West and western-educated Saudis to develop industry. By the 1970’s Saudi Arabia was one of the wealthiest nations in the world. The government’s yearly income from oil added up to billions of dollars. Large amounts were invested in real estate, banks, and companies in industrialized nations around the world. In the 1980’s,whoever Saudi oil exports began to decline as industrialized nations conserved oil and searched for other energy sources. Much Saudi wealth also went toward to conflict with Israel, for billions of dollars were spent on arms purchases. Saudi troops bottled the Israelis in 1948 and 1973, and the Saudi government provided financial aid to its Arab allies. In 1975 King Faisal was assassinated, but his policies were continued by Prince Khalid, who succeeded him as king and prime minister, became king when Khalid died 1982. Small Arab states thrive on oil wealth. Seven small Arab nations lie on Saudi Arabia’s border along the coasts of the Arabian sea and the Persian gulf. The two easternmost of these Nation’s share the name yemen. The Yemen Arab Republic and the peoples democratic republic of yemen (south yemen) both remain poor and under developed nations. Oil profits, however, created riches for the other five small nations-Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bharain, Qatar and Kuwait. EGYPT’S MODERNIZATION BEGINS IN THE 1800’S. Egypt was able to begin its modernization programs early in 1800’s. Under Mohammed ali, Egypt modernized industry and agriculture, improved its transportation system, and expanded system, and expanded education. Mohammed Ali’s successor’s continued modernization programs, including the building of the Suez Canl. Britain’s financial and strategic interests in the canal gave it a foothold in Egyptian affairs and British troops remained in Egypt from the 1880’s on. Made a british mandate after world war I, Egypt was granted partial independence as a constitutional monarchy in 1992, but Britain continued to supervise the nations foreign affairs. In 1936 Briatain recognized Egypt’s independence and areed to withdraw its troops from Egypt except for the region around the Suez Canl. During Worl War II, however, British forces returned in the compaign to drive Italian and german troops from Egypt, Preventing Axis control of the oil fields of the middle East and the red sea route to the Indian ocean. A new Egyptian government claims the suez canal. Many Egyptian’s had long resented british control of their country. Many also reented the corrupt rule of king Farouk and the serious economic inequalitie in Egyptian society. In 1952, Egyptian army officers overtrew the king and took over the government. A year later they declared Egypt republic. A leading figure in the revolt was colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, who by 1954 gained sole authority in Egypt. Nasser’s first goal was to end foreign intrefernce in Egypt, and in 1956 the Egyptian government took contol the Suez canal from the british and French invested company. Hoping to regain the canal and remove Nasser from power, Britain, France combined with Isreal to seize the waterway. The United States sharply criticized Britain and France for this action, and the Soveit Union threatened to step in the help Egyptian territory. A UN Emergency force was stationed on the Egypt-Israel Border to prevent further hostilities. The UN force remained until 1967, when Nasser demaned it be Withdrawn. NASSER STREGHTENTS EGYPTS ECONOMY. Nasser’s next goal was to make Egypt economically strong. To help the peasants, he limited the amount o land one person could own, reduced rents, and set up cooperatives where farmers could get tools and seeds at low prices. In 1956 Nasser begab the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile river, with the help of technical and financial aid from the Soviet Union. The dam stored water to irrigate new farmlands of who had suffered centuries of who had suffered centuries of and provided hydroelectric power. Despite its benefits, however, the dam created problems. Since ancient times, the yearly flooding of the Nile had carried mineral rich silt to fertilize farmlands. Because the dam ended the floodees, farmers had to buy chemical fertilizers.

Nasser also tried to strengthen Egypt’s economy by decreasing its dependence on the export of cotton, its major crop. He put large business under government control and encouraged the development of industry. Although Egypt’s income increased, development was not fast enough to meet the needs of the nation’s rapidly growing population. Land reform and the Aswan High Dam, viewed as solutions to agricultural problems, failed to bring the success Nasser hoped. In addition, a major obstacle to economic development was conflict with Israel, for which Egypt set aside huge sums for military spending. NASSER CALLS FOR PAN-ARABISM. Despite Egypt’s continuing problems. Nasser gave Arabs new sense of pride. He rapidly became the most prominent and popular figure in the Arab world. Arabs in many lands viewed Nasser as a leader who would restore honor to the Arab peoples, who had suffered centuries of foreign rule. Nasser became the leader in the movement for Pan-Arabism, or Arab Unity. He expressed the goals of the movement as the following: 1)elimination of all foreign control over Arab affairs, 2) unification of the Arab world and, 3) the destruction of Israel. Nasser eventually recognized, however that Arab unity was at best a distant goal that had to overcome national self-interest and distrust among Arab nations.in 1958 Syria and Egypt joined together to form the United Arab Republic, but three years later, military leaders took over in Syria and withdrew it from the union. After Nasser’s death in 1970, no Arab leader commanded sufficient power and respect to unite the Arab world. Nasser’s successor, Anwar el-Sadat (sah DAT) was more interested in Egypt itself than in Arab Unity. Unlike Nasser, Sadat reduced government controls on business and on individual freedoms and set Egypt on a new course. At first, Sadat continued the policy of hostility toward Israel. In the late 1970’s , however, he surprised the world by seeking Arab-Israeli peace. Many Arabs opposed Sadat’s outlook, and in 1981 he was assassinated. His successor, Hosni Mubarak (moo-bahr-ark), promised to continue Sadat’s policies. UNREST TROUBLES IRAQ. Oil wealth helped the nation of Iraq avoid the economic weakness that Egypt suffered. The development of its oil resources allowed Iraq ( a British mandate until 1932 ) to make considerable economic progress after World War I. Faisal, the first king under the British mandate, became one of the leaders who encouraged Arab nationalist feelings. Later a strong prime minister. NuriPasha es_Said led Iraq and encouraged modernization during the 1940’s and 1950’s. With British help, roads and railroads were built, an irrigation system was constructed, and a pipeline was laid to carry oil to the coast. Nuri and the king, Faisal, however were regarded as favoring the Western powers, and they were murdered by pro-Communist army officers in 1958. After 1958, Iraq underwent increasing political violence. Not until 1968 did a stable government emerge, led by Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr. General Saddam Hussein succeeded al-Bark in 1979. A continuing problem for the government of Iraq was a rebellion among the Kurds, a non-Arab Muslim group who for many years had sought self-government. By 1980, however, the Kurds were largely subdued. In foreign affairs, Iraq maintained ties with the Soviet Union, from whom it obtained advanced weapons. Iraq denounced Egypt for seeking peace with Israel and continued to maintain a policy of hostility toward the Jewish state. The invasion of Iran in 1980 was expected to bring quick victory, but instead, Iraq was caught a costly war.

PALESTINIAN ARABS IMIGRATE TO JORDAN. The nation of Jordan (called Trans-Jordan until 1950) was poorer than the most of its Arab neighbours. Lacking the wealth of the oil-rich nation and the industrial resources of Egypt, Jordan was largely agricultural nation.

Jordan was carved out of Britain’s mandate in Palestine in 1921and was rule by an Arab prince, Abdullah. After World War II it became independent as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Two years later war broke out between the Arab state and the new Jewish nation of Israel. Although Israel was victorious Jordan gained p[art of the West Bank of the Jordan River.

The war created an additional problem when hundreds of thousand of Palestinian fled to Jordan from Israeli territories. Eager for their own state, most Palestinian felt no loyalty to King Hussein of Jordan. Increasingly, they acted as a state within a state. Their raids on Israel brought reprisals and threatened the security of Jordan. Eventually Hussein ordered the Jordanian army to drive out the Palestinian guerrillas.

The West bank of the Jordan was the economic heartland of Jordan. When Israel took it over in a 1967 war, Jordan’s economy suffered. In 1979, a treaty between Israel and Egypt made provision for negotiation concerning control of the West Bank. Jordan, however, remaining hostile to Israel, condemned the treaty.

POLITICAL TURMOILS DRAIN SYRIA’S ECONOMY. Jordan’s neighbour Syria became a French mandate after World War I and gained its independence after World War II. Conflicting groups within Syria made it politically unstable; however, until Hafez al-Assad became president in 1971. President

Assad encouraged oil production and the building of vast dam in Euphrates River to irrigate Syria’s farmland and provide hydroelectric power.

Economic development was hampered by involvement in the turbulent politics of the Middle East. Syria was determined to regain lands taken by Israel in Six-day War in 1967. In 1973 war with Israel, however, Syria condemned the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Syria’s economy was further drained when Syria troops were sent into conflict that raged in its neighbour, Lebanon.

CIVIL WAR SHATTERS LEBANON. Also French mandate after World War I, Lebanon was granted its independence in 1943, and three years later all French troops left. The newly independent nation prospered but was troubled by political unrest that led to civil war.

While there were many factions or conflicting groups, in Lebanon, the civil war involved three major groups- Christian’s Muslims, and Palestinian Arabs. Lebanon’s Christian’s were the nation’s dominant group, economically and politically, after independence. The Muslims sought greater power and higher living standards. The more than 300,000 Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon (most of who were Muslims) had migrated there after Israel established in 1948.

In 1975 a bitter civil war broke out as Christians fought Muslims and Palestinians. By the 1980’s, ten of thousands had died in war Tensions were heightened as Syria and Israel both entered the conflict.

NORTH AFRICAN NATION MODERNIZE. Politically and culturally the North African nations of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are considered a part of the Middle East. North Africa shares the religion, language, and culture of the Arab nations: these ties to Middle East began with the early expansion of Islam and were strengthened under Ottoman rule.

When the Ottoman power declined in the 1800’s, North Africa came under European control. European influence, however, was largely restricted to the cities and the coastal area. After World War II, the peoples of North Africa finally gained independence.

The independent countries introduced programs of modernization but differed in their approaches. Tunisia and Morocco gained capital for modernization through close trade ties with Western Europe and the United States and through tourist income. Algeria adopted some features of socialism in seeking to modernize. Most of its industry was taken over by the state. It benefited from rich deposits of natural gas. Algeria often took the role of a leader in fight for the Third World interest.

Libya came under the rule of an army officer, Muammar al Qaddafi, in 1969. Qaddafi ruled according to what he called “Islamic Socialism”. He nationalized much of Libya’s economy and required its people to live in strict accordance with Islamic law. Aiming to eliminate all Western influences from his country, Qaddafi forged ties with the Soviet Union and the Arab states. His hatred of Israel and the West led him to give support to the terrorist organizations not only in the Middle East but apparently even but apparently in Northern Ireland and the Philippines.

Conflicts Disrupt the Middle East One the bitterest conflicts of modern times have been the dispute between Arabs and Israelis. The

roots of this conflict reach back many centuries. Much of the Arab world suffered domination by foreign powers well into the twentieth century, and sentiments of Arabs nationalism and solidarity grew. The Jews on the other hand, believed that they had a historical right to reclaim their ancient homeland in the Middle East. Those who migrated to Palestine, however, encountered hostility and resentment from the Arabs, who considered Palestine their lands. After the nation of Israel was created in 1948, open conflicts broke out between the Arabs and Israelis, and tension in the region endangered world peace. The Founding of Israel

JEWS FLEE NAZI PERSECUTION. The Zionist movement of the late 1890’s proposed the creation of a state where Jews could the anti-Semitism that was common in Europe. Jews who sought a homeland in the Middle East were encouraged by Britain’s Balfour Declaration. Jews did not begin to migrate to Palestine in large numbers, however, until 1930’s when Hitler came to power in Germany. Nazi persecution of the Jews caused growing numbers to seek refuge in Palestine. Soon resentment of the increasing Jewish population sprang up among the Arabs, who sew the European Jews as foreign intruders. Violence often erupted.

The Arab reaction caused Britain to abandon its plans to create a Jewish state out of its mandate in Palestine. In the British view, one friendly, westernized state in the Middle East could not make up for the loss of good will among the Arab nations. The Arab population totalled 40 million, and Arabian oil was vital to Britain’s economy. Prominent among Jewish nationalist leaders were Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion.

World War II, however, made the Zionist more determine than ever to build a Jewish state in the Palestine. After the nightmare of the Holocaust Jewish survivors, scattered in the refugee camps, wanted to immigrate to Palestine.

PALESTINE IS DEVIDED. By 1946, Jews made up over a third of the population of Palestine, unable to quiet the mounting hostility between Arabs and Jews. Britain turned the problem over to the United Nations in 1947.

The Jews presented several arguments to the UN in support of their case for a Jewish state. Palestine, they insisted, had been their land until the Romans drove them out during the first and second centuries A.D. The Jews had never given up hope of returning to Palestine. Moreover, they had suffered persecution for centuries and would not be safe until they had a country of their own. The Jewish advocates also pointed out that the Arabs had several nations of their own but had never established a government in Palestine. Jewish pioneers in Palestine, they continued, had made the desert bloom, built cities, established industries and schools and introduce modern medicine to help both Arab and Jews.

The Arabs, on the other hand argued that Palestine had been an Arab land for centuries and that its population was predominantly Arab. While they sympathized with Jewish suffering they pointed out that it was the Arabs who had persecuted the Jews. Arab representatives said that it would be an act of great injustice to solve the Jewish problem at the expense of the Arabs in Palestine.

After these arguments were presented a UN committee decided: “The claims to Palestine of the Arabs and Jews, both possessing validity [worth], are irreconcilable…. Among all the solutions advanced, patricians [of Palestine] will provide the most realistic and practicable settlement. “By a vote of 33 to 13, with 10 nations abstaining, the General Assembly divided Palestine into two states-one Arab, the other Jewish. In 1948, the Jewish state of Israel was created. Weizmann became its first president, and then Ben-Guiron, as Prime Minister, led the new state for 15 years.

ISRAELIS BUILD A MODERN STATE. The new Jewish state of Israel made impressive Economic achievements. Israeli scientist made valuable contributions to the improvement of Agriculture and to the removing of salt from sea water. Extensive irrigation and land reclamation projects enabled Israel to convert arid lands into rich fields of grains and grooves of oranges. The young nation built modern industries and increased its exports, and Israelis attained a high standard of living.

Conflicts with the Arab nations, however, disrupted Israel’s Economic successes. Defence coast were staggering, amounting to as much as a third of gross national product. The nation had to import fuel, wheat, and meat products; and rising inflation around the world made these increasingly costly. More and more, Israel had to depend on aid from private individuals and foreign governments.

THE ARAB- ISRAELI CONFLICTS THE1948 WAR WAS LASTING EFFECTS. As soon as the creation of the Jewish state of Israel

was announced in 1948, the armies of six Arab nation attack Israel. Israeli forces were able to resist then attack and win the war, and UN diplomats arrange a truce. No final peace settlement followed the truce, however. The Arab state refused o recognize the existence of Israel. They continued to talk of the day when Arab arms would drive the Israelis into the sea and restore Palestine to the Arabs.

The 1948 war had important consequences for the future. It did not bring about the Arab state in Palestine, for Israel had occupied much of the territory that the United Nations had assigned to the Palestine Arabs, while Jordan took nearly all the rest. Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip along the coast.

The war also produced an enormous refugee problem in the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs fled into the Arab state to escape the fighting and the rule of Israeli government.

ISRAEL IS INVOLVED IN THE SUEZ CANAL CRISIS. The 1948 war was only the beginning of armed hostilities between Israel and the Arab nations. In 1956 Israel joined with Britain and France to attack Egypt after Nasser had taken over the Suez Canal. United Nations pressure, however, forced Israel to withdraw from Egyptian territory, and the UN forces patrolled the border.

During the years after the Suez Canal crisis, an uneasy peace existed between Israel and Egypt. Gradually, however, Egypt grew more aggressive. It increases its forces in the Sinai Peninsula, which bordered on Israel. In 1967 Nasser ordered United Nation forces to leave Egyptian territory. Egypt made a military pact with Jordan supported Syrian attack along Israel’s border, and repeatedly threatened to destroy Israel.

ISRAEL WINS THE SIX-DAY WAR. Egypt’s next move was to blockade the mouth of the gulf Aqaba, by which Israeli ships reached the Red Sea. At this action, Israel decided to attack. In June, 1967, Israeli forces struck quickly. Within a few hours they had destroyed the Arab nations’ air forces, catching hundreds of planes on the ground. Within six days Israeli forces had shattered the Egyptian army in the Sinai, destroying and capturing large quantities of Soviet equipment. Israel took over the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights of Syria, and the west bank of Jordan River, including Jordan’s half of Jerusalem.

The Six-day War worsened Arab-Israeli relations. Israel insisted no territory would be returned until Arab recognized the Jewish state’s right to exist and ended acts of hostility. Arab leaders, however, regarded the plight of Palestinian refugees as a crime against the Arab people and had little desire to meet any terms set by Israel.

EGYPT BEGINS THE OCTOBER WAR. After the Six-Day War, the Soviet Union, seeking Arab friendship, supplied Egypt and Syria with additional military aid. Thousands of Soviets advisers trained the troops of the two Arab nations. Within a few years the Egyptian army was better trained, better led, and better equipped than it had been before the Six-Day War. An-war el-Sadat, Nasser’s successor, planned for Egyptian troops to attack Israeli position in the Sinai Peninsula. He reasoned that the successful operation would restore Arab honour, demonstrate that Israel could be beaten, and strengthen Egypt’s bargaining position over in losses in 1967 war.

In October, 1973, Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal and overwhelmed the lightly defended Israeli fortifications. At the same time strong Syrian forces penetrated the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Syria and Egypt made impressive gains in the opening days of what became known as the October War. Their missile reduced the advantage held by the Israeli force and proved costly to Israel tanks. The battle turned into Israel‘s favour, however when Israeli reserve units reached the fronts. When the fighting stopped the Israelis held more Syrian territory than before the war and had crossed to the west bank of the Suez Canal.

PALESTINIAN ARABS REMAIN HOSTILE TO ISRAEL. One major continuing issue throughout the conflicts in the Middle East was fate of the Palestinian Arabs. Made homeless by the war, many of them were force to live in refugee camps, suffering great poverty and dreadful conditions. The Middle Eastern countries provided little aid, and the refugees were supported largely, by United Nations.

In 1964 Palestinian Arabs formed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to represent their people and to work toward establishing a nation for them. Headed by Yasir Arafat, the PLO engaged in terrorist activities such as hijacking airplanes and bombing buildings in Israel. PLO members attacked and killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games. In response to PLO terrorism, Israel attacked the organization’s bases in Lebanon and elsewhere. Resolution of the Palestinian issue was blocked by the PLO’s refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Israel, for its part, refuses to negotiate with an organization that used terrorist methods.

THE SUPER POWERS ARE INVOLVED. The Arab-Israeli problem was complicated by the involvement of the United States and the Soviet Union in the Middle East. Both as a source of oil and as strategic location, the region were critically important in the rivalry between the two super powers. Adopting a pro-Arab stand, the Soviet Union supplied some Arab nations with weapons, military training, and technical assistance and financial aid. The United State, which had continued to back to Israel, also sought to combat Soviet influence in the Arab world. It strengthened ties with the Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and pressed for negotiated solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

ARAB NATION CREATE AN OIL CRISIS. The Arab members of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, discovered a new tactic to use in the competition between the superpowers. To make it clear that they regarded support for Israel as an act of hostility, the oil producing Arab state turned to economic tactics. During the 1973 war with Israel, they the price oil, decrease production and cut off supplies to the United States and then Netherlands, two nation that openly supported Israel.

As its need for oil grew, the United States widened contacts wit Arab nations. It sought to maintain a delicately balance policy in the Middle East. While maintaining its ties with Israel, the United States also tried to remain friendly with the Arab nations. It supplied Israel with modern weapons and shipped arms to some Arabs lands. It also gave Egypt considerable economic aid.

EGYPT AND ISRAEL SEEK PEACE. By the late 1970’s, Egypt alone among the Arab countries and Israel showed some willingness to end the cycle of fear, military build up, and war. Both countries were gravely aware that they could not keep spending huge sums on weapons if they wished to have strong economies. In 1977, President Sadat of Egypt made a dramatic visit to Israel, and a long process of negotiating began. President Jimmy Carter of the United States played a crucial role. Meeting in the United States at Camp David, the presidential retreat, Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel reached an agreement in 1978. The next year Egypt and Israel concluded a peace treaty in which Israel agreed to return all the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. While much of the Arab world opposed the pact, it seemed to hold out the promised of a new era in the Middle East.

CONFLICT SHIFT TO LEBANON. Hopes for peace in the Middle East declined in 1981 when Sadat is assassinated by Muslims fundamentalists who opposed peace with Israel and cooperation with the west. Sadat successor, Nosni Mubarak, promised to honour the treaty.

A greater threat to the peace settlement came in 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon, a nation torn already by civil war. Israel feared the presence in the Lebanon of the PLO forces that had fled to that country. Supplied with Soviet tanks and heavy artillery and aide by Syrian troops, the PLO forces were raiding Israel’s northern border. Israel hopes that the invasion would destroy the PLO as an effective organization and drive it from Lebanon. Israeli leaders believed they could then work out a promise with more moderate Palestinians on the West Bank. Israeli leaders also hoped to sign a peace treaty with Lebanon once the PLO was driven from the nation.

The 1982 invasion did not succeed completely, although Israel captured huge quantities of PLO arms, destroyed Syria’s missile sites in Lebanon, and shot down scores of Syrian planes. Late 1983 Arafat and the PLO were force to leave Beirut, Lebanon’s capital city, and southern Lebanon. The PLO was not destroyed, however. Moreover, Syria refused to withdraw its forces from Lebanon after the 1982 invasion.

A multinational peace-keeping force of United States, French, and Italian troops supervised the evacuation of PLO, and troops remained in Lebanon after evacuation. In October 1983, a terrorist bomb destroyed the United State Marine headquarters in Beirut killing 241 Americans. A second attack killed 58 French soldiers. The Lebanese government grew steadily weaker, and in 1984 the multinational forces withdrew from Lebanese territory, but rival factions continued to battle each other in this troubled country. TERRORISM GROWS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. The attacks on French and American forces in Beirut were part of growing pattern of terrorism in the Middle East. Terrorism is the use of violence against person or property for the purpose of creating fear and influencing the policies of government. Terrorists hope that their actions will draw attention to their cause. In the long run, they hope to break down society’s will to resist their demands.

Motivated by hatred and envy of the West, frustration over Israel’s repeated military successes, religious fanaticism, and power struggles within the Arab world, Middle East terrorists killed hundred of innocent people during the 1980’s. Terrorist incidence included kidnapping, assassinations, plane and ship hijacking, and bombings of airports, stores, and other crowded places. The main victims of terrorisms were citizens of Israel, of the United States, and of the more moderate Arab countries.

Some terrorist worked alone or in small groups. Those whose action caused the worst harm, however, were usually trained and financed by national governments. The governments of Iran, Libya, and Syria were known in the 1980’s to be major sponsors of state-supported terrorisms. Only rare was possible to arrest and prosecute individual terrorists for their crimes. Moreover, since it was difficult to retaliate against terrorists groups or the government that sponsored them without harming innocent people, finding an effective way of coping with this deadly trend often seemed an impossible task.

Throughout the Middle East, old conflicts spurred new ones as hostile relations persisted. The superpowers, with vital interests in the region, carefully monitored all developments and at times intervened. Despite hopes for peaceful negotiation, the Middle East often seemed the brink of war.