EUROPEAN CLAIMS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

Chapter 12. 3

Some Background: So what is the Muslim World? Muslim Regions: Pre-New Imperialism

Extended from Western Africa to SE Asia

1500 CE: 3 giant Muslim empires ruled but declined by the 1700s

Ottomans in the Middle East

Sit back. Relax and listen.Class notes start in a couple of slides…..

Safavids in Persia Mughals in India

Europeans’ Flex Some Muscle! C. Rise of Reform Movements D. European Imperialism

1. Through diplomacy and military threats, European power won treaties giving them favorable trading terms.

Also demanded special rights for Europeans residing in Muslim lands and would resort to intervening in local affairs.

I. Problems for the Ottoman Empire A. Nationalist Revolts Break Out: result in

a weakened multiethnic empire 1. Peoples in North Africa, Eastern

Europe, and the Middle East threatened to break away.

2. In the Balkans, Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, and Romanians gained their independence.

3. While rebellions are subdued in neighboring Arabia, Lebanon, and Armenia, Egypt slips out of Ottoman control.

ff LECTURE

NOTES

START

HERE!

Guess who’s drooling?!!!

B. Hungry New Imperialists Salivate – dream, plot, Scheme!!!

1. France – after seizing Algeria in the 1830s, looked forward to the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire.

2. Russia – wanted some action: resources and prestige

3. Britain saw Russia as a threat to its own power in the Mediterraean beyond to India.

4. Germany – in 1898, the empire hoped to increase its influence in the region by building a Berlin-to-Bagdad railway.

WHAT’S AN EMPIRE TO DO?

C. Attempts to Modernize Prove Problematic

The unknown genocide… in the shadows of WW I

3. Resulting tensions triggered a brutal genocide of Armenians, a Christian people concentrated in the eastern mountains of the empire.

a. Genocide is the attempt to eliminate a racial, political, or cultural group.

b. Muslim Turks accused Christian Armenians of supporting Russian plans against the Ottoman Empire.

c. Estimates range from 600,000 to 1.5 Million dead

III. Egypt – free, not for long!!! A. Muhammad Ali 1. Not the boxer but “the father of

Modern Egypt” 2. Responsible for modernization via

participation in world trade and the establishment of a modern Egypt.

3. After his death, successors fell prey to hungry imperialists.

B. Suez Canal

B. Suez Canal

1. 1858: A French entrepreneur, Ferdinand de Lessesps, organized a company to build the Suez Canal.

2. 1875: Egypt was unable to repay loans it had contracted for the canal and other projects.

3. To pay for the debt, shares were sold to the British who were gain a controlling interest in the canal.

C. Becoming a British Protectorate 1. When Egyptian nationalists revolted

against foreign influences in 1882, Britain made Egypt a protectorate.

2. In theory, the governor of Egypt was still an official leader.

3. In reality, the Egyptian leader followed policies dictated by Britain.

IV. Persia

A. Europeans were satisfied with establishing spheres of influence.

B. However, with the discovery of oil in the early 1900s, intensified interest.

C. Both Russia and Britain plotted for control of Persian oil fields and persuaded the government to grant concessions or special rights for foreign powers. Many nationalists were outraged by this.