Learning Objectives:Each student will be able to:

-Describe the political situation and the emotional motivations that existed during the early 1900 in the area controlled by the Ottoman Empire (modern day Middle East)

-Explain the role the various documents/agreements (Damascus Protocol, Belfour Agreement, Sykes-Pecot Agreement, United Nations Mandate, etc) played in creating the confusion and hard feelings that are still present in the region today

-List and explain in a timeline format the major turning points in Middle East history as it relates to the Israeli/Palestinian territories

The Birth of Modern Zionism–1897

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people who sought to restore their independence in their ancestral homeland.

The dream of restoration and return had been at the core of Judaism and Jewish identity for 2,000 years.

Zionists integrated this historic dream with modern political ideals.

Germany, Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary VS Russia, France, GB, Italy and eventually USA

Good Guys win, now what to do with the conquered land?

Formation of the Modern Middle East

The Middle East up to and After 1919

The Middle East in WWI: The Ottoman Empire

Controlled large areas of modern day Turkey, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Iraw, and parts of Western Saudi Arabia.

Ottomans fought on the side of Germany and Austria Hungary in WW1

Challenge British control of the Suez canal & their colonies

Suez Canal Kuwait

British Interests and Protectorates

Ottoman Empire 1915-1918 Outgunned by allied Forces Undermanned Industry couldn’t keep up on

destroyed weapons, etc Eventually defeated by

British invasions into modern day Iraq and Russia from the north

British Wheelings And Dealings

Muslims: Promised

independence if they assisted in the defeat of the Ottoman Turks

Lawrence of Arabia

Hussein-McMahon Letters, 1916The Arab inhabitants of the area were already

looking toward a large revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

The British encouraged the Arabs to revolt and thus hamper the Ottoman Empire, which had become a German ally in the War after November 1914.

See docs – (end for today)Sharif Hussein of Mecca

Wheeling and Dealing continue

•The Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916, officially known as the "Asia Minor Agreement", was a secret agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and France,

 with the assent of Russia.•It defined their respective spheres of influence and control in Western Asia after the expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.•It effectively divided the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire outside the Arabian peninsula into areas of future British and French control or influence. •This conflicted with the promise of self rule negotiated with the Hussein-McMahon letters of 1916.

Sykes-Picot - defined

France was to exercise direct control over the coastal strip of Syria, Lebanon, and the greater part of Galilee, up to the line stretching from north of Acre to the northwest corner of Lake Kinneret -referred to as the "blue zone."

Sykes-Picot - defined

East of that zone, in the Syrian hinterland, an Arab state was to be created under French protection (Area "A").

Sykes-Picot - defined

Britain was to exercise control over southern Mesopotamia (the "red zone"), the territory around the Acre-Haifa bay in the Mediterranean, with rights to build a railway from there to Baghdad.

Sykes-Picot - defined

The territory east of the Jordan River and the Negev, south of the line stretching from Gaza to the Dead Sea, was allocated to an Arab state under British protection (Area "B").

Sykes-Picot - defined

South of France's "blue zone," in the area covering the Sanjak of Jerusalem, and extending southwards toward the line running approximately from Gaza to the Dead Sea, was to be a "brown zone" under international administration.

Sykes-Picot secret Agreement

British Wheeling and Dealing con’t

Jews- Balfour Declaration: 1917

His Majesty’s Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine…

Sir Arthur James Balfour,Br. Foreign Sec.

Ottoman Empire-Collapse 1919-1922

Great Britain, and other Arabs eventually defeat the Ottomans

Empire is dissolved by British at end of war Ottoman Empire NOT mentioned in Versailles

Treaty (ending WWI) but Great Britain gets jurisdiction over former Ottoman territory.

Lands are partitioned (divided) Nationalist Groups want independence (those that

were friendly to England were put in charge) Turkey gains independence (former Ottoman Empie reduced

to 1 independent country)

War Ends- Arab world expects deals to be honored

King Faisal of Syria

1917 – Bolshevik revo occurs, they (Russia) leak the Sykes-Picot agreement, Arab mistrust begins

•The King of Syria, was the title briefly used following the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. King Faisal proclaimed the seat for himself, but it was not recognized by either France or BG (Skyes-Picot)

•France sends in troops to get him out, and he is expelled

•On 10 August, the Treaty of Sèvres divided the region into League of Nations mandates governed by France and the United Kingdom.

•The British government decided to step back from direct administration and create a monarchy to head Iraq while they maintained the mandate.

•Faisal agreed to become King following a referendum showing 96% in favor, and on 23 August 1921, Faisal was crowned King of Iraq.

Faisal-Weizmann Agreement On 4 January 1919, Faisal and Dr. Chaim Weizmann, President of the

World Zionist Organization signed the Faisal–Weizmann Agreement for Arab-Jewish cooperation, in which Faisal conditionally accepted the Balfour Declaration based on the fulfillment of British wartime promises of development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and on which subject he made the following statement:

The agreement committed both parties to conducting all relations between the groups by the most cordial goodwill and understanding, to work together to encourage immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale while protecting the rights of the Arab peasants and tenant farmers, and to safeguard the free practice of religious observances. The Muslim Holy Places were to be under Muslim control.

The Zionist movement undertook to assist the Arab residents of Palestine and the future Arab state to develop their natural resources and establish a growing economy.

The boundaries between an Arab State and Palestine should be determined by a Commission after the Paris Peace Conference.

The parties committed to carrying into effect the Balfour Declaration of 1917, calling for a Jewish national home in Palestine.

Disputes were to be submitted to the British Government for arbitration.

King Faisal (background info only)

Faisal fostered unity between Sunni and Shiite to foster common loyalty and promote pan-Arabism in the goal of creating an Arab state that would include Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Fertile Crescent.

While in power, Faisal tried to diversify his administration by including different ethnic and religious groups in offices.

He faced great challenges in achieving this because the region was under European, specifically French and British, control and other Arab leaders of the time were hostile to his ideas as they pursued their own political aspirations for power.

In addition, Faisal’s attempt at pan-Arab nationalism inevitably isolated certain religious groups.

Mandate System- Post WW1 GB, France administer

regions until they’re “Ready” for independence

Mesopotamia (Iraq)– Install king (Faisal)– Establish 75-year-long oil

concession Transjordan (Israel, Jordan,

Palestine)– Don’t give full independence– Support more power, land

for Jewish repatriation in region

UN Mandate 1923For area involving the Balfour Declaration agreement

Allies attempt to maintain control over Turkey following WWI conquest of Ottoman Empire, but Mustafa Kemal lead successful fight for independence, establishing modern Turkey.

This derails Allied plans to settle the Kurds and Assyrians inside modern Turkey borders, forcing them into Northern Iraq instead, a cause of ongoing conflict with the majority Arab population.

Mustafa Kemal

Arab Independence?

When the Ottomans departed, the Arabs proclaimed an independent state in Damascus (Syria), (1917) but were too weak, militarily and economically, to resist the European powers for long, and Britain and France soon established control and re-arranged the Middle East to suit themselves.

New Middle East Syria became a French protectorate thinly disguised as a

League of Nations Mandate. The Christian coastal areas were split off to become

Lebanon, another French protectorate. Iraq and Palestine became British mandated territories.

Iraq became the "Kingdom of Iraq" and one of Sharif Hussein's sons, Faisal, was installed as the King of Iraq.

Iraq incorporated large populations of Kurds and Assyrians, (the ones kicked out of Turkey), many of whom had been promised independent states of their own.

New Middle East Con’t Palestine became the "British Mandate of Palestine" and was split in

half.

– The eastern half of Palestine became the "Emirate of Transjordan" to provide a throne for another of Hussein's sons, Abdullah.

– The western half of Palestine was placed under direct British administration.

The already substantial Jewish population was allowed to increase. Initially this increase was allowed under British protection.

Most of the Arabian peninsula fell to another British ally, Ibn Saud. Saud created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

• The Pahlavi Family: put on the throne of Persia after overthrowing the existing leader (last ruler of Qujar Dynesty). With the assistance of GB. (In 1935, Reza Shah Pahlavi instructed foreign embassies to call Persia by its ancient Persian name, Iran)

In 1921 he headed a British orchestrated coup and occupied Tehran from the surrounding Arab clans.

He negotiated the evacuation of the British forces stationed in Iran since World War I in 1924, and declared himself SHAH (ruler) in 1925.

Created the Pahlavi Dynasty - ruled from 1925-1941

Initiated some modern reforms (railways, modernization of infrastructure, Oil exports, improved education (secular rather than just religious, etc)

In 1921 he headed a British orchestrated coup and occupied Tehran from the surrounding Arab clans.

He negotiated the evacuation of the British forces stationed in Iran since World War I in 1924, and declared himself SHAH (ruler) in 1925.

Created the Pahlavi Dynasty - ruled from 1925-1941

Initiated some modern reforms (railways, modernization of infrastructure, Oil exports, improved education (secular rather than just religious, etc)

Rezah Khan (1877-1944)

Middle East during WW2 Germans wanted North African Colonies, and control of the Suez

Canal in order to gain access to Arabian oil fields and the ability to transport it on water.

Germans offered full independence to middle east and African states if they supported Axis cause– Some political and religious leaders supported Germans in

order to attain independence from British, French– This decision by Reza Khan in Iran -forced him to abdicate

his throne by the Allied armies in 1941 when Germany could no longer protect him.

– Reza’s son put in place to replace his father

Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavīfrom 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979

WWII ends - effects

 Transjordan, under the Hashemite ruler Abdullah I (Faisal’s brother), gained independence from Britain in 1946 and was called Jordan in 1949, but it remained under heavy British influence. 

Egypt gained nominal independence in 1922, but Britain continued to exert a strong influence on the country until the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, which limited British presence to a garrison of troops on the Suez Canal until 1945. (when it gained full independence)

Lebanon became an independent state in 1943, but French troops would not withdraw until 1946, the same year that Syria won its independence from France.

Resolution 181 On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a plan

(Resolution 181) recommending the adoption and implementation of a plan to partition Palestine into two states—one Arab and one Jewish.

 Provided for the termination of the Mandate, the progressive withdrawal of British armed forces and the establishment of boundaries between the two States and Jerusalem.

The Plan also called for Economic Union between the proposed states, and for the protection of religious and minority rights.

The Plan was accepted by the Jewish public.  With a few exceptions, the Arab leaders and governments rejected the plan of partition in the resolution and indicated an unwillingness to accept any form of territorial division.

 Their reason was that it violated the principles of national self-determination in the UN charter which granted people the right to decide their own destiny.

Access to waterAccess to each part through narrow crossingsMost of the land in the south is desert

-May 14, 1948 Israel declaresitself a country.-British Mandate ended the next day.-Let the fighting commence!Arab nations attack

After 1 year war, Israel controls much larger area, including Jerusalem

STOP HERE

First discovered on Masjid-I Suleiman in Persia (Iran) in 1908.

Turkish-Petroleum Co. [TPC] founded in 1911 drill for oil in Mosul, Mesopotamia (Iraq)

Britain signed a secret agreement with the sheikh of Kuwait (1911) who, while outwardly pledging allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul, promised exclusive oil rights to the British.

Kuwait became a British protectorate in November, 1914.

In 1927, oil was struck in Kirkuk, Iraq, and the Iraq Petroleum Co. [IPC] was created.

First discovered on Masjid-I Suleiman in Persia (Iran) in 1908.

Turkish-Petroleum Co. [TPC] founded in 1911 drill for oil in Mosul, Mesopotamia (Iraq)

Britain signed a secret agreement with the sheikh of Kuwait (1911) who, while outwardly pledging allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul, promised exclusive oil rights to the British.

Kuwait became a British protectorate in November, 1914.

In 1927, oil was struck in Kirkuk, Iraq, and the Iraq Petroleum Co. [IPC] was created.

Oil discovered in the Middle East

Oil and the Middle East• First discovered on Masjid-I Suleiman in Persia (Iran) in

1908.

• Turkish-Petroleum Co. [TPC] founded in 1911 -drill for oil in Mosul, Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq).

• Britain signed a secret agreement with the sheikh of Kuwait who, while outwardly pledging allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul, promised exclusive oil rights to the British.

• Kuwait became a British protectorate in November, 1914.

• In 1927, oil was struck in Kirkuk, Iraq, and the Iraq Petroleum Co. [IPC] was created.

Oil and the Middle East

• American oil companies [Texaco & Chevron], gainoil concessions in Bahrainin 1929.

• In 1933, American oil companies win an oilconcession in Saudi Arabia.

• ARAMCO [Arab-American Oil Co,] is created in 1939.

Arab Reaction & the Cold War US and Western powers support Israel USSR tries to influence Arab countries Several Regional conflicts break out:

Arab Israel War of 19481967 Six day war1968-72 War of Attrition1981 attacked Iraq1982 Lebanon

Israel holds its independence to this day (extreme Anti-Israeli stance in many Middle East countries)

Elsewhere

Iran: 1950s saw US-backed installation of a Shah 1970s: Shah forced from throne again by

Fundamentalist Clerics, led by Ayatollah Khomeini

Elsewhere

Iraq: 1960s Baath party takes control of Iraq Secular Government Late 1970s: Saddam Hussein takes control

Elsewhere

Afghanistan: 1970s- invaded by Soviet Union US-backed muhajideen against Soviets After Soviet Collapse, establishment of

Taliban Government

Elsewhere

Saudi Arabia: people enjoy decent standards of living

financial benefits from government Little- to no social reforms

– Women can’t drive– Limited ability to criticize govt

RESULTS:

US is last major super power left after 1991 with a great interest in the Middle East (no one else left to blame)

Middle Eastern countries have been pawns of the western powers since the early 20th century.

Anti-American, Anti- Western, and Anti-Israeli thought common in many countries and organizations.