Sarah H.

Chapter 26: Heritage of the Middle

East
Section 4: Imperialism and
Nationalism
Updated by Mr. Dougherty
 Lesson Questions

• What challenges did the Ottoman Empire

face?
• How did Imperialism spur the growth of
nationalism in the Middle East?
• What reforms did nationalist leaders
introduce?
 Vocabulary

• mandate: territory administered but not

owned by a member of the League of Nations
• anti-Semitism: hatred or fear of Jews
 Introduction The Suez Canal
• In ancient times, Egyptian pharaohs began digging a
canal that would link Mediterranean with Red Sea; more
than 2,000 years later, the French finally completed task
• Egyptian workers labored for nearly 11 years to dig 100-
mile Suez Canal
• Europeans welcomed the canal because it reduced the
ocean voyage to Asia by thousands of miles
• By late 1800s, European influence in Middle East was
growing
• During Age of Imperialism, European interference in
Middle East would spur growth of nationalist movements
Suez Canal Important Route for Oil
(1956)
 Challenges to Ottoman Power
• Reform Efforts • Young Turks supported policy of Turkish
• National groups within empire sought nationalism; they abandoned traditional
independence from Ottoman rule Ottoman tolerance of diverse cultures and
Greeks, Serbs, Romanians, and Bulgarians religion
• Russia encouraged these groups to revolt • Young Turks tried to impose Turkish
against Ottoman rulers language on Arabs and mistreated Arabs
• France and Britain alarmed at Russia’s in many other ways; fueled growing Arab
ambitions and tried to prevent breakup of nationalism
Ottoman Empire • World War I
• Turkish nationalism • Ottoman Empires sided with Germany
• Young Turks formed in late 1800s against Russia, Britain, and France
• Young Turks wanted to strengthen • 1919: Versailles Peace Conference, Allies
Ottoman Empire and end western stripped Ottoman empire of its Arab
imperialism provinces
• 1908: overthrew the sultan, placed a new • Britain received Iraq, Transjordan and
sultan in power, forced him to carry out Palestine as mandates
program • France received Syria and Lebanon as
mandates
 ABD AL-HAMID II (1842-1918), Ruled from 1876-1909

• Ottoman sultan of Turkey he succeeded his brother Murad V (1840-1904), who had
been declared insane. Russia declared war against Turkey in the second year of Abd
al-Hamid's reign. He lost many battles. The Treaty of San Stefano in 1878, resulted
in the lost European territory. Massacres of Armenians occurred in Turkey during
1895 and 1896, but Abd al-Hamid refused to intervene. His despotic rule led to the
development of the powerful revolutionary organization known as the Young Turks.
In 1909 Abd al-Hamid II was deposed and exiled.
 Resting after battle during Turkish revolution

• Soldiers resting after a battle during the 1911 Turkish revolution. A group of
Turkish revolutionaries called the "Young Turks" organized the overthrow of
the Ottoman regime in 1908. Power struggles and political turmoil ensued,
leading to several coups d'etat by 1913. In the meantime, the Empire
continued to lose control of its provinces one by one.
 A battle in the first Balkan War (1912)

• In this first Balkan War battle, the Turks are defeating the Bulgarians. In the
years before World War I, the Balkans were a locus of serious international
conflict, as they struggled to free themselves from the last vestiges of
domination by Turkey. In the first Balkan War, fought in 1912, Serbia, Bulgaria,
Greece and Montenegro, encouraged by Russia, fought the Turks. Then, in a
1913 quarrel over the spoils, the Bulgarians attacked the Serbs.
 Armenian troops march through Baku, in Russia.

• Armenian troops march through Baku, in Russia. Located on the western

side of the Caspian Sea, the Turks could easily march north and attack
Russia by crossing their border into the Caucasus. Combined British and
Russian forces fought fierce battles against the Turks from July 1918 until
November, when they finally reoccupied Baku.
 The forgotten Holocaust: The Armenian Massacre

• During World War I Armenia became a battleground for Russian and Turkish
armies. Between January and August 1916, the Russians conquered the
greater part of Turkish Armenia, but the revolution in 1917 forced their
withdrawal, and the Turks reoccupied the country. As the war raged on,
Turkish atrocities against Armenians increased, leading the government of the
U.S. to send a formal note of protest to Turkey on Feb. 17, 1916. Deaths
attributed to massacres and famine reached an estimated 800,000 during the
war. Many Armenians fled, seeking homes in other lands, including the U.S.;
about 200,000 found refuge in Russia.
Famous Armenian-Americans
Arshile Gorky (Artist)
Alex Seropian (Founder of Bungie Software Products Corporation)
 Famous Armenian-Americans
Avedis Zildjian
(Cymbal Manufacturer)

• Family tradition had it that the head of the company would only pass its secrets down to the
oldest son, but Avedis III gave the information to both his sons, Armand and Robert. This led
to a family feud and a legal squabble, resulting in Robert leaving Zildjian to form the rival
Sabian company.
 Republic of Turkey
• Atatürk’s reforms
• Mustafa Kemal rallied Turkish resistance to Greek advance
• 1923 Kemal had become strong enough to overthrow Sultan,
abolish Ottoman Empire and make Turkey a republic
• He later took name Kemal Atatürk, or “father of the Turks”
• Determined to make Turkey a modern secular state
• Used government funds to build industries and also insisted
on separation of religion and government
• Women won right to vote and hold public office; system of
public schools separate from religious schools
• To Atatürk, modernization meant adopting many features of
western culture
• He had support of Turkish nationalists, but many Muslims
opposed his policies because they feared that western ways
would destroy their traditions and values
Flag of Turkey, Flag in use
since 1844 and officially
adopted in 1936.

• The star and crescent are Muslim symbols. Many traditions

explain the star and crescent symbol even before Islam. It is
known that Diana was the patron goddess of Byzantium
and that her symbol was a moon. In 330, the Emperor
Constantine rededicated the city - which he called
Constantinople - to the Virgin Mary, whose star symbol was
superimposed over the crescent.
• Atatürk's principal goal was to save his people
from humiliation after WWI and to transform
Turkey into a modern, 20th-century nation.
Atatürk was born on March 12, 1881, in Salonika (now
Thessaloníki, Greece. Atatürk died in Istanbul on Nov. 10, 1938.
• Among the radical reforms instituted by Mustapha Kemal in Turkey after
1924 were changes in family law and the rights of women. Women were
granted equal rights with men in marriage, divorce, and property
inheritance, and in 1934 they gained the right to vote. Traditional forms
of dress were discouraged or even abolished. In this 1934 photograph,
the Turkish Republic has just extended political rights to women. Sixth
from the left is Mustapha Kemal, President of the Republic.
 A woman judge holding court in Turkey

• A woman judge holding court in Turkey, exemplifying the reforms in

the rights of women instituted by Mustapha Kemal between 1924
and 1938. Kemal's reform program was summed up in six principles:
republicanism, nationalism, populism, statism, secularism, and
reformism.
 Conducting a census in Turkey, October 20, l935

• Borrowing selectively from European law codes, President Mustapha Kemal aimed
to create a modern secular nation-state which would be able to compete with the
industrialized states of Europe. Censuses had been conducted in Ottoman times to
facilitate governmental control and planning. In this 1935 census, the people of the
country were required to stay indoors until 6 p.m.
 Turkey Adopting a New Alphabet

• Atatürk turned Turkey toward the west in several ways, changing the calendar, methods of
time-keeping, and systems of weights and measures. He replaced the Arabic script with the
Roman alphabet. Here a teacher is explaining the new alphabet to students. Within the next
few months, teachers were retrained, printing presses were equipped and courses were
established to teach the masses the new alphabet. A three-year plan was enacted. The
literacy rates during this time increased from around 10% to 75% for men and 45% for
women.
 The Mausoleum of Atatürk at Ankara, Turkey

• Atatürk's remains were interred here on November 10,1953,

the tenth anniversary of his death. This mausoleum was built
in the years 1944 to 1953 according to the plans of the
architect Emin Onat.
Bringing Turkey into the Modern Age
 President Obama Addressing the
Turkish Parliament
April 6th 2009
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3PrM9W
JZus
 Famous Turkish-Americans
Harry, Varol, and Seckin
Ablak Founders of Vocelli
Pizza
Tunch Ilkin Steelers
Player and Sport Commentator

Muhtar Kent, Chief Executive of Coca-Cola Company

 Famous Turkish-Americans
• Ersan İlyasova, Milwaukee Bucks Mehmet Okur, Utah Jazz
 Rise of Modern Egypt
• During Age of Imperialism, other parts of Ottoman Empire
came under European control; Egypt became the focus of
imperialist rivalry between Britain and France; Whoever held
the Isthmus of Suez would control shipping and trade
between Europe and Asia
• 1798, French general Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt,
British and Ottomans forced the French to retreat but French
influence remained strong in Egyptian culture
1798- Napoleon Bonaparte The Battle
of the Pyramids (Egypt)
Battle of the Pyramids, François-Louis-Joseph Watteau, 1798–1799
Defeat of Napoleon in Russia (Russia’s winter has been
nicknamed “General Winter” because it defeated
Napoleon and later Hitler)
Exiled to Elba
 ESCAPE!
• “Here I am. Kill your Emperor, if you wish."
The Battle of Waterloo
Exiled by the British (again)
St. Helena
 Rise of Modern Egypt Continued
• Muhammad Ali
• 1805, Muhammad Ali, an Albanian soldier who fought
against the French, became governor of Egypt
• Ali invited French experts to train Egyptians in the
latest European military and scientific techniques,
established new farming methods, improved irrigation,
and promoted the growing of cash crops : cotton,
sugar, and tobacco
Muhammad Ali (1769-1849), the Founder of Modern Egypt

This Albanian soldier maneuvered his way to political power in 1805 in the aftermath
of the French and British invasions of Egypt. His attempts to extend Egyptian
influence in Arabia and Syria over the following decades met Ottoman and British
resistance. Muhammad Ali embarked on an ambitious program of economic reform,
expanding irrigation and turning large areas into cash crop production. His ruling
dynasty lasted until 1952 when his descendant, King Farouk, was overthrown.
 King Farouk of Egypt (c.) with Crown Prince Farouk at his left,
watching a Cairo parade around 1930. Farouk (1920-1965),

• The last reigning descendant of Muhammad Ali in Egypt, came to power in 1937
and soon came under pressures from Europe. Farouk was discredited in the eyes of
many Egyptians by his dependence on the British, his extravagant life style, and the
poor Egyptian performance in the first Palestine war of 1948-49. In 1952 he was
overthrown and sent into exile as a result of a coup organized by Gamal Abd al-
Nasser.
Farouk's Palace
 Rise of Modern Egypt continued
• Growing foreign influence
• Ali’s successors continued his policies but had to borrow
money from European banks in order to pay for them; France
and Britain used these debts as an excuse to interfere in
Egypt’s internal affairs
• French won the right to build the Suez Canal; faced with huge
debts, Egyptian ruler, Ismail, sold his shares in the canal to the
British
• Egyptians rebelled because Britain and France took control of
Egypt’s economy
• British forces occupied country in 1882
• Both Muslims and Egyptian Christians, known as copts,
supported efforts to end British control
• Egypt declared its independence from Britain in 1922, Suez
Canal remained in British hands until 1956
 The influence of the British and French in Egypt

• Khedive Ismail Pasha of Egypt (r. 1863-1879) encouraged a massive influx of

Europeans into his country. The beginning of his reign was prosperous, since the
Civil War in the United States had brought a great demand for Egyptian cotton.
Prosperity encouraged European bankers to lend the khedive great sums of money,
although at high rates. Unschooled in the ways of western finance, the khedive
became so much indebted to European bankers that his country was on the verge
of bankruptcy. Here, Britain and France, depicted as sailors, tie up the khedive,
after chiding him for having created his own sorry situation.
 Famous Arab-Americans

• Steve Jobs, head of Apple,

biological father was
Syrian

• John J. Mack, CEO of

investment bank Morgan
Stanley (Lebanese parents)
 Famous Arab-Americans
• Maloof family, (The Maloof
family is a Lebanese family which
owns numerous business
properties in the Western United
States, majority owners of the
Sacramento Kings and the Palms
Casino Hotel in Las Vegas,
Nevada

• Paul Orfalea, Nicknamed "Kinko"

because of his curly red hair,
born in Los Angeles, California,
to parents of Lebanese descent,
founded the copy-chain Kinko's.
 Famous Arab-Americans

• Joseph Haggar,
founder of Haggar
Clothing
(Lebanese)
• Catherine Bell,
actress on JAG,
mother is Persian
 Famous Arab-Americans

• Justin Abdelkader, an American ice hockey

forward playing for the Detroit Red Wings of
the National Hockey League (NHL). (Parents of
Jordanian Ancestry)
 Famous Arab-Americans

• Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and frequent

presidential candidate (Lebanese parents)
 Struggle for Iran
• Both Russia and Britain acquired spheres of influence in
Iran; both nations competed for influence elsewhere in
Asia, and each sought access to the Persian Gulf
• By early 1900s, Iranian nationalists were demanding reform
• 1925; Reza Khan set up the Pahlavi dynasty and made
himself shah
• Khan set out to end foreign control and create a modern
industrial state; built roads, factories, modernized the army,
and reduced power of Muslim clergy
• Men and women adopted western clothing, women gained
more freedom to move about in public, schools emphasized
western courses of study, and government used western
models for its law code
 Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878-1944)

• Ruled Iran from 1925 to 1941. An obscure military officer, he rose through
the ranks and led the overthrow of the government in 1921. He became
prime minister in 1923 and then deposed the last Qajar Shah, having himself
crowned as Pahlavi Shah in 1925. Like Atatürk in Turkey, Reza Shah
embarked on ambitious plans to reform Iran culturally and economically.
When he refused to cooperate with the Allies at the beginning of World War
II, Britain and the Soviet Union forced him to resign in favor of his young son,
Muhammed Reza.
 Arab Nationalism
• Arabs felt betrayed by peace settlement that ended
World War I
• Britain and France gained control of many Arab lands
that had been part of the Ottoman Empire-only in
Saudi Arabia did an Arab ruler gain independence
• Throughout 1920s and 1930s, Arab nationalists
continued their demands for self-rule
• Growing importance of oil from Middle East, made
Britain and France unwilling to withdraw from region
• 1932- Iraq gained independence, 1943-Lebanon won
freedom, 1946-Syria independent
Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888-1935), the legendary and
enigmatic "Lawrence of Arabia."

• When the British encouraged the Arabs to revolt against Turkish rule in 1916, T. E. Lawrence
led the movement. He is shown here (second from right) with the Arab delegation to the
Paris Peace Conference, where the peacemakers refused to grant independence to the Arabs.
In center front is Prince Feisal, who commanded the Arab army against the Turks.
 Played by
Peter
O’Toole

• At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Lawrence joined the British Military
Intelligence Service in Cairo. From there he was sent with a British relief column to
the Arab prince Faisal (later King Faisal I of Iraq) in the Hejaz (now in Saudi Arabia).
Lawrence then worked among the Arabs in revolt against Turkish rule and, having
been accepted as their military adviser, unified their armed forces and led them
against the Turks. In 1918 Lawrence and Faisal triumphantly entered Damascus
before the arrival of the British army. Lawrence participated in the Paris Peace
Conference in 1919, but was unsuccessful in his efforts to gain Arab independence.
 Colonel T. E. Lawrence's house in Wadi Rum, Jordan.

• From this cave-house Lawrence carried out operations and negotiations

connected with the Arab revolt against Turkey. Photo by Henry Burroughs.
 Zionism
Conflict Over Palestine

• During 1920s and 1930s,

British mandate of Palestine
became the center of
conflict between Jewish and
Arab nationalists
• During late 1800s,
persecution of Jews led to
the modern form of
Zionism; sought to
reestablish a Jewish state in
Palestine
• AD. 70: Romans expelled
Jews from Palestine; Jews
dreamed of returning
 Conflict Over Palestine
• As anti-Semitism increased, the desire for a
Jewish homeland grew
• In Eastern Europe and Russia, thousands of
Jews were killed in organized massacres;
violence led many European Jews to migrate
to Palestine
Liberation- Lord Balfour wrote a letter to Zionist leader Rothschild,
outlining the British position in support of a Jewish homeland, of which the
Arabs were unaware.
 Tents of newly arrived Jewish immigrants in Palestine around 1918.

• The Balfour Declaration, expressing support for a Jewish national home,

was incorporated into the British Mandate over Palestine after World War
I. Having replaced the Ottoman authorities, the British facilitated Zionist
immigration to Palestine.
 Zionism continued
• 1897-Theodor Herzl, a Hungarian Jew living in Austria, formed
an organization to promote Zionism, so Jews from Eastern
Europe began migrating to Palestine: set up communities
there and called on Britain and other European powers to
support them
• 1917: British government issued Balfour Declaration declaring
that Palestine will be the home for the Jewish people
 The Second Zionist Congress, meeting in Basle,
Switzerland in 1898

• At the podium is Theodor Herzl, leader of the Zionist movement to establish a Jewish
state in Palestine. At the first Congress in 1897 and in subsequent meetings the delegates
developed plans to win Western support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in
Ottoman-controlled Palestine. In 1901 Great Britain offered the Zionist movement land
for settlement in East Africa, but Zionist sentiment favored settlement in Palestine, the
historic homeland of the Jewish people.
 Theodor Herzl (1860-1904)

• the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl was an Austrian journalist and
playwright who witnessed the rise of anti-Jewish sentiment in western Europe in
the last decade of the 19th century. Convinced that an independent Jewish state
was the solution to Jewish vulnerability, Herzl published his arguments in Der
Judenstaat (The Jewish State) in 1896, and organized and presided over the first
Zionist congress at Basle, Switzerland in 1897. Zionism had relatively little appeal
to the Jews of western Europe, many of whom favored national assimilation.
Furthermore, Jews living in Palestine before World War I constituted a small
minority of the total population, offering little hope for the creation of an
autonomous homeland.
 Arthur James Balfour (1848-1930).

• Politically a conservative and socially an aristocrat, Balfour served as Prime Minister of

England from 1901 to 1905. The fall of his government ushered in a long period of Liberal
rule. During World War I, Balfour served as foreign minister, and is best known for drafting
the Balfour Declaration.
 David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973) the first Prime Minister of
Israel, proclaiming Israeli independence on May 15, 1948.

• The new state was immediately recognized by the U.S. and the Soviet
Union. Behind Ben-Gurion is a portrait of Theodor Herzl, the founding
father of political Zionism, who had called the first Zionist conference
almost exactly 50 years before. Born in Poland, Ben-Gurion had emigrated
to Palestine in 1906 and was active in the labor movement after 1921. He
served in the Israeli government until 1963.
David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973)
 Arab response
• At the time, Arabs- both Christian and Muslim- greatly outnumbered Jewish
settlers in Palestine; nationalism was stirring
• In time, nationalism would lead Palestinians to call for their own independent
state
• During 1930s, Jewish immigration increased as anti-Semitism worsened in
Europe; tensions between Arabs and Jews in Palestine heightened
• Zionist groups helped Jews to buy land from Arab landowners
• Arab tenant farmers on those lands were suddenly forced to leave and many
migrated to the cities; with no money and few skills beyond farming, they
faced severe hardship
• Arab peasants joined other Arabs in attacking Jewish settlements, Jewish
settlers fought back, and eventually, the conflict in Palestine erupted into war
Palestinian Arabs demonstrating against the Balfour Declaration at Jaffa.

• To Arabs, the 1917 Balfour Declaration lending British support to Jewish national
aims in Palestine became a symbol of British betrayal of promises which had
been made to Arab leaders during World War I. General promises of British
support for Arab independence had been contained in the correspondence
between Egyptian High Commissioner McMahon and Hijaz Emir Husayn in 1915-
1916.
 Lawrence presented a British committee his plan for Arabia and launched a
lobbying campaign to draw attention to the Arab cause. Lawrence and Faisal
used Wilson's Fourteen Points to argue their case for Arab autonomy and
persuaded the Peace Conference organizers to give them a hearing.