The Middle East

1. It’s More Messed Up than Oxford! The Middle East

2. Stands at the intersection of 3 continents—Asia, Africa, and Europe. • Since ancient times, it has connected major trade routes from India and China to the Western world. • Its location has allowed it to be a highway for information as well; the following all originated in the Middle East and spread out: • Iron making • The alphabet • Judaism, Islam, and Christianity Crossroads of the World

3. Strategic Location • Middle East actually covers Southwest Asia and North Africa—tied by Islamic religion. • Middle East nations control vital sea routes and vast reserves of oil and, therefore, is very important to world politically, militarily, and economically.

4. Regions of the Middle East • There are 5 major regions: • 1. Northern Tier—stretches across Turkey and Iran. Region of mountains and plateaus.

5. Regions cont. • 2. Arabian Peninsula—vast plateau area that is about 1/3 the size of the U.S. Area is basically a desert but holds huge importance to the world because of the oil deposits beneath it and it is the birthplace of Islam

6. Regions cont. • 3. Fertile Crescent—stretches across the eastern part of the Middle East along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. • Major population center as it is an area of good soil and abundant water.

7. Regions cont. • 4. Nile Valley– Covers the Egyptian part of the Middle East along the Nile River. • Another population center because of the availability of water and good soil.

8. Regions cont. • 5. The Maghreb—The North African portion of the Middle East. • Maghreb translates to “western isle.” To early Arabs, the area seemed isolated due to the Sahara, the Mediterranean, and the mountains of the region. • Major crossroad of the world because its sits on the Mediterranean and the entrance to the Atlantic.

9. Water, or the lack of it, has been the driving force of where people live in the Middle East since the beginning of time. Less than 10 percent of the land receives enough water for farming. Populations tend to be clustered around water and there are large stretches of land where no one lives. Climate and resources

10. Middle East has a variety of resources—salt, phosphates, copper—but the most valuable is oil. It is not distributed evenly around the region and there is a great economic difference between those that do have oil—Saudi Arabia, Bahrain—and those that don’t—Syria, Yemen. Oil has also made Middle East a vital part of world economy and their decisions have immense importance. oil

11. opec • Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. • Created in 1960. • Came to together to end the power of western countries over oil prices. • Includes countries from South America, Africa, and Middle East. • As demand for world oil increased, so did OPEC’s power. • Main goal has been to increase profits; it has worked as the price of a barrel of oil has gone from $2 in mid 1960s to $103 today. • Oil has become a political weapon.

12. People of the middle east • Due to its location, the Middle East is home to wide variety of languages, religions, and cultures. • Birthplace to 3 of major world religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. • Islam is the most practiced in the region. • The major ethnic group are the Arabs • An Arab is anyone whose language is based on Arabic.

13. Middle East, Part 2 Early History and the rise of religion

14. The sumerians • Centered on the Fertile Crescent. • Lived by farming and fishing. • Created city-states—areas that had its own rulers, armies, and laws. • Sumerians were among the first to organize religion. • Priests were very important in Sumerian society. • Collected taxes • Were the only ones who knew prayers that kept the gods happy. • Trained scribes who kept records of Sumerian life. • The ziggurat—huge temples—were the central buildings of the city.

15. Sumerians created a form of writing—cuneiform—that spread throughout the Middle East. • They were among the first to put symbols to represent sounds; allowed them to describe ideas as well as objects. • Sumerians also invented: • The wheel -- the plow • The sail • System of measurement based on the number 60 Sumerians continued

16. There are few natural barriers in the Middle East; the land was conquered time and time again. Each conquering culture added their own ideas and beliefs to the region. Trade was able to continue despite all of the turmoil and the Middle East was a “melting pot” of ideas and cultures. Warfare and trade

17. Warfare and Trade advancements • Hammurabi’s Code • Generally considered the world’s first legal code. • Created to provide common set of laws for his kingdom • Served as a foundation for future societies. • The Phoenician alphabet • Set the basis for the alphabet we use today. • Used only 22 symbols and was, therefore, easy to learn. • Spread out of the Middle East to Rome and Greece.

18. Persians conquered an area that covered the entire Middle East. Persians provided a blueprint on how to govern a large area. Set up 20 provinces, each roughly the homeland of a conquered people. Each province had a satrap—governor—who collected taxes and kept order. Set up a system of coinage in which each coin had a standard value; spread all over the world. The Persian Empire

19. Alexander the Great conquered the region around 330 B.C. His lasting legacy is the libraries of Alexandria, Egypt. Advancements in medicine, science, and math made during the time are still researched today. The Romans followed the Greeks; trade flourished as the Romans controlled all sides of the Mediterranean. The Roman Empire would eventually split and the Byzantine Empire would rule the Middle East from 300 A.D. to 1300 A.D. Greek and roman influence

20. Middle East , Part 3 The time of troubles

21. The Arab Empire had broken up into many kingdoms by 900. • “Foreigners” who invaded the Middle East also set up their own kingdoms. • Often times converted to Islam, which further helped Islamic civilization to flourish. • Nomads from Central Asia began to invade the Middle East around 1000—the first were the Seljuks Centuries of Turmoil

22. The Seljuks • The Seljuks are a Turkish-speaking people who migrated from Central Asia. • They took Baghdad in 1055, then moved westward and captured Anatolia from the Byzantines which weakened the empire and frightened European Christian rulers.

23. The Byzantine Emperor asked Christian states of Western Europe for help, despite their differences. Pope Urban II called for a crusade, or holy war against the Muslims in 1095 Christian warriors from France, England, Germany and Italy went to the Middle East to capture the “Holy Land” (Palestine). These crusades would last almost 100 years. The Crusades

24. Crusades continued • First Crusade (1096)-- crusaders helped win back much of Anatolia and then conquer Jerusalem. • killed as many Muslims and Jews as they could (it was said that “men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins”). • Small Christian kingdoms were set up along the Mediterranean coast.

25. In 1187, Saladin, a great Muslim general, drove the Christians out of Jerusalem. • Saladin united the Muslim world during the late 1100s and was very respected by Christians because he was “God-fearing, courteous, and generous to friends and enemies.” • When he took Jerusalem, Saladin forbade his soldiers to kill, steal or destroy Christian homes or churches. • He “freed old people and allowed other Christians to buy their freedom. He even used money from his own treasury to help the widows and orphans of crusaders who had been killed in battle.” Crusades continued

26. The Mongols • The Mongols came from Central Asia into the Middle East in the 1200s. • Hulagu (grandson of Genghis Khan) captured Baghdad from the Seljuks in 1258. • The destroyed the city and killed the last of the Abbasid caliphs. • The Mongols invaded the Middle East for over 100 years leaving death and destruction in their path. • Mongols did help to increase trade because they controlled major trade routes from the Middle East to China. • They converted to Islam and were absorbed into the cultures of the Middle East.

27. In the early 1300s, the Ottomans, Turkish speaking people from Central Asia who had converted to Islam, became powerful. Their empire included central Europe, much of the Middle East and North Africa. • In 1453 they captured Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire. • - Constantinople was renamed Istanbul and made their capital. the Ottoman Empire

28. Suleiman I • Under Suleiman I (ruled from 1520-1566) the Ottoman Empire reached its height. • Istanbul became a magnificent city during his reign. • He introduced reforms to ensure justice and good government. • The Ottoman Empire lasted 500 years because it had a “strong and flexible government.” • The sultan was the head of government and ruled with absolute power. • Officials helped to govern the empire. • “Men of the pen” included lawyers, judges, mathematicians and poets. • “Men of the sword” were soldiers who guarded and fought for the sultan and were slaves.

29. Anyone the Ottomans conquered were slaves. • Young Christian boys were trained for jobs in government or the military. • Those who showed an aptitude for book learning and math were trained as royal pages. • The brightest of these became provincial governors or grand vizier (chief minister). • Those who did well in sports and the martial arts became cadets it the Janissary corps, elite military units that guarded the sultan and his palace. • If a slave converted to Islam, he/she gained their freedom. • Millets> were Non-Muslim communities who owed loyalty to the sultan but were ruled by their own religious leaders. Slaves

30. The Safavid Empire was located in present day Iran and was a rival to the Ottoman Empire by the 1500s, for control of Mesopotamia. • The Safavids were Shiite and the Ottomans were Sunni which also added to the rivalry. • Early Safavid shahs, or kings, hated non-Shiites. The Safavid Empire reached its height under Abbas the Great (ruled from 1587 to 1629). • Abbas was tolerant of Shiites who were welcome in his court. Ottoman and Safavid empires were rivals

31. Rivals continued • European rulers wanted to befriend Abbas against the Ottomans. • A group of “English experts” trained an army to use muskets and taught Iranians how to make cannons. • encouraged trade and commerce. • built a network of roads with inns and rest stops. • He took advantage of the growing demand for porcelain by bring hundreds of Chinese potters to his capital. • Iranians made fine-quality silk, woollen carpets, steel, porcelain, and glassware. • The Safavid Empire began to decline after Abbas’ death. • The last Safavid was overthrown in 1736. • Shahs ruled Iran until 1979. • Today Iran is a Shiite Islamic republic.

32. Middle East Unit Moving to modern times; imperialism again!

33. The Suez Canal became a symbol of European influence in the Middle East. • The canal officially opened on November 17, 1869. Ancient Egyptians had starting digging a canal over 2,000 years earlier, but it was a French company that finished it (it took 11 years). • The canal reduced the length of the ocean voyage to Asia. • * With increasing European influence came the growth of nationalism The Suez Canal

34. Fall of the ottoman empire • During the 1700s and 1800s, European imperialism and growing nationalism posed major challenges to the Ottoman Empire.” • Russia and Austria-Hungary took land from the Ottoman Empire in Europe. • Russia encouraged groups within the Ottoman Empire to revolt so it could gain lands, while Britain and France wanted to keep the Ottoman Empire together so Russia wouldn’t. • Empire started to suffer as groups inside empire began to demand independence.

35. In the 1800s sultans did introduce reforms to try and strengthen the empire. • 1. The government and army were modernized “along western lines.” • 2. Secular, or non religious, schools were set up to teach western science and technology. • Reforms did not go far enough as they were constantly altered depending on who was in power—1 sultan would undo progress of the one before him. Fall of the ottoman empire

36. Fall of the ottoman empire • A group known as the Young Turks, made up of young army officers and formed in the late 1800s, “wanted to strengthen the Ottoman Empire and end western imperialism.” • They overthrew the sultan in 1908, put a new sultan in and forced him to do what they wanted. • The Young Turks supported Turkish nationalism and were intolerant of other cultures and religions. • committed genocide against Armenian Christians, killing hundreds of thousands. • also mistreated Muslim Arabs and tried to force them to speak Turkish, which fuelled Arab nationalism.

37. In World War I the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany, which proved to be the empire’s undoing. • The Treaty of Versailles took Arab provinces away from the empire. • Britain got Iraq, Transjordan and Palestine as mandates, a territory that was administered but not owned by a member of the League of Nations. • France got Syria and Lebanon. Fall of the ottoman empire

38. Greece took lands in Anatolia that were ruled by Turks. General Mustafa Kemal rallied Turks against the Greeks and drove them out. Kemal had enough power by 1923 to overthrow the sultan, end the Ottoman Empire and make Turkey a republic. He would come to call himself Kemal Ataturk which means “father of the Turks.” The Republic of Turkey is created.

39. He wanted to make Turkey a modern secular state. • He wanted separation of church and state and replaced the Islamic law code with western models. • Women got the right to vote and hold office. • Non-religious public schools were set up. • He used government money to build industries. • The western calendar, metric system, clothing and alphabet began to be used. • While many supported his reforms, many didn’t, especially Muslims who “feared that western ways would destroy their traditions and values.” Ataturk’s reforms

40. Both France and Britain wanted to control Egypt during the Age of Imperialism, especially because of what would become the Suez Canal. Whoever controlled the canal controlled shipping and trade between Europe and Asia. Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798, but the British and Ottomans forced them back out. French influence would still strongly impact Egyptian culture. Modern Egypt

41. - Muhammad Ali became governor of Egypt in 1805 (Egypt was still part of the Ottoman Empire at the time), but followed his own policies. • He wanted to modernize Egypt and introduced reforms. • French experts came to train in the “latest European military and scientific techniques.” • New farming methods, improved irrigation and cash crops (especially cotton) were introduced. • Egypt’s textile industry began. Modern Egypt

42. Modern Egypt • In order to continue Ali’s reforms, his successors had to borrow money from European banks, which gave Britain and France an excuse to poke their noses in Egypt’s internal affairs. • France won the right to build the Suez Canal. Things got so bad financially for Egypt, that its leader sold his shares in the canal to Britain. Eventually Britain and France would take control of Egypt’s economy. • Egyptians rebelled, but were beaten by the British in 1882. Britain occupied Egypt. Muslims and Egyptian Christians, Copts, wanted Britain out. • Egypt declared its independence in 1922, but Britain controlled the Suez Canal until 1956.

43. Iran also struggled for its independence against Russia and Britain, who wanted access to the Persian Gulf. The shahs were weak and couldn’t resist European Imperialism In the early 1900s Iranian nationalists wanted reform and in 1925Reza Khan took control. He set up the Pahlavi dynasty and made himself shah. Iran

44. Reza wanted a modern industrial Iran without foreign control. He had roads and factories built. He modernized the army. He also reduced the power of the Muslim clergy. Westernization took place. Western style clothing, some freedoms for women, western courses of study and western models for a law code. Iran

45. Arab Nationalism • During WW I many Arabs had helped the British fight the Ottomans, and in return they expected their own independent kingdoms after the war. This didn’t happen and Arab nationalism increased (only Saudi Arabia got its independence). • Britain and France didn’t want to give up their mandates in the Middle East because of “the growing importance of oil.” • Some Middle Eastern countries did eventually gain their independence. • Iraq, 1932. • Lebanon, 1943. • Syria, 1945.

46. The area around Israel had been know as Palestine. Both the Arabs and the Jews claimed it as their homeland. The Arabs had lived there for centuries by the time the British took over. They became known as Palestinians. The Jews had historical ties to the area, but had been conquered and most Jews left the area. Arab-Israeli Conflict

47. Jews have often been the target of discrimination and persecution. A growing sentiment among Jews was to return to their homeland. In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration in which they supported the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. Arabs were in an uproar; they were furious that Britain was going to decide the fate of the area without their consent. Conflict continued

48. World War II • 6 million Jews were killed during WWII; Jewish homeland support grew. • Britain left the area and put the situation into the hands of the UN. • They voted to divide the land into separate Jewish and Arab states. • Arab leaders warned of war; the plan was put into effect anyway. • May 1948, the state of Israel was created. Within hours, they were attacked. With support from the US and Britain, Israel not only won, but took most of the Palestinian land away.

49. Before War After War

50. 1948-Present • There have been several wars fought since 1948. • Each time Israel has won and tightened its grip on the area. • Arabs demand a homeland for the Palestinians. • Palestinians have turned to terrorism to broadcast their beliefs. • Results have led to the current situation.