2. Colonial Rule in the Middle
East
Much of the Middle East had been controlled by the
Ottoman Empire (1500s to 1920)
In 1916, expecting the Ottoman Empire to lose WWI, Britain
and France completed the Sykes-Picot Agreement, in which
they secretly agreed to divide the Middle East between them
3. Britain was the last imperial power in the Middle East
Britain felt a need to create a homeland for the Jews
—there was much sympathy for this idea in Europe
since the Holocaust
But didn’t want to upset Palestinians and their Arab
supporters (good luck)
Didn’t follow through with the Balfour Declaration,
which promised a homeland for Jews and
independence for Arabs
Britain & Balfour
Declaration
4. Middle East Conflict:
Nationalism
Israelis and Arabs driven by extreme nationalism
Driven by their mutual hatred for each other
Israelis on the other hand practiced a very aggressive foreign policy
Strike First, Strike Hard
5. Fundamental Cause
of Middle East
Conflict: Religion
Religious differences
Both took their religions very seriously
Further complicated the issue: the territory in
question contained many of the holy places and
shrines of both the Judaic and Islamic religions
6. The Arab League
Promoted idea of independence for Arab states
Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
Against British rule (mandate system)
Opposed growing Zionist movement
7. Enter: The UN
in 1947 Britain handed responsibility for
Palestine over to the UN
UN passed a resolution to partition
Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab
states
Meanwhile, Arab and Jewish guerillas
clashed as each tried to grab what land they
could
10. The Palestinian War
Arab nations
Egypt
Jordan
Syria
Iraq
Invaded Israel to support
the resistance of the
Palestinians in their effort
to destroy Israel
11. Outcome of the
Palestinian War
Israel won and established itself as a nation
The conflict caused a massive refugee problem as 1 million
Palestinians relocated to neighboring countries
These refugee camps became recruiting and training centers for
terrorist groups in their efforts to attack Israel
13. The Suez War:1956
Most important of the many Middle East wars
Demonstrates the entry of the superpowers into Middle East
affairs
U.S.A and U.S.S.R would become powerful
Demonstrated that Israel was going to survive
Major shift in great power influence in the region
Britain and France would no longer have influence
14. Clients
Israel was a client of the USA
Israel was an enemy of Egypt
USA was attempting to form a client relationship with Egypt
USA was providing funding for Aswan Dam project
Egypt was taking advantage of the U.S.A. and the situation while
secretly forming a client relationship with the U.S.S.R
15. Gamal Nasser
Gamal Nasser became Prime Minister of Egypt
Extreme nationalist
Hated Israel and wanted to expel the British from
Egypt
Struck an arms deal with Czechoslovakia (U.S.S.R)
Wanted arms to fight Egypt’s enemy, Israel
17. How did the 2 superpowers attempt to draw unaligned
nations into their camps?
By providing various forms of aid
The Americans did just that in Egypt
Offered to engineer and pay for a huge hydroelectricity
project on the Nile River
Everything was going smooth until…
3rd
World
Competition!
18. Problems with the
Egyptian alignment with
the U.S.A
The Americans learned that Nasser had made an arms deal with
Czechoslovakia (sponsored by the U.S.S.R)
This made the Americans mad and they pulled out of the project
The USSR took over the dam project and it appeared that Egypt
would become a client of the USSR
19. The Suez Canal
Nasser used this as an opportunity to nationalize the Suez
To “nationalize” is to take something out of the hands of
foreigners – i.e., Egypt took the canal out of Br & Fr control
Nasser claimed that Egypt needed the canal revenues now that the
USA was not funding the Aswan dam
Britain and France attacked (they want to keep control of the canal)
Israel attacked also
They used the Suez conflict as an excuse to attack Egypt and take the
Sinai desert
20.
21. USA was Furious
USA was furious because they were walking a diplomatic tightrope
in the Middle East
USA threatened to cut off Britain and France’s oil supply
Britain and France were getting oil from the USA because they
couldn’t get it from the Middle East (the Suez was blocked)
How can the USA build a relationship with Egypt if American allies
are attacking Egypt?
Britain and France withdrew in disgrace
22. Israeli Victory
gave Israel a port on the Red Sea
Israel took the Gaza strip – the cause of so much conflict today
23. Significance of the Suez
War
Nasser was pushed closer to a client relationship with the USSR
for the first time, the UN deployed peacekeeping troops (Pearson)
Britain and France were discredited
The Middle East became a major arena of superpower competition
24. Terrorism
PLO- Palestinian Liberation Organization
a new anti-Israel group sprang up
led by Yassar Arafat
led attacks from refugee camps in Lebanon,
Syria, Jordan, Gaza, Golan Heights
26. War Threats
Nasser expelled the UN peacekeepers in 1967
Mobilized Egyptian troops along the border
Israel did likewise
27. Israel Attacks
Israel attacked first and won a decisive victory
destroyed Egyptian air force
took the rest of the Sinai
took Jerusalem and the West Bank
took the Golan Heights
28. Results of the Six Day
War
The Palestinian refugees finally realized that Arab states could not
win back Palestine
Israel had secured much stronger frontiers
29. The Six Day War and
the Cold War
The USSR threatened Israel (remember, Egypt is their sort of client)
assembled troops to attack back
if they attack, USA will be obligated to support Israel
Americans pressured Israel to halt attacks
30. Anwar Sadat
Replaced Nasser in 1970
More moderate than Nasser
Ended close relationship with USSR
32. The Yom Kippur War:
1973
This time, Egypt attacked first
on the Jewish Holiday, Yom Kippur
with the help of Syria and Iraq made some initial advances, but
with help from the USA, Israel pushed them back and ended the war
with borders unchanged
33. OPEC and the Arab Oil
Embargo
furious with the USA, OPEC raises the price
of crude by 70%
(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries)
in the next two years, the price of oil went
up 400%
34. Sadat becomes a
“dove”
Finally, Egypt realized that they would
have to live with Israel
Sadat decided to make a peace
agreement with Israel with the help of
President Carter
Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize as a
result
35. Camp David
Accords
organized by President Carter in 1977
attempted to establish the pre-1967 borders as the
status quo
agreed on:
Peace
negotiate refugee problem
open Suez canal
Israel can have oil from Egypt
Egypt expelled from OPEC as a result (other members
are furious)
