2.2 Colonialism and Mandate System in the ME PDF

2.2 COLONIALISM AND UN MANDATE SYSTEM  THE ORIGINS OF ARAB NATIONALISM: THE NAHDA The idea that all Arabs form a nation, made up of individuals united by a sense of collective identity based on linguistic, historical, cultural and spiritual ties. Secular Arab nationalism wa...

2.2 COLONIALISM AND UN MANDATE SYSTEM  THE ORIGINS OF ARAB NATIONALISM: THE NAHDA The idea that all Arabs form a nation, made up of individuals united by a sense of collective identity based on linguistic, historical, cultural and spiritual ties. Secular Arab nationalism was initiated by Christian communities, based on a rebirth of the language and the spread of its culture. Arab renaissance movement known as Nahda, opened up a rich dialogue about secularity and religious freedom, as well as the right of Arab provinces to their autonomy and even independence. Within this great Arab renaissance movement there was a great diversity of political currents and philosophical schools, from those who supported supranational pan- Islamism to ethnic-national nationalism.  THE ORIGINS OF ARAB NATIONALISM: THE NAHDA Arab nationalism was based on those Arabic-speaking peoples (excluding then Turks, Iranians, Pakistanis, etc.) united by solidarity created by Islamic civilization, not the Muslim religion. The Nahda has two outstanding features: 1) the active participation of a Christian minority that reaffirms its full membership of Arab-Islamic civilization 2) the emergence of a reformist and modernist-inspired trend among Muslims.  THE FALL OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND THE UN MANDATE SYSTEM WORLD WAR I Ottomans signed a secret treaty against Russia with Germany on 2 August 1914. The long war would end with their defeat and dismemberment, giving way to a new regional order. The goals of the Ottomans to achieve through the war were: ✓To break free from the European control embodied in the Capitulations regime. These are abrogated as soon as it enters the war. ✓Recover lost territories, mainly Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, in French and English hands. ✓The liberation and unification of the territories inhabited by Turkish-speaking populations. At the start of the war, the Empire had 25 million inhabitants, less than half of whom - 10 million - were Turks. Another 10 million were Arabs, two million Armenians, one and a half million Kurds, as well as one and a half million more inhabitants of other nationalities.  THE BRITISH AND THE ARAB UPRISINGS The only relatively free area of Ottoman rule was the Arabian Peninsula, where the British would pursue a double policy: A) the establishment of negotiations with Ibn Saud, ruler of the Najd region in 1915  (Through British Government of India) promises to defend Ibn Saud, and grants him an annual subsidy.  In return, Ibn Saud would not attack Arab-Persian Gulf regions under British protection. It prevented the Ottoman armies from being supplied across the shores of the Persian Gulf. B) with the Sharif Hussein of Mecca, of the Hashemite family to avoid Islamic solidarity, through the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence from July 1915 to March 1916.  UK pledged to the creation of a large independent Arab kingdom for the Hashemite dynasty, in exchange for its support in the war against the Ottomans.  Hussein requested the territories of the Arabian Peninsula, the provinces of Greater Syria (Lebanon and Palestine), Iraq, that is, essentially the arabophone region located in eastern Egypt. PEACE AGREEMENTS II: MANDATE REGIMES New instrument of neo-colonial political control, the Mandate Regime, On 28 April 1920, the Supreme Allied Council, meeting in the city of San Remo and acting on behalf of the English, French and Italian government, approved the establishment of:  a French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon and  a British mandate for Iraq and Palestine, with the obligation to implement the terms of the November 1917 Balfour Declaration calling for the establishment of a Jewish National Homeland. All these agreements were to be incorporated later into the Treaty of Sévres, concluded between the powers of the Entente and the Ottoman government on 10 August 1920.  PEACE AGREEMENTS WITH TURKEY: TREATY OF LAUSSANE 1923 ❑Turkey waived non-Turkish territories (but kept part of the Kurdistan). ❑Abolition of capitulations ❑Greece is expelled from Anatolia, and Greek communities also leave the peninsula. ❑The Turks defeat the Armenians with the help of the Bolsheviks. This led to the persecution of Armenian communities. ❑Izmir returned to Turkish territory, as did the islands invaded by the Italians. ❑Turkey is exempt from paying war debts. ❑The straits, which first occur internationally, are finally left in Turkish hands (Mudros Agreement) Fuente: Wikidata The implementation of peace agreements in Arab areas FRANCE AND THE MIDDLE EAST French General Gourad occupied Damascus, after defeating Faisal's Arab forces on July, 1920. That same month, France made the necessary administrative adjustments to bring Syria and Lebanon under its mandate: A) Creation of Great Lebanon by expanding the borders of the new state at the expense of other territories that had been part of different administrative districts of the Ottoman Empire: to the former district of Mount Lebanon (mountainous, inhabited mainly by Druze and Maronites), were added the coastal cities of Tripoli, Beirut, Sidon and Tyre, as well as the Bekaa Valley , dependent on Damascus province. Although the country was declared a republic and enacted its own constitution in 1926, the last French troops evacuated the country until 31 December 1946. During World War II, Lebanon and Syria were placed under martial law. FRANCE AND THE MIDDLE EAST B) To control and dominate Syria, the French divided the country into different state entities, encouraged previously existing ethnic and regional religious divisions, in order to discourage the development of a Syrian national identity. In 1941, Syria was declared independent by the then free French government, although effective occupation would last until 1946. UK AND THE MIDDLE EAST Britain, to silence Arab nationalist claims: A) Grants its former ally, the deposed king of Syria – Emir Faisal – the kingdom of Iraq in July 1921, under British protection. Faisal will rule the country for 11 years and lead Iraq to total independence. In June 1922 a treaty on alliance and protection between Britain and Iraq was signed, which should last 20 years. On October 3, 1932, the kingdom of Iraq was granted independence. The Iraqi government maintained close economic and military ties with Britain, leading to several anti-British revolts. A pro-Axis revolt in 1941 led to a British military intervention, and the Iraqi government agreed to support the Allied war effort. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown, and for the next two decades Iraq was ruled by a series of military and civilian governments. In 1979, General Saddam Hussein became Iraqi dictator; he held onto power with an iron fist, until disappearing —and later dying— in the face of an American-led coalition’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. B) His brother, King Abdullah, to whom England had initially offered the throne of Iraq, is recognized in the same year, as emir of Transjordan, a territory closely controlled by the British army and totally dependent on an annual grant from the English government. Such territory would be included within the English mandate on Palestine, but exempt from England's commitments to the Zionist Movement. When it became known that King Abdullah was planning to reach a formula of engagement with the Israelis, he was assassinated in 1951. His son Talal abdicated king Hussein, father of present-day Abdullah, on behalf of his son. After WWI, five new states emerged in the area: Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, Iraq and Palestine; all under the tutelage of France or England who established their borders and forms of political organization. Only in the Arabian Peninsula that the Arabs were able to greatly preserve their independence: 1) By the 1918 Mudros treaty, Ottoman sovereignty over Yemen ended what would allow it to gain access to independence. 2) Ibn Saud would be able to extend his control over most areas that were not under English protection. After defeating and expelling Sharif Hussein's forces from Mecca in 1924, he became king of the Hijaz in 1926, assuming the title of king of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Saud accused Hussein of heresy, corruption and ineffective administration. The country was poor, until oil was discovered in 1933, fully exploited until after World War II. Fuente: clio.rederis.es 2.2 COLONIALISM AND UN MANDATE End of presentation SYSTEM