Activity 10, Historical Context
Prior to World War I much of the Middle East was part of the Ottoman Empire, controlled by the Turks. When Turkey sided with the Germans and Austrians during the war, the British encouraged the Arabs to rebel against Turkish authorities. The Arab revolt was supported with British armaments and some advisors, including the famous "Lawrence of Arabia." It initially succeeded in the religiously important cities of Mecca and Medina in the Arabian Peninsula. British troops expelled the Turkish military from Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. When the war was over, France occupied Syria and Lebanon; Great Britain controlled Egypt, Jordan and Palestine.
To gain support of Jews during World War I, the British signed a secret agreement (the Balfour Declaration) with Zionists, permitting the creation of a Jewish National Home in Palestine. Jews migrated to Palestine in increasing numbers during the 1920's and 1930's. Strife among the British colonial authorities, the Jews and Arabs erupted during the 1930's. To avoid further problems, British authorities unsuccessfully tried to prevent further Jewish immigration.
The poorest and least developed area of the Middle East was the vast desert in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula. This area was controlled by various poverty-stricken Bedouin clans. During the 1920's, a large portion of this desert was unified by Ibn Saud, a leader of an important family in the Arabian Peninsula. The discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia and in other Gulf sheikdoms changed the economic prospects of the peninsula.
Iraq was created from three separate provinces after the fall of the Turkish empire in World War I. The British were given a mandate over Iraq by the League of Nations which they exercised from 1920 until 1932. Iraq became independent in 1932, but remained closely tied economically and militarily to Great Britain. During World War II Great Britain intervened in Iraq and restored a pro-British government.
Kuwait was an autonomous sheikhdom established in the eighteenth century by the al-Sabah family. It was part of Turkish Empire until 1897, when it became a British protectorate. The Turks declared that Kuwait was a part of Basra Province, but recognized its autonomy in 1913. Oil production began in the 1940's.
Iran is a Moslem nation, but is Persian and not Arab. Although Iran was nominally independent prior to World War II, it had signed a treaty with Great Britain that excluded foreign influences. During World War II, the leader of Iran, the Shah, was pro-German, and the allies needed Iranian oil. To avoid a German take over in Iran, southern Iran was occupied by Great Britain and the northern half was occupied by the Soviet Union. The Shah abdicated in favor of his son. British and Soviet troops departed in 1946. In 1953 the Shah sought support from Britain and the United States to help put down an internal nationalist rebellion. In 1955 Iran joined the Baghdad Pact with Iraq and Turkey, which was aimed toward thwarting Soviet expansion in the Middle East.
After World War II, the British were attacked by the Jews because of their curtailment of Jewish immigration to Palestine and their failure to create a Jewish national homeland as promised during World War I. Concurrently, they were assailed by Arabs for agreeing to the Balfour Declaration and permitting Jewish immigration. Great Britain decided to grant independence to Palestine and Jordan. As armed conflict had commenced between the Jews and Arabs in Palestine, the British conveniently shuffled the problem over to the newly created international organization, the United Nations. A plebiscite was held and a partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states was recommended. Although no agreement had been reached, Britain withdrew its military forces on May 14, 1948, and war broke out between the Jews and the Arabs. Arab armies from Syria, Jordan and Egypt invaded Palestine. The end consequence of the war was the division of Palestine into a Jewish nation, Israel, and Arab areas. The Gaza strip was administered by Egypt and the West Bank and part of Jerusalem was given to Jordan.
Oil increasingly became important in the Persian Gulf. In 1960, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was created to increase oil prices and the amount of revenues. Those who attended the first meeting were all Arab nations. As oil revenues increased, Arab nations containing oil grew rich, while those Arab nations without oil became increasingly poor.
In 1958, Abd al-Karim Qassem overthrew the moderate pro-western Iraqi government and withdrew from the Baghdad Pact. When Britain granted independence to Kuwait in 1961, Iraq refused to recognize the new nation claiming that it was a part of Iraq. Iraq threatened Kuwait over a border dispute, and Britain sent troops and ships to protect it. Iraq backed down, but continued to press Kuwait, particularly to lease the strategic islands of Warba and Bubiyan in Persian Gulf. Qassem was assassinated in 1963 and Iraq's new government recognized Kuwait's independence.
Inside Iraq, the Baath party came to power in 1968. One leader of the party was Saddam Hussein. He had been born in 1937 to a poor, landless, peasant family in Takrit. His family was Sunni Moslems. In 1956 Saddam participated in an unsuccessful coup against the Baghdad monarchy. The following year he joined the Baath Party, which promoted nationalist and secular goals. Saddam was a member of the hit team which tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Qassem in 1959. Saddam left Iraq and moved to Egypt. When Qassem was finally assassinated, Saddam returned to Iraq. He quickly rose to prominence in the Baath Party and the power shifted to him during the 1970's. As the leader of Iraq, he repressed his own people, particularly the Kurds, who lived in northern Iraq. In 1979 he became the President of Iraq, and immediately began to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Student Questions
What were some of the most important trends in the Middle Eastern history in the Twentieth Century?
Why was the West interested in the Middle East?
Why did Saddam Hussein want to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons?
Return to Activity 10.
Go to the Contents page for International Conflict and the Media.
Go to the Bibliography.