20th Century Reform Movements Middle East

Independence for Egypt After World War I many of Britain’s colonies began demanding self-rule. Dealing with these nationalists movements was difficult because of the vastness of Britain’s empire.

B. In 1914 the British declared Egypt a protectorate B. In 1914 the British declared Egypt a protectorate. A protectorate is a colony in which the native rulers keep their titles , but a foreign power controls the region. After World War I a strong nationalist movement developed in Egypt, led by the Wafd Party. In 1919 the party led a popular revolt against the British. Although the British quickly put down this revolt, calls for independence continued. Finally, in 1922, the British declared Egypt independent.

C. However, the British government would leave military forces there to defend Egypt and the Suez Canal. Britain also maintain control of the Sudan. The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 gave Egypt greater independence, but treaty allowed Britain to maintain a military base in Egypt for 20 years.

D. The presence of large numbers of British troops in Egypt after World War II angered many Egyptian nationalists. So, too, did Britain’s continued control of Sudan, which Egypt considered an Egyptian province. Between 1945 and 1952, efforts to negotiate a complete British evacuation from Egypt failed.

E. King Farouk I of Egypt headed a corrupt and inefficient government that came under fire from nationalists and reformers. In 1952 a group of army leaders toppled the monarchy and made Egypt a republic. A popular young officer, Gamal Abdel Nasser, emerged as Egypt’s new leader.

F. Nasser decided to rid Egypt of foreign domination once and for all F. Nasser decided to rid Egypt of foreign domination once and for all. In 1954 Great Britain agreed to evacuate the Suez base and allow free elections in the Sudan. Sudan chose independence rather than union with Egypt. In domestic affairs Nasser emphasized land reform, industrialization, greater government control over the economy, and expanded rights for women.

II. Turkey Under Kemal A. After its defeat in World War I, the once mighty Ottoman Empire was stripped of all its land except Turkey. Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish hero, declared that the sultan (leader of the Ottoman empire) was controlled by Turkey’s enemies. Kemal’s forces drove the Greeks from Turkey in 1922, did away with the sultanate, and established the Republic of Turkey.

B. Mustafa Kemal became the republic’s first president and established Turkey’s capital at Ankara. Kemal believed that WWI had shown the superiority of Western technology and Western ideas of nationalism. He worked to modernize and westernize Turkey. Believing that Islam was a roadblock to modernization, he created a new constitution that ended the union of Islam (religion) and government.

C. Kemal ordered the Turkish people to adopt Western ways C. Kemal ordered the Turkish people to adopt Western ways. He prohibited wearing of traditional clothing and decreed that all Turks take surnames (last names). He himself took the name Ataturk, meaning “father of the Turks.” Kemal also established secular schools and colleges and replaced the Arabic based Turkish alphabet with the Latin alphabet.

D. Kemal supported laws that gave women the D. Kemal supported laws that gave women the right to vote and hold office. His economic programs included state-run industries and subsidized farming. Under Kemal, Turkey became more prosperous.

Persia became Iran

III. Modernizing Persia A III. Modernizing Persia A. Iran (once known as Persia) is home to one of the oldest continuous major civilizations. Shahs of the Qajar dynasty had ruled Persia since the 1700s. By about 1900, Great Britain and Russia had begun to exert a strong influence on the Persian government. In 1921 Reza Shah Pahlavi, a Persian army officer with strong nationalist feelings, seized control of the government.

B. Like Ataturk, Reza Shah wanted to modernize his country and free it from foreign domination. He strengthened the army, built roads and hospitals, established a university, and gave women more rights. In 1935 Reza Shah announced that the country would be officially called what its people called it – Iran.

C. Reza Shah established an authoritarian C. Reza Shah established an authoritarian government that valued nationalism, militarism, secularism and anti-communism combined with strict censorship and state propaganda. Reza Shah relied on close ties with the United States to maintain his dictatorial power.

IV. Creation of Israel A. Since the late 1800s, Jews from Europe had been moving into Palestine. A nationalist movement called Zionism aimed to build a Palestinian homeland for Jews. In 1917 Britain expressed support for a Jewish homeland (Balfour Declaration) in return for Jewish support during World War I.

B. The British also had promised the support of an Arab state (Palestine) in exchange for helping to defeat the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Both Jews and Arabs expected Great Britain to make good on its promises. To calm Arab fear, the British limited the number of Jews allowed to immigrate to Palestine. The Jews resented this policy.

C. When the Nazis began persecuting the Jews, immigration to Palestine increased. After World War II the United Nations voted to split Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. In May 1948 Israel declared its independence as a sovereign Jewish state, with Jerusalem an international city. Jerusalem – Holy City

D. The establishment of a Jewish nation. infuriated Palestinian Arabs D. The establishment of a Jewish nation infuriated Palestinian Arabs. Armies from neighboring Arab countries waged war against Israel. When the war ended in 1949, Israel had won more territory than it had been given in the UN plan. From 1948 to 1960 Israel absorbed about 1.3 million immigrants. That number almost tripled the Jewish population of the country.