Transcript Hist 331: Civil War and Reconstruction (Fall 2001)

Arab World in the
20th Century
Arab World in the 20th Century
Introduction
 In 1900 and today, the Muslim world is truly vast in scope, stretching from the west
coast of North Africa through the Arab world, Persia, into India, and as far east as
Indonesia and the Philippines
 Our focus will be on the Arab world, the heartland of Islam and its spiritual center
 In the first half of the second millennium of the common era (1000-1500 CE), the
Arabs had arguably one of the most advanced, wealthy, and powerful civilizations in
the world
 Yet by 1920, much of the Arab world had fallen under European domination
Arab World in the 20th Century
Impact of European Imperialism (1)
 By 1900, European imperialism had
weakened or brought down the two
great remaining Islamic empires, the
Ottomans and Mughals
The only reason the Ottomans
survived until WWI was that
European nations could not agree on
how to split it up, although they
already were swallowing up pieces of
it (ex. Britain in Egypt, France in
Algeria)
 Remaining Ottoman domains split
between Allied victors after WWI
mandates, except Turkey which
emerged as European style republic

 European hegemony over the Arab
world was a blow to the pride of its
inhabitants—they asked themselves
how had they fallen so low?
Sir Richard Burton
19th century British
explorer
Howard Carter
Discovered King
Tut’s tomb in 1923
Arab World in the 20th Century
Impact of European Imperialism (2)
 Europeans posed a threat not only
because they had taken over Arab
lands, but because they posed a
threat to Islamic society itself
European materialism and secularism
drew Muslims away from the faith
 Republican government replaced the
godly rule of the caliph with the
fallible opinions of mortal men

 The European-style nation state also
posed a threat because its bonds
were secular rather than religious

In the Islamic tradition, political and
religious authority were inseparable
and the idea of the separation of
church and state unthinkable
Banner of the Muslim
Brotherhood
Arab World in the 20th Century
Arab Nationalism
 After WWI, Arab nation-states began
to form
Starting with what became Saudi
Arabia, soon after the war
 Ending with Algeria in 1962, which
had a significant population of French
settlers

Flag of the
United
Arab Republic
 Pan-Arabism
The idea also developed of uniting
the Arab world into one vast nation
state, strong enough to resist the
West and achieve genuine power and
respect in the world
 This idea has never died, but has
floundered on intense regional,
ideological, and personal rivalries
 Baath Party

 Instead, Arab nation-states have
developed out of European
mandates and protectorates
Flag of the
Baath
Party
Arab World in the 20th Century
Palestine
 The Palestinians were one group of
Arab unable to form a nation-state
A British mandate between WWI and
WWII, Palestine became a focus for
Jewish immigration before and after
WWII
 These immigrants formed the State of
Israel, pushing many Arabs from their
land, especially during the 1948 war

 Zionism: Jewish nationalism
centered on creating a national state
for Jews in their ancestral homeland
 While Egypt and Jordan have made
peace with Israel, peace with the
Palestinians and other Arabs
remains elusive
Yasser Arafat
of Fatah
Flag of Hamas
Arab World in the 20th Century
Islamic Fundamentalism (1)
 Movement with the Arab and greater
Islamic world devoted to promoting
Muslim piety and the revitalization of
Islamic civilization
Not a unified movement
 Differences in ideology, goals, and
tactics

 Basis
A reaction to the power of the West,
especially the United States, which
Muslim fundamentalists see as the
greatest source of threatening
secularism
 Also a reaction to secular, often
corrupt governments in the Arab
world supported by the U.S.

 Fundamentalism first came to the
West attention because of Iran’s
Islamic revolution in 1979
Ayatollah
Khomeini
Arab World in the 20th Century
Islamic Fundamentalism (2)
 Wahhabism
Forms the basis for society in Saudi
Arabia
 Treats the Koran and Hadith as the
basis for law and society
 Church and state essentially the
same
 Not tolerant of non-Muslims or even
Muslims who reject its ideas

 Salafists
A movement in Islam that seeks to
restore what it sees as the greatness
of its first generations, especially the
Caliphate
 Wahhabis a variety of Salafists
 Salafism also the basis for Islamist
groups like Al Qaeda, who see terror
as a tool to restore the Caliphate

 Islamism: political movement
connected with Islamic
fundamentalism
Sayyid Qutb