Transcript Middle East and Russia - Mediapolis Community School

Middle East
Ancient Empires of Fertile
Crescent
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Sumerians
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Located in Mesopotamia (Iraq, Kuwait, etc..) 3000 BC
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Fertile Crescent: Land between Tigris and Euphrates
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Cuneiform: Sumerian Writing, Arch, Ziggurats (Temples), First to use Wheel
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Polytheistic: Numerous Gods
Akkadians
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2300 BC, conquered the Sumerians
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Sargon: Powerful King
Babylonians
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2000 BC: Invaded the area. Babylon: Main City
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Hammurabi: King, wrote the Code of Hammurabi, a set of 282 laws (many are
still used today)…eye for an eye
Ancient Empires of the
Fertile Crescent
 Assyrians
 Powerful from 900 BC-650 BC
 First Large Empire: King Ruled All, Governors Report to King
 Nineveh: Main city (walled)
 Epic of Gilgamesh: Story of the Kings
 Fell apart due to Civil War
 Chaldeans
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605 BC-562 BC
Nebuchadnezzar: King, rebuilt Babylon
Made the city and empire very powerful
Fell apart after Nebuchadnezzar’s death
Ancient Empires of the
Fertile Crescent
 Persians
 Conquered area in 539 BC
 Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes: Kings that expanded the Persian
Empire into the largest empire ever (at that time)
 Treated conquered people well, led to more loyalty
 Eventually lost out to the Greeks
Ancient Empires: Sea
People
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Phoenicians
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Today: Lebanon, Israel, Syria
Used the Mediterranean Sea to trade.
Peak of power around 1000 BC
Dyes (Purple), glass, lumber, etc
Phoenician Alphabet: Became the
model for the Alphabets used
throughout Europe (due to trade)
Lydians
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First people to use a money economy
(gold and silver nuggets)
Before everything was off of a barter
(trade) economy
Origins of Judaism
 Beginnings
 Canaan: Small strip of land occupied by many different groups
of people. Today this area is Israel.
 Hebrews: Ancestors of Today’s Jews…claimed Canaan as their
holy land.
 Abraham: Founder of the Hebrew people
 Jacob: Abraham’s grandson…who Jew’s trace heritage through
 Exodus: Hebrew’s left Canaan and went to Egypt. Peaceful at
first, were made slaves later on (starting in 1200 BC..400 yrs)
 Moses: Led the Hebrews out of Egypt (Exodus)
Judaism
 Creation of Israel
 Yahweh: Name for Hebrew God
 Ten Commandments: Covenant (agreement) between
Moses and Yahweh. Follow the 10 moral laws and you will
get promised land.
 Saul: First king to unite all 12 tribes…called it Israel
 David: Occupied Jerusalem (capital and religious center)
 Solomon: David’s son..helped Israel reach its peak of power
and wealth
 After Solomon’s death….kingdom split in two (900
BC)…Israel and Judah. Conquered by Chaldeans and
Persians
Judaism
 Religious Beliefs
 Torah: First 5 books of Old Testament
 Eventually believed that Yahweh lived in hearts of
worshipers. And viewed Yahweh as a spiritual force.
 Monotheistic: Only one God.
 Different than Christianity: Jew’s don’t believe Jesus was
the messiah (son of God).
Islam
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Arabia Peninsula
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Full of traders and different groups of people
This area was the birthplace of Islam
Islam
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Muhammad: Trader who became the founder of Islam.
570 AD.
Mecca: City where Islam was founded
Muslims: Name given to the worshippers of Islam
Quran: Holy Book
Jihad: Holy War
Mosques: Places of worship
Islam Beginnings
 How Islam got started…
 Muhammad had a dream…decided to create a new religion.
 Began to unsuccessfully convert many businesspeople in
Mecca.
 Hijrah: Muhammad and his followers moved out of Mecca to
a neighboring city (Medina). 622 AD
 Returned to Mecca in 630 AD and destroyed the Kaaba (Shrine
to all the idols). Made that area the center of Islam.
 Division: Sunni, Shiah, Sufi
 Sunni: majority of Muslims 80% believe that Abu Bakr should
be the political and religious leader after Muhammad’s death
 Shiah (Shiite): make up the minority of Muslims today and
they believed that Muhammad’s son in law, Ali, should be the
successor
Islam’s Growth
 Expansion of Islam
 Abu Bakr and Umar became the next caliphs (successor) Sunni’s won.
 Within 100 years, Islam had spread all throughout the Middle East,
Northern Africa and part of Northern India.
 Berbers: People who converted from Northern Africa. Pushed Islam into
Spain. (712 AD)
 Moors: Muslims that lived in and ruled Spain. Ruled parts of Spain form
more than 700 years.
 Turks: Group of people from central Asia that began to conquer parts of
the Middle East. Many converted to Islam
 Sultan: Political Leader of the Turks. Worked with Caliph
Islamic Daily Life
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Lifestyle
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Living by the Quran is very important.
Science/Arts
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Al-Razi: Created first hospital
Ibn Sina: Wrote the first medical encyclopedia (Cannon of
Medicine).
Astrolabe: Use the stars to find directions
Algebra: Origins began in the Muslim world
Calligraphy: Art of fine handwriting..(no people depicted)
Thousand and One Nights: Short stories (Aladdin, etc)
Ottoman Empire
 Beginnings
 Osman: Leader of a group of people that were trying to
escape the Mongols, originally from present day Turkey.
 Ottoman Empire was in conflict with the neighboring
Byzantine Empire
 Sultans: Political leader of the Ottomans
 Much early conflict about who should be in charge and who
should control what land. Some members of the Ottoman
Empire were not very loyal
Ottoman Empire
 Expansion
 Mehmed II: Became Sultan, captured Constantinople in 1453.
 Suleyman: Greatest Sultan (1520-1566). Nicknamed the
“magnificent” or “lawgiver”. Expanded the Ottoman
Empire all the way into Austria.
 At the peak of expansion, Ottomans controlled Eastern
Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa.
 All sorts of different people lived under the Ottoman Empire
(Christians, Jews, Turks, Muslims, etc)
Ottoman Empire
 Decline
 After Suleyman’s death, Ottomans were defeated by European
Armies
 Government lost control of the spice and silk trade that used
to go through the area.
 Lost control of North Africa to France (1798)
 Revolts were common throughout much of the 1800s
 Treaty of San Stefano: Turks had to give independence to
Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro.
 Lasted until 1923 when the Empire fell and became the
Republic of Turkey.
Persia
 Persia
 Never apart of the Ottoman Empire
 Great Britain and USSR started to show great interest around
1900 (oil????)
 Reza Shah
 Took control of government in 1921
 Modernized area, just like Kemal in Turkey
 Renamed the country Iran
 Ran a very strict government, put down all opposition
Iran
 Iran
 Post WWII, GB and USSR occupied Iran. USSR eventually was forced to
leave Iran, GB remained.
 GB controlled most of the oil companies in Iran, really made the
people of Iran mad.
 Mohammad Mosaddeq
 Became Iran’s first prime minister (1951)
 Wanted a constitution and to get rid of outside influence
 Limited the power of Shah (monarchy) and nationalized the oil
industry (took charge of it)
 Response
 GB organized a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil
 USA did not want Mosaddeq siding with USSR, helped organize a
military coup in 1953. Restored power of Reza Pahlavi.
 Pahlavi: Modernized and ran Iran as a dictatorship
Iranian Revolution
 Iran
 Most powerful Middle East country after GB left in 1971.
 USA and others hoped the Shah would continue to lead Iran as a
powerful ally to the West.
 Problems
 Socialist and Islamic fundamentalists in Iran did not like to close
relationship with the West.
 Economic troubles of the 1970s caused people to become poor
and more upset.
 The Shah tried to use violence to stop the protests.
Iranian Revolution
 Ayatollah Khomeini
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Leader of the conservative Islamic movement, opposed the Shah.
Been exiled by the Shah since 1964.
Returned in 1979 when the Shah was forced out of Iran by the people.
Made Iran into a Islamic Republic
 Iranian Hostage Situation
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Islamic militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took 60 Americans
hostage. Held them for 444 days. (ARGO)
Bad relationship with USA since
 War with Iraq
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Iraq under Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1980.
Wanted control of a waterway to Persian Gulf.
Bloody War ended in 1988 with no real clear winner
 Today
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USA and Iran don’t have great relations…mostly due to Israel and threat of nuclear
weapons
Israel
 Balfour Declaration
 Pledge to secure a Jewish Homeland
 Ignored by Great Britain in 1939
 Problem
 Hundreds of thousand Jewish European refugees were looking
for a place to live (Holocaust)
 Palestine: Arab country in the Middle East…located where
Israel was and is today.
 Zionist: Jews that wanted a homeland; began to use violence
against Great Britain
Israel
 United Nations
 Decided to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.
 Arabs unanimously rejected this; Jews accepted it and Israel was
recreated in 1948.
 Conflict
 Once British troops left Israel, armies from neighboring Arab
countries moved to attack Israel.
 Israel won (US help) and gained more land in the process
 Over a million Palestinians had lost their land and were
refugees…basically they had nowhere to go.
Middle East Political and
Social Change
 Post WWII Middle East
 Most Middle Eastern States became independent under more
traditional, upper class rulers (handpicked by GB)
 Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia all became Arab Kingdoms
 Syria and Lebanon were ruled by wealthy elite ruling class
 Socialist Reforms
 Old Way: Wealthy landowners lived in city while poor tenants farmed
the land
 Egypt changed this: Government took control of most industries and
business. Government also began controlling working conditions,
minimum wage, education, etc
 Ba’ath Party: Embraced these changes, spread throughout Middle
East. (Iraq, Lebanon, Syria)
 Pan-Arabism: Middle Eastern countries uniting together; not overly
successful…too much fear of Egypt’s dominance
Egypt
 Independence
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Gamal Nasser: Political leader that won Egypt’s independence from GB
Nasser wanted to modernize Egypt (like Turkey)..played both the USA
and USSR for money.
Suez Canal: Connected Mediterranean Sea to Red Sea. Critical to
shipping…why both countries cared.
 Suez Crisis
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Weapons agreement with USSR…US responded by funding a project to
create a giant dam on the Nile
Nasser hesitated, finally went with the US offer but the offer no longer
existed.
Nasser became mad; nationalized the Suez Canal…this made him a
hero amongst the Arab world because he stood up to the
Europeans/Americans.
GB, France and Israel felt threatened by Egypt taking control of the
canal (no Israeli ships allowed)
Egypt
 Conflict
 Israel, GB, France wanted to overthrow Nasser.
 Israel declared war and advanced into Egypt. GB and France
joined the fight against Egypt.
 USA did not like what GB was doing b/c it feared the USSR would
get involved on the side of Egypt. GB decided to stop.
 Results
 Egypt and Israel continued to make each other mad over shipping
and other issues
 Nasser became the dominant leader in the Arab world…someone
had finally stood up to European Imperialism
Six-Day’s War
 Start
 Syria and Jordan were mad at Israel, asked Egypt to help.
 Egypt demanded the UN troops leave Egypt/Israel border and they
blocked Israel’s direct route to sea
 Six Day’s War
 Realizing that they were at danger, Israel launched a attack
 In 6 days, Israel captured Golan Heights from Syria, West Bank of
Jordan River from Jordan and East Jerusalem.
 Results
 Many Palestinians began to lose faith in Arab ability to fight against
Israel and recapture their lost land, Palestine.
 PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization): Guerilla fighters, led by
Yasir Arafat….group of Palestinians fighting to regain lost land
Post Six Day’s War
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USA/USSR
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Egypt
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Both countries wanted a peace in the Middle East
Anwar Sadat replaced Nasser after his death.
Egypt and Syria secretly planned a war against Israel in
1973 (starting on the Jewish Holiday of Yon Kippur)
Yon Kippur War
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Egypt had caught Israel by surprise.
Golda Meir: Israeli Prime Minister
Eventually Israeli troops pushed Egyptians back across the
Suez Canal.
Lasting Peace??
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Egyptian/Israeli Peace Negotiations
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Camp David Accords
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November of 1977, Sadat went to Israel to talk peace with
new Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
Negotiated by US President Jimmy Carter in Sept 1978
Sadat and Begin agreed on a framework for peace
Continued Problems
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Sadat was assassinated in 1981
Palestinians felt like Egypt and the rest of the Arab world
had sold them out.
Israel/Palestine Problems
 Israel/Palestine Problems
 Palestinians began to attack Israel more
 Israel continued to resist a Palestinian State and invaded Lebanon
in 1982 (home to the PLO)
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Caused much suffering; which only strengthened the PLO
 Intifada
 Violent uprising by Palestinians living in the restricted areas
towards Israeli’s in those areas. Began in 1987
 Israel responded with violence towards the protestors, which
caused debate. Some Israel’s thought that the Palestinians
should be able to control the lands they lived in, others did not.
Israel/Palestine Problems
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Yitzhak Rabin
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Elected Prime Minister in 1992
Peace Attempts
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Rabin and Arafat met to discuss peace
Settled on allowing Palestinians to self govern themselves in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Extremists on both sides fought this peace agreement,
eventually Rabin was assassinated
Ariel Sharon: Elected Prime Minister of Israel in 2001, noted
for being anti-Palestinian
Today: Attempts at peace between Hamas (violent
Palestinians), Israel and Palestinian Authority have slowed
Middle East Oil
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Discovery
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Post WWII
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Oil was discovered by US and GB prospectors in the early
1900s.
Important because of the increase in machines, ships, cars, etc
OPEC
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Many countries and rules became very wealthy off of oil
money.
Many countries wanted to nationalize oil production, meaning
they would control more of it, not foreign countries.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Arab countries worked together to control oil production and
price
1973: Decided to cut off supplies to USA for helping Israel in
wars against Arab countries
Result: Gas shortages and quadrupled price of oil per barrel
Syria
 Syria
 General Hafiz Assad took power in 1970
 Began to help the Palestinians and took a powerful position in
the Arab world.
 Against Iraq in Persian Gulf Wars
 Bashar Al-Assad
 Syrian President today.
 Terrible Civil War
 USA and Russia have been trying to get a peace
Syrian Civil War
 Started in 2011 under Assad
 Very strict and oppressive. Teens were arrested for writing political
graffiti and violence in protest against this led to dozens of people
killed after security forces cracked down on the demonstrators
 Protests continued against the government’s restricting rule. Assad
abolished the right for people to peacefully protest. The US
sanctioned them.
 Evidence pointed to government use of chemical weapons on the
Syrian civilians.
 More than 100,000 Syrians have been killed
 Nearly 7 million people displaced
 Till no resolution, the fighting continues
Iraq
 Saddam Hussein
 Took complete control of government in 1979
 Used chemical weapons against the Kurds, people who lived
in Northern Iraq and wanted freedom.
 Post Iran/Iraq War
 Iraq had the most powerful army among Arab countries
 Also had a ton of debt
 Iraq invaded oil rich Kuwait to get more production of oil in
1990.
Iraq
 Operation Desert Storm
 About 30 countries, led by the USA were against Iraq invading
Kuwait.
 After Iraq ignored demands to leave Kuwait.
 US forces were quickly able to get Iraq out of Kuwait but did not
force Saddam Hussein to step down.
 Post September 11th
 Iraq was accused of having weapons of mass destruction
 US invaded Iraq in March of 2003….able to gain control of country
in 21 days.
 Saddam was captured and eventually executed on Dec 30, 2006.
 US withdrawal from Iraq began in 2009 and complete in 2011.