I.Turkish Collapse during World War One A.Turks unprepared to fight WWI, yet sidse w/ Germany 1.Turkey's army is ill trained, ill equipped 2.Turkish economy fragile, currency weak 3.Turkish transport & communication capacity weak a.based on camel caravans 4.Simply put, Turkey got stomped B.Widespread Pan-Arab nationalism in Turkish Empire 1.Arab resentment of Turkish control 2.Muslim resentment of Turkish indifference to Islam 3.National Self-Determination for Arabs II.British & French exploit Arab nationalism A.British encourage Sharif of Mecca, leader of the Hashemite family, to revolt against Turkey 1.British promise the creation of a pan-Arab state 2.To be ruled by the Hashemite family 3.Hashemites claim all of Arabia, Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia in their wartime propaganda B.British encourage Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, of the Najd in central Arabia, to revolt against Turkey (see tree) 1.Abdul Aziz wants to rule all of Arabia 2.Hashemites are traditional enemies of the Saudis 3.Abdul Aziz & Saudi army drive out Turks, but also drive the Hashemites out of Arabia III.The Hashemite Middle East A.Britain gains control of Iraq & Palestine after WWI 1.League of Nations mandate to build Arab states 2.Iraq (or Mesopotamia), based on the three Ottoman provinces of Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra, is supposed to become three separate countries a.Ethnic identities radically different b.Mosul largely Kurdish, should become a Kurdish state c.Baghdad largely Sunni Muslim, should become a Sunni state d.Basra largely Shiite Muslim, should become a Shiite state 3.Britain also plans a Jewish homeland in Palestine a.British contemptuously disregard Palestinian rights B.Britain plans to install the exiled Hashemite princes as rulers of these new Mesopotamian states 1.The Kurds reject the British plan to impose a Hashemite Arab king on them, so the British angrily abandon their plan for a Kurdish homeland, and incorporate Kurdistan (the area around Mosul) into a "Greater Iraq," to be ruled by the Hashemite Feisal (see tree) 2.The Mesopotamian Shiites reject the British plan to impose a Hashemite Sunni Muslim king on them, so the British abandon their plan for a Shiite state, and incorporate the Shiite lands of southern Mesopotamia into a "Greater Iraq," also to be ruled by the Hashemite Feisal 3.Thus all three ethnically diverse regions of Iraq, which the British were supposed to develop into independent nation states, were incorporated into a Hashemite-ruled Iraq a.In Iraq, the Hashemite rulers persecuted Kurds and Shiites, as well as Jews, Mandeans, Nestorians, and Chaldean Christians b.Consequently, the Kurds, Shiites, Jews, Mandeans, Nestorians and Chaldean Christians agitate for self-rule, or at least for the overthrow of the Hashemite dynasty of Iraq c.Thanks a lot, Great Britain C.Britain installs another Hashemite, Abdullah, as Amir, then King of Trans-Jordan, the eastern portion of the old Ottoman province of Palestine 1.Abdullah is a much better ruler than Feisal of Iraq, and builds Trans-Jordan into the modern constitutional monarchy of Jordan 2.His grandson Hussein is the current King of Jordan a.Contemptuously called "The Sharif" by many Jordanians b.He married an American, not a Jordanian woman c.Still, he has become a respected and cautious statesman, one of the more cool-headed leaders of the Middle East 3.Nonetheless, the Hashemite family remains extremely unpopular in Jordan, and there is a strong likelihood that Jordan will erupt into civil war when Hussein dies 4.Thanks a lot, Great Britain IV.Abdul Aziz ibn Saud & the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia A.Abdul Aziz and his family (see tree) drive the Hashemites out of Mecca and Medina, turning most of Arabia into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1.Saudi Arabia a fundamentalist Wahabbi state a.Slavery until 1962 b.Women repressed and kept out of public life c.Female circumcision & infibulation d.Shiite Muslims persecuted, Christians & Jews driven out or killed in the 1930's 2.Saudi Arabia not really a nation-state, but more the private property of the Saudi family a.Abdul Aziz had 40+ sons, 100's of grandsons b.All Saudi pilots are Saudi princes c.Most government officials are Saudis d.Most Arabians hate the oppressive Saudi regime B.Saudi Arabia becomes extremely wealthy because of oil 1.The west buys their oil 2.They buy weapons from the West with the oil revenue 3.We get oil, money back, & a healthy defense industry 4.Still, the Saudis are beginning to reform their country economically, sharing the oil revenue by building schools, hospitals, etc., and by economic grants to poorer Islamic countries (i.e., Pakistan) V.Syrian and Lebanon, WWI to Present A.French encourage Hashemites to lead a revolt against the Turks in Syria 1.France made the same sort of promises to the Hashemite family that Britain had 2.When WWI is over, the French abandon the Hashemites and drive them from Syria, which becomes a French colony 3.The French were not concerned about building a well- organized Syrian state, so basically they collected taxes, kept the various Syrian ethnic and religious factions at each others throat, and then left when things got too hot a.Syria devolved into Civil war, and is currently dominated by a tiny (and very strange) religious minority, the Alawis, who are hostile to almost everyone (1)Alawis are not Muslim or Christian or Jew or Gnostic, but their religion has elements of all of these (2)The Alawis believe that only they are saved (3)They believe that Women do not have souls (4)The current Syrian President, Assad, is an Alawi b.Thanks a lot, France B.Lebanon 1.If you think Iraq is complicated... 2.Their post WWII constitution gives each religious group a certain number of seats in the national assembly, but that number was fixed decades ago, and now the population mix has changed 3.The trouble now stems from several areas a.Lebanese religious groups want to amend the old constitution to give themselves a larger number of seats in the National assembly (Largest=Maronite Christians & Shiites & Druze) b.Some Lebanese religious group want to kill everyone who is not a member of their group c.Millions of Palestinian refugees, many of them active in the PLO, use southern Lebanon as a refuge d.Israel occupied much of southern Lebanon in the early 1980's to create a buffer zone between it and the PLO (1)Israel kept thousands of Palestinians in concentration camps, and then allowed Lebanese Christians to go in and kill them (2)Israel still keeps thousands of Palestinians in concentration camps e.Syria occupied much of northern Lebanon in the early 1980's to create a buffer zone between itself and Israel f.Since the US supports Israel, Lebanese groups of all persuasions, but especially Iranian-backed Shiite groups, kidnapped Americans to use as a bargaining chip to force the US to abandon Israel g.When a Lebanese group kidnapped some Russian officials, the Russians parachuted a small military unit into the Lebanese village where the hostage- takers lived, castrated every male in the village. The hostages Russian were released! VI.The West and the Emergence of Modern Iran A.Iran partitioned by Russia & Britain after 1835 1.Russia takes Georgia, Armenia, Northern Azerbaijan, Tashkent, Bukhara, Marv, Oxus/Jaxart river basin 2.England takes Western Afghanistan B.1907, Russians & British declare "spheres of influence" 1.Proclaim Iranian "territorial integrity" but subvert it 2.Russia & England dominate Industry, Banking, Govt to 1925 a.Imperial Bank of Persia operated by British b.British control currency, budget, economy 3.Russians demand Caspian ports, Southern Azerbaijan C.Two major factions in Iran since 1500's 1.Secular political leadership: the Shah & his followers a.Western clients after 1835 b.SafavΠfamily (Turks) from 1500's to 1739 c.Afghan period, 1939-1779 (1)Nadir Shah, 1739-1748 (2)Karim Khan Zand, 1759-1779 d.Qajar family (Afghan Turks) 1779 to 1905 (1)Muhammad Aga Khan, 1779-1797 (2)Fath Ali Shah, 1797-1834 (3)Muhammad Shah, 1834-1848 (4)Nasruddin Shah, 1848-1896 (5)Muzaffaruddin Shah, 1896-1907 (6)Muhammad Ali Shah, 1907-1923 e.Pahlavi family (Teherani Persians) 1921 to 1979 (1)Reza Shah Pahlavi, 1926-1942 (2)Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, 1942-1979 2.Religious leadership: the Ulema & their followers a.Not an organized clergy, but regional teachers & judges b.Widespread popular following c.Most respected leaders are called Ayatollahs d.An Ayatollah who speaks with the authority of the Hidden Imam is himself called an Imam (i.e., the Imam Kumayni) 3.Who controls Iran, the Shah or the Ayatollahs? a.Shah's control the army, the police, many cities b.The Ayatollahs control the population indirectly, by their widespread influence, which they are willing to use for political as well as religious purposes c.Normally an uneasy balance, often one side dominates D.British & Russians partition Persia, 1907 1.1908-1911, Civil War, Russian intervention 2.1914-1917, Persia occupied by Russia & England 3.Bolsheviks plan Soviet Iran in 1919, withdraw by 1921 a.Soviet-ian treaties, 1921-1923 b.Closer relations with Soviets E.Reza Khan leads Cossack Brigade in Coup, 1921 1.1926, assumes title of Shah, founds Pahlavi dynasty 2.Widespread westernizing reforms (including women) a.Yet respectful of ian traditions b.Authoritarian "futurism" by 1939 3.Anti-Communist, yet maintains relations with Soviets a.Land route to Germany, important trading partner b.Full navigation rights on Caspian Sea 4.Strict neutrality, 1939-1941 a.May have hoped for a German victory b.May have hoped to recover ian losses to Russians c.May have hoped for ian/German link in Caucasus 5.Overthrown by British & Russians, 1941 a.Increasingly harsh British demands b.British occupy south, Russians northwest c.Americans maintain corridor to Russia for supplies 6.Reza Khan Pahlavi abdicates in favor of his son, 1942 a.British exile former Shah to South Africa b.Dies in exile, 1944 7.Muhammad Reza Pahlavi did what he was told a.Thus, he was seen in Iran as a US puppet b.And the West was seen as a puppet-master F.1942-1979, Muhammad Reza Shah 1.Maintained as nominal ruler by British & Russians 2.Russia takes Azerbaijan and Kurdistan 3.Shah survives right-wing coup by Mossadeq, 1953 4.Increasingly dependent on Western, particularly American support 5.Right-wing & Fundamentalist opposition a.The Ulema denounced him as in league with the devil b.He repressed the Ulema c.Increasing terrorism against Shah & government d.Opposition funds itself with Opium trafficking 6.When the Iranian oil fields are developed, the Shah began to modernize, and especially to Westernize Iran a.Western style schools (1)Popular among the urban middle class (2)But widely suspect nonetheless b.Western style industry (1)With Western-style centralized control (2)Widely seen as enhancements to the Shah's power c.Western Style Agriculture (1)Unfortunately, the fertilizers he purchased from the US were not designed to be used on the thin soil of Iran, and they destroyed the fertility of millions of acres of previously good farmland, it is now difficult for Iran to feed itself (2)This probably was an accident, the US deserves blame for plenty of things, but in this case it was only carelessness and arrogance d.Western style military (1)Plentiful high-tech US weapons (2)More often than not used against the Iranian people (3)Especially used against Kurds in NW Iran e.Western style secret police (1)The SAVAK, which terrorizes the Iranian people (2)Iranians believe that SAVAK protects Western interests as well as the interests of the Shah (3)Many Iranians begin to see the West, especially the US, as being in league with the Great Satan (Ahriman, or Shaitan) 7.The Iranian Revolution, 1978-1979 a.Shah exiled or jailed the most popular Ayatollahs (1)Exiled the Ayatollah Kumayni (a)Who is given refuge in Iraq, then France (b)Calls the West a "Great Satan" (c)Organizes resistance to the Shah (2)Exiles or jails right-wing political leaders b.Shah becomes increasingly authoritarian (1)Declares state of emergency (2)imposed martial law c.Widespread rebellion against the Shah in 1978 (1)Ulema & right-wing lead the people (2)Middle class joins the revolt (3)Shah flees to Egypt, then to the US (4)Ayatollah Kumayni returns to Iran as Imam Kumayni (5)Proclaims Iran to be an Islamic Republic G.The American Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981 1.Iranians believe the US would re-install the Shah or his son and continue to oppress the Iranians 2.They see the US Embassy as a source of continued subversion 3.They storm the US Embassy, hold Americans hostage until Ronald Reagan is sworn in in 1981 4.This causes America & the west to view Iran as an enemy, and eventually we use our international power to isolate them H.The Iran-Iraq War (throughout the 1980's) 1.Iran & Iraq have been fighting over control of southern Mesopotamia at least since c. 2000 B.C. 2.Each side has massive stores of US & Russian weapons, and they wage some of the largest set battles since WWII a.Both sides use chemical warfare b.Neither side takes many prisoners c.Each side says the other is in league with Satan 3.This war is almost completely absent from American TV 4.The US supports Iraq, and arms Saddam Husayn to the teeth 5.But secretly sends weapons to Iran (Iran-Contra scandal), via Israel, so that Iraq will be unable to defeat them and thus destroy the balance of power in the region 6.Thus Saddam Husayn shot at US pilots using many of the high-tech American weapons that we sold him