Colonial Rule in the Middle EastMuch of the Middle East had been controlled by the Ottoman Empire (1500s to 1920)

In 1916, expecting the Ottoman Empire to lose WWI, Britain and France completed the Sykes-Picot Agreement, in which they secretly agreed to divide the Middle East between them

Britain was the last imperial power in the Middle EastBritain felt a need to create a homeland for the Jews—there was much sympathy for this idea in Europe since the HolocaustBut didn’t want to upset Palestinians and their Arab supporters (good luck)Didn’t follow through with the Balfour Declaration, which promised a homeland for Jews and independence for Arabs

Britain & Balfour Declaration

Fundamental Cause of Middle East Conflict: NationalismIsraelis and Arabs driven by extreme nationalism

Driven by their mutual hatred for each other

Israelis on the other hand practiced a very aggressive foreign policyStrike First, Strike Hard

Fundamental Cause of Middle East Conflict: ReligionReligious differences

Both took their religions very seriously

Further complicated the issue: the territory in question contained many of the holy places and shrines of both the Judaic and Islamic religions

The Arab LeaguePromoted idea of independence for Arab states

Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Against British rule (mandate system)

Opposed growing Zionist movement

Enter: The UNin 1947 Britain handed responsibility for Palestine over to the UN

UN passed a resolution to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states

Meanwhile, Arab and Jewish guerillas clashed as each tried to grab what land they could

The Palestinian War 1948 A Land-grab War

The Palestinian War Arab nations

Egypt

Jordan

Syria

Iraq

Invaded Israel to support the resistance of the Palestinians in their effort to destroy Israel

Outcome of the Palestinian War

Israel won and established itself as a nation

The conflict caused a massive refugee problem as 1 million Palestinians relocated to neighboring countries

These refugee camps became recruiting and training centers for terrorist groups in their efforts to attack Israel

The Suez War

The Suez War:1956Most important of the many Middle East wars

Demonstrates the entry of the superpowers into Middle East affairs

U.S.A and U.S.S.R would become powerful

Demonstrated that Israel was going to survive

Major shift in great power influence in the region

Britain and France would no longer have influence

ClientsIsrael was a client of the USA

Israel was an enemy of Egypt

USA was attempting to form a client relationship with Egypt

USA was providing funding for Aswan Dam project

Egypt was taking advantage of the U.S.A. and the situation while secretly forming a client relationship with the U.S.S.R

Gamal NasserGamal Nasser became Prime Minister of Egypt

Extreme nationalist

Hated Israel and wanted to expel the British from Egypt

Struck an arms deal with Czechoslovakia (U.S.S.R)

Wanted arms to fight Egypt’s enemy, Israel

The Aswan Dam

How did the 2 superpowers attempt to draw unaligned nations into their camps?

By providing various forms of aid

The Americans did just that in Egypt

Offered to engineer and pay for a huge hydroelectricity project on the Nile River

Everything was going smooth until…

3rd World Competition!

Problems with the Egyptian alignment with the U.S.AThe Americans learned that Nasser had made an arms deal with Czechoslovakia (sponsored by the U.S.S.R)

This made the Americans mad and they pulled out of the project

The USSR took over the dam project and it appeared that Egypt would become a client of the USSR

The Suez CanalNasser used this as an opportunity to nationalize the Suez

To “nationalize” is to take something out of the hands of foreigners – i.e., Egypt took the canal out of Br & Fr control

Nasser claimed that Egypt needed the canal revenues now that the USA was not funding the Aswan dam

Britain and France attacked (they want to keep control of the canal)

Israel attacked alsoThey used the Suez conflict as an excuse to attack Egypt and take the

Sinai desert

USA was FuriousUSA was furious because they were walking a diplomatic tightrope in the Middle East

USA threatened to cut off Britain and France’s oil supply

Britain and France were getting oil from the USA because they couldn’t get it from the Middle East (the Suez was blocked)

How can the USA build a relationship with Egypt if American allies are attacking Egypt?

Britain and France withdrew in disgrace

Israeli Victorygave Israel a port on the Red Sea

Israel took the Gaza strip – the cause of so much conflict today

Significance of the Suez War

Nasser was pushed closer to a client relationship with the USSR

for the first time, the UN deployed peacekeeping troops (Pearson)

Britain and France were discredited

The Middle East became a major arena of superpower competition

TerrorismPLO- Palestinian Liberation Organization

a new anti-Israel group sprang up

led by Yassar Arafat

led attacks from refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza, Golan Heights

The Six Day War: 1967

War ThreatsNasser expelled the UN peacekeepers in 1967

Mobilized Egyptian troops along the border

Israel did likewise

Israel AttacksIsrael attacked first and won a decisive victory

destroyed Egyptian air force

took the rest of the Sinai

took Jerusalem and the West Bank

took the Golan Heights

Results of the Six Day WarThe Palestinian refugees finally realized that Arab states could not win back Palestine

Israel had secured much stronger frontiers

The Six Day War and the Cold WarThe USSR threatened Israel (remember, Egypt is their sort of client)

assembled troops to attack back

if they attack, USA will be obligated to support Israel

Americans pressured Israel to halt attacks

Anwar Sadat

Replaced Nasser in 1970 More moderate than Nasser Ended close relationship with USSR

The Yom Kippur War: October 1973

The Yom Kippur War: 1973This time, Egypt attacked first

on the Jewish Holiday, Yom Kippur

with the help of Syria and Iraq made some initial advances, but with help from the USA, Israel pushed them back and ended the war with borders unchanged

OPEC and the Arab Oil Embargofurious with the USA, OPEC raises the price of crude by 70%

(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)

in the next two years, the price of oil went up 400%

Sadat becomes a “dove”Finally, Egypt realized that they would have to live with Israel

Sadat decided to make a peace agreement with Israel with the help of President Carter

Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize as a result

Camp David Accordsorganized by President Carter in 1977attempted to establish the pre-1967 borders as the status quoagreed on:Peacenegotiate refugee problemopen Suez canalIsrael can have oil from EgyptEgypt expelled from OPEC as a result (other members

are furious)