Decline of the Ottoman Empire and the New Middle East

1. Ottoman Empire – brieg review

a. Officially ruled by the sultan
b. But provinces/politics were often dominated by army
i. Mamluks – Egypt
ii. Janissaries
1. Converted to Islam
2. A way of becoming socially mobile
3. Elite group of soldiers for the sultan
c. Corruption was rampant
i. Originally had well paid officials, but not anymore.
ii. Unfortunately, now, it wasn’t like that.
2. By 1800 had weakened militarily
a. Weaponry, tactics not up to date
b. Defeat by Napoleon in Egypt (1798)
c. Threats from other European powers
i. Russia (Crimean War)
ii. Austria Hungary
d. Nationalist movements in territories
i. Was supported by the Europeans
ii. Many European intellectuals – supported independence
1. Greece (1830’s)
a. Birthplace of classical European culture
2. Serbia (autonomy 1867)
3. Early Reform – Muhammad Ali (Egypt)
a. Albanian sent by Sultan to regain control in Egypt
b. Ended Mamluk rule – created semi-autonomous kingdom (1801)
i. Just toppled them over
c. Impressed by French military discipline and weapon
i. Determined to modernize Ottoman army in Egypt
ii. Wanted to do what the Europeans did
1. Very much like Japan
a. Happened 50+ years before the Tokugawa shogunate and
the Meiji Restoration
d. Openly defied Sultan
i. Invaded Syria
ii. Only stopped by European support for Sultan
1. The Europeans were worried that if the sultan fell, this might upset
the balance of power in Europe that they were trying to create
a. Particularly after Napoleon was defeated
e. But modernization didn’t go very far
i. Wanted to modernize the economy as well.
ii. Europeans didn’t want Egyptians to industrialize
1. Wanted Egyptian cotton
iii. Thought he was being treated in a racist fashion because the Europeans
weren’t allowing Muhammad to expand and do as they are.
4. Died in 1848
Decline of the Ottoman Empire and the New Middle East

5. Egypt after Muhammad Ali

a. Economy increasingly dependent on cotton grown for export
b. Rulers (khedives) grew financially dependent on European loans
i. Britain and France wanted to build Suez Canal
1. There were rebellions because population was getting upset at the
fact that taxes were going higher in order to help pay for the Suez
Canal
a. Britain intervened militarily in 1880’s to protect interests in
canal
ii. Egypt not “formally colonized” but in effect ruled by British
administrators
1. England basically called the shots
c. Economic policies created Wide Gulf between rich and poor
i. Ayan [rich landowners] benefitted most from infrastructure projects
sponsored by British and move towards export economy of cash crops
grown on large farms
1. Economy – based on cash crops
a. Gobbled up land of smaller farmers
i. They lose their land, can’t compete, or become
sharecroppers
ii. Same thing that’s happening in Latin America with the British
d. Resistance to khedives and British organized by new young educated middle class
i. Liberal European education
ii. Healthy and thriving press (newspapers, journals) – were being written
about in the press
e. Dinshawi Incident (1906)
i. Aroused massive protests in Egyptian press and among nationalists
1. Were shooting pigeons and accidently shot a farmer
2. British army freaked out, felt threatened, overreacted to the
situation
a. Captured and executed a couple of people
ii. British finally forced to grant constitution and limited self-government
1. Like Bloody Sunday in Russia
6. Sudan, Jihad, and Imperialism
a. Egypt began trying to colonize Sudan in 1820s
1. Muhammad Ali – much harder time with the nomads
ii. Met fierce resistance from nomadic peoples
iii. Able to dominate sedentary people around capital Khartoum
iv. Egyptian rule very unpopular and perceived as corrupt
1. A number of people in the north (nomadic Muslims)
b. Resistance led by the Mahdi (“The Deliverer”)
i. Mystic who claimed descent from Muhammad (Muslim)
ii. Launched jihad (holy war)
c. Established puritanical Islamic state in mid 1880s
d. Importance?
i. Set the precedence for the language for the people today
Decline of the Ottoman Empire and the New Middle East

ii. Reformist in neighboring Saudi Arabia

iii. Was a threat
1. Can be based as a model to clear out the corruption between fake
Muslims and the West
e. Finally destroyed in 1898 by British commanded by Lord Kitchener
i. Took almost 20 years to kick the Mahdi out
ii. Direct British colonial control of Sudan followed
1. Boot the Egyptians out and take over as a British colony
2. Direct British colonial control of Sudan
7. Ottoman Modernization
a. Attacks by Egyptians and loss of Greece convinced new Sultan Mahmud II of
need for reform
b. First step – regain control of the military
i. Sutlan destroyed Janissaries in 1827
ii. Bought in foreign advisors, adopted advanced European equipment
c. Mahmud II anmd his successors began modernization
i. Tanzimat Reforms – modernization used to Westernize the Ottoman
empire in order to be less susceptible to foreign domination
ii. 1839-1876
iii. Western universities
iv. Infrastructure – telegraph and railroad lines
v. Newspapers – increase literacy, open society that allowed debate of new
ideas
vi. Modern (non-Islamic) legal codes adopted
vii. Constitution enacted in 1876 – protected religious minorities
1. liberal idea of religious freedom
viii. removed barriers through foreign trade
ix. tried to be more secular
1. tried to reduce power of religious elites
x. ended tax farming
xi. only women weren’t really helped by reforms
d. Reforms created new Western-educated middle class who resented foreign
influence and Ottoman sultanate and wanted even more radical reforms
i. Sultan tried to return to autocratic absolutism that was there before the
Tanzimat Reforms
ii. Led to a coup in 1908 by “Young Turks” – from officer corps
1. Support from the military
2. Very familiar with western ideas
3. Promoted mixture of European style liberalism, national pride, and
a modern take on Islam
4. Managed to avoid the collapse of the Ottoman Empire until the end
of WW1
iii. Refused to grant any minorities any political autonomy
1. Arabs were furious – thought it was their way of getting
independent
2. Armenians – Armenian Genocide earlier
Decline of the Ottoman Empire and the New Middle East

8. After WW1 – Creation of Turkey

a. British and French wanted to carve up Arab territories of old Ottoman Empire
i. League of Nations didn’t allow them to do so
b. Greeks and Italians tried to take over Anatolia
i. Turks defeated Greeks
1. Leader: Mustafa Kbemal (Ataturk – Father of the Turks)
a. Established independent Republic of Turkey (1923)
i. Westernized and secularized Turkish society
1. Abolished sultanate
2. Introduced Latin alphabet
a. As opposed to the Arabic script
3. Gave women the vote and right to serve in
national assembly
4. Civil marriage and divorce. Discouraged
veiling of women
5. Abolished Islamic courts – adopted
European laws
6. Culmination of modernization process began
under the sultanate
9. After WW1 – The Fertile Crescent
a. After helping in WW1, many Arabs thought Allies would support their desire for
self determination – WRONG!
b. Europeans created Mandate System to rule over German and Ottoman territories
i. Britian and France originally wanted outright colonies, but President
Wilson objected
1. 14 points
ii. Administered territories under until they were considered “ready” to rule
themselves
1. Britain: Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq
2. France: Syria, Lebanon
iii. Situation complicated by British Balfour Declaration (1917)
1. Promised Jews a homeland in Palestine but ambiguously worded
(couldn’t displace the Arab Palestinians already there)
2. Dreyfuss Affair – Anti –Semitism in France
a. Theodore Herzl—journalism
i. Degree of anti-Semitism was so ridiculous that he
helped crate and publicize the idea of Zionism
1. Zionism – getting back to the homeland of
the Jews
ii. Getting the Jews back to the homeland for the Jews
in Palestine
3. European Jews began moving to Palestine in mid 1890’s – after
Dreyfuss Affiar
a. Zionism was picking up steam
iv. Now the Arabs were really unhappy – they were already unhappy before
Decline of the Ottoman Empire and the New Middle East

1. Arabs wanted a multi=ethnic, multi-religious state with Arba

numerial superiority to be maintain
a. WANTED INDEPENDENCE
b. Hated the British and attacked by Jews too – eventually
withdrew
c. After Holocaust, state of Israel created in 1948
i. Support of the US and the USSR
ii. Homeland for the Jews
iii. When this new state was created, inherited a mess
from the early part of the 20th century
10. After WW1 – Egypt
a. WW1 was hard on Egypt
i. Allied troops stationed there to protect the Suez Canal
ii. Drained resources – hurt peasantry
1. British declare martial law
b. Egyptian leaders denied entry toVersailles Peace Conference
i. Sparked mass protests throughout Egypt
ii. British put down revolt with difficulty
iii. Eventually agreed to gradual withdrawal – independence by 1906
1. Britian retained right to reoccupy Egypt if the Suez Canal was
threatened by any foreign aggressor – caveat
c. Unfortunately, new Egyptian leaders didn’t undertake any reforms to help
peasantry
i. Instead, enriched themselves
1. 70% of arable land was owned by 6% of the population