1. European colonialism in
the Middle East
Intervention,
Transformation,
Independence
A romanticized painting of Napoleon inspecting
a mummy at the Pyramids.

2. Definitions
 Imperialism
– Policy of extending
control over foreign
entities either thru direct
or indirect political or
economic intervention
 Colonialism
– System in which a state
claims sovereignty over
territory & resources
beyond its borders,
displacing or ruling its
local population
Cecil Rhodes, “From Cape to Cairo”, as
depicted in a 19th c. Punch magazine.

3. Why did Europe become
so strong?
New state types
 emergence of the national state around
1500
– well-defined territory
– relatively centralized
– Professional armies
– New accumulation of wealth
New economies
– Exploration of the “New World,” 1450-1700.
– Industrial capitalism

4. W. European Transformation
 New ideas
– Science and Enlightenment
– Development of a new scientific discourses
 New identities
– “Us” and “Them,” “Civilized world and
“uncivilized” world, Orient & Occident
– emergence of nationalism

5. Responses:
Transformations in Ottoman rule
 Ottoman reform: The Tanzimat, 1830s-1870s
– New centralization
– New technologies (railroad)
– New education
– New institutions
– Autonomous reforms (Egypt)
 Erosion of Ottoman economic and political independence
– Capitulations
 European protection of non-Muslim minorities
– 1881 Public Debt Administration
 Nationalism
– loss of Ottoman territories in Europe
– Turkish and Arab nationalism
– Communal violence

6. The Age of Empire, 1875-1914
 Growing global division between the very powerful
and the less powerful
 Rise of colonial empires
– Between 1876 & 1914 about 25% of the world’s
land surface distributed as colonies among about
6 states (E. Hobsbawm)
– Reasons: economics (new markets & new
resources), strategic reasons, political symbolism,
nationalism
In the late 19th c. around 60% of Britain’s cotton exports went to India & further east…

7. Imperialism in Africa, late 19th-early
20th century

8. European colonialism in the Middle East,
late 18th-late 19th c.
– 1798-1801 French
invasion of Egypt
– British outposts on the
Arabian Peninsula, 1799
– French annexation of
Algeria, 1834 (settler
colonialism)
– British administrative
occupation of Egypt,
1882
– Russian and British
imperialism in Iran Gerome’s Napoleon in Egypt
(1863)

9. European colonialism in the Middle
East, 20th century
 WWI and Competing promises:
– Husayn-McMahon Correspondence, Sykes-
Picot agreement; Balfour Declaration
 Post WWI: League of Nations-sanctioned
Mandate System gives Britain and France
administrative control of Palestine,
Transjordan, Iraq, Syria, & Lebanon
 Many other areas remain under direct or
indirect colonialism

10. Sykes-Picot Agreement

11. The Mandate System
 certain parts of the world put under
“trusteeship” of various victorious
European powers
 British mandates in the MidEast: Palestine,
Iraq, Transjordan
 French mandates in the MidEast: Syria,
Lebanon
 Mandates both sanctify western
colonialism but also circumscribe it

12. ARTICLE 22 OF THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
June 28, 1919
3. To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war
have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly
governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand
by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there
should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of
such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that securities for the
performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant.
2. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the
tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by
reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position
can best undertake this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it,
and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories on
behalf of the League.
3. The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the
development of the people, the geographic situation of the territory, its
economic conditions and other similar circumstances.

13. Outside the Mandate
 True independence: Turkey
 Mostly independent: Yemen, S. Arabia
 Direct colonial rule: Libya (Italy); Algeria,
Morocco, Tunisia (French)
 External control & influence: Iran (Britain,
Russia, U.S.), Egypt (Britain)
 British treaties of protection: Kuwait,
Oman, U.A.E.

14. Map Correction: Iran and Egypt were not fully independent until much later
than indicated here. Both continued to have extensive external involvement in
their economic and political affairs.

15. Full Independence: How and When
 Military Coup: Egypt (1952), Iraq (1958)
 Revolution: Iran (1979)
 War: Turkey (1920-1923), Algeria (1954-1962),
Israel (1948)
 Uprising and Int. Agreement: Libya, Syria,
Lebanon (after WWII)
 Treaty: Jordan (1946/8), Tunisia (1956),
Morocco (1956)
 Communities promised states/autonomy that did
not receive them: Palestinians, Kurds, Armenians

16. Colonialism: Overarching effects
 Creation of new, national states in place of the Ottoman
Empire (Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, etc.)
 Implanting of western-supported regimes (especially
monarchies) that use violence to maintain authority. In
many cases, these would later be violently overthrown.
 Centralization of political power. Loss of rural autonomy.
 Reorganization of social relationships among different
groups. Privileging of some religious and social groups
over others, leading to future conflict.
 Massive economic disruption. New economic
relationships, with arrangements particularly benefiting
western powers
 New models: nationalism, “modernity vs traditional”

17. Colonialism & Imperialism,
summed up (a perspective)

18. Decolonization and
Postwar Settlements

19. Post-Surrender Terms for Japan
 Condition of Japan following war
– Japan was devastated.
– All the cities (except Kyoto), the industries,
and transportation networks were severely
damaged.
– A severe shortage of food continued for
several years.
– Inflation– the cost of living rose by 10
percent each month for about two years.

20. Occupation of Japan (August
1945 - April 1952)
 The entire operation was mainly carried
out by the United States.
– General Douglass MacArthur was named
the Supreme Commander of the Allied
Powers (SCAP).
– The Japanese people cooperated willingly
with the occupation authorities.
– The chief objective of SCAP were
demilitarization and democratization.

22. Occupation of Japan (August
1945 - April 1952)
 Demilitarization
– The remains of Japan’s war machine were
destroyed.
– Japan basically lost all the territory seized after
1894.
– Eventually able to maintain “self-defense” forces.

24. Occupation of Japan (August
1945 - April 1952)
 Democratization
– Economic reforms
 Effort to eliminate big business
conglomerates; independent companies
such as Honda, Toyota, and Sony emerged.
 Land reform program to achieve a more
equitable distribution of wealth.

25. Occupation of Japan (August
1945 - April 1952)
 Democratization, cont.
– Educational reforms
 Efforts to remove militaristic and
ultranationalistic influences from schools.
 Suspended the teaching of Japanese history
and geography until new textbooks could be
written.
 Encouraged students to think (no rote
learning).
 Reorganized school system after U.S. pattern.

26. Occupation of Japan (August
1945 - April 1952)
 Democratization, cont.
– Political reforms
 Eliminate the power of the emperor (figurehead);
announce that he was not divine; peerage eliminated.
 Make the executive power of the government responsible
to the people or the representatives.
 Establish a legislative body that would be directly
responsible to all adult citizens (universal suffrage).
 Develop democratically controlled political parties.
 Eliminate ties between the government and Shinto
shrines.
 Adoption of a new constitution and bill of rights.

27. Peace Treaty
 U.S. policy changed from keeping Japan from
reemerging as a military power to rebuilding its
economy and transforming it into an important
part in the anti-Communist bloc.
 On the same day that the peace treaty was
signed, a mutual security pact was signed
between Japan and the U.S. It provided for
continued U.S. military presence to protect it
from communism.
– Okinawa was to remain under U.S. occupation
(1972); retaining rights to military bases.
– Ratified October 1951; went into effect April
1952.

28. Decolonization
 As it became apparent that the Europe-
centered world was no more, anti-colonial
nationalism surged after 1945.
 The process of decolonization followed
three broad patterns:
– Civil war (China)
– Negotiated independence (Indian
subcontinent and much of Africa)
– Incomplete decolonization (Algeria and South
Africa)

29. Civil War in China
 Communist movement in China grew as poverty
and civil unrest spread.
– Rise of Mao Tse-tung (Communist)
– Party membership swelled from a mere 40,000 in 1937
to over a million in 1945.
 After Japan surrendered to end World War II, the
civil war between the Nationalists and the
Communists resumed.
 U.S. supports Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalists
– Never fully recovered from its demoralizing defeat at
the hands of the Japanese. (Lost popular support)
– Corrupt and inefficient government.

30. Civil War in China
 Faced with
Communist
victory, the
Nationalist
leaders escaped
and set up a
rival Chinese
state on the
island of
Formosa
(Taiwan) in
1949.

31. Negotiated Independence in
India and Africa
 In India and much of colonial Africa,
independence came with little bloodshed.
– The British withdrew after WWII.
 Pakistan and India gained independence
in August, 1947.
– Problems in India between Hindu majority
and Muslim minority.
 Gandhi shot dead by a Hindu zealot in 1948.
 India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru was
committed to the goal of state-directed
modernization.

32. Decolonization in Africa and
Asia after World War II

33. Negotiated Independence in
India and Africa
 Within a decade and a half of Indian
independence, most of the African states also
gained their sovereignty.
– In 1957, the Gold Coast (renamed Ghana) became
tropical Africa’s first independent state.
– By 1963 all of British-ruled Africa except for Southern
Rhodesia was independent.
 In each of these colonial possessions, charismatic
nationalist leaders took charge of populist political
parties and became the leaders to whom the
British turned over power.

34. Decolonization in Africa and Asia
after World War II

35. Decolonization in Africa and
Asia after World War II

36. Negotiated Independence in
India and Africa
 Decolonization in much of French-ruled
Africa followed a similarly smooth path,
though the French were initially more
resistant than the British.
– At first, treated decolonization as assimilation.
 France dissolved its political ties with
French West Africa and French Equatorial
Africa in 1960, having already given the
protectorates in Morocco and Tunisia their
independence in 1956.

37. Incomplete Decolonization:
Algeria and South Africa
 The presence of sizeable European settler
populations complicated the path from
colony to nation.
– Algeria: 1 million Europeans
 French leaders claimed that Algeria was an integral
part of metropolitan France.
 The colons constituted a minority to the 9 million
indigenous Arabs and Berber peoples.
– South Africa: 4 million Europeans
 Minority white rule (Afrikaners) persisted.

38. Incomplete Decolonization:
Algeria and South Africa
 The Algerian War of Independence
– The war dragged on for eight years
(1954-1962), at a cost of as many as 300,000
lives.
– At home, French society was torn apart.
 The negotiations to end the war began only after
an insurrection led by colons and army officers
had caused the French Fourth Republic to fall in
1958 and brought Charles de Gaulle to power.
– By 1962, more than 9/10ths of the European
population had departed.

39. Incomplete Decolonization:
Algeria and South Africa
 After winning the elections of 1948, the Afrikaner-
dominated National Party in South Africa enacted an
extreme form of racial segregation known as
apartheid.
 Apartheid laws stripped Africans, Indians, and colored
persons (mixed descent) of their few political rights.
 Schools segregated; country divided into racial
“homelands”
– The African National Congress opposed this
legislation.
 After the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, peaceful protest
turned into violent protest.
 Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1962.
 The West (U.S.) supported South Africa as a bulwark against the
spread of communism in Africa.