Imperialism in the middle east

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Western penetration of Egypt

Muhammad Ali built a modern state in Turkish held Egypt that attracted European traders.

He drafted the peasants, reformed the government, and improved communications.

The peasants lost out because the land was converted from self-sufficient farms to large, private landholdings to grow cash crops for export.

Ismail continued the modernization of Egypt, including the completion of the Suez Canal, but also drew the country deeply into debt.

To prevent Egypt from going bankrupt, Britain and France intervened politically.

Foreign financial control provoked a violent nationalistic reaction in Egypt that led to British occupation of the country until 1956.

Natural Resources

Beginning in the 1800s, imperialism was also practiced in the Middle East. The prime attraction for most European nations was the presence of vast oil fields. The machinery produced as a result of the Industrial Revolution required oil to keep numerous moving parts lubricated. As the internal combustion engine became more popular around 1900, oil was also needed as a fuel.

Strategic Location

Strategy also played a major role in the European conquest of the Middle East through imperialism. Two areas that Europe paid particular attention to were the Suez Canal and Palestine.

Suez Canal

The French originally set out to build the Suez Canal in 1859. However, Britain soon became jealous because of the potential impact the shortcut between the Mediterranean and Red Seas could have on trade with its Indian colony. In 1875, the British wrested financial control of the Suez Canal away from the French, and eventually made all of Egypt a protectorate in 1882.

Palestine

After WWI, the newly formed League of Nations gave Great Britain a mandate over Palestine. Palestine's location on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea seemed like a great prize to the British, but problems soon erupted. It became clear that both Arabs and Jews claimed the region as a homeland.

Ambiguous British foreign policy heightened tensions between the two groups as each was given a conflicting promise . For their support in WWI, Britain promised Arabs independence. Later however, in the Balfour Declaration, Britain promised to establish a national homeland for the Jews.

After WWII, Palestine would b...

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...English to build railroads. Increased export of cotton. Egypt = drawn increasingly into the world market. Khedive became westernized, commissioned Aida from Verdi.

--But all this cost $, borrowed mostly from England or France. Egypt = soon in financial trouble, temporarily relieved by selling Canal shares to England. Khedive = abdicated, replaced by a Western puppet. Nationalists rebelled, and in a pattern repe ated throughout colonial world, opposed both foreigners and government, the government for aiding foreign interest. Resistance = defeated by British, who stayed there until after WWII. Egypt = thus a British protectorate. Khedive = protected by the Britis h, who helped the Egyptian economy.

--French objected strongly to British presence in Near East, for French had by far the greatest investment there. To compensate for British gains, French built a N. African empire in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco. GBr and Germany in turn objected to Frenc h growth. Fertile grounds for WWI.

--Young Turks took control of government in 1908, forced restoration of constitution, introduced many reforms. Bulgaria announced full independence, and Austria annexed Bosnia. Italy took Libya, 1912.