MEC MIDTERM TERMS

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Roman Empire

Empire based out of rome. It fell due to corruption, internal division, and invasion by Germanic tribes. The Eastern part remained and was called the Byzantine Empire with Constatinople as its capital. It had mainly orthodox Christians. Both catholic and Orthodox agree that Jesus was both human and divine. They disagree on the role of the pope.

Sasanian Empire

Persia. Their main religion was Zoroastrianism. They worshipped a good god and a bad god, almost like heaven and hell.

Mamluk Empire

Basically Egypt from 1100-1500. They were originally Abbasid empire

Bedouin

Nomad and caravans. They were wanderers who brought animals such as camels, cows, and sheep with tents and goods, stayed in places from time to time to trade.

Caravan

Group of merchants travelling together to trade. They had horses and donkeys and traveled from India and China to sell their goods in the Middle East. Also went up and down the coast of the Byzantine Empire

Frankincense

Valuable aromatic resin made from chunks of tree sap. Grows in Yemen, Oman Somalia – climatic zones. It created a scent when burnt, like perfumes. it was used in religious ceremonies, showers, perfume, and for medicinal purposes.

Muhammad’s life

Prophet born in the year 570 who was a merchant by trade. One day he receives revelation in year 610 in a cave in the mountains. His followers grow but the leaders of Mecca are very hostile. Followers are killed and he goes to Medina. THis escape is called the Hijra

Things Muhammad believed in

Muhammad was bothered by slavery, and that society wasn’t taking care of the weak and elderly. Also the treatment of women. 622 is the beginning of the hijri calendar, or the muslim calendar.

Peace treaty and the Kingdom of Arabia

630: peace treaty, Muhammad returns to Mecca and makes a peace treaty. The Ka’bah is rededicated to just one God. it is a black stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Shahadah

Shahadah . Declaration of faith / bearing witness. “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger God.”

Salat

prayer. As you pray you are expected to face Mecca, the kabah, pray 5 times a day including specific prayer movements. Forehead down to ground. Humbling. Face Mecca. (New york = face east, in beijing = face west)

Sawm

fasting

Ramadan

period of fasting every islamic year. It is meant to remind muslims of the poor and needy. No eating from sunrise to sunset, and no sexual activities.

Zakat

alms, or mandatory charity. The quran says which type of charities you should donate to. Approximately 2.5% of salary.

Hajj

The pilgrimate of muslims. Making the trip to Mecca and visiting the Ka’bah

Pillars of faith

1. believe in one God

2. Believe in prophets

3. Believe in books, messengers, and messages

4. believe in angels

5. believe in judgement day

Abu Bakr

The first caliph after prophet Muhammad. The Rashidun caliphate are the first four caliphs after prophet Muhammad.

Omar

The caliph after Abu. He decides to expand out of Arabia and the medinan state. He got parts of the Byzantine (Roman) and the Sasanian Empire (Iran).

Uthman

third caliph

Ali

last Rashidun Caliph. After came the Umayyad caliphate in Damascus.

Sunni and Shi’i

Sunni muslims believe in democracy while Shi’i muslims believe that Muhammad named Ali, his cousin, to be his successor. Shi’i muslims are mainly in Iran and Iraq now.

Umayyad Caliphate

Enforced Monarchy. Capital: Cordoba. They conquered Islamic Iberia (Spain and portugal)

Abbasid Caliphate

Created Baghdad as a capital city. They were more diverse in terms of religion and culture than the Umayyad caliphate.

why Baghdad underwent translation movement

1. it was in the greek speaking area. Mostly Persian speakers.

2. Dead center of Abbasid Empire

3. Silk Road brought paper-making technology from china to Abbasid empire

Why the translation movement took place

1. Abbasid obsession with persion culture: Abbasids moved translation movement to the heart of the Persian empire.

2. The desire to translate astrology and dreams. The caliph had a dream about Aristotle and wanted to decipher dreams.

3. Developments in paper-making technology

Hunayn ibn IShaq

most famous translator. Specialized in polymath - math, medicine, astronomy, philosophy

House of Wisdom

the Grand Library of Baghdad, was a major Abbasid public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad and one of the world's largest public libraries during the Islamic Golden Age. However, it was destroyed by Mongols in their conquests in fire. Mongols were illiterate and did not need books, so they burned them as fuel.

Osman I

Turkish tribal leader, founder of the Ottoman dynasty. He was the first sultan, and Ghazi (muslim fighter against non-muslims). Bilecik, Yenikent, İnegöl and İznik in 1299, key Byzantine towns and this concurrently is the founding of the Ottoman Empire

Mehmet Fatih

He conquered Constantinople and brought the fall of the Byzantine. brought in 3 different turkic groups to settle in Constatntinople.

Devshirme system

It was a child levy system, essentially a form of tax. Amongst a non-muslim family of multiple boys, they’d select one to be slaves and taken to Istanbul. They were taught the basics of riding a horse, swordfighting, using a bow, and math and sciences. They were raised as a MUSLIM. by the time they were of age, they either went to the janissaries or the government under the chancery and treasury.

Impact of Devshirme

The Devshirme system generates complete and unwavering loyalty to the OTtoman Empire. You are cut off from all tethers so the system is all you know. It prevents rebellion, promotse loyalists.

Suleyman Kanuni

(Solomon the magnificent) - he conquered the Mamluk Empire, acquired Egypt, Hejaz, and Syria. Hejaz is the west coast of Arabia. The Mamluk empire was born from the Abbasid Caliphate, which fled there after the Mongols took their land.

Capitulations

Created by Suleiman. They are special tax breaks for French, English, and Great European powers whos residents reside in the Ottoman Empire.

Caravanserai

These were motel-type residence for traders on the silk roads in the Ottoman Empire. They had storage chambers for goods, rooms for merchants, and markets for trade.

Reason for Byzantine Defeat

1. They were not expecting conquests from the eastern front.

2. Both the Byzantine and Sasanian empires were weakened from fighting.

The Crusades

began in 1000s, to go to the holy land (Jerusalem) and fight and conquer for Christianity. The fourth crusade specifically took Constantinople, when Ventians and Crusaders made. a pact to attack together and put a puppet emperor on the throne in 1200. The byzantine gets control again in 1260, but they are permanenetly weakened.

Treaty of Karlowitz

1699, after a long period of Ottoman losing in wars. It sealed these losses and was the first time an Ottoman soverign formally acknowledged defeat and withdrew from lands formerly conquered by his ancestors. The sultan surrendered Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, Slovenia to the Habsburg EMpire (Austrian) and, yielded Dalmatia, Morea to Venetian empire, and south Ukraine to Poland.

The Great Game

a great power rivalry between the British and Russian Empire. They do not want the Russian navy to get out of the Black Sea and the straits in Istanbul were key.

European explanation for the sick man

1. Empire is too big

2. Leaders are not good unlike suleiman and mehmet

3. Ottomans didn’t keep up with scientific and technological developments

4. culturally primitive (racist)

The Eastern Question

what to do with the weakening Ottoman empire? The conclusion is to keep the sick man alive because it would act as a buffer that protects the Black Sea and the straits (phosphorus/dardanelles).

British and French give the ottomans the medicine the sick man needs to get better

Invest, give weapons and ships, and help them during wartime. For this, British and French are taking capitulations or tax breaks. This is how the Europeans gained more and more elite powers and privileges

The Suez Canal

A canal in Egypt built by French and Egyptians. It rids the need to sail the South African cape and cuts travel time. There are only two places to get cotton in the world; Egypt and India. American civil war ends cheap cotton, so the British worry that if the French stop cotton production in Egypt they are screwed.

British response to the Suez canal

naval bases in Oman, Socotra, Aden, Cyprus, Malta — the exact route of the suez canal.

The Rise of Germany

Created by Otto von Bismarck, and Germany decides to enter the ‘empire’ game played by most European countries at the time. They build the Berlin to Baghdad railway, and the British in response create Kuwait to stop germans from setting up a naval base out into the arabian sea because they realized how Germany could connect Europe to Indian through rail.

Crimean War

The Crimean War was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Sardinia-Piedmont. the black sea reamined a hotspot of geostrategic interest so the Britisha and French helped the sick man of europe against Russia.

Colonies

Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco all went to France; Cyprus, Egypt, and Libya all went to Britain. Ethiopia is one of the only african countries to never be colonized because it is landlocked between mountains.

Social darwinist

Pioneered by Herbert Spencer, who believed that the ‘survival of the fittest’ applied to humans too. It was also used to rationalize discriminatory practices based on race and ethnicity, leading to the promotion of ideas that certain races were inherently superior to others.

Cecil Rhodes

Cape to Cairy railway in the handout: he is standing with a food on north and a foot on south africa. This is literally a telegraph system, which brings industralization and advancement to this ‘backward’ part of the world. It also symbolizes the puppet-maseter controlling Africa for the british’s benefit.

White man’s burden

White man’s burden was coined by lyricist and poet Rudyard Kipling. It argued that white men from civilized nations had a moral responsibility to conquer and educate the lands of the impoverished and backwards. It justified imperialism.

Great European Powers

Russia: they built a port in St. Petersburg in the Baltic Sea but it was ineffective as the Baltic freezes in the winter. Therefore, they wanted mediterranean access to get warn water ports. Meanwhile, the Frecnh wanted access to India. the 7 years’ war meant that French were expelled from the US

Dhimmis

Dhimmis were non-muslim subjects living in the ottoman Empire.

Millet

self-governing religious communities or groups within the Ottoman Empire. In a millet, millet leaders communicate with each other regarding the important topics of the group

Ahl al-kitab

People of the book. Muslims believed in being people of the book. If you weren’t muslim, you could remain in the empire but pay a Jizya tax. This is why there was a large non-muslim population in the ottoman empire

Restrictions on Dhimmis

1. If a dhimmi has a conflict with a muslim, it will be taken to Muslim court

2. no building/altering religious buildings

3. clothing restrictions

4. no horses

5. no opening alcohol establishment or sell alcohol

Rights of dhimmis

1. How you organize and run things within your millet is up to you. You organize your own community.

2. choose your own leadership and hierarchy. Tax collectors are subject to your own whim. The ottoman state does not interfere with your religious affairs

Islamic Courts

one of many types of courts in the ottoman Empire. However, these were the most well-established because they used legal documentation to keep tangible written record of cases.

Restrictions of going to muslim court

1. Capital crimes must go to muslim court

2. cases involving a muslim must go to muslim court

Benefits of Muslim court

1. Record keeping: this was taken seriously in muslim court

2. Better law enforcement in muslim court due to more of the state’s taxes going toward these courts

3. People of two different religions could go to Muslim court as a neutral ground to avoid religious conflicts

4. Generates awarness of each other’s legal systems so that cultures learn about each other.

Marriage in the Ottoman Empire

Woman’s family must pay in the Christian marriage - a dowry is the gift a woman gives her husband upon marriage.
In Islamic marriage, man’s money must give wealth to the woman. Not the family, but the woman, and that remains her exclusive property.

Marriage contract

Men could marry up to 4 women in the Ottoman Empire but they could only put a contract on one.

Divorce

Divorcing in islamic court requires alimony. Alimony is the financial support paid by one ex-spouse to the other upon divorce. Islamic court also requires child support.

Inheritance

In christian law, women can’t inherit. A woman is required in Islamic court to inherit. Women are essentially shopping around for the best deal.

Why the islamic courts existed

Generates awareness of each others’ legal systems, Educates each other about each others’ customs, and women know where to go for the better deal.

Tanzimat reforms

1839. The Janissaries were abolished in the 1820s to pave way for a more efficient military that was more technologically forward. Next, the Tanzimat reforms made all residents of the Ottoman empire, regardless of ethnicity or religion, stand on equal footing in the eyes of the law. It abolished clothing restrictions.

Hatti Humayun

gives equality to all dhimmis

World War 1

not an ideological war, but a territorial one. Basically a land grab. Caused when Austro-hungarian empire archduke ferdinand was killed by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo. This man is associated with Serbia, so Austro hungary declares war on Serbia. Serbia sides with Russia. Germany wants land from Russia so they declare war on Russia. France has a treaty with Russia, so France sides with Russia. italy joins Germany in the race for land.

Triple Alliance

AH, Germany, Italy = triple alliance

France, Russia, UK = triple entente

Two Front War to defeat Germany

Eastern front = Russian and Middle Eastern front

Western front = French front

Russian Revolution

1917, when bolsheviks rise against the imperial government so the Russian govt drops out of WW1. At the same time, US enters to keep the triple entente

Ottomans enter WWI

In the beginning, the ottomans do not want to get involved. However, Germany is the only european country that did not take Ottoman territory and most people believed that they would win the war. Also, ottomans believed that Germany would give back territory that British and Europeans took and wanted to abolish the capitulations.

Goeben and Breslau

two ships that Germany gifted to the Ottoman empire, but were kept in the Black Sea with a German crew on board. They sailed up north and attacked Russia. Russia sees the Ottoman flag on the ships and declares war.

Westerner ideology

the more troops in France to attack Germany in no man’s land, the harder it will be for Germany to win the war. Game over

Easterner ideology

Indian troops land in Kuwait and attack Ottoman cities such as Basra and Baghdad. Gallipoli campaign: land in Gallipoli, march to Istanbul, defeat Ottomans, but this ends in defeat when Ottomans fire cannons from their mountain range, and put metal nets to capture submarines. Winston Churchill, a subscriber of Easterner ideology, gets voted out

HUSAYN-MCMAHON CORRESPONDENCE

Hashemite leaders based in Hijaz, the western coast of Arabia, are unhappy about Ottoman interference in their daily affairs, including a railway from Damascus to Mecca. They want their autonomy and are afraid the Ottoman government will send officials down. Therefore, when WW1 breaks out, the Sharif Husayn and British government High Commissioner engage in secret proposals known as the Husayn-Mcmahon Correspondence

things about the correspondence

Britain is “free to act in interests of her ally France” - very VAGUE

They agree to disagree about Damascus Homs Hamma Aleppo.

Aden’s status will remain “at present”

Arab revolt

1916. The Arab Revolt or the Great Arab Revolt was an armed uprising by the Arabs against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I.

T. E. Lawrence

Thomas Edward Lawrence CB DSO was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

Jamal Pasha

Ottoman governor of Syria, including Israel and Palestine.

Ali Fuad Erden

he was a the chief of staff of the Djemal Pasha.

British reasoning for Husayn-Mcmahon correspondence

The Suez canal was the vital artery of the British empire. They worried that the turks might sink a liner in the canal, which would block it and make troops from India, Asia, Astralia etc to round Africa instead of sailing through the middle east. By staging an Arab distraction, the turks will not be able to attack ships in the suez. If successful, they can also take over the Suez Canal.

Sykes-Picot Agreement

1915-16, between the British member of Parliament Mark Sykes and Francois Georges Picot. The French want territory and land with allies, while british want a road to india and strategic zones. The both want palestine so they agree to share it.

Constantinople agreement.

The British promise Russia Ottoman territory

Treaty of London

British pressure Italians to drop out of alliance and give Ottoman territory

Division of Sykes-Picot

Turkey is the rump nobody wants. It directly creates the map of the modern-day middle east

Balfour declaration

1917. Result of the zionist movement, which is Jewish nationalism. Theodore Herzl creates World Zionist Organizaton. It basically delcares British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Chiam Weizmann

Russian Jew who went to school in Switzerland for chemistry, then was a professor at Manchester University. DUring WW1, he invents chemical warfare and meets with lots of officials, and tells them about zionist ideology.

David Lloyd George

The PM elected in 1916 after Winston Churchill was ousted. He has two goals: not to share Palestine with the French, because the French could attack the Suez canal and hence the road to india, and also wants to create another front in the war, so he works with Chaim Weizmann and foreign secretary Arthur Balfour to create a statement of British policy that would be pro-zionist.

Reasons for the Balfour Declaration

1. German Jews will betray Germany and backstab Germany from the inside.

2. Russian Jews working within the high elites would keep Russia in the war and not back out of the war

3. American Jews, who were initially pro-Germany and anti-Russia, would pressure the US Government to enter the war. But by the time it was issued America was already in the war

4. Belived the Jews had secret global banking power to divert resources to Britain

Edwin Montagu

Secretary of State of India, only Jewish member of the British cabinet, was very much against the Balfour Declaration.

Reasons edwin montagu was against the BD

1. Bloody and expensive to replace one population with another

2. It sounds like Jewish in other countries don’t belong there and instead belong to ‘Der Judenstaat’

Woodrow Wilson

elected in 1913, joins war due to submarine attacks and Zimmerman telegram. Very anti-imperialist and pro self-determination

League of Nations

An institution where countries can come together and talk over things. They met at San Remo under the league of nations umbrella and hand out territories, created the Mandate system here

The Mandates

Handed out territories to victors and said that these territories needed ‘modernizing’, influenced by the white man’s burden. Once they’re ready for full independence, give it to them. They graded these places ABC, and Ottoman territories were given an A grade. African were C.

Specific mandates

France is given the Syrian mandate, including Syria and Lebanon. britain is given the Palestinian mandate inc

Arab Kingdom of Syria

After the Arabs were denied sovereignty under the mandates. For example, the arab Kingdom of Syira was the first country to declare independence after wwi. it had a King Faysal. However, the French bomb them and retake their dominance in the region. The HMC is betrayed by SP in this case.

Cairo Conference

Winston Churchill was the secretary of war, airforce, colonies, then exchequer, after his expellation as PM. They met in Cairo in 1921 and created the Kingdom of Iraq and installed King Faisal I, a member of the Hashemite family.

Empire on the Cheap

The British colonies had now expanded after ww1 and Churchill wanted to cut costs while mainting this cheap empire.

Frederick Lugard

he was a British politician who briefly served as the Governor of Hong Kong. He proposed the British dual mandate of Africa, which consisted of three parts:

1. colonial administration, which included rule through puppets, co-opt elites, and small footprint

2. First mandate - Economic Development. Develop the colonies economically by exploiting their natural resources to support manufacturing goods back at home.

3. Second mandate - Civilizing mission. Bring European culture and values to these societies. Languages, religion, and legal systems, and assimilate into European values.

British methods for colonial rule in the ME

1. Rule through puppets / indirect rule.

2. Co-opt elites into the system, give them resources but makes the entire elite group reliant on the system because their livelihood depends on it.

3. Small footprint: the locals are less likely to realize they are being ‘colonized’

Pottery Barn rule

You break it, you buy it. It is commonly attributed to former us SS Colin powell. It suggests that the US has to bear responsibility for the chaos it caused in Afghanistan and the rise of the Taliban in the region.

Treaty of Berlin

The ottomans beat the Russia in a war, and RUssia lost lots of previously gained ottoman lands. it made Bulgaria a SAR, granted independence to serbia and montenegro and Romania