Middle East History Test

Israel Demographics

hebrew, judaism, jewish and arab ethnicities

Palestine demographics

speak arabic, sunni islam, predominantly arab

Iran demographics

farsi, shia islam, persian

Abbasid Empire

Second Islamic Empire. Descendants of Muhammad's family.

Hussein-McMahon Correspondence

Promise made between britain and sharif (leader) of mecca

Yom Kippur War

suprise attack on israel in 1973 by egypt and syria

Ottoman Empire

A Muslim empire based in Turkey that lasted from the 1300's to 1922.

Balfour Declaration

British document that promised land in Palestine as homeland for Jews in exchange for Jews help in WWI

Peace Plans

US wants two state solution ➡️arab and jewishpartition is more complicated

Prophet Muhammad

Founder of Islam

Sykes-Picot Agreement

The 1916 secret agreement between Britain and France that divided up the Arab lands of Lebanon, Syria, southern Turkey, Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq.

Palestinian Authority

established in 1994, this group acts as the governing body for those living in Gaza and the west bank

Caliphate

Islamic empire ruled by those believed to be the successors to the Prophet Muhammad.

League of Nations Mandates 1922

separate peace treaties, breaking apart the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France took more land, losing countries gave up a lot of land

Intifada

"The Uprising" against Israel by some Palestinians

Nationalism

A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country

UN Partition Plan 1947

United Nations divided Palestine into two Countries, one Jewish and one Arab.

Hamas

a military terrorist group intent on replacing Israel with an Islamic State

Zionism

A movement to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine

Al Nakba/War of Independence/1948 Arab-Israeli War

- israel declares independence
- arab nation declare war day after
- israel wins
- palestinians are left with no land

Gaza

A small, crowded piece of coastal land disputed over by Jews and Arabs

Arab Nationalism

belief that all Arabs should ban together and form one large arab country

Suez Crisis

July 26, 1956, Nasser (leader of Egypt) nationalized the Suez Canal, Oct. 29, British, French and Israeli forces attacked Egypt. UN forced British to withdraw; made it clear Britain was no longer a world power

West Bank

an area between Israel and Jordan on the west bank of the Jordan river

Conflicting Promises

palestine was promised to jewish, arabs, and europenas

6 Day War

1967, israel attacks syria jordan and eqypt unprovoked taking out air forces, israrel wins and gets golan heights from syria, WB from jordan, and sainai peninsular and GS form egypt

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the shah, or king, of Iran from 1941 through January 1979. He led a primarily pro-Western government, in part because the United States had played a role in keeping him in power.

Mohammad Mossadegh

Reform prime minister of Iran who wanted to nationalize the oil industry.

1953 Iranian Coup (Operation AJAX)

- CIA (US and britain) led coup to overthrow elected prime minister mahammed mosadegh
- iran wanted to nationalize oil, but the us wanted a share
- shah goes into exile
-the shah is brought back and supported by US after the plan works (iranians dont like shah)
- US and the Shah become allies for 25 years

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

Iranian religious leader who led the revolution against the Shah of Iran, establishes a theocracy

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Current supreme leader of Iran

1979 Iranian Revolution

- shah flees
- revolutionaries overthrow US backed iranian gov
- est islamic state of iran
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes leader (he was anti US)
- shah gets cancer and wants to come to the US for treatment, jimmy carter allows
- iran thinks the us is trying to put the shah back in power
- students in tehran take hostages for 444 days (hostage crisis)

Saddam Hussein

- sunni leader of shia nation ( iraqi leader)
- feared a shia revolution, so invaded iran (iran iraq war)
- US sends weapons to iraq
-war ends in stalemate in 1988 after millions die

Iran-Contra Affair

- US hostages taken in lebabnon by hezbollah terrorist group
- reagan illegally sells weapons to iran, even though the US backed iraq at the time
- US backed both sides in hopes of freeing hostages
- US used illegally obtained money to fund nicaragua against communist contras (fighting sandinistas)
- cogress passes law that said US wouldn't get involved in nicaragua, but Reagan does it anyways
- regan admits all in 1987

JCPOA

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (Iran Nuclear deal)
- iran developed nuclear plant
- US found out and put econ sanctions on iran
- iran's econ collapsed
- JCPOA = iran must give up most of iranian resources
- UN is allowed to inspect iran for illegal nuclear activity
- in return the US will lift sancitions
- US withdrew from agreement under Trump admin.

Arab Spring

A revolutionary wave of protests and demonstrations overtaking dictators in the Middle East (2011)
causes:
- econ dissatisfaction, high unemployment in young educated ppl
-politcal corruption
- mohamed set himself on fire in protest
conflict:
- gov vs protesters
- violence, no leader
- gov response was violent
- domino effect across arab nations
concequence:
- end of some govs
- new elections
- divisions between secular and non - secular groups

Qasam Soleimani

- head of iran revolutionary guard corps (IRGC)
- killed by US drone strike in 2020
- us viewed him as a terrorist and threat
- tension grew between countries

How has US and European interventionism shaped the Middle East? (Turning points)

coup of 1953= removed prime minister, shah comes to power and is allies with the US (caused iranian mistrust w/ US)
1979= iranian revoultion (creation of gov based on islam)
hostages crisis= tensions between US and iran ever since
US backs iraq in iran-iraq war

How have those people living in the Middle East experienced and responded to this interventionism? (protests, negatives effects)

- 1953 coup ➡️ hostage crisis
- econ collapsed due to sanctions (JCPOA)

What values and interests have shaped this intervention? (What were the goals?)

- interest in oil industry for weapons
- alliance
- expand global power

What values and interests SHOULD shape US intervention in the Middle East? (fact based opinion)

- fight against terrorist organizations
- help middle easterners fight against authoritarian regimes (give them a voice)
-reenter JCPOA to limit nuclear weapon development