The Great Leap Forward: pgs. 548-549 notes 04·22·03
New Democracy
After fall of 1940
- China ruled by Communist Party, chairman Mao Zedong
- long-term goal to build social list society
- leaders realized popular support for revolution had been based on party’s platform of honest gov’t and land reform, not socialist goal of classless society so moved slowly, adopted new program:
- New Democracy – program of modified capt’lism (like Lenin’s New Ec. Policy)
- Major industries under state ownership, most trading and manufacturing co’s owned privately
- land taken from wealthy landlords, given to poor peasants to win support
- 2/3 of peasant households received land under program
New Democracy effects
- thousands of landlords, rich farmers lost land, sometimes lives
- many who died had been tried + convicted of ‘crimes vs the ppl’ in ppl’s courts set up in towns + villages around country, some innocent of any crime
- Comm Party thought deaths necessary to destroy power of large landowners in countryside
Great Leap Forward
Collectivization
- 1955 – Chinese gov’t launched new program to build soc’l society
- private farmland collectivized
- peasant families allowed small private plots but worked mainly in large col. farms
- most industry and commerce nat’lized
- leaders hoped that col. farms would increase food production so more ppl could work in industry but didn’t work
- 1958 – Mao began more radical program known as the Great Leap Forward
- existing col. farms (size of trad’l village) combined into people’s communes
- each contained more than 30,000 ppl
Disastrous effects
- Mao Zedong hoped it would mobilize ppl for great effort to speed up economic growth + reach final, classless society stage of communism before end of 20th century
- party’s official slogan promised: ‘Hard work for a few years, happiness for a thousand’
- Great Leap Forward was disaster: combo of bad weather, peasants’ hatred of new system drove food prod. down
- over next few yrs – as many as 15mil ppl may have died of starvation
- many peasants reportedly reduced to eating treebark and sometimes allowing infants to starve
- 1960 – ppl’s communes abandoned, returned to collective farms
Chinese Society Under Communism: pgs. 552-555 notes 04·27·03
Economics in command
Changes in industry
- in late 1950s, Mao believed pol considerations more important than econ ones in building soc’ist society
- after 1976, Deng + other party leaders hoped rapid econ growth would J+ prevent ppl from demanding pol reforms
- new leaders allowed local managers of state-owned factories to have more ctrl over prices, salaries, quality
- bonuses could be paid to workers for extra effort
- regime allowed small private sector: ppl could set up restaurants/handicraft shops on their own, foreign firms invited to build factories in C
Educational reforms
- abandoned system of edu begun during CR, opened new schools based on Western model
- merit exams to go to universities
- math + science courses given priority
A new agricultural policy
- collective farms could lease land to peasant families: paid rent (% of goods) to collective
- anything produced on land beyond amount of rent could be sold on private market
- sideline industries allowed: eg, peasants raised fish + made consumer goods to sell
- farm production ^ - income doubled during 80s
- problems: by 1970, gov’t launched strict family planning prgrm
- families limited to one child – more than 1 would be fined
- led many peasant fams to pay penalties for having x > 1
- sons still valued more highly than daughters, female infanticide didn’t entirely disappear
- living standards improved for most ppl – gov’t stressed idea that all C would prosper, although not @ same rate
Daily life and women’s rights
New rights for women under Mao
- CCP had intended to create new citizen w/racial + sexual =ity, expected to contribute utmost for good of all
- Mao Zedong: the people ‘should be resolute, fear no sacrifice, and surmount every difficulty to win victory’
- 1950s – gov’t allowed women to partake in politics - @ local lvl, increasing # of women became active in CP
- 1950 – new Marriage Law passed, guaranteed women = rights w/men
- also allowed women to initiate divorce proceedings vs husbands ~ w/in a yr, nearly 1mil divorces granted
The family under Mao
- new regime tried to destroy influence of trad’l fam system
- Comm: loyalty to fam (important in Confucian social order) undercut loyalty to state » fam loyalty was vs basic principle of Marxism: dedication to society @ large
- during GLF and through CR, children encouraged for 1st time to report to authorities any critical comments of system made by parents
- Red Guard expected children to report on parents, students on teachers, employees on superiors
Social changes after the Cultural Revolution
- foreign observers @ time feared CR would transform Cppl into robots saying slogans fed by leaders » didn’t happen
- after death of Mao, noticeable shift away from rev’nary fervor + return to practical approach to nation building
- most ppl – shift meant better living conditions, return to fam traditions
- married couples who had been given patriotic names (eg ‘Protect Mao Zedong,’ ‘Build the Country’) by parents chose more elegant names for own children
- new attitudes reflected in phys appearances ~ for generation after civil war, clothing had been restricted to baggy olive drab/dark blue ‘Mao suit’
- today: young Cppl – Western jeans, sneakers, sweatsuits ~ cosmetic surgery for more W facial look increasingly common among rich young women in cities
- religious pracs and believes changed since CR’s official belief of atheism
- some returning to trad’l Buddhist – Bud. + Taoist temples filled w/worshipers
- Christianity increasingly popular b/c many view as symbol of success
- changes more common among urbanz + small middle class than rural («who make up more than ½pop)
- most peasants haven’t been affected much by events since Mao’s death, gap that has ÷ed town + cntry still remains
- pracs like arranged marriage, mistreatment of females cont’ in rural areas
- parents in cntryside reportedly have killed baby girls in hopes of having son to fulfill expectation of only 1 child/fam
Revolution in Iran: pgs. 536-538 tb.n 05·06·03
Oil and prices
- internat’l oil crisis caused by Arab-Israeli dispute
- 1960 - Arab states formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to gain ctrl over oil prices
- 1970s – used oil prices as weapon to force W gov’ts to abandon support of Israel
- 1973 war – some OPEC nations announced large increases in oipr to foreign cntries
- (+ cuts in oil production) led to oil shortage & serious econ problems in US and Europe
- pri.increase also brought new riches to oil-exporting cntries (eg, Libya) ~ under Colonel Muammar Qadhafi
- Cl. used cntry’s oil riches to build roads, schools, hospitals but also to finance terrorist activities vs W nations + overthrow disliked gov’ts
- Referred to as ‘that madman of the Mediterranean’ by Pres. Sadat of Egypt
Iran
Shah and reforms
- under leadership of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- occupied position w/help of US CIA, one of riches cntries in Middle East
- 1950s-60s – chief ally of US in MidE
- tried to make series of reforms w/American encouragement, to transform Iran into most advanced cntry of region
- » per capita income increased lots, literacy rates improved, affluent middle class emerged in capital of Tehran
- » many peasants still landless, many ppl jobless, urban middle class felt squeezed by inflation, housing costs ^!!
Unrest
- religious discontent: millions of devout Muslims had distaste for new Iranian civilization
- » based on greed, materialism ~ identified w/W, esp. American, influence
- opposed gov’tal corruption + extension of voting rights to women
- some used terrorism vs wealthy Iranians/foreigners to provoke pol disorder
- response: Savak, shah’s security police, imprisoned, tortured thousands of dissidents
- opposition led by the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Iranian cleric who’d been exiled to Paris for outspoken oppo. to shah’s regime
- cont’d attacks in print, radio, + on tv from Paris
- by late 1970s, large #s of Ir’n students, peasants, townsppl began to respond
- 1979 - workers’ strike grew intense, shah left cntry
New gov’t under Khomeini?
- shah’s gov’t collapsed, hastily formed Islamic republic for replacement
- new gov’t began to rid of W influence + restore trad’l Islamic law under guidance of Ayatollah
- reign of terror began same time, shah’s supporters were rounded up, executed
Outside Iran
US
- much attn of outside world focused on American Embassy in Tehran, militant Ir’ns held # of Amer’s hostage
- in eyes of ayatollah + followers, US was ‘Great Satan’, protector of Israel + enemy of Muslim ppl everywhere
- US held respnsble for corruption of Ir’n society under shah
- Khomeini demanded that shah be returned to Iran for trial, US to apologize for acts vs Ir’n ppl
- US response: gov’t stopped buying Ir’n oil, froze Ir’n assets in US
Effects
- effs of disturbances in Iran quickly spread beyond its borders
- Islamic militants called for similar rev’ns in Islamic cntriz around world
- July 1980, shah died of cancer in Cairo
- econ conditions in Iran deteriorating, Islamic rev’nary gov’t finally agreed to free US hostages in return for release of Ir’n assets
- intensity of Ir’n Rev’n moderated in next few yrs
New gov’t after Khomeini
- 1989 – death of Khomeini » new gov’t under Pres. Hashemi Rafsanjani began to loosen clerical cntrl over freedom of expression + soc activities
- mid-1990s, new wave of gov’t repression sparked b rising criticism of rampant official corruption + high inflation rate
- newspapers censored, universities purged of ‘un-Islamic’ elements, self-appnted religious militants raided private homes for treasonous activities
- Ir’n journalist: ‘There is deep fear and absolutely no freedom of expression.’
The Land of Palestine: pgs. 346-348, 529-530 tb.n 05·12·03
Balfour Declaration
- Arab unrest existed in Ottoman Empire since 18th Century
- Group of reformers known as Wahhabis revolted, tried to drive out foreigners + cleanse Islam of outside influences + corrupt practices that developed in past centuries
- Revolt was suppressed but influence of Wahhabi movement continued
- Arabs had chance to replace Ottoman rule in WWI, but w/ what?
- 1916 local governor of Mecca declared Arabia's independence from Ottoman rule, hoped for British support for Arab nat’lists
- Nationalists disappointed when at the close of the war Britain agreed to share w/ France a creation of a number of mandates in the area to be placed under general supervision of new League of Nations
- Iq and Jordan were assigned to Great Brit, Syria and Lebanon were given to France
- 1920s leader of Wahhabi movement united Arab tribes in northern part of Arabian Peninsula and drove out remnants of Ottoman rule
- Ibn Saud was the leader of the movement and he won broad support among Arab tribal ppls and established the kingdom of Saudi Arabia throughout much of the peninsula in 1932
- At first kingdom consisted mostly of vast wastes of central Arabia and was desperately poor
- Its financial resources were limited
- According to the Balfour Declaration issued by Brit foreign secretary Lord Balfour in November 1971 Palestine was to become a national home for the Jews
- Declaration promised that the decision would not undermine the rights of the existing non-Jewish ppls currently living in the area
Palestine in the 1930s
- 1930s U.S. prospectors began to explore for oil
- 1938 Standard Oil made a successful strike at Dahran
- Arabian-American Oil Company called Aramco was set up
- Kingdom was suddenly flooded w/ ppl in oil industry
- Palestine had been home to the Jews
- Under Brit control primarily Muslim Palestinians inhabited Palestine
- Arab nat’lists angered, questioned how a nat’l home for the Jewish ppl could be estab’ed in territory in which 98% of the pop. was Muslim
- Jewish settlers began to arrive in Palestine in response to the promises made in the Balfour Declaration
- Zionist movement had long advocated return of Jews to Palestine as their homeland
- Tensions between new arrivals and existing Muslim residents began to escalate esp. during 1930s
- Increased persecution of Jews w/ rise of Nazi Germany led increasing numbers of European Jews to flee to Palestine
- 1939 there were about 450,000 Jews in Palestine
- Brit gov’t declared only 75,000 Jewish immigrants would be allowed into Palestine over the next 5 yrs
Formation of Israel
- in MidE as in other areas of Asia, WWII led to the emergence of new independent states
- Syria and Lebanon had already received their independence near the end of WWII
- Jordan achieved complete self-rule soon after the war
- Egypt gained its independence in 1922 but was still under Brit control
- 1945 formation of Arab League
- 1930s, tensions between Jews and Arabs intensified
- GB, which had a mandate in Palestine, began to limit Jewish immigration into the area
- Zionists who wanted Palestine as a home for Jews were not to be denied but many ppl had been shocked at the end of WWII when they learned about the Holocaust
- Zionists turned for support to the United States and were well received
- March 1948 - Truman admin’n approved of the concept of an indep’t Jewish state in Palestine despite the fact that only 1/3 of local population Jewish
- United Nations resolution divided Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state the Jews in Palestine acted
- May 14, 1948 - they proclaimed the state of Israel
1948 War and its aftermath
- Arab neighbors saw new state as betrayal of Palestinian ppl 90% of which were Muslim
- Several Arab countries invaded new Jewish state
- Invasion failed but both sides remained bitter
- 1948 Thousands of Palestinian refugees fled from Israel into neighboring Muslim states
- Jordan occupied by half a million Bedouins was now flooded by arrival of almost one million urban Palestinians
- North was Lebanon that had been created to provide local Christian community w/ a cntry of its own
Nasser & Pan-Arabism: pgs. 530-534 tb.n 05·13·03
Nasser
Taking control
- Egypt placed in difficult place by dispute over Palestine
- Technically, E not an Arab state
- but King Farouk, who had come to power in 1936, had often decl’ed support for Arab cause
- Farouk had committed E’n armies to disastrous war vs. Israel in 148
- 1952, KF overthrown by military coup led by young mil. officers
- real force behind scenes was Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser, son of minor gov’t official
- 1953, N replaced monarchy w/republic
- 1954, N took ctrl of E
- first act to begin land-reform program to help peasants
- adopted policy of neutrality in foreign affairs, expressed sympathy for Arab cause
Suez War of 1956 …
- N esp. upset w/GB
- even after had granted E indep’ce in 1922, kept ctrl over Suez Canal to protect sea route to Indian Ocean
- July 26, 1956, N suddenly nat’lized Suez Canal Company which had been under Brit and French admin’n
- GB and F decided to strike back b/c concerned over threat to route to Indian O., quickly joined by Israel
- Forces of 3 nat’ns lauched joint attack on E, starting the Suez War of 1956
- Both US and SU supported N, forced GB, F, and Israel to withdraw their troops from E
The United Arab Republic
- N turned to pan-Arabism (belief in Arab unity)
- 1957, the Ba’ath Party, (had supported a union of all Arab states in a new soc’ist society,) assumed power in Syria
- opened talka w/E on union btwn Sy and E
- March 1958, E formally united w/Sy in United Arab Republic (UAR)
- N named first pres. of new state
- E and Sy hoped union would eventually incl. all the Arab states but other Arab leaders, incl. young King Hussein of Jordan + kings of Iq and Saudi Arabia, suspicious
- Iq+SAkngs particularly feared pan-Arabism, thought would b asked 2 share vast oil revenues w/poorer states of MidE
Dreams + views?
- N had dreams of new kind of MidE
- thought much of wealth of MidE now flowed into treasures of a few states or foreign oil interests
- thought wealth could be used to improve standard of living thru-out MidE, thru Arab unity
- natural resources (incl. oil) and major industries would have to be nat’lized to achieve this
- central planning could guarantee that resources would be utilized efficiently, creating new econ policy N called scientific socialism
Breakup of UAR
- but in end, N’s desire to extend state ctrl over econ brought end to UAR
- 1961, his gov’t announced nat’lization of large # of industries+utilities » military coup overthrew Ba’ath leaders in Sy
- new leaders then withdrew Sy from its union w/E
- breakup of UAR did not end N’s dream of pan-Arabism
- mid-1960s, E active in promoting Arab unity vs. Israel
- 1964, in meeting of Arab leaders held in Jerusalem, E’ns took lead in forming Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to represent interests of Pal’ns
- PLO believed only Pal’ns ppls (+ not Jewish immigrants from abroad) had right to form state in Pal
- guerilla mvmnt called al-Fatah, led by PLO pol leader Yasir Arafat, began 2 launch terrorist attacks on Israeli territory
- 1966, Israeli gov’t began to raid PLO bases in Jordan in retaliation
You Are There
The Suez Canal Belongs to Egypt
1. What was the problem President Nasser was addressing? That the Suez Canal should be owned and managed by Egyptians. (?)
2. According to Nasser, why does the Suez Canal rightfully belong to Egypt? The Suez Canal Company had lost 120,000 Egyptian workers in digging the Canal and was an Egyptian company, but was taken away by the British, who have been taking profits from the Company since the canal was dug.
A Plea for Peace in the Middle East
1. What is the single purpose Golda Meir wanted to work toward? To fight against poverty, disease, and illiteracy, for peace and the improvement of all lands and all peoples, rather than fighting against each other.
2. How did she suggest that the countries of the Middle East achieve that purpose? For everyone to unite, governments and peoples, to contribute to peace and Jness.
3. Has that purpose been achieved in the Middle East? Nooope.
New Democracy
After fall of 1940
- China ruled by Communist Party, chairman Mao Zedong
- long-term goal to build social list society
- leaders realized popular support for revolution had been based on party’s platform of honest gov’t and land reform, not socialist goal of classless society so moved slowly, adopted new program:
- New Democracy – program of modified capt’lism (like Lenin’s New Ec. Policy)
- Major industries under state ownership, most trading and manufacturing co’s owned privately
- land taken from wealthy landlords, given to poor peasants to win support
- 2/3 of peasant households received land under program
New Democracy effects
- thousands of landlords, rich farmers lost land, sometimes lives
- many who died had been tried + convicted of ‘crimes vs the ppl’ in ppl’s courts set up in towns + villages around country, some innocent of any crime
- Comm Party thought deaths necessary to destroy power of large landowners in countryside
Great Leap Forward
Collectivization
- 1955 – Chinese gov’t launched new program to build soc’l society
- private farmland collectivized
- peasant families allowed small private plots but worked mainly in large col. farms
- most industry and commerce nat’lized
- leaders hoped that col. farms would increase food production so more ppl could work in industry but didn’t work
- 1958 – Mao began more radical program known as the Great Leap Forward
- existing col. farms (size of trad’l village) combined into people’s communes
- each contained more than 30,000 ppl
Disastrous effects
- Mao Zedong hoped it would mobilize ppl for great effort to speed up economic growth + reach final, classless society stage of communism before end of 20th century
- party’s official slogan promised: ‘Hard work for a few years, happiness for a thousand’
- Great Leap Forward was disaster: combo of bad weather, peasants’ hatred of new system drove food prod. down
- over next few yrs – as many as 15mil ppl may have died of starvation
- many peasants reportedly reduced to eating treebark and sometimes allowing infants to starve
- 1960 – ppl’s communes abandoned, returned to collective farms
Chinese Society Under Communism: pgs. 552-555 notes 04·27·03
Economics in command
Changes in industry
- in late 1950s, Mao believed pol considerations more important than econ ones in building soc’ist society
- after 1976, Deng + other party leaders hoped rapid econ growth would J+ prevent ppl from demanding pol reforms
- new leaders allowed local managers of state-owned factories to have more ctrl over prices, salaries, quality
- bonuses could be paid to workers for extra effort
- regime allowed small private sector: ppl could set up restaurants/handicraft shops on their own, foreign firms invited to build factories in C
Educational reforms
- abandoned system of edu begun during CR, opened new schools based on Western model
- merit exams to go to universities
- math + science courses given priority
A new agricultural policy
- collective farms could lease land to peasant families: paid rent (% of goods) to collective
- anything produced on land beyond amount of rent could be sold on private market
- sideline industries allowed: eg, peasants raised fish + made consumer goods to sell
- farm production ^ - income doubled during 80s
- problems: by 1970, gov’t launched strict family planning prgrm
- families limited to one child – more than 1 would be fined
- led many peasant fams to pay penalties for having x > 1
- sons still valued more highly than daughters, female infanticide didn’t entirely disappear
- living standards improved for most ppl – gov’t stressed idea that all C would prosper, although not @ same rate
Daily life and women’s rights
New rights for women under Mao
- CCP had intended to create new citizen w/racial + sexual =ity, expected to contribute utmost for good of all
- Mao Zedong: the people ‘should be resolute, fear no sacrifice, and surmount every difficulty to win victory’
- 1950s – gov’t allowed women to partake in politics - @ local lvl, increasing # of women became active in CP
- 1950 – new Marriage Law passed, guaranteed women = rights w/men
- also allowed women to initiate divorce proceedings vs husbands ~ w/in a yr, nearly 1mil divorces granted
The family under Mao
- new regime tried to destroy influence of trad’l fam system
- Comm: loyalty to fam (important in Confucian social order) undercut loyalty to state » fam loyalty was vs basic principle of Marxism: dedication to society @ large
- during GLF and through CR, children encouraged for 1st time to report to authorities any critical comments of system made by parents
- Red Guard expected children to report on parents, students on teachers, employees on superiors
Social changes after the Cultural Revolution
- foreign observers @ time feared CR would transform Cppl into robots saying slogans fed by leaders » didn’t happen
- after death of Mao, noticeable shift away from rev’nary fervor + return to practical approach to nation building
- most ppl – shift meant better living conditions, return to fam traditions
- married couples who had been given patriotic names (eg ‘Protect Mao Zedong,’ ‘Build the Country’) by parents chose more elegant names for own children
- new attitudes reflected in phys appearances ~ for generation after civil war, clothing had been restricted to baggy olive drab/dark blue ‘Mao suit’
- today: young Cppl – Western jeans, sneakers, sweatsuits ~ cosmetic surgery for more W facial look increasingly common among rich young women in cities
- religious pracs and believes changed since CR’s official belief of atheism
- some returning to trad’l Buddhist – Bud. + Taoist temples filled w/worshipers
- Christianity increasingly popular b/c many view as symbol of success
- changes more common among urbanz + small middle class than rural («who make up more than ½pop)
- most peasants haven’t been affected much by events since Mao’s death, gap that has ÷ed town + cntry still remains
- pracs like arranged marriage, mistreatment of females cont’ in rural areas
- parents in cntryside reportedly have killed baby girls in hopes of having son to fulfill expectation of only 1 child/fam
Revolution in Iran: pgs. 536-538 tb.n 05·06·03
Oil and prices
- internat’l oil crisis caused by Arab-Israeli dispute
- 1960 - Arab states formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to gain ctrl over oil prices
- 1970s – used oil prices as weapon to force W gov’ts to abandon support of Israel
- 1973 war – some OPEC nations announced large increases in oipr to foreign cntries
- (+ cuts in oil production) led to oil shortage & serious econ problems in US and Europe
- pri.increase also brought new riches to oil-exporting cntries (eg, Libya) ~ under Colonel Muammar Qadhafi
- Cl. used cntry’s oil riches to build roads, schools, hospitals but also to finance terrorist activities vs W nations + overthrow disliked gov’ts
- Referred to as ‘that madman of the Mediterranean’ by Pres. Sadat of Egypt
Iran
Shah and reforms
- under leadership of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- occupied position w/help of US CIA, one of riches cntries in Middle East
- 1950s-60s – chief ally of US in MidE
- tried to make series of reforms w/American encouragement, to transform Iran into most advanced cntry of region
- » per capita income increased lots, literacy rates improved, affluent middle class emerged in capital of Tehran
- » many peasants still landless, many ppl jobless, urban middle class felt squeezed by inflation, housing costs ^!!
Unrest
- religious discontent: millions of devout Muslims had distaste for new Iranian civilization
- » based on greed, materialism ~ identified w/W, esp. American, influence
- opposed gov’tal corruption + extension of voting rights to women
- some used terrorism vs wealthy Iranians/foreigners to provoke pol disorder
- response: Savak, shah’s security police, imprisoned, tortured thousands of dissidents
- opposition led by the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Iranian cleric who’d been exiled to Paris for outspoken oppo. to shah’s regime
- cont’d attacks in print, radio, + on tv from Paris
- by late 1970s, large #s of Ir’n students, peasants, townsppl began to respond
- 1979 - workers’ strike grew intense, shah left cntry
New gov’t under Khomeini?
- shah’s gov’t collapsed, hastily formed Islamic republic for replacement
- new gov’t began to rid of W influence + restore trad’l Islamic law under guidance of Ayatollah
- reign of terror began same time, shah’s supporters were rounded up, executed
Outside Iran
US
- much attn of outside world focused on American Embassy in Tehran, militant Ir’ns held # of Amer’s hostage
- in eyes of ayatollah + followers, US was ‘Great Satan’, protector of Israel + enemy of Muslim ppl everywhere
- US held respnsble for corruption of Ir’n society under shah
- Khomeini demanded that shah be returned to Iran for trial, US to apologize for acts vs Ir’n ppl
- US response: gov’t stopped buying Ir’n oil, froze Ir’n assets in US
Effects
- effs of disturbances in Iran quickly spread beyond its borders
- Islamic militants called for similar rev’ns in Islamic cntriz around world
- July 1980, shah died of cancer in Cairo
- econ conditions in Iran deteriorating, Islamic rev’nary gov’t finally agreed to free US hostages in return for release of Ir’n assets
- intensity of Ir’n Rev’n moderated in next few yrs
New gov’t after Khomeini
- 1989 – death of Khomeini » new gov’t under Pres. Hashemi Rafsanjani began to loosen clerical cntrl over freedom of expression + soc activities
- mid-1990s, new wave of gov’t repression sparked b rising criticism of rampant official corruption + high inflation rate
- newspapers censored, universities purged of ‘un-Islamic’ elements, self-appnted religious militants raided private homes for treasonous activities
- Ir’n journalist: ‘There is deep fear and absolutely no freedom of expression.’
The Land of Palestine: pgs. 346-348, 529-530 tb.n 05·12·03
Balfour Declaration
- Arab unrest existed in Ottoman Empire since 18th Century
- Group of reformers known as Wahhabis revolted, tried to drive out foreigners + cleanse Islam of outside influences + corrupt practices that developed in past centuries
- Revolt was suppressed but influence of Wahhabi movement continued
- Arabs had chance to replace Ottoman rule in WWI, but w/ what?
- 1916 local governor of Mecca declared Arabia's independence from Ottoman rule, hoped for British support for Arab nat’lists
- Nationalists disappointed when at the close of the war Britain agreed to share w/ France a creation of a number of mandates in the area to be placed under general supervision of new League of Nations
- Iq and Jordan were assigned to Great Brit, Syria and Lebanon were given to France
- 1920s leader of Wahhabi movement united Arab tribes in northern part of Arabian Peninsula and drove out remnants of Ottoman rule
- Ibn Saud was the leader of the movement and he won broad support among Arab tribal ppls and established the kingdom of Saudi Arabia throughout much of the peninsula in 1932
- At first kingdom consisted mostly of vast wastes of central Arabia and was desperately poor
- Its financial resources were limited
- According to the Balfour Declaration issued by Brit foreign secretary Lord Balfour in November 1971 Palestine was to become a national home for the Jews
- Declaration promised that the decision would not undermine the rights of the existing non-Jewish ppls currently living in the area
Palestine in the 1930s
- 1930s U.S. prospectors began to explore for oil
- 1938 Standard Oil made a successful strike at Dahran
- Arabian-American Oil Company called Aramco was set up
- Kingdom was suddenly flooded w/ ppl in oil industry
- Palestine had been home to the Jews
- Under Brit control primarily Muslim Palestinians inhabited Palestine
- Arab nat’lists angered, questioned how a nat’l home for the Jewish ppl could be estab’ed in territory in which 98% of the pop. was Muslim
- Jewish settlers began to arrive in Palestine in response to the promises made in the Balfour Declaration
- Zionist movement had long advocated return of Jews to Palestine as their homeland
- Tensions between new arrivals and existing Muslim residents began to escalate esp. during 1930s
- Increased persecution of Jews w/ rise of Nazi Germany led increasing numbers of European Jews to flee to Palestine
- 1939 there were about 450,000 Jews in Palestine
- Brit gov’t declared only 75,000 Jewish immigrants would be allowed into Palestine over the next 5 yrs
Formation of Israel
- in MidE as in other areas of Asia, WWII led to the emergence of new independent states
- Syria and Lebanon had already received their independence near the end of WWII
- Jordan achieved complete self-rule soon after the war
- Egypt gained its independence in 1922 but was still under Brit control
- 1945 formation of Arab League
- 1930s, tensions between Jews and Arabs intensified
- GB, which had a mandate in Palestine, began to limit Jewish immigration into the area
- Zionists who wanted Palestine as a home for Jews were not to be denied but many ppl had been shocked at the end of WWII when they learned about the Holocaust
- Zionists turned for support to the United States and were well received
- March 1948 - Truman admin’n approved of the concept of an indep’t Jewish state in Palestine despite the fact that only 1/3 of local population Jewish
- United Nations resolution divided Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state the Jews in Palestine acted
- May 14, 1948 - they proclaimed the state of Israel
1948 War and its aftermath
- Arab neighbors saw new state as betrayal of Palestinian ppl 90% of which were Muslim
- Several Arab countries invaded new Jewish state
- Invasion failed but both sides remained bitter
- 1948 Thousands of Palestinian refugees fled from Israel into neighboring Muslim states
- Jordan occupied by half a million Bedouins was now flooded by arrival of almost one million urban Palestinians
- North was Lebanon that had been created to provide local Christian community w/ a cntry of its own
Nasser & Pan-Arabism: pgs. 530-534 tb.n 05·13·03
Nasser
Taking control
- Egypt placed in difficult place by dispute over Palestine
- Technically, E not an Arab state
- but King Farouk, who had come to power in 1936, had often decl’ed support for Arab cause
- Farouk had committed E’n armies to disastrous war vs. Israel in 148
- 1952, KF overthrown by military coup led by young mil. officers
- real force behind scenes was Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser, son of minor gov’t official
- 1953, N replaced monarchy w/republic
- 1954, N took ctrl of E
- first act to begin land-reform program to help peasants
- adopted policy of neutrality in foreign affairs, expressed sympathy for Arab cause
Suez War of 1956 …
- N esp. upset w/GB
- even after had granted E indep’ce in 1922, kept ctrl over Suez Canal to protect sea route to Indian Ocean
- July 26, 1956, N suddenly nat’lized Suez Canal Company which had been under Brit and French admin’n
- GB and F decided to strike back b/c concerned over threat to route to Indian O., quickly joined by Israel
- Forces of 3 nat’ns lauched joint attack on E, starting the Suez War of 1956
- Both US and SU supported N, forced GB, F, and Israel to withdraw their troops from E
The United Arab Republic
- N turned to pan-Arabism (belief in Arab unity)
- 1957, the Ba’ath Party, (had supported a union of all Arab states in a new soc’ist society,) assumed power in Syria
- opened talka w/E on union btwn Sy and E
- March 1958, E formally united w/Sy in United Arab Republic (UAR)
- N named first pres. of new state
- E and Sy hoped union would eventually incl. all the Arab states but other Arab leaders, incl. young King Hussein of Jordan + kings of Iq and Saudi Arabia, suspicious
- Iq+SAkngs particularly feared pan-Arabism, thought would b asked 2 share vast oil revenues w/poorer states of MidE
Dreams + views?
- N had dreams of new kind of MidE
- thought much of wealth of MidE now flowed into treasures of a few states or foreign oil interests
- thought wealth could be used to improve standard of living thru-out MidE, thru Arab unity
- natural resources (incl. oil) and major industries would have to be nat’lized to achieve this
- central planning could guarantee that resources would be utilized efficiently, creating new econ policy N called scientific socialism
Breakup of UAR
- but in end, N’s desire to extend state ctrl over econ brought end to UAR
- 1961, his gov’t announced nat’lization of large # of industries+utilities » military coup overthrew Ba’ath leaders in Sy
- new leaders then withdrew Sy from its union w/E
- breakup of UAR did not end N’s dream of pan-Arabism
- mid-1960s, E active in promoting Arab unity vs. Israel
- 1964, in meeting of Arab leaders held in Jerusalem, E’ns took lead in forming Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to represent interests of Pal’ns
- PLO believed only Pal’ns ppls (+ not Jewish immigrants from abroad) had right to form state in Pal
- guerilla mvmnt called al-Fatah, led by PLO pol leader Yasir Arafat, began 2 launch terrorist attacks on Israeli territory
- 1966, Israeli gov’t began to raid PLO bases in Jordan in retaliation
You Are There
The Suez Canal Belongs to Egypt
1. What was the problem President Nasser was addressing? That the Suez Canal should be owned and managed by Egyptians. (?)
2. According to Nasser, why does the Suez Canal rightfully belong to Egypt? The Suez Canal Company had lost 120,000 Egyptian workers in digging the Canal and was an Egyptian company, but was taken away by the British, who have been taking profits from the Company since the canal was dug.
A Plea for Peace in the Middle East
1. What is the single purpose Golda Meir wanted to work toward? To fight against poverty, disease, and illiteracy, for peace and the improvement of all lands and all peoples, rather than fighting against each other.
2. How did she suggest that the countries of the Middle East achieve that purpose? For everyone to unite, governments and peoples, to contribute to peace and Jness.
3. Has that purpose been achieved in the Middle East? Nooope.
posted by K at
12:18 AM
