MIDDLE EAST

Middle refers to its location only in relation to
Europe

Middle East stands at the crossroads of three
continents – Africa, Asia, Europe
 Strategic
 Vital

location
trade routes and vast reserves of oil
Oil is the Middle East’s most valuable resource
FERTILE CRESCENT

Arc-shaped
 Stretches
from eastern Mediterranean along the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the Persian Gulf

Rich soil and abundant water made it a center
of early civilization

Few natural barriers – multiple conquerors

Climate dictates where people live

Nearly all of the region is desert
 Scarcity

of water
Settlements were scattered
 Most
people live around oases
 Fertile
desert area tat has enough water to support plant
and animal life
RELIGIONS


Judaism, Christianity, Islam
 Sacred or Holy books
 Judaism – Torah
 Christianity – Bible
 Islam – Koran (Quran)
Unlike other early religions, Judaism was
monotheistic
 Believe in one God


Appeal of Christianity
Christianity offered hope of salvation and eternal life



Appeal of Islam
Emphasized the equality of all believers
Birthplace of Judaism and Christianity
 Jerusalem – Palestine
 Birthplace of Islam
 Mecca – Arabian Peninsula
FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

Muslim duties
 Belief
in one God
 Duty to prayer
 Charity to the poor and aged
 Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan
 Duty of hajj
 Pilgrimage
to Mecca once during life

Sunni and Shiites
 Dispute
was over who should become caliph
 Caliph – successor to the prophet
 Shiites
– smaller of the sects – believed only a
descendant could be caliph
 Sunni – majority of Muslims – believe that any
devout Muslim could be caliph

Golden Age of Muslim Civilization
Muslim civilization spread
 through trade and conquest



Blended Greek, Persian, Indian influences
Adapted the various traditions to its own needs
CRUSADES
1095, Pope Urban II called for a crusade against the
Muslims
 Crusade – holy war
 For almost 100 years, Christians poured into Palestine
in a movement that became known as the Crusades
 Crusade had limited effect
 Civilizations in Western Europe were less advanced than
the Islamic world
 1187, Saladin, a Muslim general drove the Christians
out of Jerusalem

TURKEY
Kemal Ataturk
 Father of modern Turkey
 Turkey became a secular state

 Separation
of religion and government
Encouraged economic development
 Modernized using western culture



Arab countries turned to Socialism to end
western control.
The Islamist Movement believed westernization
(western values) undermine Islamic society.
Zionism – movement to reestablish a Jewish
homeland
 Founded by Theodor Herzl
 Jews from Eastern Europe began migrating to
Palestine
 Belfour Declaration – 1917
 Called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland
in Palestine
 As migration increased, tensions between

After WW II
 United Nations recommended Palestine be
partitioned
 Divided into a Jewish state and an Arab state
 Rise of the PLO
 Palestinian Liberation Organization
 Wanted to establish a Palestinian State
 Many Arab countries are bonded by their hatred of
Israel

OPEC
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
 Increased power as world demand for oil rose
in the 1970s
 Arab-Israeli War – 1973
 OPEC stopped shipments to countries who
supported Israel
 Set off a global oil crisis as prices rose and
supplies dwindled

EARLY 1990S

Push for peace brought Israel and Palestinian
leaders together
 Issues to the peace process
 Conditions in the refugee camps
 Jewish settlements in occupied lands
 1993 – Oslo Accord
 Led to limited Palestinian self-rule in the
Gaza Strip and Jericho
ISLAMIC REVOLUTION IN IRAN

Reforms led to a growing gap between
westernized Iranians from the rest
1979 overthrow of the shah by supports of the
Ayatollah Khomeine
 Iran became a theocracy – government ruled
by religious leaders

WOMEN
Conflict between modernization
(westernization) and values of traditional
Muslim culture

PERSIAN GULF WAR

1990 – Iraq invades Kuwait
 claimed
Kuwait belonged to Iraq

Iraq posed a threat to Saudi Arabia

1991 – UN coalition moved against
Saddam Hussein
 Defeated
Iraq forces within days
1967 ARAB-ISRAELI WAR


Known as the Six-Day War.
Involved Israel and the Arab countries of Egypt,
Jordan, Syria
Results:
 Israel claimed control over the West Bank,
Golan Heights, Gaza Strip
