Mr. White’s World History Class
NATIONALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST,
AFRICA, AND INDIA
OBJECTIVES
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When we are finished this
section, we should be able to:
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Explain how nationalism
impacted events in the Middle
East and Africa during and after
World War I
Explain how Gandhi used nonviolent methods in India's
struggle for independence from
Britain
Explain how nationalist and
communist forces struggled in
China
Describe how Japanese political,
economic, and social pressures
resulted in Japanese militarism
and expansionism
WILSON'S HOPE
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As part of his Fourteen Points, U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson hoped nations would be
given self-determination following World War
I – they would be allowed to decide for
themselves what they wanted
In most cases, European powers tightened
their control on their colonies, or expanded
into new spheres of influence
In the Middle East and Africa, new forces for nationalism and independence
created tensions.
PART I: THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
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In the Middle East and Africa, World War I
and the influence of European nations had
de-stabilized the region and added many
new dynamics
Middle East – Ottoman Empire collapsed,
Arab nationalism rose, independence
movements started
Africa – Movements opposed to European
rule began to press for independence
TURKEY AND MUSTAFA KEMAL
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The nation of Turkey was all that
was left of the Ottoman Empire
after World War I
Greece invaded Turkey in attempt
to crush the Turkish state, but
failed
General Mustafa Kemal of Turkey
led a group known as the Young
Turks and defeated Greece
With Kemal's growing popularity,
the Turkish sultan gave up his
power, and Kemal became the first
Turkish president
Kemal wanted to industrialize
Turkey so that it could become a
modern nation
REFORMS
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Kemal adopted many western customs in an attempt to
modernize Turkey
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Kemal adopted other reforms to give a sense of Turkish
national pride
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Adopted the European calendar, Latin alphabet, and metric
system, supported adopted western names
Banned the fez, tried to stop female veiling
Reformed the legal code and separated government and
religion
Purged the language of Persian and Arabic influences and
words
Changed his name to Kemal Attaturk
While his reforms were not always popular, Kemal did
successfully modernize Turkey
PERSIA
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The nation of Persia was ruled by a shah
After World War I, Great Britain and the Soviet
Union had interests and businesses in Persia's
oil fields
In 1921, Persian nationalist forces under Reza
Khan overthrew the shah to end these foreign
influences
The new government built infrastructure –
schools, roads, hospitals
Reza Shah Pahlavi used Persia's oil fields to
make money for the nation
PAHLAVI'S GOVERNMENT
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Coming up to World War II,
Pahlavi aligned his
government with Hitler –
was an admirer and
considered Persians and
Germans to be of the same
Aryan descent
Pahlavi changed the name
of Persia to Iran (variant of
Aryan)
Britain and the Soviet Union
sponsored a revolution by
Pahlavi's son to overthrow
him
PALESTINE
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After World War I, Britain received a mandate for
the area known as Palestine – Britain would
oversee the area basically as a colony
The previous relationships between religious
groups in the area had been peaceful, and kept
that way by whichever Muslim empire had ruled
the area – Abbasids, Ottomans, etc.
As the British ruled the area, Jews and Muslims
within Palestine came into conflict with each
other
TENSIONS

Beginning in the late 1800s, Jewish persecution in Europe
(such as pogroms) resulted in many Jews returning to
Palestine
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Jews claimed land based on a Biblical heritage; many wanted
to set up a Jewish home state - Zionism
Muslims and Arabs claimed that they had held the land
continuously
During World War I, the British had promised selfgovernment and independence to Arabs in return for
support against the Ottomans
The British had also made promises to support a Jewish
state
As more and more Jews immigrated to Palestine, Great
Britain struggled to keep the peace
EGYPTIAN INDEPENDENCE
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Egypt had been held by the British as a
protectorate since the late 1800s
Egyptian nationalist forces under Saad Zaghlul
demanded independence
In 1922, Britain gave Egypt limited
independence
In World War II, when Italy (allied with Nazi
Germany) invaded Ethiopia, the British granted
Egyptian independence in return for Egyptian
support against Italy
KENYA
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In Kenya, independence
movements struggled against
British colonialism
After World War I, the British
increased their imperial
control on Kenya – coffee
plantations were planted and
used as cash crops
Kenya's Henry Thuku protested
colonial taxes and labor laws –
the British arrested him
Jomo Kenyatta opposed British
imperialism by campaigning
for Kenyan independence in
London – slow going
NIGERIA
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In Nigeria following World War I, the British
increased their colonial control
A protest by unarmed Nigerian women attacking
British goods and property resulted in police
killing fifty people – many Nigerians started to
want independence
Future Nigerian protests adopted non-violent
methods
Still no independence for Nigeria by World War II
In British colonial India, Mohandas Gandhi used non-violent methods to
protest British colonialism and work for Indian independence.
PART II: INDIA
THE INDIAN JEWEL
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Great Britain's most valuable colony prior to
World War II was India
Coffee, tea, jute, indigo, and cotton were
cash crops that Britain got from India
In return for the support of Indian troops,
Britain promised eventual independence for
India
BRITISH RULE
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Over time, more and more
Indians stopped seeing
British rule as beneficial or
benevolent
In 1919, a large crowd of
around 10,000 Indians
gathered for a political and
religious festival in a walledoff garden
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The British had outlawed large
public gatherings
To disperse the gathering and
discourage such
disobedience, British General
Reginald Dyer ordered sepoy
troops to fire into the crowd
until it dispersed
JALLIANWALA BAGH MASSACRE
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The sepoy troops had blocked the largest escape route
As people tried to escape through the other small passages, they
often were trampled to death by others behind them
Many Indians dove into a well in the center of the courtyard to
avoid the gunfire – reports of 120 bodies found in the well
A British imposed-curfew prevented anyone from tending to the
wounded that night – many more died
Totals reached 400 dead, 1200 wounded
The British General showed no remorse for his actions
The Amritsar or Jallianwala Bagh massacre shocked many
Indians, and many began to call for independence
GANDHI
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Mohandas Gandhi was educated in England and
had practiced law in South Africa
In response to British imperialism, Gandhi
proposed and supported pacifist methods
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Civil disobedience – disobey laws considered
unjust
Gandhi began to work with the Indian National
Congress to gain Indian independence
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Urged tolerance between India's groups – Hindus
and Muslims
Opposed Western notions of brute force, money
worship, and prejudice
NON-VIOLENT METHODS
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Gandhi's non-violent methods led to
increased popularity and followers
He began to organize boycotts of British
goods
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Spun cloth for 30 minutes a day so he wouldn't
have to buy British cloth
As Gandhi gained in popularity, the British
arrested and imprisoned him for the rest of
the 1920s
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
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When Gandhi got out of prison, he continued to
use non-violent methods
The British passed a law taxing salt in India –
very necessary for life
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Gandhi led a growing march to the sea, where he
and others gathered salt, breaking the British law
Gandhi and his followers continued to disobey
British laws until the British would respond with
arrests, threats, or violence
INCREASING INDEPENDENCE
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The British gradually began to give Indians more
political power
In 1935, the Government of India Act gave India
a constitution
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Some limited power in making laws for the Indian
people
Many people were unhappy with this small
measure, but Gandhi's influence convinced many
people that this was a small, but important, first
step
HINDU-MUSLIM TENSIONS
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Even with Gandhi as a unifying influence, HinduMuslim relations became strained
As possible self-government approached, the
Muslim minority began to a government run by
Hindus
When Hindus won some provincial elections,
Muslims began to demand a separate nation
Gandhi called for unity, but the Indian
independence movement split because of these
religious differences
Chinese nationalists and communists struggled to take power in
China; an invasion by the Japanese forced them to work together.
PART III: CHINA
SUN YAT-SEN
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Sun Yat-Sen was the
leader of the Kuomintang,
or the Chinese Nationalist
Party
In 1912, Sun took power
in China and tried to
establish a democratic
republic
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Held power for a few
months, then was
overthrown by Yuan Shigai
Sun organized resistance
to Yuan, but failed to
overthrow him and fled to
Japan
KUOMINTANG
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Yuan died in 1916, and
China descended into civil
war
Sun returned from Japan,
and with the help of the
Soviet Union and an officer
named Chiang Kai-Shek, the
Kuomintang took power in
China
Even though Sun wanted a
republic, the Kuomintang
government was
undemocratic
It improved infrastructure in
the nation, but did not
improve the lives of the
peasants
COMMUNISTS RISING
In 1927, communists who had helped Sun and
the Kuomintang tried to take over the party, but
failed
 Chiang Kai-Shek, fearing the communists,
decided to purge them from the Kuomintang
 The communists fled to the southern part of
China and formed the Chinese Red Army
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 Worked
for the support of the peasants
 Overthrew local landholders and redistributed land
to peasants
THE LONG MARCH
A civil war between the nationalist Kuomintang
and the communist Red Army began
 By 1934, the Red Army was almost defeated
 The Red Army escaped through a year-long
forced march, pursued by the Kuomintang army
– known as the Long March
 Japan’s invasion of Manchuria would force the
Kuomintang and Red Army to work together
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Japan’s military gradually took power from the
democratic government of Japan.
PART IV: IMPERIALIST JAPAN
JAPAN AND THE WEST
Japanese relations with the western nations after World War I
were mixed
 On the positive side:
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Japan gained Germany’s Pacific colonies north of the equator
Japan was allowed, by an agreement, to build the nation’s thirdlargest navy (U.S. and Great Britain)
On the negative side:
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The League of Nations had refused to accept a Japanese proposal
for a statement of racial equality in the League charter – insult
The United States had banned Japanese immigration
The western nations opposed Japanese influence over China, which
Japan had basically made into a protectorate
POPULATION PRESSURES
Japan had experienced a population explosion
between the 1870s and the 1920s – from
around 35 million to 60 million people
 Social, political, industrial, and military factors,
plus this population explosion, encouraged
Japan to expand or for its people to move by
one of three ways:
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 Immigration
 Imperial
expansion
 Capitalism and world markets
INDUSTRIALIZATION
Japan had rapidly industrialized during the late
19th and early 20th centuries
 Because the U.S. would allow no immigration,
the Japanese focused on manufacturing and
trade to provide employment for people
 Heavy industry expanded in the hands of rich
industrialists known as zaibatsu, and the
government
 Increased manufacturing spurred a desire for
cheap raw materials - colonies
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SOCIAL CHANGES
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Social changes placed more pressures on Japan
that could be relieved by expansion
Overpopulated rural areas and land scarcity drove
many Japanese into the cities to work in industrial
jobs
In those cities, western customs and culture were
adopted – clash of cultures with traditional
More and more Japanese had the right to vote, so
there was growing democratic representation
POWER AND LEADERSHIP
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Even though more and more
were voting, political power
in Japan was concentrated
in the hands of nobles,
zaibatsu, and the military
Emperor Hirohito and the
people, in theory, were
supposed to have power, but
didn’t
When the Great Depression
caused prices to drop in
Japanese manufacturing,
many unemployed and
desperate Japanese began
to call for strong leadership
MILITARISM
Militarism began to influence many aspects of
Japanese life
 The military opposed western lifestyles and
promoted Japanese culture
 The military leaders thus were wary of the
western customs that many people were
adopting
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GROWING MILITARY POWER
 September,
1931 – without government approval, the
Japanese military invaded Manchuria in China –
government had lost control
 The military gradually took more power in the
government, and by 1937 basically was the government
 The emperor, fearing a strong stance would result in his
overthrow, didn’t take a stand against the militarists
 As Japan invaded other nations, western criticism of
Japan led to many Japanese backing the military
 With this, the support for militarism in the nation grew