Ch. 27.3
Europeans Claim Muslim
Lands
Discussion Questions
• Why did Europeans imperialize Africa?
• Examine the map below. What was so
strategic about the extensiveness of the
Ottoman Empire?
• Why was the land of the Ottomans so
desirable to Europeans?
RESPONSES
• Natural Resources, labor, Christianity
• Waterways in and out of Mediterranean Sea
– Access to Red Sea, Persian Gulf
– Control of land surrounding Mediterranean Sea
– 6 access points to Med. and Arabian Seas
• Trade routes, especially for areas with no
access to Mediterranean
– Oil deposits in Persia
Ottomans Lose Power
• Arab and Ottoman conquests create vast empire
surrounding Mediterranean (Med.) Sea
• Weak successors to Suleyman I lead to failures
– Corruption and theft lead to debt
– Inflation
• Modernization attempts by Selim III fails
– Janissaries (elite Ottoman soldiers) resist
– Selim overthrown
• Nationalism by people of Ottoman empire rises
– Greece and Serbia gain self-rule
Geopolitics and European Land Grab
• Geopolitics defined: An interest in or taking of
land for strategic locations or products
• Current example: 80 percent of European gas
imports travels from Russia through Ukraine
• What happens when Russia and Ukraine spat?
Geopolitics and Imperialism
• Location, location, location
– Creates interest for Ottoman land
• Ottomans controlled access to Med. and Atlantic
Sea trade
• Merchants in landlocked countries forced to
travel through Ott. Emp.
• Russia wants access through Black Sea and into
Med.
– Grain exports
• Discovery of Oil in Persia and Arabian Peninsula
Russia and Crimean War
• Purpose: give Russia a warmweather port and access to
Black Sea and Med. Sea
• Britain and France enter war
– Prevent Russia from gaining
more Ott. land
– Fight with Otts and defeat
Russia
• First war women established
positions as army nurses and
covered by newspapers
• Florence Nightingale
Crimean cont…
• War reveals Ott’s weakness
• Russia helps Slavics in Balkans
• Otts lose:
–
–
–
–
–
–
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Romania
Montenegro
Cyprus
Bosnia
Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Land in northern Africa
“Great Game”
• Britain vs. Russia
• Geo-Pol. Struggle over
Muslim land in Central
Asia
– Especially India and
Afghanistan
• England attempts to
spread empire into
Afghanistan
– (b/t Russian (Persia)
and British (India)
empires)
Afghanistan’s Importance
• 1800s: Independent
Muslim kingdom
• Physical geography and
resistance discouraged
colonization
• Britain gets out 1881
– 1921 formally agrees to
not extend border
– Soviet Union (Russia) sign
non-aggression pact
• Soviets change policy in
1979 invasion of Afg.
Egyptian Reforms
• Initiates political and social reforms to
block Euro imperialism
• Military and economic reforms result
from French occupation
– Egypt’s location (head of Read Sea entering
Med.)
• Muhammad Ali
– Sent by Otts to govern Egypt
– Gains Syria and Arabia
– Europe recognizes M.A. as ruler of Egypt
• Ali reforms:
– Shifted Egyptian agriculture to plantation
cash crop (cotton)
– Effect: Traditional farmers (peasants) lose
land used for food
Suez Canal
• Isma’il (Ali’s grandson) continues modernization
• Constructs Suez Canal
– 101 mile ship Canal in Egypt between Port Said
on the Mediterranean and Suez on the Red Sea.
– Vital shortcut b/t both Euro, East Coast
American, southern Asia and eastern Africa
ports
– Opens 1869.
• French contracts with Egypt
• 10 years to construct
• Ismail’s heavy spending and money spent on canal
creates debt
• Ismail forced to take out loans from European
banks
• Sells canal to Great Britain.
• British send soldiers into Egypt
– Concerned for their property
– British occupy Egypt and control the Suez
Canal.
Persia’s Pressured
• Russia vs. Britain
– Sphere of Influence
• Russian interests
– Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean
• British want buffer b/t India and
Afghanistan (Russia)
– Persia gives up claims to Afg.
– Oil discovery increases Brit interest
• Persia lacks capital to exploit
resources
– Sells rights to operate in certain
areas or for certain products
– England develops oil fields (1900s)
Tobacco
• 1890 Persian ruler Nasir al-Din grants
concession to British company to export
tobacco
– By religious leaders fearing modernization
• Outrages Persian leader who supports
modernization
– Boycott (heavy smokers)
– Believes concession is a “sell-out”
– Nasir cancels concession and is killed
• Russia and Britain divide country into
spheres of influence
– Economic control established
– Economic and Sphere of Influence forms
used