Middle East Test

Question 0

Ottoman Empire

Answer 0

Controlled most of the Middle East before WWI

Question 1

Monotheism

Answer 1

• belief that there is one ultimate god
• 3 most popular religions are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• each view Jerusalem as a holy site

Question 2

Hussien-McMahon letters

Answer 2

• series of letters exchanged between emir (commander) of Mecca, Hussein, and Great Britain’s high commissioner in Egypt, McMahon
• Hussien offered to launch an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for British support for an independent Arab nation after WWI
• debate continues today over whether the British broke promises that they made to Arabs about the future of the middle east

Question 3

Sykes-Picot Agreement

Answer 3

• this agreement recognized French and British claims in different parts of Greater Syria
• it also granted Great Britain control of Iraq
• Sykes-Picot agreement came just weeks after certain promises had been made to Hussein

Question 4

League of Nations Mandates

Answer 4

France & Britain given control over most of the Middle East WWI
•France: Syria & Lebanon
•British: Iraq, Palestine, and Transjordan

Question 5

Balfour Declaration

Answer 5

• Britain announces its support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”
• reflected growing influence of Zionism, a nationalist movement that called for Europe’s Jews to move to their ancient homeland of Palestine

Question 6

San Remo Conference

Answer 6

Britain is given control of Palestine

•Britain remained in control there for the next 30 years (1917-1947)

Question 7

United Nations Partition Plan

Answer 7

1947- UN creates a 2 state solution for dividing Palestine (1 state given to both Palestine and Israel)

Question 8

1st Arab Israeli War

Answer 8

• May 14, 1948- Israel & its leader, David Ben-Gurion, declares itself an independent state
• May 15, 1948- 5 Arab nations invade Israel because they consider the Jewish state of Israel to be Arab territory
• Israel’s forces better equipped & more disciplined, win decisive victory
• Palestinian state no longer exists
• 100’s of thousands of Palestinians & Jews become refugees

Question 9

Egypt

Answer 9

1954 - Nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes president of Egypt
•Wanted to build a strong, independent Egypt, free of Western control

Question 10

Suez Crisis (2nd Arab Israeli War)

Answer 10

•1956- Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, which had been in controlled by the British and French
-Egypt also begins to blockade Israeli shipping, an action considered under international law to be an act of war
• British & French unite with Israel to invade with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in October 1956
•Israel withdraws its forces by March 1957, but Egypt keeps control of Suez Canal
•Nasser becomes a hero across the Middle East for standing up to the West

Question 11

6 Day War (3rd Arab Israeli War)

Answer 11

• Spring of 1967: Nasser sends Egyptian troops into the Sinai Peninsula & closes off the Gulf of Aqaba, which was Israel’s outlet to the Red Sea
• Israel views the naval blockade as an act of war
• in just 6 days, Israel wins a resounding victory
• Israel now controls West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, & Sinai Peninsula
• Arab loss hurt Nasser’s reputation in Egypt & Arab world

Question 12

OPEC

Answer 12

• 1960- Gulf countries gain greater control of production by forming the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (an association of major oil producing nations with the aim of gaining control over oil prices & production)
• 1973- Arab OPEC members begin oil embargo on countries supporting Israel

Question 13

Yom Kippur War (4th Arab Israeli War)

Answer 13

• Anwar al-Sadat, President of Egypt after Nasser, determined to restore Egypt’s power and prestige
• the Arab forces begin their attack during Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar
• catch Israelis off guard, but Israel fights back and regains lost territory
• Arab members of OPEC place an embargo on oil exports to countries supporting Israel
• The Arab Oil embargo lasts for six months, causing oil shortages in the west and a sharp rise in prices
• UN ceasefire ends the fighting, but does not bring the formal piece

Question 14

Camp David Accord’s

Answer 14

• 1978- Camp David Accord signed between Egypt and Israel
• Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem begin
• Israel agrees to return the Sinai peninsula to Egypt
• 1981- Sadat assassinated by Muslim Militants who blamed him for undermining the cause of radical Islam by signing a treaty with Israel

Question 15

Iranian Revolution

Answer 15

•The shah leave the country for medical treatment but opposition prevents him from returning
• Ayatollah Khomeini returns from exile & takes over as Iran’s supreme leader
• Iran becomes an Islamic theocracy (a state governed by religious leaders)
-Khomcini imposes Islamic law in the courts & Islamic teachings in the schools
-enforces A Muslim code of conduct in public places
-women lose many of their civil rights
-critics of the regime are arrested or executed

Question 16

Iraq

Answer 16

• late 1960s – Saddam Hussein rises to power as member of Baath party
• 1979 – Saddam becomes president
•1980 – Iraq invades Iran
-revolutionary Iran had called for the overthrow of the Iraqi he government
-Saddam believes that Iran is weak and that a victory in war would boost his reputation in the Arab world
• Iraq uses chemical weapons on the Iranians and on it’s own Kurdish population
• 1988 – cease-fire between Iraq and Iran war ends in stalemate