Before Israel, that is, the modern state of Israel.
In support of James Joyner’s post on the limitations of America’s power, influence, and importance in the Middle East I thought I’d take a few notes on unrest in the Middle East before the U. S., before Israel.
This post is mostly just a set of notes. Here’s a list of rebellions, revolts, and wars in the Middle East 1800-1914.
1801 | Sack of the city of Karbala (modern Iraq) by Wahhabists. |
1803 | Capture of Mecca by Wahhabists. |
1804 | Capture of Medina by Wahhabists. |
1810 | Control of Qatar and Bahrain established by Wahhabists. |
1812-1820 | Istanbul reasserts control over the Balkans and Anatolia. |
1813 | Istanbul reasserts control over the province of Aleppo (modern Syria). |
1818 | Recapture of Mecca and Medina by Egyptian expeditionary force, returned control of Hijaz to Hashemites. |
1821-1823 | Ottoman war with Iran |
1830 | Recapture of Hasa by Saudis. |
1831-1838 | Reassertion of Ottoman rule in Iraq and Kurdistan. |
1831-1840 | Egypt invades and occupies Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Anatolia. |
1835 | Reassertion of Ottoman rule in Sudan. |
1835 | Hail in Arabia occupied by Abdallah Ibn Rashid. |
1838 | Defeat of Saudis by Egyptian expeditionary force. |
1840 | The Damascus Affair (episode of blood libel against Jews). Other instances accompanied by violence occurred in Damascus (1848, 1890), Aleppo (1810, 1850, 1875), Antioch (1826), Beirut (1862, 1874), Tripoli (1834), Jerusalem (1847, 1870, 1895), Jaffa (1876), Dayr al-Qamar (1847), Istanbul (1870, 1874), Izmir (1872, 1874), Edirne (1872). |
1840 | Reassertion of Ottoman rule in the Hijaz. |
1840-1845 | Fighting between Christians and Druze in Lebanon (abetted by French), Ottoman intervention. |
1850 | Anti-Christian rioting in Aleppo. |
1850 | Putting down of the Babi movement in Iran. |
1855-1856 | Anti-Ottoman revolt in the Hijaz. |
1858 | Massacre of Christians in Jidda, Ottomans intervened. |
1858-1861 | Revolt in Lebanon by Christian peasants against Druze overlords. At least 10,000 killed or died of starvation, 100,000 refugees. |
1871 | Seizure of Hasa in Arabia by Ottomans from Saudis. |
1891-1892 | Suppression of revolt in Yemen by Ottomans. |
1894-1896 | Conflicts between the Ottomans and the Armenians in eastern Anatolia. The putting down of the revolt was accompanied by large scale massacres of Armenians. |
1902-1904 | Capture of territories from Rashidis by Ibn Sa’ud in Arabia. |
1903 | Anti-Baha’i riots in Isfahan and Yazd in Iran. |
1904 | Defeat of Ottomans by Saudis. |
1905-1911 | Revolution against Shah in Iran. |
1907-1909 | Rebellion of Muhammed Ali Shah in Iran. |
1908 | Political crisis in Istanbul accompanied by massacre of Armenians. |
1910-1912 | anti-Ottoman revolt in Asir in Arabia was led by Muhammad al-Idrisi |
1913 | Capture of Hasa in Arabia by Saudis from Ottoman forces. |
Source: Encyclopedia of World History. All corrections and amplifications gratefully received.
I’ve omitted the various Greek and Balkan wars of independence, wars with Russia, and wars involving the British and French. I also note in passing that a considerable amount of the conflict is a consequence of opposition to modernization.
Whatever you might think of Israel or of the U. S. role and influence in the Middle East, I believe that the only conclusion one can reasonably draw about the region is that there would be unrest there, whether ethnic, sectarian, or just a plain old-fashioned power grab.
Of course, some would argue this just goes to show how long the Bush administration has been ignoring the problem!
The big peace deals in the region (the Camp David Accords, Oslo) were not American initiatives. Sadat was frustrated with the Geneva talks so began his own talks with Israel. The Clinton Administration was involved in shuttle diplomacy between Damascus and Jerusalem when they were surprised by word of secret talks btw/ Israel and Palestine. Not to say American hasn’t played a role, but I don’t think that role is the initiator.
Well thanks for putting that into perspective.