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=== Persian empires ===

From the early 6th century BC onwards, several Persian states dominated the region, beginning with the [[Medes]] and non-Persian [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], then their successor the [[Achaemenid Empire]] known as the first [[Persian Empire]], conquered in the late 4th century BC. by the very short-lived [[Macedonian Empire]] of [[Alexander the Great]], and then successor kingdoms such as [[History of Egypt|Ptolemaic Egypt]] and the [[Seleucid]] state in Western Asia.

After a century of hiatus, the idea of the [[Persian Empire]] was revived by the Central Asian Iranian [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] in the 3rd century BC—and continued by their successors, the [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanids]] from the 3rd century AD. This empire dominated sizable parts of what is now the Asian part of the Middle East, and continue to influence the rest of the Asiatic and African Middle East region, until the [[Arab]] [[Islamic conquest of Persia]] in the mid-7th century CE. , [[Church of the East]] [[Christianity]] took hold in Persian ruled Mesopotamia, particularly in [[Assyria]] from the 1st Century AD onwards, and the region became a center of a flourishing [[Syriac]]-[[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] literary tradition.

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[[Image:Middle East geographic.jpg|300px|thumb|A map showing territories commonly considered part of the Near East.]]
This article is a general overview of the '''history of the Middle East'''. For more detailed information, see [[#See also|articles on the histories of individual countries and regions]]. For discussion of the issues surrounding the definition of the area see the article on [[Middle East]].

==The ancient Near East==
{{Main|Ancient Near East}}
{{See also|Short chronology timeline}}

===Cradle of civilization===
The earliest [[civilization]]s in history were established in the region now known as the Middle East around 3500 BC by the [[Sumerians]], in [[Mesopotamia]] ([[Iraq]]), widely regarded as the [[cradle of civilization]]. The [[Sumer]]ians and the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]]ians (later known as [[Babylonia]]ns and [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]]) all flourished in this region.

"In the course of the fourth millennium B.C., city-states developed in southern Mesopotamia that were dominated by temples whose priests represented the cities' patron deities. The most prominent of the city-states was Sumer, which gave its language to the area and became the first great civilization of mankind. About 2340 B.C., Sargon the Great (c. 2360-2305 B.C.) united the city-states in the south and founded the Akkadian dynasty, the world's first empire." [http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/6308/1/Ancient-Civilizations--Mesopotamia.html]

Soon after the Sumerian civilization began, the [[Nile River]] valley of [[ancient Egypt]] was unified under the [[Pharaoh]]s in the 4th millennium BC, and civilization quickly spread through the [[Fertile Crescent]] to the west coast of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and throughout the [[Levant]]. The [[Elamites]], [[Hittites]], [[Amorites]], [[Phoenicians]], [[Israelite]]s and others later built important states in this region.

===Assyrian empires===

[[Mesopotamia]] was home to several powerful empires that came to rule almost the entire Middle East—particularly the [[Assyrian Empire]]s of 1365-1076 BC and the [[Neo Assyrian Empire]] of 911- 605 BC. The Assyrian Empire, at its peak, was the largest the world had seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus, and Bahrain—with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia.
"The Assyrian empires, particularly the third, had a profound and lasting impact on the Near East. Before Assyrian hegemony ended, the Assyrians brought the highest civilization to the then known world. From the Caspian to Cyprus, from Anatolia to Egypt, Assyrian imperial expansion would bring into the Assyrian sphere nomadic and barbaric communities, and would bestow the gift of civilization upon them."[http://www.aina.org/brief.html]

===Persian empires===
From the early 6th century BC onwards, several Persian states dominated the region, beginning with the [[Medes]] and non-Persian [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], then their successor the [[Achaemenid Empire]] known as the first [[Persian Empire]], conquered in the late 4th century BC. by the very short-lived [[Macedonian Empire]] of [[Alexander the Great]], and then successor kingdoms such as [[History of Egypt|Ptolemaic Egypt]] and the [[Seleucid]] state in Western Asia.

After a century of hiatus, the idea of the [[Persian Empire]] was revived by the Central Asian Iranian [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] in the 3rd century BC—and continued by their successors, the [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanids]] from the 3rd century AD. This empire dominated sizable parts of what is now the Asian part of the Middle East, and continue to influence the rest of the Asiatic and African Middle East region, until the [[Arab]] [[Islamic conquest of Persia]] in the mid-7th century CE. <<link:0>>, [[Church of the East]] [[Christianity]] took hold in Persian ruled Mesopotamia, particularly in [[Assyria]] from the 1st Century AD onwards, and the region became a center of a flourishing [[Syriac]]-[[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] literary tradition.

===Roman Empire===
In the 1st century BC, the expanding [[Roman Republic]] absorbed the whole Eastern [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]], which included much of the [[Near East]]. The [[Roman Empire]] united the region with most of [[Europe]] and [[North Africa]] in a single political and economic unit. Even areas not directly annexed were strongly influenced by the Empire, which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries. Though [[Latin language|Latin]] culture spread across the region, the [[Greek language|Greek]] culture and language first established in the region by the [[Macedonian Empire]] continued to dominate throughout the Roman period. Cities in the Middle East, especially [[Alexandria]], became major urban centers for the Empire and the region became the Empire's "bread basket" as the key agricultural producer.

As the [[Christian]] religion spread throughout the Roman and Persian Empires, it took root in the Middle East, and cities such as [[Alexandria]] and [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]] became important centers of Christian scholarship. By the 5th century, Christianity was the dominant religion in the Middle East, with other faiths (gradually including ''[[heresy|heretical]]'' Christian sects) being actively repressed. The Middle East's ties to the city of [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] were gradually severed as the Empire [[Roman empire#Partition of the Empire|split]] into [[Byzantine Empire|East]] and [[Western Roman Empire|West]], with the Middle East tied to the new Roman capital of [[Constantinople]]. The subsequent [[fall of Rome]] and the Western Roman Empire, therefore, had minimal direct impact on the region.

==== Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire)====
The Eastern Roman Empire, today commonly known as the [[Byzantine Empire]], ruling from the [[Balkans]] to the [[Euphrates]], became increasingly defined by and dogmatic about Christianity, gradually creating religious rifts between the doctrines dictated by the establishment in Constantinople and believers in many parts of the Middle East. At the time Greek had turned to the 'lingua franca' of the region, although ethnicities such as the Syriacs and the Hebrew continued to exist. Under Byzantine/Greek rule the area of the [[Levant]] met an era of stability and prosperity.

==The medieval Near East==

===Islamic caliphate===
{{See also|Caliphate|Muslim conquests|Islamic Golden Age|Iranian Intermezzo}}
{{Further|Early reforms under Islam|Muslim conquests}}

[[Image:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|thumb|350px|Age of the [[Caliph]]s {{legend|#a1584e|Expansion under [[Muhammad]], 622-632}} {{legend|#ef9070|Expansion during the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], 632-661}} {{legend|#fad07d|Expansion during the [[Umayyad]] [[Caliphate]], 661-750}}]]
From the 7th century, a new power was rising in the Middle East, that of [[Islam]], whilst the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Roman and [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid]] Persian empires were both weakened by centuries of stalemate warfare during the [[Roman-Persian Wars]]. In a series of rapid [[Muslim conquests]], the [[Rashidun army|Arab armies]], motivated by Islam and led by the [[Caliph]]s and skilled military commanders such as [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]], swept through most of the Middle East; [[Byzantine-Arab Wars|reducing Byzantine lands]] by more than half and completely [[Islamic conquest of Persia|engulfing the Persian lands]]. In [[Anatolia]], their [[Siege of Constantinople (718)|expansion was blocked]] by the still capable Byzantines with the help of the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarians]].

The Byzantine provinces of [[Muslim conquest of Syria|Roman Syria]], [[Umayyad conquest of North Africa|North Africa]], and Sicily, however, could not mount such a resistance, and the Muslim conquerors swept through those regions. At the far west, they crossed the sea taking [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Visigothic Hispania]] before being [[Battle of Tours|halted in southern France]] by the [[Franks]]. At its greatest extent, the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Arab Empire]] was the first empire to control the entire Middle East, as well 3/4 of the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean region]], the only other empire besides the Roman Empire to control most of the [[Mediterranean Sea]].<ref>Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam", ''The Journal of Economic History'' '''29''' (1), p. 79–96 [80].</ref> It would be the Arab [[Caliphate]]s of the [[Middle Ages]] that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant [[Arab|ethnic identity]] that persists today. The [[Seljuk Empire]] would also later dominate the region.

Much of North Africa became a peripheral area to the main Muslim centres in the Middle East, but Iberia ([[Al Andalus]]) and Morocco soon broke from this distant control and founded one of the world's most advanced societies at the time, along with [[Baghdad]] in the eastern Mediterranean.

Between 831 and 1071, the [[Emirate of Sicily]] was one of the major centres of Islamic culture in the Mediterranean. After its conquest by the [[Normans]] the island developed its own distinct culture with the fusion of Arab, Western and Byzantine influences. Palermo remained a leading artistic and commercial centre of the Mediterranean well into the Middle Ages.

Africa was reviving, however, as more organized and centralized states began to form in the later [[Middle Ages]] after the [[Renaissance of the 12th century]].  Motivated by religion and dreams of conquest, the kings of Europe launched a number of [[The Crusades|Crusades]] to try to roll back Muslim power and retake the [[holy land]].  The Crusades were unsuccessful in this goal, but they were far more effective in weakening the already tottering Byzantine Empire that began to lose increasing amounts of territory to the [[Ottoman Turks]].  They also rearranged the balance of power in the Muslim world as Egypt once again emerged as a major power in the eastern Mediterranean.

===Turks, Crusaders and Mongols===
{{See also|Crusades|History of the Levant|Timeline of Mongol invasions|History of Jerusalem}}
[[Image:Saladin2.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Saladin]], champion of the Muslims against the Crusaders (Artistic representation of Saladin)]]

The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the [[Seljuk Turks]], migrating south from the Turkic homelands in [[Central Asia]], who conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the [[Hejaz]]. Egypt held out under the [[Fatimid]] caliphs until 1169, when it too fell to the Turks.

Despite massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Byzantine Empire]] continued to be a potent military and economic force in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], preventing Arab expansion into much of Europe. The Seljuks' [[Battle of Manzikert|defeat of the Byzantine military]] in the 11th century and settling in [[Anatolia]] effectively marked the end of Byzantine influence in the region. The Seljuks ruled most of the Middle East region for the next 200 years, but their empire soon broke up into a number of smaller sultanates.

Christian [[Western Europe]] had staged a remarkable economic and demographic recovery in the 11th century since the nadir of its fortunes in the 7th century. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed  joined forces, mainly from England, France and the emerging ''[[Holy Roman Empire]]'' to enter the region. In 1095, [[Pope Urban II]], had responded to pleas from the flagging Byzantine Empire, summoned the European aristocracy to recapture the [[Holy Land]] for Christianity, and in 1099 the knights of the [[First Crusade]] captured [[Jerusalem]]. They founded the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], which survived until 1187, when [[Saladin]] retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291.

==== Mongol invasions (13th century) ====
In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the [[Mongol]] armies of the [[Mongol Empire]], swept through the region, [[Battle of Baghdad (1258)|sacking Baghdad]] in 1258 and advancing as far south as the border of [[Egypt]]. [[Mamluk]] Emir [[Baibars]] left [[Damascus]] to [[Cairo]] where he was welcomed by [[Sultan]] [[Qutuz]]. After taking [[Damascus]], the [[Ilkhanate]] was established and [[Hulagu]] demanded that Sultan [[Qutuz]] surrender [[Egypt]] but Sultan Qutuz had Hulagu's envoys killed and, with the help of [[Baibars]], mobilized his troops.

Although Hulagu had to leave for the East when great Khan [[Möngke]] died in action against the [[Southern Song]], he left his lieutenant, the Christian [[Kitbuqa]], in charge. Sultan [[Qutuz]] drew the Mongol army into an ambush near the [[Orontes River]], routed them at the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] and captured and executed [[Kitbuqa]]. With this victory [[Mamluk]] [[Turkish people|Turks]] became [[Sultans]] of [[Egypt]] and the real power in the Middle East and gaining control of [[Palestine]] and [[Syria]], while other Turkish sultans controlled [[Iraq]] and [[Anatolia]] until the arrival of the [[Ottomans]].

===The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923)===
{{See also|Ottoman Empire}}

[[Image:I Selim.jpg|px150|thumb|[[Selim the Grim]], Ottoman conqueror of the Middle East.]]
[[Image:C) Armenian Girl, Druse, Inhabitant of Damascus.jpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Middle East by the end of the Ottoman era.]]
By the early 15th century, a new power had arisen in western Anatolia, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] emirs, who in 1453 captured the Christian Byzantine capitol of Constantinople and made themselves sultans. The Mameluks held the Ottomans out of the Middle East for a century, but in 1514 [[Selim I|Selim the Grim]] began the systematic Ottoman conquest of the region. Syria was occupied in 1516 and Egypt in 1517, extinguishing the Mameluk line. Iraq was conquered almost in 40 years from [[Safavids]], were successors of [[Aq Qoyunlu]].

The Ottomans united the whole region under one ruler for the first time since the reign of the [[Abbasid]] caliphs of the 10th century, and they kept control of it for 400 years.
"The Ottoman Empires was one of the greatest, most extensive, and long lasting in the History of the World. It included most of the territories of the Eastern Roman Empire(...)and held portions that the Byszantinians never ruled (...)The Ottoman Empire was born in 1300 and endured until World War I-."[http://books.google.com.ar/books?hl=es&lr=&id=T1jR39OM_hsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=the+ottoman+empire+&ots=l3kydTpqWY&sig=OWBGrfOESdslUcv6uWb6LqTm3VY&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20ottoman%20empire&f=false]

By this time the Ottomans lost to [[Greece]], the [[Balkans]], and most of [[Hungary]], setting the new frontier between east and west far to the north of the [[Danube]]. But in the west Europe they were rapidly expanding, demographically, economically and culturally, with the new wealth of the Americas fuelling a boom that laid the foundations for the growth of [[capitalism]] and the [[industrial revolution]]. By the 17th century, Europe had overtaken the Muslim world in wealth, population and&mdash;most importantly&mdash;technology.

By 1700, the Ottomans had been driven out of Hungary and the balance of power along the frontier had shifted decisively in favour of the west. Although some areas of Ottoman Europe, such as [[Albania]] and [[Eyalet of Bosnia|Bosnia]], saw many conversions to Islam, the area was never culturally absorbed into the Muslim world. From 1700 to 1918, the Ottomans steadily retreated, and the Middle East fell further and further behind Europe, becoming increasingly inward-looking and defensive. During the 19th century, [[Greece]], [[Serbia]], [[Romania]], and [[Bulgaria]] asserted their independence, and in the [[Balkan Wars]] of 1912–13 the Ottomans were driven out of Europe altogether, except for the city of [[Constantinople]] and its hinterland.

By the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was known as the "[[sick man of Europe]]", increasingly under the financial control of the European powers. Domination soon turned to outright conquest. The [[France|French]] annexed [[Algeria]] in 1830 and [[Tunisia]] in 1878. The [[United Kingdom|British]] occupied Egypt in 1882, though it remained under nominal Ottoman sovereignty.

The British also established effective control of the [[Persian Gulf]], and the French extended their influence into [[Lebanon]] and Syria. In 1912, the [[Italy|Italians]] seized [[Libya]] and the [[Dodecanese|Dodecanese islands]], just off the coast of the Ottoman heartland of Anatolia. The Ottomans turned to [[Germany]] to protect them from the western powers, but the result was increasing financial and military dependence on Germany.

==== Ottoman attempts at reform ====
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Middle Eastern rulers tried to modernize their states to compete more effectively with the European powers. Reformist rulers such as [[Mehemet Ali (Egypt)|Mehemet Ali]] in Egypt, the Ottoman Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] and the authors of the 1906 revolution in Persia all sought to import versions of the western model of constitutional government, civil law, secular education and industrial development into their countries. Across the region railways and telegraphs lines were built, schools and universities were opened, and a new class of army officers, lawyers, teachers and administrators emerged, challenging the traditional leadership of Islamic scholars.

In all these cases the money to pay for the reforms was borrowed from the west, and the crippling debt this entailed led to bankruptcy and even greater western domination, which tended to discredit the reformers. Egypt, for example, fell under British control because the ambitious projects of Muhammad Ali and his successors bankrupted the state. Additionally, the westernisation of the Islamic world created professional armies, led by officers who were both willing and able to seize power for themselves&mdash;a problem that has plagued the Middle East ever since.

There was also the problem that affects all reforming absolute rulers: they are prepared to consider all reforms except giving up their own power. Abdul Hamid, for example, grew ever more autocratic as he tried to impose reforms on his reluctant empire. Reforming ministers in Persia also tried to impose modernisation on their subjects, provoking sharp resistance.

The most ambitious reformers were the [[Young Turks]] (officially called the Committee for Union and Progress), who seized power in the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Led by an ambitious pair of army officers, [[Ismail Enver]] (Enver Pasha) and [[Ahmed Cemal]] (Cemal Pasha), and a radical lawyer, [[Mehmed Talat]] (Talat Pasha), the Young Turks initially established a constitutional monarchy, but soon became a ruling junta, with Talat as Grand Vizier and Enver as War Minister, which tried to force a radical modernisation program onto the Ottoman Empire.

The plan had several flaws. First it entailed imposing the Turkish language and centralised government on what had hitherto been a multi-lingual and loosely governed empire, which alienated the Arabic-speaking regions of the empire and caused an upsurge in Arab nationalism. Secondly it drove the empire ever deeper into debt. And thirdly, when Enver Bey formed an alliance with [[Germany]], which he saw as the most advanced military power in Europe, it cost the empire the support of Britain, which had protected the Ottomans against Russian encroachment all through the 19th century.

==Modern Middle East==

===Final years of the Ottoman Empire===
{{See also|Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire|French Mandate of Syria|British Mandate of Palestine|Modern history of Cyprus|Cyprus as a Protectorate|Arab-Israeli conflict|History of the Arab-Israeli conflict|History of Palestine|History of Israel}}
[[Image:Atatürk.jpg|180px|thumb|Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey]]

In 1878, as the result of the [[Cyprus Convention]], the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] took over the government of [[Cyprus]] as a protectorate from the [[Ottoman Empire]]. While the Cypriots at first welcomed [[British Empire|British rule]], hoping that they would gradually achieve prosperity, democracy and national liberation, they soon became disillusioned. The British imposed heavy [[taxes]] to cover the compensation they paid to the Sultan for conceding Cyprus to them. Moreover, the people were not given the right to participate in the administration of the island, since all powers were reserved to the [[High Commissioner]] and to [[London]]. In 1819, the Government of [[Lord Liverpool]] created the ''Six Acts'', which established [[press censorship]], the banning of [[political parties]] (mainly the [[communist party]]), the dissolution of municipal elections, as well as the out-ruling of [[trade unions]], meetings of more than five individuals, and the tolling of [[church bells]] outside [[church service|services]].<ref>Dr. Tofallis, Kypros, ''A History of Cyprus'', p.98 (2002)</ref>

Meanwhile, the fall of the Ottomans had allowed [[Kemal Atatürk]] to seize power in [[Turkey]] and embark on a program of modernisation and secularisation. He abolished the [[caliphate]], emancipated women, enforced western dress and the use of a new Turkish alphabet based on [[Latin alphabet]] in place of [[Arabic alphabet]], and abolished the jurisdiction of the Islamic courts. In effect, Turkey, having given up rule over the Arab World, now determined to secede from the Middle East and become culturally part of Europe. Ever since, Turkey has insisted that it is a European country and not part of the Middle East.

Another turning point in the history of the Middle East came when [[petroleum|oil]] was discovered, first in Persia in 1908 and later in [[Saudi Arabia]] (in 1938) and the other Persian Gulf states, and also in [[Libya]] and [[Algeria]]. The Middle East, it turned out, possessed the world's largest easily accessible reserves of crude oil, the most important commodity in the 20th century industrial world. Although western oil companies pumped and exported nearly all of the oil to fuel the rapidly expanding automobile industry and other western industrial developments, the kings and emirs of the oil states became immensely rich, enabling them to consolidate their hold on power and giving them a stake in preserving western hegemony over the region.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Morton|first=Michael Quentin|title=Narrowing the Gulf: Anglo-American Relations and Arabian Oil, 1928-74|journal=Liwa Journal|year=2011|month=December|volume=3|issue=6|pages=39–54|url=http://www.ncdr.ae/liwa/issues/LIWA06E.pdf|accessdate=14 July 2012}}</ref>

A Western dependence on Middle Eastern oil and the decline of British influence led to a growing American interest in the region. Initially, the Western oil companies established a predominance over oil production and extraction. However, indigenous movements towards nationalising oil assets, oil sharing and the advent of [[OPEC]] ensured a shift in the balance of power towards the Arab oil producing nations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Morton|first=Michael Quentin|title=Narrowing the Gulf: Anglo-American Relations and Arabian Oil, 1928-74|journal=Liwa Journal|year=2011|month=December|volume=3|issue=6|pages=39–54|url=http://www.ncdr.ae/liwa/issues/LIWA06E.pdf|accessdate=14 July 2012}}</ref> Oil wealth also had the effect of stultifying whatever movement towards economic, political or social reform might have emerged in the Arab world under the influence of the Kemalist revolution in Turkey.

In 1914 Enver Bey's alliance with Germany led the Young Turks into the fatal step of joining Germany and [[Austria-Hungary]] in [[World War I]],  against Britain and France. The British saw the Ottomans as the weak link in the enemy alliance, and concentrated on knocking them out of the war. When a direct assault failed at [[Battle of Gallipoli|Gallipoli]] in 1915, they turned to fomenting revolution in the Ottoman domains, exploiting the awakening force of [[Arab]] nationalism (and also that of the [[Armenians]] and [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]]).

The Arabs had lived more or less happily under Ottoman rule for 400 years, until the Young Turks had tried to "Turkicise" them and change their traditional system of government. The British found an ally in [[Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca|Sharif Hussein]], the hereditary ruler of [[Mecca]] (and believed by Muslims to be a descendant of the family of [[Muhammad]]), who led an [[Arab Revolt]] against Ottoman rule, having received a promise of Arab independence in exchange. Armenians and Assyrians, long persecuted [[Christian]] minorities were also allied to the British, and rose up in response to Ottoman massacres of their populations.

=== Defeat and partition of the Ottoman Empire (1918-22)===
{{Main|Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire}}

When the Ottoman Empire was defeated by British Empire forces after the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]] in 1918, the Arab population was met with what it perceived as betrayal by the British. The British and French governments concluded a secret treaty (the [[Sykes-Picot Agreement]]) to partition the Middle East between them and, additionally, the British promised via the [[Balfour Declaration, 1917|Balfour Declaration]] the international [[Zionism|Zionist]] movement their support in creating a [[Jew]]ish homeland in Palestine.

Historically known as the site of the ancient Jewish [[United Monarchy|Kingdom of Israel]] and successor Jewish nations for 1,200 years between approximately 1100BC-100AD, the region now had a large [[Arab]] population also from the 7th century. When the Ottomans departed, the Arabs proclaimed an independent state in [[Damascus]], but were too weak, militarily and economically, to resist the European powers for long, and Britain and France soon established control and re-arranged the Middle East to suit themselves.[http://www.crethiplethi.com/the-sykes-picot-agreement-1916/historical-documents/2009/ Skyes Picot Agreement: Division of Territory]

[[Syria]] became a French protectorate thinly disguised as a [[League of Nations Mandate]]. The [[Christian]] coastal areas were split off to become [[Lebanon]], another French protectorate. [[Iraq]] and [[Palestine]] became British mandated territories.  Iraq became the "[[Kingdom of Iraq]]" and one of Sharif Hussein's sons, [[Faisal I of Iraq|Faisal]], was installed as the [[King of Iraq]]. Iraq incorporated large populations of [[Kurdish people|Kurds]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] and [[Turkmen people|Turkmens]], many of whom had been promised independent states of their own.

Palestine became the "[[British Mandate of Palestine]]" and was split in half. The eastern half of Palestine became the "Emirate of [[Transjordan]]" to provide a throne for another of Husayn's sons, [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Abdullah]]. The western half of Palestine was placed under direct British administration. The already substantial Jewish population was allowed to increase.  Initially this increase was allowed under British protection.  Most of the Arabian peninsula fell to another British ally, [[Ibn Saud]]. Saud created the Kingdom of [[Saudi Arabia]] in 1932.

During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence. In 1919, [[Saad Zaghloul]] orchestrated mass demonstrations in Egypt known as the [[Egyptian Revolution of 1919|First Revolution]]. While Zaghloul would later become Prime Minister, the British repression of the anticolonial riots led to the death of some 800 people. In 1920, Syrian forces were defeated by the French in the [[Battle of Maysalun]] and Iraqi forces were defeated by the British when they [[Iraqi revolt against the British|revolted]]. In 1922, the (nominally) independent [[Kingdom of Egypt]] was created following the British government's issuance of the [[Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence]].

Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral" during [[World War II]], [[Cairo]] soon became a major military base for the British forces and the country was occupied. The British were able to do this because of a [[Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936|1936 treaty]] by which the [[United Kingdom]] maintained that it had the right to station troops on Egyptian soil to protect the [[Suez Canal]]. In 1941, the [[Iraq coup (1941)|Rashīd `Alī al-Gaylānī coup]] in Iraq led to the British invasion of the country during the [[Anglo-Iraqi War]]. The British invasion of Iraq was followed by the [[Syria-Lebanon campaign|Allied invasion of Syria-Lebanon]] and the [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran]].

In Palestine, conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor extricate themselves from.  The rise to power of German dictator [[Adolf Hitler]] in [[Germany]] had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a [[Jewish state]] there.  A Palestinian state was also an attractive alternative for Arab and Persian leaders to British, French, and perceived Jewish colonialism and imperialism under the logic of "[[the enemy of my enemy is my friend]]" (Lewis, 348–350).

=== New states post-World War 2 ===
The British, the French, and the Soviets departed many parts of the Middle East during and after [[World War II]].  Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East states on the [[Arabian Peninsula]] generally remained unaffected by World war II.  However, after the war, the following Middle states had independence restored or became independent:
* 17 October 1941 – Iran (forces of the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[Soviet Union]] withdrawn)

* 22 November 1943 – Lebanon

* 1 January 1944 – Syria

* 22 May 1946 – Jordan (British mandate ended)

* 1947 – Iraq (forces of the [[United Kingdom]] withdrawn)

* 1947 – Egypt (forces of the [[United Kingdom]] withdrawn to the [[Suez Canal]] area)

* 1948 - Israel (forces of the [[United Kingdom]] withdrawn)

* August 16, 1960 – Cyprus

The struggle between the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine culminated in the 1947 [[United Nations]] [[1947 UN Partition Plan|plan to partition Palestine]].  This plan attempted to create an Arab state and a Jewish state in the narrow space between the [[Jordan River]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea]].  While the Jewish leaders accepted it, the Arab leaders rejected this plan.

On 14 May 1948, when the British Mandate expired, the Zionist leadership declared the [[State of Israel]].  In the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]] that immediately followed, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia intervened and were defeated by Israel.  About 800,000 Palestinians fled from areas annexed by Israel and became [[Palestinian refugees|refugees]] in neighbouring countries, thus creating the "Palestinian problem," which has bedevilled the region ever since. Approximately two-thirds of 758,000&mdash;866,000 of the [[Jewish exodus from Arab lands|Jews expelled or who fled from Arab lands]] after 1948 were absorbed and naturalized by the State of Israel.

On August 16, 1960, [[Cyprus]] gained its independence from the [[British Empire|United Kingdom]]. Archbishop [[Makarios III]], a charismatic religious and political leader, was elected the first president of independent Cyprus, and in 1961 it became the 99th member of the [[United Nations]].

===Modern states===
{{See also|List of conflicts in the Middle East}}
[[File:The Middle East.ogv|thumb|1963 film about contemporary events in the Middle East]]

The departure of the European powers from direct control of the region, the establishment of [[Israel]], and the increasing importance of the oil industry, marked the creation of the modern Middle East. These developments led to a growing presence of the [[United States]] in Middle East affairs. The U.S. was the ultimate guarantor of the stability of the region, and from the 1950s the dominant force in the oil industry. When radical revolutions brought radical [[Anti-Western sentiment|anti-Western]] regimes to power in Egypt in 1954, in Syria in 1963, in Iraq in 1968 and in [[Libya]] in 1969, the [[Soviet Union]], seeking to open a new arena of the [[Cold War]] in the Middle East, allied itself with [[Arab socialism|Arab socialist]] rulers such as [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] of [[Egypt]] and [[Saddam Hussein]] of [[Iraq]].

These regimes gained popular support through their promises to destroy the state of Israel, defeat the U.S. and other "western imperialists," and to bring prosperity to the Arab masses. When the [[Six-Day War]] of 1967 between [[Israel]] and its neighbours ended in a decisive loss for the Muslim side, many in the Islamic world saw this as the failure of Arab socialism. This represents a turning point when "fundamental and militant Islam began to fill the political vacuum created".<ref name="watson">Watson, Peter (2006). Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 1096. ISBN 0-06-093564-2.</ref>

In response to this challenge to its interests in the region, the U.S. felt obliged to defend its remaining allies, the conservative monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran and the Persian Gulf emirates, whose methods of rule were almost as unattractive to western eyes as those of the anti-western regimes. Iran in particular became a key U.S. ally, until a revolution led by the [[Shi'a]] clergy overthrew the monarchy in 1979 and established a [[theocracy|theocratic]] regime that was even more anti-western than the secular regimes in Iraq or Syria. This forced the U.S. into a close alliance with Saudi Arabia. The list of Arab-Israeli wars includes a great number of major wars such as [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]], [[1956 Suez War]], [[1967 Six Day War]], [[1970 War of Attrition]], [[1973 Yom Kippur War]], [[1982 Lebanon War]], as well as a number of lesser conflicts.

[[Image:Begin, Carter and Sadat at Camp David 1978.jpg|thumb|[[Menachem Begin]], [[Jimmy Carter]], and [[Anwar Sadat]] concluded a peace treaty in 1978.]]
Between 1963 and 1974, conflict arising between [[Greek Cypriots]] and [[Turkish Cypriots]] in [[Modern history of Cyprus|British colonial Cyprus]] lead to [[Cypriot intercommunal violence]] and the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]]. The [[Cyprus dispute]] remains unresolved.

In the mid-to-late 1960s, the [[Ba'ath Party|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party]] led by [[Michel Aflaq]] and [[Salah al-Din al-Bitar]] took power in both Iraq and Syria. Iraq was first ruled by [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]], but was succeeded by [[Saddam Hussein]] in 1979, and Syria was ruled first by a Military Committee led by [[Salah Jadid]], and later [[Hafez al-Assad]] until 2000, when he was succeeded by his son, [[Bashar al-Assad]].

In 1979, Egypt under Nasser's successor, [[Anwar Sadat]], concluded a peace treaty with Israel, ending the prospects of a united Arab military front. From the 1970s the Palestinians, led by [[Yasser Arafat]]'s [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], resorted to a prolonged campaign of violence against Israel and against American, Jewish and western targets generally, as a means of weakening Israeli resolve and undermining western support for Israel. The Palestinians were supported in this, to varying degrees, by the regimes in Syria, Libya, Iran and Iraq. The high point of this campaign came in the 1975 [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379]] condemning Zionism as a form of racism and the reception given to Arafat by the [[United Nations General Assembly]].  Resolution 3379 was revoked in 1991 by the [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 4686]].

The fall of the [[Soviet Union]] and the collapse of [[communism]] in the early 1990s had several consequences for the Middle East. It allowed large numbers of Soviet Jews to emigrate from [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]] to Israel, further strengthening the Jewish state. It cut off the easiest source of credit, armaments and diplomatic support to the anti-western Arab regimes, weakening their position. It opened up the prospect of cheap oil from Russia, driving down the price of oil and reducing the west's dependence on oil from the Arab states. It discredited the model of development through authoritarian state socialism, which Egypt (under Nasser), Algeria, Syria and Iraq had followed since the 1960s, leaving these regimes politically and economically stranded. Rulers such as Saddam Hussein in Iraq increasingly turned to Arab nationalism as a substitute for socialism.

Saddam Hussein led Iraq into a prolonged and very costly war with Iran in the 1980s, and then into its fateful invasion of [[Kuwait]] in 1990. Kuwait had been part of the Ottoman province of [[Basra]] before 1918, and thus in a sense part of Iraq, but Iraq had recognized its independence in the 1960s. The U.S. responded to the invasion by forming a coalition of allies that included Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria, gaining approval from the [[United Nations]] and then evicting Iraq from Kuwait by force in the [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]]. President [[George H. W. Bush]] did not, however, attempt to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime, something the U.S. later came to regret{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}. The Persian Gulf War and its aftermath brought about a permanent U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf region, particularly in Saudi Arabia, something that offended many Muslims, a reason often cited by [[Osama Bin Ladin]] as justification for the [[September 11 Attacks]].

===1990s-present===
[[Image:MiddleEast.png|thumb|400px|A map showing countries commonly considered part of the Middle East.]]

By the 1990s, many western commentators (and some Middle Eastern ones) saw the Middle East as not just a ''zone of conflict'', but also a ''zone of backwardness''. The rapid spread of political democracy and the development of market economies in [[Eastern Europe]], [[Latin America]], [[East Asia]] and parts of Africa passed the Middle East by boats. In the whole region, only Israel, Turkey and to some extent Lebanon and the Palestinian territories were democracies.

Other countries had legislative bodies, but these had little power, and in the Persian Gulf states the majority of the population could not vote anyway, as they were guest workers and not citizens. Many Arab countries counter-claim that a direct result of Western foreign policy and an overly strong Israel, has been the removal of much progress that would come naturally from these nations.

In most Middle Eastern countries, the growth of market economies was inhibited by political restrictions, corruption and cronyism, overspending on arms and prestige projects, and over-dependence on oil revenues. Successful economies in the region were those that combined oil wealth with low populations, such as [[Qatar]], [[Bahrain]], and the [[United Arab Emirates]]. In these states, the ruling emirs allowed some political and social liberalization, but without giving up any of their own power. Lebanon, after a prolonged civil war in the 1980s, also rebuilt a fairly successful economy.

By the end of the 1990s, the Middle East as a whole was falling behind Europe, [[India]], [[China]], and other rapidly developing market economies, in terms of production, trade, education, communications and virtually every other criterion of economic and social progress. The assertion that, if oil was subtracted, the total exports of the whole Arab world were less than those of [[Finland]] was frequently quoted. The theories of authors such as [[David Pryce-Jones]], that the Arabs were trapped in a "cycle of backwardness" from which their culture would not allow them to escape, were widely accepted in the west and east.

In the opening years of the 21st century all these factors combined to raise the Middle East conflict to a new height, and to spread its consequences across the globe. The failure of the attempt by [[Bill Clinton]] to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians at [[Camp David]] in 2000 ([[2000 Camp David Summit]]) led directly to the election of [[Ariel Sharon]] as Prime Minister of Israel and to the [[Al-Aqsa Intifada]], characterised by [[suicide bombing]] of Israeli civilian targets. This was the first major outbreak of violence since the [[Oslo Peace Accords]] of 1993.

At the same time, the failures of most of the Arab regimes and the bankruptcy of secular Arab radicalism led a section of educated Arabs (and other Muslims) to embrace [[Islamism]], promoted both by the [[Shi'a]] clerics of Iran and by the powerful [[Wahhabist]] sect of Saudi Arabia. Many of the militant Islamists gained military training while fighting against the forces of the Soviet Union in [[Afghanistan]].

One of these was a wealthy Saudi Arabian, [[Osama bin Laden]]. After fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan, he formed the [[al-Qaida]] organization, which was responsible for the [[1998 U.S. embassy bombings]], the [[USS Cole (DDG-67)|USS Cole]] [[USS Cole bombing|bombing]] and the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] on the United States.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} The September 11 attacks led the administration of U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] to launch an invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 to overthrow the [[Taliban]] regime, which was harbouring Bin Laden and his organisation. The U.S. and its allies described this operation as part of a global "[[War on Terrorism]]."

During 2002 the administration, led by Defense Secretary [[Donald Rumsfeld]], developed a plan to invade Iraq, remove Saddam from power, and turn Iraq into a democratic state with a free-market economy, which, they hoped, would serve as a model for the rest of the Middle East. When the U.S. and its principal allies, [[United Kingdom|Britain]], [[Italy]], [[Spain]] and [[Australia]], could not secure [[United Nations]] approval for the execution of the numerous United Nations resolutions, they launched an invasion of Iraq, overthrowing Saddam with no great difficulty in April 2003.

The advent of a new western army of occupation in a Middle Eastern capital marked a turning point in the history of the region. Despite successful elections (although boycotted by large portions of Iraq's Sunni population) held in January 2005, much of Iraq had all but disintegrated due to a post-war insurgency. A post-war insurgency has morphed into persistent ethnic violence the American army has been unable to quell. Many of Iraq's intellectual and business elite have fled the country, and many Iraqi refugees have left as a result of the insurgency, further destabilizing the region.  A responsive surge in US forces in Iraq has recently been largely successful in controlling the insurgency and stabilizing Iraq.

By 2005, also, George W. Bush's [[Road map for peace]] between [[Israel]] and the Palestinians has been stalled, although this situation began to change with [[Yasser Arafat]]'s death in 2004. In response, Israel moved towards a unilateral solution, pushing ahead with the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] to protect Israel from Palestinian suicide bombers and proposed unilateral withdrawal from [[Gaza]]. The barrier if completed would amount to a ''de facto'' annexation of areas of the [[West Bank]] by Israel. In 2006 a new conflict erupted between Israel and [[Hezbollah]] Shi’a militia in southern Lebanon, further setting back any "prospects for peace".

Starting in late 2010 to the present, a [[revolutionary wave]] popularly known as the [[Arab Spring]] has brought major protests, uprisings, and even revolutions to several Middle Eastern countries and appears to be in the process of significantly changing the social order of the Middle East.

==See also==
*[[Middle Eastern Empires]]
*[[Timeline of Middle Eastern History]]

'''By country:'''
*[[History of Armenia]]
*[[History of Azerbaijan]]
*[[History of Bahrain]]
*[[History of Egypt]]
*[[History of Georgia (country)|History of Georgia]]
*[[History of Iran]]
*[[History of Iraq]]
*[[History of Israel]]
*[[History of Jordan]]
*[[History of Kuwait]]
*[[History of Lebanon]]
*[[History of Oman]]
*[[History of Qatar]]
*[[History of Saudi Arabia]]
*[[History of Syria]]
*[[History of Turkey]]
*[[History of the United Arab Emirates]]
*[[History of Yemen]]

'''General:'''
*[[History of North Africa]]
*[[Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures]]
*[[History of Asia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[[Bernard Lewis|Lewis, Bernard]]. ''The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years''. New York: Scribner,1995.
*{{Cite news|last=Sharp |first=Jeremy |url=http://www.opencrs.com/document/RL33566 |title=CRS Report for Congress -- Lebanon: The Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah Conflict |publisher=CRS Online |date=2006-09-15 |accessdate=2006-01-20}}
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct/31/arabs-eugene-rogan-robert-irwin  ''The Arabs: A History'' (2009) by Eugene Rogan]
* Alfred Schlicht: ''Die Araber und Europa'', Stuttgart 2008 (German)
* Donald Quataert, ''The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922'', Cambridge University Press, 2000 [http://books.google.com.ar/books?hl=es&lr=&id=T1jR39OM_hsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=the+ottoman+empire+&ots=l3kydTpqWY&sig=OWBGrfOESdslUcv6uWb6LqTm3VY&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20ottoman%20empire&f=false]

==External links==
*[http://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552622 Modern Historical Struggles] from the [http://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552494/browse?type=title Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives]
*[http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/6308/1/Ancient-Civilizations--Mesopotamia.html Ancient Civilizations Medicine]
*[http://www.aina.org/brief.html Assyrians]

{{Spoken Wikipedia|Wikipedia_-_History_of_the_Middle_East.ogg|2008-03-28}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of The Middle East}}
[[Category:History of the Middle East|*]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern studies]]

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