The Near and Middle East (1828–1971 CE)

Empires in Decline, Nations in Transition, and Oil in Ascendancy

Geography & Environmental Context

The Near and Middle East includes three fixed subregions:

• The Near East — Israel, Egypt, Sudan, western Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, southwestern Turkey, and southwestern Cyprus.

• The Middle East — Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, eastern Jordan, eastern Saudi Arabia, and northern Oman.

• Southeast Arabia — southern Oman, eastern Yemen, and the island of Socotra.

This vast region links the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Caspian Basin, bridging Africa, Europe, and Asia. It is dominated by deserts and highlands, punctuated by fertile river valleys (the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates) and strategic straits — the Suez Canal, the Bab el-Mandeb, and the Strait of Hormuz — that define global trade and geopolitics.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

Aridity remained the defining condition. The 19th century brought episodes of famine and epidemic following droughts in Egypt, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula. Irrigation schemes and canal building, such as the Suez Canal (opened 1869) and the Assiut Barrage (1902), transformed riverine agriculture. Petroleum exploration and urban expansion in the 20th century accelerated desertification and water demand. Monsoon moisture sustained oases in Oman and Yemen, while seasonal Nile floods continued until the Aswan High Dam (1960–70) reshaped the river’s ecology.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Agrarian bases persisted in the Nile Valley, the Fertile Crescent, and the Iranian Plateau, producing wheat, cotton, dates, and fruits.

• Nomadic and pastoral tribes in Arabia, the Levant, and Sudan maintained camel and sheep herding, adapting to modern markets.

• Urbanization surged in Cairo, Istanbul, Tehran, Baghdad, Beirut, and Jeddah, intensified by European trade and oil wealth.

• Port cities—Aden, Basra, Kuwait City, Manama, and Doha—grew into nodes of global commerce.

Technology & Material Culture

European imperial penetration introduced telegraphs, railways (notably the Hejaz Railway, 1908), and modern weaponry. In the 20th century, oil extraction and refining brought pipelines, tankers, and industrial zones. Traditional crafts—carpets, calligraphy, metalwork, and ceramics—remained vital symbols of identity. Concrete architecture and Western education transformed cities, while mosques and bazaars continued as cultural anchors.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Trade routes: The Suez Canal reoriented world shipping; the Persian Gulf became an oil artery.

• Pilgrimage: The Hajj connected Muslims globally through Mecca and Medina.

• Migration: Rural–urban drift filled cities; labor migration later linked Yemenis, Egyptians, and Iranians to Gulf oil fields.

• Military corridors: The Near and Middle East served as theaters of imperial rivalries—British in the Gulf and Egypt, Russians in the Caucasus, Ottomans across Anatolia and Arabia.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Religion and reform: Islamic modernists such as Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh sought synthesis of faith and reason; Christian minorities in Lebanon and Armenia fostered education and journalism.

• Literature and art: The Nahda (Arab Renaissance) revived Arabic prose and poetry; Persian and Turkish writers blended realism with nationalism.

• Architecture: Cairo’s modern boulevards, Tehran’s avenues, and oil-era Gulf skylines redefined urban form while domed mosques and minarets remained emblems of continuity.

• Music and media: Radio and cinema from Cairo, Tehran, and Istanbul spread popular culture across linguistic and sectarian boundaries.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

Desert agriculture expanded through artesian wells and canals; the introduction of cash crops like cotton in Egypt and tobacco in Iran restructured rural economies. Oases sustained date-palm and grain cultivation, while pastoralists adjusted routes to motor transport and border restrictions. In coastal cities, desalination and modern infrastructure emerged to offset water scarcity.

Political & Military Shocks

• Imperial decline and reform:

  • The Ottoman Empire weakened, culminating in its dissolution after World War I.

  • Egypt’s Muhammad Ali dynasty modernized administration and industry but fell under British occupation (1882).

  • Iran’s Qajar dynasty faced constitutional revolution (1905–11) and later Pahlavi modernization (from 1925).

• World Wars and mandates: British and French mandates carved up former Ottoman territories; Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, and Palestine emerged under European oversight.

• Nationalism and revolution:

  • Turkey’s Republic (1923) under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk secularized and industrialized Anatolia.

  • Arab nationalism surged—Nasser’s Egypt championed anti-imperial unity.

  • Iran underwent the 1951 oil nationalization crisis and the White Revolution (1963).

  • The Zionist movement culminated in the creation of Israel (1948) and successive Arab–Israeli wars (1948, 1956, 1967).

• Oil and Cold War: The discovery of major oil fields (Iran 1908; Iraq 1927; Saudi Arabia 1938; Kuwait 1938) made the region central to global power politics. U.S. and Soviet rivalry deepened through alliances and arms races.

Transition

Between 1828 and 1971, the Near and Middle East transformed from imperial provinces and desert sultanates into a mosaic of nation-states, revolutionary republics, and monarchies bound by oil and ideology. The collapse of Ottoman and colonial empires unleashed nationalist movements, while petroleum wealth and Cold War geopolitics redefined economies and alliances. In the deserts of Arabia and the deltas of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates, modernization coexisted with faith, and cities like Cairo, Tehran, and Riyadh became centers of a region poised between deep tradition and global transformation

Britain unilaterally declares Egyptian independence on February 28, 1922, without any negotiations with Egypt.

Four matters are "absolutely reserved to the discretion" of the British government until agreements concerning them can be negotiated: the security of communications of the British Empire in Egypt; the
defense of Egypt against all foreign aggressors or interference, direct or indirect; the protection of foreign interests in Egypt and the protection of minorities; and Sudan.

Sultan Ahmad Fuad becomes King Fuad I, and his son, Faruok, is named as his heir.

A new Egyptian constitution is approved on April 19.

Also in this month an electoral law is issued that ushers in a new phase in Egypt's political
development—parliamentary elections.

Ismail Sidky emerges as the "strong man" of Egyptian politics and an ardent opponent of the Wafd.

It is he who abolishes the constitution in 1930 and drafts another that enhances the power of the monarch.

He forms his own party, Al Hizb ash Shaab, which will merge with the Ittihad Party in 1938.

Also in 1938, dissident members of the Wafd will form the Saadist Party, named after Saad Zaghlul.

Political life in Egypt from the mid twenties to the Second World War will be described as basically triangular, consisting of the king, the Wafd, and the British.

The basis of British power is its army of occupation as well as British officials in the administration, police, and army.

The king's power rests on the rights he can exercise in accordance with the 1923 constitution and partly on the permanence of his position.

The king's rights include selecting and appointing the prime minister, dismissing the cabinet, and dissolving Parliament.

The Wafd's power is based on its popular support and its command of a vast majority in Parliament.

These three forces in Egyptian politics are of unequal strength.

The British have overwhelming power, and if their interests are at stake, their power prevails over the other two.

The king is in a stronger position than the Wafd because his power is difficult to curb while the Wafd can easily be removed from power.

The Wafd embodies parliamentary democracy in Egypt; thus, by its very existence, it constitutes a threat to both the king and the British.

To the king, any democratic system is a threat to his autocratic rule.

To the British, a democratic system means that in any free election the Wafd will be voted into power.

The British believe that the Wafd in power is a threat to their own power in the country.

Thus, the British attempt to destroy the power of the Wafd and to use the king as a counter to the Wafd.

Britain had renounced the protectorate and approved Egypt's declaration of independence in 1922.

However, the 1923 Egyptian constitution made no claim to Egyptian sovereignty over Sudan.

Subsequent negotiations in London between the British and the new Egyptian government founder on the Sudan question.

Inflamed by the failure of the talks, nationalists riot in Egypt and in Sudan where a minority support union with Egypt.

In November 1924, Sir Lee Stack, governor general of Sudan and Sirdar, is assassinated in Cairo.

Britain orders all Egyptian troops, civil servants, and public employees withdrawn from Sudan.

In 1925, Khartoum forms the forty-five hundred-man Sudan Defence Force (SDF) under Sudanese officers to replace Egyptian units.

The Wafd wins one hundred and seventy-nine of two hundred and eleven parliamentary seats in the parliamentary election of January 12, 1924.

Two seats each go to the Wafd's opponents, the National Party and the Liberal Constitutionalist Party, a party founded in 1922 and considered excessively cooperative with the British.

The Wafd feels it has a mandate to conclude a treaty with Britain that will assure Egypt complete independence.

Saad Zaghlu, as prime minister, carefully selects a cross-section of Egyptian society for his cabinet, which he calls the "People's Ministry."

Sir Lee Stack, the British governor general of Sudan and commander of the Egyptian army, is assassinated in Cairo on November 19, 1924.

The assassination is one of a series of killings of British officials that had begun in 1920.

High Commissioner Sir Edmind Allenby, who had considered Stack an old and trusted friend, is determined to avenge the crime and in the process humiliate the Wafd and destroy its credibility in Egypt.

Allenby demands that Egypt apologize, prosecute the assailants, pay a £500,000 indemnity, withdraw all troops from Sudan, consent to an unlimited increase of irrigation in Sudan and end all opposition to the capitulations (Britain's demand of the right to protect foreign interests in the country).

Zaghlul wants to resign rather than accept the ultimatum, but Allenby presents it to him before Zaghlul can offer his resignation to the king. Zaghlul and his cabinet decide to accept the first four terms but to reject the last two.

On November 24, after ordering the Ministry of Finance to pay the indemnity, Zaghlul resigns.

He will die three years later.