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1299
Establishment of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman empire was founded in 1299 by Osman I. The Ottoman Turks created the first formal government, and then started expanding territory. The Ottomans started to gain a lot of power and started to earn their name when they conquered Constantinople which is today known as Istanbul in 1453. From there, they start overtaking the coast of the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and Northern Africa. As well as modern day Turkey, large areas of Eastern Europe, and most parts of the Middle East. -
Rising Tension of the Arab uprising
By 1800 the Ottomans had a very far spread empire. stretching from Northern Africa, to majority of the Middle East, modern day Turkey and parts of Eastern Europe. Controlling this big an empire was hard as the borders were so spread a part. Living within the empire at the time in Northern Africa were a lot of Arab cultures who were sick of the Ottomans and wanted independence. There were two major reasons why the Arab didn't like the Ottomans. this would go on to cause the Arab Revolt. -
The Construction of the Suez Canal
As well as the fact that the Ottomans weren't letting the local Arabs practice their culture, a big spark in the wildfire that wild be the Arab revolt was the construction of the Suez Canal. Before 1850 different nations/ empires were discussing the idea of having a canal that would join the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, instead of the going around the African Continent. Then, in 1850 the Ottomans decided to start the construction of the Suez, but had to raise the taxes of the Arabs to fund it. -
The Outbreak of WW1
After the past issues that had happened between the Arabs and the Ottomans, the Arabs were just about ready for their independence. Come the outbreak of WW1 and they thought they were going to get it. in about 1917, Britain made a deal with the Arabs (Hussein Bin Ali, who was their leader) that if they came and fought for them during the war, after winning the war they would give them from the bottom of Yemen to the top of Syria. The Arabs accepted the, at the time, kind deal straight away. -
the Sykes- Picot Agreement
after the hundreds of bloody battles it took, Germany finally surrendered and the Allies won the war. For the Ottomans this meant the dismantle of their empire, and the creation of countries like Libya and Algeria. It also meant the creation of some new countries in the Middle East, thus Syria and Iraq. After the war France and Britain made a deal to split up the middle East and take it for themselves, and giving the leftovers to the Arabs. This is today known as the Sykes- Picot Agreement.
