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Sykes Picot Agreement
Sykes Picot Agreement was secretly signed by France and United Kingdom, with the assent of Russia, regarding the spheres of influence and control in the Middle East if the Triple Entente (France, Britain, Russia) succeeded in defeating the Ottoman Empire in World War I. This agreement led to most of the conflicts and nationalistic movements in the Middle East in the twentieth century, as well as to how the countries are divided today. -
Balfour Declaration
Balfour declaration was a letter from United Kingdom's foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour to Baron Rothschild, the leader of the Zionist Federation. This letter "promises" that Britain would support the zionist movement and its aim to create a Jewish state in Palestine. This declaration later facilitated the creation of Israel, the Jewish state in Palestinian land. -
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Paris Peace Conference
32 countries and nationalities gathered from around the world in Paris to discuss the aftermath of the Great War -World War I. As a result of this conference, Ottoman Empire ended and the bulk of the Middle East became mandates under control of UK and France. This led to an uproar in Arab nationalism as well as a rise to Jews moving into Palestine under British control. -
Baath Party founded
Baath Party was established in Syria in 1947. Baathism is an ideology mergin Pan-Arabism, Arab nationslism, and anti-imperialism, and calls for unification of Arab nations into one state. This led to the establishment of United Arab Republic (UAR) in which Syria and Egypt were united. However, this union soon dissolved. Furthermore, Baathism influenced several Arab leaders including Saddam Hussein, who were Arab nationalists. -
Al-Nakba
Al-Nakba was the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were pushed out of their homeland into neighboring Arab countries. As the result of this war, Israel declared itself as an independent nation in the land of Palestine. This war became the basis of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict. -
Suez Canal Crisis
In 1956, Egypt invaded the Suez canal in order to nationalize it. Worried that its access and control of it would be threatened, Britain persuaded France and Israel to attack Egypt. However, this action was condemned by the world, UN, US, as well as even the British citizens. In the end, the British, French, and Israeli arimes withdrew, and Suez canal was left at the hands of Egypt. -
Al-Naksa (Six-Day War)
This war was fought between the Arab nations and Israel due to the Arab-Israeli conflict regarding Palestine. After only six days, Arabs lost the war, and Israel occupied Gaza strip, West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Siani peninsula. This war led to the 1967 UN Resolution no.242 in which the Arab nations promised to agree on peace if Israel returns the occupied territories. It has become the basiss for every Arab-Israeli peace process, but Israel has not agreed to it yet. -
1973 October War
In 1973, the coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria attacked Israel-occupied territories including the Sinai peninsula and Golan Heights almost unopposed in a matter of days. Although in the end, the Arab states did not win the war and had to withdraw, the psychological impact of the war was tremendous, as it showed that the Arab states could win against Israel if it wanted to. -
Camp David Accords
Camp David Accords were secretly signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin at Camp David after thirteen days of negotiation. These accords laid the framework for the later peace treaty between Egypt and Israel that was much resented throughout the Arab world. This peace treaty put an end to the conflict between Egypt and Israel that was exacerbated after the 1973 war. -
Gulf War I
In 1990, Iraq, under the rule of Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait, claiming that Kuwait was originally Iraqi land before UK drew the border between Iraq and Kuwait in 1922. UN condemned this invasion, and sent a Coalition troop led by US to Iraq. In the end, Iraq withdrew from Kuwait, but Saddam Hussein stayed in power for another 10 years.
