Chapter 14: “Modernizing Rulers in the Independent States” (Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia)

1. Chapter 14:“Modernizing Rulers in the Independent States”(Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia)

2. Three areas of the Middle East salvaged independence after WWI. In each case a military commander turned political leader led the movements • Iran: Reza Shah Pahlavi 2. Turkey: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 3. Saudi Arabia: IbnSa’ud

3. Turkey • Ottomans lost 325,000 people in WWI • During the war, Turks feared Armenians as treasonous and potentially would join their co-religionists in Russia. Over 1 million Armenians were systematically murdered. Known as the “Armenian Genocide” • By end of war in 1919, Ottoman Empire a mess

4. Ataturk & Turkey’s Independence • Ataturk gained fame for military exploits during WWI • Takes lead of Turkish nationalist movement • Successful at fighting off Greeks attempting to land on western borders and against the Ottoman Sultan who was trying to dispose of him • On Oct. 29th, 1923, the nationalists from their base in Ankara declare Turkey an independent republic

6. Laussane Conference with the British: • All forms of foreign occupation end in Turkey 2. Armenian and Kurdish states will not form out of Turkish territory 3. Population exchange of ethnic Greeks deported out of Turkey; Bulgarian and Greek Muslims imported into Turkey 4. Straits would be supervised by an international commission and would be demilitarized

7. Turkish Delegate to the Laussane Conference

8. Ataturk’s Domestic Reforms • Ataturk devoted his life to transform Turkey into a secular nation-state • Banned the caliphate in 1924 • From 1924 onward he passed a series of laws that replaced Shari’a and reforms that were western in principle: • Women given equal rights • European dress encouraged • Changed to Gregorian calendar • Clocks set to European time • Metric system adopted • Abolished Islam as state religion • Turkish language changed from Arabic script to Roman • Turks required to take family names • Developed a state-controlled industrialization scheme, drafted by Soviet economists

9. Ataturk summed up his program with six principles, later incorporated into Turkish Constitution: • REPUBLICANISM: electoral system 2. NATIONALISM: loyalty to the Turkish nation 3. POPULISM: popular rule, equality for all 4. STATISM: state directed capitalism, gov’t hand in economy 5. SECULARISM: removal of religious controls 6. REFORMISM: commitment to peaceful modernization

10. Legacy of Ataturk • “Ataturk was a westernizing reformer, but above all was a Turkish nationalist” (p. 232) • “To many Turks, their country is European, not Middle Eastern” (p. 234)

11. Iran • Remember from Ch. 13 that British and Russians had agreed to allow one another to establish “spheres of influence” in Persia • Reza Khan, an army officer in Tehran, ousts his brigades pro-Russian commander. He organizes a secret society of Persian officers opposed to both British and Russian control • Overthrows the Qajar government in Tehran in 1921

12. Reza’s Four Areas of Reforms • Liberation from foreign political and economic domination • Iranians took control from British of banks and communications along the Persian Gulf • Began imposing duties on foreign imports • Gained right to try foreigners accused of crimes • Gained right to collect royalties from the Anglo-Iranian oil company, though he was unsuccessful in taking full of control over it per a League of Nations decision in favor of Britain

13. 2. Establishment of internal security and centralized government • Power of nomadic tribes weakened by forcing tribal chiefs out of power • Army reorganized, modernized, spread over the whole country 3. Administrative reforms and economic progress • Euro-style law codes and courts established • Roads and infrastructure improvements. Trans-Iranian Railroad is built from Caspian Sea to Persian Gulf without use of foreign loans

14. 4. Social reforms and cultural progress • Increased education for males and females. U. of Tehran opens in 1935 • Made a cult out of physical fitness and athletic contests • Iranian men had to wear “international” costumes and women could not veil their faces! • Required to establish a family name. Reza chooses “Pahlavi” • Persian language is purged of its Arabic words • Recognizing historic ties, Pahlavi has ancient Sasanid monuments spruced up. • Changes name of country from Persia to Iran (land of Aryans)

15. Reza’s Downfall • Trying to reduce dependence on Britain, Reza brought in German advisers. Germans helped him establish the National Bank of Iran in 1930s • Though Iran proclaimed neutrality during WWII, Britain and Russia didn’t like Reza’s relationship with the Germans. They bring soldiers into Iran and force Reza into exile • Reza’s son, Mohammad, takes control. He was educated in Switzerland and is very friendly to British and U.S. interests • The WWII allies treated Iran as a supply line, a source for oil, a convenient meeting place – a subordinate ally

16. Dr. Seuss Political Cartoon August 26, 1941

17. Iran - Post World War II • At end of the war, Soviets attempt to set up communist states in northern Iran, but were forced to leave under UN pressure • In 1951, Mohammad Mossadegh came into office to reestablish democracy and nationalist policies • Mossadegh nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, angering the British and the U.S. • Mossadegh is toppled in 1953 by CIA backed military coup. Mohammad Reza Shah returns to rule Iran as a dictator Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh

18. Mohammad Shah represses all opposition to his rule, mainly through his secret police, the SAVAK • His policies eroded Muslim values and widened the gap between rich and poor. His repressive tactics lead to the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Let’s watch a clip from Bill Moyer’s “Secret Government” (Start clip at 4:45) http://youtube.com/watch?v=_sstDwKTCpM

19. The Rise of Saudi Arabia • In 18th century, a wandering young scholar, Muhammad ibnAbd al-Wahhab begins writing about Islamic doctrine based on his belief in the Hanbali legal code • Wahhab is chased away by his own family, and is given refuge in the home of the Sa’ud family. The Saudi’s are converted to Wahhab’s doctrines • United in their beliefs, Wahhab and Sa’ud set out to convert nearby Arab tribes • Wahhab emerges as the spirtual leader of the movement; Sa’ud as the military and political leader • Through late 18th and early 19th centuries, they are successful in spreading Wahhabism across Arabia • Though they lost control in mid-19th century, the “House of Saud” is firmly in control of most of the peninsula by 1902.

20. Emergence of Saudi Kingdom • Saudis had to subdue many rival tribes to keep power over the region • In 1924, Saudi’s conquered Husayn’s state in the Hijaz – thus taking control of Islam’s holy cities • After uniting all the tribes under his rule, IbnSa’ud establishes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 • Sa’ud knew his limits, and didn’t try and take any more lands. For this he is respected by his neighbors, Abdullah of Jordan and Faysal of Iraq – even though he had defeated their father in the Hijaz! Ibn Sa’ud meeting with FDR, 1945

21. Oil Discoveries and Effect on Saudi Kingdom • Saudi Arabia extremely poor until the late 1930s. Main economy rested on export of date palms and camels! • An engineer looking for water sources, Karl Twitchell, has a hunch that oil might be found • Twitchell convinces Standard Oil of California (Chevron) to explore. In 1932, IbnSa’ud gave them a 60-year concession to search for oil in exchange for $300,000 in loans plus a royalty of $6 per 2,240 pounds of oil taken • Under Sa’ud there was no government but him! • All oil revenues went into his personal coffers. His family gained enormous wealth. Their palaces sprang up around Riyadh, the capital

22. Currently, Saudi Arabia is the #2 producer and exporter of oil in the world. • Today, all of the oil reserves are owned by the state run oil company, Aramco. However, Aramco contracts to major foreign companies to help with their operations. (5.5 million foreigners live and work in Saudi Arabia – significant for a country with a native population of 24 million!) Aramco Headquarters. Dhahran City, Saudi Arabia

23. Hanbali Law in Saudi Arabia • Legal system administered by HanbaliUlama • Thieves have their hands chopped off • Murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, and armed robbers are beheaded in public. (2005 – 191 executions) • Women do not have many rights. (must veil themselves; only 5% are employed; may not testify in court; may not drive a vehicle • Homosexuality leads to imprisonment, in some cases execution • May not criticize the government or expouse un-Islamic values • There is no religious freedom – you must be a Sunni Muslim – AND you must pray five times a day. This is enforced by religious police • Alcohol and tobacco are forbidden • Western clothes, music, movies, dancing are forbidden • Foreigners mostly live in compounds and are allowed some freedom there

24. Let’s read together a joint statement from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and President Bush in 2005…… http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050425-8.html

25. President Bush on the Taliban, another regime that followed Hanbali code: “[The Taliban] promote terror abroad and impose a reign of terror on the Afghan people.  Women are executed in Kabul's soccer stadium.  They can be beaten for wearing socks that are too thin.  Men are jailed for missing prayer meetings….. …..We make this promise to all the victims of [the Taliban] regime:  The Taliban's days of harboring terrorists and dealing in heroin and brutalizing women are drawing to a close.  And when that regime is gone, the people of Afghanistan will say with the rest of the world:  good riddance.”