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To complete this exercise, you will need:
This print-out which includes two maps
Your copy of Historical Memory and Cultural Icons
The ME-19th Century Imperialism doc/handout provided in the week 9 module.
Your lesson notes from the week 9 lessons.
You will be making/tracing a map based on the provided map The Balkans and Middle East in
1921. You will use the Balkans and Middle East 1878 map to help you answer some of the
questions. Using color can greatly enhance your map. Maps are graded on neatness and
accuracy. Outstanding maps can earn a bonus!
Part 1: Map Basics
Draw by hand a map of the Balkans, the Middle East, and part of North Africa. Use the provided
map The Balkans and Middle East in 1921 as a guide.
Outline and label the following countries, mandates, and islands:
Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania,
Russia, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Crete,
Cyprus
Plot and label the following cities:
Vienna, Belgrade, Sofia, Salonika, Ankara, Mosul, Baghdad, Basra, Beirut, Damascus,
Jerusalem, Port Said, Alexandria
Plot and label the following rivers, bodies, of water, features:
Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Black Sea, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Tigris River, Euphrates River
Part 2: Map Enhancements
Use shading and/or color to clearly indicate the country based on the questions below:
This new country was created in southeastern Europe (the Balkans) made up of Serbia
and old pieces of the Ottoman and Austrian empires.
The Austrian Empire was broken up. Indicate three countries that were new in Central
Europe (Hint: You can include Austria as one of them.)
The aftermath of The Great War (World War I) ushered in a new age of Western
imperialism in the Middle East.
o Label one country that part of the French Mandate
o Label three countries that were part of the British Mandate
Part 3: Writing Questions
From Historical Memory and Cultural Icons
o Read Armenian Genocide (page 43-). On your map write the number of
Armenians killed during World War I and where this happened.
o Read Balfour Declaration (page 44-). In a few sentences explain what the Balfour
Declaration promised to who and where.
o Read the second section of the ME-19th century imperialism document about the
Suez Canal. Label the Suez Canal on your map. In a few sentences explain how
it came to be under British control.
information
The Middle East in the Age of Imperialism
In the second half of the 19th century, European and western empire building accelerated. Great Britain and France had traditionally sought to protect the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire to promote stability and keep Russia from expanding into the Mediterranean. This all changed by the 1870s and the Ottoman Empire became “the sick man of Europe” in the eyes of the big powers. The “Eastern Question” came to dominate the thinking of the imperial powers. The underlying assumption was that the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was inevitable and it was important to makes gains to keep up with European rivals. In this section we will explore the ideology and methods of imperialism in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Orientalism: Western Visions of the East
First published in the late-1970s, Edward Said’s Orientalism became one of the most influential books in literary criticism and history. In Orientalism and in much of his subsequent work such as Culture and Imperialism, Said argued that Western stereotypical views of the East became essential to Western self-identity. Further, Western denigration of Eastern civilizations also played a major role in justifying imperialism and colonialism. A literature professor, Said’s ideas launched major debates in both literary studies and history. While many accepted Said’s ideas uncritically, rebuttals emerged in the 2000s that criticized Said’s orientalist concept as too sweeping and ironically one-sided. Said’s critics argued that he oversimplified Western views of the East and neglected Eastern views of the West in his arguments. In Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire(2001), David Cannadine argues that the British paid close attention to local cultural hierarchies in their empire, rather than simply imposing their own norms. Finally, in Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies (2004), Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit do not dispute Said’s ideas, but argue that s similar dynamic prevails where stereotypes of the West fuel hatred and violence against Western countries. But in the age of imperialism, it was the West that did the colonizing and images of the other clearly played a role in the ideologies of imperial control.
Discussion and Further Research
1. The first two images are the title page and an image from an 1886 religious studies book published by Gay Brothers in New York. What does the title page reveal about how the authors view non-Christian religions? How might these views play a role in the age of imperialism?
2. What stereotypes are depicted in the image “Arab at Prayer”?
3. In the poster commemorating 100 years of French rule in Algeria, what messages are sent about French achievements in Algeria? What does the poster suggest about relations between the French and Algerians?
Concessions and Debt: The Story of the Suez Canal
A canal to link the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and Indian ocean had been dreamed of since the days of ancient Egypt. Indeed the ancient Egyptians and Greeks did build canals from the eastern Delta to the Bitter Lakes north of the Red Sea. (See figure 1.) Throughout the Ottoman and North African world, leaders embarked on modernization programs as part of the great world-wide economic changes of the industrial age. European investors were keen to provide capital and expertise to make profits. The concession was the principle tool of development.
A concession is a an economic agreement where expertise and capital are exchanged for a share of the profits. While these concessions helped finance modernization, they were designed in such a way to protect investors and often became tools of imperial control. As historian Eugene Rogan writes: “The single greatest threat to the independence of the Middle East was not the armies of Europe but its banks.” (105)
In the 19th century, Egypt was only nominally part of the Ottoman Empire. As part of a modernization drive, Egypt’s leader Said Pasha (r. 1854-1863) gave a development concession to the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps to build what would become the Suez canal. The Suez Canal Company was created with European investors and the Egyptian government holding shares. The British, worried about French control of a canal that they would rely on to connect to their empire in India, intervened over the provisions of “free labor” being provided by the Egyptian government. Indeed, the Egyptian laborers would toil for years under poor conditions to build the canal. This resulted in a dispute over the concession which had to be renegotiated under the reign of Said Pasha’s successor, Ismail Pasha (r. 1863-1879). An ambitious leader, Said Pasha took the title of khedive and borrowed heavily from European banks to remake Cairo into a modern city with wide boulevards and western-style buildings, including a new opera house.
When the canal opened in 1869, Egypt celebratedits progress, but the mountain of debt forced Said Pasha to sell national property, including the 1875 sale of the canal company’s shares to Great Britain. By 1878, Europeans had been appointed to cabinet positions to oversee European finances. Egypt was on the way becoming a British colony in all but name.
Figure 1: Map showing ancient canals and the new Suez canal.
Figure 2: Dredging machine.
Figure 3: Egyptian workers building the canal.
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