European Colonialism: Middle East and North Africa


Figure 1.--This is a watercolor by Dominique Vivant Denon (1747-1825), the first Director of the Louvre Museum appointed by the Emperor Napoleon. Denon participated in Napoleon's Egyptian campaign (1798-1801). The watercolor depicts an abjectly poor fellahin (peasant) family living in the ruins of Egypt's glorious past. It is not until the arrival of the French that we begin to see images of Egypt. Koranic law prohibited depictions of humans and animals. Thus Arab art leaves us very fe images of everyday life. It is not until Europeans arrive that we see images like the one here. A few decaded later, photographs appear. And the most stunning aspect of the paintings and photographs is that life in the Arab world had remained unchanges for centurie. The work hee could have been painted centuries elier. The same for early photographs. It is startling seeing how the Arab world had virtually no modern technology and were living as people had centuries if not a millennium earlier. It had nothing to do with European collonialism and every thing to do with Ottoman colinialism and the nature of Islamic society.

The Middle East and North Africa today is largely Islamicized and culturally, but not ethnically Arab. This began with the Islamic Caliphate set in motion, but founded after the death of Mohammed (8th century AD). The Middle East also included Ottoman Turkey and Persia (modern Iran) and several smaller countries. The Turks and Persians have for the most part escaped colonization. In fact Ottoman Turkey was itself a major colonial power. The Caliphate was a huge empire, stretching from Central Asia to the Atlantic (Morocco and Spain). It was, however, never really able to achieve a stable system or firm control of colonies on the periphery. The Caliphate was able to generate a cultural and intellectual flowering--something that no other Muslim society has been able to achieve. The military commanders which conquered territory tended to operate autonomously and ultimately achieve independence. The Caliphate was able to offer little resistance to the Crusaders (11th century) the Caliphate was finally destroyed by the Mongols (13th century). For the next three centuries, the Arabs were unable to either unite or form a powerful state. The Ottoman Empire seized the Middle East (16th century) and at times exerted varying degrees of control over North Africa. The Ottomans controlled the Arab lands for several centuries. Even before colonization by the Ottomans, the Arab lands existed as if time stood still. While Europe experienced the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment as well as the birth of modern science and the Industrial Revolution. Life in the Arab world was unchanged. Early photographs taken in Egypt and other Arab areas show a life little changed since not only from the medieval times, but often ancient times. And even the clothing was almost identical to that worn in the medieval era. In North Africa, the Arabs were so backward that they survived only with state-sponsored piracy. Leading to America;'s first contact with the Arab world--the Barbary Wars (early-19th century). Egypt achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. This was a European opening to a land virtually unchanged for centuries. After this European powers began to stake out colonies in Arab lands. The first was the French which entered North Africa to reestablish an empire and end Barbary piracy. The British followed suit in East Africa and Egypt as part of an effort to end the slave trade and secure the Suez Canal. As part of World War I the British seized and along with France colonized the core Arab lands that had been part of the Ottoman Empire. For the most part, the European colonial enterprise in the Middle East and North Africa was brief and largely superficial. Interestingly, in discussions with Arabs today, there is decided tendency to blame their backwardness and poverty of the West and the Jews. And this despite that all the wonders of modern life, mechanization, steam power, electricity, appliances, cars, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, medical procedures, and much more have come from the West and involving many Jewish scientists and medical practitioners. The Arab world although now fully independent for decade has been a technological black hole, adding nothing to modern life and living on the technology and modern advances made in the West.

The Caliphate (8th-13th century)

The Middle East and North Africa today is largely Islamicized and culturally, but not ethnically Arab. This began with the Islamic Caliphate set in motion, but founded after the death of Mohammed (8th century AD). The Middle East also included Ottoman Turkey and Persia (modern Iran) and several smaller countries. The Turks and Persians have for the most part escaped colonization. In fact Ottoman Turkey was itself a major colonial power. The Caliphate was a huge empire, stretching from Central Asia to the Atlantic (Morocco and Spain). It was, however, never really able to achieve a stable system or firm control of colonies on the periphery. The Caliphate was able to generate a cultural and intellectual flowering--something that no other Muslim society has been able to achieve. Almost all important Arb secular intelectual activity occurred during the Caliphate--inquiry that nearly led to the invention of modern science. The military power of the Caliphae declines, but intelectual inquiry cntinued. The military commanders which conquered territory tended to operate autonomously and ultimately achieve independence. The Caliphate was able to offer little resistance to the Crusaders (11th century) the Caliphate was finally destroyed by the Mongols. The Abbasid Caliphate by Ilkhanate Mongol forces after the sucessful conclusion of the siege of Baghdad (1258). No one today knows the deailed results. Historians estimate that some 0.2-1.0 million people were butchered in one week of wanton destruction. Alongwith the loss of life was an ememse cultural loss -- the cultural and technological achievements including the vast libraries of the Caliphate. The Mongols left Baghdad depopulated and entirely uninhabitable. It would be centuries before Baghdad to recover and Baghdad had been the center of Islam and Arab cultural life.

Mamaluke Egypt (13th-16th Centuruies)

For the next three centuries, the Arabs were unable to either unite or form a state comparable to the Caliphate. The Mongols were eventually driven out and additional Crusader efforts stymied. After destroying Baghdad, the Mongols continued westward. They conquered Syria from the Ayyubids, with help from the Armenians who they also conquered. They reached the furtherst extent of their conquests in the Middle East when they entered Palistine. There the new Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, under the leadership of Baibars, defeated a small Mongol force at the Battle of Ain Jalut (1260). This prevented a Mongol invasion of the Holy Lands of both Islam and Christinity(medina, Mecca, and Jerusalem). This also ensured the safety of the only remaining powerful Muslim atate at the time, the Mamluks. Thus Egypt emerged as the most important Arab state, but controlling only a fraction of the Arab lands once controlled by the Caliphate or the power and cultural achievements of the Caliphate.

The Ottoman Colonial Era (16th-20th Centuries)

The Ottoman Empire seized the Middle East (16th century) and at times exerted varying degrees of control over North Africa. The Ottomans controlled the Arab lands for several centuries. Even before colonization by the Ottomans, the Arab lands existed as if time stood still. While Europe experienced the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment as well as the birth of modern science and the Industrial Revolution. Ottoman control meant that the Arabs were shielded from all of the moderizing movement which made the modern world. Life in the Arab world remained unchanged for centuries. Early photographs taken in Egypt and other Arab lands show a life little changed since not only from the medieval times, but often ancient times. These phptographs could have been taken centuries if not a millennium earlier. And even the clothing was almost identical to that worn in the medieval era. In North Africa, the Arabs were so backward that they survived only with state-sponsored piracy. Leading to America's first contact with the Arab world--the Barbary Wars (early-19th century). Egypt achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. The Europeans after the Napoleonic Wars would stop paying tribute and put a permanent end to Barbary Piracy

European Colonial Era (19th-20th Centuries)

Napleon's Egyptian adventure was a European opening to a land virtually unchanged for centuries. After this European powers began to stake out colonies in Arab lands. The Europen era varied from 120 years (Algeria) to only 30 years (Palistine, the Levant, and Mesopotamia). And in the core Arabian Peninsula the Europeans did not penetrate. The first major move was again made by French which entered North Africa (Algeriand Tunisia) to begin reestablishing an empire and end Barbary piracy. The British followed suit in East Africa and Egypt as part of an effort to end the slave trade and secure the Suez Canal. As part of World War I the British seized and along with France colonized the core Arab lands that had been part of the Ottoman Empire. For the most part, the European colonial enterprise in the Middle East and North Africa was brief and largely superficial. Unlike their colonial efforts in other areas, the Europeans did not confront Islamic scociety, largely because it would have been so destabilizing. Interestingly, in discussions with Arabs today, there is decided tendency to blame their backwardness and poverty of the West and the Jews. And this despite that all the wonders of modern life, mechanization, steam power, electricity, appliances, cars, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, medical procedures, and much more have come from the West and involving many Jewish scientists and medical practitioners. The Arab world although now fully independent for decade has been a technological black hole, adding nothing to modern life and living on the technology and modern advances made in the West.

Arab Colonialism (8th-21st Centuries)

One usually unmentioned issue concerning the Arabs and colonialism is the extent to which the Arabs in modern medieval and modern times have engaged in colonialism themselves. This practice has exended from Mesopotamian hearlands to the Atlantic. Arabs armies expanded Islam cross North Africa created colonies of the Caliphate over the native Bedouin people. And finally they turned the Christian Iberian Peninsula into a colony. Oman and other Arab traders set up coloines in East Africa. The Sramble for Africa and African slave trade was begun by the Arabs centuries before the Europeans--actually nearly a millenium. One of those colonies, Zanzibar, became a key cog in the Indian Ocean slave trade. The Barbary states for centuries attacked Sicily and other areas of southern Europe capturing European on slave raids. They did not have the military power to establish colonies, but the Europeans did not have the naval power to stop the raids. Egypt following a long thread in Egyptian history turned Sudan into a colony. We read more about European colonialism because the Arabs in the 19th century were so technologically backward and arab historioraphy is intent on focusing on European colonialism. Once in possssion of modern weapons, the Arabs have shown themselves more than willing to engage in colonialism themselves. Sudan in turned turned southern Sudan and Darfur into colonies. Sudanese Arabs resisted Egpytian and British colonialism in the 19th century because they objected to British efforts to end the slave trade. The Sudanese led by the Mahdi believed that slavey was legitimized by the Koran. Support for slavery continued into he 20th century. Sudanese policies in the southern Sudan and Darfur bordered on genocide. The Arabs (Egypt, Jordan, and Syria) during the First Arab-Israeli War (1948) did not try to establish a Palistinian state, but annexed the areas their armies occupied. Sadam in Iraq brutally turned the north (Kurdistan) and the south (Shi'ia areas) into what for all practical purposes were colonies. Morocco seized the Spanish Sahara colony against opposition from the local population. And today the Arabized population of the Sahara are trying to turn the Christian African population of West Africa into colonies to be Islamiized. Boko Haram's killing of boys in schools and kinapping of the girls as sex slaves in Nigeria is just one example of this ongoing provess.






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Created: 9:59 PM 6/26/2014
Last updated: 2:34 AM 9/14/2016