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Colonization, decolonization,
redrawal of national boundaries - Part 1
1.0 Colonialism and Colonization
Colonialism is a strategic and geo-political philosophy according to which a nation which deems itself better than some other decides to treat the other as inferior, and its people as its children. Usually, a paternalistic attitude is adopted by the nation which deems itself superior towards the other nation, and this is done in the name of bringing prosperity and better things to the other nation! The culture and education of the native population is trashed thoroughly by continuous propaganda or by projecting a superior lifestyle of people who do not follow that culture. It is usually supported by a massive industrial complex or in the modern world by huge financial resources. During the 15th to 18th centuries the basis for colonialism for European powers was their domination of the industrial revolution and better industrial technology. The British presence in India and much of Asia is an example of this. Analysts say that in the 21st century, capital has become the basis for colonialism. So, multinational corporations can be called the modern colonialists, if we stretch the imagination.
Colonization is the process by which people physically go and settle in a foreign land that is already inhabited. These new settlers influence, convince, induce or coerce the original natives into leaving their age-old practices and to start following the new imported practices. The original inhabitants are converted into a new thought. This profoundly impacts the laws and the spirituality of the native people. Due to the constant migration into the land, the demographic profile changes, usually adversely for the natives. The Israeli settlements in the Palestinian region (Aliyah) can be considered as an example of colonization, though done with full international assent. Due to increasing emphasis on liberalism and relaxation of immigration norms in many countries, the diaspora of every nation exists in almost every other nation. Though most of the time it happens automatically, at times the intention can be political also. The Chinese influx into Tibet was an intentional policy of the Mao Tse-tung regime to overpower the local Tibetan existence. Global media has speculated on the growing percentage of Islamic population in various nations of Europe in this context.
2.0 Leading colonialists of the past 1000 years
The origin of colonialism in modern history can be traced back to Europe. The European nations have shaped colonialism and have also been shaped by it significantly. Not only did genuine colonial powers such as Spain and England, but also "latecomers" such as Germany participated in the historical process of colonial expansion.
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) can be considered as the world’s first royal-mandated colonialist. He sailed across the Atlantic ocean in 1492 in an attempt to find a route to India. He, however, landed on an island called Guanahani (in the Bahamas) which he later renamed San Salvador. There the colonialists met the local Taino Indians, many of whom were captured by Columbus' men and later sold into slavery. Columbus wrongly thought he had made it to Asia, and called this area the Indies, and called its inhabitants Indians. Between 1492 and 1504, he made a total of four trips to the Caribbean islands and also into South America chartering new territory in every visit and bringing back greater booty and more slaves from every expedition. A slave trader he had become!
The treaty of Tordesillas signed on 7th June 1494 between Spain and Portugal is considered to be the beginning of the European claim to hegemony. In the beginning, Portugal and Spain (in personal union 1580–1640) were primarily interested in overseas trade to Brazil and the Philippines and inspired by Christian missionary zeal.
However, competition heated up in the 17th century, when the English, French and Dutch pressed forward, initially not in the territories of the Spaniards and the Portuguese, but in neighbouring regions. This is demonstrated in exemplary manner by the North American Atlantic coast between the French possessions in modern Canada and the Spanish claims in the South. When it became impossible to avert the crisis of the Ancien Régime in Europe any longer, the colonial empires also lost their cohesion. The British won against their French rival in North America and India, against the Dutch in Southeast Asia and against the Spanish in South America. The independence of the United States was substituted with supremacy in India, in South Africa and especially on the seas with the almost peerless Royal Navy and modern free trade. The titular nature of the monarchy, with power being exercised by a widely controlled Parliament, also helped the British outlast the other empires.
France’s conquest of Algeria in 1830 opened the doors to the colonization of the African continent. This enabled the release of Europe's internal economic and industrial tensions. However, it peaked in high Imperialism between 1870 and the World War I (beginning 1914).
During the 19th century, Russia and the newly industrialized Japan also started colonizing the world. At the latest around 1900, the European system of great powers stood before the challenge of global competition. Slowly the tentacles of colonialism spread throughout the world. It can be seen that colonialism had both its positive and negative factors. Positive achievements include formation of the concept of modern statehood, urbanization and rationalism (as opposed to religious intolerance). Positive thought systems such as Liberalism, Socialism and Positivism, were received with great enthusiasm in France and England as well as in Brazil and Japan. On the other hand, there are negative legacies too, such as Caesarism (rule by a charismatic dictator), racism and colonial violence.
3.0 Effect of colonization on local (indigenous) people
The Spanish, British, French and the Portuguese colonized the entire world in order as a result of mutual competition to strengthen themselves. However, their impact on the native populace was mostly adverse. The culture, economy, and religion of the colonized areas have been greatly changed due to the Spanish, British and French colonists. Spanish culture is still seen in the former Spanish colonies in Latin America. British and French culture is still seen in the USA and Canada. The economies of the mother countries were strengthened at the cost of the culture, traditions and economies of the natives. The colonialism of the Spanish, British, and French allowed for the spread of Christianity in many areas which had never heard of Christ before. In fact, many of their former colonies are now considered Christian nations.
In the winter of 1791, as part of British colonization efforts, George Vancouver claimed the Albany region in Western Australia in the name of King George III.
Initially, the European explorers had reasonably friendly relations with the Aboriginal people. However the relationship became hostile when Aboriginal people realised that the colonisers would seriously disturb their lives. The settlers took away land, natural food resources and the order of a nomadic life from Aborigines. Slowly the belief arose among the European powers that the best way to treat Aboriginal people and to eliminate any threat was to 'civilise' them. That meant replacing the traditional Aboriginal way of life with European ways.
Macquarie, the British governor of the Albany, tried to send Aboriginal children to school but many left or returned to their tribes after a short time. Macquarie tried to create a settlement for Aboriginal people by teaching them farming and building techniques. His attempts failed and force was used to control the aboriginal people. After all his failures, Macquarie then made laws to place Aboriginal people under British control. Under these laws it was permitted to shoot Aboriginal people if they resisted.
3.1 The effect of colonization on Aboriginal people
Between 1788 and 1900, the Australian Aboriginal population was reduced by 90%. Three main reasons for this were the introduction of new diseases, loss of land and loss of people through direct fighting with the colonisers.
Diseases: One of the most devastating impacts of European colonization was the outbreak of diseases. Most were epidemic diseases such as chickenpox, smallpox, influenza and measles. As these diseases were infectious, they spread very quickly and killed many people. In large Aboriginal communities, the diseases spread even more quickly. The diseases wiped out roughly 90% of the native tribes within three decades of contact and made it much easier for European empires to colonize. The first native American group encountered by Christopher Columbus were the 2,50,000 Arawaks of Haiti who were enslaved. By the year 1550 their numbers had reduced to 500 and the group became extinct before 1650. The reason was simple : the natives had no exposure to these “New World” diseases and they quickly succumbed to them, as their immune system did not get any chance to respond adequately. Historians allege that the Europeans introduced the black plague into America. Some other diseases were influenza, smallpox, measles and typhus. They were brought by the Europeans and severely reduced the population of the native Indians.
Loss of land: Another consequence of British settlements in Australia was the reduction of access to land and water resources. The settlers took the view that Aboriginal people, with a nomadic lifestyle, could easily be driven away from their lands. By the 1870s all the fertile areas of Australia had been taken from Aboriginal people and given to the white settlers. In India, the farmers under duress were forced to grow cash crops which would provide the British with cheap raw material. The loss of land and other essential resources such as food and water posed great danger to Aboriginal people who were left with no place to live and nowhere to hunt food. Already weakened by the new diseases spread by the new settlers, Aboriginal people had dramatically reduced chances for survival.
Introduction of alcohol and livestock practices: The British settlers also introduced alcohol to the Aboriginal people which affected them very badly. In India, when the Indian National Congress carried on a movement against liquor, the sales dropped to such an extent that the British administration had to advertise about the health benefits of a drink. In Australia, when the Europeans started raising stock in ranches, several changes took place. Many Aboriginal people lost their land. The spread of European livestock over vast areas also restricted the nomadic lifestyle of Aboriginal people. From these ranches, Aboriginal people had a new supply of fresh meat, which changed their nutrition, their eating habits and ways of finding food. As a consequence, Aboriginal people started to depend on European settlers for their food and livelihood. In the later 19th century, new settlers took vital parts of the land in the north, such as waterholes or soaks, for their own use. They also introduced sheep, rabbits and cattle. These animals took over fertile areas and fouled the land. Consequently, the native animals that Aboriginal people depended on to hunt began to disappear. Aboriginal people started to hunt sheep and cattle as they could no longer rely on hunting native animals.
Missionary activities: Christian missions often provided food and clothing for Aboriginal communities and opened schools and orphanages for Aboriginal children. In some places, colonial governments also provided some resources. As some say, this can be seen in the north Eastern states of India where the dominant religion is Christianity. By spreading propaganda about the flaws in the native theologies,the missionaries were able to sell a different, modern lifestyle to the natives which resulted in a lot of religious conversions over centuries.
In general, at the beginning, the British colonisers were welcomed, or at least not opposed by Aboriginal people. With time, however, when the impact of the British settlement increased, there were more and more conflicts between the white settlers and Aboriginal people, which often resulted in violent massacres and freedom struggles.
3.2 Details of operations
In April 1500, the Portuguese arrived on the Bahian shores of Rio Buranhém (coastal Brazil), under the direction of Pedro Alvares Cabral. These ones documented seeing indigenous inhabitants upon landing on the beach, who greeted them with peace offerings of headdresses made from parrot feathers. The Portuguese had established a management culture of violent domination which did not go down well with Brazilian locals, who captured and ate their Portuguese ‘owners’ in complex ceremonies. This forced the Portuguese king to listen to the warnings of the indigenous folk and assume direct control.
In 1562 and 1563, smallpox, measles and the flu struck the local people, annihilating huge proportions of their population numbers. This was followed by a famine. The locals were desperate for food and any sort of income, which led them to sell themselves as slaves, rather than to die of starvation.
Towards the end of the 16th century the natives fled to the interior parts of Brazils to escape the colonial elements. So, the European settlers imported slaves from Africa. It is largely due to this mass introduction of African men and women that Brazil boasts a culture and heritage based very much on those found in Africa.
During the late 1800s many European powers struggled for control of Africa. The missionary David Livingstone was the first European to explore the interior and exposed tribes to Christianity. One final example can be found in the early colonists of America. Religion played a big part in the colonization of North America because many Puritans who came to settle in the New World did so for religious purposes. “English evangelism occurred through colonization and expansion. Various religious groups arrived at different times settling in different areas. Once settled, these colonists reached out within those areas.”
4.0 Asian and African colonization
In the 19th century there was intense competition between the European powers to colonize much of Asia and Africa. Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and Belgium succeeded in controlling much of the African continent, while in Asia the Dutch, British, French and others competed for territory and resources. In Central Asia, "The Great Game" pitted Great Britain against Russia.
The Berlin Conference initiated by Bismarck was held in 1885. It established international guidelines for the acquisition of African territory and thus formalized "New Imperialism". Between the Franco-Prussian War (19 July 1870 - 10 May 1871) and the Great War (start July 1914), Europe added almost 2,30,00,000 km² - one-fifth of the land area of the globe - to its overseas colonial possessions. The French, Belgians, Germans and Portuguese exercised a highly centralized rule.
Appointments in the African region were based on their loyalty. The British however tried a different approach. They sought to rule indirectly by identifying local power holders and encouraging or forcing them to administer for the British Empire.
Asia was the battlefield for a bitter struggle between the British and the French. The Portuguese had restricted themselves to a few colonies only.
4.1 Vasco reaches India, French versus British
The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was the first to arrive in India in the year 1498. However, the English sought to stake out claims in India at the expense of the Portuguese dating back to the Elizabethan era. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I incorporated the English East India Company (later the British East India Company), granting it a monopoly of trade from the Cape of Good Hope eastward to the Strait of Magellan. In 1639 the EIC acquired Madras on the east coast of India, where it quickly surpassed Goa, which was the Portuguese centre of trade, as the principal European trading centre on the Indian Subcontinent. Through bribes, diplomacy, and manipulation of weak native rulers, the company prospered in India, where it became the most powerful political force, and outrivaled its Portuguese and French competitors. For more than one hundred years, English and French trading companies had fought one another for supremacy, and, by the middle of the 18th century, competition between the British and the French had heated up. French defeat by the British under the command of Robert Clive during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) and the defeat in the battle of Plassey of the French backed Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud daulah marked the end of the French stake in India. 4.2 French imperialism.
4.2 French imperialism
After the 1850s, French imperialism was provided an initial momentum by a nationalistic need to rival the United Kingdom and was supported intellectually by the notion that French culture was superior to that of the people of Annam, and its mission civilisatrice- or its "civilizing mission" of the Annamese through their assimilation to French culture and the Catholic religion. The French had established religious and commercial interests in Indochina as early as the 17th Century. A mid-19th century religious revival under the Second Empire provided the atmosphere within which interest in Indochina grew. Anti-Christian persecutions in the Far East provided the pretext for the bombardment of Tourane (Da Nang) in 1847, and invasion and occupation of Da Nang in 1857 and Saigon in 1858. Under Napoleon III, France decided that French trade with China would be surpassed by the British, and accordingly the French joined the British against China in the Second Opium War from 1857 to 1860, and occupied parts of Vietnam as its gateway to China.
By the Treaty of Saigon in 1862, on June 5, the Vietnamese emperor ceded France three provinces of southern Vietnam to form the French colony of Cochinchina; France also secured trade and religious privileges in the rest of Vietnam and a protectorate over Vietnam's foreign relations. Gradually French power spread through exploration, the establishment of protectorates, and outright annexations.
4.3 Positives and negatives
The colonization of Asia and Africa has had both positive and negative impacts. Western colonialism and imperialism was responsible for the introduction of western ideas like nationalism, democracy, constitutionalism etc. in Asia and Africa. The various imperialist powers tried to implant their ideas and institutions in their colonies and thus unconsciously let loose liberal forces in the countries of Asia and Africa.
In the economic sphere western imperialism had a mixed impact. On one hand it led to the development of industries in Asia and Africa. The various imperialist powers set up industries in their colonies to make profits and thus paved the way for the industrialization of the colonies. The colonial powers established long lines of railways, built banking houses etc. in the colonies to fully exploit their resources. They also set up certain industries in these colonies to make quick profits and fully exploited the resources available there. However, on the other hand they also tried to cripple local industries, trade and commerce by enacting necessary industrial and taxation laws. This policy of systematic exploitation resulted in the draining of wealth and greatly contributed to poverty, starvation and backwardness of the colonies.
The European rulers treated their culture as superior to the Asian and African cultures and tried to impose the same on them. Further, they believed that white races are superior to the black or brown races and tried to stay aloof. They often enacted discriminatory laws against the local people. For example, in India the Indians could not travel in the railway compartment in which the Europeans were travelling. "Dogs and Indians not allowed" was a fairly common sign outside the European clubs. This policy of racial segregation alienated the local population. The imperial dictums were wholly at variance with the principles they preached otherwise.
5.0 THE GLOBAL SLAVE TRADE
Slaves, they say, are as old as the hills. Evidence of slavery in the world predates the era of written records. Every ancient civilization has evidences of slavery. In the middle ages Muslim and Christian empires and the empire of Genghis Khan fought numerous battles with each other. Invasions into India by the Arabs from Central Asia were common. In all these cases, the winners always took thousands of slaves as war booty. Due to the forces unleashed by the Industrial revolution, slave trade assumed disturbing proportions in the 18th and the 19th centuries. Britain played a prominent role in the Atlantic slave trade, especially after 1600. Slavery was a legal institution in all of the 13 American colonies and Canada (acquired by Britain in 1763). The profits of the slave trade and of West Indian plantations amounted to 5% of the British economy at the time of the Industrial Revolution.
5.1 Stages of the trans-Atlantic slave trade
Stage 1: Great Britain was the origin of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the modern era. Slave ships from Britain left ports like London, Liverpool and Bristol for West Africa carrying goods such as cloth, guns, ironware and drink that had been made in Britain. On the West African coast, these goods would be traded for men, women and children who had been captured by slave traders or bought from African chiefs.
Stage 2: African slave dealers (also known as slavers) kidnapped people from villages which were hundreds of miles away from the coast and marched them to the coast where they would be traded for goods. The prisoners would be forced to march with their hands tied behind their backs and their necks connected by wooden yokes. On the African coast, European traders bought enslaved peoples from travelling African dealers or nearby African chiefs. Families were separated. The traders held the enslaved Africans until a ship appeared, and then sold them to a European or African captain. It often took a long time for a captain to fill his ship. He rarely filled his ship in one spot. Instead he would spend three to four months sailing along the coast, looking for the fittest and cheapest slaves. Ships would sail up and down the coast filling their holds with enslaved Africans. On the brutal 'Middle Passage', enslaved Africans were densely packed onto ships that would carry them to the West Indies. There were many cases of violent resistance by Africans against slave ships and their crews. These included attacks from the shore by 'free' Africans against ships or longboats and many cases of shipboard revolt by slaves.
Stage 3: In the West Indies enslaved Africans would be sold by the European traders to the highest bidder at slave auctions. With the money made from the sale of enslaved Africans, goods such as sugar, coffee and tobacco were bought and carried back to Britain for sale. The ships were loaded with produce from the plantations for the voyage home. Once they had been bought, enslaved Africans worked for nothing on plantations. They were the property of the plantation owner and had no rights at all. The enslaved Africans were often punished very harshly. On the plantations, many enslaved Africans tried to slow down the pace of work by pretending to be ill, causing fires or 'accidentally' breaking tools. Whenever possible, enslaved Africans ran away. Some escaped to South America, England or North America. Also there were hundreds of slave revolts. Two thirds of the enslaved Africans, taken to the Americas, ended up on sugar plantations. In the West Indies, the slaves were used on coffee plantations.
5.2 The morality of slave trade
Obviously, slave trade was a heinous occupation. But the slaves reduced the cost of production for the European plantation owners which led to bumper profits for them. These profits formed the basis of their expansion in the world and contributed in no small measure to their prosperity seen today! In spite of many countries outlawing slavery, human trafficking remains an international problem and an estimated 29.8 million persons are living in illegal slavery today. Trading of children has been reported in modern Nigeria and Benin. During the Second Sudanese Civil War people were taken into slavery. In Mauritania it is estimated that up to 6,00,000 men, women and children, or 20% of the population, are currently enslaved, many of them used as bonded labor. Slavery in Mauritania was criminalized in August 2007. Evidence emerged in the late 1990s of systematic slavery in cocoa plantations in West Africa. Disturbing reports indicate that more than 1.5 crore Indians are virtual slaves in their own nation.
6.0 HOW COLONIZATION ENDED
The end of the second world war (1945) dramatically changed the political equations in the world. The United States emerged as a major superpower. Though the Allies won the war, it had come at a huge cost. The British had to surrender their military bases in the Atlantic to the United States which diminished their power remarkably. Furthermore, the aggressiveness of Hitler had completely destroyed the confidence of the British and the French. Independence movements in various colonies like India were further undermining stability in many colonies. The formation of the United Nations also changed the global political scenario.
During World War II Japan had successfully driven away the European powers out of Asia and had reached India's doorstep. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, local nationalist and independence movements in the former Asian colonies preferred independence rather than a return to European colonial rule. In many cases, as in Indonesia and French Indochina, these nationalists had been guerrillas fighting the Japanese after European surrenders, or were former members of colonial military establishments. These independence movements often appealed to the United States Government for support. However, U.S. support for decolonization was offset by American concern over the cold war era. Several of the NATO allies asserted that their colonial possessions provided them with economic and military strength that would otherwise be lost to the alliance. Nearly all of the United States' European allies believed that after their recovery from World War II their colonies would finally provide the combination of raw materials and protected markets for finished goods that would cement the colonies to Europe.
6.1 The UN resolution on de-colonisation
While the United States generally supported the concept of national self-determination, it also had strong ties to its European allies, who had imperial claims on their former colonies. The United Nations General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 proclaimed that "the continued existence of colonialism prevents the development of international economic co-operation, impedes the social, cultural and economic development of dependent peoples and militates against the United Nations ideal of universal peace". Between 1945 and 1960, three dozen new states in Asia and Africa achieved autonomy or outright independence from their European colonial rulers.
7.0 THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR I
7.1 Europe
The final year of the War had ushered in a period of momentous transformation worldwide. In 1917 the Russian war effort collapsed and the emperor, Nicholas II, was forced to abdicate (and was later killed). The revolutionary regime tried to continue the fight, but economic conditions and military capability deteriorated sharply. In October 1917, Lenin's Bolshevik Party - the most radical wing of the Russian revolutionary movement - seized power in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), and declared a Communist regime.
Bolshevik leaders expected that their revolt would herald the onset of a worldwide workers’ revolution. After three years of bitter civil war, Bolshevik rule was secured by 1921 but the much vaunted world revolution did not follow. Short Communist revolts erupted in Hungary and Germany in 1919, and violent confrontations occurred between workers and the state in Italy and Spain in the immediate postwar years, but no other European society saw a massive Communist takeover. Perhaps there was no secod Lenin there! The communist movement outside Russia was violently suppressed, and many of its leaders were murdered or imprisoned.
The end of the war transformed the political geography of Europe and the Middle East. After the fall of the Russian Empire, the German, Austrian, and Ottoman Turkish empires also disappeared. They were replaced by new, small states from the Baltic Sea to the Suez Canal. The former Turkish provinces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine were handed over as mandates to Britain and France.
Austria-Hungary was partitioned into several successor states, including Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, largely but not entirely along ethnic lines. Transylvania was shifted from Hungary to Greater Romania. The details were contained in the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the Treaty of Trianon. As a result of the Treaty of Trianon, 3.3 million Hungarians came under foreign rule. Although the Hungarians made up 54% of the population of the pre-war Kingdom of Hungary, only 32% of its territory was left to Hungary. Between 1920 and 1924, 354,000 Hungarians fled former Hungarian territories attached to Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.
The Russian Empire, which had withdrawn from the World War in 1917 after the October Revolution, lost much of its western frontier as the newly independent nations of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland were carved from it. Romania took control of Bessarabia in April 1918.
7.2 The Ottoman Empire (The Sick Man of Europe)
The Ottoman Empire disintegrated, and much of its non-Anatolian territory was awarded to various Allied powers as protectorates. The Turkish core in Anatolia was reorganised as the Republic of Turkey. The Ottoman Empire was to be partitioned by the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920. This treaty was never ratified by the Sultan and was rejected by the Turkish republican movement, leading to the Turkish Independence War and, ultimately, to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.
The treaty of Sèvres: The Treaty of Sèvres was signed on August 10th 1920 after more than fifteen months was spent on drawing it up. Great Britain, Italy and France signed it for the victorious Allies. Russia was excluded from the process and by 1920 America had withdrawn into a policy of isolation.
The Treaty of Sèvres territorially carved up the 'Sick Man of Europe': Britain and France had already decided what would happen to the area generally referred to as the 'Middle East'. Britain took effective possession and control of Palestine while France took over Syria, Lebanon and some land in southern Anatolia. East and West Anatolia were declared areas of French influence. This had already been decided some three years before the Treaty of Sèvres in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1917. Britain also took over Iraq and was given very generous oil concessions there via the British-controlled Turkish Petroleum Company, later renamed the Iraq Petroleum Company.
The Kingdom of Hejaz was given formal international recognition as an independent kingdom. With Mecca and Medina as its most important cities, the Kingdom of Hejaz was 100,000 square miles in size with a total population of 750,000.
Armenia was recognised as a separate sovereign state.
Smyrna was put under effective control of Greece while technically remaining within the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Sèvres also gave the people of Smyrna the chance of a plebiscite on whether they wished to join Greece as opposed to remaining in the Ottoman Empire. This plebiscite would be overseen by the League of Nations. Greece was also given Thrace.
The Dodecanese Islands were formally handed over to Italy who was also given influence in the coastal region of Anatolia.
The Dardanelles Straits was made an international waterway with the Ottoman Empire having no control over it. Certain ports near to Constantinople were declared "free zones" as they were deemed to be of international importance.
The Treaty of Sèvres failed to deal with the issue of a Kurdistan. There was an initial agreement on the boundaries of a Kurdistan but nationalist Kurds rejected this as it failed to include a region called Van. The issue ended with some Kurds living in Turkey where they were deemed by the government there as being Turks and some in northwest Iraq where they were deemed to be Iraqis.
Like the other defeated Central Powers, the Ottoman Empire had military restrictions imposed on it. The Ottoman Army was limited to 50,000 men. An air force was forbidden and the navy was limited to thirteen boats - six schooners and seven torpedo boats. The Treaty of Sèvres also contained clauses that allowed the Allies to supervise these military terms.
The financial consequences of the Treaty of Sèvres equalled those of the Treaty of Versailles in terms of severity; however, the new Weimar Germany was allowed to run her own economy - though the terms of Versailles obviously impacted this. The Ottoman Empire had the control of its finances and economy taken away from her and handed over to the Allies. This included the control of the Ottoman Bank, control over imports and exports, control of the national budget, control over financial regulations, requests for loans and reform of the tax system. The Allies controlled even debt repayments. One of the terms of this was that only France, Italy and Great Britain could be debt bondholders. The Ottoman Empire was also forbidden from having any economic collaboration with Germany, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria and all the economic assets of these four states were liquidated within the Ottoman Empire.
The Treaty of Sèvres also gave the Allies the right to reform the electoral system of the Ottoman Empire. Those deemed guilty of engaging in "barbarous warfare" were required to be handed over to the Allies.
The Grand Vizier, Ahmed Pasha, of the Empire planned to ratify the Treaty of Sèvres but was faced with a rebellion by the Turkish nationalist leader Mustafa Kemal. Pasha's defeat meant that Kemal refused to sign the Treaty of Sèvres, which he viewed as unacceptable with regards to its terms that directly impacted Turkey. Kemal would not countenance the Dardanelles Straits as being anything other than Turkish and saw no reason why ports in Turkey itself should be deemed "free zones". Kemal believed that the leaders of the Ottoman Empire had taken the people of Turkey into World War One and that the Turkish people should not be punished for the actions of their former leaders. His stand meant that the victorious Allies and the newly created Turkey had to start treaty negotiations afresh.
After the collapse: With the fall of the Ottoman government, power vacuums developed and conflicting claims to land and nationhood began to emerge. The political boundaries drawn by the victors of World War I were quickly imposed, sometimes after only cursory consultation with the local population. In many cases, these continue to be problematic in the 21st-century struggles for national identity. While the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I was pivotal in contributing to the modern political situation of the Middle East, including the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East was more at the mercy of foreign powers than ever before. The Sykes Picoh agreement essentially divided up the Middle East territories amongst the powers of Britain and France, while giving up Constantinople and Dardanelles to Russia. While on the one hand Ottoman disposal allotted Britain and France a certain sense of invincibility, illustrated in the statement "total Ottoman collapse did give Britain and France a brief period in which they felt that they could act largely as they pleased", this would not come without major nationalist rebellions, largely shaped by the increasing intervention of such foreign powers in Ottoman aftermath. The collapse of the Ottoman triggered an ensuing battle between the emerging nationalist forces, embodied mainly in the Arab nations of Egypt and Syria, against emerging colonial powers of France and Britain. The Ottomans were no longer able to form that bridge between direct foreign control over the middle east among Britain and France while maintaining indirect control over key areas. "The fermenting nationalism which had merely been submerged by martial law came to the surface". This statement demonstrates After nationalist led anti Western uprising in Egypt led primarily by a man named Zaghoul, Britain agreed to grant independence over Egypt in 1922, however it would still have control over Suez canal Zone, appoint all foreign advisers, control communication and the Sudan.
The Waftist party formation in 1919 was integral in achieving independence and rejected conditional independence, seeing no reason for British control over so many of its resources and means. Whereas Egypt endured 40 years of British rule under the veil of the Ottoman empire prior to its collapse, it now was freed from the Ottoman veil and rose up to stake its claim as in independent nation. The Wafts would seek to steer Egypt in a direction of reform, in terms of economy, education and politics and create a national state. In a way, Arabs were liberated from Turkish Ottoman rule, paralyzing their independent aspirations and creating a mentality among the foreign powers that they were to be appreciated over the Ottomans. Islam was utilized by Al Banna and the Muslim brotherhood to united a class divided masses under Waftist rule and rallied Egypt towards an Islamic state completely free of any remnants of colonial power. Likewise, the state of Syria, divided with Syria and to be divided further by France in 1925, revolted in 1925-26 behind nationalist led sectarian appeals against the French. The identification among Arab nations and peoples with more nationalist sentiment was more evident in the wake of increasing pressure and manipulation coming directly from foreign powers.
The effects of the collapse of the Ottoman empire in shaping Middle Eastern politics were immense and are significant even to this day. In many ways it led to the direct conflict among Arab and other middle eastern states with western powers which still dominates regional politics to this day in some form or another. We witnessed Arab Nationalism and Islam both utilized to reject Western intervention, to preserve economic interests, emerge after the unity of the Ottoman empire slowly deteriorated and collapsed. The Ottomans were the last great Islamic empire presiding over the region providing that bridge separating western rule and nationalist states and in many ways the void is still trying to be filled by modern day Iran and Saudi Arabia and Iran, attempting to gain regional dominance the Ottomans last exerted.
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