History of the Arab World: After World War I

1919: conference of Paris ➔ mandates in the Fertile Crescent.

Egypt had supported British against Ottomans ➔ it asked for a complete independence, but it was refused ➔ nationalist revolution of WAFD.
In Egypt there was an important economic crisis after World War I ➔ in this crisis there was a strong Islamic movement (➔ Muslim Brotherhood).
➔ The caliphate collapsed because it was corrupted. The first caliphate was a model because there were not the divisions of the last caliphates. At this point, it developed a dream of a better society.

This dream was “used” by those who were the most secular: the military and the fundamentalists ➔ e.g. Nasser and others: they were trained with a European mentality and designed their revolution as a national revolution to make everybody equal.
The Wafd party: became part of the government. However, its members could not make the reforms they wanted because they were not so strong, and the landlords were strictly linked to the family of the king ➔ they didn’t change the system of taxation ➔ they lost their credibility.

1921: Iraq becomes a kingdom (under mandate).

1921-26: revolution of Abd al-Karim in Morocco.

1922: Ataturk declared the REPUBLIC in Turkey.

1922: independent Morocco.

1924: Ataturk abolishes the caliphate ➔ it was a cultural shock.
➔ cultural revolution introduced by young revolutionists asking for some right: they were aware of the rights and wanted to achieve a situation similar to European citizens’.

1925: REZA SHAH declares himself shah of Persia (Iran).

1928: birth of the Muslim Brotherhood. They used a very mythological approach, saying that the caliphate fell because of its corruption.

1931: Ibn Badi founds in Algeria the union of Algerian ULAMA [ulamà] (experts in Islamic law) because he wanted to study and re-interpret the shari’a according the need of modern society.

This represented the answer of Islamic culture against French occupation.
Libya: Omar al-Mukhtar: Reconquista of the Fascist of Libya.

1936: limited independence for Egypt.

Revolution in PALESTINE against the British and supported by the Muslim Brotherhood.