History and Culture of Southwest Asia

Study Guide

Everything You Need to Know for Friday’s Test

The Ottoman Empire

  • The Ottoman Empire ruled in Southwest Asia/the Middle East and Northern Africa for over 600 years, from 1299 until 1920
  • The Ottoman Empire spread Islam throughout the area it ruled
  • The Ottoman Empire used force by its large and fierce army to gain land and wealth
  • Over time, the empire grew too large to manage effectively
  • By the late 1800’s, the empire began to lose much of its power
  • The Industrial Revolution bought new manufacturing methods and technology to the world
  • The Ottoman Empire did not keep up with the growth in technology at that time
  • They began to fall farther behind the developments in most of the world
  • Because they had grown so big, they ran up a lot of debt (they owed a lot of money) trying to maintain their empire
  • The empire formed alliances with Germany and other European nations at this time
  • These countries eventually became the Central Powers in WWI
  • During WWI, the Ottoman Empire joined forces with the Central Powers to fight against the Allies
  • This was their last attempt at gaining power and keeping the empire together
  • After the Axis powers lost WWI, the European powers divided the empire

The Creation of Israel

Zionism was the international movement for the creation of a homeland for the Jews

Anti-Semitism is the hatred of the Jews

Great Britain ruled Palestine after WWI; this was the land given to the Jews for the State of Israel

The Creation of Israel (continued)

Following WWII, many countries felt the Jews should have their own country because of the Holocaust

Arabs living in Palestine were not happy about the land being given to the Jews

US Presence in Southwest Asia

The United States’ main economic interest in Southwest Asia is oil

The Persian Gulf War began in 1991 after Iraq invaded Kuwait for its oil

Saddam Hussein was the Iraqi dictator who ordered the invasion

After winning the Persian Gulf War, The US went to war with Iraq again in 2003

At this time the US believed that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons and supporting terrorist groups like al-Qaeda

This war became known as Operation Iraqi Freedom

In 2001, following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in NY, the US invaded and bombed Afghanistan

The US believed Afghanistan’s government was offering safety to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden

The US maintains a presence in the Middle East today for several reasons

Oil is one reason why the US is still in the Middle East—we need oil and we buy most of our oil from the Middle East

Fighting terrorism is another reason

Quick Religious Facts You Should Know

Judaism, Islam and Christianity are the three prominent religions in the Middle East

Most Arabs are Muslims and practice the religion of Islam

90% of Muslims are Sunni Muslims; the rest are Shia Muslims

Shia Muslims believe the leader of Islam should be a direct descendant (a relative) of Muhammed

Sunni Muslims believe that the leader of Islam has to be a good Muslim

Both Shia and Sunni Muslims agree that Islam’s leader should be a male

The holy book of Judaism is the Torah

The holy book of Christianity is the Bible

The holy book of Islam is the Koran (also spelled Qu’ran)