The Road to 9/11: A chronology
1939-1967
1939-1945
World War II: Some Muslim countries support the Axis (German/Italian/Japan) powers on the grounds that they, like the Axis, are opposed to Britain and France, the colonial powers.
The Nazi rulers of Germany organise the murder of six million Jews in concentration camps. For the survivors, the need for a safe homeland becomes a matter of urgency.
1941
June: A nationalist coup in Iraq, which attempts to overthrow King Faisal I, is put down by British forces, which then occupy Baghdad and Basra. Two years later, Iraq joins the war on the Allies’ side.
16 September: Rezah Shah – who has sided with the Axis – is forced to abdicate and his son Reza Pahlavi is named shah after Iran is invaded by Britain and the USSR.
1944
1 January: Syria achieves complete independence from the French, although French troops remain in the country until April 1946.
1945
22 March: The Arab League is established with the aim of serving the common good of all Arab countries. Founding members are Egypt, Iraq, Jordan (still known as Transjordan), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. Eventually 15 more states join, most after gaining independence from colonial rule. Today the League also includes Palestine, represented by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).
With the end of World War II, demands for a Jewish homeland in Israel become more pressing, and in Palestine, violence against British troops erupts. The British impose virtual military rule there.
May: VE celebrations in Sétif province in Algeria – a French colony – end in a riot led by Algerian nationalists protesting the arrest of one of their leaders. Over 100 Europeans are killed. The French response is to send in the army, killing over 500 Muslims (some say that as many as 10,000 Muslims are killed).
1946
March: Under the Treaty of London, Transjordan gains complete independence. Later it becomes known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan – or simply Jordan.
Jordan: History – The making of Transjordan
www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_transjordan.html
History of Jordan from the 1919 Paris Peace Conference until its independence in 1946.
1947
15 August: India gains independence from Britain. What had been a single entity is ‘partitioned’ into two separate countries: the largely Hindu India and the predominantly Muslim Pakistan. As followers of the two religions flee their homes in both countries, many thousands are massacred by both Muslims and Hindus. At independence, Pakistan’s borders remain contentious. The country is in two sections – East Pakistan (which breaks away to become Bangladesh in 1971) and West Pakistan (now simply Pakistan). Afghanistan is in dispute with Pakistan about its border, which dates from the 19th century. More importantly, at independence, much of the former territory of Kashmir is assigned to India, despite it being largely Muslim. This remains a flashpoint between the two countries and, outside the Middle East, is one of the world’s most serious causes of resentment between Muslims and non-Muslims.
India–Pakistan Kashmir Conflict Briefing
www.flashpoints.info/countries-conflicts/Kashmir-India_vs_Pakistan-web/Kashmir-India_vs_briefing.html
Concise description of the conflict in Kashmir, with lots of links to more information.
29 November: The United Nations votes to partition the British mandate of Palestine into an Arab state, an international zone (Jerusalem) and a Jewish state – the future Israel. The Arab League rejects this.
1948
14 May: The British mandate in Palestine ends, and the nation of Israel is proclaimed by the Jewish people of Palestine, triggering war between the new country and its Arab neighbours. Israel drives back the Arab armies, and most of what was intended to have been the Arab state in Palestine (see 1947) is absorbed into Israel. Jordan gains control over the West Bank. Huge numbers of Palestinians flee or are expelled from their homes, becoming refugees in neighbouring Arab countries. A number of Arab countries retaliate by forcing Jews to flee; many of them head for Israel. The creation of Israel and the consequences of that remain the most important and deep-seated causes of Muslim resentment against the West.
1951–53
In 1951, Iranian prime minister Muhammad Mossadeq nationalises his country’s oil industry. In 1953, he is ousted by a CIA-backed military coup, putting the shah, who is sympathetic to the West, in complete control. ‘Modernisation’ continues, angering Muslim radicals, who once again see Western powers undermining a Muslim government.
1952
23 July: In Egypt, a coup by the military, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-70), deposes King Farouk. They eventually declare a republic and force British troops to withdraw from the country.
Gamal Abdel-Nasser Home Page
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/5270/index2.htm
This enthusiast’s site has a short biography and what is claimed to be the biggest collection of Nasser photographs on the web.
1954
The Algerians begin their bitter, bloody war with France, their colonial ruler.
November: Nasser becomes head of state in Egypt. Although first supported by them, Nasser, a nationalist and socialist, is later opposed by the Muslim Brotherhood, which objects to his secular government. When a member of the Brotherhood attempts to assassinate him, the organisation is outlawed and many of its members are imprisoned and tortured. Among these is the Brotherhood’s leading thinker (and former friend of Nasser) Sayyid Qutb (1906-66), who believes that it is the duty of Muslims to ‘purify’ their religion of Western influences.
1955
Close ties are formed between the USSR and Afghanistan. Over the next 20 years, many Afghans become increasingly hostile to what they see as a foreign ideology (Communism) being imposed on an essentially Islamic country.
1956
July: In Egypt, Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal. Britain and France, supported by Israel, attempt to retake the canal in a military action that comes to be known as the Suez Crisis. Fierce opposition from the US and UN leaves Britain, France and Israel humiliated and Nasser a national hero in Egypt.
1958
1 February: Nasser – whose stated aims are to unite and lead the Arab world and to destroy Israel – forms a union with Syria, calling the two countries the United Arab Republic.
1958-68
The Iraqi monarchy is overthrown in a military coup and the country is declared a republic. In 1968, the Ba’athist general Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr becomes president.
1959
The militant Palestinian nationalist organisation, Fatah, headed by Yasser Arafat, is founded.
1961
The Egyptian/Syrian attempt at pan-Arab nationalism ends when Syria breaks away from the United Arab Republic.
1962
March: An accord between the Algerians and the French ends the fighting (which started in 1954) and provides for Algerian independence. This is overwhelmingly ratified by the people of France in a referendum in April. However, members of the French army in Algeria continue to fight against the decision.
1963
The Ba’ath party (which originated in Syria) – pan-Arab and nationalist but essentially secular rather than Islamist– comes to in power in Iraq. ‘Ba’ath’ means ‘rebirth’ in Arabic.
1964
The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), an umbrella group of Palestinian nationalists, is founded with the aim of establishing an independent state – an ambition supported by most of the Arab world. Many (but not all) of the PLO’s members seek the complete destruction of Israel, and thus justify guerrilla activity in support of their cause. The PLO is set on a collision course with Israel and its allies – notably, the United States.
1966
29 August: Chief theorist of the Muslim Brotherhood Sayyid Qutb (see 1954) and six others, accused of plotting to overthrow the Egyptian state and subjected to what some consider a show trial, are executed by hanging.
1967
5-10 June: The Six-Day War: Israel, always fearful of its Arab neighbours and believing it is about to be attacked, launches its own strikes against Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Within six days, Israel controls the Sinai in Egypt, the Golan Heights in Syria, East Jerusalem and the West Bank in Jordan. The Arab states are humiliated.
