Modern History of the Arab Countries: Modern History From 16th century to 20th century

423 Pages·1969·5.375 MB·English

by  Vladimir Lutsky, Yahia Mohammed Yahia Abdallah

U.S.S.R. ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
INSTITUTE OF THE PEOPLES OF ASIA
V.1UTSKY
Modern H istory
of the
Arab C ountries
m
PROGRESS PUBLISHERS
MOSCOW
TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN BY L I K A N A S S E R
EDITED BY R O B E R T D A G L I S H
B. JiyUKHft
HoBaa HCTopHsi apaGcKux cTpaH
Ha
ÜH8AUÜCKOM H3blKe
First printing 1969
Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
CONTENTS
I n t r o d u c t i o n ................................................................................... 7
Chapter I. The Arab Countries During the 16th to the 18th
Centuries............................................................................ 9
Turkish Conquest.—The Social Order of the Arab Countries. Ottoman
Feudalism.—The Arab City in the Period of Ottoman Rule.—State
System.—The Decay of Ottoman Feudalism.—The Decline of the
Outward Might of the Ottoman Empire.—Popular Movements and the
Arab Countries’ Struggle for Liberation.
Chapter II. The French Expedition to Egypt (1798-1801) . . . . 38
The Aims of the Expedition.—The Beginning of the Expedition.—The
Defence of Cairo.—The Uprising Against the Invaders.—The Syrian
Expedition.—The Collapse of the Expedition.—The Results of the
Expedition.
Chapter III. Egypt under the Rule of Mohammed A li................... 48
The British Occupation (1801-03).—The Turco-Mameluke War (1802-
04).—Cairo Uprising (1804-05). The Advent to Power of Mohammed
Ali.—The Anglo-Turkish War of 1807. The British Expedition to
Egypt.—Agrarian Reform of 1805-15. Extermination of the Mamelukes.—
The Military Reforms of Mohammed Ali.—Development of Industry
and Agriculture. Monopolies.—The Conditions of the Fellaheen and the
Workers.—Reorganisation of the State Machinery.—Cultural Reforms.—
General Characterisation of Mohammed Ali’s Reforms.
Chapter IV. Palestine, Syria and Iraq at the Beginning of the 19th
C e n tu ry ........................................................................ 63
The Failure of French Plans in Syria.—The Anglo-French Struggle
for Iraq.—The Wahhabi Raids. The Growth of Feudal Anarchy.—The
Reforms of Beshir II in the Lebanon.—Abdullah Pasha and His
“Reforms”. The 1820 Uprising in the Lebanon.—The Extermination of
the Druse Nobility.—The Reforms of Mahmud II and Disturbances
in Syria and Palestine.—The Reforms of Daud Pasha in Iraq (1817-31).
Chapter V. The Wahhabis and the Arab Countries at the End
of the 18th and Beginning of the 19th Centuries . . 77
Arabia in the 18th Century. The Doctrines of Wahhabism.—The
Unification of Nejd.—The Wahhabis’ Struggle for the Persian Gulf.—
The Wahhabis’ Struggle for the Hejaz.—The Wahhabis’ Fight for
Syria and Iraq.
Chapter VI. The Egyptian Conquest of Arabia............................. 85
The Beginning of the War Against the Wahhabis.—Mohammed Ali
in Arabia (1813-15).—Ibrahim’s Campaign and the Defeat of the
Wahhabi State.—The Wahhabi Uprisings (1820-40).—The British Ex­
pansion in South Arabia and on the Persian Gulf.
Chapter VII. The Conquest of the East Sudan by Mohammed Ali.
The Expedition to M orea............................... . . 94
l* 3
The Conquest of the Sudan.—The Greek Uprising.—Mahmud IPs Appeal
for Help to Mohammed AH.—The Morean War.—The Intervention of
the Powers.—N avarino. The Evacuation of the Egyptians from the
Morca.
Chapter VIII. Mohammed Alïs Struggle for Syria and Palestine.
Egypt's Defeat........................................................................103
The Conflict with the Porte.—The First Syrian Campaign (1831-33).—
The Results of the War. The Unkiar-Skelessi Treaty.—Ibrahim’s
Reforms in Syria and Palestine (1832-40).—General Discontent. Uprisings
Against Recruitment.—The Question of Independence. A New Conflict
with the Porte.—The Second Syrian Campaign.—The Intervention of
the Powers.—The Capitulation of Mohammed Ali.
Chapter IX. Lebanon, Syria and Palestine in the Period of
Tanzimals (1840-07)....................................................... 121
The Arab Countries in the World Capitalist Market.—Hatti-Sherif
Gulhane.—The Reforms of the First Period^ of the Tanzimat.—The
Reforms in Syria and Palestine.—The Liquidation of the Lebanese
Principality.—The Druse-Maronite Massacre of 1843.—The Activities of
the missionaries. British Plans for Jewish Colonisation in Palestine.—
The Hatti-Humayun of 1856. The Second Period of the Tanzimat.—The
Peasant Uprising in Kesruan (1859-60).—The Druse-Maro lite Massacre
of I860.—The French Expedition of 1860-61.—The “Règlement Organi-
Îue" of the Lebanon.—The Enlightenment Movement of the 1860s.
lutrus el-Bustani.
Chapter X. Iraq, 1831 to 187L 7he 7anzimat.....................................140
The Economic Situation in Iraq in the Thirties and Forties of the 19th
century.—The Kurdish Uprising and Tribal Wars.—The Tanzimat
in Iraq.—The Development of Trade and the Means of Communica­
tion.—Midhat Pasha in Iraq.
Chapter XI. 7he Arabian Countries During 1840 to 1870 • * • 146
Arabia After 1840.—Wahhabi Nejd.—The Growth of the Shammnr
Emirate.—British Colonies in Arabia 1840-70.
Chapter XII. Egypt in the Middle of the 19th Century (1841-76) . 152
Egypt After the Capitulation of 1840.—Abbas Pasha (1849-54).—The
Construction of the Suez Canal. The Economic Development of Egypt
in the Middle of the I9th Century.—The Reforms of Said and Ismail.
Chapter XIII. 7he French Conquest of Algeria ami the Liberation
War of the Algerian People Under the Leadership
of Abd el-Kader...................................................................167
Algeria on the Eve of the French Conquest.—The Seizure of Algiers
by the French.—The War of Liberation. Abd el-Kader.—The Seizure of
Constantine. The New War Against Abd el-Kader.—The French-
Moroccan War of 1844.—The Beginning of Colonisation. The Uprising
of 1845-46.—Popular Uprisings in the Fifties.—Algeria Under the
French Bourgeoisie.
Chapter XIV. 7he Financial Enslavement of Tunisia and Its
Conversion into a Semi-Colony..........................................183
The Anglo-French Struggle for Tunisia.—The Reforms in Tunisia.—
The Financial Enslavement of Tunisia.
Chapter XV. 7he Financial Enslavement of Egypt...............................189
Foreign Loans.—Mukabala. Ruznamch.—England’s Purchase of Shares in
the Suez Canal.—Egypt’s Financial Bancruptcy.—Dual Control.—The
Formation of the “European Cabinet".
4
Chapter XVI. 7lie National Liberation Movement in Egypt
(1879-81)....................................................................... . 200
Growth of the Spirit of Opposition.—The Military Demonstration of
February 18, 1879.—Wilson’s Financial Plan.—Resignation of the “Euro­
pean Cabinet”.—The Déposai of Ismail Pasha and the Resignation of
Sherif Pasha.—The Ministry of Riaz Pasha. Reaction.—The Military
Come to the Fore.—The Struggle of the Nationalists Against the Cabinet
of Riaz Pasha.
Chapter XVII. The Arabi Pasha Uprising..............................................213
The Revolt of September 1881.—The Wataneun Struggle Against Shcrif
Pasha.—The Mahmud Sami-Arabi Government (February-May 1882).—
The Conflict Between the Government and the Khedive.—The Dervish
Mission.—Disturbances in Alexandria.—The Constantinople Conference.—
The Bombardment of Alexandria.—The Anglo-Egyptian War of 18S2.—
The Victory of Reaction.
Chapter XVIII. Egypt Under British Rule (1882-1914) . . . . 232
The Question of the Term of British Occupation.—The Suez Canal
Regime.—The Question of Egypt’s Finances.—British Economic Policy
in Egypt.—The State Structure of Egypt (1882-1914).—The National
Movement. Mohammed Abdu. Abd er-Rahman el-Kawakebi. Mustafa
Kamil.—The Denshawai Incident Hune 13, 1906).—The National Move­
ment 1907-03. The Emergence of Political Parties and Trade Unions.—
The Period of Reaction (1909-14).
Chapter XIX. 7he Mahdi State in the East Sudan................................251
European Penetration into the East Sudan.—The Uprisings of the
Mahdists.—The Internal System of the Mahdi State.—The Struggle of
the Powers Against the Mahdi State.—Fashoda.—The Anglo-Egyptian
Condominium.
Chapter XX. Algeria in 1870-1914 ................................................... 266
Republican Opposition in Algeria.—The Algerian Commune.—The
National Liberation Uprising of 1871.—Algeria Under the French
Imperialist Yoke.—The Algerian Arabs’ Demands.
Chapter XXI. 7he Seizure of 7unisia by French Imperialism , 280
Italy's Claims.—Preparations for the Tunisian Take-over.—The French
Protectorate.—Italy and the French Protectorate.—Tunisia Under the
French Imperialist Yoke.—The National Liberation Movement. The
Young Tunisians.
Chapter XXli 7he French Conquest of Morocco................................292
The Capitulations.—Territorial Seizures.—French Agreements with Italy
(1900), Britain (1904) and Spain (1904).—The Loan of 1904 and the
Mission of Talandier.—The Tangier Conflict of 1905.—The Algeciras
Conference of 1906.—The French and Spanish Occupation (1907-09). The
Uprising of 1907.—The Casablanca Conflict of 1903 and the Franco-
German Agreement of 1909.—The Powers’ Recognition of Mulai Hafid.—
The Occupation of Fez and the Agadir Crisis.—The Treaty on the
Protectorate.
Chapter XXIII. 7he Italian Conquest of Libya....................................309
Diplomatic Preparations.—The Italo-Turkish War of 1911.—The Lausanne
Peace Treaty of 1912.—Italy’s War Against the Arab Tribes.
Chapter XXIV. Syria, Palestine and Iraq at the End of the 19th
Century............................* ....................................................318
Turkey’s Financial Enslavement.—The New Ottoman Coup and the
Constitution of 1876.—Zulutn (Hamdaniau Despotism), 1373-1918.—The
5
Decree of Muharrem.—German Penetration.—Britain’s and France’s
Positions in the Arab Provinces of Turkey.—The Arab People’s Struggle
Against the Reign of Zulum.
Chapter XXV. The Young Turk Revolution and the Arab
Countries........................................; ....................................335
The Revolution of 1903 in Turkey.—The Arabs and the Young Turk
Revolution.—“Arab-Ottoman Fraternity”.—The Arab Delegation to the
Parliament. The Young Turks’ Policy on Nationalities.—-The Literary
Club and the Qahtaniya.—The Young Arab Society.—French Claims
on Syria and the Lebanon.—The Decentralisation Party.—The Syrian and
Iraqi Reform Societies.—The First Arab Congress.—El-Ahd (Covenant).
Preparations for an Arab Uprising.
Chapter XXVI. Arabia in 1870-1914........................................................353
A General Review.—Aden and Hadhramaut.—Oman.—British Domains
in the Persian Gulf.—The Kuwait Conflict.—The Struggle of the Rashidis
and the Saudis. The Restoration of the Wahhabi State.—Ibn Saud's
Home and Foreign Policy.—Uprisings in the Yemen and Asir.—The
Hejaz.
Chapter XXVII. The Arab Countries in the First World War
(1914-18)..................................................................................371
The Arab Countries’ Stand in the Imperialist War.—The Economic and
Political Situation in Turkey’s Arab Provinces.—The Arab Nationalists’
Attitude to the War.—The British Protectorate over Eçypt.—The War
and the Egyptian Economy.—The Egyptian National Liberation Move­
ment During the War.—Military Operations (1914-16).—Preparations
for the Arab Uprising in the Hejaz.—The 1916 Uprising in the
Hej'az.—Secret Talks on the Partition of the Arab Countries.—Occupa­
tion of Iraq. Anglo-French Conflicts in the Middle East.—The Palestine
Oifensive of 1917. The Balfour Declaration.—The Exposure of the
Secret Negotiations.—Turkey’s Military Collapse and the Anglo-French
Occupation of the Arab Countries.
Name In d ex.................................................................................................404
Index of Geographical Names...................................................................410
Subject Index.................................................................................................418
INTRODUCTION
Modern History o[ the Arab Countries by the prominent Arabist
Vladimir Borisovich Lutsky (1906-1962), one of the Soviet Union’s
leading specialists in modern Arab history, was published after the
author’s death.
His book is the first attempt in Russian or Soviet literature to
write a systematic history of the Arabs in modern times. Lutsky
set about studying the modern history of the Arab countries as an
independent historical discipline in the thirties. An enthusiast wholly
dedicated to his subject, he was never afraid to blaze new trails and
is rightly regarded as the founder of the Soviet school of Arab his­
torians.
The Russian classical Orientalists of pre-revolutionary, days showed
no great interest in modern Arab history. Journalists, diplomats and
military men referred to Arab history only in connection with the
Eastern Question or the European Powers’ colonial policy. Despite
their importance to Russian scholarship even such impressive works as
K. M. Bazili’s Syria and Palestine Under Turkish Government (in
Russian) and A. Adamov’s Arab Iraq and the Basra Vilayet in Its Past
and Present (in Russian) are no more than essays on the history of
individual Arab countries.
In Soviet times many interesting articles and monographs dealing
with the history of the Arab countries and, in particular, Egypt, Syria,
the Sudan and Arabia, have been published. None of these works,
however, set out to provide a coherent and systematic account of Arab
history at the turn of the 19th century. Nor do any of them give
an over-all picture of the history and development of the Arab world
and its place and role in modern times.
The absence of Russian historical traditions, the relatively limited
amount of literature on the subject and the fact that many cardinal
problems of Arab history have been little studied both in Russian
and foreign literature were bound to have its effect on Lutsky’s book.
Some of its chapters and sections lack development. There is, for
example, no section on the social and economic history of Morocco,
7
which remains a blank in world history to this day. At times Lutsky
only gives outlines and reference-points where further research and
concrete details are needed. But this does not detract from the sig­
nificance of his work as the first attempt to systematise and generalise
modern Arab history.
Lutsky writes from the Marxist-Leninist point of view. He sharply
criticises the European Powers* colonial policy and regards their
presence in the East as an evil.
His book is inspired by a warm and deeply felt affection for the
Arab peoples, enthusiasm for their struggle to free themselves from
the Turkish pashas and European colonialists, and belief in the Arab
peoples* future and in their ability to choose their own way of life.
Lutsky*s book is the result of much hard and painstaking work.
In its present form it consists of a series of lectures that took several
years to prepare. In 1936, he began lecturing at Moscow’s Institute of
Oriental Studies, at Moscow University and at many other higher
schools of learning. Some of his lectures appear as independent chapters
in the textbook Modern History of the Colonial and Dependent
Countries, Moscow, 1940 (in Russian). Later Lutsky considerably
expanded his university lecture course.
The present book is the fullest available version of the series
of lectures delivered by Lutsky at Moscow University between 1949
and 1953. Unfortunately, no verbatim report of this series of lectures
was made. The book was therefore compiled from the verbatim* report
of lectures delivered in previous years, which were revised and ex­
panded by referring to synopses from Lutsky’s own archives and to
students’ notes. Since there was no verbatim report of the lecture on
the French conquest of Algeria, Chapter XIII is based on Chapter XI
of Modern History of the Colonial and Dependent Countries, which
was contributed by Lutsky. Certain other sections of this book, in
particular, Chapters X and XXII, were also used in preparing the
Modern History of the Arab Countries.
Chapter XIX (The Mahdist State in East Sudan), Chapter XX
(Algeria in 1870-1914) and Chapter XXVII (The Arab Countries
in the First World War 1914-18) were prepared for publication by
R. G. Landa, Chapter IV (Palestine, Syria and Iraq at the Beginning
of the 19th Century), Chapter IX (Lebanon, Syria and Palestine
in the Period of the Tanzimat) and Chapter XXIV (Syria, Palestine
and Iraq at the End of the 19th Century) by I. M. Smilyanskaya.
Material prepared by M. S. Lazarev was used for Chapters XXV
and XXVII.
N. I v a n o v
8
CHAPTER I
THE ARAB COUNTRIES DURING THE 16th
TO THE 18th CENTURY
TURKISH CONQUEST. At the beginning of the 16th
century, almost all the Arab countries were subjugated by
the Turks and incorporated in the Ottoman state. In 1514,
Sultan Selim I (the Cruel) led the Turkish army to conquer
northern Iraq. In 1516, he wrested Syria and Palestine from
the Egyptian Mamelukes and one year later routed the Ma­
meluke army, destroyed the Mameluke state and conquered
Egypt and the Hejaz.
The Turkish conquest of the Arab countries was continued
by Sultan Suleiman I (the Lawgiver), the successor of Se­
lim I. In 1520, the Turkish pirate Khair-ed-Din Barbarossa
declared himself the Turkish Sultan’s vassal and conquered
Algeria, and in 1533 the Sultan began sending officials from
Constantinople to rule the country. In 1534, the Turks made
their first attempt to conquer Tunisia. They were repulsed
by the Spanish and did not gain complete possession of the
country until 1574. In 1551, Turkey seized Tripoli.
The Turkish expansion spread to the Arabian Peninsula.
In 1532, the Turks conquered the Yemen and then the So­
malian Red Sea coast. Mosul served as the starting point
for their advance on southern Iraq. The age-old struggle
between Turkey and Iran for the possession of Iraq ended
in the victory of Turkey in 1638. After Iraq, the Turks con­
quered El-Hasa on the shore of the Persian Gulf.
Thus, within a period of about one hundred years almost
all the Arab countries, except Morocco in the west and Inner
Arabia and Oman on the Arabian Peninsula, were included
in the Ottoman Empire and for some three or four centuries
suffered Turkish oppression, which in the 19th and 20th
centuries was replaced by the even harsher colonial yoke of
the European capitalist Powers.
9
What was it that prompted the Ottoman feudalists to
conquer the Arab countries? First, the desire to impose the
feudal system of exploitation on the people. There was also
the advantage to be gained from the Arab countries’ posi­
tion on the world trade routes. By controlling Algeria, Tuni­
sia and Tripoli, the Ottoman feudalists could carry on ex­
tensive trade with the European countries; they could even
squeeze out the Europeans and practice piracy on the Me­
diterranean. (This was the era of the primary accumulation
of capital, when piracy was part and parcel of sea trade.)
Lastly, Egypt, Syria and Iraq were very important centres
of transit trade between Europe and the East which, although
it declined somewhat after the discovery of the direct sea
route to India (round the Cape of Good Hope), still continued
to yield large profits.
The degree of subordination to the Ottoman Empire varied
from country to country. Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli were
considered Ottoman provinces, but by the beginning of the
17th century they had already gained virtual independence
from the Porte. In the middle of the 17th century, the Turks
lost real power in the Yemen. Even in Syria, Palestine, Egypt
and Iraq, where Turkish pashas were installed, the domina­
tion of the Porte was often only nominal. Either the pashas
organised plots against the sultan, or the local Arab feudal
lords rose against the Turkish pashas, and from time to
time fierce uprisings shook the Ottoman Empire.
THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THE ARAB COUNTRIES.
OTTOMAN FEUDALISM. Anxious to gain support in the
Arab countries, the Turks, as a rule, preserved the social sys­
tem that had existed before their conquest. The land and
power remained in the hands of the local feudalists.
The system of landownership in the Arab provinces of
the Ottoman Empire was very complicated. All land was
divided into three basic groups: state land (mamleket) the
supreme owner of which was the sultan; land belonging to
religious establishments (waqf); and privately owned land
(\mulk). In addition, communal landownership continued to
exist in some countries.
Land owned by individuals was relatively scarce. Its
owners could dispose of it as they saw fit. The state collected
only a land tax from the privately owned land: people had
10