A Hundred Years of Events in the Middle East

In the ancient and mysterious land of the Fertile Crescent, two world wars, like two devastating earthquakes, completely reshaped the trajectory of Middle Eastern history. A Century of Middle East Events takes readers on a journey through time and space, witnessing this region's arduous journey through turmoil and transformation.

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed, and the Middle East was brutally divided among the great powers in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. British and French colonial rule and the rise of Zionism sowed the seeds of conflict in Palestine. The Arab Revolt, while igniting hopes for independence, was ultimately shattered by power struggles. Kemal Ataturk established a secular republic in Turkey, and the House of Saud unified the Arabian Peninsula. A new political landscape was painstakingly constructed from the ruins.

The smoke of World War II spread to the Middle East, where it became a crucial battlefield between the Allies and the Axis powers. The pro-German coup in Iraq, the Allied occupation of Iran, and the life-or-death struggle at El Alamein—each event profoundly influenced the course of the war. Simultaneously, the oil economy began to rise. Saudi Arabia's oil fields and Iraq's pipelines further strengthened the Middle East's strategic importance.

In the alternation of war and peace, the wave of nationalism surged, with Egypt's Nasser Revolution, the rise of Syria's Baath Party, and Iran's oil nationalization movement. The countries in the Middle East continued to explore the path of independence and development. However, the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the intensification of sectarian conflicts plunged this land into new turmoil.