HIST145 Lecture Masternote

Week 2
HIST145
01/19/2021

Midterm Related Stuff

 There are terms in canvas, they are meant to help notetakers know what is important to
take notes about for the midterm.
 There are major concepts that we are going to be covering (big picture questions to
keep your eyes on)
 Essay question for the midterm is on canvas already.
 Exam is open book, online.
 There is another portion of the exam about the term; essay can be written and
submitted before hand.
 Citations need to be (authors last name, page #) if it’s a lecture (Stites Mor, 9/13)

Freedom
 Free Syria army in Syria uses freedom as its driving force.
Syria
 The name Syria comes from the name Assyrian Empire
o Also sometimes written about as Levant. Ancient Syria
o Was a crossroads between Eurasia and the world of the Mediterranean, and
Africa
o Lots of trade
o Home to a number of different local empires.
 Geostrategic location for trade
o Because of this, many empires tried to conquer the area.
 Assyrian empire won from 900-607BC
Ottomon Empire
 Beginning in about 1800, Syria was apart of the Ottomon Empire.
 Freedom was mostly defined by how the Ottomon Empire characterized freedom
 Ottomon law governed trade
o They organized each part of the admin into ethnic subgroups
 Organized by the religion that was practiced in that area.
 I.e. Christians were characterized as Christians, and had religious figures
that represent their subgroup to the Ottomon.
 Religious law corresponded to regions, Ottomon law governed the state.
 Practical problems would emerge when different religious groups would move across
the state.
 Islam was not a priority during this empire.
1864
  The sultan decided to establish a system of governors, and they would each head
provincial assemblies.
 They wanted to have government structures that were modern
o Moved towards more of a secular state.
 They also wanted to standardize laws across the empire.
o They began to create a civil code in all of these areas.
*Many of the Ottomon individual subgroups do not accept this hand from the
empire, and they wanted to stick with local rule.
 Means that sometimes people think of freedom in regards to their regional
governance.
At the end of WW1 the empire gets broken up
Feel somewhat betrayed by the international community.

Sykes-Picot Agreement
 Various versions between 1915 and
1916.
 Syria becomes a French protectorate
o Didn’t have secure enough
government and boundaries and
army to be their own sovereign
force.

Syria as a French Protectorate

 Syria didn’t want to be a French
protectorate.
 Within Syria, it took 3 years for the French to finally subdue the local population.
 Becomes mandate territory after 1918; mandate period for Syrian history
o During this time there was constant fighting between the local population and
France.
 Comes to an end when King Faisal gets support from independent Arab
states
 Begins to lead an army that pushes back at the French significantly.
 He thinks its impossible to contest the mandate status.
 The international community doesn’t agree and sees him as a terrorist.
 Within the world behind the scenes, the French decide they want to push
Faisal out of power. The British decide that they want to make an alliance
with Faisal, because they see this as an opportunity to expand British
mandate territory.
 Faisal feels threatened by the encroachment of the British because he
knows where their true intentions lie.
 France agrees to recognize Faisal as king, and to give Syria some
independence.
 Only the French would be allowed to print money; no change can be
made from within Syria without appeal to the French.
  The French abolish conscription.
 Third thing that the new agreement includes is that the French military
can continue to occupy Syria, but only in significant travel areas. They
protect and secure travel and trade within the region.
 Finally, objecting the French involvement becomes a crime.
 Primary motive for the French was to gain control of an area that was so
crucial to trade. Gaining control of this area means a lot of $ because
France could tax anything coming in and out of the area. There was also
natural resources in the area that France would benefit from being able
to collect because they would make money off those resources.
 Becoming a king would establish Faisal’s Syria as monarchy. He would gain a lot of
things from being a King.
o Also not a lot of people were securing monarchies during this time.
o The French are interested with the British in keeping those middle eastern
regions in conflict; this allows them to be more mobile with creating allies.
o 1920-1967 represents and incredible amount of cooperation between those
middle-eastern countries
21st Century Free Syria Army
 1963 The arab socialist Baath party seize power from the current governors. They use
military force to enforce the idea that Syria should become a one-party state.
 1946 gains its official status as independent.
 1963 the idea of Syria for Syrian People and NOT for the French.
 1966 Salah Jadid
 Hafez al-Assad becomes the defence minister
 1967 Six Day War
o Included Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Israel fighting over the Goland Heights.
o Draws Syria in and creates a culture where the defence minister rising in
importance.
o al-Assad becomes a really important figure, and by 1970 he takes power by
force. He then establishes and election and in 1971 is elected.
o In 1973 he changes the constitution and creates a new provision.
 Suspends the provision in an attempt to secularize the state; less Islamic
and more involved as modern state. When he drops this provision, there
is backlash from the Syrian people and they feel betrayed. He was very
favourable to increasing the connections between Syria and the rest of
the world. He put economic modernization as one of his goals. He also
but integration of all groups into the population.
 1982 al-Assad starts using military force; the world starts to realize that respect for life is
not a priority for Syria. There is a massacre. Al-Assad dies in 2000.
o Then his son Bashar comes into power, and actually aligns with the Ba’ath party.
o After he comes to power, the attack on the people who protest against the state
increase.
 o In 2011, a number of protestors go out into the streets in Dera’a (the Day of
Rage) and demand the increase of respect for civil rights, and the release of
political prisoners. There is recognition of this uprise on the global scale. Bashar
releases a few political prisoners. Some people view this as a genocidal event.
Armed people emerge from both sides. 2011 is the first wave of people who
migrate from Syria and flee to Turkey.
Hama Massacre
o 20,000 people killed.
Why is the US Involved
 Interested in supporting democracy; they want to annihilate that there might be a
nationalist regime in the middle east.
o This is their justification for invading Syria.
1984 War on Terror
Ronald Reagan introduces a new fight at the tail end of the cold war called the “War on Terror”.
Starts freezing the assets that are held in international banks, based on the supposition that
terrorist groups are functioning. This alliance against terror becomes a new mantra for other
superpowers in the world. The US state department, NADO, and the UN start thinking of ways
that they can alliance against this war on terror. The US funds a lot of projects that they later
deem terrorist. Isis begins to be the recognizable structure.

The Islamic State

 Wants a self-proclaimed Caliphate. A Caliphate state is led by an Islamic figure who
leads all of Islam. Like the pope leads all the Catholics. They are usually not
constitutional at all, their main ideology is religion, and they use that as an excuse for
union. They are an absolute monarchy, and they run based on the orders that Caliph
gives.

They want to bring together all these post-colonial states and have them be led by the caliph.

1982 crackdown on Hama has the goal of pushing out Islamic. By the time Bashar is in power,
there is already civil uprise. Bashar is already struggling to maintain his power. In 2007 he
manages to secure 97% of the vote.
 He supressed journalism to get these votes.
 NOT a very democratic vote.

Free Syria Army

 Joined by a lot of young people who want to inspire change.
Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG)

Week 3
Where do we get this notion of international terrorism?
 o One of the sources of conflict to our understanding of where that comes from is
the middle east.

Today we are thinking about the notion of global terrorism, and some of the different ways we
can understand this conflict through the scope of what we have been learning about the middle
east.

1882-1952: British Domination

 Time of British domination in places like
Egypt
 This is a period where its hard to think
about borders of independent nations.

1928: Muslim Brotherhood is Founded

 They’re a rising social movement during
this period, and gathering following.
 Hasan el-Bana is the leader of the
brotherhood.
o Charismatic figure who promoted
ideas that appealed to workers from Arab speaking countries, especially Egypt.
o His first tenet was the Return of the Islamic Law.
 Return to a form of healthy diet
 Return to a dress code
 Handful of other laws that included hygiene (healthcare, clean water,
suage)
 Believed that individuals deserved to practice their faith under this kind
of law, and that these laws should be considered rights.
 You should be able to make enough money to donate to charity, should
have enough of an ability to take time off to worship
*He related these things to workers as something they should
have.
 His second tenet is social reform facing the government.
 Forcing the British imperial government to initiate social reforms to
extend welfare to the poorest people in Egypt, and to include social
programs to take care of people’s life need. He essentially wanted to
create programs for the people.
 His third tenet was educational mission.
  The number one thing that brings together new membership to the brotherhood in the
20s was the conflict over the Suez Canal Company. (British)
o Employs lower class workers
 These people are interested in the brotherhood because of the
mistreatment of the workers in the company.
 They don’t like being treated like second-class citizens in their own
country.
 By 1916 the British begin to think that they need more force in the country (Israel).
o In the Treaty of Sevres (1919-1920) Baron Walter Rothchild is a very wealthy
British Zionist, who is written a letter by the British national secretary saying that
he wants a Jewish homeland in the middle east, so they can have an ally there.
 Zionists believe that the territory around Jerusalem is a sacred land for
the Jewish people.
 1922
o The League of Nations gives the mandate to the British saying that they can have
say over the land in Israel.
 The British are expanding their influence.
1948
 el-Bana is killed.
 The UN creates a partition plan that includes the creation of the state of Israel.
 This is referred to as the Nakba by Palestinian people, and the Jewish people refer to it
as their independence.
 British withdraw from the state, but Israel is its own independent state.
o With certain responsibilities to the Palestinian people.
 Events start to balloon into things like arson.
o Places like hotels, cinema, restaurants, are become victims of arson in the
protests that breakout. Terrorism is what the UN starts calling this, instead of a
civil war.
 From Egypt’s POV, there are these images circulating in the media of newcomers who
are fleeing from tremendous oppression (holocaust).
o They’ve arrived and there’s “nobody there”.
o They’re also seeing images of local people storming the beach and trying to
protect their land.
 These images were not circulating in places like Europe.
1949
 After the end of the war a huge wave of Palestinian refugees start fleeing the territory,
and entering Egypt.
1949-1952
 Palestinian refugees fleeing all over the place
to Iraq, Turkey, etc.
o They’re coming here thinking they will
eventually go home.
 By 1952 the waves of political violence begin.
 Nasser Hussein becomes president.
o Comes as a deputy prime minister and
immediately begins to handout a
bunch of land reforms.
o He is anti-religious state (he prefers a
secular state, more modern)
o Palestinian people see him as a trader
because he’s someone that the British
feel they can cooperate with.
 So they start a series of
assassination plans.
o Brings in a handful of ideas that somewhat align with The Brotherhood, but also
some ideas that align more with modernization and western society.
o Although he’s considered a British ally, he wants to nationalize the Suez Canal as
a symbolic gesture, that has ability to push the British out of the Suez Canal.
 This nationalization means the British invade Egypt and Israel and try to
reclaim.
 During this period Egypt expands.
o Nasser starts seeming like the guy that can stand up to the British, and becomes
a figure of pan-Arabic unity across the middle-east.
 Israel’s boundaries gradually expand.
Yassir Arafat
 Decides he wants to displace Palestinians into a diaspora.
 Crosses the Egyptian border and means to include people from Yemen, to Turkey, to
Iran, and wants to put together this organization (Al-Fatah) that protects Palestinian
people wherever they are, and he believes that they should have rights no matter where
they are (refugees or not)
o Nasser-Hussein doesn’t like this guy, he’s more pro-business and wants to open
the canal. He looks the other way when Egypt starts to become the base for the
al-Fatah movement.
 Note that al-Fatah later becomes the PLO
1970
  Nasser-Hussein dies
o Is succeeded Anwar el-Sadat
 Favourable towards a notion of moving towards Islamic values.
 He is the return of the recognition of the brotherhood and he validates
some of their ideas.
 He kind of creates a more favourable perspective of decreasing conflict in
the area.
 The secular state becomes less prominent, brotherhood picks up speed
again
 You see US and Soviet intervention in the region as they fight for control.
1973
 UN declares a Palestinian Authority.
o This will be the official voice of Palestine in the UN. They represent the areas that
are not an official state, but are recognized as Palestinian lands.
o Arafat and PLO becomes the representatives
1981
 Anwar Sadat dies.
 Hosni Mubarak is elected from the Brotherhood from 1981-2011.
o Very much aligned with the earlier ideas of el-Bana.
o Believes a bit in the Return to Islamic Law.
 He’s a little bit more secularist though.
 He still wants laws for women and tenets of Islamic faith.
 Very opposed to any kind of political opposition..
 Has huge campaigns to imprison people who speak out against his
regime.
 Starts making arrangements with other governments (US acquires a
shady prison in Egypt during this time)
 He wins 3 elections in a row, his family becomes wealthy and he starts
setting up his son to be is successor.
o Interested in including Palestinian refugees
1987
 One of the affiliated social institutions that starts as an offshoot of the brotherhood is
called Hamas.
o Begins as an organization in Palestine that reflects ideas of the brotherhood.
 They especially relate to charitable civic duty.
 Through charity, the brotherhood funds Hamas within that territory.
  Becomes immediately manipulated on the ground to transfer weapons
around the world through Egypt into Palestine to help them in their
resistance.
 Beginning of the first Intifada.
1987-1993
 Hamas reaches out to Hezbollah in South Lebanon, a militant organization.
o Militant means they believe in violent solutions as pusher for social change.
 An alliance between Hezbollah and Hamas starts to form during the first intifada.

Global South Unity

 One of the reasons why the Palestine issue becomes so important globally during this
time is because other countries can expose some of the judiciary issues on the
international level. Palestine becomes a mirror of what has happened in other colonial
countries.
o PLO is really good at convincing other countries to take on the alliance with the
Palestine people.
 As its growing in power as political and social movement, many of the
countries in the non-aligned movement begin to recognize Palestine.
 They look to the UN, saying they caused the problem in Palestine, and ask
how to fix it.
1993
 Oslo Peace Process
 Series of meetings form 1993-2000.
o In 2000 the accords fall apart, and the 2nd Intifada is declared.
 Hamas becomes a protagonist
 PLO loses traction to Hamas for the representation of Palestinian people.
2011
 January 25 the protest breaks out and Mubarak is accused by the people of corruption
and human rights abuses.
 February 10, he resigns and goes on trial.
o Brought to court on the questioned premediated murder of peaceful protesters.
o He is now viewed as a failed figure from the Brotherhood.
2012
 Mohammed Mosni is elected.
2013
 All his assets are received, and he is pushed out of office.
 This becomes known as the Arab Spring in Egypt.
International Community
  Allies of the US.
 Expression coined by Truman: countries that want to keep the UN’s principles intact.
Arab States Interest
 Their perspective on the conflict:
o They want to preserve the religion
o Don’t want the area to be destabilize and provost revolt against
o Preservation of lucrative economic opportunities
o To be free from the bigger power of influence from the bigger world (their own
destiny, their own path, and not have it chosen by other places)
Israeli State Interests
 The government that’s setup at the end of 1949.
o Want to preserve the Jewish state and Jewish homeland.
o They want there to be at least one Jewish state in the world, and they don’t
want it to become secularist.
o Protecting the land, it gained during various wars throughout the 1960s to the
mid 1970s.
o Wanting to be their own secure state so they can build international allies.

Week 4
02/02/2022

Notes Before Class

 Midterm is just before readings break!!
o Essay question (50%)
 2-3 single spaced pages is more than enough.
o Term lists tested in announcements (words that you want to look for and make
sure you have a working definition in your mind).
 Write down the event, the time period, definitions, the lecture it was
attached to in the class.

Iranian Revolution
Iran
 Situated between the world of
Eurasia and the middle east
 Historically been referred to as
Persia or Greater Iran
 One of the longest continuous
civilizations in the world.
o Inhabitants can be traced
back to 4000 BC
  *We say continuous because there was always an independent political
presence that can be connected to families that exist in Iran today.
 The official religion is shi Islam;
 1905 revolutions that replaces the system of sha’s with the constitutional monarch.
o Called in Iranian Constitutional Revolution
o Ruled by a parliament tin addition to a king and a queen.
o A group of citizens come together and they want to oust the Shas.
o Shas become entitled to the crown only because of the grace of the people.
“Divine gift, given by the people” getting to be the ruler.
 Kind of ironic.
 Outside the Ottoman Empire
 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement starts breaking up the states around the region.
 1941 Iran is invaded by the Soviet Union and the British with commonwealth troops.

End of WW2
 Sha Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
o Stays in power until
o A figure in the middle east that is seen as an ally of the US and UK.
o Manages to walk the fine line between appealing to the western governments
that would otherwise colonize Iran, but also maintain a kind of national
autonomy for Iran.
 1952 Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq wants to nationalize Iran’s oil supply.
o National uprising against them, CIA and intelligence from the UK
 Operation to get rid of Mosadeq was called Operation Ajax.
 He is captured and tried for treason, the sha is forced to realize that he
isn’t able to keep the british from raining up internal decent.
o He agrees to a profit sharing arrangements where the oil companies have to split
the profits 50/50.
 By Iranian national interests and british private oil companies.
 The british made sure that Iran had no ability to check on the books by
giving them the inability to audit the british. (bad faith gesture, british
taking advantage of their empowered position.
 1955 Iran joins the Baghdad Pact (decision of the sha)
o This pact creates the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO)
 Parties are Iraq Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and the UK.
 Agreement saying that they will be allies of the British, so the British
wont invade.
 1961-1977 Sha decides he is going to distinguish Iran from the rest of the middle east in
various ways.
o Period is thought of as the White Revolution
o Series of reforms that are meant to bring Iran into a place where they will be
respected as a state in the UN. So there’s no reason that anyone can invade
them.
  Wants to prevent a revolution from below.
o 1. Abolishment of Feudalism
 No lower-class people, land sold to poor people, redistributed land as
wealth to about 1.5 million families. Suddenly people became owners of
the land that they worked on.
o 2. Privatization of State Factories
 Sha decided that its important to have them no longer be operating as
state enterprise, so he wants to sell them individual people; he sees this
as helping make the market more fair.
 HE finds ways to bring workers into ownership roles.
 Cultivates ownership through workers associations
 Sets up these companies and haves them able to do profit share, so the
people working for the company have options of ownership.
o 3. Women get the vote.
 Real difference in Iran from other parts of the middle east during this
time.
o Nationalizes parks and creates public access to them and environmental
protections.
o Labor rights
o Initiates a secular court system, more things can go through the court system
 Decreases control of religious leaders/ clerics
o Literacy campaign/ free mandatory education
o Anti-poverty, social security.
o No matter how good it is, if it’s coming from the top-down people are more
likely to revolt against it.
 People revolt against Sha because people think he has westernized (volunteering to be
colonized)
o The idea of HR violations (not called this at the time) state repression, SUVAK
secret police, the increased policing of anyone who is critical of the government.
o Huge reaction to the secularization of the state; he bans the hijab in one of his
social reforms.
o Fifth thing that happens comes from outside of Iran; 1973 oil crisis. Inflation
increases, more of a gap of people who are falling into the poverty level, and
people who are making money.
o Sha creates a 1-party state, Rastakhiz party, at this time it is seen as
authoritarianism, and at this time it is seen as government that is moving
towards dictatorship.
 Critiques grow, especially from outside of Tehran, complaints about
secularization
 Radical and very quick move from one structure of family—where women stay at home
and take care of the children—they are now all of the sudden working and out in society
with roles.
 o Even women were not necessarily happy with all the changes; although they
gained a lot, women on the far left were displeased with the socialist reforms
being too limited.
o All of these different things mobilized criticism from other places.
o His regime wasn’t that popular; it didn’t crate social peace as one might have
expected.
o 1977-1978 more and more disaffected people begin protesting.
 Marxist demonstrations
 Protesting idea of a monarchy.
o 1978 huge clash in the city of Qam. Police forces involved in student protest in
support of religious clerics. Particularly defending exiled religious leaders, like
Ayatollah Khomeini. Part of this protests in the city of Qam was in response to
his exile. He was against the Sha’s regime. 4 official government recordings of
killings by the police. “70 martyrs” is what Ayatollah said about how many
people were actually killed.
 15 million protestors are estimated to be in the streets by 1978.
 Tips the scales because that’s a lot of protestors for this time.
 As people were attacking western/European establishments, they go on
strike. Closing whole cities and taking control of the University.
 Sha realizes he can’t stay in power; he leaves the power of determining
change to the military government. Declares hes going to work with the
opposition to find a resolution. Sha expects the protests will stop, and
that this is enough of a gesture to bring people back to his side.
Ayatollahs declares this as a false front that the Sha is putting on and says
“nope we need a revolution”. Iran needs to get rid of the Sha; Ayatollah
becomes the symbol of the corruption.
o December 10-11 1978, 10% of the population of Iran marches in the streets.
 Jan 16 1979 Sha realizes that his most faithful allies aren’t going to bail
him out.
 He flees to Egypt, and Mexico.
 Ayatollah decides he’s going to come back to Iran. He is already
considered an Imam; a strong religious title. He comes back and
calls himself semi-divine. He refuses to recognize the transitional
government and appoints himself as government.
 Feb 5 1979 he declares Jihad on anyone who opposes his regime.
 “Supreme Leader of Iran” and Iran is declared a Theocracy.
 Feb 11 the secularized government is abolish. “Victory Day”
becomes the national holiday.
 1979-1983 is declared a period of Revolutionary chaos.
 Iraq looks upon this change in government and decides that its
going to invade Iran and reinstitute the secularized government.
 USA supports this, so does USSR later.
 Ayatollah characteristics of revolutionary rule
 o 1. Shut down of opposition press
o 2. Purged universities of “secular” opposition leaders.
o 3. Executions of the “old guard”
 About 900 executions from the info we have
o 4. -3000 executions of people in the category of “decadent”.
 People who succumb to the values of the western world (primarily drug
users and homosexual people)
o “Cultural Revolution” a firing of anybody who had too much connection to
western ideas. Specifically firing teachers and military officers.
 Iraq-Iran war 1980-1985, others call this the “Gulf War” because it brings in all of these
parties to oil interests in the gulf including notably Quwait.
o Proxy War, Saddam Hussein, who is Sunni (ethnic ideological strand of Islam) is
concerned with the spread of Shia thought into Iran (one of the reasons he
decides to invade).
 Ba’ath party is political party that crosses over political boundaries.
o Started in 1951
o By 1966 its in places like
o Supports Hussein
o Generative source of demand for change means that domestic pressures are
beginning to rise in terms of what forces change.
 Why does the west care so much?

Week 7
03/02/22

Final Essay for Africa Book

 What were the promises of post-colonialism in newly independent states? Please
use the example from the book you chose (give the title and author’s name at the
top of the essay) and contrast with at least one other country from lecture material.
Remember to cite page numbers with in-text format (Author last name, page
number) or lecture (Stites Mor, date).
 Read your book with the eye for looking for what people were looking for when they
were trying to push out European rule.
 Essay is supposed to be a comparative style.
o Choose a country that we talk about in the lecture material an compare it to
the one that you have in your book.

Africa
West Africa
 Heavily influenced by European slave trade
  Countries had extensive connections to Europe from early on.
 Very connected to Europe but still far enough away that there was less common
migration of people.

Central Africa
 Countries that had more diverse experience in terms of having a wide variety of
colonizers
 Also countries that experience a lot of regional imperialism.
 Has really intense investment by outside parties like the US and Russia and China.

East Africa
 Lots of regional stability that wasn’t seen in other parts of the continent during the
1800-1900s.

20th – 21st Century Middle East

 One of the biggest international problems has been the rise of religious groups who
have intersections with claims for power.
 The question of religion in the middle east is becoming increasingly important
o Religious fundamentalism
Big Idea for Today: Why is it that international politics have identified the problem of
fundamentalism and why this term is used to describe political movements?

Fundamentalism
 Term that originates in 19th century US
o Religious revivalism
 A fundamentalist is someone who looks at holy text and sees them without any flaws.
o They have no critical apparatus towards holy scripture/ texts.
o Trumps everything else in terms of knowledge production, social contract, and
relationship to a government.
o IT would be a problem to a nation state because it would be placed above.
 David Aikman
o 2003 Journal Article in Foreign Affairs
o Studied over 500 fundamentalists groups
o Said that was really interesting is that all of the case studies, they all seem to
have one common goal: they wanted to topple the state because of its
secularism.
 Some are highly militant, some are more laid back, but they all find the
state distasteful because they don’t have enough regard for religion.
o Says that fundamentalism is becoming a problem because the world is becoming
more secular.

Fundamentalism in Africa
  According to the WCE (world Christian encyclopedia) in 1970 there were 17M Africans
who identified as Christian.
o Today there are over 400M people in Africa identifying as newly Christian.
 1/3 of population of Africa.
o In many countries this is the demographic group that is growing the most.
 Uganda (East Africa)
 Why did so many people convert to Christianity?
 What are the results?
 2014 Uganada: New laws where they identify homosexuality as illegal,
and identifying it as a problem that comes from identification and
religious values.
 Historians try to work backwards from stories like this and try to
figure out why religious shifts happen in countries.

How Do We Know if /How A Religion is Affecting Politics?

 Beginning in the 1960s varieties of new Christinanity increased their interest in political
life significantly.
o So globally, you see the beginning of the rise of interest of religious interest in
politics coming from international Christian communities.
 Include things like national and international organizations that come
together to crate political statements and acts.
 Issuing letters of support from pastors
 Having sermons with political content
 Organizing political campaigns
 Can explicitly endorse candidates
o During the 1960s this starts originating
 Islamic and Christian fundamentalism.
o By the 1980s the religious right in the US is increasing their influence.
 They feel like they’re losing ground institutionally and they would like
create space.

Example of Uganda
 Many people think of this country
 Idi Amin Comes into Power in 1963
o He was a gold and ivory smuggler and had been notorious for things like tax
evasion.
o First leader of independent Uganda
o Reflected the same brute force as Uganada did under British rule.
 Wanted to annex Tanzania and expands Uganda’s borders
o He wanted to pit south Sudanese families against other groups
o Declared Asians and south Asians as enemies and killed their businesses.
 Some historians: Maybe the people are turning to Christianity (seen as passivist)
because its contrast to the rule of brutal dictator.
 o Other historians say that there isn’t enough evidence, they look to the ast to see
what motivated the rise of religious fundamentalism
o They say Uganda happened to be one of the most successful places for
missionary activity in 1877.

1877 Uganda: Missionaries are Sent to Uganda

 There was a leader named Muteesa who became a Muslim, built a mosque, began
reading the Koran.
o Was one of the first to intiate Muslim law in the country.
o Seen as an expansion of Islam by Europe
 SO the missionary groups (Anglican Church Missionary Society) head to Uganada ad try
to approach Muteesa from a more analytical perspective.
o Hoping hes open to converting.
o Eventually Muteesa allies with them and becomes a partner to their interests in
many ways.
 Helps them get settled in his kingdom
 At this point Uganda has one of the most successful productive
relationship between a country and missionary groups.
o Historians attribute Uganada as being a place with these laws against
homosexuality to their centeredness in Christianity in the international
community.

 ALEC in the US pushes for campaigns that take a blueprint of a particular cause and try
and manufacture it in a bunch of different places.

Ghana (West Coast)

 Christianity seemed to rise really dramatically in the 1970s to becoming the dmonant
religion.
o A place with a long history of very important cultural complexities.
 Has a rich variety of different groups
o 75 different ‘tribes’
 Important place for transatlantic slave trade.
o Transported
1874 Gold Coast
 British try and create a crown colony in Ghana

1823
 Schools are setup where British are able to educate the elite.

Week 8
Talk about Islam through Afghanistan
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5cqce2hpzMrHNQ6XHJmyPlcy_RtHOl0JcA-
  Can still get credits for all four of the job talks

The Congo Wars

 Country in yellow: The Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
 This part of the world is considered the number 1
lowest level per capita income in the world (under
400$ USD per capita per year).

Belgium in Southern Africa

 One of the worst situations on the continent in
terms of exploitation.
 In 2007 China invested 9B$ in infrastructure
from the DRC.
o A country in with the lowest income is
seen as a huge invesment opportunity for other more successful countries.

1876
 Creates International African Society for the Exploration of the Congo
 He hires a guy named Henry Stanley to conduct what he considered to be and advertises
to be a scientific observation of the congo.
o His explicit purpose was not only to create thois mission of discovery in his mind,
but also to set up what he called a philamthrombic society.
 Attempt to bring western society to the region
 To create a justification for their Belgian presence:
 Science
 Bringing civilization to the congo.
 Leopoldo II of Belgium
o Argues that no civilization can be forged in the Congo and that it needs to be
under his rule.
o A lot fo European countries agreed that this was an ungovernable place.
o Creates the “Congo Free State”
 Name that he gives his company.
 Says that it should be the authority that is given trading rights to this area
of land, and that they should be able to police.
 Asks his European allies for permission to operate the congo free
state.
 Felt that this would be the best way to establish a relationship between
the regional and global economy.
o Forces ivory, rubber, and gold to sell in the world market.
o Decides he is going to create a private army called the Force Publique.
 Uses it to enforce goods quotas.
 Officers in the force were Europeans.
  They would then recruit African people to be rank and file troops.
 Purchased Arabian slaves from Northern African of African descent to
come and seem and like they were local soldiers when they weren’t. To
seem like they were from the region that we now call the DRC.
 Would uses forms of torture like mutilations.
o Even European people are looking at Leopoldo as a terrible human being for
using mutilation as a way to advance himself politically.
 Theres a very active campaign against Leopoldo and people in Europe
don’t all agree with him.
 Campaign against him that grows that even makes its way to the Belgium
government.
 They make him direct an inquiry because Leopoldo claims he
knows nothing about the international pressure and campaigns
against him.
o Belgium government decides that Leopoldo is not fit to run the Congo Free State
anymore.
 In 1908 Belgium annexes the Congo and it becomes the Belgian Congo.

 1885-1889 Belgium decides to start enslaving indigenous peoples and selling them off
force use by companies operating within the congo free state.
o This was very late for slavery, it was abolished in the UK among many other
places in 1835.
 By the 1950s a lot of Evolués start demanding equality.
o In 1954 the government responds to these demands and establish a university.
o In June 1960 the evolues say that Belgians don’t need to be in African anymore.
Its called “ Le Mouvement Nationales Congolais (MNC)”.
 Belgium decides theres no way they can maange to keep the control that
they had hope for. So they set a date in June of 1960 for an election.
 Patrice Lumumba runs for prime minister, wins, and the country is named
the Republic of Congo.

Patrice Lumumba
o Raises the pay of all the employess of the govetnemtn to shows the new change in
government.
o Except! For the generals of the military.
o SO the generals go into open rebellion.
 They decide that the best way to overturn the new independent
government was to create violent chaos.
 Their goal is eliminate Lumumba’s aggression towards Belgium (because
a lot of the Generals in the army were of Belgian descent or from Belgium
or whatever).
o Lumumba requests foreign aid and gets it from the Soviet Union and other
countries.
  He gets it and its become a standoff between the generals and the
government.
o The generals eventually kidnap, torture, and kill Lumumba.
Joseph Sese Seko Mobuto
o Installed as the new Prime Minister.
o Gets a tremendous amount of support from the US because he establishes them
as against Cuba and the USSR.
o Imposes a one party state and makes it illegal to be a member of any other party than
that of the state.
o Calls it the “Popular Movement of the Revolution”
o Becomes the party of the state from 1960-1990.
o Creates the Proliferation of Military Units
o Names the country Zaire
o Pushes pan-Africanism as a push back to his critics.
o Starts creating ties with African indigenous community groups.
o Starts holding elections but hes the one and only candidate. Tries to describe it as
democratic and claims that no one else is willing to run against him because hes so
popular.
o He starts Kleptocracy of his friends of people who are loyal to him. They shift the
economy; he uses nepotism to bring family members into the government. And then he
allows them to skim off the top for his own benefit. He accumulated about $15B for
himself.
o Creates the ‘abacost’ style.
o Continues this dictatorship that is unfortunately supported by a lot of international
superpowers.
o Becomes close friends with members of the evangelical movement in the US.
o Pat Robertson, Ronald Reagan.
o Keep him in power for a lot longer than he would have been able because they
see him as a strong man who is able to keep some sense of order, and a man
who can keep strong trade between Zaire and the rest of the world.
o Mobutism
o A style of the short sleeve suit with no tie and a collar.
o Introduces obligatory civil work called “Solango” to all the able-bodied working men in
the country to work for civil development projects to pay back the interest owed by the
country.
o Mutombo leaves Zaire with a lot of dept and the inflation rate is at about 500% in 1990.
o 1997 he is overthrown by Laurent Desiré Kabila
o Had support from Uganada, Rawanda, and Mumbuti.
o Mumbuto was sick and away with cancer and this is when Kabila infiltrates the
overthrowing of Mumbuto.

Kabila
o A lot of people start claiming that he is only interested in the material wealth of the Congo.
1998-2003
o Second Congo War breaks out.
o Involves 9 different African states.
o 5.4M people dead.
o Began when rebel groups attacked the Kabila government. Other countries sent in
troops to help the rebel groups.
o Sudan sent troops.
o Manage to turn one of Kabila’s own bodyguards against him, who eventually
kills him in 2001.
o Once Kabila is killed his son Joseph Kabila is quickly sworn into the role of President.
o This creates more warfare and fighting in the country.
o War ends when South Africa hosts a peace conference in Pretoria in 2002.
o Luanda Agreement and both the Uganda and Uruguay agree to withdraw.
o When they leave there isn’t a clear plan for government transition.
o Military is given oversight of this transition government in 2003.
o By 2006 its unclear if anyone is recognizing the DRC as having a stable
government.
o Kabila Jr. stays in power for a long time and is the guy who makes business go back to usual
with China. They invested in Zaire.

o DRC is considered the poorest country in the world.

o People inquire into this when it is one of the most materially rich countries in the
world.
o Some attribute it to violence, some to previous form of colonialism.
o Its been a country accused of operating a slavery system well beyond when it
was normalized.

1885 Berlin Conference

 Drew up African countries and is a guideline for more modern African borders.

Week 9
March 16, 2021

Somalia
 Located in the eastern horn of Africa
 It’s a drier area in terms of it’s geographic climate.
 Important location for trade routes because it borders the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and
Indian Ocean.
2011
 UN declares that Somalia is in a famine.
o Which has to do with its geographic climate.
*Note that draught and famine are characteristic of Somalian existence.
 260,000 people have trouble obtaining food, so the UN directs efforts to deliver food
there.

Reasons For Ongoing Famine Issues, According to the UN

 Environmental factors
o Somalia has terrible conditions for human inhabitation.
 Population density
 Inequality: Amartya Sen’s Poverty and Famine argues that famines come from structural
inequality and corruption within government. Examples include:
o British/colonial hoarding of food.
o Price gouging of agricultural business elites.
 Shortages cause higher prices, which explain the incentives for
agribusiness to artificially decrease the supply of food.
o Instability
 Chronic fighting between elites and ethnic groups. This causes a
consumptive panic, that leads to hyperinflation. Many countries with a
low food supply won’t have famines; this explains the issue of
distribution.
o International aid
 Aid directed towards famine leads to unfair competition. USAID
underwent a humanitarian guise, but ended up pushing out local
producers from the market.
*Foreign aid favors international networks to make more money in international

o Distribution
 This is the reason favoured by Somali historians as the explanation for
Somalian famine. Conflicting patronage networks of regional authorities
make distribution hard!
1839
 The British overtook the Port of Aden for trade with China and India.
o With the more intense colonization of India, African ports would transport
troops to push down Indian rebellions (against the Brits).
1880s
 Scramble for Africa, Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia should have first claims to land in
any partition plan.

The Treaty of Uccalli

 Italy took Eritrea from Ethiopia
 o Ethiopia would have been able to drive Italy out of East Africa, if it wasn’t for the
British and French support of Italy.
o Trusteeships of Italy: In the aftermath of WWII, Italian control continues in the
colonies but they leave in 1960.
1957
 British are granted independence to two docile regions
1960
 Nigeria is reunited as a single independent country.
o BUT the British retained control over Nigerian businesses.
 273 million dollars of foreign aid sent by the OECD to Nigeria.
 Military regime 1967-1969 negotiated the sale of oil to foreign markets.
 Piracy emerged as an issue because of the British control over Nigerian oil trade.
1960-1969
 The withdrawal of the British and Italians left a chaotic power vacuum. Local power vied
for control over independent Somalia

The USSR
 The USSR supported Barre with weapons, sought to establish a Marxist regime. Barre
set up a system of government based on family clans, following the Italian/British
strategy of divide and conquer.
 Barre himself has deep connections with this influential family.
o He was very unpopular so he decided to invade Eritrea in 1977 (in the aftermath
of Haile Selassie’s fall from power).
 Selassie also lead a USSR-supported Marxist regime, so Soviet support for
Ethiopia came to a halt.
1969-1991
 Barre’s regime continues, but with heavy fighting within Somalia, with rivals who were
seeking to depose Barre. This conflict of trying to push him out of power amplifies the
famine problem.
o Military forces burning crops
o Food from relief agencies being distributed to clans
o Structure of colonial rule/ trusteeship:
 They would break down areas, and turn them into military protectorates
to create a militarized state from wealth extraction, before their
withdrawal.
o No true state apparatus:
 63 political parties make it hard to achieve any majority, and hard for
outsiders to find partners to work with in Somalia.
 Having no official language makes it har to create government documents
or any unified identity among Somalians.
o Reshaping the under colonialism:
  Britain and Italy created an export-oriented Somalian economy that
decreases domestic food supply. The commercialization of cattle limits
domestic distribution.
1983-1984
 Worst years of Somalian famine of all time.
1991
 There are 40 different distinct military groups controlling different region
 Lack of international confidence made Somalia more isolated.
 Foreign aid also stifles domestic industries for other powers to avoid competition from
Somalia, giving rise to a black market and piracy.

James C. Scott
 The Art of Not Being Governed argues post-colonial state apparatus continues the
extractive model to benefit international markets.
o Taking power away from the people and putting it in a centralized institution
decreases local autonomy and breeds authoritarianism in favor of foregin
interests.
 The real solution isn’t to emulate the western-oriented models of
governance rather than to embrace the black market to undermine the
extractive international economy.
Mokwugo Okoye
 His work Vistas of Life argues that colonialism serves Africa’s connection to its
communist past. Individualism should be rejected, and individual interests should never
be above those of community interests.
 He advocates for collective action and socialism.

Week 10
March 23, 2022

China’s Economy

Commercial Imperialism
 Conduction commerce on a global scale, extracting resources.

Imperialism
 The acquisition of controlling influence over regions beyond a specific state’s borders.
o There are different interpretations of imperialism depending on the political
views.
 Monopoly
 Obliarchy
 State + Capitalist ideas, etc.
o China mainly wanted loyalty and tribute from neighbours, but European
imperialism was more extractive and militarised.
19th Century Asia and Imperialism
 Asia denies this period as an age of imperialism.
 In 1914 there are imperial rivalries in China.

1917
 Rise of communism
 Soviet ‘October Revolution’ and Mexican Revolution.

1940-1976
 Mao Tse-Tung is the Communist Party secretary.
 Communism in China is largely influenced by the Soviet Union (Stalinism).

Mao Tse-Tung
 Brings up the idea of scientifically determining how to make the economy more
effective, largely related to farming and the distribution of goods.
 His ideas are being taught and circulated around the world. (Little red book re-
education)
o China begins to act as a foreign investor in many different countries, but mainly
strongly communist-led ones.
1958-1962
 The “Great Leap Forward” was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP)
o It allowed China to gain power, because it was highly technically organized.

The Hokou System

 The Hokou system was implemented as a tool for geographic, economic, political and
social control.
 It organized families by class + recorded the amount of food each family had. Basically
each family was being micromanaged.

Chinese-African Investment
 19% of African oil is Chinese investment, along with other aspects like mining.
 China and Uganda made a deal that puts Uganda’s airport as collateral in the deal, if the
loan is not repaid.
o The end goal is control, mainly economic control, essentially imperialism.
Yi’s Dynasty
 Ruled Korea from 1392-1910
 Longest ever rule in history of a single family.
 Monarchical system
 Relatively small, but very secure rule.

Confucianism
 Places importance of personal ethics and morality.
  Human rationalism.
 The balance between universe and individual.
 Social Harmony > Power

Meji Restoration
 Japan needed to compete with European countries and change its constitution.
o With the goal of becoming a major imperial power.

First Sino-Japanese War: 1894-1895

 A conflict between Japan and the Chinese government’s involvement at the request of
Korea’s King.
 The intention of the conflict is mainly over influence in Joseon Korea.
 Russia is also interested in Korea at this time, which results in Russia being involved in
the conflict!
o The war ends in stalemate.

Russo-Japanese War: 1904-1905

 Conflict over control of Korea
 This was the first time an Asian power is directly fighting a European power.
o Starts off the independent movements in Russia.
o Concludes through a negotiation because of Theodore Roosevelt.
 They sign off the Treaty of Portsmouth.

Treaty of Versailles: 1919

 Signed in June of 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
o Ended WWI
 Japan is included in the treaty as a possible imperial power.

Japan Colonizes Korea: 1910-1945

 Overpopulated areas had Japanese inhabitants sent to Korea.
 Actively argues that the Japanse are superior to Koreans.
o Forced Koreans to change their name and culture, etc.
 Authoritarian regimes, racism.
 After Japan lost control of Korea, it split into North Korea and South Korea.
Kim II-Sung: 1948-1994
 He became the first leader of North Korea.
o Wanted to be rid the country of US influence.
 Was exiled due to political activity, and grew up in China.
 Established the KPA (Korean People’s Army).
 Led a charge for Korean independence.
 Refused to recognize the legitimacy of South Korea
o But supported the reunification of Korea
 Was given permission by Stalin to take over South Korea.
Syngman Rhee: 1948-1961
 Grew up in the US; attended Harvard University and Preston.
 Was exiled due to his political activities.
 The US was hoping to use him as an ally.
 Finds himself at war with North Korea.

Korean War: 1950-1953

 The Korean War was a war fought between North and South Korea.
o Eventually both sides decided to stop fighting each other.
o Cold War Proxy War is a North Korean children’s game that arose from this
event. The most violent and hottest part of the Cold War.

Kim-Jong II: 1994-2011

 Second North Korean supreme leader.
 Was mocked for his political decisions.

Park Chung-Hee: 1963-1979

 Was called corrupt and imperialist.
 Becomes an authoritarian figure.
 Is a part of a military coup against Rhee.

Week 11
March 30, 2022

India Under British Rule

 By the 18th century France and the UK are the two biggest challengers for occupying
Indian territory.

1799
 British defeat the French
 Rapidly expand control across the subcontinent

East India Company

 Expands Britain’s commercial interests.
 Beyond goods, they’re interested in bringing Indian workers to other parts of the
empire.
o Highly skilled workers and professionals who were able to speak English, would
be exported to wherever else the British set up empire.
 British saw India as a place with a large amount of people who were easy to move
around for labour.

British Elite in India

  One of their principles aims was to
 1858 dissolved the East India Company; Queen Victoria names herself the Empress of
India.
 One of their problems in terms of governance was the highly diverse population.
o One of the keys to British rule was to restructure.
o Recognized the large Hindu, Muslim population. They learned they can exploit
conflict between these groups.

British Raj, 1858-1947

 1.4M troops were sent to go fight on behalf of the British
 Send Indian soldiers to fight war

Province of West Bengal (all re-districting starts in 1905)

 Hindu majority.
 Ask people to move their based on their religion.
Opposition
 Muslim people were very upset that they were being asked to leave and move to these
districts of their religion created by the British.
 The All India Muslim League begins to push for the creation of a separate Muslim state.
(later Pakistan, 1930)
 Independent groups start taking the shape of wanting their own sovereign state.

Mohandas Gandhi
 He goes to South Africa and sees an extreme regime of racism.
o He sees how clearly Indian people are not being treated equally in South Africa
o Large population of expatriated Indians.
 Returns to Indian and starts his famous campaign for nonviolent resistance.
o Satyagraha; striving for truth. (Wants the British to recognize their colonization,
think Truth&Rec in Canada)
 This is during the same period of time that other violent revolutions were happening
(Russia, Mexico).
 Becomes a member of the Indian National Congress Party
o 1. Eradication of poverty
o 2. Cross-religion solidarity
o 3. Idea that India should be a country of religious pluralism.
o 4. Ending the caste system of ‘untouchables’.
 This is a sophisticated system where there is realms of class attached to
money, families, religions, etc.

Ghandi Dandi Salt March