Israel’s Founding and Its Relationships with Neighbors
Zionist movement emerged in 1890s
Urged creation of a separate Jewish state in Palestine
Birth of Israel
Palestine was originally occupied by Ottoman Empire
In 1917, during WWI, British Empire issued the Balfour Declaration, which declared British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine
After the war, Palestine became a protectorate of Britain
With this support massive numbers of Jewish people moved to Palestine
Situation was complicated further as the British in WWI also promised Arabs the creation of an independent state
Arabs protested this loss of land
WWII made the international community sympathetic to the cause of a Jewish homeland
In 1948, Palestine was partitioned in two by the UN: a Jewish section (Israel) and an Arab section
Multiple Wars
While India and Pakistan were/are able to coexist, when Israel/Palestine was formed, war between the two broke out immediately
US supported Israel, neighboring Arab countries supported Palestine
Israel won
400,000+ Palestinians became refugees
Tension remains to this day
Cambodia Gains Independence and Survives Wars
Cambodia got independence from France in 1953
Khmer Rouge under dictator named Pol Pot takes over in 1975
Are an extreme communist guerrilla organization
Committed the Cambodian Genocide and caused a famine that took 2+ million lives
Khmer Rouge policies included:
forcibly evacuating people from urban areas to rural agricultural communes and made to work as rice farmers (cities seen as breeding grounds for capitalist influences)
imposed forced labor on the entire population, including men, women, and children
collectivized agriculture
political purges
genocide, which targeted ethnic minorities, political opponents
In 1991 Cambodia became a constitutional monarchy again
India and Pakistan Become Separate Countries
When Britain granted independence to India in 1947, they partitioned it to make India and Pakistan
In both countries women had the right to vote
Partition was chaotic
violence broke out along religious lines
in the political turmoil, between 500,000 and one million people died
While India became the world’s largest democracy, Pakistan had both elected leaders and authoritarian military rulers
Tensions between the two countries kept on growing
Kashmir Conflict
One tension that lasts to this day is who owns Kashmir
At the time of partition, the population of Kashmir was mostly Muslim but the ruler was Hindu
Therefore, both Pakistan and India claimed Kashmir
The tension between the two countries became more significant after each began developing nuclear weapons
Women Gain Power in South Asia
Women won right to vote in India and Pakistan in 1947
Sri Lanka
World’s first female prime minister was elected in Sri Lanka
Name was Sirimavo Bandaranaike
She instituted socialist policies like land reforms, nationalization of industry
Although these policies were largely unsuccessful it is an example of a government getting involved in its economy
India
In 1966 Indira Gandhi became PM
Declared a national emergency in 1975 and jailed many opposition leaders
Her 20-point economic program proved successful, alleviating inflation, reforming corrupt laws, and increasing national production
Pakistan
In 1988 Benazir Bhutto became PM
Emigration from Newer Countries to Older Ones
Metropole = home territory of a colonial power
People from newly independent countries sometimes moved to their former colonial powers, or metropoles
Examples:
After WWII, Indians and Bangladeshis moved to Britain
Vietnamese, Algerians, and West Africans → Paris and other cities in France
Filipinos → USA
Impact of this is metropoles and their former colonies were able to continue to maintain strong cultural and economic ties