World War II and the Arab World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

World War II and the Arab World - Essay Example Then the military campaigns of the period 1939 to 1945 in the Arab world will be detailed. The impact of the post-war settlement in the region will subsequently be considered: Special attention will be paid to the impact and influence of the establishment of the state of Israel. Finally, a concluding section will draw together the various threads of argument and offer overall insights. Throughout the western reaches of the Arab world, along with the north coast of Africa, colonial domination was the norm. The entire southern coast of the Mediterranean consisted of European colonies with the de jure exception of only Egypt. Egypt, while not formally a colony in 1939, was controlled by Great Britain; a grip as tight as Great Britain's reliance on the Suez Canal's priceless access to India. The situation is exemplified by the treaty between the two, formally granting independence to Egypt, that was signed on August 26, 1936. It's formal title is â€Å"Treaty of Alliance between His Majesty, in respect of the United Kingdom, and His Majesty the King of Egypt†: An objective title for an agreement between equals. However, the truth of the matter is revealed in the attachment, a â€Å"Convention concerning the Immunities and Privileges to be enjoyed by the British Force in Egypt†. (UK Government, 1936) It is a list of all the concessions that the Egyptian government grants to the British military to maintain bases, operate in Egyptian air space, deploy forces and remain outside Egyptian civil and criminal law. The list of British privileges and concessions even in Egypt (outside the semi-autonom ous, British administered Suez Canal Zone) was so extensive that Egypt amounted to a British military base in all but name. Map 1: Colonialism in North Africa, 1930 Source: http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histatlas/northafrica/nafrica1930large.gif The eastern Mediterranean was a confusion of mandates and protectorates, an appropriately Byzantine maze of shifting alliances and influences dominated by the European powers – France and Great Britain – that had tried to control the region since the devolution of the Ottoman Empire a generation earlier.