NEAR EAST AWAKES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23590, 29 August 1938, Page 2

NEAR EAST AWAKES

CHALLENGE TO GREAT POWERS RAPID GROWTH OF NATIONALISM Along the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean, on the sands of Arabia and along the Nile, a new and challenging factor is arising in world affairs—the nationalism of the Near Eastern peoples. In Palestine the temperature of nationalism is running higher as Arabs and Jews continue to clash. To the north the Turkish military occupation of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, the northernmost tip of Syria, in which some thousands of Turks live, indicates the growing strength of the new Turkey. Throughout the Near Eastern world nationalism is forging great changes, intellectually, socially and politically. Less than 20 years ago, states a contributor to the New York Times Magazine, though clearly discernible in its beginnings, Near Eastern nationalism was still regarded as unimportant. Imperialist Powers of Europe thought they could easily control it by a show of force and by a dexterous policy They no longer think so They now look to the lands of the Near East with apprehension. They see the peoples coming of age, asserting themselves on the map of the world. Situated on a strategic spot on the globe, the Near East stretches from the Dardanelles to the mountains of Afghanistan, on the frontiers of India; from the Persian coast on the Caspian, across the sands of Arabia and the Red Sea to the valley of the Nile in Egypt. Within this area are great States and small—Turkey Persia, Afghanistan. Iraq, Syria,. Lebanon, Palestine, Arabia and Egypt. Among its mountains, deserts and fertile valleys history first began to write its records and three great world religions were born. New Way of Life In no part of the world have the changes since the World War been greater than in this region. The present Turkish Republic bears no resemblance’ to the old Ottoman Empire which crumbled in 1920. In Egypt, for the first time in two thousand years, an independent king sits on the throne of the Pharaohs, strictly limited in his power by a democratic Constitution. Throughout the Near East nationalism secularism and industrialism have transformed an ancient way of life, Perhaps the change is best symbolised by the fact that the motor-car and aeroplane have deposed the came] as ruler of the desert. The first signs of change came at the beginning of the present century. The small educated upper middle class which had come into contact with European ideas started a nationalist movement. They aimed at liberation from direct foreign influence and at the introduction of reforms patterned after Western models. Events in other parts of the world had repercussions in the Near East. The victory of oriental Japan over

Russia gave the nationalist movement in the Near East increased momentum. Under the influence of Japan’s victory and of the Russian Revolution of 1905 a revolt broke out in Persia where the Shah was forced to grant a new Constitution. In 1908 the Young Turks, nationalists and reformers, seized power „ in Constantinople and ended the era of Abdul Hamid National Party in Egypt At the same time, in Egypt, Mustapha Kamil organised the urban intelligentsia into a national party and demanded independence of Great Britain. In Arabia leaders started to form their first revolutionary groups with the aim of Arab independence and unity. Strong leaders arose to unite their peoples and to oppose demands from the West. Mustapha Kemal, a former officer in the Turkish Army put the stamp of his personality on his country and to a lesser degree on all of the Near East, His example was followed by Reza Khan, who rose from the position of private in the Persian army to become Shah of an ancient empire In Arabia Feisal Ibn Husain and Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, despite dynastic rivalries, laid the foundations for the unification of the Arab lands. Turkey tore up the peace treaty of Sevres which had been forced on hex and negotiated in 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne with the major Powers; this treaty made her stronger than she had been in 150 years. Reza Khan forced the British to recognise the full 'sovereignty of Persia. Egypt insisted upon independence, and by successive stages the Egyptian nationalists were able to achieve their goal of freedom in 1937 . u The mandates had to be abandoned or modified by Britain and France. In 1932, Iraq, a Britishmandated area, became an independent member of the League oj Nations. In 1936 France promised Syria her full independence after a transitional period of three years. And now in Palestine, Britain is facing the puzzling problem of two nationalist movements —the Aran and the Jewish. To-day there is a community ot interests among the peoples of the Near East. A Near Eastern Entente exists; its present members are Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan and Iraq; soon Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria may join. Nationalism in the Near East must still travel a long road before it reaches maturity. But it is alive and growing, and the imperialist Powers of Europe must x’eckon with it.