Unfinished journey (90)

Tunisia Map

Unfinished journey (90)

(Part Ninety, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, 16 September 2014, 15:16 pm)

In the next few weeks  will be a members of Parliament elections in Tunisia and Presiden election, but before the election the political situation in Tunisia become more heating.

It is not separated from the political situation in the Arab countries now known as the Arab spring revolutions, also have occurred in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Oman, Yemen and several other Arab countries:

My own party men want me dead, says Tunisian candidate



The prosecution service said Monday it has opened an inquiry after a frontrunner in Tunisia’s presidential poll in November, 87-year-old Beji Caid Essebsi, said members of his own party want him killed.

Prosecution service spokesman Allala Rhouma told AFP that after statements Essebsi made during a meeting on Friday, an inquiry has begun “and the judge will summon Mr. Essebsi so he can name those implicated.”

Rhouma cited articles of the Tunisian criminal code dealing with attempted murder and conspiracy.

Essebsi, a former premier and considered the main rival to the Ennahda party, on Friday accused “infiltrators” in his Nidaa Tounes party who oppose his candidacy of wanting to eliminate him.

Tunisia is gearing up for a parliamentary election on October 26 and a presidential poll less than a month later, on November 23.

For weeks, Nidaa Tounes has seen infighting over Essebsi’s nomination because of his advanced age and over the place accorded to former members of ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regime.

On Monday, Nidaa Tounes excluded two party members, one of whom, Omar Shabou, said on television Sunday that he had seen Essebsi’s medical file and his health would not allow him to perform the duties of president.

However, Essebsi remains a favorite to become head of state.

A veteran of Tunisian politics, Essebsi was minister of the interior, defense and foreign affairs under the country’s founding president Habib Bourguiba, and then parliamentary speaker under Ben Ali.

His critics accuse him of seeking to restore the regime of the deposed dictator, while his supporters say he is the only credible counterweight to Ennahda, which resigned this year after months of political crisis. (Arabnews)

History of Tunisia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Modern Tunisia.

The History of Tunisia is subdivided into the following articles:

Names[edit]

Tunisia, al-Jumhuriyyah at-Tunisiyyah, is a sovereign republic. Yet the country's proper name has changed radically more than once over the course of millennia. Hence, such a term as "ancient Tunisia" is frankly anachronistic. Nonetheless, "Tunisia" is used throughout this history for continuity.

Undoubtedly, the most ancient Berbers had various names for their land and settlements here, one early Punic-era Berber name being Massyli.[1][2] After the Phoenicians arrived, their city of Carthage evolved to assume a dominant position over much of the western Mediterranean; this city-state gave its name to the region.[3] Following the Punic Wars, the Romans established here their Province of Africa, taking the then not-widely-known name of Africa from a Berber word for 'the people'.[4][5] The Roman capital was the rebuilt city of Carthage. After the Arab and Muslim conquest, this name continued in use, as the region was called in Arabic Ifriqiya. Its capital was relocated to the newly built city of Kairouan.[6]

In the twelfth century the Berber Almohads [Almohad or Al Muwahhidun] conquered the country and began to rule it from Tounes [Tunis], an ancient but until-then unimportant city, which thus rose to become the capital.[7][8] The whole country then came to be called Tounes after this city (near the ruins of ancient Carthage). Tunis continued as the capital under Turkish rule, and remains so today. Only in the last years of the nineteenth century, under the French protectorate, did the current name Tunisie [in French] from Tounes [in Arabic], (Tunisia [in English]), come into wide use.[9][10]

During these millennia of history the different civilizations and regimes flourished, and the country has been called by various names. These include: Massyli, Carthage, Africa, Ifriqiya, Tounes, Tunisia.

History Outline[edit]

Its long history may be very briefly outlined or summarized.[11] Here a reverse chronological order is employed.

|8| A popular revolution of 2010-2011 instituted democratic reforms and substantial civil liberties. The prior regimes, headed in succession by two authoritarian presidents, administered the country's economic development during first the bipolar then the post–Cold War world. Since independence Tunisia has retained close ties both to Arab countries and to the West. |7| Earlier the French had incorporated Tunisia into their sphere (1881–1956), preceded by many Italian settlers, merchants and farmers. Modernization of methods, e.g., in business and education, was achieved. |6| Before that, Tunisia was nominally under the Ottoman Turks who had seized control in 1574 after a brief Spanish occupation. Ottoman control loosened, and the Beys of Tunisia ruled directly, through the Muradid and Husaynid dynasties. The Ottoman Empire used the Turkish language; with it arrived a multi-ethnic influx. |5| Prior to the Ottoman and Beylical era, the long medieval period had seen a cultural renaissance under the rule of native Berbers, already Arabized. At first the Zirids (973-1160) had ruled as vassals of the Fatimids after their relocation to the Nile; later the Zirids established an independent Ifriqiya, by breaking with the Fatimids. Next the Almohad movement succeeded in uniting the entire Maghrib, including Ifriqiya. Then the local Hafsid dynasty (1227-1574) of Tunis followed, ruling for many centuries during times both prosperous and lean, contested and peaceful. Their lands stretched form Constantine to Tarabulus.

|4| The Islamic era had opened with the arrival of the Arabs (late seventh century). The Arabs brought their language and the religion of Islam, and its new calendar.[12] The Arabs also renewed the region's cultural ties with the Semitic east. Later the Fatimids, a Shi'a state, arose in Ifriqiya, circa 909; the Fatimds eventually conquered and ruled Egypt. |3| During the last pre-Islamic centuries the Byzantines ruled, along with Berbrer vassals, and before them the Vandals (439-533). Over two thousand years ago the Romans had arrived, initially allied with Berber kingdoms; their cosmopolitan Empire long governed this Africa region as part of an integrated Mediterranean world. |2| Before the Romans, came the Phoenicians, by sea from the eastern Mediterranean about three thousand years ago. The Phoenicians founded here the celebrated city of Carthage. Punic culture interacted continuously with the native Berbers, but the two did not then merge. |1| Earlier came migrations from surrounding territories including the north, the east, and the Sahel region of Africa. Perhaps eight millennia ago, already there were peoples established here, among whom the proto-Berbers (coming overland generally from the east) mingled and mixed, and from whom the Berbers would spring, during an era of their ethnogenesis.[13][14]

Climate change[edit]

Earlier in an era of prehistory the Sahara region to the south was not an arid desert, but rather in places grasslands grew with seasonal lakes, and corresponding flora and fauna. Prior to 6000 years ago, evidently the vast Sahara region to the south was better watered, more a savanna which could support herds; yet then a desiccation process set in, leaving a more parched desert as it is today.[15][16]

The wettest time of the Sahara appears the more archaic, which may correspond to a certain glacial period in Europe (the Würm, which ended c. 9000 BC). Subsequently, during neolithic pre-history in North Africa (c. 6000 to 2500) and continuing to modern times, "damp pluvial" phases appear to alternate with "dry inter-pluvial" phases. The general 'post-Würm' climate (the repeated succession of long periods of more rainy weather followed by arid) remains problematic with respect to fixing dates in history, e.g., apparent contradictions may arise simply due to divergent micro-climates.[17]

During its recorded history the physical features and environment of the land now called Tunisia have remained fairly constant; however, there were differences, e.g., [18] A study by Prof. Shaw has criticized a century of scholarly literature which theorizes a long decline in agricultural conditions since ancient times due to destructive invasions and significant climate change; Shaw writes that such theories may be based on "false assumptions about the past, dubious literary evidence, and misunderstood archaeological data." Deforestation since ancient times probably dates to the late 19th and 20th centuries, with its general increase in the "intensity of agricultural exploitation of the countryside." The lack of a modern grain surplus for export may be chiefly due to an increase in local population.[19]

Geography[edit]

Topography of Tunisia.

Weather in the far north is temperate, enjoying a Mediterranean climate, with mild rainy winters and hot dry summers. The natural terrain is fertile, the fields often broken by woodlands, e.g., with cork, oak, and pine. Bizerta on the north coast has a large, developed harbor. Nearby lies the large lake of Ichkeul, a favored stop used by hundreds of thousands of migrating birds.[20] The fertile river valley of the Medjerda (Wadi Majardah) (anciently called the Bagradas) flows eastward and empties into the sea north of Tunis. The Medjerda and vicinity have been very productive throughout history and today remain valuable farmland. Grain is grown in the upper Medjerda, while on the lower Medjerda and in spots surrounding Tunis, vinyards and vegetables.[21]

Along the eastern sea coast the sahel enjoys a moderate climate, less rainfall but with heavy dew; these coastlands currently support orchards (predominately olive, also various fruit trees), and livestock grazing. The port cities of Hammamet, Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia are here; further south are Sfax [Safaqis], Gabès [Qabis], and also the island of Djerba. In and around Djerba lie lands continuing the Sahel. Mineral wealth is extracted from various sites, e.g., phosphates (near Gafsa) and hydrocarbons (in the desert south). Near the mountainous Algerian border in the west rises Tunisia's highest point, Jebel ech Chambi at 1544 meters. From this area the high tell descends northeastward to the coast, continuing through Cape Bon, east of Tunis. Called the Dorsale, Tunisia's mountain range is interrupted by several passes, including the Kasserine.[22]

Between the coastal sahel and the high mountains lies the bled, seasonally-parched plains that are more sparsely populated, but where the sacred city of Kairouan is situated. In the near south, cutting east-west across the low-lying country, are the Tunisian salt lakes (called chotts or shatts), which continue westward far into Algeria. This region forms the Djerid; quality dates are cultivated here in substantial quantities, due to use of subsurface aquifers. Further south lies the Sahara desert; here Tunisia touches the north-eastern edge of vast sand dunes comprising the Grand Erg Oriental.[23][24][25]

Until the arrival of the Ottomans, Tunisia included additional lands to the west, and to the east. The region surrounding Constantine, Algeria (anciently, western Numidia) was formerly ruled primarily from Tunis. The coastlands by Tripoli, Libya [also called Tarabulus] also had been, before the Turks, in long political association with Tunis.[26]

The Coat of Arms of the Republic of Tunisia

Today Tunisia has 163,610 square kilometers (63,170 square miles). It fronts the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east, Libya extends to the southeast, and Algeria is west. The capital Tunis is located near the coast, roughly between the mouth of the Medjerda river to the north and Cap Bon (Watan el-Kibli). With a population now of about 800,000, Tunis has been the principal city in the region for over eight centuries. The second largest city is Sfax which is noted for industry, with about 350,000 people.[25]

Population[edit]

The present day Republic of Tunisia includes about ten million inhabitants, chiefly of Arab-Berber descent. Yet also a broad ethnic mix constitutes a substantial minority, coming from throughout the Mediterranean region, both east and west, many dating to the Phoenician, Roman, or Ottoman eras. Included are Sicilians and Greeks, Corsicans and French, Spanish and Germans, Egyptians and Jews, Circassians, Iranians, and Turks; also in this mix are Tunisians whose ancestry traces southward across the deserts to Black Africa. Arabic became the primary language following the 7th-century Muslim conquest, with French also widely spoken. Islam is the religion, 99% are said to be Sunni Muslims.[27][28]

Arab Spring

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the demonstrations and revolts in the Arab world in early 2010s. For other Arab revolts, see Arab Revolt (disambiguation).

It has been suggested that Arab Spring concurrent incidents be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2014.

Arab Spring

Collage for MENA protests

Clockwise from top left: Protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo; Demonstrators marching through Avenue Habib in Tunis; Political dissidents in Sana'a; Protesters gathering in Pearl Roundabout in Manama; Mass Demonstration in Douma; Demonstrators in Bayda.

Date 18 December 2010 – present

(3 years, 8 months and 3 weeks)

Arab Spring Revolution Map

Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ousted, and government overthrown.

Egyptian presidents Hosni Mubarak and Mohammed Morsi ousted, and governments overthrown. Ongoing post-coup political violence.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi killed after a civil war with foreign military intervention, and government overthrown.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted, power handed to a national unity government.

Syria experiences a full-scale civil war between the government and opposition forces.

Civil uprising against the government of Bahrain despite government changes.

Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman implementing government changes in response to protests.

Morocco, Jordan implementing constitutional reforms in response to protests.

Ongoing protests in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Mauritania and some other countries.

Casualties

Death(s)    169,307–174,339+ (International estimate, ongoing; see table below)

The Arab Spring (Arabic: الربيع العربي‎, ar-rabīˁ al-ˁarabī) is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010 and spread throughout the countries of the Arab League and surroundings. While the wave of initial revolutions and protests had expired by mid-2012, some refer to the ongoing large-scale conflicts in Middle East and North Africa as a continuation of the Arab Spring, while others refer to the second wave of revolutions and civil wars post 2012 as the Arab Winter.

By December 2013, rulers had been forced from power in Tunisia,[3] Egypt (twice),[4] Libya,[5] and Yemen;[6] civil uprisings had erupted in Bahrain[7] and Syria;[8] major protests had broken out in Algeria,[9] Iraq,[10] Jordan,[11] Kuwait,[12] Morocco,[13] Israel[14] and Sudan;[15] and minor protests had occurred in Mauritania,[16] Oman,[17] Saudi Arabia,[18] Djibouti,[19] Western Sahara,[20] and Palestine.

Weapons and Tuareg fighters returning from the Libyan Civil War stoked a simmering conflict in Mali which has been described as "fallout" from the Arab Spring in North Africa.[21] The sectarian clashes in Lebanon were described as a spillover of violence from the Syrian uprising and hence the regional Arab Spring.[22]

The protests have shared some techniques of civil resistance in sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations, marches, and rallies, as well as the effective use of social media[23][24] to organize, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and Internet censorship.[25][26]

Many Arab Spring demonstrations have been met with violent responses from authorities,[27][28][29] as well as from pro-government militias and counter-demonstrators. These attacks have been answered with violence from protestors in some cases.[30][31][32] A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world has been Ash-sha`b yurid isqat an-nizam ("the people want to bring down the regime").[33]

Some observers have drawn comparisons between the Arab Spring movements and the Revolutions of 1989 (also known as the "Autumn of Nations") that swept through Eastern Europe and the Second World, in terms of their scale and significance.[34][35][36] Others, however, have pointed out that there are several key differences between the movements, such as the desired outcomes and the organizational role of Internet-based technologies in the Arab revolutions.[37][38][39]

Etymology[edit]

The term "Arab Spring" is an allusion to the Revolutions of 1848, which is sometimes referred to as the "Springtime of Nations", and the Prague Spring in 1968. In the aftermath of the Iraq War it was used by various commentators and bloggers who anticipated a major Arab movement towards democratization.[40] The first specific use of the term Arab Spring as used to denote these events may have started with the American political journal Foreign Policy.[41] Marc Lynch, referring to his article in Foreign Policy,[42] writes "Arab Spring—a term I may have unintentionally coined in a January 6, 2011 article".[43] Joseph Massad on Al Jazeera said the term was "part of a US strategy of controlling [the movement's] aims and goals" and directing it towards American-style liberal democracy.[41] Due to the electoral success of Islamist parties following the protests in many Arab countries, the events have also come to be known as "Islamist Spring" or "Islamist Winter".[44][45]

Arab Spring in Tunisia

Background[edit]

Causes[edit]

The Arab Spring is widely believed to have been instigated by dissatisfaction with the rule of local governments, though some have speculated that wide gaps in income levels may have had a hand as well.[46] Numerous factors have led to the protests, including issues such as dictatorship or absolute monarchy, human rights violations, political corruption (demonstrated by Wikileaks diplomatic cables),[47] economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, and a number of demographic structural factors,[48] such as a large percentage of educated but dissatisfied youth within the entire population.[49] Also, some - like Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek - name the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests as an additional reason behind the Arab Spring.[50] The Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010 might also have been a factor influencing its beginning.[51] Catalysts for the revolts in all Northern African and Persian Gulf countries have included the concentration of wealth in the hands of autocrats in power for decades, insufficient transparency of its redistribution, corruption, and especially the refusal of the youth to accept the status quo.[52] Increasing food prices and global famine rates have contested but peaceful elections, fast-growing but liberal economy, secular constitution but Islamist government, created a model (the Turkish model) if not a motivation for protestors in neighbouring states.[53]

Tunisia experienced a series of conflicts over the past three years, the most notable occurring in the mining area of Gafsa in 2008, where protests continued for many months. These protests included rallies, sit-ins, and strikes, during which there were two fatalities, an unspecified number of wounded, and dozens of arrests.[54][55] The Egyptian labor movement had been strong for years, with more than 3,000 labor actions since 2004.[56] One important demonstration was an attempted workers' strike on 6 April 2008 at the state-run textile factories of al-Mahalla al-Kubra, just outside Cairo. The idea for this type of demonstration spread throughout the country, promoted by computer-literate working class youths and their supporters among middle-class college students.[56] A Facebook page, set up to promote the strike, attracted tens of thousands of followers. The government mobilized to break the strike through infiltration and riot police, and while the regime was somewhat successful in forestalling a strike, dissidents formed the "6 April Committee" of youths and labor activists, which became one of the major forces calling for the anti-Mubarak demonstration on 25 January in Tahrir Square.[56]

In Algeria, discontent had been building for years over a number of issues. In February 2008, United States Ambassador Robert Ford wrote in a leaked diplomatic cable that Algeria is 'unhappy' with long-standing political alienation; that social discontent persisted throughout the country, with food strikes occurring almost every week; that there were demonstrations every day somewhere in the country; and that the Algerian government was corrupt and fragile.[57] Some have claimed that during 2010 there were as many as '9,700 riots and unrests' throughout the country.[58] Many protests focused on issues such as education and health care, while others cited rampant corruption.[59]

In Western Sahara, the Gdeim Izik protest camp was erected 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south-east of El Aaiún by a group of young Sahrawis on 9 October 2010. Their intention was to demonstrate against labor discrimination, unemployment, looting of resources, and human rights abuses.[60] The camp contained between 12,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, but on 8 November 2010 it was destroyed and its inhabitants evicted by Moroccan security forces. The security forces faced strong opposition from some young Sahrawi civilians, and rioting soon spread to El Aaiún and other towns within the territory, resulting in an unknown number of injuries and deaths. Violence against Sahrawis in the aftermath of the protests was cited as a reason for renewed protests months later, after the start of the Arab Spring.[61]

The catalyst for the current escalation of protests was the self-immolation of Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi. Unable to find work and selling fruit at a roadside stand, on 17 December 2010, a municipal inspector confiscated his wares. An hour later he doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire. His death on 4 January 2011[62] brought together various groups dissatisfied with the existing system, including many unemployed, political and human rights activists, labor, trade unionists, students, professors, lawyers, and others to begin the Tunisian Revolution.[54]

Overview[edit]

Main article: Timeline of the Arab Spring

The series of protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa that commenced in 2010 has become known as the "Arab Spring",[63][64][65] and sometimes as the "Arab Spring and Winter",[66] "Arab Awakening"[67][68][69] or "Arab Uprisings"[70][71] even though not all the participants in the protests are Arab. It was sparked by the first protests that occurred in Tunisia on 18 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid, following Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment.[72][73] With the success of the protests in Tunisia, a wave of unrest sparked by the Tunisian "Burning Man" struck Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, and Yemen,[74] then spread to other countries. The largest, most organised demonstrations have often occurred on a "day of rage", usually Friday afternoon prayers.[75][76][77] The protests have also triggered similar unrest outside the region.

As of September 2012, governments have been overthrown in four countries. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January 2011 following the Tunisian Revolution protests. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 11 February 2011 after 18 days of massive protests, ending his 30-year presidency. The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown on 23 August 2011, after the National Transitional Council (NTC) took control of Bab al-Azizia. He was killed on 20 October 2011, in his hometown of Sirte after the NTC took control of the city. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed the GCC power-transfer deal in which a presidential election was held, resulting in his successor Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi formally replacing him as the president of Yemen on 27 February 2012, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

During this period of regional unrest, several leaders announced their intentions to step down at the end of their current terms. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced that he would not seek re-election in 2015,[78] as did Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose term ends in 2014,[79] although there have been increasingly violent demonstrations demanding his immediate resignation.[80] Protests in Jordan have also caused the sacking of four successive governments[81][82] by King Abdullah.[83] The popular unrest in Kuwait has also resulted in resignation of Prime Minister Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah cabinet.[84]

The geopolitical implications of the protests have drawn global attention,[85] including the suggestion that some protesters may be nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.[86] Tawakel Karman from Yemen was one of the three laureates of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize as a prominent leader in the Arab Spring. In December 2011, Time magazine named "The Protester" its "Person of the Year".[87] Another award was noted when the Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda won the 2011 World Press Photo award for his image of a Yemeni woman holding an injured family member, taken during the civil uprising in Yemen on 15 October 2011.[88]

Summary of conflicts by country[edit]

      Government overthrown       Government overthrown multiple times       Civil war       Protests and governmental changes

      Major protests       Minor protests       Other protests and militant action outside the Arab world

Country      Date started        Status of protests        Outcome   Death toll   Situation

 Tunisia      18 December 2010     Government overthrown on 14 January 2011        

Overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali; Ben Ali flees into exile in Saudi Arabia

Resignation of Prime Minister Ghannouchi[89]

Dissolution of the political police[90]

Dissolution of the RCD, the former ruling party of Tunisia and liquidation of its assets[91]

Release of political prisoners[92]

Elections to a Constituent Assembly on 23 October 2011[93]

2013–2014 protests against the interim Islamist-led government.

Adoption of a new constitution

338[94]      Government overthrown

 Algeria      29 December 2010     Ended in January 2012       

Lifting of the 19-year-old state of emergency[95][96]

8[97] Major protests

 Jordan      14 January 2011         Ended       

On February 2011, King Abdullah II dismisses Prime Minister Rifai and his cabinet[98]

On October 2011, Abdullah dismisses Prime Minister Bakhit and his cabinet after complaints of slow progress on promised reforms[99]

On April 2012, as the protests continues, Al-Khasawneh resigned, and the King appoints Fayez al-Tarawneh as the new Prime Minister of Jordan[100]

On October 2012, King Abdullah dissolves the parliament for new early elections, and appoints Abdullah Ensour as the new Prime Minister of Jordan[101]

3[102]        Protests and governmental changes

 Oman        17 January 2011         Ended in May 2011    

Economic concessions by Sultan Qaboos[103][104]

Dismissal of ministers[105][106]

Granting of lawmaking powers to Oman's elected legislature[107]

2–6[108][109][110]      Protests and governmental changes

 Egypt        25 January 2011         Two governments overthrown (in February 2011 and July 2013). Ongoing violence.     

Overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, who is later sentenced to life in prison for ordering the killing of protesters. Protests over the imposition of an Islamist-backed constitution by the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi lead to a coup d'état.

Resignation of Prime Minister(s) Nazif and Shafik[111]

Assumption of power by the Armed Forces[112]

Suspension of the Constitution, dissolution of the Parliament[113]

Disbanding of State Security Investigations Service[114]

Dissolution of the NDP, the former ruling party of Egypt and transfer of its assets to the state[115]

Prosecution of Mubarak, his family and his former ministers[116][117][118]

Lifting of the 31-year-old state of emergency[119]

Democratic election held to replace Mubarak as the new president of Egypt; Mohamed Morsi elected and inaugurated[120]

Morsi removed by military in a coup d'état following a second revolution that came after months of protests.[121]

Crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists:

Senior Islamist figures have been arrested and face trial.[127]

Violent dispersal of pro-Morsi sit-ins on August 14, 2013.

A court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities nationwide and its assets are confiscated.[128] The government eventually designates the group as a terrorist organization on December 25, 2013.[129]

Sentencing to death of hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters.[130][131]

Ongoing Islamist unrest in response to the coup.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi becomes president following a second election.

Sinai insurgency

Egyptian Armed Forces launch anti-terror military operations in the Sinai.

Increase in violence and attacks by insurgents since the ouster of Morsi.[132]

4,300+[138]        Ongoing crisis

(Government overthrown • Replacement government overthrown)

 Yemen      27 January 2011         Government overthrown on 27 February 2012       

Overthrow of Ali Abdullah Saleh; Saleh granted immunity from prosecution

Resignation of Prime Minister Mujawar

Resignation of MPs from the ruling party[139]

Occupation of several areas of Yemeni territory by al-Qaeda and Houthi rebels

Restructure of the military forces by sacking several of its leaders[140]

Approval of Saleh's immunity from prosecution by Yemeni legislators[141]

Presidential election held to replace Saleh as the new president of Yemen; Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi elected and inaugurated

2,000[142] Government overthrown

 Djibouti     28 January 2011         Ended in March 2011           2[143]        Minor protests

 Somalia    28 January 2011         Ended                 0       Minor protests

 Sudan       30 January 2011         Ongoing   

President Bashir announces he will not seek another term in 2015[144]

200+[145]  Major protests

 Iraq  23 December 2012     Ended January 2014 

Prime Minister Maliki announces that he will not run for a 3rd term;[146]

Resignation of provincial governors and local authorities[147]

Two-third wage increase for Sahwa militia members

Release of 3,000 prisoners,[148] including 600 female prisoners

Crackdown by Security Forces results in renewed violence in Anbar

ISIS launches offensives in northern Iraq capturing Mosul and large swathes of territory

Regional and extra-regional hegemonic powers including Iran and the United States enter the war on the side of the Iraqi government to defeat ISIS

250+[149]  Ongoing Civil War

 Bahrain     14 February 2011        Ongoing   

Economic concessions by King Hamad[150]

Release of political prisoners[151]

Negotiations with Shia representatives[152]

GCC intervention at the request of the Government of Bahrain

Head of the National Security Apparatus removed from post[153]

Formation of a committee to implement BICI report recommendations[154]

120[155]    Sustained civil disorder and government changes

 Libya         17 February 2011        Government overthrown on 23 August 2011

Overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi; Gaddafi killed by rebel forces

Government defeated by armed revolt with UN-mandated military intervention[156]

Arab Spring in Libya

Assumption of interim control by the National Transitional Council

Beginning of sporadic low-level fighting and clashes[157]

Elections to a General National Congress on 7 July 2012

General National Congress unable to block elections and suffer landslide electoral defeat and return of civil strife to Libya

Evacuation of various diplomatic missions to Libya by numerous countries

Islamist armed groups take control of Benghazi and Tripoli International Airport and fighting continues with Islamist Militias claiming to have captured Tripoli

25,000–30,000+[158] Ongoing Civil War

 Kuwait       19 February 2011        December 2012

Resignation of Prime Minister Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah[159]

Dissolution of the Parliament[160]

0[161]        Protests and governmental changes

 Morocco   20 February 2011        Ended in March–April 2012

Political concessions by King Mohammed VI;[162]

Referendum on constitutional reforms;

Respect to civil rights and an end to corruption[163]

6[164]        Protests and governmental changes

 Mauritania          25 February 2011        Ended                 3[165]        Minor protests

 Lebanon   27 February 2011        Ended in December 2011             0       Protests and governmental changes

 Saudi Arabia      11 March 2011   Ended       

Economic concessions by King Abdullah[166][167]

Male-only municipal elections held 29 September 2011[168][169]

King Abdullah announces women's approval to vote and be elected in 2015 municipal elections and to be nominated to the Shura Council[170]

24[171]      Minor protests

 Syria         15 March 2011   Ongoing   

Release of some political prisoners[172][173]

Dismissal of Provincial Governors[174][175]

Resignation of the Government[176]

End of Emergency Law

Resignations from Parliament[177]

Large defections from the Syrian army and clashes between soldiers and defectors[178]

Formation of the Free Syrian Army

The Free Syrian Army takes controls of large swathes of land across Syria.

Battles between the Syrian government's army and the Free Syrian Army in many governorates.

Formation of the Syrian National Council[179]

Syria suspended from the Arab League

Several countries recognize Syrian government in exile

Kurdish fighters enter the war by mid-2013

160,000+[180]    Ongoing civil war

Iran Iranian Khuzestan         15 April 2011      Ended on 18 April 2011                 12          Major protests

 Israel         15 May 2011      Ended on 5 June 2011        

Arab demonstrations on the borders of Israel

67[181][182]       Major protests

 Palestine  4 September 2012      Ended       

Then Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad states that he is "'willing to resign"[183]

Fayyad resigns on 13 April 2013 but because of political differences between him and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas over the finance portfolio[184]

0       Minor protests

Total death toll and other consequences:       189,670–194,702+ (International estimate, ongoing, > 80% in Syria)     

Five governments overthrown (Egypt twice)

Five protests leading to governmental changes

Five minor protests

Five major protests

One civil disorder leading to governmental changes

Two civil wars

Major events[edit]

Tunisia[edit]

Main article: Tunisian Revolution

Protesters in downtown Tunis on 14 January 2011

Following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid, a series of increasingly violent street demonstrations through December 2010 ultimately led to the ousting of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on 14 January 2011. The demonstrations were preceded by high unemployment, food inflation, corruption,[185] lack of freedom of speech and other forms of political freedom,[186] and poor living conditions. The protests constituted the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades,[187][188] and have resulted in scores of deaths and injuries, most of which were the result of action by police and security forces against demonstrators. Ben Ali fled into exile in Saudi Arabia, ending his 23 years in power.[189][190]

A state of emergency was declared and a caretaker coalition government was created following Ben Ali's departure, which included members of Ben Ali's party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), as well as opposition figures from other ministries. However, the five newly appointed non-RCD ministers resigned almost immediately.[191][192] As a result of continued daily protests, on 27 January Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi reshuffled the government, removing all former RCD members other than himself, and on 6 February the former ruling party was suspended;[193] later, on 9 March, it was dissolved.[194] Following further public protests, Ghannouchi himself resigned on 27 February, and Beji Caid el Sebsi became Prime Minister.

On 23 October, citizens voted in the first post-revolution election to elect representatives to a 217-member constituent assembly that would be responsible for the new constitution.[195] The leading Islamist party, Ennahda, won 37% of the vote, and managed to elect 42 women to the Constituent Assembly.[196]

Egypt[edit]

Main article: Egyptian Revolution of 2011

Celebrations in Tahrir Square after Omar Suleiman's statement concerning Hosni Mubarak's resignation

Inspired by the uprising in Tunisia and prior to his entry as a central figure in Egyptian politics, potential presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei warned of a "Tunisia-style explosion" in Egypt.[197]

Protests in Egypt began on 25 January 2011 and ran for 18 days. Beginning around midnight on 28 January, the Egyptian government attempted, somewhat successfully, to eliminate the nation's Internet access,[26] in order to inhibit the protesters' ability use media activism to organize through social media.[198] Later that day, as tens of thousands protested on the streets of Egypt's major cities, President Hosni Mubarak dismissed his government, later appointing a new cabinet. Mubarak also appointed the first Vice President in almost 30 years.

The U.S. embassy and international students began a voluntary evacuation near the end of January, as violence and rumors of violence escalated.[199][200]

On 10 February, Mubarak ceded all presidential power to Vice President Omar Suleiman, but soon thereafter announced that he would remain as President until the end of his term.[201] However, protests continued the next day, and Suleiman quickly announced that Mubarak had resigned from the presidency and transferred power to the Armed Forces of Egypt.[202] The military immediately dissolved the Egyptian Parliament, suspended the Constitution of Egypt, and promised to lift the nation's thirty-year "emergency laws". A civilian, Essam Sharaf, was appointed as Prime Minister of Egypt on 4 March to widespread approval among Egyptians in Tahrir Square.[203] Violent protests however, continued through the end of 2011 as many Egyptians expressed concern about the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' perceived sluggishness in instituting reforms and their grip on power.[204]

Hosni Mubarak and his former interior minister Habib al-Adli were convicted to life in prison on the basis of their failure to stop the killings during the first six days of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.[205] His successor, Mohamed Morsi, was sworn in as Egypt's first democratically elected president before judges at the Supreme Constitutional Court.[206] Fresh protests erupted in Egypt on 22 November 2012. On 3 July 2013, the military overthrew the replacement government and President Morsi was removed from power.[207]

Libya[edit]

Main article: Libyan Civil War

Thousands of demonstrators gather in Bayda

Anti-government protests began in Libya on 15 February 2011. By 18 February the opposition controlled most of Benghazi, the country's second-largest city. The government dispatched elite troops and militia in an attempt to recapture it, but they were repelled. By 20 February, protests had spread to the capital Tripoli, leading to a television address by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who warned the protestors that their country could descend into civil war. The rising death toll, numbering in the thousands, drew international condemnation and resulted in the resignation of several Libyan diplomats, along with calls for the government's dismantlement.[208]

Amidst ongoing efforts by demonstrators and rebel forces to wrest control of Tripoli from the Jamahiriya, the opposition set up an interim government in Benghazi to oppose Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's rule.[209][210] However, despite initial opposition success, government forces subsequently took back much of the Mediterranean coast.

On 17 March, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 was adopted, authorising a no-fly zone over Libya, and "all necessary measures" to protect civilians. Two days later, France, the United States and the United Kingdom intervened in Libya with a bombing campaign against pro-Gaddafi forces. A coalition of 27 states from Europe and the Middle East soon joined the intervention. The forces were driven back from the outskirts of Benghazi, and the rebels mounted an offensive, capturing scores of towns across the coast of Libya. The offensive stalled however, and a counter-offensive by the government retook most of the towns, until a stalemate was formed between Brega and Ajdabiya, the former being held by the government and the latter in the hands of the rebels. Focus then shifted to the west of the country, where bitter fighting continued. After a three-month-long battle, a loyalist siege of rebel-held Misrata, the third largest city in Libya, was broken in large part due to coalition air strikes. The four major fronts of combat were generally considered to be the Nafusa Mountains, the Tripolitanian coast, the Gulf of Sidra,[211] and the southern Libyan Desert.[212]

In late August, anti-Gaddafi fighters captured Tripoli, scattering Gaddafi's government and marking the end of his 42 years of power. Many institutions of the government, including Gaddafi and several top government officials, regrouped in Sirte, which Gaddafi declared to be Libya's new capital.[213] Others fled to Sabha, Bani Walid, and remote reaches of the Libyan Desert, or to surrounding countries.[214][215] However, Sabha fell in late September,[216] Bani Walid was captured after a grueling siege weeks later,[217] and on 20 October, fighters under the aegis of the National Transitional Council seized Sirte, killing Gaddafi in the process.[218]

Yemen[edit]

Main article: Yemeni Revolution

Protests in Sana'a

Protests occurred in many towns in both the north and south of Yemen starting in mid-January 2011. demonstrators initially protested against governmental proposals to modify the constitution of Yemen, unemployment and economic conditions,[219] and corruption,[220] but their demands soon included a call for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh,[220][221][222] who had been facing internal opposition from his closest advisors since 2009.[223]

A major demonstration of over 16,000 protesters took place in Sana'a on 27 January 2011,[224] and soon thereafter human rights activist and politician Tawakel Karman called for a "Day of Rage" on 3 February.[225] According to Xinhua News, organizers were calling for a million protesters.[226] In response to the planned protest, Ali Abdullah Saleh stated that he would not seek another presidential term in 2013.[227] On 3 February, 20,000 protesters demonstrated against the government in Sana'a,[228][229] others participated in a "Day of Rage" in Aden[230] that was called for by Tawakel Karman,[225] while soldiers, armed members of the General People's Congress, and many protestors held a pro-government rally in Sana'a.[231] Concurrent with the resignation of Egyptian president Mubarak, Yemenis again took to the streets protesting President Saleh on 11 February, in what has been dubbed a "Friday of Rage".[232] The protests continued in the days following despite clashes with government advocates.[233] In a "Friday of Anger" held on 18 February, tens of thousands of Yemenis took part in anti-government demonstrations in the major cities of Sana'a, Taiz, and Aden. Protests continued over the following months, especially in the three major cities, and briefly intensified in late May into urban warfare between Hashid tribesmen and army defectors allied with the opposition on one side and security forces and militias loyal to Saleh on the other.[234]

After Saleh pretended to accept a Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered plan allowing him to cede power in exchange for immunity only to back away before signing three separate times,[235][236] an assassination attempt on 3 June left him and several other high-ranking Yemeni officials injured by a blast in the presidential compound's mosque.[237] Saleh was evacuated to Saudi Arabia for treatment, but he handed over power to Vice President Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi, who has largely continued his policies[238] and ordered the arrest of several Yemenis in connection with the attack on the presidential compound.[237] While in Saudi Arabia, Saleh kept hinting that he could return any time and continued to be present in the political sphere through television appearances from Riyadh starting with an address to the Yemeni people on 7 July.[239] On Friday 13 August, a demonstration was announced in Yemen as "Mansouron Friday" in which hundreds of thousands of Yemenis called for Ali Abdullah Saleh to go. The protesters joining the "Mansouron Friday" were calling for establishment of "a new Yemen".[240] On 12 September, Saleh issued a presidential decree while still receiving treatment in Riyadh authorizing Vice President Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi to negotiate a deal with the opposition and sign the GCC initiative.[241]

On 23 September, three months since the assassination attempt, Saleh returned to Yemen abruptly, defying all earlier expectations.[242] Pressure on Saleh to sign the GCC initiative eventually led to his signing of it in Riyadh on 23 November, in which Saleh agreed to step down and set the stage for the transfer of power to his vice-president.[243] A presidential election was then held on 21 February 2012, in which Hadi (the only candidate) won 99.8 percent of the vote.[244] Hadi then took the oath of office in Yemen's parliament on 25 February.[245] By 27 February, Saleh had resigned from the presidency and transferred power to his successor, however he is still wielding political clout as the head of the General People's Congress party.[246]

Syria[edit]

Main article: Syrian Civil War

Anti-government demonstrations in Baniyas

Protests in Syria started on 26 January 2011, when a police officer assaulted a man in public at "Al-Hareeka Street" in old Damascus. The man was arrested right after the assault. As a result, protesters called for the freedom of the arrested man. Soon a "day of rage" was set for 4–5 February, but it was uneventful.[247][248] On 6 March, the Syrian security forces arrested about 15 children in Daraa, in southern Syria, for writing slogans against the government. Soon protests erupted over the arrest and abuse of the children. Daraa was to be the first city to protest against the Baathist regime, which has been ruling Syria since 1963.[249]

Thousands of protestors gathered in Damascus, Aleppo, al-Hasakah, Daraa, Deir ez-Zor, and Hama on 15 March,[250][251][252] with recently released politician Suhair Atassi becoming an unofficial spokesperson for the "Syrian revolution".[253] The next day there were reports of approximately 3000 arrests and a few martyrs, but there are no official figures on the number of deaths.[254] On 18 April 2011, approximately 100,000 protesters sat in the central Square of Homs calling for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. Protests continued through July 2011, the government responding with harsh security clampdowns and military operations in several districts, especially in the north.[255]

On 31 July, Syrian army tanks stormed several cities, including Hama, Deir Ez-Zour, Abu Kamal, and Herak near Daraa. At least 136 people were killed, the highest death toll in any day since the start of the uprising.[256]

On 5 August 2011, an anti-government demonstration took place in Syria called "God is with us", during which the Syrian security forces shot the protesters from inside the ambulances, killing 11 people consequently.[257]

By late November – early December, the Baba Amr district of Homs fell under armed Syrian opposition control. By late December, the battles between the government's security forces and the rebel Free Syrian Army intensified in Idlib Governorate. Cities in Idlib and neighborhoods in Homs and Hama began falling into the control of the opposition, during this time military operations in Homs and Hama ceased and stopped.

By mid-January the FSA gained control over Zabadani and Madaya. By late January, the Free Syrian Army launched a full-scale attack against the government in Rif Dimashq, where they took over Saqba, Hamoreya, Harasta and other cities in Damascus's Eastern suburbs. On 29 January, the fourth regiment of the Syrian Army led by the president's brother Maher al-Assad and the Syrian Army dug in at Damascus, and the fighting continued where the FSA was 8 km away from the Republican palace in Damascus. Fighting broke out near Damascus international airport, but by the next day the Syrian government deployed the Republican Guards. The military gained the upper hand and regained all land the opposition gained in Rif Dimashq by early February. On 4 February, the Syrian Army launched a massive bombardment on Homs and committed a huge massacre, killing 500 civilians in one night in Homs. By mid-February, the Syrian army regained control over Zabadani and Madaya. In late February, Army forces entered Baba Amr after a big military operation and heavy fighting. Following this, the opposition forces began losing neighborhoods in Homs to the Syrian Army including al-Inshaat, Jobr, Karm el-Zaytoon and only Homs's old neighborhood's, including Al-Khalidiya, Homs|al-Khalidiya, remained in opposition hands.

By March 2012, the government began military operations against the opposition in Idlib Governorate including the city of Idlib, which fell to the Army by mid-March. Saraqib and Sarmin were also recaptured by the government during the month. Still, at this time, the opposition managed to capture al-Qusayr and Rastan. Heavy fighting also continued in several neighborhoods in Homs and in the city of Hama. The FSA also started to conduct hit-and-run attacks in the pro-Assad Aleppo Governorate, which they were not able to do before. Heavy-to-sporadic fighting was also continuing in the Daraa and Deir ez-Zor Governorates.

By late April 2012, despite a cease-fire being declared in the whole country, sporadic fighting continued, with heavy clashes specifically in Al-Qusayr, where rebel forces controlled the northern part of the city, while the military held the southern part. FSA forces were holding onto Al-Qusayr, due to it being the last major transit point toward the Lebanese border. A rebel commander from the Farouq Brigade in the town reported that 2,000 Farouq fighters had been killed in Homs province since August 2011. At this point, there were talks among the rebels in Al-Qusayr, where many of the retreating rebels from Homs city's Baba Amr district had gone, of Homs being abandoned completely. On 12 June 2012, the UN peacekeeping chief in Syria stated that, in his view, Syria has entered a period of civil war.[258]

Bahrain[edit]

Main article: Bahraini uprising (2011–present)

Over 100,000 of Bahrainis taking part in the "March of Loyalty to Martyrs", honoring political dissidents killed by security forces

The protests in Bahrain started on 14 February, and were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and respect for human rights; they were not intended to directly threaten the monarchy.[7][259](pp162–3) Lingering frustration among the Shiite majority with being ruled by the Sunni government was a major root cause, but the protests in Tunisia and Egypt are cited as the inspiration for the demonstrations.[7][259](p65) The protests were largely peaceful until a pre-dawn raid by police on 17 February to clear protestors from Pearl Roundabout in Manama, in which police killed four protesters.[259](pp73–4) Following the raid, some protesters began to expand their aims to a call for the end of the monarchy.[260] On 18 February, army forces opened fire on protesters when they tried to reenter the roundabout, fatally wounding one.[259](pp77–8) The following day protesters reoccupied Pearl Roundabout after the government ordered troops and police to withdraw.[259](p81)[261] Subsequent days saw large demonstrations; on 21 February a pro-government Gathering of National Unity drew tens of thousands,[259](p86)[262] whilst on 22 February the number of protestors at the Pearl Roundabout peaked at over 150,000 after more than 100,000 protesters marched there and were coming under fire from the Bahraini Military which killed around 20 and injured over 100 protestors.[259](p88) On 14 March, Saudi-led GCC forces were requested by the government and entered the country,[259](p132) which the opposition called an "occupation".[263]

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa declared a three-month state of emergency on 15 March and asked the military to reassert its control as clashes spread across the country.[259](p139)[264] On 16 March, armed soldiers and riot police cleared the protesters' camp in the Pearl Roundabout, in which 3 policemen and 3 protesters were reportedly killed.[259](pp133–4)[265] Later, on 18 March, the government tore down Pearl Roundabout monument.[259](pp150)[266] After the lifting of emergency law on 1 June,[267] several large rallies were staged by the opposition parties.[268] Smaller-scale protests and clashes outside of the capital have continued to occur almost daily.[269][270] On 9 March 2012, over 100,000 protested in what the opposition called "the biggest march in our history".[271][272]

The police response has been described as a "brutal" crackdown on peaceful and unarmed protestors, including doctors and bloggers.[273][274][275] The police carried out midnight house raids in Shia neighbourhoods, beatings at checkpoints, and denial of medical care in a "campaign of intimidation".[276][277][278][279] More than 2,929 people have been arrested,[280][281] and at least five people died due to torture while in police custody.[259](p287,288) On 23 November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry released its report on its investigation of the events, finding that the government had systematically tortured prisoners and committed other human rights violations.[259](pp415–422) It also rejected the government's claims that the protests were instigated by Iran.[282] Although the report found that systematic torture had stopped,[259](pp417) the Bahraini government has refused entry to several international human rights groups and news organizations, and delayed a visit by a UN inspector.[283][284] More than 80 people had died since the start of the uprising.[285]

Minor events[edit]

Main article: Arab Spring concurrent incidents

During the Arab Spring, protests flared up in the rest of the region, some becoming violent, some facing strong suppression efforts, and some resulting in small to moderate political changes.

Aftermath[edit]

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Arab Winter[286] or Islamist Winter is the term for the wide-scale violence and instability, evolving in the aftermath of the Arab Spring protests in Arab World countries. The Arab Winter is characterized by extensive civil wars, general regional instability, economic and demographic decline of the Arab League and overall religious wars between Sunni and Shia Muslims. As of summer 2014, the Arab Winter has produced about quarter a million deaths and millions of refugees.

Analysis[edit]

Ethnic scope[edit]

Many analysts, journalists, and involved parties have focused on the protests as being a uniquely Arab phenomenon, and indeed, protests and uprisings have been strongest and most wide-reaching in majority-Arabic-speaking countries, giving rise to the popular moniker of Arab Spring—a play on the so-called 1968 Prague Spring, a democratic awakening in what was then communist Czechoslovakia—to refer to protests, uprisings, and revolutions in those states.[287][288][289] However, the international media has also noted the role of minority groups in many of these majority-Arab countries in the revolts.

Bahrain's Shia protesters shot by security forces, February 2011

In Tunisia, the country's small Jewish minority was initially divided by protests against Ben Ali and the government, but eventually came to identify with the protesters in opposition to the regime, according to the group's president, who described Jewish Tunisians as "part of the revolution".[290][291] While many in the Coptic minority in Egypt had criticized the Mubarak government for its failure to suppress Islamic extremists who attack the Coptic community, the prospect of these extremist groups taking over after its fall caused most Copts to avoid the protests, with then-Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria calling for them to end.[292] The international media pointed to a few Copts who joined the protests.[293][294]

Because the uprisings and revolutions erupted first in North Africa before spreading to Asian Arab countries, and the Berbers of Libya[295] participated massively in the protests and fighting under Berber identity banners, some Berbers in Libya often see the revolutions of North Africa, west of Egypt, as a reincarnated Berber Spring.[296][297][298] In Morocco, through a constitutional reform, passed in a national referendum on 1 July 2011, among other things, Amazigh—a standardized version of the three Berber languages of Morocco—was made official alongside Arabic.[299] During the civil war in Libya, one major theater of combat was the western Nafusa Mountains, where the indigenous Berbers took up arms against the regime while supporting the revolutionary National Transitional Council, which was based in the majority-Arab eastern half of the country.[300][301]

In northern Sudan, hundreds of non-Arab Darfuris joined anti-government protests,[302] while in Iraq and Syria, the ethnic Kurdish minority has been involved in protests against the government,[303][304] including the Kurdistan Regional Government in the former's Kurdish-majority north, where at least one attempted self-immolation was reported.[305][306][307]

Concurrent events[edit]

Main article: Impact of the Arab Spring

The regional unrest has not been limited to countries of the Arab world. The early uprisings in North Africa were inspired by the 2009–2010 uprisings in the neighboring state of Iran;[308][309] these are considered by many commentators to be part of a wave of protest that began in Iran, moved to North Africa, and has since gripped the broader Middle Eastern and North African regions, including additional protests in Iran in 2011–2012.[310]

In the countries of the neighboring South Caucasus—namely Armenia,[311] Azerbaijan,[312] and Georgia[313]—as well as some countries in Europe, including Albania,[314] Croatia,[315] and Spain;[316] countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso,[317] and Uganda;[318][319] and countries in other parts of Asia, including the Maldives[320] and the People's Republic of China,[321] demonstrators and opposition figures claiming inspiration from the examples of Tunisia and Egypt have staged their own popular protests. The protests in the Maldives led to the resignation of the President.

The bid for statehood by Palestine at the UN on 23 September 2011 is also regarded as drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring after years of failed peace negotiations with Israel. In the West Bank, schools and government offices were shut to allow demonstrations backing the UN membership bid in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus and Hebron; echoing similar peaceful protests from other Arab countries.[322]

The 15 October 2011 global protests and the Occupy Wall Street movement, which started in the United States and has since spread to Asia and Europe, drew direct inspiration from the Arab Spring, with organizers asking U.S. citizens "Are you ready for a Tahrir moment?"[323] The protesters have committed to using the "revolutionary Arab Spring tactic" to achieve their goals of curbing corporate power and control in Western governments.[324]

Also, the Occupy Nigeria protests beginning the day after Goodluck Jonathan announced the scrap of the fuel subsidy in oil-rich Nigeria on 1 January 2012, were motivated by the Arab people.[325]

The Tunisian Revolution also brought about important changes to the intersection of art and politics in post-2011 Tunisia.

International reactions[edit]

Main article: International reactions to the Arab Spring

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Washington, D.C., on June 6, 2013

Protests in many countries affected by the Arab Spring have attracted widespread support from the international community, while harsh government responses have generally met condemnation.[326][327][328][329] In the case of the Bahraini, Moroccan, and Syrian protests, the international response has been considerably more nuanced.[330][331][332][333]

Some critics have accused Western governments and media, including those of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, of hypocrisy in the way they have reacted to the Arab Spring.[334][335][336] Noam Chomsky accused the Obama administration of endeavoring to muffle the revolutionary wave and stifle popular democratization efforts in the Middle East.[337]

The International Monetary Fund said oil prices were likely to be higher than originally forecast due to unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), major regions of oil production.[338] Starting in 2010 global investors have significantly reduced their stakes in MENA region holdings since December 2010 resulting in significant declines in region-linked stock indexes.[339]

Kenan Engin, a German-Kurdish political scientist, identified the new uprising in Arab and Islamic countries as the "fifth wave of democracy" because of evident features qualitatively similar to the "third wave of democracy" in Latin America that took place in the 1970s and 1980s.[340][341]

Social media and the Arab Spring[edit]

In the wake of the recent events occurring in Syria, Egypt and Tunisia, a considerable amount of attention has been focused on the concept of democracy and collective activism, which continues to unravel in front of Western eyes across mass media.

Equally important has been the role of social media and digital technologies in allowing citizens within areas affected by 'the Arab Uprisings' as a means for collective activism to circumvent state-operated media channels.[342]

Nine out of ten Egyptians and Tunisians responded to a poll that they used Facebook to organize protests and spread awareness.[343] Furthermore, 28% of Egyptians and 29% of Tunisians from the same poll said that blocking Facebook greatly hindered and/or disrupted communication.

The influence of social media on political activism during the Arab Uprisings has been much debated.[23][24][344] Some critics have argued that digital technologies and other forms of communication–videos, cellular phones, blogs, photos and text messages– have brought about the concept of a 'digital democracy' in parts of North Africa affected by the uprisings.[345] Others have claimed that in order to understand the role of social media during the Arab Uprisings, it must be first be understood that in the context of high rates of unemployment and corrupt political regimens led to dissent movements within the region.[346][347]

In revolutions that were previously started on Facebook alone were rapidly quashed by secret police in those countries, so much so that in Egypt a prominent activist group always had "Do not use Facebook or Twitter" on the front and backs of their revolutionary material.[348]

Further evidence that suggests an important role of social media on the uprisings is that social media use more than doubled in Arab countries during the protests. Some research have shown how collective intelligence, dynamics of the crowd in participatory systems such as social media, have the immense power to support a collective action – such as foment a political change.[349][350]

The graph depicting the data collected by the Dubai School of Government illustrates this sharp increase in Internet usage. The only discrepancy in the trend is with the growth rate in Libya.[343] The report proposes a reasonable argument that explains such discrepancy: many Libyans fled the violence, and therefore moved their social media usage elsewhere.

This influx of social media usage indicates the kind of people that were essentially powering the Arab Spring. Young people fueled the revolts of the various Arab countries by using the new generation's abilities of social networking to release the word of uprising to not only other Arab nations, but nations all over the world. As of 5 April 2011, the amount of Facebook users in the Arabian nations surpassed 27.7 million people,[343] indicating that the constant growth of people connected via social media acted as an asset where communication was concerned.

Arab Spring in Yemen

Others have argued that television, specifically the constant live coverage by Al Jazeera and the sporadic live coverage by BBC News and others, was highly important for the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 as the cameras provided exposure and prevented mass violence by the Egyptian government in Tahrir Square, as opposed to the lack of such live coverage and the more widespread violence in Libya.[351] The ability of protesters to focus their demonstrations on a single area and be covered live was fundamental in Egypt, but was not possible in Libya, Bahrain and Syria.

Different sorts of media such as image and video were also used to portray the information. Images surfaced that showed current events, which illustrated what was going on within the Arabian nations. The visual media that spread throughout the Internet depicted not only singular moments, but showed the Arabian nations' history, and the change that was to come.[352] Through social media, the ideals of rebel groups, as well as the current situations in each country received international attention. It is still debated whether or not social media acted as a primary catalyst for the Arab Spring to gain momentum and become an internationally recognized situation. Regardless, it has still played a crucial role in the movement.

Arab Revolt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Arab Revolt of 1916. For other Arab revolts, see Arab Revolt (disambiguation).

Arab Revolt

The Arab Revolt (1916–1918) (Arabic: الثورة العربية‎ Al-Thawra al-`Arabiyya) (Turkish: Arap İsyanı) was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.

Though the Sherifian revolt has tended to be regarded as a revolt rooted in a secular Arab nationalist sentiment, in June 1916, the Sherif did not present it in those terms; rather, he accused the Young Turks of violating the sacred tenets of Islam and called Arab Muslims to sacred rebellion against the ostensibly "impious" Ottoman government.[3]

Contents  [hide]

1 Background

2 Forces

3 Conflicts

3.1 Prelude

3.2 1916: T. E. Lawrence

3.3 1917

3.4 1918: Increased Allied assistance and the end of fighting

4 Aftermath

5 See also

5.1 Portals

6 Notes

7 References

8 Further reading

9 External links

Background[edit]

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Further information: Second Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire)

The rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire dates from at least 1821. Arab nationalism has its roots in the Mashriq (the Arab lands east of Egypt), particularly in countries of Sham (the Levant). The political orientation of Arab nationalists in the years prior to the Great War was generally moderate. The Arabs' demands were of a reformist nature, limited in general to autonomy, greater use of Arabic in education, and changes in conscription in the Ottoman Empire in peacetime for Arab conscripts that allowed local service in the Ottoman army.

The Young Turk Revolution began on 3 July 1908 and quickly spread throughout the empire. As a result, sultan Abdul Hamid II was forced to announce the restoration of the 1876 constitution and the reconvening of the Ottoman parliament. This period is known as the Second Constitutional Era. In the elections held in 1908, the Young Turks through their Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) managed to gain the upper hand against the rival group led by Prens Sabahaddin. The CUP was more liberal in outlook, bore a strong British imprint, and was closer to the Sultan. The new parliament comprised 142 Turks, 60 Arabs, 25 Albanians, 23 Greeks, 12 Armenians (including four Dashnaks and two Hunchaks), 5 Jews, 4 Bulgarians, 3 Serbs, and 1 Vlach. The CUP in the parliament gave more emphasis to centralization and a modernization program.

At this stage, Arab nationalism was not yet a mass movement, even in Syria where it was strongest. Many Arabs gave their primary loyalty to their religion or sect, their tribe, or their own particular governments. The ideologies of Ottomanism and Pan-Islamism provided strong competition for Arab nationalism.

Arab members of the parliament supported the countercoup of 1909, which aimed to dismantle the constitutional system and restore the absolute monarchy of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The dethroned Sultan attempted to regain the caliphate by putting an end to the secular policies of the Young Turks, but was in turn driven away to exile in Selanik by the 31 March Incident (where the Young Turks defeated the countercoup) and eventually replaced by his brother Mehmed V Reşad.

In 1913, intellectuals and politicians from the Arab Mashriq met in Paris at the First Arab Congress. They produced a set of demands for greater autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. They again demanded that Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army should not be required to serve in other regions except in time of war.

Forces[edit]

It is estimated that the Arab forces involved in the revolt numbered around 5,000 soldiers.[4] This number however probably applies to the Arab regulars who fought during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign with Allenby's Egyptian Expeditionary Force, and not the irregular forces under the direction of Lawrence and Faisal. On a few occasions, particularly during the final campaign into Syria, this number would grow significantly. Many Arabs joined the Revolt sporadically, often as a campaign was in progress or only when the fighting entered their home region.[5] During the Aqaba raid, for instance, while the initial Arab force numbered only a few hundred, over a thousand more from local tribes joined them for the final assault on Aqaba. Estimates of Faisal's effective forces vary, but through most of 1918 at least, they may have numbered as high as 30,000 men. The Hashemite Army comprised two distinctive forces: tribal irregulars who waged a guerrilla war against the Ottoman Empire and the Sharifian Army, which was recruited from Ottoman Arab POWs, and fought in conventional battles.[6] In the early days of the revolt, Faisal's forces were largely made up of Bedouin and other nomadic desert tribes, who were only loosely allied, loyal more to their respective tribes than the overall cause.[7] The Bedouin would not fight unless paid in advance with gold coin,[8] and by the end of 1916, the French had spent 1.25 million gold francs in subsidizing the revolt.[7] By September 1918, the British were spending £ 220,000/month to subsidize the revolt.[7] Faisal had hoped that he could convince Arab troops serving in the Ottoman Army to mutiny and join his cause, but the Ottoman government sent most of its Arab troops to the front-lines of the war, and thus only a handful of deserters actually joined the Arab forces until later in the campaign.[9] The Hashemite forces were initially poorly equipped, but later were to receive significant supplies of weapons, most notably rifles and machine-guns from Britain and France.[10]

Ottoman troops in the Hejaz numbered 20,000 men by 1917.[9] At the outbreak of the revolt in June 1916, the VII Corps of the 4th Ottoman Army was stationed in the Hejaz to be joined by the 58th Infantry Division commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Necib Pasha, the 1st Kuvvie- Mürettebe (Provisional Force) led by General Mehmed Cemal Pasha, which had the responsibility of safeguarding the Hejaz railroad and the Hicaz Kuvvei Seferiyesi (Expeditionary Force of the Hejaz) which was under the command of General Fakhri Pasha.[9] In face of increasing attacks on the Hejaz railroad, the 2nd Kuvvie- Mürettebe was created by 1917.[9] The Ottoman force included a number of Arab units who stayed loyal to the Sultan-Caliph and fought well against the Allies.[9] The Ottoman troops enjoyed an advantage over the Hashemite troops at first in that they were well supplied with modern German weapons.[9] In addition, the Ottoman forces had the support of both the Ottoman air forces, air squadrons from Germany and the Ottoman gendarmerie.[11] Moreover, the Ottomans relied upon the support of Ibn Rashid, the King of Ha'il whose tribesmen dominated what is now northern Saudi Arabia and tied down both the Hashemites and the Saud forces with the threat of their raiding attacks.[12] The great weakness of the Ottoman forces was they were at the end of a long and tenuous supply line in the form of the Hejaz railroad, and because of their logistical weaknesses, were often forced to fight on the defensive.[9] Ottoman offensives against the Hashemite forces more often faltered due to supply problems than to the actions of the enemy.[9]

The main contribution of the Arab Revolt to the war was to pin down tens of thousands of Ottoman troops who otherwise might have been used to attack the Suez Canal, allowing the British to undertake offensive operations with a lower risk of counter-attack. This was indeed the British justification for starting the revolt, a textbook example of asymmetrical warfare which has been studied time and again by military leaders and historians alike.[citation needed]

Conflicts[edit]

Further information: Middle Eastern theatre of World War I

Lawrence of Arabia after the Battle of Aqaba.

The Ottoman Empire took part in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, under the terms of the Ottoman–German Alliance. Many Arab nationalist figures in Damascus and Beirut were arrested, then tortured. The flag of the resistance was designed by Sir Mark Sykes, in an effort to create a feeling of "Arab-ness" in order to fuel the revolt.[13]

Prelude[edit]

Because of repression by the Ottoman Empire and their Central Powers allies, Grand Sharif Hussein(Faisal Dad), as the guardian of the holy city of Mecca, entered into an alliance with the United Kingdom and France against the Ottomans sometime around 8 June 1916, the actual date being somewhat uncertain. This alliance was facilitated by the services of a mysterious young Arab officer in the Ottoman army named Muhammed Sharif al-Faruqi.[14]

Hussein had about 50,000 men under arms, but fewer than 10,000 had rifles.[15] Evidence that the Ottoman government was planning to depose him at the end of the war led him to an exchange of letters with British High Commissioner Henry McMahon which convinced him that his assistance on the side of the Triple Entente would be rewarded by an Arab empire encompassing the entire span between Egypt and Persia, with the exception of imperial possessions and interests in Kuwait, Aden, and the Syrian coast. Hussein, who until then had officially been on the Ottoman side, decided to defect over the Allied camp because of rumours that Sharif Ali Haidar, leader of the competing Zaid family for the position of Sharif of Mecca, was in increasing favour with the Ottoman government, and that he would soon be deposed.[16] The much publicized executions of the Arab nationalist leaders in Damascus led Hussein to fear for his life if he were deposed in favour of Ali Haidar.[4] On June 5, 1916 two of Hussein's sons, the Emirs Ali and Faisal began the revolt by attacking the Ottoman garrison in Medina, but were defeated by an aggressive Turkish defence led by Fakhri Pasha.[17] The revolt proper began on June 10, 1916, when Hussein ordered his supporters to attack the Ottoman garrison in Mecca.[18] In the Battle of Mecca, there ensued over a month of bloody street fighting between the out-numbered, but far better armed Ottoman troops and Hussein's tribesmen.[4] The Hashemite forces in Mecca were joined by Egyptian troops sent by the British, who provided much needed artillery support, and finally took Mecca on July 9, 1916.[4] The indiscriminate Ottoman artillery fire, which did much damage to Mecca, turned out to be a potent propaganda weapon for the Hashemites, who portrayed the Ottomans as desecrating Islam's most holy city.[4] Also on June 10, another of Hussein's sons, the Emir Abdullah attacked Ta'if, which after an initial repulse settled down into a siege.[4] With the Egyptian artillery support, Abdullah took Ta'if on September 22, 1916.[4]

French and British naval forces had cleared the Red Sea of Ottoman gunboats early in the war.[19] The port of Jidda was attacked by 3500 Arabs on 10 June 1916 with the assistance of bombardment by British warships and seaplanes.[15] The seaplane carrier HMS Ben-my-Chree provided crucial air support to the Hashemite forces.[20] The Ottoman garrison surrendered on 16 June.[15] By the end of September 1916 Arab armies had taken the coastal cities of Rabegh, Yenbo, Qunfida, and 6000 Ottoman prisoners with the assistance of the Royal Navy.[15] The capture of the Red Sea ports allowed the British to send over force of 700 Ottoman Arab POWs (who come mostly from what is now Iraq) who had decided to join the revolt led by Nuri as-Sa'id and a number of Muslim troops from French North Africa.[20] Fifteen thousand well-armed Ottoman troops remained in the Hejaz.[15] However, a direct attack on Medina in October resulted in a bloody repulse of the Arab forces.

1916: T. E. Lawrence[edit]

Lawrence at Rabegh, north of Jeddah, 1917

In June 1916, the British sent out a number of officials to assist the revolt in the Hejaz, most notably Colonel Cyril Wilson, Colonel Pierce C. Joyce, and Lt-Colonel Stewart Francis Newcombe.[21] Herbert Garland was also involved. In addition, a French military mission commanded by Colonel Edouard Brémond was sent out.[21] The French enjoyed an advantage over the British in that they included a number of Muslim officers such as Captain Muhammand Ould Ali Raho, Claude Prost, and Laurent Depui (the latter two converted to Islam during their time in Arabia).[21] Captain Rosario Pisani of the French Army, though not a Muslim, also played a notable role in the revolt as an engineering and artillery officer with the Arab Northern Army.[21]

The British government in Egypt sent a young officer, Captain T. E. Lawrence, to work with the Hashemite forces in the Hejaz in October 1916.[19] The British historian David Murphy wrote that though Lawrence was just one out of many British and French officers serving in Arabia, historians often write like it was Lawrence alone who represented the Allied cause in Arabia.[21]

David Hogarth credited Gertrude Bell for much of the success of the Arab Revolt. She had travelled extensively in the Middle East since 1888, after graduating from Oxford with a First in Modern History. Bell had met Sheikh Harb of the Howeitat in January 1914 and provided a "mass of information" which was crucial to the success of Lawrence's occupation of Akaba covering the "tribal elements ranging between the Hejaz Railway and the Nefud, particularly about the Howeitat group." It was this information, Hogarth emphasized, which "Lawrence, relying on her reports, made signal use of in the Arab campaigns of 1917 and 1918."[22]

Lawrence obtained assistance from the Royal Navy to turn back an Ottoman attack on Yenbu in December 1916.[23] Lawrence's major contribution to the revolt was convincing the Arab leaders (Faisal and Abdullah) to co-ordinate their actions in support of British strategy. Lawrence developed a close relationship with Faisal, whose Arab Northern Army was to be become the main beneficiary of British aid.[24] By contrast, Lawrence's relations with Abdullah were not good, so Abdullah's Arab Eastern Army received considerably less in way of British aid.[25] Lawrence persuaded the Arabs not to drive the Ottomans out of Medina; instead, the Arabs attacked the Hejaz Railway on many occasions. This tied up more Ottoman troops, who were forced to protect the railway and repair the constant damage.

On December 1, 1916 Fakhri Pasha began an offensive with three brigades out of Medina with the aim of taking the port of Yanbu.[24] At first, Fakhri's troops defeated the Hashemite forces in several engagements, and seemed set to take Yanbu.[26] It was fire and air support from the five ships of the Royal Navy Red Sea Patrol that defeated the Ottoman attempts to take Yanbu with heavy losses on December 11–12, 1916.[26] Fakhri then turned his forces south to take Rabegh, but owing to the guerrilla attacks on his flanks and supply lines, air attacks from the newly established Royal Flying Corps base at Yanbu, and the over-extension of his supply lines, he was forced to turn back on January 18, 1917, to Medina.[27]

The coastal city of Wejh was to be the base for attacks on the Hejaz railway.[23] On 3 January 1917, Faisal began an advance northward along the Red Sea coast with 5100 camel riders, 5300 men on foot, four Krupp mountain guns, ten machine guns, and 380 baggage camels.[23] The Royal Navy resupplied Faisal from the sea during his march on Wejh.[28] While the 800-man Ottoman garrison prepared for an attack from the south, a landing party of 400 Arabs and 200 Royal Navy bluejackets attacked Wejh from the north on 23 January 1917.[28] Wejh surrendered within 36 hours, and the Ottomans abandoned their advance toward Mecca in favor of a defensive position in Medina with small detachments scattered along the Hejaz railway.[29] The Arab force had increased to about seventy-thousand men armed with twenty-eight-thousand rifles and deployed in three main groups.[29] Ali's force threatened Medina, Abdullah operated from Wadi Ais harassing Ottoman communications and capturing their supplies, and Faisal based his force at Wejh.[29] Camel-mounted Arab raiding parties had an effective radius of 1000 miles (1600 km) carrying their own food and taking water from a system of wells approximately 100 miles (160 km) apart.[30] In late 1916, the Allies started the formation of the Regular Arab Army (also known as the Sharifian Army) raised from Ottoman Arab POWs.[21] The soldiers of the Regular Army wore British-style uniforms with the keffiyahs and unlike the tribal guerrillas, fought full-time and in conventional battles.[11] Some of the more notable former Ottoman officers to fight in the Revolt were Nuri as-Said, Jafar al-Askari and 'Aziz 'Ali al-Misri.[31]

1917[edit]

Map of the Hejaz railway (Damascus-Mecca pilgrim route); built at great expense by the Ottoman empire in the early 20th century, but quickly fell into disrepair after the Arab revolt of 1917

The year 1917 began well for the Hashemites when the Emir Abdullah and his Arab Eastern Army ambushed an Ottoman convoy led by Ashraf Bey in the desert, and captured £20,000 worth of gold coins that were intended to bribe the Bedouin into loyalty to the Sultan.[32] Starting in early 1917, the Hashemite guerrillas began attacking the Hejaz railroad.[33] At first, guerrilla forces commended by officers from the Regular Army such as al-Misri, and by British officers such as Newcombe, Lieutenant Hornby and Major H. Garland focused their efforts on blowing up unguarded sections of the Hejaz railroad.[33] Garland was the inventor of the so-called "Garland mine", which was used with much destructive force on the Hejaz railroad.[34] In February 1917, Garland succeeded for the first time in destroying a moving locomotive with a mine of his own design.[34] Around Medina, Captain Muhammand Ould Ali Raho of the French Military Mission carried out his first railroad demolition attack in February 1917.[35] Captain Raho was to emerge as one of the leading destroyers of the Hejaz railroad.[35] In March 1917, Lawrence led his first attack on the Hejaz railroad.[36] Typical of such attacks were the one commanded out by Newcombe and Joyce who on the night of July 6/7, 1917 when they had planted over 500 charges on the Hejaz railroad, which all went off at about 2 am.[36] In a raid in August 1917, Captain Raho led a force of Bedouin in destroying 5 kilometers of the Hejaz railroad and four bridges.[37]

In March 1917, an Ottoman force joined by tribesmen from the Kingdom of Ha'il led by Ibn Rashid carried out a sweep of the Hejaz that did much damage to the Hashemite forces.[27] However, the Ottoman failure to take Yanbu in December 1916 led to the increasing strengthing of the Hashemite forces, and led to the Ottoman forces to be forced more and more onto the defensive.[27] Lawrence was later to claim that the failure of the offensive against Yanbu was the turning point that ensured the ultimate defeat of the Ottomans in the Hejaz.[26]

In 1917, Lawrence arranged a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces under Auda Abu Tayi (until then in the employ of the Ottomans) against the port city of Aqaba. This is now known as the Battle of Aqaba. Aqaba was the only remaining Ottoman port on the Red Sea and threatened the right flank of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force defending Egypt and preparing to advance into Sanjak Maan of the Syria Vilayet.[30] Capture of Aqaba would aid transfer of British supplies to the Arab revolt.[38] Lawrence and Auda left Wedj on 9 May 1917 with a party of 40 men to recruit a mobile camel force from the Howeitat, a Syrian tribe renowned for fighting on camels.[38] On 6 July, after an overland attack, Aqaba fell to those Arab forces with only a handful of casualties.[38] Lawrence then rode 150 miles to Suez to arrange Royal Navy delivery of food and supplies for the 2500 Arabs and 700 Ottoman prisoners in Aqaba; soon the city was co-occupied by a large Anglo-French flotilla (including warships and sea planes), which helped the Arabs secure their hold on Aqaba.[38] Later in the year, the Hashemite warriors made a series of small raids on Ottoman positions in support of General Allenby's winter attack on the Gaza-Bersheeba defensive line which led to the Battle of Beersheba).[39] Typical of such raids was one led by Lawrence in September 1917 that saw Lawrence destroy a Turkish rail convoy by blowing up the bridge it was crossing at Mudawwarah and then ambushing the Turkish repair party.[40] In November 1917, as aid to Allenby's offensive, Lawrence launched a deep-raiding party into the Yarmouk River valley, which failed to destroy the railroad bridge at Tel ash-Shehab, but which succeeded in ambushing and destroying the train of General Mehemd Cemal Pasha, the commander of the Ottoman VII Corps.[41] Allenby's victories led directly to the capture of Jerusalem just before Christmas 1917.

1918: Increased Allied assistance and the end of fighting[edit]

By the time of Aqaba's capture, many other officers joined Faisal's campaign. A large number of British officers and advisors, led by Lt. Col.s Stewart F. Newcombe and Cyril E. Wilson, arrived to provide the Arabs rifles, explosives, mortars, and machine guns.[42] Artillery was only sporadically supplied due to a general shortage, though Faisal would have several batteries of mountain guns under French Captain Pisani and his Algerians for the Megiddo Campaign.[42] Egyptian and Indian troops also served with the Revolt, primarily as machine gunners and specialist troops, a number of armoured cars were allocated for use.[42][43] The Royal Flying Corps often supported the Arab operations, and the Imperial Camel Corps served with the Arabs for a time.[44] The French military mission of 1,100 officers under Brémond established good relations with Hussein and especially with his sons, the Emirs Ali and Abdullah, and for this reason, most of the French effort went into assisting the Arab Southern Army commanded by the Emir Ali that was laying siege to Medina and the Eastern Army commanded by Abdullah that had the responsibility of protecting Ali's eastern flank from Ibn Rashid.[21] Medina was never taken by the Hashemite forces, and the Ottoman commander, Fakhri Pasha, only surrendered Medina when ordered to by the Turkish government on January 9, 1919.[45] The total number of Ottoman troops bottled up in Medina by the time of the surrender were 456 officers and 9,364 soldiers.[45]

Under the direction of Lawrence, Wilson, and other officers, the Arabs launched a highly successful campaign against the Hejaz Railway, capturing military supplies, destroying trains and tracks, and tying down thousands of Ottoman troops.[46] Though the attacks were mixed in success, they achieved their primary goal of tying down Ottoman troops and cutting off Medina. In January 1918, in one of the largest set-piece battles of the Revolt, Arab forces (including Lawrence) defeated a large Ottoman force at the village of Tafileh, inflicting over 1,000 Ottoman casualties for the loss of a mere forty men.[47]

In March 1918 the Arab Northern Army consisted of

Arab Regular Army commanded by Ja'far Pasha el Askeri

brigade of infantry

one battalion Camel Corps

one battalion mule-mounted infantry

about eight guns

British Section commanded by Lieutenant Colonel P. C. Joyce

Hejaz Armoured Car Battery of Rolls Royce light armoured cars with machine guns and two 10-pdr guns on Talbot lorries

one Flight of aircraft

one Company Egyptian Camel Corps

Egyptian Camel Transport Corps

Egyptian Labour Corps

Wireless Station at 'Aqaba

French Detachment commanded by Captain Pisani

two mountain guns

four machine guns and 10 automatic rifles[48]

In April 1918, Jafar al-Askari and Nuri as-Said led the Arab Regular Army in a frontal attack on the well-defended Ottoman railroad station at Ma'an, which after some initial successes was fought off with heavy losses to both sides.[49] However, the Sharifian Army succeeded in cutting off and thus neutralizing the Ottoman position at Ma'an, who held out until late September 1918.[50] The British refused several requests from al-Askari to use mustard gas on the Ottoman garrison at Ma'an.[50]

In the spring of 1918, Operation Hedgehog, a concerted attempt to sever and destroy the Hejaz railroad, was launched.[51] In May 1918, Hedgehog led to the destruction of 25 bridges of the Hejaz railroad.[52] On 11 May Arab regulars captured Jerdun and 140 prisoners. Five weeks later, on 24 July Nos. 5 and 7 Companies of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade commanded by Major R. V. Buxton, marched from the Suez Canal to arrive at Aqaba on 30 July, to attack the Mudauwara Station.[53] A particularly notable attack of Hedgehog was the storming on August 8, 1918, by the Imperial Camel Corps, closely supported by the Royal Air Force, of the well-defended Hejaz railroad station at Mudawwarah.[54] They captured 120 prisoners and two guns, suffering 17 casualties in the operation. Buxton's two companies of Imperial Camel Corps Brigade continued on towards Amman, where they hoped to destroy the main bridge. However 20 miles (32 km) from the city they were attacked by aircraft, forcing them to withdraw eventually back to Beersheba where they arrived on 6 September; a march of 700 miles (1,100 km) in 44 days.[53] For the final Allied offensive intended to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war, Allenby asked that Emir Faisal and his Arab Northern Army launch a series of attacks on the main Turkish forces from the east, which was intended to both tie down Ottoman troops and force Turkish commanders to worry about their security of their flanks in the Levant.[55] Supporting the Emir Faisal's army of about 450 men from the Arab Regular Army were tribal contingents from the Rwalla, Bani Sakhr, Agyal, and Howeitat tribes.[56] In addition, Faisal had a group of Gurkha troops, several British armored car squadrons, the Egyptian Camel Corps, a group of Algerian artillery men commanded by Captain Pisani and air support from the RAF to assist him.[57]

In 1918, the Arab cavalry gained in strength (as it seemed victory was at hand) and they were able to provide Allenby's army with intelligence on Ottoman army positions. They also harassed Ottoman supply columns, attacked small garrisons, and destroyed railroad tracks. A major victory occurred on 27 September when an entire brigade of Ottoman, Austrian and German troops, retreating from Mezerib, was virtually wiped out in a battle with Arab forces near the village of Tafas (which the Turks had plundered during their retreat).[58] This led to the so-called Tafas massacre, in which Lawrence claimed in a letter to his brother to have issued a "no-prisoners" order, maintaining after the war that massacre was in retaliation for the earlier Ottoman massacre of the village of Tafas, and that he had at least 250 German and Austrian POWs together with an uncounted number of Turks lined up to be summarily shot.[58] Lawrence later wrote in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom that "In a madness born of the horror of Tafas we killed and killed, even blowing in the heads of the fallen and of the animals; as though their death and running blood could slake our agony".[59] In part due to these attacks, Allenby's last offensive, the Battle of Megiddo, was a stunning success.[60] By late September and October 1918, an increasingly demoralized Ottoman Army began to retreat and surrender whenever possible to British troops.[61] "Sherifial irregulars" accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel T. E. Lawrence captured Deraa on 27 September 1918.[62] The Ottoman army was routed in less than 10 days of battle. Allenby praised Faisal for his role in the victory: "I send your Highness my greetings and my most cordial congratulations upon the great achievement of your gallant troops ... Thanks to our combined efforts, the Ottoman army is everywhere in full retreat".[63]

Main article: Battle of Aleppo (1918)

The first Arab Revolt forces to reach Damascus were Sharif Naser's Hashemite camel cavalry and the cavalry of the Ruwallah tribe, led by Nuri Sha'lan, on 30 September 1918. The bulk of these troops remained outside of the city with the intention of awaiting the arrival of Sharif Faisal. However, a small contingent from the group was sent within the walls of the city, where they found the Arab Revolt flag already raised by surviving Arab nationalists among the citizenry. Later that day Australian Light Horse troops marched into Damascus. Auda Abu Ta'yi, T. E. Lawrence and Arab troops rode into Damascus the next day, 1 October. At the end of the war, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force had seized Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon, large parts of the Arabian peninsula and southern Syria. Medina, cut off from the rest of the Ottoman Empire, would not surrender until January 1919.

Aftermath[edit]

See also: Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire

The flag of the Arab revolt; Aqaba Flagpole, 2006

The United Kingdom agreed in the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence that it would support Arab independence if they revolted against the Ottomans. The two sides had different interpretations of this agreement. In the event, the United Kingdom and France reneged on the original deal and divided up the area in ways that the Arabs felt was unfavourable to them under the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement. Further confusing the issue was the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised support for a Jewish "national home" in Palestine. The Hedjaz region of western Arabia became an independent state under Hussein's control, until 1925, when, abandoned and isolated by the British policy–which had shifted support to the al Saud family–it was conquered by bin Saud, leading to the creation of Saudi Arabia. (Continoe)