AD 1920-2000 Modern

This period in western Asia was marked by political turbulence and upheaval as new nation states emerged from the ruin and retreat of old empires. New social forces and revolutionary ideas erupted in the region, producing radical change, and conflict.

During World War I (1914-18) the Ottoman empire supported Germany and as a result was subsequently dismantled. Although the Turkish Republic established its independence, the League of Nations placed the Ottoman Arab provinces under the control of the United Kingdom and France. Under these Mandates the states of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan (later Jordan) and Palestine were created. In 1948 the state of Israel was established in much of the territories of the Palestine Mandate, with the rest taken over by Jordan and Egypt.

In Iran the Pahlavi dynasty came to power (1924-1979), determined to modernise, and establish independence. In Arabia in the 1930s the new kingdom of Saudi Arabia emerged as a major force, its power and influence increasing as the size of its newly discovered oil reserves made it a key player in the world economy in the second half of the century. The strategic importance of these oil reserves brought the United States into the region. This further complicated the politics of newly independent states in a region in which nationalism, socialism and Islamism, resentful of foreign influence, fought each other for power.