Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East

Akram Khater teaches history at North Carolina State University and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993. He specializes in the history of the Middle East. He received the NCSU Outstanding Teacher Award for 1998-1999 and the NCSU Outstanding Junior Faculty Award for 1999-2000. He is currently developing an undergraduate and masters program on teaching high school world history.

• Introduction: How to Read a Primary SourcePart I: THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 1. Central Political Reforms and Local Responses. The Hatt-I-Serif Decree Initiates the Tanzimat, or Reform, Period in the Ottoman Empire, November 3, 183.9. An Ottoman Government Decress Defines the Official Nation of the "Modern" Citizen, June 19, 1870. Mirza Malkum Khan Satirizes Iran's Central Government and Religious Elite, 1880s. Jamal al-Din Al-Afghani Answers Ernest Renan's Criticism of Islam, May 18, 1883. Baghdadi Jews React to the Modernization of the Ottoman Empire, May 28, 1908.2. Economic Changes.The Treaty of Peace and Commerce (Treaty of Turkmanchai) Between Iran and Russia, February 10-22, 1828. An Egyptian Khedival Decree Establishes a European-Controlled Public Debt Administration, May 2, 1876. The Concession for the Tobacco Monopoly in Iran, March 8, 1890. Tobacco Smuggling and the French Régie Monopoly in the Ottoman Empire, 1895. A Coal Miner's Life During the Late Ottoman Empire.3. Social and Cultural Reforms.Rifa'a Tahtawi Reflects on Paris, Its People, Their Ideas and Lives in the 1820s. Qasim Amin Argues for the Emancipation of Women in Egypt, 1900. Teachers of the Alliance Israélite Universelle Write About Child Marriages, Domestic Violence, and the Treatment of Children Among Jews in North Africa, 1902-1915. Articles in Iranian Magazines Emphasize the Link Between the Education of Girls and the Advancement of Iranian Society, 1907, 1909. Bahithat al-Badiya Advocates Greater Educational and Economic Rights for Egyptian Women, 1909.Part II: MAKING NATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, 1900 - 1949. 4. Ideas of Nationalism.Leo Pinsker, a Jewish Intellectual, Proposes a "Jewish Homeland," 1882. Ahad Ha-Am's "The Jewish State and the Jewish Problem," a Counterargument to the Idea of a Jewish State, 1897. The Husayn-McMahon Correspondence, Negotiating the Establishment of an "Arab Kingdom" in the Middle East, 1915. The Balfour Declaration, Stating the British Government's Support for a Jewish Homeland in Palestine, and Discussions Leading to Issuing It in 1917. Division of the Ottoman Empire: The Treaty of Sèvres, August 10, 1920. 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq, an Egyptian Religious Scholar, Argues for the Separation of State and Religion, 1928. Antun Sa'adeh Declares His Vision of "Greater Syria" or Regional Nationalism, June 1, 1935. Syrian Michel 'Aflaq Addresses the Relationship Between Arabism and Islam, 1943. Hasan al-Banna Proclaims Egyptian Nationalism and the Religious Basis for an Islamic State, 1949.5. Contested Nationalisms.Henry Morgenthau Recounts Aspects of Nationalist-Driven Ethnic Cleansing of Armenians in Turkey, 1915. The Zionist Organization's Memorandum to the Peace Conference in Versailles Asks for Support for the Establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine, February 3, 1919. The Resolution of the Greater Syrian Congress at Damascus Proclaims Arab Sovereignty over Greater Syria, July 2, 1919. The American King-Crane Commission Report Summarizes the Popular Ideas of Nationalism in the Middle East, 1919 A Writer for al-Asima, the Syrian Government Newspaper, Seeks to Establish the Popular Idea of the "Nation," October 23, 1919. Women and the Vote in Syria: A Parliamentary Debate About the Relationship Between Gender and Citizenship in the Proposed State, April 25, 1920. The Contest for Alexandretta Between Syria and Turkey, May 1938. The Arab Case for Palestine and the Case for a Binational State, March 1946. President Harry Truman's Statement Supporting Jewish Immigration into Palestine, October 4, 1946.Part III. THE RISE OF POSTINDEPENDENCE STATES (1950-2000).6. Restricting Authority.Asadollah Alam's Diary Details Some Elements of the Shah of Iran's Rule in 1976 and 1977. Iraq's Saddam Hussein Proclaims History as a Tool for Educating the Masses About the Revolution and Comments on the Role of Women in the Revolution, 1975, 1978. The Constitution of Saudi Arabia Bases the Legitimacy of the Ruling H