HIS 1. European Colonialism in the Middle East, 1850s to 1950s

Få overblik på:
- Historie, KA-2022, ét-faglig, lektionskatalog efterår 2024
- Historie, KA-2022, to-faglig, lektionskatalog efterår 2024
- Historie, KA-sidefag-2022, lektionskatalog efterår 2024
- Historie, BA, lektionskatalog efterår 2024

HIS 1. European Colonialism in the Middle East, 1850s to 1950s
This course is not a history of the Middle East. Rather, this course examines the history of political, military, economic, and cultural intervention by European imperial powers – primarily Britain, France, and Germany – and its enduring impact on the region.

The modern Middle East cannot be fully comprehended without considering the context of European colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries. From contested borders and interstate disputes to languages, cultures, and inequities in wealth and geopolitical power, the lasting effects of imperialism are palpable across the region.

Spanning from the construction of the Suez Canal in 1859 to the ‘Suez Crisis’ of 1956, this course will delve into the interaction between European nations and the Ottoman Empire, the pivotal moment of the First World War, the interwar League of Nations mandates, the Second World War, and the subsequent Arab-Israeli conflicts. We will trace the impact of events at the ‘periphery’ of Europe back to people and societies in ‘the West’ itself.

The aim is to comprehend European imperialism on its own terms at a theoretical level while balancing the specificities of regional history with the singularity of human experience. To achieve this, the course combines the analysis of large-scale processes that shaped the modern Middle East with the exploration of concrete case studies. Ultimately, this course will provide insights into the origins of current debates about the relationship between the Middle East and ‘the West’, knowledge production, and colonial heritage. It will expose students to one of the most innovative fields of current historical research and allow them to engage more deeply with concepts of nationalism, imperialism, ‘Orientalism’, and racism from a variety of perspectives.