Arabs

  late 17th century

  Omanis expand naval power, found E African coastal empire

  c. 1720

  birth of Muhammad b. Abd al-Wahhab, puritan reformer

  1722

  first Arabic printing press in Constantinople

  18th century

  renewed diaspora of Arabs around Indian Ocean rim

  S Arabian oceanic emigrants lead commerce, religion, politics

  mid-18th century

  Persian encroachment in E Arabia

  rise of Wahhabi puritan movement, C Arabia

  Wahhabi alliance with Muhammad b. Sa’ud

  late 18th century

  British navy protects merchantmen in Gulf from Arab raids

  1783

  Bedouin raiders conquer Bahrain

  1798

  Wahhabis defeat an Ottoman army sent to subdue them

  French under Napoleon invade Egypt, defeat Mamluks

  French introduce Arabic printing to Egypt

  1800

  French in Cairo print the first, short-lived Arabic newspaper

  1801

  Ottoman-British forces expel French from Egypt

  1802

  Wahhabis devastate Shi’i sites in S Iraq

  1805–12

  Wahhabis occupy Mecca

  1812

  Muhammad Ali Pasha exterminates Mamluk remnants in Egypt

  1813–18

  Muhammad Ali defeats Wahhabis in Arabian Peninsula

  19th century

  Muhammad Ali re-orientates Egypt intellectually towards Europe

  Arabic replaces Turkish as official language in Egypt

  printing begins to spread slowly through the Arabic world

  the ‘Awakening’: a renewal of Arab identity

  reinvigoration, among intellectuals, of written high Arabic

  idea of an Arab ‘nation’, part-inspired by European nationalisms

  1822

  government press founded in Cairo

  1826

  a group of young Egyptians is sent to study in Paris

  1828

  the first enduring government newspaper is established in Cairo

  1830

  French begin takeover of Algeria

  1835

  Cairo ‘House of Tongues’ founded to translate European books

  1839

  British take Aden

  mid-19th century

  Ottomans re-occupy parts of Yemen

  the steam railway introduced to Egypt

  first Arabic newspapers outside Egypt

  1860s

  Cairo gets a Parisian-style street-plan and an opera house

  1869

  opening of the Suez Canal

  1870s on

  British-ruled Aden flourishes with increased sea traffic

  Ottomans impose strict censorship on burgeoning Arabic press

  1876

  Egypt bankrupt: European powers impose financial control

  1881

  revolt of Egyptian army officers under Ahmad Urabi

  1881 on

  N Algeria brought under metropolitan French administration

  French suppress use of high Arabic, especially in Algeria

  1882

  British enter Egypt at Ottoman behest, assume administration

  1883

  French take Tunisia

  1890s on

  Levantine Arabs migrate to Europe, W Africa, the Americas

  Yemenis found first Arab communities in Britain

  Germans woo Ottomans to gain presence in Arab lands

  1908

  Hijaz Railway (Damascus–Medina) completed

  revolution of the nationalist ‘Young Turks’

  Turkish enforced as sole official language of Arab lands

  1912

  French protectorate over much of Morocco

  Spanish protectorates in N and SW Morocco

  1916

  British recognize Sharif Husayn as King of the Hijaz

  Sharif Husayn promotes himself to ‘King of the Arabs’

  Husayn’s British-backed ‘Arab Revolt’ against Ottomans

  France and Britain agree to divide Ottoman-ruled Arab lands

  1917

  Balfour Declaration, promoting Jewish settlement in Palestine

  1918 on

  the victorious powers divide the Ottoman empire

  1920

  French mandate over Syria, including Lebanon

  British mandate over Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq

  Faysal b. Husayn made king of Syria

  1920s

  anti-British uprising in Iraq

  foreign Jewish immigration to Palestine increases

  oil discoveries begin in the Gulf region

  1921

  Faysal expelled from Syria by French

  Faysal made king of Iraq by British

  Abd Allah b. Husayn made king of Transjordan by British

  Wahhabi tribesmen raid and massacre Yemeni pilgrims

  1921–6

  Moroccan Berbers fight French and Spanish colonialists

  1922

  League of Nations grants provisional Arab independence

  the independence is subject to British and French mandates

  1923

  Egypt a constitutional monarchy with political pluralism

  1924

  Ottoman ex-sultan stripped of title ‘caliph’

  Sharif Husayn makes unsuccessful claim on caliphal title

  Abd al-Aziz Ibn Sa’ud invades Hijaz, deposes Husayn

  1925–7

  Druze and wider Syrian rebellion against French

  1926

  Taha Husayn questions authenticity of pre-Islamic poetry

  Wahhabis attack Egyptian pilgrim procession at Mecca

  1928

  post-Ottoman Turkey drops Arabic script, adopts Latin

  1929–30

  Ibn Sa’ud suppresses extremist Wahhabi ‘Ikhwan’

  1930

  British grant formal independence to Iraq

  1930s

  British try to pacify Aden hinterland

  1932

  Ibn Sa’ud names his Arabian realm ‘Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’

  1934

  Italians establish colony of Libya

  1936 on

  British in Palestine in conflict with Palestinians, then with Zionists

  Ibn Sa’ud moots Arab unity with himself at head

  Abd Allah (Transjordan) moots Arab unity with himself at head

  Iraqis moot Arab unity with themselves at head

  1938

  commercial quantities of oil found at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

  early 1940s

  Ba’th (‘Resurrection’) Party founded, Syria

  1945

  Arab League founded at Egyptian instigation

  French have withdrawn from Syria and Lebanon

  British forces leave Egypt but stay in Suez Canal Zone

  1946

  King David Hotel, Jerusalem, bombed by extremist Zionists

  1948

  war between Zionists and Arab neighbours

  the war sets 750,000 Palestinian refugees in motion

  1952

  anti-British riots in Cairo

  revolution of Free Officers in Egypt topples British-backed king

  1953

  King Abd al-Aziz Ibn Sa’ud dies

  1954

  Nasser assumes presidency of Egypt

  failed assassination attempt on Nasser by Muslim Brotherhood

  war of liberation begins in Algeria

  1955

  Saudis expelled from al-Buraymi (Oman–Abu Dhabi border)

  1956

  Nasser nationalizes Suez Canal

  Britain, France and Israel confront Egypt in Canal Zone

  USSR and USA force Britain, France and Israel to withdraw

  French grant independence to Tunisia and Morocco

  1956 on

  cheap transistor radios bec
ome widely available

  Arab leaders begin to espouse radio broadcasting

  Egypt the political and cultural centre of the Arabic world

  1958

  Egypt and Syria form the United Arab Republic (UAR)

  Yemen joins the UAR to form the United Arab States (UAS)

  Jordan and Iraq briefly form their own union

  Nasser-inspired revolution in Iraq overthrows the monarchy

  1959

  Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) founded

  1961

  the UAR and UAS dissolve

  1962

  French rule ends in Algeria

  Nasser-inspired revolution in Yemen overthrows the monarchy

  1962 on

  civil war in Yemen

  in the war, Egypt backs republicans, Saudi Arabia monarchists

  1967

  pre-emptive attack by Israel on Arab neighbours

  Israel seizes Sinai, Golan, Gaza, E Jerusalem, W Bank

  Britain withdraws from Aden and dependencies

  1969

  S Yemen leadership espouse far-left Socialist politics

  1970

  Nasser dies

  war in Jordan between government and Palestinian population

  Hafiz al-Asad seizes power in Syria

  1970s

  border conflicts between N and S Yemen

  insurgency in Dhofar province of Oman

  1973

  simultaneous attack by Egypt and Syria on Israel

  Arab oil exporters cut production: oil price rises

  USA and USSR intervene, Arab–Israel war ends in stalemate

  by 1974

  oil price has risen by more than 500% in two years

  mid-1970s

  influx of workers into now oil-rich Arabian Peninsula

  1975 on

  civil war in Lebanon

  1977

  Egyptian President al-Sadat goes to Israel for direct talks

  1979

  ‘Islamic Revolution’ overthrows monarchy in Iran

  Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel

  militant islamists occupy Meccan mosque, are bloodily ejected

  USSR invades Afghanistan

  1979–90

  Egypt ostracized from Arab League

  1979

  Islamist movements gain prominence

  1980–8

  Iraq invades Iran, Iran–Iraq War

  1981

  islamist militants assassinate al-Sadat in Cairo

  1982

  Hafiz al-Asad crushes islamist revolt in Hamah

  Israel invades Lebanon

  1983 on

  Arab fighters join anti-USSR resistance in Afghanistan

  1980s

  the modern Marib Dam is built

  1985

  Islamic reformer Mahmud Muhammad Taha executed in Sudan

  1986

  brief but bloody civil war in S Yemen

  1987–93

  first Palestinian intifadah against Israeli occupiers

  1990

  N and S Yemen unify

  Iraq invades and occupies Kuwait

  1991

  Saddam Husayn expelled from Kuwait by US-led coalition

  islamists win elections in Algeria but are prevented from ruling

  Algerian civil war begins

  1990s on

  word-processing simplifies Arabic printing and typing

  satellite television becomes widespread

  1993

  Oslo Accords between Palestine and Israel

  1994

  former S Yemen attempts to secede: ‘War of Unity’

  1994 on

  Moroccan–Algerian frontier closed

  1995

  Israeli prime minister Rabin assassinated by Zionist extremist

  2000–5

  second Palestinian intifadah against Israeli occupiers

  2001

  attacks on USA inspired by Saudi extremist Usamah Bin Ladin

  2003

  US-led invasion of Iraq

  2007–8

  Israeli campaign against Gaza militants

  early 21st century

  new social media lay ground for popular movements

  2011

  demonstrations in Tunisia topple its authoritarian president

  popular movements against dictatorships (the ‘Arab Spring’)

  Bahrain, with Saudi help, crushes Shi’i opposition

  start of Syrian civil war

  S Sudan becomes an independent state

  Arab regimes espouse social media as a tool of control

  post-‘Spring’ unrest increases migration to Europe and beyond

  2012

  Muslim Brotherhood win elections in Egypt

  2013

  Egyptian military coup ends Muslim Brotherhood rule

  2014

  Israeli campaign against Gaza militants

  ‘Islamic State’ takes over areas of Iraq and Syria

  Huthi rebels and ex-president Salih take over western Yemen

  2015 on

  civil war in Yemen

  2017

  Gulf states impose embargo on their fellow state, Qatar

  most territory regained from ‘Islamic State’

  Yemeni ex-president Salih killed by Huthi former allies

  2018

  Israel demotes Arabic from status of official language

  Syrian regime appears to survive civil war with military help from Russia and Iran

  Saudi regime implements limited social reform but silences dissent ever more rigorously