At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus. G.S.
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
c. 4000-2000 BC |
- |
Kingdoms
in Egypt, Sumer, and Babylonia |
|
New Kingdom in Egypt, Kingdoms in Phoenicia and
Assyria. The first thoughts on monotheism emerge. |
- |
c. 1000
BC |
|
500-400 BC |
- |
The Persian
empire (Iran) conquers the Middle East. |
|
Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeats the
Persians and claims the Middle East. |
- |
334 BC |
|
c. 200-300 BC |
- |
The
Romans gain control over all of the Middle East except for Persia. |
|
Life of Mohammed - founds the religion of Islam,
and leads the beginning of an Arab-Islamic empire that will soon hold sway
over the entire Middle East. |
- |
570-632
AD |
|
661-750 |
- |
Umayyad
Dynasty gains control over Arab-Islamic empire and greatly expands its
territories. The empire spreads westward throughout North Africa, north into
Spain, and eastward to the borders of India and China. |
|
The Abassid Dynasty, the second major one of the
Arab-Islamic empire, gains control and moves the capital to Baghdad. Middle
East enjoys a prosperous period of advances in science and technology. |
- |
759-1258 |
|
10th Century |
- |
decline
in control of Abassids empire allows the Seljuks, a Turkish people, to gain
control over much of Asia Minor and the Persian Empire to break free. |
|
Tales of Middle East riches and desire to reclaim
Holy Land for Christianity inspire European kingdoms to proclaim series of
crusades against Muslim empires of the Middle East. Though crusades were to
have some success in holding Holy Land territory, longest lasting effects -
in Europe people exposed to many new ideas. |
- |
11-13th
century |
|
13th centuries |
- |
Mongol
invasions in the Middle East devastate Iraq and Iran and end remains of the
Arab-Islamic Empire. |
|
Ottoman empire gains control over Constantinople
renames Istanbul. Earlier Turkish success grew into Ottoman Empire which will
continue to expand until it controls nearly all Middle East except for Iran. |
- |
1453 |
|
19th century |
- |
MEast
Muslim empires decline. The Ottoman Empire loses territory & influence to
Russia & Austria |
|
Muhammed Ali westernizes Egypt, asserting some independence
from the Ottoman Empire. |
- |
1805-1848 |
|
1914-1918 |
- |
The
Ottoman Empire sides with Germany during World War I. The resulting loss
causes the empire to be broken up. Much of its territory is devided between
France and Britain, but modern day Turkey successfully defends itself against
Greek invasion. |
|
The Sykes-Picot agreement between France and
Britain secretly promises to divide Ottoman holdings in the Middle East
between the nations. |
- |
1916 |
|
July 1915-March 1916 |
- |
The
McMahon Correspondences between Sir Hanry McMahon, British High Commisioner
of Cairo, and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca apparently promise Arab
independence in large portions of the Middle East, including Palestine, which
is today Israel. |
|
Balfour Declaration by the British clearly
expresses support for a Jewish state in Palestine, clearly at odds with the
earlier McMahon Correspondences. |
- |
November
2, 1917 |
|
Febuary 8, 1922 |
- |
Egypt gains its independence. |
|
Turkey gains its independence. |
- |
October
29, 1923 |
|
1929 |
- |
White
Paper, released by British, placed severe limits on Jewish immigration into
Palestine and stated the British government did not plan Palestine to become
a Jewish state. This proclamation was obviously in contradiction with the
Balfour Declaration. |
|
Iraq gains its independence. |
- |
1932 |
|
1932 |
- |
Saudi Arabia gains its independence. |
|
The Peel Commission from Britain reports that
great tension exists between Jews and Muslims and suggests a plan of
partition for the region. |
- |
1937 |
|
November 26, 1941 |
- |
Lebanon gains its independence. |
|
Jordan gains its independence. |
- |
1946 |
|
1947 |
- |
With
the British mandate, a right to administer over the region of Palestine soon
expiring, the UN proposes a plan of partition for the region, which would
create both a Jewish state and an Arab state when the British mandate runs
out. |
|
State of Israel declares its independence
immediately following the end of the British mandate. Immediately after, the
surrounding Arab nations invaded the new State of Israel. After the war the Arab League
placed an embargo, or prohibition against trading, on Israel. |
- |
May 14,
1948 |
|
1948-1949 |
- |
Following
Israel's declaration of independence, forces from surrounding Arab nations,
Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, launched all out, but
uncoordinated attack on vastly outnumbered Israel. However, Israel managed to
avoid being driven into the sea and expanded their territory over the
original UN partition plan before an armistice was signed. |
|
After breakdowns in talks with Arab nations, Egypt closing Suez Canal and Strait
of Tiran, Israel's Red Sea access, to Israeli
shipping, Israel invaded Egypt, quickly took control of Gaza & Sinai
Peninsula, and was aided by the French and the British angry with Egyptian
President Abdel Nasser's handling of the Suez Canal. UN, backed by United
States and Soviet Union, ended the war and forced the invading nations to
leave Egypt, but Israel only abandoned Gaza when the US promised to help keep
the Strait of Tiran open. |
- |
November-October
1956 |
|
September 29, 1961 |
- |
Syria gains its independence. |
|
Kuwait gains its independence. |
- |
1961 |
|
June 5-10, 1967 |
- |
Six-Day
War between Israel & alliance Egypt, Syria, and Jordan militarily began when Israel
launched a pre-emptive air strike that decimated the air forces of opposing
nations, but truly began weeks earlier when Egypt began declaring military
superiority over Israel and its desire to destroy the nation. Egypt again
closed the Strait of Tiran to Israeli ships and ships carrying supplies for
Israel = constituting legal grounds to go to war under international law. In
the fierce fighting that followed Israel's air strike, the Arab armies were
devastated, Israel gaining control of Sinai peninsula from Egypt, West Bank
of Jordan River from Jordan, and the strategic Golan Heights from Syria. This
short war clearly demonstrated that Isreal was preeminent military power in
the Middle East and gained the nation much international attention. It also,
however, further entrenched Arab hatred for the State of Israel. |
|
UN Resolution 242
is passed by the United Nations Security Council, and calls for a return of
the territory seized by Israel, recognition of Israel by Arab states, a
reaffirmation of the principle of free navigation, and for future peace and
stability in the region. |
- |
1967 |
|
September 1, 1969 |
- |
Libya gains its independence. |
|
Qatar and United Arab Emirates gain independence. |
- |
1971 |
|
August 14, 1971 |
- |
Bahrain gains its independence. |
|
Many Middle Eastern states placed an oil embargo
on nations they saw as favoring Israel in their policies, including
the United States. The embargo ended early 1974 and while it did not bring
about great changes, it was detrimental to the economies of the nations it
was placed upon and harmful to their citizens. |
- |
1973-1974
|
|
October 6, 1973 |
- |
On Yom
Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, a day when large portions of
the army were on leave to be with their families, the combined armies of Egypt and Syria entered Israel relatively unopposed. Within a
week, Israel mobilized its reserve forces and drove the Arab armies back, but
not before 2,700 Israeli soldiers were killed, four times the number that had
died during the Yom Kippur war. |
|
UN Resolutions
338 and 339 called for an immediate end to the Yom Kippur War, the
enforcement of the articles of Resolution 242, and the dispatch of UN
observers to oversee the cease fire. |
- |
October
22-23, 1972 |
|
September 17, 1978 |
- |
Convinced
by the 1973 Yom Kippur War that Egypt could never defeat Israel in a war, Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat sought peace with Israel, the first Arab nation to do so. Sadat
met with US President Jimmy Carter & Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin
at Camp David. They drew up the Camp David accords which called for peace
between Egypt and Israel. |
|
In the Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel drawn up to finalize the
actions at Camp David, the nations established normal relations with Israel
completely withdrawing from the Sinai. |
- |
March
26, 1979 |
|
1979 |
- |
Iran forms a new government under
the leadership of the Ayatollah Khomeini. |
|
June 1982 |
- |
Operation
Peace in the Galilee, an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, was Israel's longest and most controversial
war. After Israeli ambassador to England wounded in terrorist attack in
London, Israel began bombing bases of Palestine Liberation Organization(PLO)
in southern Lebanon. PLO had long shelled north Israel and been responsible
for various terrorist actions; also primarily based in Lebanon, having been
forced out of Jordan in 1970. The PLO increased their shelling in response to
the bombing, and Israel invaded Lebanon with hope of destroying the PLO and
forming normal relations with the government of Lebanon. After long periods
of fighting and the Israeli capture of Beirut, the PLO did leave Lebanon. The
operation was not a success though, as the Lebanese president was assassinated,
and, in rage, his followers massacred thousands of Palestinian refugees.
Israel was held responsible for these massacres and withdrew from much of
Lebanon, allowing the PLO to eventually return. |
|
Following the upheaval in Iran, Iraq demanded a renegotiation of
the treaty between them, demanding more access to the Persian Gulf and
autonomy for the Arab minorities in Iran, a Persian, not Arab, nation. When
talks broke down, Iraq invaded Iran making large gains. In 1981 Iran took the
offensive and regained most of its territory. The war then continued for
seven years as a stalemate with both sides ocurring horrible casualties and
attacking neutral shiping in the Persian Gulf. When the war was finally ended
by UN Resolution 598, there were an estimated 1 million dead and 1.7 million
wounded. |
- |
1980-July
20, 1987 |
|
A popular uprising of Palestinian refugees living
in Israel, known as the Intifada caused
much distress for Israel. Intifada had no leaders that could be tracked down
or bases that could be bombed, for it was made up primarily by young boys and
their most common activity was throwing rocks. Intifada was a symbol of the
plight of the Palestinian refugees in Israel. |
- |
1987-1989
|
|
May 23, 1990 |
- |
A
unified Yemen is formed. |
|
After Iraq revived a dispute with Kuwait and declared that Kuwaiti
overproduction of oil was damaging Iraq's economy, Iraq invaded and quickly
took over Kuwait. There was international outcry, and the UN demanded that
Iraq withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991. |
- |
August
2, 1990 |
|
1991 |
- |
After Iraq refused to comply with UN
demands, a multi-national force of some 500,000 men from Arab and Western
nations launched major air offensive against Iraq. The Persian Gulf War went
badly for Iraq, and they were soon forced from Kuwait and lost large portions of
their army. Following the war, Iraq's stockpiles of chemical and biological
weapons were destroyed, UN observers were placed in the nation, and it was
put under economic sanction. |
|
After a long history of distrust and hatred
between Israel and the PLO, the two groups
finally made a breakthrough after nearly two years of negotiations when
Yasser Arafat of the PLO sent his Declaration of Principles to Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin. The declaration acknowledged the right of Israel to exist,
accepted UN Resolution 242 and 338, renounced the use of terrorism, and
promised to remove from the Palestinian National Covenant the clauses calling
for the destruction of Israel. |
- |
September
13, 1993 |
|
May 4, 1994 |
- |
The
Gaza-Jericho Agreement signed between Israel and the PLO, followed up on
the Declaration of Principles with a concrete agreement that would establish
a Palestinian Authority and Police force with partial authority over Gaza and
Jericho, and the withdrawal of the Israeli military from that region. The
powers of the Authority were further spelled out in the Agreement on
Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities in August 29, 1994. |
|
Washington Declaration was produced out of the
first public meeting of Prime Minister Rabin of Israel and King Hussein of Jordan. This ended the state of hostility
between them, affirmed a peace based upon UN Resolutions 242 and 338, and
established more open borders between the two nations. |
- |
July
25, 1994 |
|
October 26, 1994 |
- |
A
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty is signed following the Washington Declaration,
making Jordan only the second Arab nation to
sign a treaty with Israel. |
|
The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, is assasinated
by a Jew who is opposed to his liberal policies on the peace process. Rabin
is succeeded by Shimon Peres who promises to continue the work that Rabin had
pioneered. |
- |
November
5, 1995 |
|
May 21, 1996 |
- |
The UN
agrees to allow Iraq to sell some oil, despite the
embargo, so long as all of the profits go towards humanitarian purposes and
to relieve the suffering that the economic strangulation has placed upon
Iraq. Iraq opposed the clause in the resolution that required UN monitoring
of the sales, but eventually submitted. |
|
Benyamin Netanyahu is elected Prime Minister of Israel by a slim margin over Shimon
Peres. Netanyahu promises a hard line towards future peace negotiations, and
is less anxious to give up land than Peres and Rabin were. This promises to
stall negotiations with Syria, who refuses to accept anything
but the full return of the Golan, and the Palestinians who feel threatened by
a return to Israeli settlement in the West Bank. |
- |
May 31,
1996 |
http://library.thinkquest.org/3526/facts/timeline.html
-------------------------------------
Timeline for the History of Judaism
(Follow instructions to expand each section.)
History: Timeline
for the History of Judaism
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/timeline-for-the-history-of-judaism
Dawn of History (3800-2001 BCE)
Ancient Israelite Religion (2000-587 BCE)
After the Babylonian Exile (538 BCE-70 CE)
Rabbinic Period of Talmud Development (70 BCE-500 CE)
Consolidation & Dominance of Christianity (325-590 CE)
Medieval Period in the West (600-1500 CE)
Development of Muhammad's Islamic Message (570-1258 CE)
The Crusades (1095-1258 CE)
Transition & Rebuilding of Political Islam (1258-1500 CE)
Christian Reformation Period (1517-1569 CE)
Dominance of Ottoman Muslim Empire (1500-1920 CE)
Jewish Contemporary Period (1700-1917 CE)
Unrest & Realignment in the Middle East (1914-1918 CE)
British Rule in Palestine (1918-1947 CE)
Modern
Israel & the Diaspora (1948-Present)
-------------------------------------
Middle East Timeline - Oxford Art Online
-------------------------------------
At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus. G.S.
----------------------------------------------------------------
© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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