Middle East History Review

What led to the end of the Ottoman Empire at the close of World War I?

• The Ottomans were on the losing side of the war, along with Germany and Italy.
• The Empire spent too much money on buildings and new roads and went bankrupt.
• THe people in the Empire were starving because a long drought had ruined agriculture.
• The Ottoman government was overthrown by a revolt of factory workers who were unemployed when the war ended.

Who drew up the boundaries of the new countries created from the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I?

• United States
• Ottoman rulers
• European politicians
• Middle Eastern Governments

Why are many of the current problems in the Middle East connected to the the way the Ottoman Empire was divided?

• Those drawing the boundaries ignored religious and ethnic ties 
• The newly formed countries did not have adequate resources
• Countries did not have strong leadership
• Religious leaders were not allowed power

Which describes the Holocaust?

• the murder of millions of European Jews during WWII
• the destruction of all European governments during WWII
• the bombing of towns and villages in England and Germany during WWII
• the Russian policy of burning ground behind them as they retreated to stop the German invasion

Why did so many countries in the United Nations feel it was right to create Israel in 1948?

• There was no one else living in the land at the time
• Many felt the Jews deserved help due to their suffering in the Holocaust
• Arab countries in the area supported the creation of a homeland for Jews in Palestine
• All national groups in the former Ottoman Empire were being given homelands at the same time

What is Zionism?

• the idea that all religious groups should have their own states
• the plan to let Arabs and Jews share the land in Palestine equally
• the hope that all governments will be based on on religious principles
• the belief that Jews deserved to return to a homeland in Zion where they had lived in Biblical times

What world organization created the new state of Israel in 1948 as a homeland for Jews?

• the United Nations
• the European Union
• the League of Nations
• the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations

How did Arabs living in Palestine in 1948 feel about the creation of the new state of Israel?

• They supported it fully
• They rejected it as unfair to them
• The Arab population was largely unaffected by the new state
• They agreed to try to work it out although they were unhappy with the decision

When war broke out in Palestine, what countries joined with the Palestinian Arabs to try to stop the creation of the new state of Israel?

• the United States
• neighboring Arab countries
• the major nations of Europe
• the countries belonging to the Untied Nations

What was the position of the United States in the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1948?

• The United States remained neutral and did not take a side
• The United States sided with the Arabs
• The United States sided with the Jews