TIME CHART OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Regional events	Popular and national movements	Far left
16th century – Ottoman empire conquers Middle East
18th century – Wahhabites take power in Arabia
1878 – Congress of Berlin begins division of Middle East
1897 – First Zionist Congress, Basel (Switzerland)	1906-11 – Constitutional Revolution in Iran
1914-18 – First World War – British seize southern Ottoman empire	1916-18 – Arab Revolt under Hashemite leadership
1917 – British Balfour Declaration for 'Jewish home' in Palestine
1920 – Treaty of Sèvres partitions Middle East between France (Syria, Lebanon) and Britain (Palestine, Iraq)	1918-23 – Turkish army under Atatürk abolishes caliphate, drives Allies from Istanbul and Greeks from Asia Minor, and blocks Kurdish state	1920 – Second Comintern Congress backs Kemalist struggle Bolshevik-instigated Congress of the Peoples of the East (Baku)
1928 – Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood founded	1929 – Arab anti-Zionist riots/rebellion in Palestine	1925 – Egyptian CP founded
1933 – US oil company signs first contract with Saudi king	1936-39 – Arab revolt crushed in Palestine	1934 – Iraqi CP founded
1939-45 – World War II – British maintain control of Middle East
1947 – UN adopts Palestine partition plan	1951 – Nationalist Mussadeq government nationalizes oil in Iran
1948-49 – Zionists conquer 78% of British Mandate Palestine
1953 – CIA-backed coup overhrows Mussadeq in Iran	1952 – Egyptian officers' revolt overthrows British-backed king
1956-57 – British and French try to occupy Suez Canal as Israel occupies Sinai; US forces British, French and Israeli withdrawal	1956 – Nasser nationalizes Suez Canal
1958 – US troops intervene in Lebanon	1958 – Iraqi revolution overthrows British-backed monarchy
	1958-61 – Egyptian-Syrian union (United Arab Republic)
1962 – US forced to give up base at Dhahran in Saudi kingdom	1962 – Nasser's National Charter proclaims 'Arab socialism'	1962 – Israeli Matzpen founded (from which FI section came)
	1964 – PLO founded under Arab state patronage	1963 – Iraqi Communists slaughtered in Ba'athist coup
1967 – Israel attacks Egypt & occupies West Bank, Gaza and Sinai	1968 – Ba'athists take power in Iraq 1969 – Arafat's Fatah takes control of PLO	1967 – Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) founded
1970 – Nasser dies; successor Sadat swings to US side in Cold War	1970 - Palestinians crushed in Jordanian Black September
1973 – War between Egypt/Syria and Israeli state	1975 – Saddam Hussein, backed by Iran and US, crushes Kurds
1977 – Likud comes to power in Israeli state
1979 – Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty Soviet invasion of Aghanistan	1979 – Iranian revolution
1980-88 – Iraqi-Iranian war
1982 – Israeli invasion of Lebanon
1987 – Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) founded in Palestine 1990 – Iraq invades and annexes Kuwait	1987-92 – First Intifada 1988 – PLO willing to establish state in part of Palestine
1991 – First US invasion of Iraq 1993 – Oslo Accords	1991 – Iraqi Shiite revolt crushed; Kurds set up autonomous region
2000-01 – Failure of Israeli-Palestinian 'final status' talks	2000 – Hezbollah attacks force Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon
2001 – 9/11 attacks on Pentagon and World Trade Center US invades Afghanistan and overthrows Taliban	2001-? – Second (Al-Aqsa) Intifada
2003 – US and allies invade and occupy Iraq	2003-? — Civil and armed resistance in Iraq 2005 — Shi'ite-led coalition wins Iraqi elections