The impacts of European colonial activity in the region of the Middle East - Essay Example

The Middle East is one of the centres for colonial activities of Europe during the start of the 19th century. This activity persisted until the 20th century. Most of the Middle East countries opposed the colonization with great struggle, resistance and revolt.The European empire is not very efficient with achieving their goal of successfully colonizing most of the countries in the Middle East but there are some countries which were eventually conquered. This inefficiency might be the result of conflicts within the European Empire.

Countries like Britain, France and Germany fight each other in order to colonize another country. These countries include Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Sudan (Held 2000, p.73). The colonization of the Middle East by Europe is actually part of the second wave which started during the second half of the 19th century. This era is considered as the “New Imperialism period”. The colonial activity persisted until the start of the decolonization era. Moreover, the end of this era did not occur in most colonies until after World War II (Porter 1996, p.118). This second half of the 19th century was regarded as the shift from an unofficial control of empire using political, military and economic power into direct control, wherein it has also embarked cultural and social influence to its colonies.

The Ottoman Empire was composed of the countries included in the Middle East today. Most of these countries were actually the target of European colonization after the Ottoman Empire was destabilized. . To have an edge and possibility of defeating Europe, the Ottoman Empire should have improved itself in all aspects of its society. However, this is quite impossible since Europe have established this power for a long time since the start of its colonization (Armstrong 2000, pp.141). Because of the fall of the Ottoman Empire during that time, it became easier for Europe to conquer most of its territories.

Colonization of countries in the Middle East, as well as other places in Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, spread like a wildfire as the European invade these countries quickly (Porter 1996, p.92). The classic example of this colonization includes the colonization of Syria and Sudan. Sudan, even though part of the Middle East, is located in the continent of Africa. Today, it is known that most countries in Africa are categorized as poor. These countries actually try to combat and revive their heritage from the bad effects of colonial periods.

European colonizers did not give enough help to their colonies with regards to adaptation to development and the use of modern technologies ((Mitropolitski 2004). European colonizers do not consider the welfare of its colonies but rather focus only on promoting their own benefit. They utilize the resources of its colonies which make them more developed while neglecting the basic needs of its colonies. In the end, it is the colony who suffers. Sudan has been easily colonized by Britain that time.

It is because Sudan has a very diverse population. It is easy to colonize a country where there is a certain division in groups. Also, this British colony was surrounded not only by alliance forces but also by enemies to the colonizers. Because of this, Sudan has become