Chapter 6. North Africa, Asia & Pacific – the impact of colonialism, neo-colonialism and war
“Several of the factors mentioned above suggest a British “scorched earth” policy designed to deny assets in Bengal to the Japanese, at monstrous cost, should they successfully invade India. Those consequences severely indict British policy makers of the time, and the failure to investigate and acknowledge them is to the discredit of all subsequent British governments.”
Colin Mason (2000) on the “forgotten”, man-made 1943/44 Bengal Famine (4 million victims) 1
“all or nearly all of the whole Korean peninsular is a terrible mess. Everything has been destroyed, there’s nothing left standing.”
General Emmett O’Donnell, Chief of Bomber Command (1951) 2
“In the councils of government we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought of unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
Dwight Eisenhower, farewell speech, 17 January 1961 3
“Well, we had to destroy the town in order to save it.”
US major in Ben Tre, Vietnam (1968), reported by Peter Arnett 4
“the price was worth it.”
Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State and UN Ambassador, when asked in 1996 about the death of half a million Iraqi children due to sanctions 5
6.1 Overview
As seen in Chapter 5, many Latin American countries escaped violent invasion and occupation by First World armies (or their local surrogates) in the post-1950 era. Thus the list of Central and South American countries that experienced direct invasion by US forces in this period includes the Dominican Republic, Panama, Grenada, Haiti and Cuba; those experiencing violent surrogate invasions from US-trained armies include Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador. However most of the countries merely suffered the consequences of US hegemony through US-backed military dictatorships, mass murder of political dissidents and elevated mortality due to excesses of the US-backed élites. The colonial regimes in Belize, Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana and the Caribbean islands were relatively benign. 6
In contrast, nearly all the countries of the global East-West axis reaching from North Africa through Asia to the Pacific have experienced partial or complete First World military occupation or protectorate status in the post-war era. Indeed it is simplest to list the three exceptions to this, namely Turkey, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, of which all have nevertheless experienced US-based militarization and a major US military presence at various times, namely air force and missile bases (US NATO and CENTO partner Turkey), air force bases and Vietnam War R&R sex industry (Thailand) and huge all-service military presence (Saudi Arabia). As discussed by Diamond (1997), 7 the East-West axis Eurasian mass has benefited from the rapid East-West movement of agricultural and technological advances. However, in the end colonialism funded the industrial revolution, Europe won the global arms race and as Mao Tse-Tung famously put it: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”. 8 The process is still continuing with the rampant militarism of the US Empire evidenced by scores of US military bases from Korea to Britain, horrendous US and Israeli occupation of 4 Asian countries (Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan), acute threat to other Asian countries (notably North Korea, Iran and Syria) and on-going, high technology, civilian-butchering war against lightly-armed, indigenous insurgents in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The post-invasion excess mortality in the Occupied Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan territories totals 0.3, 0.5 and 1.6 million, respectively; the post-invasion under-5 infant mortality in the Occupied Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan territories totals 0.2, 0.3 and 1.4 million, respectively.
The following short histories concentrate on major events impacting on human mortality. It becomes quite clear that a variety of First World impositions have impacted on avoidable mass mortality in North Africa, Asia and the Pacific in the post-war era. Such First World impositions have included economic hegemony, colonial occupation, corrupt client régimes, wars, civil wars, genocide, man-made famine, militarization, debt and malignant interference. The UN demographic data yielding the avoidable mortality estimates analysed in this book constitute a “smoking gun” pointing to the magnitude of the human consequences of violence in particular periods of the post-1950 era.
The primary mortality data that was summed and collated in Chapter 2 has been used to provide estimates of the excess mortality immediately associated with particular post-1950 events such as the Algerian War of Independence against the French (Algeria 1954-1962 excess mortality 1.241 million) and the US Indo-China War (Vietnam 1955-1975 excess mortality 11.939 million). Note, however, that such cataclysms were associated with mortality effects before the actual armed conflict and after the formal cessation of particular hostilities. Accordingly, each entry also concludes with a summary of pre- and post-war foreign military presence and estimates (in millions, m) of “post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population” and “under-5 infant mortality/2005 population”, with every ratio value being expressed as a percentages (%).
6.2 East Asia – recovery from First World-imposed war and sanctions
The East Asian countries of China, Korea and Japan have sophisticated civilizations dating back millennia. Isolated Mongolia had an immense historical impact through the Mongolian conquests of the 13th and 14th century. European and Japanese imperialism had a devastating impact on China over the last 2 centuries. Russian imperialism was constrained by Japan which then violently imposed its will China, Korea and thence on South East Asia during WW2. After the carnage of WW2 (associated an estimated 35 million deaths in China alone since the Japanese invasion in 1937), China went through the civil war, participation in the Korean war, 3 decades of US sanctions and threat and huge mortality associated with the Great Leap Forward. Mongolia suffered from being caught between 2 mutually hostile empires with both being subject to decades of acute US Cold War hostility. Korea suffered devastation from the Korean War. Nevertheless East Asia has recovered remarkably from these relatively recent events. China, Japan and South Korea are major industrial countries and the overall post-1950 excess mortality outcome for East Asia is now similar to that for the generally peaceful Latin American and Caribbean grouping. The outstandingly good outcome countries in this group are Macau, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan with post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population ratios of 1.4%, 1.5%, 1.9% and 2.0%, respectively – all these countries having essentially had peace, prosperity and good governance for all of the post-1950 era.
China: 3,000BC, agrarian civilization around Yellow River; 1027-256BC, Chou dynasty, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Mencius, writing; 221-206BC, Emperor Ch’in, territorial consolidation, Great Wall commenced; 202BC-220AD, Han dynasty, great imperial age; 22-265, Three Kingdoms period, warfare and Hun invasions; 265-420, Tsin dynasty, central government weak; 618-607, T’ang dynasty, unification and good administration; 960-1279, Sung dynasty, high culture; 1276-1368, China invaded by Genghis Khan, subsequent rule by grandson Kublai Khan, Yuan dynasty, failed naval invasion of Japan; 1368-1644, Ming dynasty; 1644-1911, Chi’ing (Manchu) dynasty; 1557, Portugal acquired Macau; 1757, British conquered Bengal and thence set up the opium trade to China; 1839-1842, British defeated China in the First Opium War, opened ports and acquired Hong Kong island; 1850-1864, anti-Western Taiping Rebellion put down with help of European forces (20-100 million victims of associated famine and violence); 1856-1860, Anglo-French forces defeated China and captured Beijing; 1895, Japan invaded Korea and Taiwan; 1898, anti-Western Boxer rebellion subdued by British, Russian, German, French, Japanese and US forces and zones of influence established (e.g. Shanghai); 1911, republic under Sun Yat Sen; 1921, Chinese Communist Party formed and involvement in labor unions; 1926, Communist alliance with Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT); 1927, KMT forces massacred 40,000 Communist labor organizers; 1934, “Long March” of Communists under Mao Zedong to evade KMT attacks; 1937-1945, Japanese invasion and occupation; appalling atrocities (e.g. rape of Nanjing, 300,000 victims); Chinese losses 35 million; fragile Communist-KMT alliance (violated by KMT attacks on Communists); 1945-1949, civil war culminating in Communist victory; KMT fled to Taiwan under US protection; subsequent US protection of Taiwan, non-recognition of “Communist China” by the US and US economic boycott; 1950-1953, limited Chinese involvement in the Korean War (a potential trigger for US nuclear destruction of China); 1957, “let 100 flowers bloom” followed by crackdown on dissent; 1958-1961, Great Leap Forward to speed industrialization and agricultural collectivisation; 20-30 million died in the associated famine; 1962, Liu Shaoqui chairman; 1963, severe rift with USSR, departure of Soviet advisors; 1964, first atomic bomb; 1966-1976, Cultural Revolution lead by Red Guards, severe persecution of intellectuals; 1970s, major Chinese diplomacy towards Third World by Zhou Enlai; 1971, China replaced Taiwan at UN; 1976, Zhou and Mao died; Deng Xiaoping removed and then restored; trial of Gang of Four, including Mao’s widow Jiang Qing; Beijing Spring and opinions on the “Democracy Wall” but subsequent repression of dissent; US-China diplomatic relations restored; 1979, short China war with Vietnam over Vietnamese defeat of Cambodian Khmer Rouge; 1978, Deng formally rehabilitated; 1980s, increasing economic decentralization, liberalization, consumerism and reform; 1984, Special Economic Zones created near Hong Kong and Macau; 1986, pro-democracy students arrested in Shanghai; 1989, shooting and arrest of Tibet protestors and separatist revolt in western China; 1989, death of reformist Hu Yaobang; Tienanmen Square massacre of hundreds of students; Li Peng as prime minister; 1990s, huge economic growth; “one child per family” population control; 1997, Hong Kong re-incorporated as Special Administrative Region of China with special “Basic Law” and civil rights protections; 1998, huge floods; 21st century, continuing massive economic growth with major Chinese involvement in the US economy and trade.
Foreign occupation: Britain, Portugal, Japan (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: none; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 155.670m/1322.273m = 11.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 157.226m/1,322.273m = 11.9%.
Hong Kong: 1842, Hong Kong Island ceded to Britain by China after the First Opium War; 1860, Kowloon Peninsula secured by Britain; 1898, British 99 year lease on New Territories; 1941-1945, Japanese occupation and atrocities; 1950s-1970s, after Communist victory, US imposed a trade boycott on China; Hong Kong developed light industry, textiles, commerce and international trading; mid-1970s onwards, Chinese economic liberalization and US recognition of China made Hong Kong a major conduit for China trade; 1980s, negotiations finalized handover of Hong Kong in 1997; millions of Hong Kong residents lost British citizenship; 1989, Tienanmen Square Massacre and 1.5 million Hong Kong citizens marched for democracy; 1997, handover to China; Special Administrative region of China with special “Basic Law” and civil rights protections.
Foreign occupation: Britain, Japan (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.125m/7.182m = 1.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.105m/7.182m = 1.5%.
Macau (Macao): 1557, Portuguese acquired Macau as a key East Asian port; 1849, Portugal ceased rental payments and declared Macau independent of China; 1887, China agreed to Portuguese rule of Macau; 1941-1945, Japanese control but ostensible non-occupation; 1951, Overseas Province of Portugal; post-war, tourist and gambling venue; 1974, Salazar regime fell in Portugal; Portugal offered to hand Macau back but China declined; 1985, Hong Kong return finalized; China negotiated Macau return in 1999; Macau residents retained Portuguese citizenship; 1999, Macau returned to China; most densely populated territory on earth; huge gambling revenue.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, Japan (pre-1950); Portugal (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Portugal; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.036m/0.472m = 7.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.007m/0.472m = 1.4%.
Taiwan: prehistoric, aboriginal Malay settlement; 7th century, first Chinese settlement; 1590, Portuguese arrived; 1620s, Dutch and Spanish forts established; 1641, Dutch displaced the Spanish; 1662, Taiwan conquered by Ming dynasty General Koxinga; 1683, Manchu conquest; 1887, separate province of China; 1895, Japanese colony after China was defeated in Sino-Japanese War; 1945, returned to China; 1947, indigenous Taiwanese demonstrations against Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT); KMT forces massacred thousands; 1949, after Communist victory on mainland China, Taiwan became a US-protected bastion of Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) and was recognized as the “official” China by the US and most of its allies (the “Two China Policy”); 1950-1953, Korean War and increased US militarization and support for the KMT regime; 1950s, US-backed conflict with China in the Taiwan Strait; 1960s onwards, US-backed industrialization and remarkable economic growth; 1971, US permitted the People’s Republic of China to take Taiwan’s place at the UN; 1980s, increasing democratization; 1986, the Democratic Progress Party challenged the KMT; 1989, KMT won elections; 1990s, increasing democracy and accommodation with China; increasing international isolation as China exerted increased diplomatic and economic influence; 21st century, mounting tensions with China over the pro-independence issue.
Foreign occupation: Japan (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: none (but major US-armed surrogate); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.560m/22.894m = 2.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.459m/22.894m = 2.0%.
Japan: 30,000BC, earliest human presence; 4th-5th century BC, early Neolithic cultures; 250BC, Neolithic Jomon replaced by Yayoi; 3rd century BC, advanced culture on Kyushu; 1st century AD, bronze and iron working from Korea; 4th century, Japan united under the Yamato clan; 7th century, Prince Shotoku centralized administration; 9th-12th century, Fujiwara clan dominated imperial court; increased feudal military aristocracy at the expense of central power; Buddhism established; 1159, Taira clan seized power; 1189, Minamoto clan took over; Shogun Yoritomo; 1274, 1281, unsuccessful attempts at invasion by Mongols; 1333, Emperor Daigo II re-established direct imperial rule; 1338, Ashikaga clan restored military government (bukufu) and increased the power of regional military governors; 1542, Portuguese contact; 1549, St Francis Xavier introduced Christianity; 1573, Ashikaga overthrown; 1600, Tokugawa ascendancy; 1603, re-establishment of bukufu; 1854, Commodore Perry forced opening of trade with the West; 1868, Meiji Restoration restored direct imperial rule, abolished feudal privileges and centralized power; imperial administration shifted from Kyoto to Tokyo; 1871, feudalism abolished; 1895, First Sino-Japanese War; Taiwan colonized; 1889, constitution; 1904-1905, Russo-Japanese War and Japanese expansion in Korea; 1910, Korea formally annexed; WW1, Japan allied with Allies; 1937, Japan invaded China (Second Sino-Japanese War); immense atrocities and 35 million Chinese war dead; 1941, Japan was progressively cornered by the US, attacked Pearl Harbor and subsequently conquered South East Asia and much of the Pacific; 1945, atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki; USSR entered the war; Japan surrendered; post-war, democratic constitution with anti-militarism provisions, huge economic growth and peace yielded one of the richest societies in the world; 2003, joined the US Coalition in Iraq.
Foreign occupation: US (pre-1950); US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 155.670m/1322.273m = 11.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.452m/127.914m = 1.9%.
Korea: settled by Tungusic people; 2333BC, precursor Old Choson founded; 1st century-7th century century, Koguryo kingdom in the North; resistance to Chinese invasions; 7th century; 1st centuryBC-7th century AD, Paekche and Silla Kingdoms in the South; 667AD, Silla tribe unified Korea; 10th century, Koryo family took power; 1392, Choson (Yi) dynasty (which ruled until 1910); 13th century, Mongol invasions and subsequent Manchurian domination; 1592, Japanese invasion defeated by Choson and Ming forces; 1637, tributary of the Manchus; 18 th century, cultural renaissance and Korea became isolated as the “hermit kingdom”; 1905, Russia was defeated and Korea was colonized by Japan; 1910, Korea annexed by Japan; 1930s, industrialization of northern Korea by Japan; 1945, Japan defeated; Soviet armies entered but halted north of the 38th parallel (US forces to the south); 1948, Rhee installed by the US in the South; the Communist regime under Kim Il Sung in the North; 1948, Soviet forces withdrew but US forces remained; 1950-1953, Korean war – US driven to Pusan, US counter-attack, Chinese entry, MacArthur sacked by Truman over China policy; final armistice with 1 million dead and “nothing left standing” (Korean 1950-1953 excess mortality 1.0 million).
North Korea: communist dictatorship under Kim Il Sung and thence his son; cult of personality; 1990s-present, catastrophic famine; 2004-2005, threat of North Korea atomic weapons and missiles.
Foreign occupation: Japan, USSR (pre-1950); US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: China, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 2.945m/22.876m = 12.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.559m/22.876m = 6.8%.
South Korea: 1948-1961, US-backed Rhee regime; 1958, National Security Laws and repression; 1961, General Park coup; 1963, Park won election and thence 3 further rigged elections; 1979, Park assassinated; martial law; opposition leader Kim Jae Dung arrested; Kwanju uprising put down with massacres; repression under Chun; 1987, strikes for unions and democracy; Roh succeeded Chun; 1987, opposition split in elections and conservatives retained power; 1988, Seoul Olympic Games; 1990s, renewed government action over trade unions; continued economic growth; moves to rapprochement with the North; 1992, Kim elected; first civilian president since the Korean War; 1996, trials of people involved in the 1979 coup and subsequent massacre; 21st century, issues of reunification, North Korean famine and North Korean nuclear program.
Foreign occupation: Japan, US (pre-1950); US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 5.013m/48.182m = 10.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.085m/48.182m = 6.4%.
Mongolia: the Mongolian steppes were originally inhabited over 2 millennia by nomadic horsemen including the Hsiung-nu (Huns), Orkhun Turks, Mongol Jou-jans and Uighurs (impelling construction of the Great Wall of China); 13th century, Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered northern China and Central Asia; 1277, Genghis Khan died; his sons extended Mongol rule over Russia through to Eastern Europe, over northern China and over Central Asia through to Iran and Iraq (accompanied by horrendous genocide and urban destruction); 1260, Kublai Khan established Yuan dynasty in Beijing; 1368, end of Yuan dynasty; 1691-1911, Manchu Chinese control; 1911, Mongol princes took over; 1918-1921, during the Russian Civil war the Chinese annexed Outer Mongolia; 1921, White Russians expelled the Chinese but were thence removed by the Soviet Red Army; 1924, Soviet rapprochement with China but de facto Soviet-dominated, Communist Mongolian People’s Republic; 1932, Lama Rebellion, priests led refugees into Inner Mongolia; 1936, mutual aid pact with the USSR; 1945, war in Manchuria against Japan at the end of WW2; plebiscite for continued independence; 1961, joined the UN; 1992, democratic constitution followed by non-Communist victory; 1996, huge forest fires; 1997, Communist electoral victories; 21st century, an impoverished and isolated country.
Foreign occupation: China, Russia (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: none; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.640m/2.667m = 24.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.402m/2.667m = 15.0%.
6.3 Turkey, Iran and Central Asia - Russian occupation, US interference, war and peace
Central Asia has been a major conduit for the East-West movement of peoples, trade and armies. Access to oil-rich Middle East regions, India and the Indian Ocean dominated the “Great Game” involving Russia, Turkey, Persia and Britain in the 19th and 20th century - and now crucially involves the US, China and Pakistan as well as the independent Central Asian republics. Conflicting Big Power interests and geographical remoteness protected these countries to some extent but post-war global extension of US military violence has had a major impact on this region.
Westernized Iran has suffered significantly from Russian, British and US imposts (notably from US overthrow of democracy and installation of the pro-US Shah, post-Shah sustained US hostility and the US-supplied Iran-Iraq War that killed 1.5 million) and Afghanistan has endured a quarter century of Russian invasion, US-backed resistance and civil war and now the continuing US occupation and war. These harsh realities are reflected in post-1950 excess mortality/current population percentages of 20.2% and 64.0% for Iran and Afghanistan, respectively; with the exception of oil-rich Azerbaijan (5.0%) and partly Russified Kazakhstan (6.4%), this parameter is in the range 13.3-19.7% for the remaining countries (cf the Central American countries of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala subject to sustained US-backed terrorism and with post-1950 excess mortality/current population “scores” in the range 11.3-21.2%)
Afghanistan: prehistoric cultures; ca 500BC, conquered by Persian Darius I; 329-327BC, conquered by Alexander the Great; 4th century, Seleucid empire; 2nd century BC, northern Bactria conquered by the Parthians; Buddhism introduced by the Kushan dynasty based at Peshawar; 3rd century, successive, Sassanid, Ephthalite and Turkish rule; 7th century, Muslim conversion; 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazna ruled from Khorasan (Iran) to the Punjab (India); 13th century, Mongol conquest under Genghis Khan; 14th century, conquest by Timur; 16th century, Babur ruled from Kabul and conquered Northern India, establishing the Mughal Empire; 18th century, the Persian ruler Nadir Shah conquered much of northern Afghanistan; 1747, Ahmed Shah unified Afghanistan and established the Durrani dynasty (1747-1818); 1760, Hindu Marathas were defeated at the immense Battle of Panipot by the Muslim-Afghan confederacy under Ahmed Shah (who thence returned to Kabul); 19th -20th century, British, Russian and Persian conflict with Afghans; 1826-1863, Dost Muhammed; 1838-1842, First Afghan War, British unsuccessfully deposed Dost Muhammed; 1857, alliance with British; 1863, Sher Ali succeeded but fell out with the British; 1878-1879, Second Afghan War; Khyber Pass ceded; British occupied Kabul; British agreements with Russia and Persia over Afghanistan; 1907, Anglo-Russian Agreement; British control of Afghan foreign affairs; WW1, neutral;; 1919, Third Afghan War, Afghanistan invaded India; Afghanistan recovered control of foreign affairs; WW2, neutral; 1973, military coup; enlightened republic; 1978, coup installed a communist government; communist leader Taraki killed and US-backed Amin installed; USSR invaded; 1979-1989, Afghanistan War, Russians versus US-backed mujaheddin; 50,000 Russians died and millions of Afghans (1979-1989 Afghanistan excess mortality 2.9 million); 1992, Kabul captured; 1994-1999, Pashtun Islamic fundamentalist religious student militia, the Taliban, conquered all but the Northerm Alliance areas, notably those held by Massoud; 1996, Kabul captured by the Taliban; 1997, Taliban banned smoking by civil servants and soldiers; 1998, US cruise missile attacks over Afghan refusal to hand over Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (accused of the 1998 Kenya and Tanzania US embassy bombings); 1999, UN-brokered peace between the Taliban and Massoud; 1 million dead, 3 million refugees (1989-1999 excess mortality 3.3 million); 2000, Taliban banned opium poppy growing (a major financial source for Afghan farmers); 2001, virtually no more opium grown in Afghanistan; September 11, World Trade Centre attacks; October, US invasion after massive bombing; 2002, Taliban largely defeated; Kabul area protected by NATO forces; most of country reverted to war lords; opium poppy production back to “normal” by mid-2002 (76% of world opium production); 2005, Taliban resurgence; continuing war; still 3 million Afghan refuges despite 2.4 million repatriated; opium production nearly 90% of the world total (2001-2005 Afghanistan excess mortality 1.7 million; 2001-2005, global opioid drug deaths about 0.4 million).
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); Russia, US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Russia, US, Australia, UK and Canadian and German NATO forces; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 16.609m/25.971m = 64.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 11.514m/25.971m = 44.3%.
Azerbaijan: ancient Albania; 4th century, conquered by Shapur II (the Great) of Persia; 7th century, conversion to Islam; 13th century, invaded by the Mongols; 15th century, splintered after the reign of Timur; 19th century, Russian acquisition through war and Treaties of Gulistan (1813) and Turkamanchai (1828). 1917, anti-Bolshevik Transcaucasian Federation with Georgia and Armenia; 1920, re-conquest by the Soviet forces; 1936, separate republic within the USSR; post-war, communist base for independence for Azeris in Iran; 1991, independent from Russia and joined the CIS; 1992, Elchibey elected president; 1992-2003, Commmunist Heydar Aliyev successively re-elected as leader in flawed elections; 1992-1994, Armenian inhabitants took over much of the Nagorno-Karabakh region; 1 million Azeris were refugees from the consequent conflict; 2003, Heydar’s son Iham Aliyev elected; continuing tensions with Armenia (Azeri rights), Russia (security) and Iran (oil rights and Azeri Islamic groups within Azerbaijan).
Foreign occupation: Russia (pre-1950); Russia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Russia, Armenia; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.428m/8.527m = 5.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.032m/8.527m = 12.1%.
Iran: 4000BC, early settlements; 1800-800BC, occupied by the Aryan Medes and Persians; circa 1500BC, Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) and Zoroastrianism; 6th century BC, Cyrus the Great conquered the Medes; 525BC, Persian Empire from the Nile to the Indus; 331-330BC, conquered by Alexander the Great; 312-302BC Seleucid rule; 247BC-226AD, rule by Greek-speaking Parthians; 3rd-7th century, Sassanian rule; 641, Arab Muslim conquest; 7th-13th century, major cultural centre; 1258, destructive conquest by Mongols under Genghis Khan and his sons; subsequent rule by their successors e.g. Timur; 1501-1722, Safavid dynasty founded by Shah Ismail; Shi’ite dominance; 1587-1629, Shah Abbas; Portuguese defeated in the Persian Gulf; 1722, Russians seized Georgia, Baku and thence Central Asia; Afghan dominance; 1736, Afshar dynasty under Nadir Shah; 1794-1925, Qajar dynasty; Anglo-Russian “Great Game” over influence; Russian acquisition of Iranian Caucasus territories through war and the Treaties of Gulistan (1813) and Turkamanchai (1828); early 19th century, oil discovered; 1906, constitution and parliament; WW1, Iran neutral but Anglo-Russian involvements; 1921, USSR withdrew forces and recognized Iran sovereignty; coup by Reza Khan; 1925-1941, Reza Shah Pahlevi (Reza Khan), modernization, pro-Axis; 1941, Anglo-Russian occupation; installation of Shah’s son; 1941-1979, Mohammed Shah Pahlevi; 1946, withdrawal of USSR forces; 1949, constitution curtailed Shah; Prime Minister Mossadegh attempted nationalization of Anglo-Iranian oil; 1953, economic blockade and US-backed coup, thousands killed; US-backed authoritarian Shah régime; Anglo-American, French and Dutch oil interests dominant; 1978, martial law against Islamist opponents; 1979, Shah fled; Islamic theocracy under Ayatollah Khomeini; US hostage crisis and unsuccessful US military raid; 1980-1988, Iran-Iraq War initiated by US-backed Iraq invasion; 1.5 million dead (1980-1988 excess mortality 2.1 million); 1981, US hostages released, Irangate Contra arms deal scandal; 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini died and Ayatollah Khamenei succeeded; 1997, moderate Khatami elected president; 21st century, US hostility and threats over Iran nuclear program; 2004, conservative victory in elections.
Foreign occupation: UK, USSR (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US, Iraq (incursions); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 14.272m/70.675m = 20.2%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 10.875m/70.675m = 15.4%.
Kazakhstan: nomadic Turkic peoples; 13th century, conquered by Mongols under Genghis Khan; subsequent rule by various khanates; 1730-1840, Russian conquest; 1916, rebellion against Russian rule; 1917, Russian revolution; 1920, Red Army control; 1936, constituent republic of the Soviet Union; major collectivisation, resettlement in the South, agricultural development and oil; 1991, independence and membership of the CIS under Nazarbayev; flawed democracy and repeated re-election of Nazarbayev; 2003, economic agreement between Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Ukraine.
Foreign occupation: Russia (pre-1950); Russia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Russia; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.983m/15.364m = 6.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.661m/15.364m = 10.8%.
Kyrgyzstan: 7th-17th century, nomadic Kyrgyz (Kara Kyrgyz) roamed upper Yenisei region and thence came to the present Kyrgyzstan region; 8th century, Muslim conversion; 9th century, rule by Kokand khanate; 1855-1876, annexation by Russia; 1916, opposed conscription and suffered consequent violent suppression; 1917-1921, opposed communists; 1921-1922, war and famine, 0.5 million died and many fled to China; 1926, autonomous republic of Russian Republic;1936, constituent republic of the USSR; 1926-1959, major Russian and Ukrainian migration; 1990, non-communist Akayev made president; 1991, coup suppressed and independence from Soviet Union declared; Kyrgyzstan membership of the post-USSR CIS; post-independence economic, security, insurrection and political corruption problems.
Foreign occupation: Russia (pre-1950); Russia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Russia; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 1.041m/5.278m = 19.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.657m/5.278m = 12.4%.
Tajikistan: ancient Sogdiana; 7th century, Muslim conversion; 13th century, Mongol invasion; 16th century, ruled by the Bokhara khanate; 1880s, extension of Russian control; 1917, Tajik independence ; 1921, defeated by Soviet Russia; 1924, autonomous republic within Uzbekhistan; 1929, constituent republic of the Soviet Union; Soviet period, major expansion of irrigation and cotton; 1978, anti-Russian riots; 1990, independence declared;1991, part of the CIS; former Communist boss Nabiyev president; 1992, armed deposition of Nabiyev; government recapture of the capital; pro-Russian Rakhmonov elected president; 1992-1997, civil war between Russian-backed government and Afghanistan-based Islamic opposition; 30,000-100,000 died and massive destruction (1992-1997 excess mortality 0.9 million); 1994, elections boycotted by the opposition; Russian-backed Rakhmonov elected; 1996, short-lived Uzbek revolt; 1997, peace accord permitting Islamic political participation; 2005, flawed elections returned the government.
Foreign occupation: Russia (pre-1950); Russia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Russia; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.924m/6.356m = 14.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.739m/6.356m = 11.6%.
Turkey: from 1800BC, Hittite Empire in Anatolia (Asia Minor), cities, armies, trade and writing; from 8th century BC, coastal Greek settlements; ancient Anatolian kingdoms of Phrygia, Lydia and Troy; the sacking of Troy by the Greeks recorded in Homer’s Iliad; 6th century BC, Persian conquest; 4th century BC, conquest by Alexander the Great followed by administrative splintering; 2nd century BC, Roman conquest; 1st century AD, Christian conversion starting with Saint Paul; 395, Western and Eastern Roman Empires divided and thence Anatolia and Balkans part of Byzantine Empire; 616-626, Persian invasion; 668, Muslim Arab invasion and conversion; 1061, Seljuk Turk invasion; 1243, Mongol invasion; 14th-15th century, Ottoman Turk expansion into Byzantine Empire lands of Anatolia and the Balkans; 14th century-20th century, Ottoman Turkish Empire; 1326, capture of Bursa; 1361, Adrianople (Edirne) captured; 1389, Battle of Kosovo; 1396, Battle of Nikopol; 1402, Turks defeated by Timur at Beyazid; 1444, victory at Varna over Poles; 1451-1481, Muhammed II established Ottoman Turk superiority; 1453, capture of Constantinople (Istanbul); Mameluks defeated in Egypt and Syria and Cairo captured (1517); Algiers (1518); Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566), administration, diplomacy, culture, janissary army, much-feared Mediterranean navy under Barbarossa; successive Ottoman victories over Hungarians at Mohács (1536) and Buda (1541); 1571, Turks defeated by the Venetians at the naval Battle of Lepanto; 1683, siege of Vienna relieved by Poles; 1699, Treaty of Karlowitz, Hungary lost; 18th century, Russo-Turkish wars, Napolean transiently took Egypt; 19th century, “Sick Man of Europe”, progressive loss of Greece, Egypt, Moldavia and Wallachia (Romania), Serbia and Montenegro; Allied with Britain against Russia in the Crimean war (1854-1856); late 19th century, massacres of Armenians; 1908, rise of the Young Turks; Balkans Wars, loss of most remaining European territory to Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania and Greece; WW1, pressure by the British forced alliance with Germany; 1915, Gallipoli invasion repulsed; 1915-1919, Armenian genocide (1.5 million murdered or killed by savage deportations); Arabs revolted and Arab possessions lost; 1922, Sultan overthrown; 1923, secular republic under Ataturk; Treaty of Sèvres defined modern boundaries; 1.5 million Greeks to Greece, 0.8 million Turks from Greece and Bulgaria to Turkey; WW2, neutral; post-war, US bases and nuclear missile bases in Turkey; tensions with Greece over Cyprus; Kurdish autonomy and human rights demands; left-right political dichotomy and violence; from 1970s, horrendous violence and abuses associated with Kurdish separatism (30,000 deaths) and maltreatment of Syriac Christians; 1974, invasion and occupation of part of Cyprus; 1989, 0.3 million Bulgarian Turkish refugees fled to Turkey to escape Bulgarization; 1991, US bases used in the Gulf War; 2003, parliament refused US use of its Turkish bases to attack Iraq; 2005, continued negotiations with the EU still clouded by objections to Turkish human rights abuses.
Foreign occupation: none (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 10.488m/73.302m = 14.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 10.987m/73.302m = 15.0%.
Turkmenistan: northern part of ancient Persia; 8th century, Arab conquest and Muslim conversion; 11th century, Seljuk Turks; 13th century, conquered by Mongols under Genghis Khan; 14th -15th century, conquest and rule by Timur and his successors; 16th-17th century, ruled by Uzbeks; early 19th century, Khiva khanate; 1869-1881, Russian conquest; subsequent periodic revolts; 1919-1920, conquest by Red Army; 1925, constituent Soviet republic; Turkmen populations in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan; 1991, independence from Russia and joined the CIS under Niyazov; 1990s and 2000s, continuing rule by Niyazov, suppression of opposition and associated cult of personality.
Foreign occupation: Mongols, Uzbeks, Russia (pre-1950); Russia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: none; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.817m/5.015m = 16.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.591m/5.015m = 11.8%.
Uzbekistan: ancient Persian Sogdiana; 4th century BC, conquered by Alexander; 6th century, Turkic nomad entry; 8th century, Arab conquest and conversion to Islam; 12th century, ruled by Seljuk Turks; 13th century, conquered by Mongols under Genghis Khan; 14th-15th century, ruled from Samarkand by Timur and his successors; great era of the fabled cities of Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara; 16th century, Uzbek invasion followed by the split of an extensive Uzbek empire into the Khiva, Kokand and Bukhara khanates; 19th century, Russian invasion; 1924, Uzbek republic; 1929; separate Tajikistan republic; 1991, Uzbekistan independent but member of the CIS under Karimov; controls on devout Muslims, human rights abuses, guerrillas and terrorism; 2001, US bases for Afghanistan campaign; 2005, Andijan massacre of 700 demonstrators and international disapproval; Uzbekistan asked US to leave bases.
Foreign occupation: Mongols, Russia (pre-1950); Russia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Russia, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 3.585m/26.868m = 13.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.403m/26.868m = 8.9%.
6.4 Arab North Africa and Middle East – Anglo-American, French and Israeli war and occupation
This general region yielded the earliest civilizations of Egypt, Phoenicia and Sumeria (the Fertile Crescent). The Phoenician civilization spread to Carthage in North Africa and thence to Spain. After the Roman Empire era, Arab conquest led to a new cultural flowering from Mesopotamia, through Egypt and thence to Spain. Invasions of Syria and Palestine by European crusaders occurred in the 11th-13th centuries. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Mongols and their Timurid successors devastated Mesopotamia and Syria, their incursions reaching as far as Egypt. After the expulsion of the Moors and Jews from Spain and Ottoman Turkish conquest of much of the Arab North Africa and the Middle East, this region was relatively subdued in international affairs. European colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries was ultimately unsuccessful with European powers variously departing in the post-WW2 era. Arab hopes for independence were temporarily dashed through British and French duplicity after WW1 and the West continues to exert a malignant influence on the region.
Jewish colonization of Palestine has remorselessly continued, backed by the US and its allies. The economic and human cost of sophisticated, democratic and nuclear-armed Israel (current population about 7 million) has been enormous – an estimated $3 trillion in economic costs to the US, 6 decades of war and occupation in the region, a post-1950 excess mortality in countries attacked by Israel totalling 43 million and post-invasion excess mortality and under-5 infant mortality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories now totalling 0.3 million and 0.2 million, respectively. US policy in the region has devastated Palestine and Iraq and there is a major, continuing US occupation of Iraq, continuing Israeli occupation of all of Palestine in defiance of repeated UN resolutions and major US military presence in Persian Gulf States. The excess mortality and under-5 infant mortality in Iraq have totalled 1.7 million and 1.2 million, respectively for the 1990-2003 Gulf War and Sanctions Era and now total 0.5 million and 0.3 million, respectively, for the post-invasion period (2003-2005). In contrast, the outstandingly good outcome countries in this group are the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain with post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population ratios of 1.5%, 2.1%, 2.8% and 4.4%, respectively – these countries having had peace, prosperity and good governance as common attributes for all or nearly all of the post-1950 era.
Algeria: 2nd millennium BC, Berber culture; 9th century, Numidia under Carthaginian (Tunisia) hegemony; 146BC, Romans destroyed Carthage; 106BC, Romansconquered coastal Numidia; eventually Roman rule over Numidia and Mauritania Caesariensis; major food source for the Roman Empire; Christian era, spread of Christianity; 4th century, St Augustine bishop of Hippo (Annaba); 430-431, Vandal invasion; 6th century, Byzantine rule; 7th-8th century, Arab invasion, conversion to Islam and Arab culture; East and West regions under Tunisian and Moroccan influence, respectively; 1492, expulsion of Muslims from Spain; 16th century, Spanish rule over coastal areas; Turkish Barbarossa naval power liberated the Algerians from the Spanish; Ottoman Turkish rule; from 17th century, quasi-independence from Constantinople; piracy and slaves; 1816, British bombarded Algiers over piracy; 1820s, commencement of French hostilities; 1830, French invasion; 1840s, French settlement began with subsequent seizure of the best agricultural land; 1910, end of armed resistance to French rule; post-WW1, increasing indigenous activism for independence or for assimilation with France; WW2, initial Vichy rule; 1942, Algiers Allied HQ for North Africa and seat of Free French under Charles de Gaulle; 1945, uprising, 90 Europeans killed, up to 10,000 Algerians killed in the French response; 1954-1962, war of independence; 1954, National Liberation Front (FLN) formed; 1959, FLN Provisional Government at Tunis; 1962, French referendum for Algerian independence; French Secret Army Organization (OAS) terrorism; most of the 1 million colonists left; independence under Ben Khedda and thence Ben Bella; 10,000 French and 100,000 Algerian military deaths (1954-1962 excess mortality 1.2 million); 1992, rise of violent Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism, violent counter-terrorism; 2000, amnesty for Islamic guerrillas; 2001, demonstrations by Berbers over Arabic as the sole national language; the Berber language subsequently acknowledged.
Foreign occupation: France, UK (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 7.167m/32.877m = 21.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 5.812m/32.877m = 17.7%.
Bahrain: 3rd millennium BC, major trading centre (Dilmun) between Middle East and India; Tylos to ancient Greeks; 16th century, Portuguese rule; 17th-18th century, Persian domination and rule; 1783, al-Khalifa tribe defeated Persians; 1861, British protectorate; from 1950s onwards, demonstrations against British rule; 1970, Iranian claim; 1971, independent with a national assembly; 1975, Sheikh dissolved the assembly; 1981, founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council; member of the Arab League; from 1980s onwards, dispute with Qatar over natural gas resources; continued tensions due to Shi’ite majority but effective exclusion from government; 1991, used by US-Coalition forces; 1996, alleged Iranian-backed Shi’ite coup plot; 2001, new liberalized constitutional monarchy arrangements but flawed elections and Shi’ite boycotts.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, US, Coalition; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.054m/0.754m = 7.2%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.033m/0.754m = 4.4%.
Egypt: 3200-2134BC, Old Kingdom, Egypt united under Menes; 2134BC-16th century BC, Middle Kingdom; major civilization; 17th century BC, brief period of Syrian Hyksos dominance; 16th century BC-1st century AD, New Kingdom; successive threats from Hittites, Assyrians, Babylon and Persia; 673-650BC, Assyrian rule; 332BC, conquered by Greeks under Alexander leading to Alexandria Hellenic flowering and Ptolemy I – Ptolemy XIV (Cleopatra’s son); 58BC, Roman accession; Coptic Christian advance; 616, Persian conquest; 639-642, Arab conquest, Muslim conversion and Christian decline; Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates; 1219-1250, limited Crusader incursions; 1250-1517, slave soldier Mamluks ruled; 1517, Ottoman Turk conquest; 1768-1773, Ali Bey; 1798-1801, French conquest under Napoleon; 1805, Muhammed Ali appointed as Pasha by the Ottoman Sultan; massacred the Mamluk leadership, westernized, eliminated the plague; 1854, De Lesseps commenced the Suez Canal; 1882, British conquest; 1923, independence but with British retention of troops; 1948, war with Israel; 1953, monarchy abolished; 1954, Nasser came to power; major Arab and non-aligned figure; Soviet-funded arms and Aswan Dam project ; 1956, Israel, UK and France attacked Egypt; 1958-1961, merger with Syria as the United Arab Republic; 1967 war with Israel; Israel occupied Gaza and Sinai; 1967-1974, diplomatic rift with US; 1970, Nasser died, replaced by Sadat; 1973, Yom Kippur War; Egypt again defeated; 1979, peace with Israel; 1981, Sadat assassinated by Muslim extremists and replaced by pro-US Mubarak; major fundamentalist Muslim and Muslim Brotherhood unrest, persecution of Coptic Christians by fanatics and political repression (especially of Muslim activists); 2005, cosmetic moves towards democracy by Mubarak.
Foreign occupation: France, Britain (pre-1950); France, Israel, UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, UK, Israel; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 19.818m/74.878m = 26.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 14.143m/74.878m = 18.9%.
Iraq: Mesopotamia a region of earliest civilizations involved in the development of agriculture, writing, philosophies and cities, namely Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylon; 6th century, Persian conquest; 4th century, Greek conquest under Alexander the Great; 1st century, Roman occupation; major food source for Roman Empire; 2rd-6th century, Persian rule; 7th century, Arab Muslim conquest; conversion to Islam; 8th century, Abbasid caliphate at Baghdad, a great cultural centre; 13th century, Mongol invasion; 16th century, Ottoman Turk subjugation; 19th century, Turkish provinces of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra; 1914-1918, WW1, dismemberment of the Turkish Empire; British invasion in 1914; 1920, Arab revolt suppressed; Treaty of Sèvres made Iraq a British League of Nations Mandate; 1921, Kingdom under Faisal I; 1924, Iraq Assembly reluctantly agreed to British bases and British legislative veto; 1925, first oil concession; 1926, Iraqi government; 1930, 25-year alliance with Britain; 1932, British mandate terminated; Iraq joined League of Nations; 1933, Christian Assyrian revolt suppressed; Faisal I died; 1934, oil exports began; 1941, al-Gaylani ousted pro-British regent for infant Faisal II; defeated by the British; 1943, Iraq declared war on Axis countries; 1948, British demand for extension of the 1930 alliance was rejected by the Iraqi parliament; 1948, member of the Arab League; involved in Israel-Arab war; 1955, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Iraq formed pro-US Baghdad Pact; 1958, Kassem military coup, Faisal II killed; mid-1950s onwards, major Kurdish demands for autonomy; 1962, Kurds seized much of northern Iraq; 1963, coup dominated by socialist, pan-Arabist Ba’ath party; 1968, coup installed Bakr, followed by purges; 1979, accession of Saddam Hussein followed by purges; extremely repressive régime; 1980-1988, Iran-Iraq War; Western weapons and poison gas used by both sides; huge death toll; 1988, poison gas used on Kurdish Halabja; 1990, Iran-Iraq diplomatic relations; 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait; sanctions imposed; 1991, US-led Gulf War; deaths; hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees; Kurdish de facto independence protected by UK-US airpower; 1991, renewed threat to Kuwait; weapons inspection; 2001, 9/11 atrocity prompted US threats (1990-2003 excess mortality and under-5 infant mortality 1.7 million and 1.2 million, respectively); 2003, after extensive UK-US PR build-up involving major lies about Iraqi weapons, Iraq was invaded by US-led Coalition and occupied; no “weapons of mass destruction” found; continuing resistance; Sunnis excluded from Kurdish and Shi’ite dominated indigenous political process; massive death toll (2003-2006 post-invasion excess mortality and under-5 infant mortality 0.5 million and 0.4 million, respectively).
Foreign occupation: Turkey, Britain (pre-1950); UK, US, Coalition countries (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, US, Coalition countries; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 5.283m/26.555m = 19.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.446m/26.555m = 13.0%.
Jordan: pre-Christian era lands of Ammon, Bashan, Edom and Moab; 4th century BC-1st century, AD, Nabataean Kingdom around Petra; 1st century, Roman conquest; 6th-7th century, Byzantine-Persian conflict; 7th century, Muslim Arab invasion, conversion to Islam; 1099, Crusaders captured Jerusalem and nearby region; 1516-1918, part of Ottoman Empire; 1919, ruled by Faisal I from Damascus after cooperation with Lawrence and British against Turks during WW1; 1920, Faisal I removed by the French; Transjordan part of the British League of Nations Mandate; 1921, Abdullah (son of Faisal) made Emir; British trained the army; 1928, to be a constitutional monarchy; 1946, independent Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan; 1948, defeated in Arab-Israeli war; 1949, changed name to Jordan to include West Bank incorporation; 1950, annexed West Bank; 1951, King Hussein succeeded his grandfather; 1958, Jordan and Iraq formed the Arab Federation; British troops sent to Jordan; 1961, Syria withdrew from UAR; 1963, Jordanian government-in-exile prompted US and UK military positioning; 1967, mutual defence pact with Egypt; 1967 War, Israel took the West Bank; 1968-1971, army action against Palestinians; 1972, West Bank-Jordan peace plan rejected by Israel and Arabs; 1979, moral support for Iraq in Iraq-Iran war; 1991, moral support for Iraq in the Gulf War; loss of US, Saudi and Kuwaiti aid; 0.7 million Jordanians lost employment in Kuwait; 1994, peace agreement with Israel; 1999, pro-Western Abdullah II; Palestinian, Islamist and Royalist political factions.
Foreign occupation: Turkey, Britain, Israel (pre-1950); Israel (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, Israel; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.630m/5.750m = 11.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.331m/5.750m = 5.8%.
Kuwait: 14th century-19th century, Ottoman province; 18th century, Arab Sabah sheikdom; 19th century, Wahhabi threat; 1897, British protectorate; 1961, independent sheikdom; British troops and thence Arab League troops remained because of Iraqi claims; founding member of OPEC; 1963, Iraq recognized Kuwait; founding member of OPEC; 1963, diplomatic relations with USSR; 1979, supported Iraq in Iran-Iraq War; 1981, Gulf Cooperation Council; 1987-1988, obtained US naval protection for Gulf oil tankers after Iranian attacks; 1990, Iraq annexed Kuwait over oil dispute; 1991, US Gulf War freed Kuwait; 80% of oil wells destroyed; huge expulsion of Palestinian inhabitants;1994, new crisis with Iraq; 2003, major Islamist representation in parliament; 2005, female suffrage.
Foreign occupation: Turkey, Britain (pre-1950); UK, Iraq, US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, Iraq, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.089m/2.671m = 3.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.076m/2.671m = 2.8%.
Lebanon: early Canaanites; 12th century, Phoenician cities (Tyre and Sidon); 5th century, Persian hegemony; 4th century, conquest by Alexander the Great and thence Hellenic rule; 64BC, Roman conquest; 1st century, Christian conversion commenced; 7th century, Arab Muslim conquest; 11th century, Druze settlement in southern Lebanon; 11th-13th century, European Crusaders; 13th century, rule by Egyptian Mamluks; Mongol invasion of Syria; 15th century, Ottoman Turkish rule; 1860, massacre of Maronite Christians by Druze; 1861, French intervention; 1914-1918, WW1; 1919, French League of Nations mandate over Syria; 1926, French separated Lebanon from Syria; 1941, Free French and British defeated Vichy French; 1944, Lebanon independent; 1945, member of the UN; 1948, Arab-Israeli War; little participation but huge Palestinian refugee burden; major Christian and Shi’a Muslim populations and politics together with Palestinians, Sunni Muslims and Druze; 1952, pro-Western Christian Chamoun elected; 1958, riots, US forces called in; 1960s onwards, Israeli reprisals for Palestinian attacks; Lebanese Army-Palestinian conflicts; 1975, mounting civil war involving Christians, Muslims and Palestinians; 1976, Lebanese president invited Syrian forces in; 1978, Israeli invasion; replaced by UN peacekeepers; 1982, Israel invaded; 7,000 Palestinians forced to leave; Christian Falangists forces killed 3,000 unprotected civilians in Israeli-controlled areas; 1983, terrorist bombings destroyed the US Embassy and thence many US and French soldiers; 1985, Israel withdrew to Southern Lebanon; 1990s, Israeli conflict with Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah; 2000, Israel finally departed but left a surrogate Christian Army in Southern Lebanon which subsequently collapsed; 2005, former PM Hariri blown up and UN Security Council forced withdrawal of the (originally invited) Syrian forces; 2006, Israeli War, Lebanon devastated, 1,000 killed, 1.0 million homeless.
Foreign occupation: Turkey, France, UK (pre-1950); France, Israel (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, Israel, Israel, Syria; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.535m/3.761m = 14.2%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.236m/3.761m = 6.3%.
Libya: North African Carthage destroyed by Rome in 2nd century BC; Tripolitania and Cyrenaica; 7th century, Arab invasion and conversion to Islam; 16th century, Ottoman rule; Janissary military power similar to that of the Egyptian Mamluks; 1711-1835, Dey position held by Karamanli family; 1801-1805, Tripolitan War with the US over protection money for Tripoli pirates; 1815, Britain, France and the Sicilian Kingdom suppressed pirates; 1835-1912, restored direct Ottoman rule; 1911-1912, Turko-Italian war, the Turks were defeated but the Libyan Sanusi continued resistance against the Italians; 1914, much of Libya Italian coccupied; 1934, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica united; 1939, united with Italy; 1940-1943, WW2, British and allies eventually prevailed over German and Italian forces; Anglo-French Government; 1949, UN jurisdiction; 1951, independent as a monarchy under King Idris (head of the Sanusi Brotherhood); 1953, Anglo-Libyan treaty permitted British forces until 1956; 1958, oil discovered; 1966, most British forces left; 1969, military coup by Qaddafi; 1970, forced UK and US to remove bases; 1973, Israel shot down Libyan airliner over the Sinai; 1982, US sanctions (after military air incident); 1986, US air strikes (after terrorist incident); 1988, US passenger plane destroyed over Lockerbie, Scotland; 1989, French passenger plane destroyed over Niger; 1992, UN sanctions; 1994, withdrew from disputed Chad territory; 1995, Islamist-military clashes; 1999, Libyan dissociation from terrorism; 2003-2004, admission of chemical weapons, compensation for plane victim families, renounced chemical, biological and nuclear weapons; US resumed diplomatic relations.
Foreign occupation: Turkey, Italy, France, Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, UK, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.785m/5.768m = 13.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.626m/5.768m = 10.9%.
Morocco: 2nd millennium BC, Berber occupation; Roman era Mauretania Tingitania; 5th century, Vandal invasion; 685, Muslim Arab invasion; conversion to Islam; Christianity declined; Judaism continued; 8th century, Berber and Arab Moroccan (Moor) invasion of Spain with consequent high Moorish civilization; subsequent Moroccan independence but Berber-Arab tensions; 1062, Almoravids conquered Morocco and ruled from Spain to Senegal; 1174, Almohads succeeded; 13th-16th century, Merinid dynasty largely ruled only Morocco; 1492, expulsion of Moors from Spain; 1415, Portugal captured Ceuta and subsequently captured major ports; Melilla and Larache taken by Spain; 1554, Saadian (first Sherifian) dynasty; 1578, Battle of Ksar el Kebir, Moroccans defeated Portugal; 1660, Alawite (second Sherifian) dynasty; recapture of European holdings; 17th-18th century, pirate base (the Barbary Coast); 19th century, conquest by Spain and France; 1844, defeated by France; 1860, Spanish invasion; 1880, Madrid conference involving European powers and the US allowing everyone access to Morocco; 1905-1912, diplomatic conflict between France, Germany and Spain and Britain; 1912, Franco-Spanish division of Morocco into French Morocco, Spanish Morocco, a Spanish Protectorate (ruled as part of Spanish Sahara) and the international zone of Tangier; 1921-1926, Rif War revolt of Abd el-Krim; 1937, France suppressed nationalist revolt; 1936, Franco’s fascist revolt began in Morocco; WW2, Vichy regime deposed in 1942; 1943, Casablanca conference of Allied leaders; Istiqlal independence movement commenced; 1950s, most of the Jewish population moved to Israel; 1952, Istiqlal banned; 1953, Sultan Sidi Muhammed deposed and exiled but finally restored (1955); 1956, French left; Spanish left Spanish Moroccco; Tangier restored to Morocco; 1957, King Muhammed V (Sidi Muhammed); 1958, Spanish ceded Southern Protectorate to Morocco; 1961, Hassan II; 1963, border conflict with Algeria; 1970, border settlement with Algeria; 1965, King Hassan declared a state of emergency (ameliorated in 1970); 1974-1991, Moroccan claims on Spanish Sahara; 1975, Hassan led the “Green March” of 0.3 million Moroccans into the Spanish Sahara region; 1976, Spanish cession to of Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauretania; Western Sahara Polisario Front guerrilla opposition; 1991, ceasefire; 1999, Muhammed VI, reform; 2002, Moroccan-Spanish tension after Spanish reversal of Moroccan occupation of an uninhabited island near Ceuta.
Foreign occupation: France, UK, US (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 8.202m/31.564m = 26.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 5.098m/31.564m = 16.2%.
Occupied Palestine: 3000-2000BC, Arabian Semitic Canaanites settled and founded Jerusalem; 3200-1200, partial Egyptian hegemony; 1200 BC, Hebrews, Canaanites and coastal Philistines; 721, Israel fell to Assyrians; 587, Judah fell to Babylonians; Jerusalem Temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; about 560BC, Jews returned from Babylon under Persian Cyrus; 332 BC, conquered by Greeks under Alexander the Great and subsequently ruled by the Ptolemy dynasty (Egypt) and the Seleucids (Syria); 67BC, Maccabee revolt restored Jewish state; 63BC, Roman occupation; 66AD, Jewish revolt; 70, Jerusalem Temple destroyed; 135, Jews largely expelled; subsequently ruled successively by Romans and Byzantines; 614, Persian occupation; 634, Arab conquest (Jerusalem site of Mohammed’s ascension into Heaven); 640, Caliph Umar; 691, Dome of the Rock and Aqsa mosque; 750, Abbasid caliphate; 9th century, Fatimid rule; 11th -13th century, periodic and partial Crusader occupation, 1099, conquest by Crusaders; 1187, Saladin defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hittin; 1291, Mamluks defeated Crusaders; 1516, Ottoman Turkish conquest; 1916, secret Anglo-French Sykes-Picot Agreement to divide the Middle East between France and Britain (notwithstanding Lawrence-promoted Arab revolt on promise of Arab independence); 1917, Turks defeated by British-Arab coalition; 1917, Balfour Agreement (Jewish Home provided no detriment to Arabs); 1922, League of Nations Mandate to Britain; 1900-1939, Jewish population from 50,000 to 300,000; 1936, Palestinian general strike; guerrilla war between Arabs and Jews; 1939, British White Paper constrained Jewish immigration; 1939-1945, illegal Jewish immigration of Jews fleeing Nazis; 1947, UN Partition Plan; 1948, British left, UN recognized State of Israel, war between Israel and Arabs; Deir Yassin massacre; 0.5 million Arabs fled; 1956, Israeli war against Egypt with UK and France; 1964, Palestine Liberation organization (PLO) formed; 1967, Israel attacked neighbours (and USS Liberty) with occupation of Sinai (Egypt), Gaza (Egypt), West Bank (Jordan), Jerusalem (Jordan) and Golan Heights (Syria); Israeli acquisition of nuclear weapons; 1973, Yom Kippur War (Egypt-Israel); 1974, PLO leader Arafat addressed UN; 1979, peace with Egypt; 1982-2000, Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacres (3,000 Palestinians murdered in Israeli-occupied Beirut by Christian Falangist Israeli allies ); 1987, first Palestinian Intifada; 1988, Arafat eschewed terrorism and recognized Israel; 1993, Oslo Agreement for Palestinian self-government permitted arming of Palestinians; continued seizure of Arab lands; 2000, renewed Intifada; 2005, Israel pull-out from Gaza but border control, continued air attacks and retention of increasingly diminished West Bank; 21st century, US-backed Israeli occupation, illegal settlements and violence with continuing violent responses from Palestinians; the dividing and encroaching Wall; 6 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East (post-1967 excess mortality 0.3 million; post-1967 under-5 infant mortality 0.2 million); 2006, Israeli War, Gaza devastated.
Foreign occupation: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, UK (pre-1950); Egypt, Israel, Jordan (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Egypt, Israel, Jordan; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.0.677m/3.815m = 17.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.295m/3.815m = 7.7%.
Oman: 1508-1659, Portuguese control of the Persian Gulf; 1659, Ottoman Empire control; 1741, Turks ousted by Yemenis; ruling Said dynasty founded; late 18th century, British influence commenced; 18th-19th century, extensive Omani influence in coastal areas of East Africa (notably Zanzibar), Iran and Baluchistan (India); 1856, Zanzibar lost; 1958, Gwadar in Baluchistan ceded to Pakistan; 1957, interior revolt suppressed by British forces; 1965, UN demanded British departure; 1970, some royal concessions but rebellion continued in Dhofar; 1971, joined UN and Arab League; 1981, joined Gulf Cooperation Council; 1991, bases given to US and Coalition forces; 1996, further royal liberalization; 2001, bases used by US in attacks on Afghanistan.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.359m/3.020m = 11.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.288m/3.020m = 9.5%.
Qatar: 1076, conquered by Emir of Bahrein; 16th century Portuguese occupation followed by largely nominal Ottoman rule; 1783, Persian invasion defeated; Wahabi rule; 1815, moves for independence from Bahrein; 1867, Bahrein-Abu Dhabi coalition routed Qatar; 1868, British installed Al-Thani clan and controlled foreign policy; 1872-1913, formal Ottoman rule; 1916, formal British protectorate; 1939, oil discovered in Qatar; 1949, first oil to Europe; 1971, British left Trucial Coast leaving 7 emirates as United Arab Emirates; Bahrein and Qatar remained separate; 1972-1977, expropriation of all foreign oil installations; used as base during 1991 Gulf War; 1992, territorial dispute with Saudia Arabia resolved but dispute with Bahrein unresolved; 1994, defense pact with US; 1995, King deposed by his son with subsequent liberal reforms and municipal elections with women suffrage; 21st century, US domination; 2001, US base for regional war; 2003, HQ for US attack on Iraq; 2005, revelation of US plans to bomb Al Jazeera TV network HQ.
Foreign occupation: UK (pre-1950); UK, US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.029m/0.628m = 4.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.013m/0.628m = 2.1%.
Saudi Arabia: about 1000BC, Ma’in, Himyar and Sheba (frankincense and myrrh, writing, Queen of Sheba); 6th century, Darius conquered Northern Arabia; 24BC, Romans invaded Northern Arabia; 330-378, Ethiopian control of South West Arabia; 525-570, further Ethiopian rule of South West Arabia; 570, Persian Sassanians expelled the Ethiopians; 7th century, foundation of Islam by Prophet Muhammed; unification of Arabian Peninsular; 7th-8th century, Arab conquest of Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, South West Asia, Egypt, North Africa and Spain; 732, Frank Charles Martel defeated the Arab invasion of France; caliphate transferred from Medina to Damascus; 1508-1659, Portuguese occupied Oman until expelled by the Ottoman Turks; 1799, Britain occupied Perim Island; 1839, Britain took Aden from the Turks; 1853, Trucial States of the Gulf recognized British dominance; 18th century, growth of Islamic Wahhhabi sect ; 1811-1816, Wahhabis defeated by Egyptian forces; mid-19th century Wahhabi revival; 1891, Wahhabis crushed by Rashid tribe; 1902, Ibn Saud promoted Wahhabism, captured Rijyadh; 1906, conquered Nejd; 1914, took Al-Hasa region; 1924-1925. conquered Hejaz; 1932, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under Ibn Saud; 1936 oil discovered by US Arabian Standard Oil Company (became ARAMCO); 1938, commercial oil production; 1945, joined UN and Arab League; mainly financial support for “front-line” states against Israel; 1951-1962, US airforce base at Dhahran; 1956, split with Nasser’s Egypt and allied with pro-Western Hashemite kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq (although past Saudi enemies); 1962, aided royalists against Egyptian-backed republicans; Faisal replaced Saud; 1970s, rapprochement with Egypt; encouraged UAE and good relations with pro-Western Iran; Saudi troops sent against leftist rebels in Yemen and Oman;1972-1974, increased control of oil industry to 60%; helped anti-Israel oil embargo in 1973; 1975, assassinated Faisal replaced by Khalid; Islamic orthodoxy and opposition to Egypt-Israel peace deal; 1979, Shah of Iran deposed, rise of Shi’ite fundamentalism; 1979, Islamist seizure of Mecca suppressed, hundreds killed; 1980, Shi’ite riots; financial support for Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war; full control of ARAMCO; 1981, Gulf Cooperation Council; 1982, King Fahd; 1987, Shi’ite Iranians rioted at Mecca during the Haj, 400 killed, Iran-Saudi relations severed; 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait; US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, 0.4 million Kuwaiti refugees came to Saudi Arabia; 1990s, bombings related to continuing US presence; 2001, 9/11 atrocity; leading Saudis flown out of the US; Saudi Al Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden accused over 9/11; US invaded Afghanistan; 2003, US invaded Iraq; Saudi constraints on US bases; more bombings in Saudi Arabia.
Foreign occupation: Turkey (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 2.752m/25.626m = 10.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 2.085m/25.626m = 8.1%.
Sudan: ancient Nubia; about 2000BC, conquered by Egypt; 8th century BC-4th century AD, ruled by Kingdom of Cush; 6th century, conversion to Coptic Christianity; 7th century, Egypt subject to Muslim Arab invasion but Nubia resisted; 13th-14th century, Nubia became Muslim; the South remained animist; 16th century-1821, northern Funj state; 1821, Conquered by Egypt under Muhammed Ali; slave and ivory trade; 1863-1879, Egyptian expansion south; 1881, revolt by the Mahdi (Muhammed Ahmed); 1885, General Gordon killed at Khartoum; the Mahdi died; 1896-1898, British Herbert (thence Lord Kitchener) defeated Mahdi followers at Obdurman with great ferocity; 1889, Anglo-Egyptian condominium over Sudan; 1924, South and North separated administratively; 1948, joint legislative council; 1952, Egyptian revolution; moves for independence; 1955, southern revolt; 1958, independence; 1958, military coup; 1964, civilian rule restored; 1972, truce with the South; 1973, new constitution and rule under Nimeiry; 1980s, unrest increased in the South; 1985, Sharia law, increased opposition to Muslim North and famine in the Christian-animist South; 1985, coup; 1986, civilian rule; 1989, military coup by General Bashir; 1990s, continued civil war, increased power of the Muslim Brotherhood and US hostility; US halted famine relief; 1991, Sudan supported Iraq; 1996, Bashir elected in opposition-boycotted election; 1999, multiparty rule restored; 1998, US cruise missiles destroyed a pharmaceutical plant (no evidence for claimed “chemical warfare use”; Chomsky estimated 10,000 consequent nation-wide deaths); 1998, cease-fire to permit humanitarian aid to the South; 2003-2004, agreements for peace in the civil war with withdrawal of government forces and joint government; millions had died; 2003, Western Darfur rebellion, horrendous raping, killing and village burning by government-linked militias; by 2005, 2 million displaced in Darfur, hundreds of thousands dead; 2005, final government-South peace agreement; Southern leader became Vice-President (1955-2005 excess mortality 12.4 million).
Foreign occupation: Egypt, Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 13.471m/35.040m = 38.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 6.225m/35.040m = 17.8%.
Syria: 4,000BC, beginnings of agriculture; 2100BC, Semitic Amorite settlement; 15th-13th century BC, Hittite dominated but came in conflict with Egypt ; 13th century BC, rise of Mediterranean Phoenician trading culture; 11th-6th century BC, Assyrian and Babylonian invasions; 6th – 4th century BC, Persian conquest; 333-331BC, Greek conquest under Alexander the Great; 4th-1st century BC, Seleucid dynasty and Hellenic culture; 1st century, Armenian and Parthian invasions; 63BC, Roman conquest; 1st century AD, Christianizing; 4th century, after division of Roman Empire; rule by Byzantium; 633-640, Arab Muslim conquest and conversion to Islam but with retention of a variety of Christian traditions (most notably the Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, Maronite and Nestorian); 11th-13th century Crusades; 12th century, Saladin defeated Crusaders; 1260, Mongol invasion and ravaging of Damascus and Aleppo (50,000 citizens slain); Mongols defeated by Egyptian Mamluks; 1410, Timur ravaged Damascus and Aleppo; 1516, conquest by Ottoman Turks; 1789-1799, coastal depredations by Napoleonic French forces; 1832-1833, Egyptians annexed Syria; 1840, British forced return to Ottoman rule; 1860, Lebanon autonomy; 1914-1918, Arab participation in the British defeat of the Turks but secret deception by the Allies (1916 Anglo-French Sykes-Picot Agreement dividing the Middle East between Britain and France); 1920, League of Nations mandate to France; 1925, Druze rebellion; French bombarded Damascus; 1926, Lebanon separated from Syria by France; 1936, Syria autonomy; 1939-1945, WW2; 1940, Vichy French control; 1941, British and Free French invaded; 1944, Syria independent; 1945, founding member of the UN; 1946, last French forces left; 1948, defeated in Arab-Israeli war; 1949, 3 coups; 1958-1961, joined with Egypt in the United Arab republic; 1963, coup yielded joint Ba’ath Party and military government; 1967, Israel invaded and occupied the Golan Heights; 1970, Alawite Assad came to power; 1973, Yom Kippur war; fighting with Israel; UN-supervised cease-fire; 1970s, rise in Sunni Islamic fundamentalism influenced by Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood; 1982, Hama uprising quelled and thousands killed; 1982, Israel annexed the Golan Heights; 1982-1985, Israeli occupation of Lebanon; 1982-2005, Syrian forces remained in Lebanon; 2000, Assad died and his son took over; opposition to the US Iraq War led to acute continuing threats from the US; 2005, assassination of former Lebanese PM Hariri forced Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon; continued US threats.
Foreign occupation: Turkey, Britain, France (pre-1950); Israel (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Israel; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 2.198m/18.650m = 11.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.718m/18.650m = 9.2%.
Tunisia: 10th century BC, Phoenician coastal settlement; 6th century BC, rise of Carthage; 2nd century BC, Carthage totally destroyed by the Romans; major food source for Rome; 5th century, Vandal conquest; 6th century, Byzantine rule; 7th century, “Ifriqiya” conquered by Muslim Arabs; Berber conversion to Islam; Arab-Berber tensions; 9th century-10th century, Aghlabid rule; 10th century-11th century, Zirid rule; 1050, Fatimid Egypt invaded; 12th century, coastal rule by Norman Sicily; 1159, conquered by Almohad Moroccco; 1230-1574, rule by Berber Hafsids; 16th century, Spanish seizures of coastal cities were reversed by Ottoman sea power; nominal Ottoman Turkish authority; rule by Berber beys; piracy dominant (part of the Barbary Coast); 1705-1957, Hussein bey dynasty; 19th century, increasing European intervention; 1869, Italy controlled finances; 1881-1883, French invasion and occupation; 1920s and 1930s, increased independence activism, Bourguiba leadership for independence; WW2, Vichy French rule defeated by the Allies (1942); post-war agitation for independence; 1952, imprisonment of Bourguiba led to violence; 1956, independence; 1957, the Bey was removed; 1957-1963, tensions over continued French military presence that ended with French withdrawal; 1970, settlement of border with Algeria; ; 1987, General Ben Ali coup removed Bourguiba; peace and cooperation with neighbouring countries; 1989, Islamist advances in elections led to repression and effective one-party rule.
Foreign occupation: Turkey, France, Britain (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 1.582m/10.042m = 15.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.568m/10.042m = 15.6%.
United Arab Emirates: pre-colonial trade with Persia and India; from 16th century, Portuguese incursions; Pirate Coast piracy; 1820, British agreements with Gulf sheiks; 1892, British protectorates established (Trucial States, Trucial Coast or Trucial Oman); 1968, confederation mooted but Bahrein and Qatar preferred independence; 1971, British withdrawal; Abu Dhabi Sheik al-Nahayan as leader; 1973, oil crisis, increased oil price and UAE wealth; 1981, joined Gulf Cooperation Council; 1979, overthrow of Iran Shah and growth of Islamic fundamentalism; 1990, Iraq hostility to Kuwait and UAE over overproduction of oil; Iraq invasion of Kuwait; 1991, UAE used by US-Coalition forces in the Gulf War; 21st century, great wealth; excellent health services; benign autocratic rule by sheiks; cooperation with the US-Coalition forces attacking Iraq and Afghanistan; 2004, presidential succession by Sheik al-Nahayan’s son.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.087m/3.106m = 2.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.046m/3.106m = 1.5%.
Yemen: 1st millennium BC, Minaean and Sabaean civilizations; 750BC-115BC, Sabaean kingdom (writing, aqueducts, dams, irrigation, frankincense and myrrh trade; celebrated Queen of Sheba); 2nd-1st century BC, Himyarites; 1st century BC, Roman conquest; 340-378AD, Ethiopian conquest; rise of Christianity and Judaism; 378-525, second Himyarite Kingdom; 525, Ethiopian conquest; 575-628, Persian rule; 7th century, Muslim conquest and conversion; 8th century-1962, Northern Yemen ruled by theocratic Rassite dynasty involving imams of the Zaidi sect; about 1000-1175, Egyptian rule under Fatamid caliphs; 1175-1250, rule by Ayyubids; 16th century, rule by Ottoman Empire; early 19th century, puritanical Wahhabi sect displaced Zaidi imams; 1818, Egyptians defeated Wahhabis; 1840-1918, Ottoman rule; 1839, British East India Company took Aden; 1854, 1857, Kuria Muria and Perim Islands to Britain; 1937, Southern Yemen as the British Aden Protectorate thence administered as the East and West Aden protectorates; 1959, British-ruled West Aden Protectorates formed the Federation of the Emirates of the South; 1963, British-ruled Aden became part of an enlarged Federation of South Arabia; 1886-1914, British protectorate agreements; (North) Yemen gained the region about the port of Hodeida; 1934, (North) Yemen hostilities with Saudi Arabia and Britain (protectorate of Aden) and subsequent border disturbances; WW2 neutrality; 1945, (North) Yemen joined the Arab League; 1947, (North) Yemen joined the UN; 1948, Imam assassinated and replaced; 1958-1961, (North) Yemen joined UAR with Egypt and Syria; 1961-1970, Saudi- and Jordan-backed royalist versus pro-Egyptian republican civil war; 1967, independence from Britain of Marxist South Yemen ; 1967-1972, 1979, fighting between North and South Yemen; 1989, Yemen unified; 1994, fighting between North and South army units; 1999, Saleh president after elections; 2000, USS Cole and British Embassy bombings in Aden; 2001, Yemen supported the US “War on Terror”; 21st century, Islamist versus government fighting.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 6.798m/21.480m = 31.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 5.135m/21.480m = 23.9%.
6.5 South East Asia – colonialism, colonial wars, US-driven war and militarization
Ancient Buddhism-inspired Burmese, Thai and Khmer civilizations defended themselves from each other and from China. The Hindu civilization of Java was eventually supplanted as Islam spread to Aceh and thence to Malaya, Indonesia and the Philippines. However British and French imperialism overtook Burma and Indo-China., respectively, in the 19th century. Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and British imperialism took the Philippines, Timor, Indonesia and Malaya, respectively, with inevitable revisions (such as successive Portuguese, Dutch and British rule over Sri Lanka), notably the Portuguese and Dutch division of Timor, British and Dutch division of Borneo and eventual US acquisition of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War of 1896.
Independence movements burgeoning in the 20th century were ultimately successful after Japanese occupation during WW2. However the US moved to fill a vacuum with major influence in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The post-war Indo-China War of the French was continued with devastating impacts by the US until 1975 and then supplanted by economic sanctions. The US-backed military coup in Indonesia in 1965 led to the immediate death of about 0.75 million Indonesian Chinese and socialists through brutal massacres but over the next 4 decades was associated with an excess mortality of 40.7 million Indonesians and the genocide of 0.2 million in East Timor. The outstandingly good outcome countries in this group are Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia with post-1950 excess mortality/current population ratios of 1.4%, 2.9% and 4.6%, respectively – these countries having had peace, prosperity and good governance as common attributes fro most of the post-1950 era.
Brunei: early immigration from southern China; 13th century, Islamic empire in Borneo; 16th century, Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish presence; 19th century, Dutch occupation of the southern part of Borneo (Kalimantan); 1841, sultan gave Sarawak to James Brooke (the British “white rajah” of Sarawak); British annexed the island of Labuan; British protectorate over Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei; 1929, oil discovered; 1942-1945, Japanese occupation; Sarawak and Sabah became British colonies, Kalimantan became part of the new, self-declared independent Indonesia; 1962, part of the Federation of Malaysia but with opposition from the Brunei People’ Party – their rebellion was defeated but Brunei withdrew from the Federation and remained a British protectorate; 1959, constitution; 1962, anti-monarchist electoral victory followed by state of emergency and disbandment of the legislative council; 1970, sultan appointed1977, Brunei accepted delayed independence from Britain, deferred until 1984; 1984, independent but sultan abolished the legislative council, the 1962 declaration of emergency remaining in force; 1987, financial support for US-backed Contras in Nicaragua was revealed; 1988, large-scale British military exercises; 2004, renewed appointed legislative council.
Foreign occupation: UK (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.020m/0.374m = 5.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.011m/0.374m = 2.9%.
Cambodia: 1st-6th century AD, Funan Empire; 4th century, Indian culture and religion introduced; 6th century, Khmers conquered Funan; 9th-13th century, peak of Khmer civilization and the marvel of Angkor Wat; 15th century, decline of Khmer Empire under pressure from Thailand; 17th century, pressure from Annam; 18th century, major territorial losses to the Thais and Annamese; 1854, French protectorate; 1863-1887, French invasion and Khmer resistance; 1941-1945, Japanese occupation; 1945, King Norodom Sihanouk declared independence, France re-invaded; eventual rapprochement with autonomy; 1949, independence within the French Union (French military and control over foreign affairs); 1953, French withdrew; 1954, Geneva Agreement, all foreign forces had to leave; 1955, full independence; 1955, Prince Sihanouk abdicated to participate in democracy; 1960, Sihanouk head of state; 1965, broke relations with US; 1969, huge bombing by US; 1970, US-backed coup installed Lon Nol; US invaded against the Khmer Rouge; 1975, Pnom Penh captured; 1976, Sihanouk was head of state but was thence exiled and the Khmer Rouge took over; 1976-1979, genocide, 1.5 million murdered; 1979, Vietnam invaded, ousted the Khmer Rouge and installed the Heng Samrin regime; 1990s, final defeat of Khmer Rouge; country crippled by legacy of bombing, war, genocide, civil war and landmines; 1998, Pol Pot died and the Khmer Rouge resistance collapsed (1975-1980 excess mortality 1.2 million;1965-1998 excess mortality 3.9 million ; 1999, joined ASEAN; liberal, royalist and socialist politics.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France, US, Vietnam (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, US, Vietnam; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 5.852m/14.825m = 39.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.180m/14.825m = 21.5%.
Indonesia: early immigration from southern China; 400BC, ancient Hindu and Buddhist Indonesian states in Sumatra and Java; 7 th-13 th century, Buddhist Sri Vijaya Kingdom of Sumatra; 15th century peak of Indo-Indonesian civilization (presently evidenced by continuing Balinese Hindu culture and the giant 800 AD Javanese Borobudur stupa); 13th century, major conversion to Islam; 1511, Portuguese captured Melaka; 1521, Spanish occupation of Moluccas; 1595, first Dutch exploration; 1602, British East Indies Company ships reached Aceh and Dutch East Indies Company ships arrived seeking spices; 17th-18th century, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and British conflict over the Spice Islands (e.g. the 1623 Ambon Massacre of English by the Dutch) and genocide of Indonesians by Dutch; 1798, Dutch government rule over the Dutch East Indies; 1811-1815, British rule; 1815, formal resumption of Dutch control – huge wealth from spices, peanuts, timber and palm oil; 1825, Javanese resistance; 1906-1908, Balinese resistance; 20 th century, almost continuous Acinese resistance to the Dutch and thence the Javanese; 1916, Volksraad of Indonesian nationalists; 1939, nationalist coalition formed; 1942-1945, Japanese occupation; 1945, Indonesia declared independence under Soekarno; 1945-1949, war of independence against UK-backed Dutch; 1949, independence under Dutch-Indonesian Union; 1954, full independence declared; 1955, Indonesia hosted important Bandung Conference of non-aligned nations; 1960s, confrontation between Indonesia and UK over Malaysia; 1963, Indonesia occupied West Irian (Western New Guinea); mid-60s, 3 million-strong Communist Party supported Soekarno, Royal Dutch Shell nationalized and PERTAMINO oil organization set up; 1965, US-backed coup by military under General Suharto on pretext of opposing a “communist coup” – 750,000 murdered (including many Chinese) and 200,000 imprisoned; 1967, Suharto formally made head of state; 1971, student riots; 1975, UK-US-Australia-approved invasion and occupation of Portuguese East Timor hours after US President Ford’s visit – genocide killed 200,000 out of 600,000 population; 1999 US-backed Suharto military dictatorship replaced by democratically elected government under Abdur Raman Wahid (Gus Dur) (1965-1999 excess mortality 33.3 million); 1999-2002, UN-supervised East Timorese independence; 2004, tsunami tragedy (200,000 dead in Aceh); 2005, peace accord ended over 4 decades of Acinese armed resistance.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, Netherlands, Japan, UK (pre-1950); Netherlands (West Irian) (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Netherlands (West Irian); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 71.521m/225.313m = 31.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 34.516m/225.313m = 15.3 %.
Laos: 13th century, Thai tribes spread into the region from Southern China; 14th century, Fa Ngoun unified North East Thailand and Laos as Lan Xang (Land of a Million Elephants); introduction of high cultureand Theravada Buddhism; 14th-17th century, Lang Xang domination of the region; 18th century, Lan Xang split into the Luang Prabang, Champassac and Vientiane regions; 1827, revolt of Vientiane against the Thais was suppressed; 1893, French protectorate over Luang Prabang with the rest subsumed into Indo-China; 1942-1945, Japanese occupation; Sufanuvong proclaimed independence; French re-occupation and Communist Pathet Lao revolt; 1949, independence as part of French Union; 1953, final independence; 1958, leftist election victory but US hostility led to US-backed military government under Nosavang; 1960, Vientiane fell to pro-US forces after heavy bombing; 1962, tripartite agreement on government of national unity; 1964-1975, huge US bombing, especially of the Ho Chi Minh Trail (more bombs than on all Europe in WW2); 1973, Pathet Lao forced US advisers and Thai mercenaries to leave; 1975, free of foreigners under Sufanuvong; Communist Pathet Lao government (1955-1975 excess mortality 1.1 million); 1990s, increasing economic pluralism; 1997, joined ASEAN.
Foreign occupation: Thailand, France, Japan (pre-1950); France, Thailand, US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, Thailand, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 2.653m/5.918m = 44.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.383m/5.918m = 23.4%.
Malaysia: before 1,000 BC, Malay people from southern China; 1st millennium AD, rice farming, fishing and trade with major Indian cultural influence; 5th century, Mekong Buddhist Funan kingdom spread to the Eastern coast of the peninsular; 15th century, Melaka (Malacca) founded, Islamic conversion, independence from tribute to Thailand; 1509, first Portuguese; 1511, Portuguese under de Alberquerque seized Melaka to secure transit of spices from the Moluccas; 16th century, Johor, Aceh and Brunei sultanates; 17th century, Dutch-Johor alliance removed Portugal from Melaka; 1786, British founded Georgetown on Penang; trade involved Chinese, Indians, Sumatrans and Malays; 1819, British under Raffles founded Singapore; 1824, British-Dutch treaty – Malaya and North Borneo British and South Borneo (Kalimantan) and the rest of Indonesia Dutch; 1816-1841, conflict with Thailand over northern states; 19th century, Chinese labor for tin mines, Tamil labor for rubber plantations (Hevea seeds smuggled from Brazil); 1870s onwards, British protectorate agreements with sultanates; 1896, federation of Malay Peninsula sultanates under British protection and similar protectorates over Brunei, Sarawak and Sabah; 20th century political movements of Chinese (Sun Yat Sen, Communism), Indians (Congress and Gandhi) and Malays (Islamic reform) – British divide-and-rule political and economic arrangements; 1942-1945, Japanese occupation , Communist resistance and end of British invincibility; 1948-1960, Communist revolt suppressed by British and Commonwealth allies (Malaya Emergency) (1950-1960 excess mortality 1.0 million; 0.5 million Chinese resettled); 1957, independence under Tunku Abdul Rahman; special laws for advancement of Malays (Bumiputera); 1963, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah joined Federation; 1963-1965, Confrontation with Indonesia; 1965, Chinese-dominated Singapore left the Malaysian Federation; 1967, joined ASEAN; 1969, loss of governing UMNO seats to Islamic and Chinese parties; serious anti-Chinese race riots and 2 year suspension of parliament; 1981, Mahatir elected; retention of Internal Security Act (detention without trial), support for Third World and Muslim countries, criticism of First World impositions, economic independence, deforestation; 1998-1999, recession; Malaysia adopted a successful non-IMF strategy of controlling capital markets and suspending trade in its currency; 1998-2004, charging, imprisonment and ultimate release of deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim; 2003, Mahatir stepped down and was replaced by Bedawi.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, Britain, Japan (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK and allies; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 2.344m/25.325m = 9.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.176m/25.325m = 4.6%.
Myanmar: 11th century, Burmese conquered Hmongs and Kadus and formed Pagan state based on the rich rice-growing areas around the Irrawaddy River; 11th-13th century, major era of Burmese civilization; 1283-1301, Mongol invasion and occupation; Pagan state destroyed; 14th-16th century, small, ethnic-based states - Shan in the North and Hmong in the South; 16th century, Burmese Toungoo dynasty subjugated the Shans and reunited the region including parts of Laos and Thailand with subsequent high prosperity and culture; 18th century, increasing contact with Portuguese, Dutch, French and British traders; 1820-1826, 1852-1853 and 1885-1886 Anglo-Burmese wars; 1886, Burma became part of British India; 1930s, recession, increasing independence agitation and increased xenophobia against British, Chinese and Indians; 1937, administrative separation from British India; 1942-1945, Japanese occupation; lack of rice exports to Bengal exacerbated the price-driven Bengal Famine (4 million deaths); 1943, Burma made “independent” with Burmese National Army under General Ne Win; 1945, army declared war on Japan; 1947, Aung San led the independence movement, organized the transition government and drafted a constitution but was then assassinated; 1948, independence under U Nu (Buddhist socialism); US-backed, defeated Chinese Kuomintang forces involved in heroin trade and major ethnic separatism; 1960, U Nu re-elected; 1962, General Ne Win overthrew U Nu; subsequent military rule for over 4 decades associated with gross human rights abuses, ethnic rebellions, opium trade and extreme poverty; 1979, Burma withdrew from the non-aligned movement; 1988, Ne Win retired and was replaced by other generals; name changed to Myanmar; 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi (daughter of nationalist hero Aung San) won landslide victory (80% of vote, 400 out of 485 seats) while in detention; 21st century, continuing gross civil rights abuses; 2005, Aung San Suu Kyi (1991 Nobel Peace Prize) is still in detention and the military still in power (1962-2005 excess mortality 15.5 million) .
Foreign occupation: Britain, Japan (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US-backed defeated Chinese Kuomintang army; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 20.174m/50.696m = 39.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 9.992m/50.696m = 19.7%.
Philippines: 900 BC Neolithic culture; early migration from southern China; 2nd-15th century, migration from Indonesia; 15th century, Islam spread to southern regions; 1521, Magellan arrived (and died there); 1564, Spanish rule established but continuing Muslim resistance; 19th century, independence movement suppressed; 1898, independence declared but Spain ceded the Philippines to the US (Spanish-American War Paris Armistice); 1899-1913, Philippines-US War, 1 million Filipinos died in this war of national liberation against US forces under General MacArthur I; 1942-1945, Japanese occupation and immense atrocities; 1945, US General Douglas MacArthur II “returned”; 1946, independence but immense poverty due to landless peasantry, urban poor, entrenched elites and US bases; 1966, Marcos elected, increasing repression by a US-backed régime increasingly opposed by the Catholic Church; huge US bases of Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay Naval Base; 1983, Benito Aquino assassinated on his return at Manila Airport; 1986, electoral fraud blocked by widowed Corazon Aquino; Marcos was finally exiled by popular, military-backed consensus; subsequent democracy – although there have been unsuccessful military insurrections and continuing Muslim insurrection in the South; 21st century, continuing political corruption, poverty and Muslim rebellion problems; 2003, troops in Iraq; 2004, troops withdrawn from Iraq over a Filipino hostage.
Foreign occupation: Spain, US, Japan (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 9.080m/82.089m = 11.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 6.665m/82.809m = 8.0%.
Singapore: 13th century, originally Temasek inhabitants (people of the sea) and thence Singapura (city of the lion); 1819, British East Indies base under Raffles; 1824, Singapore Island and adjacent islands purchased by Raffles; key part of British Straits Settlements; 1942, “impregnable” Singapore fell to the Japanese with surrender of about 100,000 Allied soldiers (Australian, British and Indian); 1945, Allied victory; 1946, Singapore Labor Union general strike; 1948, anti-colonial uprising suppressed; Communists declared illegal and took to the jungle; 1949, municipal elections for English speakers; 1954, Socialist People’s Action Party (PAP); 1957, Malaysian independence; 1959, PAP victory and Lee Kuan Yew prime minister of independent Singapore in Federation with Malaysia; PAP split into conservative mainstream and leftist Barisan Socialists favouring Malaysian federation; 1965, Singapore withdrew as an independent republic from the Federation in the context of Chinese-Malay differences; 1965-1975, Singapore economic benefit from Vietnam War; 1967, ASEAN membership; access of US warships to the Singapore naval base; 1974, oil crisis and increasing political conservatism to accommodate international corporate involvements; 1984, PAP re-elected with only 2 opposition members out of 79 members; 1987, opposition politician Jayaratnam removed from office; 1988, only 1 opposition member; 1980s onwards, great economic growth and wealth with diminished dissent; 1990 Lee Kuan Yew retired and replaced by Goh Chock Tong; 2004, Lee Hsien Loong (son of Lee Kuan Yew) replaced Goh.
Foreign occupation: Britain, Japan (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.113m/4.372m = 2.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.061m/4.372m = 1.4%.
Thailand: Shan and Lao peoples in Northern Thailand; 7th century AD, Thai kingdom of nanchao in Yunnan; 11th century, Nanchao a tributary of China; 1253, Mongol conquest; 13th century, Thais captured Khmer Sukhothai founded Siam; 13th-18th century, conflict with Khmers (East) and Burmese (North West); 1260, Rama I founded the present dynasty; adoption of Khmer alphabet; 19th century, increasing European influence; British and French conflict over hegemony; 1896, Anglo-French accord, Thais preserved independence; WW1, Siam with Allies; 1932, coup limited powers of monarchy; 1941, accommodation under Pibul with Japan, occupation of part of North Malaya; 1946, relinquished North Malaya territory; 1946, Rama VIII assassinated, pro-US Rama IX installed, subsequent post-war pro-US stance; 1947-1957, Pibul dictatorship; Thai forces to the Korean War; 1954, US-allied South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) based in Bangkok; 1961-1975, large US military presence, increased militarization, drug trade and prostitution; 1974, restored civilian rule; 1975, elections, anti-US Prince Pramoj; 1976, pro-US coup and student demonstrations; 1977, 2nd coup, more liberal military, assistance to anti-Vietnamese Khmer Rouge; 1981, failed military coup with Establishment complicity, General Prem prime minister; 1983, elections and continued democracy but with entrenched corruption, drug trade, prostitution and HIV/AIDS; 1985, 1991, further unsuccessful coups; 21st century, increasing insurrection in southern Muslim areas; 2004, tsunami disaster.
Foreign occupation: WW2 Japanese hegemony (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US (bases, hegemony, military training and involvement); ; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 3.756m/64.081m = 5.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 5.442m/64.081m = 8.5%.
Timor-Leste: pre-colonial source of sandalwood for Chinese; 16th century, Portuguese occupation; 1719, rebellion suppressed; 1859, Portugal and the Netherlands divided the island; 1895, rebellion suppressed; 1904, Portuguese-Netherlands agreement ratified; 1942-1945, Japanese occupation; 1959, rebellion suppressed; 1974, metropolitan Portuguese Salazar dictatorship removed, pro-independence Fretilin and pro-Indonesian conflict and Portuguese withdrawal; 1975, independence declared by Fretilin followed by UK-US-Australia-backed invasion and occupation by Indonesia; 1975-1999, genocide of 200,000 East Timorese out of a population of about 600,000; 1999, UN-supervised plebiscite overwhelmingly for independence but followed by horrendous mass murder and destruction by Indonesian military and militias; UN peace keeping intervention (1975-2000 excess mortality 0.3 million); 2001, elections; 2002, Xanana Gusmao elected president; independence; continuing dispute with Australia over Timor Gap oil reserves (previously appropriated by Australia in agreement with Indonesia); 2006, renewed instability and renewed Australian and UN presence.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, Japan (pre-1950); Portugal, Indonesia, UN (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Portugal, Indonesia, UN; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.694m/0.857m = 81.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.236m/0.857m = 27.5%.
Vietnam: 9th century, defeated Chinese invasion; 13th century, defeated Mongol invasion; 15th-19th century, continuing conflict with China; 1860, French commenced occupation; 1920, pro-independence movements; WW2, resistance to Japanese by Viet Minh founded by Ho Chi Minh; 1945, war against French; 1954, French disaster with Vietnamese capture of Dien Bien Phu; Geneva Agreement for North and South regions and elections; US violated the agreement by setting up the South Vietnam régime; 1960, National Liberation Front war against US-backed South Vietnamese régime; escalation of the Vietnam War led to involvement of Cambodia and Laos, 580,000 US troops in 1969, greater tonnage of US bombs dropped on Vietnam than in all of WW2, defoliant use, about 50,000 US dead, 5 million Vietnamese deaths; 1975, liberation of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and US withdrawal (1955-1975 excess mortality 11.9 million); 1979, overthrow of genocidal Khmer Rouge Pol Pot regime; border war with China; 1995, Vietnam-US rapprochement and cessation of US economic sanctions; 21st century, improving economy; major concerns over avian flu infection of humans.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France, US & US allies (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US and US allies (Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Philippines); post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 24.015m/83.585m = 28.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 8.830m/83.585m = 10.6%.
6.6 The Pacific – colonialism, disease, war and maladministration
The Pacific Islands were variously settled from South East Asian-derived Micronesians (e.g. Guam and Micronesia), Melanesians (Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Solomons and Fiji) and Polynesians (Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand). While the Spanish had brutally seized Micronesian islands in the 17th century, European imperialism involving Britain, France, Germany and the US commenced in earnest in the 19th century. However Western intrusion into the South Pacific brought devastation due to introduced disease with possibly a million dying. Thus in 1874 about 40,000 Fijians died from measles out of a population of about 150,000. Malaria in New Guinea and the Solomons restricted European settlement there and consequent dispossession of indigenous peoples as occurred in Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. With a mixture of independence and continuing European rule or association, there have been mixed mortality outcomes in the Pacific. Notwithstanding economic and racial tensions, Fiji (with an annual per capita income of only about $2,300) has produced outstanding post-1950 mortality outcomes through peace, the rule of law, education and good governance.
Federated States of Micronesia: pre-colonial Micronesian fishing and agrarian culture; 1521, Spaniard Magellan reached Marianas; 17th century Spanish colonization and conversion; 1885, attempted German protectorate but Spanish retention with Vatican intervention; 1898, Treaty of Paris, Guam handed to US; 1898, Marianas, Carolinas and Marshall Islands sold to Germany; 1914, WW1, Japanese occupation; 1918, US-Japanese demilitarization agreement; 1935, US-Japanese accord broken; 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (under acute US pressure and with US foreknowledge) followed by war in Micronesia and US conquest; 1947, US trust territory under a UN mandate; 1947-1948, Bikini atoll atomic bomb tests; 1954, Eniwetok hydrogen bomb tests; 1968, Bikini and dozens of other sites declared safe but were still radioactive in 1977; continued military use and Johnson Island used for war gas storage; 1979, self-governing; 1982, voted for US Compact of Free Association with US involving US control over foreign affairs; 1986, independence with US control over external affairs; 1991, joined UN; 2002, Compact with the US renewed for 20 years; 21st century, mounting concerns over global warming, sea level rise and storm surges (shared by Maldives, Kiribati and other island states together with deltaic regions such as Bengal and Louisiana).
Foreign occupation: Spain, Germany, Japan, US (pre-1950); US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.016m/0.111m = 14.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.007m/0.111m = 6.6%.
Fiji: 3000BC, first settlement, Lapita pottery; 1500BC, Melanesian settlement; 1643, Dutch explorer Tasman; 1774, British Cook reached the Lau Islands; 1789, British Captain Bligh reached Fiji in an open boat; 1808, Kasavu village massacre by musket-armed, ship-wrecked British sailor Charlie Savage; 1806, epidemic from shipwrecked Argo sailors; 1830, first Christian missionaries; 1840, US Commodore Wilkes visited but was subsequently tried and acquitted over abuses; 1871, chiefly federation based on Levuka, Ovalau; 1874, cession to Britain by Fijians concerned over US threat; 1875, party of Chief Cakobau returned from Sydney with measles; 40,000 died out of a 150,000 population; 1879, first Indian indentured labor (5 year slaves) on the ship Leonidas; male to female ratio about 2; 1920, “Girmit” indentured labor system ceased; flu epidemic killed about 5,000; 1970, independence under Fijian-dominated Alliance led by Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara; 1982, Alliance rule continued; 1987, multi-racial Fijian-Indian labor government under Dr Bavadra followed by 2 military coups by Rabuka and republic status – but the so-called “bloodless coup” led to a subsequent increased excess mortality of about 4,500; about 100,000 Indo-Fijians migrated (mainly to North America, New Zealand and Australia); 1998, new constitution; 1999, first Indian prime minister Chaudhry heading the multiracial Fiji Labor Party; 2000 Fijian coup led by Anglo-Fijian Speight with major Fijian political complicity and followed by military rule and military-installed ethnically indigenous Fijian interim government under Qarase; 2001, new elections won by Fijian United Party (SDL, ethnically indigenous Fijian); 2003, Supreme Court ruled exclusion of Indians from government illegal; 2005, major tourist resort expansion on track, major income from soldiers serving overseas, devastating EU sugar price decrease foreshadowed; threat of military coup if 2000 coup participants released from prison.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, New Zealand; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.054m/0.854m = 6.3%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.056m/0.854m = 6.6%.
French Polynesia: first millennium AD, Austronesian expansion to Tahiti and the Marquesas; 1606, de Quiros “discovered” Tahiti; 1767, Wallis arrived; 1768, Bougainville arrived; 1769, Cook arrived; 1774, Spanish exploration; 1791, Bligh arrived; 1797, London Missionary Society; 1820, Bellinghausen (Russia); 18th-19 th century, French missionaries; 1840, French invasion; 1843, French annexation; 1770-1843, population collapse from 40,000 to 6,000 due to French-introduced disease; 1880, official French colony; 1958, “French Overseas Territory”; 1966, atomic tests on Muraroa atoll; 1975, underground tests on Fangataufa atoll; 1960s onwards, international and local opposition to nuclear tests, pressures for decolonization and heavy military presence; 1984, constitution with limited autonomy; 1985, Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior sunk in New Zealand by French agents; 1989, European Parliament rejected inquiry into nuclear-related health matters; 21st century, continuing pro-independence movement.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.018m/0.252m = 7.1%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.004m/0.252m = 1.5%.
Guam: 3000BC, settlement from China and Formosa (Taiwan); 1521, Spanish Magellan “discovered” Micronesia; 1565, claimed by Spain and conversion to Catholicism; 1668-1695, genocidal invasion by the Spanish – massive decline of Chamorro people from 100,000 (1700) to 5,000 (1741); 1700-1898, stop-over en route from Philippines to Spain via Mexico; 1898, Treaty of Paris concluded the Spanish-American War with transfer of Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rica and Cuba to the US; 1941, Japanese invasion; 1944, re-conquest by US; 1950, US citizenship; 1973, UN urging for independence; 1982, 75% plebiscite vote for US-Guam association scheme; 1987, new association with US; 1988, catastrophic typhoon; 21st century, US citizens, elected governor, no Congressman and 1/3 of the island devoted to a major US base.
Foreign occupation: Japan, Spain, US (pre-1950); US (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: US; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.0.005m/0.168m = 3.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.008m/0.168m = 4.9%.
New Caledonia: 1000BC Austronesian settlement; 1774, “discovered” by Cook; 1853, indigenous Kanak population about 27,000; French annexation and subsequent settlement with convicts; 1860, Kanak resistance defeated and Kanaks relocated to reserves; 1860, measles introduced and 25% of indigenous population died; 1867-1897, penal settlement; 1878, further rebellion and destruction of French settlements; 1900s, further removal of Kanak land; 1917, further Kanak rebellion; 1921, Kanak population 18,600; 1946, French overseas territory;1960s-1980s, nickel boom; 1990s, continuing Kanak drive for land rights; 1998, Noumea Accords postponed independence discussions until 2013; 2000, Kanaks 54,000 out of total population of 145,000.
Foreign occupation: France (pre-1950); France (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 7.2%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.003m/0.237m = 1.3%.
Papua New Guinea: 40,000BC, first human settlement; 10000-7000BC, first agriculture; 7000-3000BC, sophisticated highland valley agriculture; 1511, “discovered” by Portuguese d’Abreu; 1828, Netherlands claimed the western half (now Indonesian West Irian); 1885; north eastern New Guinea under Germany and south eastern Papua under Britain; 1905, Papua under Australian administration; 1914, WW1, Australia captured German New Guinea; 1919, Papua-New Guinea an Australian League of Nations mandate; 1942, Japanese invasion halted; 1945, Australian UN Trusteeship; 1951, limited home rule; 1963, West New Guinea transferred to Indonesia (with subsequent, continuing indigenous opposition); 1969, Bougainville protests over copper mine environmental damage; 1972, mine established; 1975, independence with post-independence aid from Australia; 1989, copper mine shut down by Bougainville revolutionary army; 1975-1991, PNG military operations backed by Australia; thousands died (mostly from disruption and lack of medicine); a markedly increased PNG excess mortality totalling 35,000 in the period 1985-2000 correlates with the Bougainville conflict; 1997, coup plot by a UK-South African mercenary force was neutralized; 1998, earthquake-triggered tsunami, 1500 died; 21st century, mining- and forestry-related abuses, lawlessness, corruption, and HIV/AIDs epidemic.
Foreign occupation: Germany, Britain, Australia (pre-1950); Australia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: Australia; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.2.091m/5.959m = 35.1%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.918m/5.959m = 15.4%.
Samoa (Western): 1200BC, Austronesian advance and Polynesian settlement; 1722, Dutch “discovery” (Roggeveen) followed by French traders; 19th century, UK, US and German interests; 1830, first missionaries; 1878, treay with the US; 1885, German settlement and copra industry; 1889, territory divided by Treaty of Berlin – Germany (West) and US (East, now part of the US); 1900, agreement on German “ownership” with Britain “owning” Solomons and Tonga; 1914, WW1, New Zealand occupied Western Samoa and thence ruled it as a League of Nations Trust (from 1920); 1920, influenza epidemic, 21% of population died; 1920s, start of Mau independence movement; 1929, New Zealand troops fired on demonstrators; 1946, UN trust territory of New Zealand; 1961, UN decolonization pressure led to plebiscite; 1962, independence as a constitutional monarchy; 1990, women’s suffrage; 2002, apology by the prime minister of New Zealand to Samoa for past wrongs.
Foreign occupation: Germany, New Zealand, US (pre-1950); New Zealand (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: New Zealand; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.039m/0.182m = 21.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.034m/0.182m = 18.7%.
Solomon Islands: 1600BC, Austronesian expansion from South Eastern Asia reached Solomons; 1568, Spanish de Mendena de Neira “discovered” the Solomons; 18th-19th century, slavery (“Kanaka” blackbirding) to Fiji and Australian plantations; missionaries, slavery and trade associated with catastrophic epidemics; 1886, Britain and Germany agreed on Pacific holdings; Britain secured much of the Solomons; 1900, Germany transferred its holdings (except for Bougainville and Buka) to Britain; WW1, Bougainville and Buka occupied by Australia;1942, Japanese invasion; 1943-1944, huge US-Japanese battles on Guadalcanal; 1945, UK back; 1976, internal autonomy; 1978, independent; 1987-1988, US ship detained; 1988, republic within British Commonwealth; 1990s, problems associated with war on adjacent Bougainville; 1999, indigenous Guadalcanal Isatabus expelled 20,000 Malaitans; Malaitan Eagle Force seized Honiara; armed lawlessness; 2003, Australian peace keeping force intervened and disarmed militias.
Foreign occupation: Britain, Japan, US (pre-1950); UK, Australia (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK, Australia; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.05m/0.504m = 9.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.036m/0.504m = 7.1%.
Tonga: 1200BC, Austronesians arrived; 1616, first Dutch explorers; 1643, Dutch Tasman; 1773, 1777, British Cook visited the “Friendly Islands”; 18th–19th century, tribal wars; 1845-1893, King George Tupou I (a Christian) expanded the Tongan empire and saved Tonga from colonization; 1862, constitution and legal system; 1893-1918, King George Tupou II; 1889, Anglo-German agreement over Pacific areas of influence; 1890, British protectorate; 1918-1965, Queen Salote Tupou III; 1965, King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV; 1970, independence; authoritarian government dominated by an hereditary ruler; late 1980s, agitation for democratization; 21st century, constraints on freedom of speech.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.020m/0.106m = 18.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.020m/0.106m = 18.9%.
Vanuatu: 1500-1600BC, Austronesian expansion reached the Bismark and Solomons archipelagoes; 1605, Portuguese de Quiros named Tierra del Espiritu Santo; 1750, de Bougainville circumnavigated; 1774, Cook named the New Hebrides; 19th century, traders, sandalwood exploitation, semi-slavery on plantations, slavery (blackbirding), importation of Vietnamese labour by the French, missionary activity; 1860, epidemic of measles introduced by Europeans killed 25% of the population; 1864, first New Hebrides and Solomons slave labor (“Kanaka” blackbirding) arrived in Fiji; 1887, joint Anglo-French naval Commission; 1906, Anglo-French Condominium; 1942-1945, major US war-time base; post war pro-independence activity; 1975, Melanesian voting for Legislative Assembly; 1979, pro-independence Vanuatu Party won 2/3 of vote over pro-French and pro-colonial interests; 1979-1980, French settlers and US interests behind Espiritu Santo rebellion; suppressed by Britain and France with Papua New Guinea assistance; 1980, independence; post-independence democracy and political corruption.
Foreign occupation: France, Britain, US (pre-1950); France, UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: France, PNG, UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.037m/0.222m = 16.7%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.029m/0.222m = 13.1%.
6.7 South Asia – the disastrous legacy of rapacious British imperialism
The Indus valley was the site of one of the earliest civilizations. The original Dravidian peoples were forced south by subsequent Indo-European invaders. Hindu civilization (and thence Buddhism) still has a major impact in South Asia and South East Asia. The Mughal Empire brought a tolerant Islamic régime and central administration to South Asia. The huge defeat of the Hindu Marathas by an Afghan-Mughal coalition in the mid-18th century (the Battle of Panipot, 1760) occurred at a time of major expansion of British power in India at the expense of the French.
British exploitation of India was rapacious and highly destructive to human life and to a sophisticated civilization. Thus rapacious taxation and British disregard led to destruction of Indian industry, commerce and institutions and a succession of immense famines from the Great Bengal Famine (1769-1770, 10 million victims) to the man-made WW2 Bengal Famine (1943-1945, 4 million victims). The excess mortality in British-ruled India, calculated for the 8 decades since 1870 using published population and mortality data, 9 was 0.7 billion (the population increasing from 208 million in 1875 to 337 million in 1945 and the annual death rate decreasing over the same period from 48/1000 to 35/1000). British departure left a bitterly divided sub-continent and a legacy of communal violence, militarization and war leading to the obscenity of military nuclearization. A legacy of corruption, militarization, poverty and illiteracy have led to massive population growth associated with horrendous excess mortality. However the examples of Sri Lanka and the Maldives (Table 2.11) demonstrate that good mortality outcomes are achievable in this region with modest annual per capita income, good literacy, peace and good governance.
Bangladesh: neolithic culture; 1st millennium, ancient Bangla, written history; 800BC, Aryan Hindu culture dominant in Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal; 1576-1757, part of the Mughal Empire; 1576, conquered by Akbar; good administrations; taxes to zamindars, the Nawab and thence to the Mughal Emperor; 16th-18th century, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, French and British traders; 1756, Siraj-ud-daulah captured British Fort William (Calcutta); genesis of the alleged “Black Hole” demonization; 1757, Clive victory at Plassey; 1757-1857, domination by British East India Company; rapacious taxation, famine, destruction of the important indigenous textile industry and genesis of the opium trade to China; 1769-1770, Great Bengal Famine, 10 million victims (1/3 of the population); 1975-1985, Warren Hastings first governor-general of India; subsequently impeached by the British Parliament for his crimes in India (e.g. violation of the Begums of Oudh) but was acquitted; 19th century, cholera epidemics and famines; 1857, Indian “Mutiny”; 1905, administrative separation of West and East Bengal; 1919, influenza epidemic; 1943-1944 (peak), man-made Bengal Famine, 4 million deaths; 1940s, famine- and Partition-influenced demographic deficit of 10 million in Bengal; 1947, independence associated with Hindu West Bengal, Muslim East Pakistan Partition; millions displaced, 100,000 killed; 1970, Awami League victorious in Pakistan elections; 1971, US-backed West Pakistan military discarded the election results, invaded East Pakistan (East Bengal); 3 million killed (mostly men and boys in a “male gendercide”), 0.3 million women and girls raped, 10 million refugees; 1972, Bangladesh founded; 1974, famine; 1975, US-backed coup and assassination of Sheik Mujibur Rahman; 1990s, restoration of democracy; 1991, Bangladesh Nationalist Party elected; 1996, Awami League elected; 21st century, huge population, groundwater arsenic, poverty, global warming and inundation concerns; continuing democracy.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); West Pakistan (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: West Pakistan (expelled by India); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 51.196m/152.593m = 33.6%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 32.908m/152.593m = 21.6%.
Bhutan: 7th century, Doukpa Buddhist culture; from 16th century, joint temporal (Deb Raja) and spiritual (Dharma Raja) leadership; 1774, first British contact; 1865, British occupation; 1907, Ugen Wangchuch established an hereditary monarchy; 1774, 1865, successive accommodations with the British; 1910, Treaty of Punalka, British protection but non-interference internally; 1949, treaty with India for protectorate without internal interference; 1960s, source of China-India tensions; 1971, joined UN; 21st century, continuing rule by monarchy; 1970s onwards, progressive democratization; 1989, expulsion of many Nepalese; 1990s onwards, Bhutan a base for Assamese and Bengali guerrillas.; 2006, UK study found Bhutan to be “happy” despite great poverty.
Foreign occupation: British protection (pre-1950); British, Indian protection (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: none; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.908m/2.392m = 38.0%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.597m/2.392m = 25.0%.
India: 3000-1700BC, Harappa and Mohenjo Daro civilizations in the Indus Valley; about 16 th century BC, BC, Aryan Indo-European invasion of the Punjab and the Gangetic plain; Brahmanic culture; 800BC, Aryan Hindu culture dominant in Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal; Magadha (based at Patna, encompassing Bihar and Jkarkand) and Kosala (based at Ayodha, the birthplace of Lord Rama; encompassing Oudh or modern Uttar Pradesh); 540-490BC, Magadha King Bimbisara, Jainism and Buddhism; 563-483BC, Buddha; subsequent dominant Hindu-Buddhist culture; 327-325 BC, transient Greek invasion of NW India under Alexander the Great ; Chandragupta of Magadha ousted the Greeks invaders and founded the Mauryan Empire; 274-232BC, Ashoka extended the Mauryan Empire over nearly all India; 185BC, Mauryan collapse; 2nd century BC, South Indian prosperity, Tamil Pandya and Chola states; 4th century-1st century BC, Indo-Greek Bactrian state (Afghanistan) supplanted through Scythian, Parthian, Afghan and Kushan invasions; 2nd century AD, Kushan state of Gandhara under King Kanishka in NW India; 4th and 5th century AD, Gupta dynasty dominated N India; 8th–13th century, major kingdoms included Palas (Bihar and Bengal), Chola (Tanjore), Chalukya (Deccan), Rajput (N India); 10th-11th century, Muslim incursions and Rajput resistance; Mahmud of Ghazna; 1192, Muslim Ghor defeated Hindus; sultanate of Delhi established; 13th century, Mongol incursions; 14th-16th century, Central Asian Muslim incursions by Timur and his successors; Vijayanagar Hindu Kingdom dominated S India; 1398, Delhi captured by Timur; 16th century, Barbur (1483-1530) founded the Muslim Mughal Empire; 1526, First Battle of Panipat, Muslims under Barbur victorious over Hindus; 16th-18th century, Mughal Empire, administrative efficiency, cultural flowering; Akbar (ruled 1556-1605); Jahangir (ruled 1605-1627); circa 1650, Taj Mahal built by Shah Jehan (ruled 1628-1658); Aurangzeb (ruled 1658-1707); 16th-18th century, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, French and British incursions; 1600, British East India Company (EIC) formed; 1640, British Fort George, Madras (Chennai); 1687, British Bombay (Mumbai); 1698, British Fort William in Calicut (Calcutta); 18th century, major British victories over the French in South India; 1756, Bengal Nawab Siruj-ud-daulah captured Fort William (with the demonizing alleged Black Hole of Calcutta incident); 1757, Clive victory at Plassey through bribery; 1760, Hindu Marathas defeated by Muslim-Afghan confederacy under Ahmed Shah at the Third Battle of Panipat; EIC taxation of Bengal; 1769-1770, famine killed over-taxed Bengalis; 10 million (1/3 of population) perished; 1775-1785, Warren Hastings, 1st Governor-General of India; extended British control to Oudh (Utter Pradesh); further British victories over the French , the Mughal Empire, the Marathas, and the S Indian rulers of Mysore Haidar Ali and Tipu Ali; 1786-1795, Hastings impeached for crimes in India but was eventually acquitted; early 19th century, British conquests in India under Wellington and others; 1843, Sind conquered; 1849, Punjab, Kashmir and Peshawar annexed; 18th – 20th century, British rule associated with, massive taxation, destruction of indigenous textile industry, spread of cholera through railways and shipping (25 million deaths) and massive famines (tens of millions of deaths), not6ably: 1769-1770, Bengal (10 million deaths); 1782-1784, Gangetic plain; 1866-1874, Orissa and Bengal; Rajasthan (recurrently); 1899-1902, huge famine in northern India; 1943-1944, Bengal Famine (4 million victims); 1919-1921, influenza killed 17 million; population static from 1890s to mid-1930s (due to plague, famine and influenza); 1935-1947, excess mortality 50 million; 1857, Indian Mutiny suppressed with ferocity; British government took over control from EIC; 1877, Queen Victoria, Empress of India; 1914-1918, WW1, major Indian military involvement; 1919, Amritsar massacre; 1920s and 1930s, Congress agitation for self-rule led by Nehru and Gandhi; 1935, Government of India Act, provincial self-government, Congress and Muslim League participation in elections; 1939-1945, WW2, 2.4 million Indians in the army; huge decrease in grain imports; imprisonment of leading independence advocates; Bengal Famine (4 million deaths; 1940s, Bengal demographic deficit about 10 million); 1947, Independence and India-Pakistan partition associated with 18 million refugees (8 million Muslims and 10 million Hindus) and 0.5-1 million deaths; avoidable mortality in 2 centuries of British rule totalled about 1.5 billion; 1948, Gandhi assassinated; post-independence, longstanding armed conflict with Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir (wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971); India a major figure in the non-aligned movement; major projects (such as the Namada Dam) have displaced 50 million Indians (“internal refugees”); 1962, China transiently invaded mountain regions and then largely withdrew; 1971, India forced to help Bangladesh from US-backed West Pakistan military; 1975-1977, state of emergency under Indira Gandhi; 1980s and 1990s, communal violence associated with Sikh terrorism, Hindu nationalism and Hindu-Muslim antagonism; 1984, Indira Gandhi assassinated; 1987, tensions with Sri Lanka over Tamil separatists; 1990, Rajiv Gandhi assassinated; Kashmir and Punjab violence; India (1998) and subsequently Pakistan became military nuclear powers; 1996 Hindu nationalists (BJP) elected; anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh communal riots; 2004, Congress finally re-elected; 21st century, major IT industry in India; HIV/AIDS threat; continuing poverty and high birth rate; increasing linkage with the US after the collapse of Russian Communism; 2004, tsunami hit the East coast; 2005, some rapprochement with Pakistan after the Kashmir earthquake; 2006, Mumbai 7/11 train bombing atrocity.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, Britain, France (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: China (invasion); post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 351.900m/1096.917m = 32.1%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 214.260m/1,096.917m = 19.5%.
Maldives: South Indian inhabitants; 12th century, Arabs converted islanders to Islam; 15th–16th century, resistance to Portuguese encroachment; 1887, Sultan accepted British protection; 19th-20th century, British naval base on Gan; 1952, republican insurrection against Sultan put down by British; 1957, UK demanded enlargement of Gan base; 1959, further rebellion; 1960, rebellion suppressed by British; 1965, Maldives independent and joined UN; 1968, republic established by plebiscite; 1975, British withdrew from the Gan base; 1980, 1988, successive coup attempts thwarted; 1990s-2000s, concerns over global warming and potential inundation; 2004, tsunami hit but with minimal losses.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); UK (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: UK; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.015/0.338m = 4.4%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 0.012m/0.338m = 3.6%.
Nepal: 4th century AD, Newar Hindu-Buddhist culture of the Katmandu Valley; 8th-11th century, Buddhists from India; Hindu Rajputs established the Gurkha kigdom; 14th –18th century, Newar domination; 1769, Nepal unified by Gurkha King Prithur Narayan Shah; 1792, Gurkha invasion of Tibet stoped by the Chinese; 1814-1816, Gurkha invasion of N India and conflict with the British; Treaty of Sugauli gave British control over foreign affairs; 1846, Kot Massacre; Jang Bahadur Rana as prime minister; 1854, Nepal invaded Tibet (a tributary until 1953); 19th-20th century, international isolation; Gurkha volunteers for the British Army; 1923, British treaty confirmed Nepalese independence; 1950, Congress-led revolt and democratization; 1951, removal of Rana prime ministerial hereditary rule; 1957, the last Nepalese forces left Tibet; 1959, democratic elections; Congress victory; 1960, King Mahendra dissolved parliament; 1961, Sino-Nepalese Treaty; 1989, India closed its border; 1990, civil protest lead to restoration of democracy; 1990s, Congress electoral victories; mid-1990s, Maoist insurgency started; 2001, murder of royal family members by a disaffected prince; 2005, government dismissed and King assumed authority; continuing insurgency.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: none; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 10.650m/26.289m = 40.5%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 6.213m/26.289m = 23.6%.
Pakistan: for pre-colonial and 18th-19th century history see the India entry; 1757, British defeat of Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah and conquest of Bengal; 19th century, British conquest of NW India; 1839-1842, First Afghan War; 1843, British conquered Sind; 1849, British conquered the Punjab; 1857, Indian mutiny suppressed by the British; 1876, British took Quetta; 1878-1880, Second Afghan War of the British versus Baluchis and Pathans; 1906, All India Muslim League founded in Dhaka; 1909, British recognized representative authority of the Muslim league; 1930s-1940s, poet Muhammad Iqbal and lawyer Muhammad Ali Jinnah campaigned for separate Pakistan; 1943-1944, Bengal famine (4 million deaths); 1947, Partition finally accepted by both Muslim League and Indian national congress; Independence and Partition (0.5-1 million dead from communal violence, 18 million refugees – 8 million Muslims, 10 million Hindus ); 1954, SEATO member; 1956, CENTO member; US-backed military dictators: 1958, Ayub Khan; 1969, Yahya Khan; 1970, Awami League victory in East Pakistan; Sheik Mujibur Rahman arrested, West Pakistan invasion, 3 million killed (gendercide of males), 0.3 million women raped and 10 million refugees (India forced to intervene despite US threat); 1972, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto formed PPP government; 1977, Bhutto re-elected, deposed by General Zia ul-Haq and eventually hung after trial; Zia increased Islamic influence; 1985, pro-Zia government elected; 1988, Zia killed in an air crash; 1988, Benazir Bhutto and PPP elected; increase in women’s rights; 1996, Bhutto deposed and exiled; 1998, nuclear power status achieved by both India and Pakistan; 1999, Musharraf military dictatorship; 2001, alliance with US against the Afghan Taliban, notwithstanding major Pakistan security and military links with the Taliban; 2005, horrendous earthquake in Kashmir prompted some rapprochement with India; continuing liberal versus strictly orthodox Muslim dichotomies.
Foreign occupation: Britain (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: none; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 49.700/161.151m = 30.8%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 29.407m/161.151m = 18.2%.
Sri Lanka: early Vedda aboriginal inhabitant (still surviving in remote areas); 6th century, Sinhalese invasion from N India; 483BC, Vijaya, first Sinhalese king; 3 rd century BC, Buddhism introduced; major Buddhist culture; 11th century, Tamil Chola invasions, Sinhalese resistance; 12th century, Tamil power in the North, Sinhalese power in the SW; 12th-13th century, limited Muslim conversion; 1505, first Portuguese contact; 16th century, Portuguese displaced by the Dutch; 1798, British defeated the Dutch; 1815, final defeat of indigenous resistance by the British; 19th century, introduction of tea, coffee and rubber cash crops; 20th century, independence movements; 1948, independence under S.W. Bandaranaike; 1959, S. Bandaranaike succeeded her assassinated husband; 1960s, growing conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese exacerbated by discriminations against Tamils; 1971, Marxist rebellion suppressed with international help; 1982, J. Jayawardene president; 1980s, worsening ethnic conflict; involvements with Israel and the US against the Tamil Tigers; 1987, peace process involving Indian forces; 1990, Indian forces left; 2002, Norway-brokered peace agreement; Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy (38,000 died and 800,000 were displaced); 2005, peace prospects.
Foreign occupation: Portugal, Netherlands, Britain (pre-1950); none (post-1950); post-1950 foreign military presence: India; post-1950 excess mortality/2005 population = 0.951m/19.366m = 4.9%; post-1950 under-5 infant mortality/2005 population = 1.400m/19,366m = 7.2%.
6.8 Summary
The World’s oldest civilizations came from China, Egypt, Phoenicia, Sumeria and the Indus Valley. The Persian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Hittite and Phoenician empires were ultimately subsumed by the Greek Empire of Alexander with subsequent Hellenization from Afghanistan to Spain. The subsequent Roman Empire expanded to include territories from Persia to Britain. The Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries brought a flowering of Islamic culture from Persia to Spain that was damaged by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century and the expulsion of the Moors from Spain in the 15th century. Islamic culture variously continued within the Ottoman Empire, in Persia and Central Asia and with the Mughal Empire in India. The early Chinese civilization influenced early civilizations in Korea and Japan. The Hindu Dravidian and thence Indo-European cultures of India variously spread Hinduism and Buddhism to Sri Lanka and to the South East Asian civilizations in Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. Islam eventually variously spread through India, Sri Lanka, Aceh, Malaya, Indonesia and the southern Philippines.
Immensely destructive and violent Western European colonialism began in East in the 15th century and only formally ceased in the post-WW2 era, variously after bloody colonial and post-colonial wars. Russian occupation of the Muslim lands of Central Asia ceased in about 1990. Supplanting indigenous or Ottoman Turkish rule from North Africa to Arabia took the European powers 2 centuries. However Israel still occupies Palestinian and Syrian territory and the US, in addition to major influence with Arab dictatorships and military bases in Central Asia and the Gulf States, has armies occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. The post-1950 excess mortality associated with Asian wars directly involving US combat forces in the Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia and South East Asia has been horrendous, specifically: 0.8 million (Korea), 13.1 million (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam), 2.3 million (Iraq) and 1.6 million (Afghanistan). Over the last half century the East Asian countries have recovered remarkably from the consequences of total war. A scattering of relatively poor but good mortality outcome countries, namely Fiji, Malaysia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand, illustrate what peace, literacy, modest prosperity and good governance can achieve in the way of eliminating avoidable mortality. The excess mortality in British India for the 9 decades since 1870 totalled 0.7 billion and represents an immense crime against humanity that is largely resolutely ignored by both academia and media. History ignored has meant history repeated in the
1 comment:
For the past decade our customers have come to depend on us for our expertise in parrot training, quality rearing, and customer service. What sets us apart from the rest is our personal approach. One-on-one service every step of the way. We are committed to Hand-rearing Macaw Parrots. These vibrant, beautiful, curious, and intelligent species of parrots require significant attention so we focus on quality rather than quantity. All our Parrots are of excellent breeds and top qualityWE TREAT BIRDS LIKE ROYALTY
Love and affection creates inseparable bonds with their human owners GET TO KNOW PARROTS THAT SPEAK
they don't just speak, the wow with their intelligence buy hyacinth macaw online
buy parrota online now.
buy bird Online now
buy lanitas macow as pet online.
buy baby parrots Online
buy lanitas macow online
buy Blue and Gold Macaw Online
BUY Spix Macaw online.
BUY bluegold macaw parrotOnline
buy scarlet macaw online.
buy hyacinth macaw
Post a Comment