18th and 19th Century Wars on the Middle East

The many wars on the the Middle East caused reforms, losses, independence, and nationalism. The reforms were often towards European ways of running a nation. In Egypt, Mahmet Ali learned ways from the French to build war factories and sent men to learn technical and military information. Ali also used the farmlands for cash crops as opposed to just subsistence. The Ottomans also saw reforms in their military, ruling powers, and government operations. Schools were created to teach medicine, and power was taken from the upper class and given back to the Sultan.

The reforms often came after losses, or sometimes caused the losses. The Ottoman reforms initially got the Sultan's family almost wiped out. The diplomatic connections that Ali had likely led to his withdrawal from Ottoman lands, losing him many lands and causing him to lose interest in reforms. In Persia, the reforms of monopolizing industries led to sell-outs to European investors.

Independence came in a handful of ways. After the French left Egypt, Ali removed the Ottoman governor and massacred the Mamluks. By the time of Ali's death, Egypt was its own nation. The wars also allowed Europe to pry Greece from the Ottoman Empire's hands. Christian rebellions tried to give them some sort of independence, but Russia moved in and put them back down.

Nationalism was an end result of the aforementioned events. Pan-Islam gained strength, although many other internal powers wanted more local power. Islam, therefore, had its own form of nationalism, but regional nationalism led to splits between Turks, Persians, and Arabs.