Palestine coursework

HISTORY COURSEWORK

Question 1:

Choose ONE factor from the list above and say how it contributed to the outbreak of the wars.

I believe that the factor that contributed to the outbreak of the wars was Colonel Nasser’s personality. This role played by Nasser was something of great significance as it was his aim to unite Arabs under his leadership and avenge Egypt’s defeat at the hands of the Israeli’s in 1948. This aim was soon fulfilled as it was him that united Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon into fighting as one against Israel. This unity of the Arabs soon aroused thoughts of Arab nationalism breaking out as it was Nasser that made a pledge towards the Palestinians that he would retrieve Palestine for the Arabs. Nasser not only got the Arabs united but it was also due to his personality that he was able to reason with the USSR and persuade them to help the Arabs out. I personally believe that if it wasn’t for Nasser personality, none of the Arab countries that wanted to oppose Israel would have received training and weapons from the USSR and so the outbreak of war might not have been likely between the Arabs and Israeli’s.

Nasser also closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli ships. I think that this action taken by Nasser was something that edged him closer to an outbreak of war between the Arabs and the Israeli’s as it was this move that tightened the “squeeze” on Israel. This also made the Americans interpret the move as allowing the Russians to move into the Middle East; therefore it was for that reason that Colonel Nasser stopped the building of the Aswan Dam which was a promised American loan.

Moreover, Nasser had organised groups of Palestinians (Fedayeen) to attack Israeli settlements. This made Israel feel threatened and so they increased their defences against the Arabs. It was these moves that showed that Nasser was ready for an outbreak of war between his Arab Nation and the Israeli’s.

In conclusion to what I have said, I think that if it wasn’t for Nasser’s personality and beliefs, there might not have been an outbreak of war of this extent in the first place. Without Nasser’s aims, the Arab countries would have never united together and fought against Israel. It was also Nasser’s personality that strengthened the relationship between the Arabs and the USSR. The Russians then put pressure on the Czechs to provide them with weapons so that they can have more of an influence in the Middle East.

Question 2:

To what extent was oil the most important factor in causing the wars?

Oil was not an important factor for causing the wars until the Yom Kippur war in 1973. The Suez Crisis of 1956 was not influenced by oil but really by revenge and land, and the Six Day war in 1967 started due to the fact that there were small skirmishes around the border between Israel and the Palestinian groups. I believe that oil had a small part to play for these two wars by helping to fund the Arabs fight against Israel, however, I don’t think it was not the main factor that caused the wars.

With the Yom ...

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With the Yom Kippur war, oil WAS the main factor and made it different from the previous wars. The oil producing states of the Arab Gulf were members of the OPEC and so they decided to use their oil as an economic weapon against Israel and its Western Allies. The Arabs knew that if they increased their oil prices and stopped sending oil to countries that where helping Israel, for example, the USA then they would have a very high chance in winning the war because they knew that the USA needed oil to run their country. This was the Americans weakness and so the Arabs took advantage of that and blackmailed the USA into pulling out of aiding the Israeli’s.

However, with the two previous wars that went on in 1956 and 1967 between Israel and the Arabs, it was not oil that caused the outbreak of the wars but the fact that the Arabs wanted revenge and their land back. It was the Arabs personality that was the most important factor in causing the wars, especially that of Colonel Nasser. Colonel Nasser was the one that brought the four Arab countries and united them together to fight as one against Israel. Israel felt threatened by this move and so increased their defences ready for the Arabs attack. This edged war closer between the countries. I also believe that if it wasn’t for Nasser’s personality, the Arabs would not have received support from the USSR.

The Arabs personality is also linked with Arab Nationalism because it was Colonel Nasser the pledged to the Palestinians that he would return Palestine back to the Arabs. This could have also made the Israeli’s feel threatened and edged them closer to war. The unification of the Arab states in each of the wars was a huge cause to the outbreak of the wars because if the Arabs were not unified then they would have been a lot weaker fighting against Israel.

The reason the USA included themselves in the war was because they did not want to lose influence in the Middle East due to the fact that they feared an increase in Russian influence and their involvement in the cold war, and so they decided to help the Israeli’s and go against the Arabs and the USSR.

When it came to the Six Day war, the USSR informed the Arabs that Israel was going to attack and invade in one week. This caused tension between the two sides and so this factor may have been a contribution to the beginning of the second war. With this being put into mind, it brings forward a new question. Was the USSR lying to the Arabs or were they deliberately trying to spark off a war?

During the Suez Crisis in 1956, Britain and France were having secret negotiations into how to invade the Arab states and gaining back control of the Suez Canal and the destruction of the Fedayeen camps by Israel. This plan was all going according to plan up until the moment where British and French intervention took way too long and so everybody knew that something was going on between the three countries. It was this secrecy that may have also caused the wars that were to come.

In conclusion, I believe that oil was not an important factor in all three of the wars but it did play a vital role in one of them, the Yom Kippur war. I think that if it wasn’t for oil, the war would have still gone on between the two countries and more blood would have been shed.

Question 3:

To what extent was U.S help the decisive factor in enabling the Israeli’s to win each of the 3 wars?

In all three of the wars, I think that the USA was one of the key factors that helped Israel defeat the Arab armies. It was the USA’s money and weaponry that had outclassed the Arabs old and out of date weaponry.

The USA was the strongest country in the world at that time, and so I think that this fact helped the Israeli’s feel more comfortable at the fact that they were with them and backing them up. This could have also put off some of the Arabs as they knew that they were going up against a strong and hard to defeat opponent. I believe that the influence that America had in all three of the wars could have helped Israel mentally as they were going to war against the Arab army.

Not only was Israel’s weaponry up to date but also their training as they were getting it all from the USA. Israel did not only have the USA’s help but they also had Britain, France to help them with their armed forces when it came to the Suez Crisis in 1956. The Arabs only had the help of the USSR and so I think that Israel had the upper hand when it came to numbers aiding them. Because of the amount of countries behind Israel at that time, I think that Israel felt very confident approaching the war and so that is why without being attacked, the Israeli’s launched a pre-emptive strike against their enemies. Even though the Arabs had the support of the Russians, it was not as much as the Israeli’s had and so this could have made the Arab army a bit less comfortable than the Israeli’s.

With the Six Day war in 1967, the Israeli’s did receive the backing of the USA and were given weapons and equipment to fight against the Arabs. The USA’s involvement here did give Israel the backing they needed against the much larger Arab army and so I think that if it wasn’t for the USA’s help, Israel might have perished against the Arabs in 1967.

In the “Six Day War”, Israel also used special tactics in defeating the Arabs. By employing blitzkrieg tactics, the Israeli’s were able to destroy their enemy’s air forces on the ground – they lost only 26 planes compared to the 400 Arab aircraft. The Israeli’s then pushed the Egyptians through the Sinai desert and large numbers of tanks were destroyed at the Mitla Pass. The Israeli’s then secured their southern border by occupying the Gaza strip. It was due to these tactics that helped the Israeli’s win the war in such a short period of six days. I think that without these tactics, Israel might have struggled defeating the Arabs. The Israeli’s used a number of tactics for every war, but it was the tactics used especially in this war that helped them achieve victory in such a short space of time. Israel’s tactic of a surprise attack also worked well and gave Israel the upper hand at the beginning of the war because the Arabs could not act quickly enough to combat against the Israeli attack.

In 1973, the Yom Kippur war broke out. The USA was still aiding Israel at that time and so paid the consequences when the Arabs refused to export oil to the USA. This was a huge blow for the USA. The threat to the oil supplies of the west reflected the enormity of the situation. Without oil, the economies of Western Europe and the USA would not progress as normal. I think that it was for that reason that the USA and the USSR put pressure on both sides for a ceasefire. Nobody knew who had won the war but it was clear to say that without the help of the USA and the USSR, Israel and the Arabs could not have progressed through the war as they intended.

I believe that one of the reasons that the USA included themselves in the war was because they did not want to lose influence in the Middle East due to the fact that they feared an increase in Russian influence and their involvement in the cold war, and so they decided to help the Israeli’s and go against the Arabs and the USSR.

In 1970, Colonel Nasser died. He was succeeded by President Sadat; this was a different leader for Egypt and the Arab states that were with Egypt fighting against Israel. However, even though they had changed their President, the goals were still the same, and so in 1973 the Yom Kippur war broke out. The Arabs used the same tactic as Israel did in 1967 and launched a surprise attack on their enemy. They had chosen the right time as well, as it was the day of Yom Kippur in Israel and so many soldiers were on leave. This gave the Arab army a big advantage in the war. However, even though the attack seemed successful, the public holiday worked in Israel’s favour too because the USA moved weapons and troops freely and quickly and so it was Israel’s good use of military tactics that helped them counter attack against the Arab army. Were the Arab states ever going to win a war against the Israeli’s?

Even though the Arabs had the support of the USSR, they still appeared to be weak and so this gave Israel the upper hand in all three of the wars. Israel did not only have the support of the USA but the support of another three countries and so this made the Israeli army much stronger. This made everybody think. Could the Arabs really win a war by uniting with each other or should they just follow different paths?

However, I do not believe that the USA’s help was the only decisive factor that helped to achieve Israel’s victories in the war. There were many factors; one of them was Israel’s strength and determination to live. When it came to all three of the wars, Israel were not fighting because they liked it, but because they were fighting for their lives. They were fighting for one reason and one goal only, the right to live together with their fellow Israeli’s in a country of their own. Israel was also more united than the Arabs, the Arab army consisted of four countries and so they were not used to being together. Israel’s army was a different story; they were united because they all had the same goal and the same mentality. I think that it was with this kind of mentality that helped the Israeli’s victor over the Arab army in all three of the wars. Even though the Arabs were united and confident of victory in 1967, they still lost to Israel. Before the war had broken out, Israel were fearful at the thought of the Arab states uniting together to form an army.

Word Count = 2,326 Words