After World War I, when Britain and France divided up the Middle East's countries, apart from Turkey, between them, pursuant to the Sykes-Picot agreement—in violation of solemn wartime promises of postwar Arab autonomy—there came an immediate reaction: the Muslim Brotherhood emerged in Egypt, the House of Saud took over the Hijaz, and regimes led by army officers came to power in Iran and Turkey. "[B]oth illiberal currents of the modern Middle East," writes de Bellaigne, "Islamism and militarism, received a major impetus from Western empire-builders." As often happens in countries undergoing social crisis, the aspirations of the Muslim world's translators and modernizers, such as Muhammad Abduh, largely had to yield to retrograde currents. COUNT 5
QSN1 What two countries divvied up the Middle East's countries after WWI? ANS1 Britain and France QSN2 What was the dividing up of the Middle Eastern countries in violation of? ANS2 solemn wartime promises of postwar Arab autonomy QSN3 A reaction to Britain and France's actions was the emergence of what group in Egypt? ANS3 Muslim Brotherhood QSN4 de Bellaigne attributed the growth of Islamism and militarism to what Western catalyst? ANS4 empire-builders QSN5 What did the aspirations of the Muslim world's translators find themselves yielding to? ANS5 retrograde currents