Why were europeans able to imperialize the Middle East?

Answer 1

The Europeans used a number of policies and methods to gain control of the Middle East:

Superior Military Power: The Europeans had military technologies that were significantly more advanced than anything in the arsenals of all of the Middle Eastern States (with the exception of the Ottoman Empire). As a result, they were able to massacre any army sent to impose their colonial expeditions.

Treaties with Local Rulers: Several colonizers, the British especially, preferred to leave the conquered States in charge of their domains since they already had a number of ministers and officials on the local levels in the various territories. The colonizers would then dictate what the Islamic Empire would need to do and the state would comply in order to remain in what little power and luxury they still had.

Protection of Minorities: Christians, Jews, and other religious minorities were in a terrible position in the Middle East prior to colonial arrival, where they were forced to pay additional taxes and unable to actively take part in governmental affairs. In the colonial system, all indigenous inhabitants were equal. Christians and Jews took the opportunity to ascend to higher ranks in government, receive superior Western eduction, and become entrepreneurs under the colonial auspices. As a result, these minorities became staunchly protective of the colonizers since they had essentially liberated them.

White Man's Burden: Many Europeans were persuaded by the writings of Rudyard Kipling and John Stuart Mills (and others) that there was only one true trajectory for human civilization and that the Europeans were simply farther along that trajectory than the citizens of the colonial empires. Therefore, it was incumbent on the European since he was so much further along, to push the non-European States into the Modern Era. This view was seen by most in the colonized territories to be insulting to their own culture and beliefs.

Divide and Conquer: Relatively straightforward, the Europeans would draw borders arbitrarily to prevent one ethnic group from being able to unite entirely against the colonizers and would include multiple ethnic groups with animosity towards each other to be in the same colonial borders to prevent them from working together for independence. A good example of the first would be the Baloch in British India and Persia. A good example of the second would be the Kurds and Arabs in Iraq.