NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II AND THE CSR
Karol Sorby
Studia Politica Slovaca, 2021, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 30-48
Language: Slovak
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/SPS.2021-1.3
Abstract
The 1947 partition plan for Palestine was certainly not a peaceful resolution to the contest for Pales- tine. Both Jewish and Arab armies lined up volunteers and equipped themselves as well as they could. Both sides committed terrorist acts against innocent civilians. the British folded their arms and ignored the escalating violence, as they were preparing to withdraw totally from Palestine. in this situation the Israeli army was in dire need of arms and Moscow which did not want to be directly involved in the conflict. Communist Czechoslovakia which belonged to the Soviet sphere of influence followed the instructions and supplied Israel with weapons despite UN sanctions. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war Czechoslovakia had considerably contributed to the Israeli victory. after Israel turned to the West the USSR became the main supporter of the Arab national-liberation movement. After the 1952 military coup, the Egyptian army turned out to be the real ruler of Egypt. Since the armistice of 1949, the Egyptian-Israeli border had been the site of frequent hostilities. Israeli forces carried out their missions easily and emphasized their military superiority which made the Egyptians aware of the pressing need to replace the outmoded equipment left to them by the British. However, when the Egyptian president approached the West for arms, he was rebuffed. He, therefore, turned to the USSR that acted in a similar way as before. In September 1955 Egypt concluded an agreement with Czechoslovakia to purchase $ 200 million worth of advanced Soviet military equipment in exchange for Egyptian cotton. the so-called Czech arms deal was really a Soviet- Egyptian one and caused considerable annoyance mainly in Washington and London.
Keywords
The culmination of Arab-Jewish tension in Palestine after WWII, US-British differences in assessment of the situation, the British are quitting their Palestine mandate, the 1947 UN partition plan for Palestine; war is offing in Palestine, the creation of Israel, the first Arab-Israeli war and its results, Czechoslovakia is providing the Jews with weapons, Israeli-Egyptian armed skirmishes, Egypt in need of modern weapons, Czechoslovakia comes to help
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons 4.0 International License.