| 1918 |
|
Jewish League formed by David Ben Gurion |
| 1919 |
|
Kemal Atatürk leads Turkish nationlist resistance |
| 1919 |
|
Jewish Zionists start immigration into Palestine |
| 1921 |
|
Modern Persian state created by Resa Khan |
| 1921 |
|
Greece declares war on Turkey |
| 1922 |
|
Republic of Turkey declared under Kemal Pasha |
| 1922 |
|
Britain grants independence to Egypt |
| 1924 |
|
Greece declares itself a republic |
| 1948 |
|
British pull out of Palestine - state of Israel established |
| 1956 |
|
Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes President of Egyptian Republic |
| 1956 |
|
Suez Crisis - Britain and France attack Egypt |
| 1960 |
|
Construction of Aswan High Dam in Egypt begins |
| 1962 |
|
Yemenese Civil War |
| 1964 |
|
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) formed |
| 1967 |
|
First Arab-Israeli (6-Day) War |
| 1971 |
|
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar become independent from Britain |
| 1973 |
|
Second Arab-Israeli (Yom Kippur) War |
| 1973 |
|
Saudi Arabia leads huge oil price increases - world economy slows |
| 1974 |
|
Turkey intervenes in Cyprus |
| 1974 |
|
PLO under Yasser Arafat recognized as representing Palestine |
| 1975 |
|
Christian vs Muslim war in Lebanon |
| 1975 |
|
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia assassinated |
| 1977 |
|
Israel under Menachem Begin starts West Bank settlements |
| 1979 |
|
Iranian Revolution - Ayatollah Khomeini proclaims Islamic Republic |
| 1979 |
|
Camp David Agreement brokers peace between Israel and Egypt |
| 1980 |
|
Military coup in Turkey under Kenan Evren |
| 1980 |
|
Iranian Hostage Crisis - hostages held in US Embassy in Tehran |
| 1980 |
|
Iran-Iraq War begins |
| 1981 |
|
President Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt assassinated by Muslim fundamentalists |
| 1981 |
|
Greece votes in Socialist Andreas Papandreou |
| 1982 |
|
Israel invades Lebanon - Israel-Lebanon War |
| 1983 |
|
End of Israel-Lebanon War |
| 1987 |
|
Intifada - Palestinian opposition to Israeli occupation of Gaza and West Bank |
| 1988 |
|
End of Iran-Iraq War |
| 1991 |
|
Persian Gulf War starts after Iraq invades Kuwait |
| 1996 |
|
Israel elects Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister |
| 1999 |
|
King Hussein of Jordan dies |
