MIDDLE EAST WITH BOUNDARIES ROADS AND RAILWAYS CONTOUR COLOURED WORLD MAP SERIES 1959 – SHOWS THE UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC

Cartographer: The Geographical Institute, Edinburgh
Publisher: John Bartholomew
Price: £125.00
Publication Date: 1959
Edition: Revised edition
Format: Colour printed
Condition: In very good condition, unframed
Sheet Size: 101cm x 77.2cm
Scale: 1:4000000 or 1 inch to 64 miles

Condition:

Size: 101cm x 77.2cm. A detailed map of the region. Original printed grey wrappers. Covers very slightly dusty and marked. Backed on linen. Original fold lines. Reverse is blank with very minor age toning and marks. Minor wear to a couple of fold lines. Map bright and clean. In very good indeed, original and un-restored condition.

Location: Book room: 002710

The Middle East in 1959: A Brief Description

The Middle East in 1959 was a region in the midst of intense political transformation, caught between the legacies of colonial rule, the rise of Arab nationalism, Cold War rivalries, and the early stages of modern state-building. Borders drawn in the wake of the First World War remained, but allegiances, ideologies, and power structures were shifting rapidly, often with explosive consequences.

At the centre of the political turbulence stood the Arab world, where the influence of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was at its peak. A charismatic figure and champion of Pan-Arabism, Nasser sought to unite Arab nations under a common cause of independence, modernisation, and resistance to Western influence. In 1958, Egypt and Syria had united to form the United Arab Republic (UAR), and by 1959, this union was still intact—though already beginning to show signs of strain due to Syria’s growing dissatisfaction with Egyptian dominance.

In Iraq, the monarchy had been violently overthrown in July 1958 in a military coup led by General Abd al-Karim Qasim. The young King Faisal II was assassinated, and Iraq withdrew from the pro-Western Baghdad Pact, aligning instead with a more neutral, nationalist stance. Qasim’s government rejected both Western alignment and Nasser’s Pan-Arab leadership, creating friction within the Arab nationalist movement. The formation of a short-lived confederation between Iraq and Jordan in 1958 had already failed, leaving Hashemite Jordan increasingly isolated in a sea of political change.

Jordan, under King Hussein, remained a monarchy and a key Western ally, navigating a careful path between domestic pressures, regional instability, and Cold War politics. Lebanon, meanwhile, was recovering from its 1958 crisis, in which internal sectarian tensions and the fear of Nasserite influence had brought the country to the brink of civil war. The United States had landed troops to stabilise the situation, marking one of the first major postwar American military interventions in the region.

Further to the west, North African states were also redefining their roles. Morocco and Tunisia had recently gained independence, while Algeria was still engulfed in a brutal war for independence from France—a conflict that would deeply influence Arab nationalism and anti-colonial sentiment across the region.

Iran, under Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, was undergoing rapid modernisation through the Shah’s programme of economic development and centralisation of power, backed firmly by the United States and Britain. Oil wealth was beginning to play a more pronounced role in Iran’s economy, while political dissent simmered beneath the surface.

In Israel, the young state, founded just over a decade earlier in 1948, remained in a state of formal conflict with most of its neighbours. Border skirmishes, refugee crises, and unresolved territorial disputes kept tensions high. The memory of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War lingered, and the region was in a state of uneasy armistice rather than peace. Palestinian refugees, scattered across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip, remained stateless and deeply affected by displacement.

Turkey, though geographically on the fringe of the region, was a key NATO member and had aligned itself firmly with the West during the Cold War. It was relatively stable compared to its southern neighbours but was watching the developments with concern, particularly the rise of Soviet-aligned sentiments in some Arab capitals.

The broader Cold War context permeated every aspect of Middle Eastern politics. The United States and the Soviet Union were vying for influence through arms sales, development aid, diplomatic alliances, and propaganda. Britain and France, though their empires were fading, still maintained commercial and military interests in the region, particularly in the Gulf and North Africa.

Oil was increasingly central to the region’s geopolitical significance. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Gulf states were beginning to accumulate wealth from petroleum exports, though political power remained tightly held by ruling families underpinned by conservative religious authority. Western oil companies continued to dominate production, but local pressures for greater control and revenue were building.

In 1959, the Middle East stood at a crossroads: modern ideologies jostled with traditional structures; foreign powers competed with nationalist movements; and the region’s vast energy resources were beginning to shift global attention ever more firmly towards its deserts, cities, and shores. It was a time of ambition, anxiety, and awakening—a landscape of unfinished revolutions and looming upheavals.

The United Arab Republic: Egypt and Syria: A Brief Description

 
The United Arab Republic (UAR) was a bold and ambitious political union between Egypt and Syria, formally established on 1st February 1958. It represented the high-water mark of Pan-Arab nationalism—an ideological movement that sought to unify the Arab world politically and culturally, driven by a shared language, history, and vision of post-colonial sovereignty.

At the heart of the UAR was Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who by the late 1950s had become the leading figure of Arab nationalism. Revered by many across the Arab world for his defiance of Western imperialism—most famously during the Suez Crisis of 1956—Nasser was seen as the man to lead a united Arab front. For Syria, grappling with political instability, military intrigue, and fears of both communist influence and Western interference, union with Egypt appeared to offer strength, security, and ideological clarity.

The formation of the United Arab Republic was swift and dramatic. Syrian political and military leaders, concerned about the fragility of their own state, approached Egypt with the proposal for unification. Nasser agreed—albeit with the condition that the new state be governed from Cairo, with a centralised administration. Syria consented, and within days, the UAR was born, with Nasser as its president.

In theory, the UAR was to be the beginning of a much wider Pan-Arab federation. In practice, it was dominated by Egypt. Syria, though nominally an equal partner, found its political and economic autonomy rapidly curtailed. Egyptian officials were installed in key positions, the Syrian Ba’ath Party was dissolved, and many Syrians began to feel marginalised within the new political order.

Culturally, the union inspired widespread enthusiasm. Flags were altered, anthems shared, and maps redrawn. The idea of Arab unity was intoxicating to many, especially younger generations who saw the UAR as a way to reclaim dignity and power in a post-colonial world. But beneath the idealism, tensions brewed.

Economically, the two nations were quite different. Egypt had a far larger population and a more centralised state apparatus; Syria had a more diverse economy and a politically active middle class, which resented Cairo’s heavy-handedness. Syrian army officers, too, were uneasy under the weight of Egyptian control.

By 1961, the cracks had become too deep to repair. On 28th September of that year, a group of Syrian military officers staged a coup in Damascus, declaring Syria’s withdrawal from the UAR. The move was met with little resistance from the public, signalling widespread disillusionment with the union. Egypt, however, continued to use the name “United Arab Republic” until 1971, long after the union had ended in practice.

The UAR remains a powerful symbol in the history of the Arab world. Though short-lived, it encapsulated both the hope and the fragility of Pan-Arabism. It revealed the difficulties of uniting diverse nations under a single political vision and demonstrated how regional identity, while strong, could not always overcome the realities of sovereignty, governance, and national interest.

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