History of Saudi Arabia

Hey fellow adventurers! I hope I can cover Saudi Arabia’s history justly! If you feel anything needs expanding upon, please feel free to tell me in the comment section below! And as always, I highly encourage you to look deeper into anything in this post that interests you. And for those of you living in the United States, Happy Labor Day! I hope you’re enjoying your extended weekend!

For much of the history of the Arabian Peninsula, tribal rulers controlled most of the territory. In 570 CE, the prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca. In 622 CE, he moved to Medina and began to unite the tribes of Arabia under the banner of Islam. To this day, Mecca and Medina remain the most spiritually important places in the Muslim world.

In the 19th century CE, the Al Saud family fought nomadic tribes for territory within the Arabian Peninsula, especially the Rashidi family. In 1902, Abd-al-Aziz Bin-Abd-al-Rahman Bin-Faysal Bin-Turki Bin-Abdallah Bin-Muhammad Al Saud (often known as Ibn Saud) took control of Riyadh and gave the Saudi family the upper hand. In 1912, the Ikhwan (Brotherhood) was founded based on Wahhabism and promised to help Ibn Saud conquer the Arabian Peninsula. With the help of the Ikhwan, the Saud family started gaining more and more territory, until they finally took the holy cities, Mecca and Medina in 1925. In 1928, the Ikhwan turned against the Saudi family after the family welcomed non-Muslims into the territory and tried to modernize the region, and were defeated in 1930. In 1932, all the territories are united into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Ibn Saud crowned King.

Eureka! In 1938, oil is discovered and production begins under the US-controlled Aramco (the Arabian American Oil Company). In 1960, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran founded the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) whose mission is to “coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets, in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers, and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.” In 1972, Saudi Arabia gains 20% of Aramco, and in 1980 they take full control of Aramco so the US can’t control the oil in Saudi Arabia. In 1973, Saudi Arabia boycotts the western countries that supported Israel in the October war, quadrupling gas prices.

In 1981, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates founded the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with the intention to strengthen relations amongst participating countries and promote cooperation amongst the countries’ citizens. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait which Saudi Arabia quickly condemned and requested the assistance of the United States to defeat Iraq. The United States responded by stationing troops in Saudi Arabia so they could push Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. However, removing the presence of American troops once the war ended became one of the main goals of Al-Qaeda (a terrorist group consisting of mostly Saudi citizens).

In the 1990’s, Al-Qaeda increases the number of terrorist incidents against western targets. All this eventually escalates and leads to the attacks of September 11th, 2001 in which 15 out of the 19 terrorists were Saudi nationalists (I’ll cover this subject in greater depth later). In which King Fahd’s response is to state that they need to work on the eradication of terrorism. In 2003, the United States pulls almost all their troops out of Saudi Arabia. King Fahd gives the Consultative Council (a legislative body that represents individual districts) more power, allowing them to propose legislation without his permission.

Once again, there’s an increase in Al-Qaeda related terrorist attacks as Saudi Arabia fights back against extremism. In 2007, the religious police are banned from detaining subjects. Starting in 2009, major reforms started to take place including the first woman minister, the sacking of the head of the religious police and the act of modernizing the government. The Arab Spring (protests due to deep seated resentment of the aging Arab ruler class, unemployment and corruption within the government) came to Saudi Arabia in 2011. This helped lead to an increase in women protests (protesting not only about that but also against things like the ban that states women aren’t allowed to drive). These protests weren’t effective in bringing about change. In response King Fahd announces an increase in welfare spending, his intent on creating more jobs and the intention to grant more rights to women. In 2012, women were allowed to compete in the Olympics, and in 2013 women are added to the Consultative Council for the first time.

In 2013, Saudi Arabia rejects an offer for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council because King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud believed that the UN was not doing enough to help Syria. Meanwhile, they continue to tighten laws against terrorists, labelling Islamic groups as terrorist organizations and banning any funding and/or support for those organizations listed; as well as participating with other Arab states in airstrikes against Islamic state militants. The government approves for far reaching reforms to diversify the economy away from oil. This year, Saudi Arabia sparks a diplomatic crisis by leading an air, land and sea blockade by Arab countries, to get Qatar to cut its alleged connections with terrorism and distance itself from Iran.

The past and present kings of Saudi Arabia:

  1. Ibn Saud (1932-1952): he fought for the territory that is now Saudi Arabia, ruled as king for 21 years and started a large-scale oil production that made his family rich.
  2. Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1953-1964): a lot of people gave him a hard time because when the Saud debt began piling up, rather than cut back on his lavish lifestyle, he cut government programs instead and was eventually forced by his family to abdicate the throne.
  3. Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1964-1975): he was known for rescuing the country’s finances and implementing a policy of modernization and reform before being assassinated by his nephew Faisal bin Musaid in 1975.
  4. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1975-1982): he showed an interest in improving the education, health-care and infrastructure of the country but failed to monopolize the power during his reign and was unsuccessful.
  5. Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1982-2005): he was a supporter of the United Nations and spent a lot of money on improving religious education for his country.
  6. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (2005-2015): he maintained strong relations with other countries, gave women the right to vote for municipal councils and to compete in the Olympics, and maintained the status quo during the Arab Spring.
  7. Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (2015-?): he is the current king of Saudi Arabia and has so far ordered the bombing of Yemen and has lost support after the Mina Stampede in 2015 when over 2,400 people died during their Hajj pilgrimage.

If you prefer videos, please feel free to check out this short animation:

That wraps us this history portion. Thank you all for reading my blog! Until our next adventure! 😊

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