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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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! 😊
Hi my friend! I want to say that this article is amazing, nice written and include almost all
significant infos. I’d like to see extra posts like this .
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an incredibly long
comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say great blog!
Thanks for sharing your info. I truly appreciate your efforts
and I will be waiting for your next post thanks once again.
Good article. I absolutely appreciate this site. Thanks!
Excellent website you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any
forums that cover the same topics discussed in this article?
I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get comments from other knowledgeable individuals
that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations,
please let me know. Many thanks!
This article will help the internet people for
creating new weblog or even a blog from start to end.
You can certainly see your skills within the article you write.
The sector hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to mention how they believe.
Always go after your heart.
Appreciation to my father who informed me about this blog, this website
is genuinely awesome.
The assessment is very interesting. If you would like to realize
slot online pulsa, I would advise playing in honest
situs slot pulsa personal blogs. As you can achieve big advantages
and obtain assured profits. If you want to enjoy, you’re able to upright just click here under.
The hyperlink is truly a slot machine game game webpage that may be frequently used amongst Indonesian online players.
This post is in fact a nice one it assists new internet visitors, who are wishing in favor of blogging.
Hi there! Quick question that’s totally off topic.
Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My site looks weird
when viewing from my iphone4. I’m trying to find a template
or plugin that might be able to resolve this problem.
If you have any recommendations, please share. Thank you!
Asking questions are actually good thing if you are not understanding anything
totally, but this paragraph provides pleasant understanding even.
My brother recommended I might like this website. He was totally right.
This post truly made my day. You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info!
Thanks!
I really like what you guys tend to be up too.
This type of clever work and coverage! Keep up the excellent
works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my personal blogroll.
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your
post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for. Does one
offer guest writers to write content in your case?
I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating on most of the subjects you write in relation to here.
Again, awesome site!
I like the helpful information you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your blog and check again here regularly.
I am quite certain I will learn many new stuff right here!
Best of luck for the next!
Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I truly enjoyed reading it, you
may be a great author.I will remember to bookmark your blog and will often come back from now on. I want
to encourage yourself to continue your great writing, have a nice
evening!
It’s amazing to visit this website and reading the views of all friends about this paragraph, while I am also keen of getting experience.
We are a group of volunteers and starting
a brand new scheme in our community. Your
web site offered us with useful info to work on. You’ve done a formidable task
and our entire community can be grateful to you.
Fantastic goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous
to and you are just extremely fantastic. I really like what you have acquired here, really like what you’re stating and the way in which you say it.
You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep
it wise. I can not wait to read much more from you.
This is actually a terrific site.
Whoa! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a entirely different topic but it has pretty much the
same layout and design. Great choice of colors!
Thanks for a marvelous posting! I quite enjoyed reading it,
you can be a great author.I will ensure that I bookmark your blog and definitely will come back later
in life. I want to encourage you to ultimately continue
your great job, have a nice day!
It’s actually a cool and helpful piece of information. I’m glad that you simply shared this helpful information with us.
Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks
for sharing.
Very descriptive article, I enjoyed that bit. Will there be a part 2?
I have read so many articles or reviews about the blogger
lovers however this piece of writing is truly a nice
piece of writing, keep it up.
Howdy! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iphone 3gs!
Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts!
Keep up the excellent work!
Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! By the way, how can we communicate?
My brother suggested I would possibly like this website. He was once entirely right.
This put up truly made my day. You cann’t believe just how a lot time
I had spent for this info! Thanks!
I read this piece of writing fully regarding the difference of most up-to-date
and earlier technologies, it’s amazing article.
This paragraph gives clear idea in favor of the new viewers
of blogging, that actually how to do blogging and site-building.
It’s very simple to find out any topic on net as compared to books, as I found this piece of writing at
this site.
I constantly spent my half an hour to read this blog’s articles
or reviews all the time along with a cup of coffee.
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your blog and check again here regularly.
I’m quite sure I’ll learn plenty of new stuff right here!
Best of luck for the next!
I am sure this post has touched all the internet viewers,
its really really fastidious post on building up new web site.
I love it whenever people get together and share ideas. Great site, keep it
up!
Excellent blog here! Also your web site loads up fast!
What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate
link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as quickly as yours lol
Good day! This post could not be written any better! Reading this
post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this.
I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read.
Many thanks for sharing!
Thanks designed for sharing such a fastidious thinking, article is fastidious, thats why i have read it entirely
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several e-mails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Bless you!
That is really interesting, You are an overly professional blogger.
I’ve joined your rss feed and stay up for looking for more of
your magnificent post. Additionally, I’ve shared your website in my social networks
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my
comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say great
blog!
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually
something which I think I would never understand. It seems
too complicated and extremely broad for me.
I’m looking forward for your next post, I’ll
try to get the hang of it!
Hi there, yup this article is truly pleasant and I have learned lot of
things from it regarding blogging. thanks.
What i do not understood is actually how you’re not actually much
more smartly-liked than you might be right now. You are very intelligent.
You already know therefore significantly on the subject of this matter, produced me
personally believe it from so many numerous angles. Its like men and women aren’t fascinated
until it is one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs nice.
All the time care for it up!
Hi this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors
or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but
have no coding skills so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I quite like reading an article that can make men and women think.
Also, thank you for allowing for me to comment!
The review can be extremely interesting. If you need to perceive bandar slot, I
suggest participating in in reliable slot pulsa blogs.
Since you can achieve big advantages and get a
number of affiliate marketer payouts. If you wish to learn, you are
able to right away take a look through below. The web link is often a slot
machine game video game webpage that may be frequently used between Indonesia the gamers.
I’m impressed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both educative and engaging, and let me tell you,
you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is an issue that too
few folks are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I came across this in my hunt for something
regarding this.
Hi there, after reading this remarkable post
i am as well delighted to share my experience here with mates.
Hello i am kavin, its my first occasion to commenting anyplace, when i read this paragraph i thought i could
also create comment due to this brilliant post.