(contents)
Chapter 1. Wave
of nationalism and socialism (1945-1956) (5)
021. Formation of the Arab League (2/2)
The situation of the Middle Eastern countries during the first half of the 20th century could be described as follows. Turkey had transformed itself into a republic state after the fall of Ottoman Empire in 1923. It has changed into secularistic state from caliphate state. In Iran, Reza Shah , a General of the Persian Cossack Brigade, took over the power by the coup d'etat in 1921. He established the Pahlavi dynasty. During postwar era, Iran has been a pro-Western dictatorship monarchy state until 1979. Egypt, one of the three big countries in the Middle East, survived World War II as Muhammad Ali Dynasty which was half-independent state from the Ottoman Empire. UK had been maintaining strong influence. Other small and medium-sized countries like Iraq, Jordan and Palestine were mandated by UK, and Syria and Lebanon were under the mandate of France.
Saudi Arabia was the only one country that
has escaped from the control of UK and France. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was
established in 1932. Saudi Arabia could keep independence reigning the most
part of the Arabian Peninsula. UK and France did not show the strategic
interest of the Arabian Peninsula. It was the reason why Saudi Arabia could
keep the independence.
It was the United States who was aware of
the value of Saudi Arabia. The US oil company found a big oil field in the
eastern province of Saudi Arabia in 1941 just when the World War II started.
The United States correctly recognized the future value of oil, and aimed to
secure Saudi Arabian crude oil. Just before the end of the World War II,
President Roosevelt met with King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia on the ship of the
Suez Canal just after the Yalta meeting and before returning home. This fact
was a clear evidence that US put weight on Saudi Arabia. The United States was
not silly to colonize Saudi Arabia.
(To be continued ----)
(From an ordinary citizen in the cloud)
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