World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Arabian Peninsula during the WW1 era was influenced by several factions, including Al Rashid in the north, Al Saud on the eastern coast, and Al Hejaz on the western coast, among others. Al Saud defeated Al Rashid in 1921, followed by Hejaz in 1925. On 20 May 1927, Kingdom of Hejaz and Kingdom of Nejd, both under the leadership of Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, signed the Treaty of Jeddah with the United Kingdom, thus gaining Al Saud official western recognition. In 1932, the two kingdom merged, forming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1938, oil was discovered in the Al-Hasa region on the coast of the Persian Gulf. The American firm Standard Oil Company was brought in to construct oil wells, and by 1939 the country began to export oil. On 11 Sep 1939, ten days after the outbreak of WW2 in Europe, Saudi Arabia chose to side with the Allies and severed diplomatic relations with Germany, though choosing to remain a non-belligerent. In Oct 1941, prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War, Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Japan. In 1943, Saudi Arabia and the United States officially established diplomatic relations. Britain and the United States continued to expand the oil production capabilities of Saudi Arabia, which sold the oil to the Allies for war use. This led to Saudi oil revenue growing from US$7,000,000 in 1939 to more than US$200,000,000 by the war's end. On 28 Feb 1945, Britain and the United States finally persuaded Saudi Arabia to declare war on Germany and Japan, but with WW2 already in its final stages, there was little need for Saudi Arabia to send troops abroad. Saudi Arabia's influence on the global arena would grow steadily in the subsequent years, initially owing to its vast oil reserves, and by 1976 due to it being the top oil producer in the world.

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