Today is the UAE National Day. The holiday commemorates the United Arab Emirate’s formal nationalisation from the British Protectorate Treaties as a result of the expiration of a British treaty on December 2nd 1971. This lead to the eventual, federal unification of seven sheikhdoms in the former Trucial States in 1971 to form the modern-day country.
In an effort to protect their trade routes to India, the British mounted campaigns against Ras Al Khaimah and other harbors along the coast, including the Persian Gulf campaign of 1809 and the more successful campaign of 1819. The following year, Britain and a number of local rulers signed a maritime truce, giving rise to the term Trucial States, which came to define the status of the coastal emirates. A further treaty was signed in 1843 and in 1853, the Perpetual Maritime Truce was agreed. To this was added the ‘Exclusive Agreements’, signed in 1892, which made the Trucial States a British protectorate.
Under the 1892 treaty, the trucial sheikhs agreed not to dispose of any territory except to the British and not to enter into relationships with any foreign government other than the British without their consent. In return, the British promised to protect the Trucial Coast from all aggression by sea and to help in case of land attack. British maritime policing meant that pearling fleets could operate in relative security
By 1966, it had become clear that the British government could no longer afford to administer and protect the Trucial States, what is now the United Arab Emirates. the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, fearing vulnerability, tried to persuade the British to honor the protection treaties by offering to pay the full costs of keeping the British Armed Forces in the Emirates.
Fears of vulnerability were realized the day before independence. An Iranian destroyer group broke formation from an exercise in the lower Gulf, sailing to the Tunb islands. The islands were taken by force, civilians and Arab defenders alike allowed to flee. A British warship stood idle during the course of the invasion. A destroyer group approached the island of Abu Musa as well. But there, Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi had already negotiated with the Iranian shah, and the island was quickly leased to Iran for $3 million a year. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia laid claim to swathes of Abu Dhabi.
On 2 December 1971, six of the emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain) agreed to enter into a union named the United Arab Emirates. Ras al-Khaimah joined later, on 10 January 1972.
Historic photo depicting the first hoisting of the United Arab Emirates flag by the rulers of the emirates at the Union House in Dubai on 2 December 1971
Children’s Books for Christmas!
BADA BINGLE!!!
There ought to be a better way to start the day than getting up.
Walmart is giving out free turkeys to anyone who can outrun security.
No one in my entire life has believed in me more than the waiter who just gave me a single napkin to use while eating my lunch.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting an annual increase.
Why don’t all of the Republican House members who are afraid to use the restroom just poop in the hallway like their supporters did?
The best way to save money is to go into the house and lie down.
What the hell happened to all the dog and cat eating? That still going on or no?
I’m beginning to think my husband isn’t going to apologize for the way he acted in my dream last night.
Guess how many times I have shared a bathroom with a trans person? I have no idea because I mind my own business.
I hate how a fly will get into your house through a 2mm crack in a bathroom window, but can’t find its way out even if you take the side of your house off.
80 million Americans expected to travel for the holiday. Just 3 weeks ago they couldn’t afford eggs.
To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there’s no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.
Today is the birthday, in 1951, of Kimberley Rew from British-American rock band Katrina And The Waves, best known for the 1985 hit ‘Walking on Sunshine’. They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Love Shine a Light’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U
