Unification of Saudi Arabia

Unification of Saudi Arabia
	Part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I (1914–1918); Aftermath of World War I
	; Present Saudi state (Saudi Arabia)
Date	November 1901 – 14 June 1934
Location	Arabian Peninsula (including South Arabia), Mandatory Iraq, Transjordan and Kuwait
Result	Saudi takeover of central and northern parts of Arabia:; End of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar and Kingdom of Hejaz.; End of the Ottoman Empire and its presence in the Arabian Peninsula.; Proclamation and establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.; Annexation of Asir, Najran and Jizan after the Saudi–Yemeni War in 1934.;
Belligerents
3rd Saudi State Emirate of Riyadh; (1902–1913) ; Emirate of Nejd & Hasa; (1913–1921) ; Sultanate of Nejd; (1921–1926) ; Kingdom of Hejaz & Nejd; (1926–1932) ; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; (from 1932); Ikhwan;	Ottoman Empire (until 1915); Emirate of Jabal Shammar; Kingdom of Hejaz; (1919–1925) Hejazi Army; Hejaz Air Force; Transjordan (1921-1922) Mandatory Iraq (1921-1928) Sheikhdom Kuwait (1919-1928) Supported by:; United Kingdom Sheikdom of Asir (1919-1920) Kingdom of Yemen; Emirate of Asir Supported by:; Italy
Commanders and leaders
Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman; Saud bin Abdulaziz; Faisal bin Abdulaziz; Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman; Sultan bin Bajad; Faisal al-Duwaish; Eqab bin Mohaya; Khaled bin Luai	Fakhri Pasha; Abdulaziz bin Mitab †; Saud bin Abdulaziz ; Ajlan bin Mohammed ; al-Ajlan † Hussein bin Ali; Ali bin Hussein Abdullah I Faisal I Salim I Hasan bin Ali al-Aidh Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din; Ahmad bin Yahya
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown
	18,000+ killed in total[A]

The Unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign in which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and kingdoms of most of the central Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or Al Saud. Unification started in 1902 and continued until 1932, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed under the leadership of Abdulaziz, known in the West as Ibn Saud, creating what is sometimes referred to as the Third Saudi State, to differentiate it from the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State and the Emirate of Nejd, the Second Saudi State, also House of Saud states.

The Al-Saud had been in exile in the British-protected Emirate of Kuwait since 1893, after their second episode of removal from power and dissolution of their polity, this time by the Al Rashid Emirate of Ha'il. In 1902, Abdulaziz Al Saud recaptured Riyadh, the Al Saud dynasty's former capital. He went on to subdue the rest of Nejd, al-Hasa, Jabal Shammar, Asir, and Hejaz (the location of the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina) between 1913 and 1926. The resultant polity was named the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz from 1927 until it was further consolidated with al-Hasa into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

It has often been claimed that this process caused some 400,000 to 800,000 casualties. However, recent research suggests that though bloody, the number of deaths and injuries was significantly lower.^[11]

^ Eilon, J.B.; Alon, Y. (2007). The Making of Jordan: Tribes, Colonialism and the Modern State. I. B. Tauris. p. 56. ISBN 9781845111380. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
^ Peter W. Wilson, Douglas Graham. Saudi Arabia: The Coming Storm. M. E. Sharpe, 1994: p. 143.
^ Noel Joseph Guckian. British Relations with Trans-Jordan, 1920–1930. University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. PhD Thesis: pp. 217–218. May 1985.
^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Almana 1982, p. 271.
^ Upbringing & Education 1902–1915 Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine – The King Saud Foundation Website
^ Helmut Mejcher (May 2004). "King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the Arena of World Politics: A Glimpse from Washington, 1950 to 1971" (PDF). British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 31 (1): 5–23. doi:10.1080/1353019042000203412. S2CID 218601838. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b Al Kahtani, Mohammad Zaid (December 2004). "The Foreign Policy of King Abdulaziz" (PDF). University of Leeds. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
^ Sabri, Sharaf (2001). The House of Saud in commerce: A study of royal entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. New Delhi: I.S. Publications. ISBN 81-901254-0-0.
^ Cite error: The named reference narrative was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Eden, Jeff (2019). "Did Ibn Saud's militants cause 400,000 casualties? Myths and evidence about the Wahhabi conquests, 1902–1925". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 46 (4): 519–534. doi:10.1080/13530194.2018.1434612. S2CID 149088619.

[yoavalon-1] Eilon, J.B.; Alon, Y. (2007). The Making of Jordan: Tribes, Colonialism and the Modern State. I. B. Tauris. p. 56. ISBN 9781845111380. Retrieved 14 May 2015.

[wilson143-2] Peter W. Wilson, Douglas Graham. Saudi Arabia: The Coming Storm. M. E. Sharpe, 1994: p. 143.

[Guckian-3] Noel Joseph Guckian. British Relations with Trans-Jordan, 1920–1930. University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. PhD Thesis: pp. 217–218. May 1985.

[:1-4] Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[FOOTNOTEAlmana1982271-5] Almana 1982, p. 271.

[6] Upbringing & Education 1902–1915 Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine – The King Saud Foundation Website

[helmut2004-7] Helmut Mejcher (May 2004). "King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the Arena of World Politics: A Glimpse from Washington, 1950 to 1971" (PDF). British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 31 (1): 5–23. doi:10.1080/1353019042000203412. S2CID 218601838. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

[kahtani-8] Al Kahtani, Mohammad Zaid (December 2004). "The Foreign Policy of King Abdulaziz" (PDF). University of Leeds. Retrieved 21 July 2013.

[9] Sabri, Sharaf (2001). The House of Saud in commerce: A study of royal entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. New Delhi: I.S. Publications. ISBN 81-901254-0-0.

[narrative-10] Cite error: The named reference narrative was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[11] Eden, Jeff (2019). "Did Ibn Saud's militants cause 400,000 casualties? Myths and evidence about the Wahhabi conquests, 1902–1925". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 46 (4): 519–534. doi:10.1080/13530194.2018.1434612. S2CID 149088619.

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