1942: Arabia

This vast peninsula, mostly desert, covers an area of about 1,000,000 sq. mi. with a population estimated at 10,000,000. In the present war Arabia occupies an important strategic position at the flank of the great transcontinental routes connecting the Mediterranean with central and eastern Asia. The more the Near and Middle East become decisive theaters of war, the greater becomes the importance of the attitude of the Arabs.

The largest part of the peninsula is covered by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the enlightened rule of King Ibn Saud. Since his treaty of May 20, 1937 with Great Britain, in which his complete independence was recognized, King Ibn Saud has followed a faithful policy, in spite of the fact that both Germany and Italy have made great efforts to gain his sympathy and even his active collaboration. During 1942 the Arabian peninsula remained at peace, and the King's pro-British policy proved to be one of the chief assets of Great Britain and the United Nations in that part of the world. His hands were strengthened by repeated British promises that after the war the British would support the longing of the Arabs for political unity within a greater Arabia which would comprise at least the peninsula, Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Trans-Jordan. King Ibn Saud is one of the most active supporters of the policy of Arab unity and independence and was especially interested in the fate of the Arabs in Palestine.

Ibn Saud's cooperation with the United Nations was emphasized when he broke off diplomatic relations with Italy in February 1942. At the same time the United States sent an agricultural mission to Arabia at his request, to help explore the possibilities for developing the agricultural resources of the kingdom; to investigate the possibilities of irrigation; and to conduct experimental plantings. The King showed himself completely unmoved by the promises as well as by the threats of the Axis powers. He remained convinced that the fulfillment of the great hopes of Arab nationalism for complete unity and independence were bound up with a victory of the democratic nations. The wise British policy not only secured Arab support by its understanding of Arab national aspirations, but by the economic help given to the Arab lands and to Egypt. The war brought with it a certain prosperity and the lands within British influence knew none of the privations and starvations reported from countries under Axis influence. The British also showed great wisdom in not demanding the active participation of the Arab countries in the war; they were satisfied with benevolent neutrality and all help short of war.

The American minister to Egypt, Alexander C. Kirk was appointed the first American minister to Saudi Arabia and visited King Ibn Saud in the spring. His good work was continued by the American agricultural mission headed by K. S. Twitchell who knows Arabia and the King well. King Ibn Saud's son, the Emir Mansour, visited Egypt as a guest of the British. Thus during 1942 the ties between Arabia and the United Nations became closer and closer.

Though King Ibn Saud is by far the most important ruler in Arabia and holds a special position in the Islamic world on account of his control of the sacred cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, the centers of the yearly pilgrimage from all Mohammedan lands, he is not the only ruler in Arabia. The very fertile southwestern corner of Arabia, Yemen, is under the rule of Imam Yehya. His kingdom is of importance strategically because it lies directly to the northwest of Aden, one of the important strategic outposts of Great Britain at the exit from the Red Sea. Yemen was formerly under Italian influence, but the preponderance of Ibn Saud, which was expressed in the treaty of Taif in June 1934, and the weakening of Italy in the last years, have contributed to the growing influence of Great Britain. Yet the Yemen is much more remote from all communications and from any participation in world politics than Saudi Arabia.

Along the western shore of the Persian Gulf there are, on the Arabian peninsula, a number of Arab states which are in treaty relations with the British. The most important among them are the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, the Sheikhdom of Kuwait at the northwestern coast of the Persian Gulf, and finally the Bahrein islands, an archipelago 20 miles off the Arabian coast. They are of importance on account of their oil resources. Oil was discovered in Bahrein in 1932 and is being exploited at present by the Bahrein Petroleum Company which is owned by the Standard Oil Company of California and the Texas Corporation. In 1939-40 the export of crude oil amounted to more than 52,000,000 tons. An American company is also exploiting oil in Saudi Arabia, where oil was struck first in 1938. By the end of 1939 many wells had been drilled and considerable export of oil had begun. A new concession, signed in August 1939, extended the area of operation, and at the same time provided for increased royalties to the Saudi Arabian government which uses them to build up and equip a modern army, and to expand modern communications on the Arab peninsula.