History of Jordan: Difference between revisions
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In 1928, Britain officially provided King Abdullah with full autonomy, though the British RAF continued to provide security to the Hashemite Emirate. |
In 1928, Britain officially provided King Abdullah with full autonomy, though the British RAF continued to provide security to the Hashemite Emirate. |
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The Emirate of Transjordan had a population of 200,000 in 1920, 225,000 in 1922 and 400,000 (as Kingdom) in 1948.<ref name="embassy">[http://www.jordanembassy.org.au/about-jordan/jordans-state-building-and-the-palestinian-problem/ Jordan’s State Building and the Palestinian Problem]</ref> Almost half of the population in 1922 (around 103,000) was [[nomad]]ic.<ref name="embassy"/> |
The Emirate of Transjordan had a population of 200,000 in 1920, 225,000 in 1922 and 400,000 (as Kingdom) in 1948.<ref name="embassy">[http://www.jordanembassy.org.au/about-jordan/jordans-state-building-and-the-palestinian-problem/ Jordan’s State Building and the Palestinian Problem] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.is/20131230113049/http://www.jordanembassy.org.au/about-jordan/jordans-state-building-and-the-palestinian-problem/ |date=2013-12-30 }}</ref> Almost half of the population in 1922 (around 103,000) was [[nomad]]ic.<ref name="embassy"/> |
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==Kingdom of Transjordan/Jordan== |
==Kingdom of Transjordan/Jordan== |
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In October 2012, King Abdullah called for early parliamentary elections, to be held at some time in 2013. The Islamic Action Front, continued in its calls for broader political representation and a more democratic parliament. The King appointed [[Abdullah Ensour]], a former minister and vocal advocate of democratic reform, as prime minister. |
In October 2012, King Abdullah called for early parliamentary elections, to be held at some time in 2013. The Islamic Action Front, continued in its calls for broader political representation and a more democratic parliament. The King appointed [[Abdullah Ensour]], a former minister and vocal advocate of democratic reform, as prime minister. |
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Mass demonstrations took place in Amman (November 2012) against the lifting of fuel subsidies. Public calls for the end of the monarchy were heard. Clashes between protesters and supporters of the king followed. The government reversed the fuel price rise following the protest.<ref name="aljaz_totyrants">{{Cite news|first=Lamis |last=Andoni |pages= |language= |title=To the tyrants of the Arab world ... |date=2011-01-16 |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/2011115135046129936.html |accessdate=2011-01-19 |archiveurl= |
Mass demonstrations took place in Amman (November 2012) against the lifting of fuel subsidies. Public calls for the end of the monarchy were heard. Clashes between protesters and supporters of the king followed. The government reversed the fuel price rise following the protest.<ref name="aljaz_totyrants">{{Cite news |first=Lamis |last=Andoni |pages= |language= |title=To the tyrants of the Arab world ... |date=2011-01-16 |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/2011115135046129936.html |accessdate=2011-01-19 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5vq7RMfnR?url=http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/2011115135046129936.html |archivedate=2011-01-18 |deadurl=no |df= }}</ref> ''[[Al Jazeera]]'' stated that protests are expected to continue for several weeks because of increasing food prices.<ref name="aljaz_totyrants"/> |
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====During Arab Winter==== |
====During Arab Winter==== |
Revision as of 18:45, 4 November 2017
History of Jordan |
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Prehistory |
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Ancient history |
Classical period |
Islamic era |
Emirate and mandate |
Post-independence |
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Jordan portal |
History of Jordan refers to the history of the
There is evidence of human activity in Transjordan as early as the
With the
Ancient history
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2014) |
Evidence of human activity in Jordan dates back to the Paleolithic period. While there is no architectural evidence from this era, archaeologists have found tools, such as flint and basalt hand-axes, knives and scraping implements.
In the Neolithic period (8500-4500 BC), three major shifts occurred. First, people became sedentary, living in small villages, and discovering and domesticating new food sources such as cereal grains, peas and lentils, as well as goats. The human population increased to tens of thousands.
Second, this shift in settlement patterns appears to have been catalyzed by a marked change in climate. The eastern desert, in particular, grew warmer and drier, eventually to the point where it became uninhabitable for most of the year. This watershed climate change is believed to have occurred between 6500 and 5500 BC.
Third, beginning sometime between 5500 and 4500 BC, the inhabitants began to make pottery from clay rather than plaster. Pottery-making technologies were probably introduced to the area by craftsmen from Mesopotamia.
The largest Neolithic site in Jordan is at
History of the Levant |
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Prehistory |
Ancient history |
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Classical antiquity |
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Middle Ages |
Modern history |
During the Chalcolithic period (4500-3200 BC), copper began to be smelted and used to make axes, arrowheads and hooks. The cultivation of barley, dates, olives and lentils, and the domestication of sheep and goats, rather than hunting, predominated. The lifestyle in the desert was probably very similar to that of modern
Many of the villages built during the Early Bronze Age (3200-1950 BC) included simple water infrastructures, as well as defensive fortifications probably designed to protect against raids by neighboring nomadic tribes.
At
Although writing was developed before 3000 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was generally not used in Jordan, Canaan and Syria until some thousand years later, even though archeological evidence indicates that the Jordanians were trading with Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Between 2300 and 1950 BC, many of the large, fortified hilltop towns were abandoned in favor of either small, unfortified villages or a pastoral lifestyle. There is no consensus on what caused this shift, though it is thought to have been a combination of climatic and political changes that brought an end to the city-state network.
During the Middle Bronze Age (1950-1550 BC), migration across the Middle East increased. Trading continued to develop between Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Canaan and Jordan, resulting in the spread of technology and other hallmarks of civilization. Bronze, forged from copper and tin, enabled the production of more durable axes, knives, and other tools and weapons. Large, distinct communities seem to have arisen in northern and central Jordan, while the south was populated by a nomadic, Bedouin-type of people known as the Shasu.
New fortifications appeared at sites like Amman's Citadel,
Archaeologists usually date the end of the Middle Bronze Age to about 1550 BC, when the Hyksos were driven out of Egypt during the 17th and 18th Dynasties. A number of Middle Bronze Age towns in Canaan and Jordan were destroyed during this time.
Iron Age
The most prominent Iron Age kingdoms in
In about 840 BC, Meshe, the King of the
Classic period
Later antiquity saw the rise of the
).Middle Ages
In the early 7th century, the area of modern Jordan became integrated into the new Arab-Islamic Umayyad Empire (the first Muslim dynasty), which ruled much of the Middle East from 661 until 750 CE. At the time, Amman, today the capital of the Kingdom of Jordan, became a major town in "Jund Dimashq" (the military district of Damascus) and became the seat of the provincial governor. In fact, the name "Al-Urdun" (Jordan) was used on Umayyad post-reform copper coins beginning in the early 8th century and represent the earliest official usage of the name for the modern state. Additionally, lead seals with the Arabic phrase "Halahil Ardth Al-Urdun" (Master of the Land of Jordan), dating from the late 7th to early 8th century CE, have been found in Jordan as well. Additionally, Arab-Byzantine "Standing Caliph" coins minted under the Umayyads also have been found bearing the mint-mark of "Amman." Thus, usage of the names Al-Urdun/Jordan and Amman date back, to at least, the early decades of the Arab-Muslim takeover of the region
Under the Umayyad's successors, the Abbasids (750-1258), Jordan was neglected and began to languish due to the geo-political shift that occurred when the Abassids moved their capital from Damascus to Kufa and later to Baghdad.
After the decline of the Abbasids, parts of Jordan were ruled by various powers and empires including the Crusaders, the Ayyubids, the Mamlukes as well as the Ottomans, who captured major parts of the Arab World around 1517.
Ottoman rule
In 1516, Ottoman forces invaded the Levant and
Emirate of Transjordan
After four centuries of stagnant Ottoman rule (1516–1918), Turkish control over Transjordan came to an end during
With the break-up of the
One reason was that the British government had at that point to find a role for Abdullah, after his brother Faisal had lost his control in Syria and been given the role of the king of Iraq. The British consequently made Abdullah emir of the newly created Transjordan. At first, Abdullah was displeased with the territory given to him, and hoped it was only a temporary allocation, to be replaced by Syria or Palestine.[14] The Permanent Court of International Justice and an International Court of Arbitration established by the Council of the League of Nations handed down rulings in 1925 which determined that Palestine and Transjordan were newly created successor states of the Ottoman Empire as defined by international law.[15]
The most serious threats to
In 1928, Britain officially provided King Abdullah with full autonomy, though the British RAF continued to provide security to the Hashemite Emirate.
The Emirate of Transjordan had a population of 200,000 in 1920, 225,000 in 1922 and 400,000 (as Kingdom) in 1948.[17] Almost half of the population in 1922 (around 103,000) was nomadic.[17]
Kingdom of Transjordan/Jordan
Establishment
On 17 January 1946, Ernest Bevin the British Foreign Secretary, announced in a speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations, that the British Government intended to take steps in the near future to establish Transjordan as a fully independent and sovereign state.[18] The Treaty of London was signed by the British Government and the Emir of Transjordan on 22 March 1946 as a mechanism to recognise the full independence of Transjordan upon ratification by both countries parliaments. Transjordan's impending independence was recognized on April 18, 1946 by the League of Nations during the last meeting of that organization. On 25 May 1946 the Transjordan became the "Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan" when the ruling 'Amir' was re-designated as 'King' by the parliament of Transjordan on the day it ratified the Treaty of London. 25 May is still celebrated as independence day in Jordan although legally the mandate for Transjordan ended on June 17, 1946 when, in accordance with the Treaty of London, the ratifications were exchanged in Amman and Transjordan gained full independence.[19] When King Abdullah applied for membership in the newly formed United Nations, his request was vetoed by the Soviet Union, citing that the nation was not "fully independent" of British control. This resulted in another treaty in March 1948 with Britain in which all restrictions on sovereignty were removed. Despite this, Jordan was not a full member of the United Nations until December 14, 1955.
In April 1949 the country's official name was shortened to the "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan".[20][21]
1948 War and annexation of the West Bank
Transjordan was one of the Arab states opposed to the second partition of Palestine and creation of Israel in May 1948. It participated in the war between the Arab states and the newly founded State of Israel. Thousands of Palestinians fled the Arab-Israeli fighting to the West Bank and Jordan. The Armistice Agreements of 3 April 1949 left Jordan in control of the West Bank and provided that the armistice demarcation lines were without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines.
On 24 April 1950, Jordan formally annexed the West Bank (including East Jerusalem)[22] declaring "complete unity between the two sides of the Jordan and their union in one state...at whose head reigns King Abdullah Ibn al Hussain".[23] All West Bank residents were granted Jordanian citizenship. The December 1948 Jericho Conference, a meeting of prominent Palestinian leaders and King Abdullah, voted in favor of annexation into what was then Transjordan.[24]
Jordan’s annexation was regarded as illegal and void by the Arab League and others. It was recognized by Britain, Iraq and Pakistan.[25][26][27] The annexation of the West Bank more than doubled the population of Jordan.[28] Both Irbid and Zarqa more than doubled their population from less than 10,000 each to more than, respectively, 23,000 and 28,000.[17]
Reign of King Hussein
King Abdullah's eldest son, Talal of Jordan, was proclaimed king in 1951, but he was declared mentally unfit to rule and deposed in 1952. His son, Hussein Ibn Talal, became king on his eighteenth birthday, in 1953.
The 1950s have been labelled as a time of "Jordan's Experiment with Liberalism". Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association were guaranteed in the newly written constitution as with the already firmly established freedom of religion doctrine. Jordan had one of the freest and most liberal societies in the Middle East and in the greater Arab world during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Jordan ended its special defense treaty relationship with the United Kingdom and British troops completed their withdrawal in 1957. In February 1958, following announcement of the merger of Syria and Egypt into the
In 1965 Jordan and Saudi Arabia concluded a bilateral agreement that realigned the border. The realignment resulted in some exchange of territory, and Jordan's coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba was lengthened by about eighteen kilometers. The new boundary enabled Jordan to expand its port facilities and established a zone in which the two parties agreed to share petroleum revenues equally if oil were discovered. The agreement also protected the pasturage and watering rights of nomadic tribes inside the exchanged territories.
Jordan signed a mutual defense pact in May 1967 with Egypt, and it participated, along with Syria, Egypt, and Iraq in the
The period following the 1967 war saw an upsurge in the power and importance of Palestinian militants (fedayeen) in Jordan. Other Arab governments attempted to work out a peaceful solution, but by September 1970, known as the
An attempted military coup was thwarted in 1972. No fighting occurred along the 1967 cease-fire line during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, but Jordan sent a brigade to Syria to fight Israeli units on Syrian territory.
In 1974, King Hussein recognised the
Jordan witnessed some of the most severe protests and social upheavals in its history during the 1980s, protests in Jordanian universities especially Yarmouk University and urban areas protested inflation and lack of political freedom. A massive upheaval occurred in the southern city of Ma'an. There was rioting in several cities over price increases in 1989. The same year saw the first general election since 1967. It was contested only by independent candidates because of the ban on political parties in 1963. Martial law was lifted and a period of rapid political liberalization began. Parliament was restored and some thirty political parties, including the Islamic Action Front, were created.
Jordan did not participate directly in the
Food price riots occurred in 1996, after subsidies were removed under an economic plan supervised by the International Monetary Fund. By the late 1990s, Jordan's unemployment rate was almost 25%, while nearly 50% of those who were employed were on the government payroll. The 1997 parliamentary elections were boycotted by several parties, associations and leading figures.
In 1998, King Hussein was treated for lymphatic cancer in the United States. After six months of treatment he returned home to a rousing welcome in January 1999. Soon after, however, he had to fly back to the US for further treatment. King Hussein died in February 1999. More than 50 heads of state attended his funeral. His eldest son Crown Prince Abdullah succeeded to the throne.[29]
Reign of King Abdullah II
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Economy
In March 2001, King Abdullah and presidents Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt inaugurated a $300m (£207m) electricity line linking the grids of the three countries. In September 2002, Jordan and Israel agreed on a plan to pipe water from the Red Sea to the shrinking Dead Sea. The project, costing $800m, is the two nations' biggest joint venture to date. King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched the Wahdah Dam project at a ceremony on the
Foreign relations
Jordan has sought to remain at peace with all of its neighbors. In September 2000, a military court sentenced six men to death for plotting attacks against Israeli and US targets. Following the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in September 2000, Amman withdrew its ambassador to Israel for four years. In 2003, Jordan's Central Bank retracted an earlier decision to freeze accounts belonging to leaders of Hamas. When senior US diplomat Laurence Foley was gunned down outside his home in Amman in October 2002, in the first assassination of a Western diplomat in Jordan, scores of political activists were rounded up. Eight militants were later found guilty and executed in 2004. King Abdullah did, however, criticise the United States and Israel over the conflict in Lebanon in 2006.
Politics
Jordan's gradual institution of political and
The first parliamentary elections under King Abdullah II were held in June 2003. Independent candidates loyal to the king won two-thirds of the seats. A new cabinet was appointed in October 2003 following the resignation of Prime Minister
The first local elections since 1999 were held in July 2007. The main opposition party, the Islamist Action Front, withdrew after accusing the government of vote-rigging. The parliamentary elections of November 2007 strengthened the position of tribal leaders and other pro-government candidates. Support for the opposition Islamic Action Front declined. Political moderate
In November 2009, the King once more dissolved parliament halfway through its four-year term. The following month, he appointed a new premier to push through economic reform. A new electoral law was introduced May 2010, but pro-reform campaigners said it did little to make the system more representational. The parliamentary elections of November 2010 were boycotted by the opposition Islamic Action Front. Riots broke out after it was announced that pro-government candidates had won a sweeping victory.
Arab Spring
On 14 January, the
In October 2012, King Abdullah called for early parliamentary elections, to be held at some time in 2013. The Islamic Action Front, continued in its calls for broader political representation and a more democratic parliament. The King appointed Abdullah Ensour, a former minister and vocal advocate of democratic reform, as prime minister.
Mass demonstrations took place in Amman (November 2012) against the lifting of fuel subsidies. Public calls for the end of the monarchy were heard. Clashes between protesters and supporters of the king followed. The government reversed the fuel price rise following the protest.
During Arab Winter
With the rapid expansion of the
See also
- History of Asia
- History of the Middle East
- History of the Levant
- Jordan
- List of kings of Jordan
- Politics of Jordan
References
- Harding, G. Lankester. 1959. The Antiquities of Jordan. Lutterworth Press, London. 2nd impression, 1960. Translated to Arabic by Suleiman Al-Musa as: Athar Al-Urdon, 2nd. Edition, Amman: Ministry of Tourism, 1971.
- ^ Jordan - History - Ancient Jordan
- ISBN 978-9957-8543-3-1
- ^ B. Mcdonald, Younker Ancient Ammon
- ^ Smith's Bible Dictionary
- ^ Old Testament Kingdoms of Jordan
- ^ M. W. Daly, Carl F. Petry (1998). The Cambridge history of Egypt. Cambridge University Press. p. 498.
- ^ a b Eugene Rogan, Tariq Tell (1994). Village, Steppe and State: The Social Origins of Modern Jordan. British Academic Press. pp. 37, 47. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
- ^ a b Beverley Milton-Edwards, Peter Hinchcliffe (2009-06-05). Jordan: A Hashemite Legacy. Routledge. p. 14. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
- ^ a b Perdew Laura (2014-11-01). Understanding Jordan Today. Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc. p. 17. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ^ Pete W. Moore (2004-10-14). Doing Business in the Middle East: Politics and Economic Crisis in Jordan and Kuwait. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
- ^ Raphael Patai (2015-12-08). Kingdom of Jordan. Princeton University Press. pp. 23, 32. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
- ^ E. George H. Joffé (2002). Jordan in Transition. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 212, 308. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ Lawrence, T. E. (1922). Seven Pillars of Wisdom. United Kingdom.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - M. E. Yapp, The Near East Since the First World War, Longman Group ltd, 1996, pp. 117-118
- ^ [Marjorie M. Whiteman, Digest of International Law, vol. 1, US State Department (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963) pp 650-652]
- ^ a b c Salibi, Kamal S. The modern history of Jordan, p. 104
- ^ a b c Jordan’s State Building and the Palestinian Problem Archived 2013-12-30 at archive.today
- ^ http://images.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/EFacs/1946v07/reference/frus.frus1946v07.i0017.pdf
- ^ http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/pdf/1946/TS0032.pdf
- ^ Ian J. Bickerton. "Transjordan, the Hāshimite Kingdom, and the Palestine war". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ISBN 9782351593783. Retrieved 5 February 2015.)
... the creation of the Kingdom of Jordan in 1949...
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help - ^ Jordan Formally Annexes the West Bank
- ^ Annexation of the West Bank by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
- ^ FRUS, US State Department Report
- ISBN 0-691-12130-3. "This purported annexation was, however, widely regarded as illegal and void, by the Arab League and others, and was recognized only by Britain, Iraq, and Pakistan."
- ISBN 978-0-7923-2581-9. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
Israel considers Jordan's annexation of the West Bank, recognised only by Great Britain and Pakistan, to have been illegal.
- ^ George Washington University. Law School (2005). The George Washington international law review. George Washington University. p. 390. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
Jordan's illegal occupation and Annexation of the West Bank
- ^ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61692149.html
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14636713
- ^ a b Andoni, Lamis (2011-01-16). "To the tyrants of the Arab world ..." Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
{{cite news}}
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