Saud

In Mecca, Sharif Husayn, who had proclaimed himself king during World War I, was having troubles of his own. Throughout the war Husayn had fought not only the Central Powers but also local rivals. Ironically, his major rival, Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud (a follower of the Wahhabi movement, which advocated the establishment of a puritanical Islamic government), had also received British subsidies during the war. Saud had the advantages of religious zeal, better organization, and military strength; by 1925, he succeeded in ousting Husayn. He then established a Saudi Arabian monarchy based on strict adherence to Islamic precepts. In order to come to power he had to unite the different tribes and also had to kick out the Ottomans. To do this he used religion: he said Husayn was not pious enough and used radical religion to gain support of the tribes to get rid of Husayn. Becuase of his use of religion to gain power he couldn't let up his conservative views or his base of power would disappear, but he still wanted relations with the west for economic purposes and eventually sold them oil He doesn't want a western influence on power, but he is allied with the West before the war due to the weaponry and stays allied after the war because (as mentioned before) of oil. Essentially Saud modernized and westernized but could not westernize too much because he had to maintain the conservative beliefs that he used to help him gain power, in order to stay in power. Saud took advantage of the Wahhabi movement, a fundamentalist Islamic movement that has no qualms about violence. He used it to to gain power and unite many of the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. Saud was born into power, as one of the sons of a king of a city, and was forced to flee as a child. He realized that to maintain power, he had to unite the people, thus religion - their only thing in common - was his tool. Once in power, he was both strict and conservative, as he could not violate the ideals of his base. Saud did venture to capitalize on the large quantities of oil discovered not too long before his death, so one of his last moves in power was to ensure for his country enormous wealth in resources.

Here are the notes from the day we talked about him in class:

Problem: tribal/clan warfare He has to unite them, does it with religion, Wahhabism Problem 2: he kicks out the ottomans, Britain supports Hussein, not the Wahhabs Problem 3: Hussein (he accuses Hussein of not being pious, being an infidel, ironic because he is the religious leader also) Constantly using religion to increase his power Trying to befriend the west, because they have money to buy his oil

He had power but then he lost power and was exiled so he had to regain power. There was tribal warfare so he had to unite the tribes with religion which was Wahhabhism. The Ottomans were a problem in Saudi Arabia so he had to kick them out. He accuses Husayn of not being pious enough. He uses religion for power and he wants relations with the West.


 *  Ibn Saud
 *  Tribal/Clan warfare
 *  Exiled after family lost power
 *  Must unite tribes under himself
 *  With Religion/Wahhabism
 *  Islamic Fundamentalist
 *  Wahhabs HATE the West
 *  Kicking out Ottomans
 *  Ibn Saud expected aid from British
 *  British support Husain
 *  British give power of A.P. to Husain
 *  Must take power from Husain
 *  Accuse Husain of being and infidel
 *  "Put me in charge, because he will not protect the faith"
 *  Westernize
 *  Had to westernize and modernize carefully
 * <span style="direction: ltr; direction: ltr; direction: ltr; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-left: .375in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed; unicode-bidi: embed; unicode-bidi: embed; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: middle;"> Had a base of Conservative Wahhabism as his source of power
 * <span style="direction: ltr; direction: ltr; direction: ltr; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-left: .375in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed; unicode-bidi: embed; unicode-bidi: embed; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: middle;"> Westernization directly defies his basis of power
 * <span style="direction: ltr; direction: ltr; direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed; unicode-bidi: embed; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: middle;"> If he slips up, he will be killed and new people will be put in charge