The kings of Jordan call themselves Hashimites, i.e., descendants of Hashim - great-grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad. This genus includes all the so-called Abbasid caliphs, who ruled in the Arab caliphate from the second half of the 8th century. until its destruction in the XIII century. Since the end of the X century., Hashemite emirs ruled in the religious center of Muslims - Mecca. The son of the penultimate emir and became the first king of Jordan Abdullah I. Since the country gained independence in 1946, four kings were replaced in it. The most notable trace in history was left by the third king of Jordan, Hussein and his son, the current monarch Abdullah II.
King Hussein's childhood and youth
King of Jordan Hussein was born in Amman in 1935. Here he received his primary education, which he continued in Egypt. Then, he continued his studies in England at Harrow School and the Sandhurst Military Academy, where he became friends with his second cousin, King of Iraq Faisal II.
On July 20, 1951, the first king of Jordan, Abdullah I, accompanied by Prince Hussein, went to Jerusalem to make a Friday prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. During the ceremony, a Palestinian terrorist opened fire on the king and he was killed. 15-year-old Hussein rushed to pursue the shooter. Eyewitnesses testified that the gunman shot at the prince, but the bullet ricocheted from the medal on his uniform granted by his grandfather.
What is the reason for such hatred of the Palestinians towards the Jordanian ruler? The fact is that in 1947-1949. Jordan annexed the former Mandate of the British Empire to the west bank of the Jordan River with East Jerusalem, which, according to the UN plan, was to become the territory of the new Arab state of Palestine. The annexation was accompanied by a massive expulsion of the Jewish population to the newly created Israel. Since then, this land, and especially Jerusalem divided into the Jewish and Arab parts, has become a source of many years of conflict that led to two wars.
Throne Accession Circumstances
At first, Hussein's father was the eldest son of Abdullah I Talal. But later, thirteen months later, he was forced to abdicate due to his mental state (European and Arab doctors diagnosed schizophrenia). Therefore, the 16-year-old Crown Prince Hussein was proclaimed king of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on August 11, 1952. First, before the prince reached adulthood, the country was governed by a regency council. Hussein's full accession to the throne took place in May 1953.
Circumstances leading to the Six Day War
Three years after the coronation, King Hussein of Jordan replaced all British officers in the army with Jordanians. This step provided him with complete military loyalty.
During the 1960s, Hussein sought to resolve territorial disputes with Israel peacefully. This policy did not coincide with the intentions of the Iraqi, Syrian and Egyptian authorities led by Nasser, who were strongly influenced by Arab nationalism, which in principle rejected the possibility of a Jewish state.
The situation was complicated by the fact that Palestinian Arab combat units, based in Syria, Jordan and Egypt and striving to create their own state, launched a guerrilla war against Israel, which captured West Jerusalem.
Gradually increasing tension between the Arab countries and Israel resulted in the summer of 1967 in a short but bloody Six Day War, as a result of which the Jordanian army was expelled from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Egyptian army from the Sinai Peninsula, and the Syrian army from the Golan Heights.
After the war, Jordan began to receive significant economic assistance from the United States. The United States sought to destroy the united anti-Israeli Arab front, and they partially succeeded.
In September 1970, King Hussein of Jordan ordered the expulsion of the Palestinian Liberation Organization from his country. Attacks on Palestinian militants continued until July 1971, when thousands of Palestinians were expelled mainly to Lebanon. However, Jordan did not abandon its claim to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Doomsday War
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, and King Hussein of Jordan met in early fall 1973 to discuss the possibility of a new war with Israel. Hussein, fearing new losses of territories, refused to participate in it. He did not believe the promises of Sadat and the PLO chairman, Yasser Arafat, in case of victory, transfer the West Bank to Jordan. On the night of September 25, Hussein secretly flew to Tel Aviv by helicopter to warn Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir of an impending attack.
On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt attacked Israel without the aid of Jordan. The fighting continued until January 1974. Egypt regained the Sinai Peninsula, but the rest of the territories annexed by Israel during the six-day war remained under its control.
Peace with Israel
Despite the signing of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1978 at Camp David, Jordan continued to make claims against the latter on the West Bank and was formally at war with it. A long period of negotiations followed through US mediation, until finally in 1994 the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty was signed, according to which Jordan agreed to the inclusion of Palestinian lands in Israel as an autonomy.
Hussein continued his mediation mission in the negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, which in 1997 led to an agreement on the long-awaited withdrawal of Israeli troops from the largest cities in the West Bank.
King Hussein's Disease and Death
At the end of July 1998, it was revealed that Hussein was diagnosed with cancer. He went to the Mayo Clinic in the USA, where he conducted a course of intensive treatment, which, however, did not give the desired results. This was the second battle of the 62-year-old monarch with cancer; he lost a kidney due to this disease in 1992. When there was no hope that the disease could be overcome, Hussein appointed Abdallah as his successor and returned to Amman in February 1999.
Upon his return to Jordan, he was greeted by family members, ministers, members of parliament, foreign delegations and crowds of Jordanian citizens, who, according to Jordanian government officials, gathered up to 3 million people. Two days after returning, King Hussein, being in a state of clinical death on artificial life support, was disconnected from life support devices.
On the throne, he was replaced by the King of Jordan Abdullah II.
King of Jordan Hussein and his wife
The monarch was married four times. From the first wife of Sharifa, he had a daughter, Aliya. The marriage with his second wife, Englishwoman Antoinette Gardner, brought Hussein four children: sons Abdallah (born 1962, the current king) and Fisal, as well as daughters Aishu and Zane. The third wife, Aliya, who died in a plane crash in 1977, gave birth to Hussein's daughter, Haya and son Ali. And finally, the fourth wife, Lisa, became the mother of four more children: the sons of Hamza and Hashim, as well as the daughters of Iman and Raiva.
The current monarch of Jordan
What did King Abdullah bring to the country? Jordan is a constitutional monarchy in which the king retains significant power. Jordan's economy has grown significantly since Abdullah ascended the throne in 1999 due to increased foreign investment, the spread of public-private partnerships and the creation of several free trade zones. As a result of these reforms, Jordan's economic growth doubled compared to the second half of the 1990s and reached 6% per year.
What other achievements can King Abdullah record in his asset? Under him, Jordan entered into a free trade agreement with the United States, which was the third such agreement for the United States and the first with the Arab country.
The world economic crisis and the so-called “Arab spring” that followed led to political instability in Jordan. In 2011-2012. the country periodically there were mass protests dissatisfied with the deteriorating economic situation. However, Abdullah’s calm and restrained policy contributed to a decline in protest moods and stabilization of the situation in the country.
