The kings of Jordan call themselves the Hashemites, that is, the descendants of Hashim, the great-grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad. All the so-called Abbasid Caliphs, who ruled in the Arab Caliphate from the second half of the 8th century, belong to this genus. until its destruction in the thirteenth century. Starting from the end of the 10th century, Hashemite emirs ruled in the religious center of Muslims - Mecca. The son of the penultimate emir became the first king of Jordan, Abdullah I. Since the country gained independence in 1946, four kings have changed 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.
Childhood and youth of King Hussein
King Hussein of Jordan was born in Amman in 1935. Here he received his primary education, which he continued in Egypt. He then continued his studies in England at Harrow School and Sandhurst Military Academy, where he became friends with his second cousin, King Faisal II of Iraq.
On July 20, 1951, the first king of Jordan, Abdullah I, accompanied by Prince Hussein, went to Jerusalem to perform Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. During the ceremonya Palestinian terrorist opened fire on the king and he was killed. 15-year-old Hussein rushed to pursue the shooter. Eyewitnesses testified that the militant fired at the prince, but the bullet ricocheted off the medal on his grandfather's uniform.
What is the reason for such hatred of the Palestinians to the Jordanian ruler? The fact is that in 1947-1949. Jordan annexed the former British mandated territory of the western 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 Jewish and Arab parts, became the source of many years of conflict, which led to two wars.
Circumstances of accession to the throne
At first, Hussein's father, the eldest son of Abdullah I Talal, became king. But later, after thirteen months, he was forced to abdicate due to his mental condition (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. At first, until the prince came of age, the country was ruled by a regency council. Hussein's full accession to the throne took place in May 1953.
Circumstances leading up to the Six Day War
Three years after his coronation, King Hussein of Jordan replaced all British officers in the army with Jordanians. This move secured him complete loy alty.military.
Throughout 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 under the strong influence of Arab nationalism, which rejected in principle the possibility of the existence of a Jewish state.
The situation was complicated by the fact that the Palestinian Arab militia, based in Syria, Jordan and Egypt and seeking to establish their own state, launched a guerrilla war against Israel, which captured West Jerusalem.
Gradually growing tensions 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 Syrian - 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 Palestine Liberation Organization from his country. Attacks on Palestinian militants continued until July 1971, when thousands of Palestinians were expelled, mostly to Lebanon. However, Jordan has not given up its claims to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Yom Kippur War
PresidentEgypt's Anwar Sadat, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and King Hussein of Jordan met in early autumn 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 PLO chairman Yasser Arafat to hand over the West Bank to Jordan in the event of victory. On the night of September 25, Hussein flew secretly to Tel Aviv by helicopter to warn Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir of the impending attack.
October 6, 1973 Syria and Egypt attacked Israel without the help of Jordan. 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 at Camp David in 1978, Jordan continued to lay claims to the latter on the West Bank and was formally at war with it. A long period of US-brokered negotiations followed, until finally, in 1994, an Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty was signed, according to which Jordan agreed to the inclusion of Palestinian lands in Israel on the basis of autonomy.
Hussein continued his mediation mission in the negotiations between 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.
Illness and death of King Hussein
At the end of July 1998, it was made public thatthat Hussein was diagnosed with cancer. He went to the Mayo Clinic in the USA, where he underwent intensive treatment, which, however, did not give the desired results. It was the 62-year-old monarch's second battle 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 his son Abdullah 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 estimated by Jordanian government officials to be up to 3 million. Two days after his return, King Hussein, in a state of clinical death on artificial life support, was disconnected from life support machines.
He was replaced on the throne by King Abdullah II of Jordan.
King Hussein of Jordan and his wife
The monarch was married four times. From his first wife, Sharifa, he had a daughter, Aliya. Marriage with his second wife, Englishwoman Antoinette Gardner, brought Hussein four children: sons Abdallah (b. 1962, current king) and Faysal, as well as daughters Aisha and Zein. 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, Liza, became the mother of four more children: the sons of Hamza and Hasim, as well as the daughters of Iman and Raiva.
The current monarch of Jordan
What did the king bring to the countryAbdullah? 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, driven by 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 has doubled since the second half of the 1990s and reached 6% per year.
What other achievements can King Abdullah record in his asset? Jordan under him concluded a free trade agreement with the United States, which was the third such agreement for the United States and the first with an Arab country.
The global economic crisis and the so-called "Arab spring" that followed it led to political instability in Jordan as well. In 2011-2012 in the country periodically there were mass protests dissatisfied with the deteriorating economic situation. However, the calm and restrained policy of Abdullah contributed to the decline in protest moods and the stabilization of the situation in the country.
Private life
Unlike his father, Jordan's King Abdullah II has pro-European views on marriage. His only wife, Rania, bore him four children: sons Hussein (Crown Prince) and Hashim, as well as daughters Iman and Salma. The wife of the King of Jordan was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. Studied in Kuwait, Egypt and USA. BeforeAblalla met in 1993 when she worked at the Citibank office in Amman. The wife of the King of Jordan, whose photo is shown below, is a modern person who is very active on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Rania is considered the ideal image of a modern Arab woman, free from prejudices, but at the same time putting traditional family values in the foreground.
She is of the opinion that royal children should know real life. The family of the King of Jordan is distinguished by extraordinary openness and democracy, and the main merit in this belongs to Rania. However, she does not give up some of the pleasant moments of her royal position, such as gold shoes weighing 400 g, studded with precious stones.
