Editing History of Bahrain (section)

==Discovery of oil==
[[File:First Oil Well, Bahrain.jpg|thumb|left|[[First Oil Well, Bahrain]].]]
The discovery of oil in 1932 by [[Bahrain Petroleum Company]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-1020.html|title=Bahrain: Discovery of Oil|date=January 1993|access-date=22 March 2011}}</ref> brought rapid modernisation to Bahrain. Relations with the United Kingdom became closer, as evidenced by the British [[Royal Navy]] moving its entire Middle Eastern command from [[Bushehr]] in Iran to Bahrain in 1935.<ref name="TBE">{{cite web|url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/bahrain.htm|title=Bahrain|access-date=22 March 2011}}</ref> British influence continued to grow as the country developed, culminating with the appointment of [[Charles Belgrave]] as advisor.<ref name="Ref_a">[https://web.archive.org/web/20130117000023/http://www.archiveeditions.co.uk/titledetails.asp?tid=8], Cambridge Archive Editions: Bahrain</ref> He went on to establish a modern education system in Bahrain.<ref name="Ref_a"/>

Bahrain [[Participants in World War II#Bahrain|participated]] in the [[Second World War]] as part of the British Empire, specifically the [[British Indian Empire]] as a [[Persian Gulf Residency|Gulf Residency]] on the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] side, joining on 10 September 1939. On 19 October 1940, four Italian [[Savoia-Marchetti SM.82|SM.82s]] bombers [[Bombing of Bahrain in World War II|bombed Bahrain]] alongside [[Dhahran]] oilfields in Saudi Arabia,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197604/air.raid.a.sequel.htm |title=Italian Air Raid! |access-date=2 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929071403/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197604/air.raid.a.sequel.htm |archive-date=29 September 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> targeting Allied-operated oil refineries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://comandosupremo.com/manama.html |title=Italian Raid on Manama 1940 |access-date=25 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016065527/http://www.comandosupremo.com/manama.html |archive-date=16 October 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> Although minimal damage was caused in both locations, the attack forced the Allies to upgrade Bahrain's defences which further stretched Allied military resources. After World War II, increasing anti-British sentiment spread throughout the Arab World and led to riots in Bahrain. The [[1947 Manama pogrom|riots]] focused on the Jewish community, which included distinguished writers, singers, accountants, engineers and middle managers working for the oil company, textile merchants with business all over the peninsula, and free professionals.
{{wide image|Manama View 1945.jpg|700px|align-cap=center|Manama in 1945.}}

===The leftist movement===
{{Main|National Union Committee}}

[[File:National Union Committee of Bahrain.jpg|thumb|The [[National Union Committee]] members in 1954]]
The National Union Committee (NUC), a leftist nationalist movement associated with the labour unions, was formed in 1954 calling for the end of British interference and political reforms. Work sites were plagued with frequent strikes and occasional riots (including several fatalities) during this period. Following riots in support of [[Egypt]] defending itself against the tripartite invasion during 1956 [[Suez Crisis]], the British decided to put an end to the NUC challenge to their presence in Bahrain. The NUC and its offshoots were declared illegal. Its leaders were arrested, tried and imprisoned. Some fled the country while others were forcibly deported.<ref>Miriam Joyce. "The Bahraini three on St. Helena, 1956–1961" in ''The Middle East Journal''. Washington: Autumn 2000. Vol.54, Iss. 4; pg. 613
</ref><ref>Falah al-Mdaires. "Shi'ism and Political Protest in Bahrain" in ''Domes''. Spring 2002. Vol. 11, Iss. 1; pg. 20</ref>

Strikes and riots continued during the 1960s, now under the leadership of underground cells of the NUC, namely the [[communist]] [[National Liberation Front – Bahrain|National Liberation Front]] and the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain]], the Bahraini section of the [[Arab Nationalist Movement]].

In March 1965, an uprising broke out, called the [[March Intifada]], against the British presence in Bahrain. The spark of the riots was the laying off of hundreds of Bahraini workers at the [[Bahrain Petroleum Company]]. Several people died in the sometimes violent clashes between protesters and police.