Editing History of Saudi Arabia (section)

==Unification==
{{Main|Unification of Saudi Arabia}}
[[File:Saudi Unification Map.png|thumb|Territorial evolution of the [[Third Saudi State]] (1902–1934)]]

In 1902, [[Ibn Saud|Abdul-Aziz Al Saud]], leader of the Al Saud, returned from exile in Kuwait to resume the conflict with the Al Rashid, and seized Riyadh—the first of a series of conquests creating the Third Saudi State, and ultimately leading to the creation of the modern state of Saudi Arabia in 1930. The main weapon for achieving these conquests was the [[Ikhwan]], the Wahhabist-[[Bedouin]] tribal army led by [[Sultan bin Bajad Al-Otaibi]] and [[Faisal al-Duwaish]].<ref name="Global Security" /><ref name="ibnsaud.info">[http://www.ibnsaud.info/main/020.htm King Abdul Aziz Information Resource] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113190212/http://www.ibnsaud.info/main/020.htm |date=13 January 2011 }} retrieved 19 January 2011</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">'Arabian Sands' by [[Wilfred Thesiger]], 1991</ref>

By 1906, Abdulaziz had driven the Al Rashid out of Najd, and the Ottomans recognized him as their client in Najd. His next major acquisition was [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Hasa]], which he took from the Ottomans in 1913, bringing him control of the [[Persian Gulf]] coast and what would become Saudi Arabia's vast oil reserves. He avoided involvement in the [[Arab Revolt]], having acknowledged Ottoman suzerainty in 1914, and instead continued his struggle with the Al Rashid in northern Arabia. In 1920, the Ikhwan's attention turned to the southwest, when they seized [[Asir]], the region between the Hejaz and [[Yemen]]. In the following year, Abdul-Aziz finally defeated the Al Rashid and annexed all of northern Arabia.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Saudi Arabia History" /><ref name="Global Security" />

Prior to 1923, Abdulaziz had not risked invading the Hejaz because [[Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca|Hussein bin Ali]], King of the Hejaz, was supported by Britain. However, in that year, the British withdrew their support. At a conference in Riyadh in July 1924, complaints were stated against the Hejaz: principally, that pilgrimage from Najd was prevented. The Hejaz boycotted the implementation of certain public policy in contravention of ''shari'a''. Ikhwan units were massed on a large scale for the first time, and under Khalid bin Lu'ayy and [[Sultan bin Bajad]], rapidly advanced on Mecca, laying waste symbols of "heathen" practices.<ref>Schulze, Reinhard, ''A Modern History of the Islamic World'' (New York: New York University Press, 2002) ("Schulze"), p. 70.</ref> The Ikhwan completed their conquest of the Hejaz by the end of 1925. On 10 January 1926, Abdulaziz declared himself King of the Hejaz and on 27 January 1927, he took the title King of Najd (his previous title was Sultan). The use of the Ikhwan to effect the conquest had important consequences for the Hejaz: the old cosmopolitan society was uprooted, and a version of Wahhabi culture was imposed as a new compulsory social order.<ref>Schulze, p. 69.</ref>

[[File:Ibn Saud.jpg|thumb|180px|right|[[Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia|Abdulaziz Al Saud]], founder of Saudi Arabia]]

By the [[Treaty of Jeddah (1927)|Treaty of Jeddah]], signed on 20 May 1927, the United Kingdom recognized the independence of Abdul-Aziz's realm (then known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd).<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Saudi Arabia History" /><ref name="Global Security" /> After the conquest of the Hejaz, Ikhwan leaders wanted to continue the expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of [[Emirate of Transjordan|Transjordan]], [[Mandatory Iraq]], and [[Sheikhdom of Kuwait|Kuwait]]. Abdul-Aziz, however, refused to agree to this, recognizing the danger of a direct conflict with the British. The [[Ikhwan Revolt|Ikhwan therefore revolted]] but were defeated in the [[Battle of Sabilla]] in 1929, and the Ikhwan leadership were massacred.<ref name="autogenerated2">'Arabian Sands' by [[Wilfred Thesiger]], 1991, pp. 248–249</ref>

In 1932, the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Najd were united as the "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".<ref name="Global Security" /><ref name="ibnsaud.info" /> Boundaries with Transjordan, Mandatory Iraq, and Kuwait were established by a series of treaties negotiated in the 1920s, with two "[[neutral territory|neutral zones]]" created, [[Saudi Arabian–Iraqi neutral zone|one with Iraq]] and [[Saudi Arabian–Kuwaiti neutral zone|the other with Kuwait]]. The [[Saudi Arabia–Yemen border|country's southern boundary with Yemen]] was partially defined by the 1934 Treaty of [[Ta'if]], which ended a [[Saudi–Yemeni War (1934)|brief border war]] between the two states.<ref>[http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11571.html Country Data – External boundaries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610161221/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11571.html |date=10 June 2011 }} retrieved 19 January 2011</ref>