Sæll,

Það sem ég veit um sögu Kúvæt er aðallega að hún er ekki löng. Þetta ríki var búið til eftir að Bretar slepptu hendinni af Írak á fyrri hluta síðustu aldar. Þetta var bara hluti af Írak en þar sem margar auðugar olíulindir eru einmitt þarna í heoninum auk þess sem það hefur aðgang að sjó þá var bara þetta hron klippt af Írak og stofnað nýtt ríki þarna.

Kv.

Hjörtur<br><br>Með kveðju,

Hjörtur J.

www.isbjorninn.cjb.net

“In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.” -Mark Twain

The origin of the city of Kuwait–and of the State of Kuwait–is usually placed at about the beginning of the 18th century, when the Bani ‘Utub, a group of families of the ’Anizah tribe in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula, migrated to the area that is now Kuwait. The foundation of the autonomous sheikhdom of Kuwait dates from 1756, when the settlers decided to appoint a sheikh from the Sabah family. During the 19th century Kuwait developed as a thriving, independent trading community. Toward the end of the century one ruler, ‘Abd Allah II (reigned 1866-92), began to move Kuwait closer to the Ottoman Empire, although he never placed his country under Ottoman rule. This trend was reversed with the accession of Mubarak the Great, who came to power by assassinating his brother ’Abd Allah–an act of what was considered uncustomary political violence in Kuwait. Ottoman threats to annex Kuwait prompted Mubarak to cultivate a close relationship with Britain. An 1899 treaty basically granted Britain control of Kuwait's foreign affairs. Following the outbreak of World War I, Kuwait became a British protectorate.

At the 1922 Conference of Al-'Uqayr, Britain negotiated the Kuwait-Saudi border, with substantial territorial loss to Kuwait. A memorandum in 1923 set out the border with Iraq based on an unratified 1913 convention.

The first Iraqi claim to Kuwait surfaced in 1938–the year oil was discovered in the sheikhdom. Although neither Iraq nor the Ottoman Empire had ever actually ruled Kuwait, Iraq asserted a vague historical title. That year it also offered some rhetorical support to a merchant uprising against the emir. Following the failure of the uprising, called the Majlis Movement, Iraq continued to put forth a claim to at least part of Kuwait, notably the strategic islands of Bubiyan and Al-Warbah.

On June 19, 1961, Britain recognized Kuwait's independence. Six days later, however, Iraq renewed its claim, which was now rebuffed by first British, then Arab League forces. It was not until October 1963 that a new Iraqi regime formally recognized both Kuwait's independence and, subsequently, its borders, while continuing to press for access to the islands. (eb)