| Part of Decolonisation of Asia and 1967 sterling crisis | |
 Sheikh Zayed hoisting the flag of the United Arab Emirates at the Union House in Jumeirah, Dubai on December 2, 1971 | |
| Native name | توحيد دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة |
|---|---|
| Date | February 18, 1968 – February 10, 1972
(3 years, 11 months)
|
| Location | Persian Gulf Residency |
| Participants |
|
| Outcome |
|
The unification of the United Arab Emirates (Arabic: توحيد دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة, romanized: Taūḥīd daūlah al-ʾImārāt al-ʿArabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a political and diplomatic campaign essentially led by the ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in the British protectorates of the Persian Gulf Residency primarily from February 1968 to December 1971 where he successfully convinced the rulers of the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain to form an independent sovereign federal union with Abu Dhabi, initially known as the Federation of Arab Emirates and later as the United Arab Emirates on the eve of Britain's withdrawal and anticipated dissolution of the Persian Gulf Residency. The period may also include the two months between the federation's proclamation in December 1971 and up until the accession of Ras Al Khaimah in February 1972 which temporarily resisted the union upon its inception due to several geopolitical and economic reasons.[1][2][3][4][5]
The campaign is considered to have commenced with the union agreement between Abu Dhabi and Dubai on February 18, 1968, and came to a formal close on December 1, 1971, when Britain's official deadline of the withdrawal expired[6][7] and Sheikh Zayed signed the termination of the special treaty relations that were previously concluded between the British government and the leaders of the Trucial States since 1820.
A subsequent proclamation was made the very next day by the leaders of the six emirates under the auspices of Sheikh Zayed that officialized the transfer of power to the Trucial States Council from the Persian Gulf Residency of the British Foreign Office on December 2, 1971, formally renaming the territories of the Trucial States as the United Arab Emirates. Ras al-Khaimah, while initially opposing the union and refusing to join it, finally acceded in February 1972 whereas Qatar and Bahrain went on to choose independent statehood.[8]
Although Ras al-Khaimah initially resisting to join the union on grounds of purported inequality with its Qasimi counterpart, Sharjah, it however joined the federation in February 1972 following the assassination of Sharjah's emir Sheikh Khalid al-Qasimi and upon the assurance of equal treatment among the northern emirates,[9][10] making it the seventh and final emirate to accede to the union.
- ^ Al-Suwaidi, Prof Jamal Sanad (2019-01-01). Events That Changed History. Prof. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi. ISBN 978-9948-24-922-1.
- ^ Chapman, Graham (2002-03-11). The Changing Geography of Africa and the Middle East. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-93376-1.
- ^ Shaw, Ken E. (1997). Higher Education in the Gulf: Problems and Prospects. University of Exeter Press. ISBN 978-0-85989-515-6.
- ^ Phythian, Mark (2000). The Politics of British Arms Sales Since 1964: To Secure Our Rightful Share. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-5907-0.
- ^ Problems of Communism. Documentary Studies Section, International Information Administration. 1972.
- ^ Sears, Stephen W. (2014-09-10). The British Empire. New Word City. ISBN 978-1-61230-809-8.
- ^ Ulrichsen, Kristian Coates (2015). Insecure Gulf: The End of Certainty and the Transition to the Post-Oil Era. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-024157-5.
- ^ Cleveland, William L. (2018-05-04). A History of the Modern Middle East. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-97513-4.
- ^ Commins, David (2014-12-04). The Gulf States: A Modern History. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-78076-966-0.
- ^ The Report: Ras Al Khaimah 2008. Oxford Business Group. 2008. ISBN 978-1-902339-90-0.