The King of Jordan and his family

The kings of Jordan call themselves Hashemites, that is, the descendants of Hashim, the great-grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad. All the so-called Abbasid Caliphs, who ruled the Arab Caliphate from the second half of the VIII century, belong to this family. Up to its destruction in the XIII century. Beginning at the end of the 10th century, the Hashemite Emirs ruled in the religious center of Muslims - Mecca. The son of the penultimate emir and became the first king of Jordan, Abdullah I. Since the country gained independence in 1946, it has been replaced by four kings. 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. Then his studies continued in England at Harrow School and the Sandhurst Military Academy, where he made 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 pray Friday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. During the ceremony, a Palestinian terrorist opened fire on the king, and he was killed. 15-year-old Hussein rushed to pursue the gunman. Eyewitnesses testified that the gunman fired at the prince, but the bullet ricocheted off the medal on the uniform, complimented by his grandfather.

What is the reason for such hatred of the Palestinians for the Jordanian ruler? The fact is that in 1947-1949. Jordan annexed the former Mandate of the British Empire 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 mass expulsion of the Jewish population to the newly created Israel. Since then, this land, and especially divided into Jewish and Arab parts of Jerusalem, has become the source of a long-standing conflict that led to two wars.

The circumstances of the accession to the throne

First, Hussein's father became the eldest son of Abdullah I Talal. But later, thirteen months later, he was forced to abdicate in connection with his mental state (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, before the prince achieved his majority, the country had regent councils. A full-fledged invasion of Hussein to the throne took place in May 1953.

The circumstances that led to the Six-Day War

Three years after the coronation, the King of Jordan, Hussein, replaced all British officers in the army with Jordanians. This step provided him with the full loyalty of the military.

During 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 headed by Nasser, who were strongly influenced by Arab nationalism, which in principle rejected the possibility of the existence of a Jewish state.

The situation was complicated by the fact that the Palestinian Arab militant groups, based in Syria, Jordan and Egypt and seeking to create their own state, began a guerrilla war against Israel, which seized West Jerusalem.

The gradually growing tensions between the Arab countries and Israel resulted in a short but bloody Six Day War in the summer of 1967, as a result of which the Jordanian army was driven from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Egyptian army from the Sinai Peninsula and the Syrian Army 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 this was partly 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 driven mainly to Lebanon. However, Jordan has not renounced its claims to the West Bank of Jordan and East Jerusalem.

The Doomsday War

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and King Hussein of Jordan met in early autumn of 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, in case of victory, to transfer the West Bank of Jordan. On the night of September 25, Hussein flew in Tel Aviv in a helicopter to warn Israeli Prime Minister Goldu Meir of an impending attack.

On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt attacked Israel without the help of Jordan. The fighting lasted until January 1974. Egypt regained the Sinai Peninsula, but the remaining territories annexed by Israel during the six-day war remained under its control.

Peace with Israel

Despite the signing of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel at Camp David in 1978, Jordan continued to make claims to the latter on the West Bank and was formally at war with it. There was a long period of negotiations mediated by the US, until, finally, in 1994, the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty was signed, according to which Jordan agreed to the inclusion of Palestinian lands in Israel on autonomy rights.

Hussein continued his mediation mission in the negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, who in 1997 led to an agreement on the long-awaited withdrawal of Israeli troops from the largest cities in the West Bank.

The Illness and Death of King Hussein

At the end of July 1998, it was announced that Hussein had been diagnosed with cancer. He went to the Mayo Clinic in the United States, where he conducted intensive treatment, which, however, did not produce the desired results. This was the second battle of the 62-year-old monarch with cancer; He lost his kidney due to this disease in 1992. When there was no hope that the disease could be overcome, Hussein appointed Abdullah's son as his successor and in February 1999 returned to Amman.

Upon his return to Jordan, he was greeted by family members, ministers, members of parliament, foreign delegations and crowds of Jordanians, who, according to Jordanian government officials, gathered up to 3 million people. Two days after his return, King Hussein, being in a state of clinical death on artificial life support, was disconnected from life support devices.

On the throne he was replaced by King Abdullah II of Jordan.

King of Jordan Hussein and his wife

The monarch was married four times. From his first wife, Sharifa, he had a daughter, Alia. Marriage with his second wife, Englishwoman Antoinette Gardner, brought Hussein four children: the sons of Abdallah (born in 1962, the present king) and Fisal, as well as the daughters Aisha and Zane. The third wife, Aliya, who was killed in a plane crash in 1977, gave birth to Hussein the daughter of Khayyu and Ali's son. And, finally, Liza's fourth wife became the mother of four more children: the sons of Hamza and Hasim, and the daughters of Iman and Raiva.

The current monarch of Jordan

What did King Abdullah bring to the country? Jordan is a constitutional monarchy, in which the king retains considerable power. The economy of Jordan has grown considerably since Abdullah ascended the throne in 1999, due to increased foreign investment, the spread of public-private partnership practices and the creation of several free trade zones. As a result of these reforms, Jordan's economic growth doubled compared to the second half of the 1990s and reached 6% per year.

What other achievements can King Abdullah write down in his asset? Jordan with him concluded a free trade agreement with the United States, which was the third such agreement for the US and the first with the Arab country.

The global economic crisis and the so-called "Arab spring" that followed it led to political instability in Jordan. In 2011-2012. In the country there were periodic mass protests discontented with the deterioration of the economic situation. However, the calm and consistent policy of Abdallah contributed to the decline of protest moods and the stabilization of the situation in the country.

Personal life

Unlike his father, Jordan's King Abdullah II adheres to pro-European views on marriage. His only wife, Rania, bore him four children: the sons of Hussein (Crown Prince) and Hashim, as well as the daughters Iman and Salma. The wife of the King of Jordan was born in Kuwait from Palestinian parents. She studied in Kuwait, Egypt and the USA. Before meeting Ablalla in 1993, she worked in the Citibank office in Amman. The wife of the King of Jordan, whose photo is shown below, is a modern person, very active in social networks YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Rania is considered the ideal image of a modern Arab woman, free from prejudice, but at the same time emphasizing traditional family values.

She is of the opinion that royal children should know the real life. The family of the King of Jordan is characterized by extraordinary openness and democracy, and the main merit in this belongs to Rania. At the same time, she does not refuse some pleasant moments of her royal position, such as gold shoes with a weight of 400 g, studded with precious stones.