United Arab Emirates History dates back to the days when the country was known as the Trucial Oman or the Trucial States. At that juncture, the sheikhdoms were under the protection of the British. The original group from where the United Arab Emirates was formed was known as the Arabian Peninsula sheikhdoms. This tribal group was settled along the coastal regions of the Persian Gulf, towards the southern territories and the north western coastal regions of the Gulf of Oman.
Until the 1500 BC, the region was a center of the sea piracy. In the 16th century, trade business was started by Portuguese. By the end of the 18th century British had started their own business in the region. The place was initially the home ground of some of the seafaring people who got converted to Islam in the later years. A powerful sheikhdom was established in the region by the Carmathians. This was followed by the conquering of Mecca by the army of the Carmathians.
According to the United Arab Emirates History, the disintegration of the sheikhdom led to the transformation of the people into pirates. In order to provoke the British entry into the region, the pirates threatened the Sultanate of Oman and Muscat. In the year 1820, Britishers enforced a partial cease-fire, while in the year 1853 this partial truce was converted into a permanent one. In this manner, the United Arab Emirates witnessed the Pirate Coast getting renamed as the Trucial Coast. Although the Britishers protected the nine Trucial states, they did not formally declare the region as a colony. Renaming of the region as the Trucial Coast was accompanied with the signing of a treaty between the British and the sheikhs.
In the year 1873, British started ruling over the Trucial Coast. Seven emirates were later established as the Trucial Council in the year 1952. The aim of the Trucial Council was to encourage adoption of the different common policies in matters related to administration. This led to the formation of the federation of the states. Discovery of Petroleum in the year 1958 marks another important event in the history of the United Arab Emirates. The petroleum deposits were mostly discovered under the coastal water in the region of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi was one of the biggest sheikhdoms during that period.
The onshore reserves of petroleum were discovered in the year 1960 and the commercial extraction of the fuel was started in 1962. Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan an-Nahyan, who ruled the land of Abu Dhabi since the year 1928 was totally unsuccessful in utilizing the revenue that was generated by the sale of petroleum. During the month of January, in 1968, the history of United Arab Emirates witnessed the withdrawal of the British military forces from the region. In March, 1968, the Trucial States joined with Qatar and Bahrain and together they were named as the Federation of Arab Emirates.
As per the history of UAE, six states by the names of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah, Dubai, Ajman and Umm al-Qaiwain agreed to come under the banner of the Federal Constitution in order to achieve independence. This was followed by the termination of the treaty by the United Kingdom with the UAE and on the 2nd of December, 1971, the United Arab Emirates became independent. During the month of February in the year 1972, the remaining sheikhdoms, by the name of Ra's al-Khayma merged with the UAE.
Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and the eldest son of Sheikh Rashid bin Said al-Maktoum became Prime Minister of the UAE. Right after independence, he took office as the Prime Minister, taking charge of the Federal Council of Ministers.
According to the UAE history, following the war with Israel in October 1973, the nation has strongly supported the Gulf countries. UAE has constantly provided huge amounts of money in the form of aid for the war stricken Gulf countries. UAE has successfully managed to maintain its diplomatic relationship with Iran even after supporting Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. The country even mediated between the two countries during war between 1980 and 1988. The year 1991 marked the active participation of the United Arab Emirates in the conflict of the United Nations with Iran.
The UAE also started the GCC of the gulf, better known as the Gulf Co-operation Council, in May, 1981. One of the chief objectives of the GCC was to attain more political and economic integration among the different Gulf countries. Since 1983, the country has been actively engaged in joint military activities along with other members of the GCC.
Like the other Arab states, UAE doomed the Camp David agreements that took place between Israel and Egypt. The agreement took place in the year 1979, although diplomatic relations fostered again between the nations in November 1987.
