The third of September is not an ordinary day in Qatar. On this day in 1971, the state obtained its independence from the British occupation to begin a new phase in the country's history in which the government took over the full reins of power, and Qatar became an independent state.
The British influence in Qatar began in 1868 when Sheikh Muhammad bin Thani signed an agreement with the British authorities in the Gulf in which Qatar was recognized as an independent political entity, under which Britain pledged to protect Qatar from any external aggression, but this agreement did not last long for the continuation of the umbrella of the Ottoman Empire in Qatar and the existence of a discrepancy. In attitudes towards some matters on the part of Qatar, Britain and the Ottoman Empire.
The year 1916, which witnessed many changes in the Gulf region and indeed the world at large, came with the end of the First World War with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the great expansion of Britain in the region, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, the ruler of Qatar at the time, signed a protection treaty with Britain, which included 11 articles .
Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani (social networking sites)
Do not touch
national sovereignty
However, Sheikh Jassim Al Thani made reservations about 3 articles of this agreement because he considered them to affect the national sovereignty of the country, namely the seventh article that allowed British nationals to compete with the local population in the pearl trade, the eighth which stipulates the appointment of a British resident in Qatar, and the ninth that allows Britain to establish an office For mail and telegraph in the country.
The terms of the Qatari-British agreement had some good provisions for the Qatari side, for with the tension occurring in the region during that period, Britain’s pledge to protect Qatar from the sea side, and the pledge to prevent any foreign party from interfering in its internal affairs was one of the most important gains that Qatar achieved from behind this agreement. .
The agreement of Sheikh Jassim Al-Thani remained steadfast for nearly 20 years, so that in 1935 came the renewal of this agreement to add some provisions, the most important of which was the granting of the Anglo-Persian Petroleum Company a concession to explore for oil in the country, in addition to the approval of the appointment of a British resident in Qatar, but this clause was only fulfilled. In 1949, Qatar was the last Gulf country to approve the appointment of a British resident.
The 1935 agreement governed the frameworks of the relationship between Qatar and Britain until January 1968, when Britain announced the withdrawal of its forces from all areas east of Suez, prompting the nine Gulf emirates to establish a union between them to fill the political vacuum that might result from Britain's withdrawal at the end of 1971, and these Emirates The sheikhdoms are "Qatar, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain."
September 3 is the anniversary of Qatar's independence and the end of the protection agreement between the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom pic.twitter.com/PP7l7o3jbU
- Youth Committee (@YCQatar) September 3, 2018
The first constitution and declaration of independence
Qatar played a major political role in the efforts made to make the Nine Emirates Federation succeed, but these endeavors were unsuccessful. Therefore, Qatar worked on issuing many laws that would enable it to manage itself by itself, so it issued Law No. (11) of 1969 establishing a foreign affairs department that was the core To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar later, the first Qatari constitution was issued in the form of a basic system in April 1970, including the formation of the first cabinet, defining its functions and the work of other government agencies.
After ending all arrangements for the state and its institutions, Qatar announced on September 3, 1971, the termination of treaty relations with Britain and the cancellation of the treaty that Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani had signed with Britain in 1916, so Qatar became an independent and fully sovereign state and in the same month it joined Qatar to the Arab League and the United Nations.
Qataris are to be grateful to Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the sixth ruler of the State of Qatar, as he is the author of the declaration of Qatar's independence and the termination of the Anglo-Qatar Treaty of 1916 and the agreements resulting therefrom, and he has also launched decisive measures to Arabize the state, strengthen the authority of the government, and issue laws organizing new ministries and administrations.
On Independence Day from Britain, Sheikh Khalifa signed a friendship agreement between the two countries, and established diplomatic relations with a number of countries at the ambassadorial level, in addition to the signing by the Qatari government during his reign of partnership agreements to extract and market oil with a number of foreign oil companies, so their oil revenues increased, to culminate in this. In 1991, the start of gas production in the North Field, which is the largest single field of non-associated LNG in the world.