abstract
| - The war began when Qatif invaded Bahrain Island and placed it under military occupation. The invasion of Bahrain was seen as a way of rallying popular support for the Ba'athist dictatorship of Mustafa al-Karim who had become increasingly unpopular in Qatif following economic downturn. The Trucial States responded to the invasion by mobilising their armed forces supported by Britain, the United States and Western regional allies. In February the Trucial States began a campaign to liberate Bahrain from Qatifi forces, which resulted in constant fighting on the island until May when Trucial forces placed it under their control. That same month the Trucials also launched an attack on Qatif itself, capturing Khafji and Al-Tuwaiq. Following the capturing of key Qatifi cities al-Karim was able to get substantial support from Arab nationalist regimes and the Eastern Bloc, mounting a counter attack on Trucial forces, with the Qatifi army committing numerous war crimes. Qatif tried to retake Bahrain several times whilst Trucial forces continued to move into Qatif. In October the League of Nations proposed several peace initiatives as the Trucial Emir Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum motioned for the end of hostilities. In November Qatif mounted another attack on Bahrain which was easily repelled, causing al-Karim and Al Maktoum to sign the Baghdad Agreement which saw a ceasefire declared. The war resulted in the dissolution of the military junta in Qatif, although the country remained under the Ba'athist dictatorship of al-Karim. Meanwhile Trucial leaders began to forge closer relations with the west as well as take a harder stance against communist and Ba'athist movements. The war has remained controversial, with the justification for the initial invasion especially having been debated. After the crisis Qatif was left economically weak and dependent on its Arab neighbours as well as the Soviet Union, with major economic growth in Qatif only really taking place ten years later whilst the Trucial States became alongside Saudi Arabia the dominant power in the region. The role of foreign powers and the war's impact in the Cold War has also sparked controversy.
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