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| 1938 |
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| Start of oil production in Arabia. | 1 |
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| 1938–39 |
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| Abortive move toward political reform in Dubai. The ruling dynasty set up a council of finance, composed mainly of local notables whom it wished to exclude from power. The existence of the council proved intolerable to the regime, which abolished it a year later. | 2 |
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| 1943 |
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| Development of irrigation projects in southern Yemen, particularly for the cultivation of cotton. | 3 |
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| 1944 |
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| Organization of ARAMCO, an American oil company that was established to operate a huge oil concession in Saudi Arabia. | 4 |
| Creation of the Free Yemen Party in Cairo. The membership of this opposition group consisted mainly of Yemeni intellectuals from prestigious families who had been exposed to the writings of Islamic modernists and the message of the Muslim Brotherhood. The appearance of the party was one of the first signs of growing fissures within Yemen's ruling elites. (See Saudi Arabia) (See North and South Yemen) (See The Gulf States) | 5 |
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