VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000 > E. The Middle East and North Africa, 1945–2000 > 3. The Middle East and Egypt, 1943–2000 > h. Jordan > 1948–67
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  The Encyclopedia of World History.  2001.
 
 
1948–67
 
Expansion of the Arab Legion from 6,000 to 65,000 soldiers.  1
 
1948, March 15
 
Another Anglo-Jordanian treaty established a joint defense board and further restricted British influence within the Jordanian government.  2
 
1949–61
 
Decline of nomadism. The beduin population fell from about 200,000 to 56,000.  3
 
1950, April 25
 
Opening session of the Jordanian Parliament, half of whose delegates represented constituencies from the West Bank. One of the first acts of the assembly was to merge the West Bank with Jordan. By this one stroke, the Jordanian population nearly tripled to 1.5 million. Only half a million of the population was properly Jordanian, residing east of the Jordan River; the remainder consisted of Palestinians, one half of whom were refugees from Israeli territory. Abdullah's government made the additional gesture of offering Jordanian citizenship to Palestinians everywhere. Jordan was the only Arab state to do so.  4
 
1951, July 20
 
ASSASSINATION OF KING ABDULLAH by a Palestinian in Jerusalem outside al-Aqsa Mosque. He was succeeded by his son, Talal.  5
 
1952
 
Promulgation of a constitution. Jordan received a bicameral legislature: a lower house of 40 elected deputies (half from the West Bank) and an upper house appointed by the king. The cabinet was responsible only to Parliament. In practice, most members of Parliament invariably stood behind the king, who retained considerable influence.  6
 
Aug. 11
 
Parliament declared Talal unfit to rule due to his poor mental health. His son, HUSAYN, was designated the successor upon reaching adulthood.  7
 
 
 
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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