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Chapter Three

The Formation of the Nationalist Movement

October to December 1954

In order to better understand the background against which Bahrain’s

nationalist party was born, it is important to first recognise the global context and

the surrounding atmosphere that helped to engender its appearance. The events

that unfolded in the Middle East in the years 1955-56 could not have taken place if it

was not for those of 1954 as these prepared ‘the stage’ for them. 209 Bahrain was no

exception to this, as the events that had unfolded throughout 1954, and in particular

during its final three months, set the political scene for the next two years.

On the global stage alliances and negotiations were being struck to further

solidify Western advantage over Russian influence. The first step involved a

member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), a global alliance against

the USSR originally established in 1949. Its founding members were the US, Canada,

Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Britain, France, and

Portugal. 210 The member concerned was Turkey, which achieved membership of

the alliance in late 1952. 211 A new proposed alliance between Turkey and Pakistan,

based on the US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles’ suggestion, materalised when

both countries came to terms on 2 April 1954. The signing of the new treaty was

209 D. Uriel, King Hussein and the Challenge of Arab Radicalism, (Oxford: 1989), 21.
210 R. Escott, Time of Fear and Hope: The Making of the North Atlantic Treaty 1947-1949 (Ontario:
1977), 9 and 193.
211 Eden, Full Circle, 243.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 70