Saudi conquest of Hejaz

The Saudi conquest of Hejaz, or the Second Saudi-Hashemite War was a campaign, engaged by Saudi Sultan Abdulaziz Ibn Saud to take over the Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz in 1924-1925, ending with conquest and incorporation of Hejaz into the Saudi domain.

Background
The 1924 campaign came within the scope of the historic conflict between the Hashemites of Hejaz and the Saudis of Riyadh (Nejd), which had already sparked the First Saudi-Hashemite War in 1919.

Saudi campaign
The pretext for renewed hostilities between Nejd and Hejaz came when the pilgrims from Nejd were denied access to the holy places in Hejaz. On August 29, 1924, Ibn-Saoud began his military campaign against Hejaz by advancing towards Taif, which surrendered without a major struggle. Following the fall of Taif, the Saudi forces and the allied Ikhwan tribesmen moved on Mecca. Sharif Hussein’s request for British assistance was denied to him on the pretext of non-intervention in religious disputes. King Hussein bin Ali had meanwhile fled from Mecca to Jeddah, after the assistance request from King Abdullah of Transjordan was denied as well. The city of Mecca fell without struggle on October 13, 1924. The Islamic Conference, held in Riyadh on the 29th October 1924, brought a wide Islamic recognition of Ibn-Saud’s jurisdiction over Mecca.

With the advancement of the Saudi forces and blockade imposed on Jeddah, Hejazi army began disintegrating. The city of Medina surrendered on December 12, 1925, and Yanbu fell 12 days later. Jeddah was handed to Sultan Abdulaziz of Najd and Saudi forces on December 1925, with the Saudi forces entering its gates on January 8, 1926, after capitulation and safe passage was negotiated between King bin Ali, Sultan Abdulaziz, and the British Counsul by the city's ruler Sheikh Abdullah Alireza.

Aftermath
Following the successful takeover over the Kingdom of Hejaz, Abdulaziz Ibn Saud was declared as King of Hejaz. The Kingdom was later incorporated into the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz, with Ibn Saud being the king of both in political union.

King Hussien of Hejaz fled to Cyprus, declaring his son Ali bin Hussien as the King of Hejaz, but effectively with the fall of the Kingdom the dynasty ended up in an exile. Hashemites however remained to rule the emirate of Transjordan and the Kingdom of Iraq.