William Durupul

The leaders of the Arab oil states are also buoyed by the knowledge that the industrial world was dependent on them, which previously there'd been much less of a hold on the oil industry.

But by 1973, they have OPEC

And they have the ability to use this as a weapon against the West.

Two things that happen immediately.

Four days later, after this meeting in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia declares a total embargo on oil exports to the United States, a direct result of this airlift of tags to Israel.

And the Netherlands, who at that point is Israel's most vocal European supporter, is also added to the embargo list.

And it's the first time in history that oil has been used as a deliberate political weapon against the Western powers.

The effect is immediate.

In Britain, America and the Netherlands, there's queues around the blocks.

People are trying to get petrol and petrol stations unable to get it.

Speed limits are reduced.

Sunday driving is banned in several European countries.

The British government introduces a three-day working week to conserve energy.

American motorists queue for hours at filling stations.

The Western economies, which had grown without a break since the Second World War, go into the deepest recession since the 1930s.

And a conflict in the Middle East has made ordinary people in towns like Birmingham and Pittsburgh feel the consequences in their daily lives in the way that nothing in the Middle East had previously done.

And this completely, of course, changes the political calculus.

We've been undercharging for this, yeah.

So can you remember, we talked to Kim Gattis about this in her brilliant episodes on the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

And we'll be coming back to Kim actually talking more about this.