The Ancient Empire - a Persian AAR

VILenin: I have big plans for the Ottomans. They'll get their due soon enough.
germanpeon: Thanks. I'm experimenting a bit with this style and hopefully I can maintain a nice balance between gameplay and flavour.

Apologies for taking so long with this update. I'm hoping to speed up a bit before EU4 hits and eats up my time entirely.

The Ancient Empire
Chapter Five: Rising Status


One of the largest schools in the Dar-al-Funun was the officer school, where men were educated in the tactics and strategy that Persia had picked up from the Westerners in the past two decades. A new class of educated officers was being established to replace the old guard of tribal leaders and nobility who gained their rank through their status rather their competence.


There was still an undercurrent of anger among the populace regarding the rate of the reform, and the Shah did not want anyone slowing down the progress he was making. To this end he consulted his more conservative advisers and found a man who would be suitable. Farrokh Tir was a brutal noble who was renowned for putting down Baluchi rebellions before they even got off the ground. He was a conservative man, but in a manner that was genuine, as he was fully invested in the position of the Shah as supreme ruler of the nation. Farrokh was loyal enough that Nasser trusted him to deal with reactionary forces by any means without changing sides. Allah would be the one to judge him if these methods were ultimately not worth the price.


One piece of advice First Minister Tir gave the Shah was to keep the military occupied with more campaigns while the reforms were finalised so they wouldn't have a chance to plan against him. However with the nation being surrounded entirely by Russia, Britain and the Ottomans the only opportunity for expansion was overseas. Britain also had a great deal of influence in the Arabian peninsula, so plans were drawn up to invade parts of Somalia instead. A small navy was drafted together from local patrol fleets in the Persian Gulf, marking the first establishment of a Persian Navy in the modern era, to launch the invasion.


The world didn't pay much attention to events in Somalia, although Britain did lodge a minor complaint. Far more important events were occurring in North America and Europe, with the Canadians taking steps towards independence and France and Sardinia-Piedmont joining forces against Austria. This marked the end of the alliance which had won the Crimean War and the start of a potential new alignment of the Great Powers in Europe as the Italians unified and rose to power. It also provided the backdrop for Russia to recover and regain its position among the Great Powers.


The local tribes were no match for the well-drilled and well-equipped Persian expedition. The Persian Empire was now cross-continental, although Somalia far from a prestigious colony. It was only now, as the sandy yellow on their maps began to spread out of Central Asia, that the politicians of the West really noticed how powerful Persia had become. But by now it was far too late, with Britain as an unofficial ally, Russia in no position to oppose them, and still more important events ongoing in Europe and the USA, for anyone to do anything to stop their rise.


Said events were the rise of a new wave of revolutionaries inspired by the writings of Karl Marx, and the devastating Civil War in America. While the war lasted only a few years and ended in a resounding Union victory, it was marred by the assassination of President Lincoln in the dying days of the war.

((Minor note: if you annex one of the Somali minors the other one instantly gets the chance to form Somalia. Not that it will help them much when their turn comes.))


The official establishment of naval bases to support Persian forces overseas and allow them to engage even further abroad made Persia's new conquest sustainable and in the eyes of many made it officially a colonial power. Construction was beginning along the Gulf Coast to allow the fledging Persian Navy to grow into a power to contend with, while a base was also set up in Somalia to act as the staging area for further naval adventures around Africa.


There was no longer any denying that Persia was capable of standing with the West. It had been less than a quarter of a century since Mohammed Shah Qajar had begun the process of forging the nation into a power worth reckoning with, and now his son was there to watch over the end of the process. Western diplomats were flooding into the nation, wishing to properly establish relations with the up and coming power. Through its exploits against Russia and in Africa had granted Persia a great deal of prestige and as a result it was already considered amongst the Secondary Powers


The early 1860's saw the institution of many new laws and policies that shaped the face of the Persian nation. First among these were laws which granted rights that were normally denied to many of the minority cultures, such as the right to join the universities that were now springing up across the nation or the right to marry a Persian or Azeri citizen. Language was also taken into account and many local authorities were granted the right to continue using their native language, although Farsi and English remained the languages of the central bureaucracy and diplomacy respectively. Many of these initiatives were spearheaded by the Shah, and while there was opposition among high-ranking Persians, even they eventually had to admit that it made the various territories of the Empire far easier to control.

((Time for a digression on National Values. Upon Westernising you get the choice of two of the four Tier 3 NVs. While these share the same names as in vanilla V2, they have more far-reaching effects. Generally each one will increase support for an ideology as follows: Equality/Socialist, Liberty/Liberal, Order/Conservative, Might/Fascist. Each one also has various other perks which make them good for various situations. As I chose Progress as my Tier 2 NV I get to choose between Liberty and Equality. Liberty is not much use for a nation in Europe or Asia as it is mainly focused on boosting immigration, and Equality's bonuses include a boost to assimilation which a nation with a lot of unaccepted minorities like Persia really needs. On the other end, Independence allows you to choose between Might and Order. Might is perfect for a nation with a ton of accepted pops like Japan or China and will help make you a military powerhouse. Finally, Loyalty is the weakest as it leaves you to choose between Liberty and Order, neither of which offer anything really special to a former unciv.))


The first railroads in Persia were starting to be built with generous government subsidies. The Tehran-Qazvin line was the first passenger line to be opened, and Nasser Shah Qajar rode upon it as one of the first passengers to demonstrate its safety to the people. However, much of the country remained unconnected as the terrain was too rough to build railroads, at least with current methods.

((PDM has railroad level limited by terrain type much more harshly than in vanilla, which makes it harder to just spam your whole country with rails. Areas of mountain and jungle can't be built on until you have higher levels of rail technology, and even moderately hilly areas are a problem for the first couple of levels.))


The acceptance of Western influence among the population also had the effect of the spreading of democratic ideals. Groups of liberals who sought the end or neutering of the monarchy and even socialists who saw the newly risen nation as the perfect place to experiment in different forms of economy were beginning to meet openly. The police did very little to break up these meetings, and in the end the laws against public political meetings slipped completely. The Shah saw this as a sign that the Iranian people as a whole were waking up to the new age, although some of his more conservative advisers like First Minister Tir remained concerned about threats to his status and worked in the shadows to keep the most dangerous republicans suppressed.


Advances were rapidly made in the fields of medicine as knowledge from the west poured into the burgeoning universities. With a better understanding of keeping men alive in harsh terrain, Persia was able to start launching expeditions into unclaimed land and claim the last few remaining independent tribes. However, shortly after this began Russia began making inroads into the same region apparently with the intention of preventing any further Persian expansion. While the two sides kept away from one another, this became yet another potential flashpoint between the two nations.


The Shah was eager to see education expanded to the rest of the population, not just the elite and the clergy. There were already several movements agitating for reforms and using these as leverage he was able to pass laws that would lead to the establishment of publicly- funded schools in every city in the nation. There were millions of people who could potentially be the next great leader, artist, or engineer that would only realise their potential if they had the knowledge of society taught unto them.

((One of the problems with this particular version of PDM is that reform desire is way too high which leads to things like having all the political reforms before 1860 and all the social reforms before 1880 for certain nations. I will try not to abuse this. Taking these reforms makes sense for the Shah given his education focus but beyond that I will avoid taking a reform unless I have to or it fits character.))


A feeling was spreading through the nation. The Persian Empire was once again becoming one of the greatest nations of the world. It had finally risen out of defeat and ignorance and taken its first steps into the wider world. The citizens of the Empire put their effort into keeping the march of progress going ever onwards and advancing calmly and indomitably into the future.

To be continued...

Surt: Sadly I just didn't have the colonial power for it. As you'll see, Russia came in almost straight after I started and there was no way to compete with them with my still-low tech.
MondoPotato: Indeed, now I need to work on catching up in tech but I'm not that far behind in the overall scheme of things as I was able to westernise so quickly.

The Ancient Empire
Chapter Six: The Dawn of Industry


Military development continued apace in Persia. The deployment of newer rifles purchased from Europe and the establishment of official engineer corps saw the military come one step closer to matching the Europeans, although there was still a long way to go. The engineer brigades were split up among the armies stationed on the borders with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, where they began studying the fortifications that lay across from them and developing plans to tear them down.


Despite the military advances, Persia simply did not have the resources to contest Russia's push along the east coast of the Caspian Sea. Russia had centuries of experience at pacifying sparsely populated tribal areas, whereas the current Persian regime was only just coming to terms with the ways of colonialism. Russian outposts soon covered the region and Persian troops were forced to withdraw before they could get cut off. The worst part was that there were several tribes of Iranians in the region who were now under Russian dominance, and the majority of the Shah's government knew there was very little chance of taking them back at this moment.


There was significant demand from the increasingly urbane and educated Persian population to see children in school rather than out on the hills tending sheep. Bringing more children to school fit the Shah's plans very well, so he was happy to accept their demands and push through laws that saw the hardest and most dangerous jobs restricted to adults.


Egypt had a new Khedive, Ismail Pasha, who was interested in clawing his nation back up from the defeat it had been dealt in the Oriental Crisis. He looked to Persia and its conquests of its more backwards neighbours for inspiration, and naturally settled on Ethiopia as the most likely target. Persia pledged its support, and the Somali Garrison under General Anzari immediately made a push to take the Persian capital and display Persian military strength to the world.


Russia's tenuous position among the Great Powers continuned to be displayed when a Lativian uprising lead to swift international condemnation of the Tsar and ultimately the rebels being given the chance to break away entirely under British support. It was a humiliating loss, made even more so when the Tsar abandoned his palace in St Petersburg and fled to Moscow after his generals advised him that it would be too dangerous for it to remain the capital with the risk of British attack on the city via their new Latvian allies.


The Ethiopian campaign was a grim reminder to Persian commanders that they were not invincible. Fighting across the sea and on the enemy's home territory made this the most challenging battle Persia had faced since the last war with Russia. Eventually a second force of twelve thousand men was deployed to the region to link up with the garrison push back the Ethiopians who were now threatening Persia's territory. General Anzari was recalled shortly afterwards, but upon his return to Tehran he found himself imprisoned and sentenced to one hundred lashes by First Minister Tir. Making such a misjudgement was unforgivable to the First Minister and he made sure to live up to his terrible reputation to demonstrate that further mistakes would not be tolerated. The Shah was not happy with such brutality, but he acknowledged that the lesson should be learned. After all, if this fight had been against a European nation such actions could have doomed the nation.


After the Ethiopian counter-attack was defeated the Persian and Egyptian forces were able to march safely on the capital and secure their concessions. After the loss of thousands of men on this expedition, the Shah demanded that something be shown for it and so a large portion of eastern Ethiopia was seized and added to the colonial administration of Somalia. This also granted a land border between Egypt and Persia which would make it easier to supply troops to one another in the event of a war that they both would partake in. Shortly afterwards, the remainder of the Kingdom of Somalia was annexed and the whole region came under Persian control.


The relaxation of the laws on free assembly had lead to increasing numbers of protests across the nation. The largest one to date, in Kerman, saw thousands take to the streets with a long list of demands that would severely diminish the Shah's powers. While he did not want to give in to these demands, he also did not want to completely crush the people who were just seeking their own progress. He ordered the police to stand down and not attack anybody, but this only lead to the protesters growing in number as their ideology was spoken to the people.


Many in the old guard did not like the Shah taking a soft approach to the demonstrators, and as one of their number the First Minister ordered the army out on to the street in a display of strength that would demonstrate that Persian arms were still in control despite the defeats in Africa. The troops took to the streets and forced the protesters to back down, although they generally fled before an conflicts could break out. There was a swift round of condemnation from the Great Powers as a result of this and implicit demonstration that Persia would soon be able to challenge them on the field. This was the last straw for the Shah, who saw the First Minister's rising militarism and brutality as an increasing threat to the stability of Persia's diplomatic relations and the country as a whole.


Tir was forced out, and another quickly ushered in to act as his replacement. Bayram Aliyeva was an unassuming bureaucrat from Tabriz who was far more interested in isolationism and far less interested in military action. Far from the old and dying-out isolationist reactionaries who still hated Nasser Shah Qajar and his father for dragging the country into the modern age, the new First Minister was a product of present times and was interested in keeping Persia stable and growing under its own power rather than inviting ever more power-hungry westerners into the country.


His policies were to increase incentives for the burgeoning industries that were beginning to spring up around the country. Under his advice, the Shah agreed to subsidise the construction of factories so that Persia could be self-sufficient in many of the goods it currently relied on imports for. Within a few years, dozens of such facilities were appearing across the country and the nation began its first steps into industrialisation. The first few years of this policy were fraught with factory closures and unemployment among the growing craftsman class, but government support and technological advances in farming and mining kept the economy from collapsing completely.


When word came that a World's Fair was being planned, the Shah and First Minister both agreed that this was the perfect chance to show Persia's growing power to the world without having to resort to more military action or diplomatic shenanigans. Sadly the organising committee refused the Persian bid, citing safety concerns. It was infuriating, but a delegation would be sent to wherever the Fair would end up being held so that the money spent on the bid would not be wasted at least.


The ousting of First Minister Tir did not mean the end of the militarists in the government, and so when word came that the Ottomans had joined their Prussian allies in a war against Austria they put tremendous pressure on the Shah to intervene. He was still sore from being rejected for the World's Fair and had always dreamed of bringing down the Turks, so he eventually convinced of the merit of their words. Persia declared war on the Ottomans, under the ostensible reason of protecting the Kurds of eastern Anatolia, and entered its first major war since joining the ranks of the civilised world. It was time to see if they really were ready to stand with the West.

To be continued...

Rabid: Thanks! Of course, the Ottomans aren't the only involved.
SuperRIDDE5: Indeed, and by 1936 the whole world will know it too.

Once again, apologies for the long hiatus. I'll endeavour to keep up with this AAR again.

The Ancient Empire
Chapter Seven: The First Kurdish War


The overall aim of the war was to secure an independent Kurdistan to act as a buffer between Anatolia and the Ottoman's Arab territories, leaving them vulnerable to further expansion in the region. As such the Persian forces would focus on securing Kurdish regions and establishing a solid defensive front against any counter-attack from Turkish forces returning from Europe.


In Europe, the war continued to turn against the Austrians. As Prussia and its allies marched in relentlessly from the north and the Ottomans engaged them in Bosnia, the Italians took the chance to launch a full invasion of Sicily and Venice. The third front would not help the Austrian resistance and Persian generals took note to advance as quickly as possible.


As news of the Persian invasion spread around the world, many eyes turned to watch the new rising star of Asia engage the failing former Great Power. Oman openly declared its support for its Shiite brethren in driving the Turks out the Arab regions, and the war even overshadowed the Shogun's victory in the Japanese Boshin War.


The invasion started smoothly, as Persian forces quickly pushed through Kurdistan with support from their Central Asian allies. The only opposition was a Romanian force that the Turks had forced to scramble east while their forces were engaged with Austria. Persian forces also entered through Egypt despite their insistence on remaining neutral in this war. There were occasional strange interactions with British forces that were passing through Turkey to participate in the Austrian war, but the British had already declared that they would not get involved in this conflict as they continued to subtly support the Persians.


Not all support was subtle however, as large shipments of the newest rifles crossed the borders from British India. However, it would be many months before these new weapons would cross the full length of the Persian Empire and reach the frontlines where they might make a difference. The newest models were breech-loaders which were still more primitive than the bolt actions that were seeing action in Europe, but they were a significant advance from the muzzle-loaded weapons the majority of Persian soldier carried.


Persia's colonial exploits also caught the attention of Europe. Explorers from Britain and France were increasingly penetrating the continent's interior and many imperialists hungry for profit were looking begin establishing colonies for the untapped resources it held. Persian Somalia was held up by many as a well-run African colony that could be used as a model for deeper European exploitation of the continent.


Austria surrendered to the British, Prussians and Ottomans in the summer of 1871. They signed a humiliating treaty that drastically cut their military capabilities and left them completely vulnerable to the Italians. However the Shah was more concerned that it meant that Ottoman and possibly even Prussian troops would be arriving shortly. He ordered a general mobilization to bolster the nation's forces which had been depleted by a year of attrition in the harsh mountains and deserts they had been crossing.


The first battles with arriving Turkish forces were heartening victories. Tired and poorly organised Ottoman forces were taken apart by Persian forces that were bolstered by reinforcements from the homeland. Several large armies were completely routed over the course of late 1871 and the Ottoman army showed signs of complete collapse.


There had been many atrocities committed during the course of the war in Austria as their countryside was completely overrun by the invaders. This pushed the Swiss into action, as they laid out the groundwork for an international treaty that for the first time would aim to restrict some of the worst horrors of war. Naturally the Shah sent a delegate to sign the Convention, as he wanted to further show that Persia stood alongside the other civilised nations of the world in their condemnation of such barbarism.


Word began to filter in from the garrisons on the Russian border that Prussian troops had been sighted. For a while, Persian generals didn't believe such tall tales, but when they saw with their own eyes the formations of thousands of men in dark blue uniforms crossing into the valleys of northern Kurdistan they came to realise exactly what they were up against. Prussia was not abandoning its ally, and was devoting every free resource to keeping it from collapsing.


As more and more German troops arrived, the Persian commanders agreed that they should finish destroying the Turkish army before focusing on the new arrivals. The general offensive against the remaining Turkish armies decisively crushed them and sent the Ottoman military reeling with no real way to recover its manpower before the Persian onslaught. The generals hoped that this would buy them the time they needed.


In Persia, the more radical elements were using anger stirred up by the war to push for reform of the government. There was talk among the Shah's advisers of extending the vote franchise to keep the population distracted with electioneering. For the moment, the Shah rebuked them.


The new year was ushered in with a great celebration in the capital. Even as the war raged in Kurdistan, the newborn heir to the throne was presented to the court and to the world by his father. The next ruler in the Qajar line had been secured, and for just a moment Nasser could enjoy the company of his family and not concern himself with the war effort.


The war effort itself was going from bad to worse. While the bulk of the Turkish army was being eliminated another fifty thousand Germans had crossed the border into eastern Turkey. They were throwing a great deal of men at making that their southern ally was not defeated, and Persian commanders were beginning to doubt their ability to hold out against the better trained and equipped Prussians.


A strategy was agreed upon. The combined force of the Persian Army would come down and crush each Prussian army one by one. While the Germans were powerful, they were very far from home and if they were routed even once they would be lost quickly by the unfamiliar terrain. The first such battle was a rousing success, but the Persian losses were unacceptable. They were already outnumbered in sheer numbers by the Germans, so losing thousands of men in each engagement would slowly drain the nation of manpower that it desperately needed to hold back the dark blue tide.


In an effort to bring the Turks to the table, a detachment was ordered to march directly for Istanbul, ignoring all opposition in their way. The Ottoman army was utterly broken at this time, so there was no resistance as they entered the city. However, the Ottoman Sultan had already been spirited away by his bodyguards along with anyone else who could negotiate for him. The Turks seemed to content to let the Prussians do their work and wait out the rest of the war.


Disaster struck, as the Persian strategy of bludgeoning the Prussians with as much manpower as possible failed. Well place artillery ripped the masses of conscripts to shreds and sent the bulk of the Persian army scattering in retreat. Even worse, one of the professional corps that was kept in reserve was caught out of position and completely shattered by yet another newly arriving Prussian army. The campaign in Kurdistan had to be abandoned and all but a few small partisan groups were withdrawn to Persia itself. It was the aim of the partisans to work with the Kurds to slow down the Prussians and slowly recovering Turks as long as possible while the Persian army reorganized.


The Prussians didn't fall for that. They completely ignored liberating the remainder of Kurdistan and pushed on into Persian Azerbaijan to keep the Persians on the back foot and prevent them from reorganizing. With the fighting suddenly on the wrong side of the border, it hit the Shah and his advisers in Tehran that the war was lost. It was just a matter of by what degree.


The Shah absolutely refused to evacuate the capital, even as Prussian forces entered within an hours travel of Tehran. General Airom rallied the remainder of the Persian army into an all-out counter-attack, foiling the Prussian offensive against the capital. No matter how hard the Prussians pushed, the rulers of Persia would not run and hide like the Sultan had.


However, events would turn against them. Russia finally made known its position on the war. The Tsar's ambassadors made clear that if Persia offered any more resistance then they would join alongside the Prussians and break the nation's back with their overwhelming numbers. Secretly, the Tsar also warned Wilhem I of Prussia that he would not tolerate endless armies of Germans marching across his country and threatened to cut off the military access agreement unless he accepted Persian offers of surrender. This finally brought the two sides to the table, and Persia gave up its campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

This was a humiliating defeat for the Persian Empire, which had been uncontested in its wars since the last conflict with Russia. It had shown that it could not yet truly stand against the full strength of a European nation. To make matters worse, it marked the return of Russia to the political scene and all that entailed. With them supporting the Ottoman Empire, all expansion in that direction was cut off for the immediate future. Battered and broken, the Persian Army returned home and began to rebuild.

To be continued...

((Ironically, the Russians really saved me at the end there. Prussia was absolutely refusing to consider any kind of white peace even after steamrollering my army and arriving at the gates of the capital. If Russia hadn't intervened and given me a convenient Status Quo wargoal to submit to, the Prussians might have added a much worse one.))

Surt: Indeed. It's not often you cheer when Russia declares war on you, but there you go,
Derahan: That's going to have to wait for a good opportunity. As I discovered I'm not strong enough yet to deal with a Great Power joining in to defend the Turks.
draik: Thanks!
Fatkidsz: Thanks! Persia's one of my favourite uncivs as well. I think Japan is too easy, China's too much management and the Sikh Empire/Punjab is also too easy once you've got control of India. Persia has the right balance of challenge and positioning.
Tommy4eva: Thanks! I don't know if I'd call my pictures well edited as its just chopping and mixing relevant screenshots, compared to some AARs where they try and make them look like period-maps or documents, but if you think so I'm not going to complain too much.
Scrapknight: Thanks! I hope I do at least as well as that, although the rise of new powers like Italy and Japan means there is even less room in the upper ranks. I was technically ranked 8 for a brief period in the last war, but losing all those soldiers really hurt my score.

This chapter skims quite a few years, but really very little happened. In this version of PDM wars can be incredibly devastating to your soldier pops because they're limited to one brigade per pop. This makes rebuilding a very time-consuming process, and can lead the AI to have death spirals if they get pounded too much in a short timespan. As you'll see.

The Ancient Empire
Chapter Eight: Rebuilding and Rearming


As the mobilized men of Persia returned home, the true cost of the war began to emerge. Prussia had almost completely shattered the structure of the Persian Army, and when the remnants were reorganised only fifteen thousand men, colonial armies notwithstanding, were all that was left to guard the nation. Almost immediately a massive recruitment campaign began to replenish the stocks of young men ready and willing to die for the country.


Such a large campaign ran the risk of causing further unrest, as there was a great deal of anger regarding military recruitment. Tens of thousands of men had been dragged from their homes and sent off to die in a futile war and their friends and family were not eager to send more of their loved ones off to the army. To help placate the population, the Shah ordered limitations on the length of time a man could be drafted in his lifetime. It reduced the amount of men immediately available by around twenty thousand, most of those being survivors of the last war, but it was a worthy trade off for stability.

((In PDM conscription laws are one of the biggest sources of mobilised troops in the early game, but their effects on militancy and mobilisation impact mean that once technology improves and increases your mobilisation size later on its better to start liberalising the laws.))


Austria-Hungary continued to suffer at the hands of Italy and Russia. Many politicians in Europe were beginning to talk of the Empire as a failed power that would soon be eclipsed by the rising Italy and Sweden, the resurgent Russia and the ever-strong Prussia.


The Shah's continuing inaction on the popular demands for democratic reform was causing the more radical political figures in the country to turn to more militant ideologies. Some were actively calling for the abolition of the monarchy and all private landholding but for the moment they held very little sway over the still largely rural and illiterate population of the country.


The chaos in Austria-Hungary continued as the Great Powers of Europe were called to a Congress in Berlin to decide the fate of the Balkans and the Empire. Prussia backed a strong Ottoman Empire, but many other powers supported the many nationalist groups within their borders so the Prussians were forced to make concessions to the release of Bosnia, Bulgaria and Cyprus, and the return of parts of Serbia and Romania. For their part, the Austrians had to give up all land claimed by Italy, as well as Galicia to the Russians and the Banat to the German colonists living in the region. The key outcome of the conference for Persia was Turkish outrage that the Europeans had stripped away large tracts of their empire without any of their input. A diplomatic crisis was brewing as their relations with Prussia and Russia collapsed.


While the majority of the Persian army was slowly rebuilding over the years the colonial forces stationed in Somalia had avoided the worst of the conflict, barring Prussia's Portuguese allies launching raids on the coast. They acquired permission from the Shah to continue expanding the Empire's African holdings. Persian troops seized Kenya and assisted the Egyptians in gaining more Ethiopian territory, further strengthening the allies' hold on the region.


A new generation of aristocracy was entering the establishment. These men were raised on the promise of Western politics and liberal reform and were increasingly agitating for change. After having spent years ready imported European newspapers and magazines, being able to express their opinions freely across the Empire was close to their hearts. The Shah conceded these changes when they presented a petition signed by more than half of the royal court.


Headed by General Airom, the Persian Army continued to reform and expand once again. The first full army was assembled in the summer of 1878 and was equipped with hundreds of guns that were on par with the weapons the Prussians had used to great effect in the previous war. In the intervening years Persian engineers had practically dissected the captured examples of such weapons, and as the British were unwilling to provide the most modern tools of war they had to develop the necessary forging techniques themselves. No longer was Persia totally reliant on support from one of the European powers to supply its wars.


Expansion of the nation's infrastructure had been put on hold by the war and rebuilding, but now that the country was recovering the government was willing to subsidise the next generation of railroads across northern Persia. As a side effect of the program thousands of men were brought into the cities to act as a labour force, and once the rails had been laid they turned to working in the nation's factories. Persian industry had yet to truly kick into gear, so every incentive counted in bringing more workers to the production line.


The official abolition of slavery came in 1879 after the Shah finally caved to pressure from the British ambassadors. It was entirely a symbolic gesture, as there was not one registered slave in the nation, but it seemed to placate them for the time being.


Seven years after the end of the war the Persia was, while not quite its former size, far more advanced and organised. Lessons had been learned and a fresh batch of officers had been pulled from the universities to lead the nation's armies to victory. Their chance finally came when a crisis broke out between the Greeks and Turks over Macedonia. While the Great Powers initially butted heads over the situation, it rapidly became clear that no one really cared about the Ottoman Empire and the whole situation fizzled. Even Prussia was far more focused on the political situation in Germany, while the Russians focused on their western border to keep an eye on the ongoing conflict within Austria-Hungary.

((Minor amusing note: Hanover was a Great Power for a while, which is why Prussia hasn't formed the NGF/Germany despite the state of A-H.))


Large numbers of British soldiers and engineers began to arrive in Egypt in 1882. They had great ambitions of building a canal across Suez, allowing them to increase both the speed and their control of trade between Europe and Asia. Against the political and economic factors at work there was very little Egypt, Persia, or any other nation in the region could do about it.


Egypt was not the true concern of Persia, however. With the Europeans distracted, there was nothing preventing another invasion of the Ottoman Empire. With the aim of freeing all of Kurdistan, Persian troops cross the border and began the Second Kurdish War. This time, there would be no European armies coming to the Turk's rescue.

To be continued...