The Ancient Empire - a Persian AAR

Surt:Sadly Suez is Egyptian, and there is very little time between the start of construction and the completion for me to take it considering it is in the British sphere.
Tommy4ever: My real aim with liberating Kurdistan is to provide a buffer state against the Turks, which will make it easier for me to fulfil my real ambitions in the Middle East, which you will see the start of in this update.
hoi2geek: I'll do my best. Infamy might slow me down though, given how many provinces stand between me and Greece.
Nikolai: Thanks!
Mkoll: It really shows them to be the Sick Man when they have to rely on Europeans to bail them out of every crisis.

Apologies for taking so long with this update.

The Ancient Empire
Chapter Nine: Onward, Brothers


The Turks were well aware that Persia wanted another chance at their land. Fifty thousand men had been stationed on the border, and upon the declaration of war they began to cross over into Persian territory. According to sources in Istanbul it appeared that the Turks were under the impression that Persia was still not at full strength, as their army was half the size it was in the last war, so they were free to go on the offensive. General Airom intended to dispel them of this belief as he brought the full might of Persian cannon to bear on the invading army at Ilam.


The victory was not as immediately crushing as the General hoped, as thousands of Persians died against the frontline of the Turks while the main batteries were moved into position. However, as soon as the guns began firing the Ottoman formation was torn to pieces and they were broken. Using his superior knowledge of the terrain within the Persian borders, Airom was able to beat them to the Iraqi town of Kut. Faced with another array of cannons on their retreat path, the entire Ottoman army surrendered.


Persian arms also brought out victory abroad. In Paris, the 1882 World Fair was held with visitors from across the world. A detachment of Persian troops carrying cannons forged in Tehran joined the Persian delegations, and on the fields outside Versailles they put on a tremendous display of firepower. It was the talk of the Fair, and the French felt greatly humiliated by their own lacklustre performance in the military category.


The French were soon able to prove their own worth, however. Their allies in Greece agreed that now was the perfect moment to strike against he Turks and drive them from Europe, and they called upon Paris to assist them. French and Greek forces began to arrive, drawing away Ottoman troops from the Kurdish front.


With all Turkish reinforcements tied up in the west, General Airom felt confident launching an all-out offensive. The remaining Turkish forces in the region were cornered and wiped out, and Persian forces began pushing through Kurdistan without opposition as they had done at the start of the last war.


While war raged in the Ottoman Empire, and another massive conflict began in the Far East as Russia launched an invasion of China, the Great Powers of Europe had their eyes set on another prize. Seeing Russia as a neutral party that had no interest on Africa, they called upon them to host a conference in Moscow where they would serve as neutral ground for the various powers to stake their claims to Africa. While there was no decisive decisions on the division of the continent, it was agreed by all attendees that the land was free for the taking by whomever had the power to stake a claim to it.


While colonialism was the hot topic in Europe, a wave of decolonial sentiment was sweeping through Asia. Japan continued to rapidly modernise, and a nationalist movement was beginning to gain strength in India. The revolutionary leader Bal Tilak sought refuge from the British authorities in the French Indian outpost of Pondicherry from where he was free to preach his ideas of 'Swaraj' or 'self-rule' for the people of India. The French tolerated him as a way to weaken the British grip on the subcontinent. His doctrines were heard as far away as Persia itself, where nationalist leaflets were found to be being distributed amongst the people of Baluchistan.

((Slightly amusing here, because despite all of the Indian territory under British control this event fired in the one French province. Technically Baluchistan has Indian cores, which is why I'm getting this notification as well.))


The war dragged on as the terrain of Kurdistan and Turkey proved slow going for the Persian armies that were heavily weighed down by their artillery. However, victory continued to seem inevitable as no Turkish forces had been seen in months and the French had even successfully launched an invasion of Anatolia.


Another year rolled by, and the people of Persia were beginning to grow tired. The freedom of the press meant that this time many of the horrors and atrocities of the war were making their way back to the cities. For the first time people who had been raised on the ideals that all people are equal were faced with the true nature of men at war, and they didn't like. Protest groups were beginning to spring up in many of the major cities, which made ending the war a greater priority than ever.

((One of the downsides of picking the Equality NV is that it unlocks events like this.))


The world's first Communist government took power in late 1885. Switzerland was being flooded by cheap goods from France, Germany and Italy and the government's only response was more laissez faire policies. Faced with economic collapse, the lower classes rose up and overthrew the government. The cantons were disbanded and replaced with worker's collectives organised under a central authority in Zurich. The new government attempted to maintain the nation's status as peacebroker and provider of humanitarian aid, but many found the words hollow when their aid workers went out wearing a red star instead of a red cross.


The Suez Canal was finished in December, and the British rushed to have the first ships pass through on Christmas Day so they could make a show of it. For the first time, the Mediterranean and Red Sea were properly linked. The Shah sent his congratulations to London, but secretly there were many in the Persian government who wanted this valuable piece of land to allow the nation to completely dominate trade across the Middle East. No one would dare turn against the Empire's decades old allies though, at least not yet.


The first part of Bismarck's dream finally came to pass in 1886 as a treaty was signed that officially made the states of northern Germany subordinate to Prussia as part of a Confederation. Almost immediately, the German Confederation declared war on France, intending to take advantage of its distraction in Africa and Anatolia to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine.


The Ottoman Empire finally gave up in late 1886, as Persian troops were approaching Istanbul. As cornered as they were by both the Persians and the Greek/French alliance, they had no choice but to accept whatever demands the Shah put to them. Kurdistan was liberated in its entirety, and on top of that Persia demanded that the ancient city of Baghdad and the surrounding lands be passed into Persian control to ensure the security of the new state. It was an incredible defeat for the Turks, but it allowed them to focus all their resources on their other war.

((Basra + Kurdistan would have cost above 100% warscore, so I had to settle for Baghdad instead despite not have a connection to it. That can come later ))


The growing strength and increasing industrial prosperity of Persia were only strengthening the national identity of the Empire. Even the Pashtun and Arab minorities in the country were beginning to see themselves as members of a greater whole, working together towards the future. The national fraternity saw more and more people identifying themselves as Persian rather than member of their local tribe or religious sect, and promoted peace across the nation even among ethnic groups who had been opposed for centuries. As national policy treated every man the same no matter how they spoke or worshipped, the country entered an unparalleled era of cooperation.

((Once you get Revolution and Counter-revolution you can pick a Tier 4 National Value. They come in two flavours, either more advanced versions of your Tier 3 NV or a combination with another Tier 3. For example, Equality leads to Fraternity (more advanced version of Equality), Prosperity (Equality + Liberty) or Unity (Equality + Order). I'm more interested in increased assimilation rather than the benefits of another branch. Notably it is impossible to combine one NV with its opposite, so you can't get Liberty + Order or Equality + Might.))


Not all were happy with the situation. The subjagated Uzbek tribes had mostly been ignored for decades, since their original defeats. The lack of Persian attention meant that when Russian agents entered the Khanates and began to influence their leaders, it didn't take long for the Khans to fall under Russian influence. Soon, Russian troops were marching into Central Asia and integrating the lands into the Russian Empire and there was nothing the Shah could do about it.

((Russia has decisions to annex the Central Asian nations once they are puppeted or sphered. I actually added versions of these decisions for Persia as well which is why I puppeted Khiva and Bukhara in the first place, but they require me to be a Great Power which I haven't quite achieved.))


The loss of Central Asia was a blow to Persian ambitions, but it was not the only direction the Empire could expand in. Africa was open to anyone who could take it, and the Shah intended to take advantage of this. Persian explorers and colonists started to move deeper into Kenya, while preparations were made to finish the conquest of the Ethiopians once and for all. Persia was entering the Scramble for Africa.

To be continued...

Surt: Not at the moment. As soon as Great Wars popped, they allied themselves with Britain. I might be able to take on the Russians alone, but not with millions of guys pouring in from India as well.
Nikolai, Tommy4eva: Taking Basra would have taken too much warscore so I had to settle for Baghdad. However, you may both be pleased by the outcome of this update.

The Ancient Empire
Chapter Ten: From Sea to Sea


It was not long after the liberation of Kurdistan that issues began to emerge between the new Kingdom and the Persian Empire. An extreme nationalist named Abd al Razzaq had seized the throne during the tumultuous early days of freedom and declared that that all Kurds, including those within Persia itself, would be united. It was his belief that the Shah would relent some territory rather than turn against his new ally. However, this only worsened the diplomatic situation between the nations.

((Also using this chance to show the current state of the Great Powers))


In Europe there were those who felt that both political and economic reform were necessary, and that the intense focus of the liberals and socialists on one aspect over the other was harming the political landscape. These social liberals were a small faction for now, but they were growing in power among the more moderate of the reformist factions.

((Social liberals are an ideology unique to PDM. They appear in the second half of the game and support both political and social reforms, so they are useful if you want maximum freedom in your country. They don't have political parties or a radical version of their ideology though, which does limit their influence somewhat.


The Scramble for Africa continued apace, as struggles broke out across the continent to seize as much land as possible as quickly as possible. France and Britain were brought to the brink of war over their holdings in West Africa, but the French backed down at the last minute and ceded all of Upper Guinea to the British expeditions. The British were steadily proving themselves the dominant power in the race.


The situation in Kurdistan was rapidly becoming worse as the king stirred up nationalist fervour. The final straw was an attack by nationalists within Persian territory that saw several dozen soldiers killed. The Shah decreed that Persia would move in to restore order to the upstart Kurds and install a less violent ruler. At the same time, the army requested permission to seize northern Iraq from the Kurds so they could properly supply the enclave around Baghdad. This request was granted and Persian troops began to enter Kurdistan as conquerors rather than liberators.


The Kurds had no military to speak of and within a year the whole nation was under Persian control. Abd al Razzaq fled and a more Persian friendly ruler was installed on the throne. He proceeded to sign a treaty of vassalage to the Shah to ensure the protection of the kingdom and to prevent another crisis from happening in future. In the confusion of the war Russia had moved in and seized north-eastern Kurdistan, but there was nothing that could be done about it without an all-out war.


In Africa, Persian forces continued to move unopposed deeper inland. Learning from their experiences in Somalia, they established local administrations as they went. Each district was lead by Persian administrators but had a significant number of locals employed in the bureaucracy. The hope was that they would see the effectiveness of modernity and begin to embrace it of their own accord. In Kenya, German and Persian soldiers warily watched one another from their forts

((In PDM post-colonial nations are set up through decisions like this. It automatically sets the primary culture of the new cores to your culture, and if another nation conquers the territory they can use the decision to set it to theirs instead. As a side effect, this means that the AI generally won't release dynamic dominions which makes Africa look a lot nicer.))


An increasingly radical movement was forming demanding better conditions in the rapidly growing factories of the nation. As more and more families moved into the cities in search of work, unscrupulous businesses exploited them by charging them so much for rent and food that they were forced to send their children to work just to stay alive. The more socially minded members of the middle and upper class saw this as an affront to decency, especially as tales of horrible diseases and mutilations brought on by chemical inhalation or factory equipment began to spread. The Shah set out a decree barring children under the age of fifteen from factory work and ordered punitive measures to any company that did such things. However, the socialist movements were not totally satiated, as this didn't solve the underlying problem. They took their victory and continued planning for their next policy push.


The world was changing rapidly, as the last independent lands rapidly fell under the dominance of one Great Power or another. The rise of new nations such as the NGF, Italy, Japan and Persia was threatening to upset the delicate balance that had been maintained since the Napoleonic Wars. It was becoming clear that sooner or later something would break and bring the would to the precipice of destruction. The mightiest nations of the world were preparing for Total War.


The continuing colonial skirmishes in Africa were one such possible spark. Persia continued to extend its hold, but found that the greater resources of Germany were too much to contend with in the Kenyan interior. The only way to force the Germans out would be through violence and possibly war, which was was not a risk the Shah was willing to take. Persian forces began to withdraw from Kenya and concede the area to the Germans.


In the Far East, the Shogun had finally reached an agreement with the Emperor to fully unify the nation and put down the last remaining renegade daimyos. Now the leaders of Japan turned their eyes to the vulnerable Chinese and Koreans, with the eventual goal of liberating Hokkaido from the Russian aggressors always at the back of their minds.

((Long story short, PDM has some long and involved event chains for Japan. In the end, either the Emperor or the Shogun can win dominance of Japan. If the Shogunate wins, it can eventually either reconcile with the Emperor and become the Japan tag or take absolute power and remain as the Shogunate tag.))


In response, the Guangxu Emperor of China used his court's fear of Japanese and European invasion to fully take control of the nation and institute modernization reforms. Looking for allies, he turned to Persia as the next strongest independent nation in Asia and sought an alliance with the Shah. The Shah readily agreed, and began to trade arms manufactured in Persia to the Chinese in exchange for goods and promises of pan-Asian unity against European influence. As both the Persia n and Qing Empires shared a border in the more distant reaches of Afghanistan/Xinjiang, the newly minted Oriental Axis stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Persian Gulf.


With an ally secured in the East, Persia could continue focusing on the West. The army was hungry for another invasion of the Ottomans and the conquest of what was left of their Iraqi territory. The Shah could not help but agree. The liberation of Kurdistan had left the Ottomans weak and vulnerable. There was no longer any reason for them to hold onto their lands outside of Anatolia. Their empire was at an end. With the Shah's blessing, the invasion began.


The battles were barely worth considering. The Turks had fallen so far behind in the military race that Persian forces could defeat them even when outnumbered nearly two-to-one. Nothing could stop the inexorable march of Persia to the Mediterranean coast.


However, the Persian military did not take this chance to be complacent in their advancement. They knew that even though they could crush the Ottomans they would still struggle against Europeans. The University of Tehran worked tirelessly to come up with new applications for war, and achieved a breakthrough in the development of deadly gasses which could be dispersed across the battlefield. These weapons first saw use in Basra against the local Turkish garrison where they achieved deadly effect.


The Persian Colonial Office continued to push for further expansion in Africa, but by this time the continent was running out of spaces to expand into and it was becoming increasingly clear that Persia did not have the resources to compete with Britain or Germany for those regions that remained. As large numbers of men came home it lead to somewhat of a baby boom in certain regions when they were reunited with their families for the first time in years.


Russia continued to throw its weight around, forcing the Austrians to renounce control over the city of Krakow. It was a miracle that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was even considered a Great Power at this time, as it was only the heavily industrialised cities of Austria itself that kept them competitive.


By taking control of the small corridor between Kurdistan and the Mediterranean, Persian forces were able to completely prevent Ottoman forces from reinforcing their lands in the Levant and Arabia. This finally forced them to concede that the majority of land in the region was lost. Syria, Lebanon and the remainder of Iraq came under Persian domination. The balance of empires was finally completely tipped in favour of Persia, and the Ottomans could do nothing but crumble in the face of the Shah's armies. The Oriental Axis now crossed the entirety of mainland Asia, showing to the whole world that a new era was coming.

To be continued...

Surt: Industry is progressing, although it generally isn't interesting to look at so I don't usually include it. Persia's pretty good for raw materials, lots of coal for example.
Nikolai: That was the plan, although there was a little problem...

The Ancient Empire
Chapter Eleven: Red Star, Shining Bright


Before leaving Iskanderun, the Shah surveyed the ongoing establishment of fortifications around the perimeter of the city pointing north into Turkish territory. It was a far cry from the old stone walls and earthworks he had seen in his youth. Hardened bunkers bristling with newly developed rapid-fire guns overlooked many of the key approaches along the coast.


Persian industry continued to grow behind the war effort. It was a far cry from earlier wars where every available man was being drafted into the military or recruitment drives drew countless men away from the workplace to the battlefield. Generous programs of subsidies for factories and the construction of fields of modern housing for the rapidly-growing urban working class meant that the development of Persia as a modern economy continued apace. While it was still a few steps behind the economies of Europe, Japan, and the US it was beginning to catch up significantly.


However the growth of the urban classes meant an inevitable rise in socialist tendencies. Members of the International Red Star who had been operating in Persian territory during the war made connections with Persian socialists and encouraged them to release papers to the general population to spread the word of unity among the working class. It was a strategy they were repeating with great success across the world and in Eastern Europe in particular, mixing their communist messages among with the aid they distributed to poor and war-torn regions.


Nasser Qajar fell ill on the return journey from Syria, a sickness from which he never recovered. He passed away quietly in his bed and the throne passed on to his son, Mozzafer. The young man was popular among conservatives within the government, but liberals and socialists alike had been hoping a more reform-minded youth after the last few years of Nasser's reign. Most importantly, Mozzafer believed that it was his right to rule and that any delegation of power to the populace was too risky to the fate of the Empire. Nasser was given the grandest funeral that the state could afford and laid to rest besides his father in Tehran. Together, those two men were responsible for bringing Persia out of the darkness of history and into the modern age and they would be forever honoured for it.


The woes of the Turks continued as another war with the Greek-French alliance saw them lose more land in the Balkans. France also took the chance to seize colonial territory from their Portuguese allies. The vultures were continuing to circle as the former terror of Europe fell ever further into darkness.


One of the Shah's personal projects was ending slavery worldwide. On the other side of the Persian Gulf the Arab states continued to hold slaves despite pressure from their British overlords. Mozzafer spoke out against their barbarism and demanded that the British support his calls for sanctions against the Arabs. The British were hesitant and far more interested in investigating reports of oil in the region than acting on such idealism.


He also held a great interest in history and the historical sciences. When European archaeologists requested permission to conduct surveys in Persian regions of Kenya and Uganda the Shah was happy to allow them in exchange for first access to any discoveries they made. The expedition was an immense success, as countless artefacts from the dawn of human civilization were discovered and spread to museums around the nation.


The Swiss government had declared 3rd of October a worldwide day of solidarity among socialists and communists following a massacre in the US. Demonstrations erupted across Europe and Russia at their call and in some cases they even spread to parts of Persia. The Shah ordered these anarchists to be suppressed, although he held back from outright crushing them. He was always a conservative idealist who believed the radicals could be ultimately talked down from their position if the Persian Empire continued to display the strength of the existing order.


While political divisions continued to deepen under the new Shah's regime, old conflicts were settling down. The centuries-old rivalry between Sunni and Shia was no longer the greatest driving conflict in the Islamic world as the peoples of Persia saw them more as citizens of the Empire than adherents of any one denomination. Despite being dominated by the Shiite Persians, the Empire was a pluralist nation that saw no difference between the two sides of the same faith.


Incitement from Red Star propaganda continued to rock the world. Moscow, Warsaw, Budapest and Munich burned under the throngs of raging red activists. Despite the Shah's desire for a soft touch he knew that he could not allow the communists to spread any further, so he ordered that any riots that emerged in Persia be quelled by any means necessary before they could repeat the same disasters across the nation.


Under the banner of crushing the communist rebellion in Bavaria, the North German Confederation moved in to annex the southern German states and restore order. The Kaiser was crowned the king of all Germans and the German Empire was finally born. At the same time, the Austrians forged an alliance with the French to see the upstart Italian state crushed. In the middle of the chaos the Swiss state clung tightly to its policies of neutrality, making sure to point out that the International Red Star was a private organisation that was not supported (openly) by the Swiss government in any way.


As 1897 drew to a close, word came from the Far East of a Japanese-backed rebellion in the Chinese puppet of Korea. As Chinese forces came in to restore order, the fighting with the rebels and the Japanese army spilled over into Manchuria. The Guangxu Emperor did not request the Shah's aid, as he insisted that his forces could hold against the Japanese, but he did request that Persia anchor China's flanks against any attempt by the Russians or British to take advantage of the conflict.


The death of the retired General Airom saw a day of national mourning declared as had been when the last Shah passed away. If Nasser Qajar was the architect of the modern Persian nation, Esmail Airom was the one who brought its military to the modern age. From his last-ditch of Tehran against the Germans to leading Persian-built artillery batteries to obliterate the Turks, his actions helped to shape the course of history.


The Shah continued to surround himself with men like him who saw themselves as righteous enlightened aristocrats who would lead the Empire through its rise, no matter who much chaos the communists attempted to sow. Like him, his ministers were brought up in the era of Persian dominance and were heavily influenced by the later, more conservative years of the last Shah.


Railroads continued to spread across Persia, linking more and more remote regions into the greater network and making it possible to travel across most of the nation in a matter of days. There still remained some issues,such as the inability to reach Syria by train across the Syrian Desert and the continuing isolation of the south-west, but engineers believed it would only be a matter of time before these problems would be solved.


Persian forces were on the move again as the century began to turn. This would be the killing blow, the decisive strike that broke all Ottoman power in Arabia once and for all. Persian troops streamed into Palestine and Turkey, while at the same time the French and Greeks made their move once again. Turkish forces were limited and completely unable to stop the invasions. It seemed like victory would come swiftly.


However, the French had other plans for the Arabs. Funnelling money and weapons in the Arab tribes quickly lead them to rising up against the Turkish forces that were already being scattered by the advancing Persians. Independent states began to form in Palestine, Jordan and Hedjaz very rapidly as long-standing resistance movements transformed themselves into governments. The Persians were forced to halt at the boundaries of these new nations lest they risk the wrath of their French sponsors, while the diplomatic corps went straight to Paris to try and work out the confusion before somebody shot at the wrong person and triggered an all-out war.

((This is kind of silly and messy to deal with using proper game mechanics, so I'll be writing an event to resolve this.))


Before this crisis could be resolved, another one emerged. A corps of Russian troops, backed by thousands of local revolutionaries and volunteers from the International Red Star, had stormed Moscow and sent the Tsar into hiding. The Tsar's closest advisers were caught and executed and the government was dissolved to be replaced with loyal communist supporters. Across the nation, internal struggle broke out across many armies as the thousands of communists within them made their position clear and took control, while other commanders saw which way the wind was turning and pledged allegiance to the new regime regardless of their own beliefs. In all, it was a surprisingly bloodless coup but the end result was that suddenly the spectre of communism was no longer to confined to a single minor nation locked in Europe. The Red Star had risen.

To be continued...

Jape: Indeed. The 20th Century is where the real political craziness kicks off.
blklizard: This is Victoria 2, not HOI. Glad you're enjoying it.
Nikolai: Well, Russia was always a threat. Just a much more benign one before they picked up the aggressive ideology.
Commandante: I wouldn't count communists out yet. A lot can happen in thirty years, and if the USSR decides to turn our way...
TicketCookie, GreatUberGeek: Thanks!
MorningSIDEr: Thanks! Persia's definitely in a very interesting position. The only downside is that if the Ottomans get powerful backers you end up with very few places to expand.
Warlord Skorr: France is an HM's Government, so I guess liberals are happy enough at least. I'm using a mod which adds full titles to various nations.

Apologies for the delay, but I went to my parent's for Christmas and was away from my computer for a while. I've made my resolutions to keep up with writing this year, so I want to get on through and finish this AAR without any more delays. Hopefully I can keep up with one update a week from now on.

The Ancient Empire
Chapter Twelve: A New Kind of War


Persian troops arrived in Ankara in October 1900 and to their surprise caught the Ottoman Sultan as he arrived in the city. Istanbul had fallen to French and Greek forces a few weeks earlier and the Sultan had failed to anticipate the rate of Persian advance. With the Turkish government under guard, the Persian and French diplomatic delegations made their way to the city to finally bring to a close the endless ways that seemed to engulf the Middle East and Balkans every few years.

France took the lead in negotiation as the Greater Power and made clear that their demands were the return of all remaining Christian territory to its rightful owners, as well as the acquisition of Libya. They also sought control of Cyprus and Asir, two vital ports at either end of the British-owned Suez Canal. This left the Persian demands. The Shah's delegation went in demanding control over all remaining Arab territory south of Kurdistan. The French were not so willing to turn over Jerusalem, so in the end the Persians had to acquiesce. However in return for granting French dominance of Palestine and Jerusalem, the Persian claims to Hail, Jordan and Hedjaz went uncontested. The nascent Kingdoms suddenly found themselves lacking in French support as Persian troops marched south and for the first time entered Mecca and Medina to secure them for the Shah and the Empire. The liberation of the Holy Cities was declared a public holiday by the Shah that would be symbolic of the unity of Islam that Persia had brought.

(I'm not sure why Hail is listed as 'Gain from' rather than 'Cede to', but whatever. This was the tidiest way to resolve the mess the Arab Revolt events left. I avoided taking anything that I wasn't planning to take anyway, so it's not too cheaty.)


The effective dismantling of the Ottoman Empire was a crushing blow to the morale of the Turkish people. Across the nation they rose in revolt, demanding the head of the Sultan on a pike. The Sultan decided to move his administration to Ankara as Istanbul was put to the torch. Persian and French troops quietly withdrew to consolidate their gains and see where the crisis led.


The liberation of Crete as a result of the war was a massive boon to archaeology. The Greek government granted excavation to permits from curious scholars from across the globe in an effort to draw attention to their rising nation. Persia was no exception, as the reputation of its educational institutions was beginning to rival those of Western Europe. Relations with the Greek government were at an all-time high, as the two nations looked past the long history they shared and into a brighter future of cooperation. However it was the Swedish scientists who scored the most prestigious discovery of the day, as they uncovered a massive labyrinthine complex that seemed to vindicate the ancient myth of the Minotaur.

((There are a number of archaeology events which grant prestige and research points. First there is one for each of Egypt/Greece/Crete (only Egypt in vanilla V2). Great/Secondary power declare interest by passing a decision and get a chance to get a unique event that grants the lucky nation (Sweden in this case) a bonus. Then there are a number of Prehistoric human remains events which depend on you controlling the province in which the bones were found in real life.))


The effective combination of Greek and Persian invasions to bring the Turks to their knees did not go unnoticed by either side. As relations continued to improve, efforts began to formalise the burgeoning relationship between the nations. This time, Alexander and Darius would stand shoulder-to-shoulder.


Word reached Persian Africa that the British were making inroads even deeper into the continent and bringing even the most remote and isolated regions under their control. As a second-tier power Persia had very little chance of competing with them in this manner, especially as the latest colonial techniques and technologies were filtered down from the British in the first place. The administration in Uganda made a token effort to push north into empty territory, but they were easily repulsed by the better-funded British expeditions.


High Commissar Konstantinov was a pragmatic man, and he was not above seeking allies among the other nations of Europe. The French Empire was governed by a socialist coalition that was very eager to see if the communist experiment in Russia was successful to bolster their own push for reform. It did not take much convincing for them to form a defensive pact with the USSR. The socialist-communist alliance's main goal was to ensure that both nations were safe from the growing military strength of Germany.


Kurdish dissent remained an issue in the regions bordering the Persian puppet state. However, migration of Persians from other regions and of Kurds to Kurdistan had made the Kurds an outright minority in some region. The local government began to establish policies to encourage the remaining Kurds to see themselves as part of the greater Empire than a separate people. While this only served to anger the nationalists, the measures were accepted by the populace at large. It remained to be seen if that state of affairs would continue, however.

((These events allow you to start removing cores of other nations on your territory, which allows you to start assimilating the minorities those cores belonged to. It takes a while and often leads to high militancy among the populace, but after a while another event removes the core.))


A new movement was spawned in, of all places, South America. Rising nationalist sentiment resulted in the Colombian government being overthrown by blackshirted mobs and a National Republic being declared with the specific aim of reunifying Gran Colombia. The leaders of these blackshirt organisations soon made their manifesto public knowledge as they preached an ideology of jingoism and national superiority. This resonated with people across the world who saw them selves and patriots and nationalists and soon similar organisations were springing up throughout Europe and the Americas.

Persia was no exception to this. Many ethnically Persian people resented the inclusive nature of the Empire and wanted the Shah to properly emphasise that the Empire was built by Persians first and foremost, and that letting the other nations that had been conquered become an equal part of it risked destroying the social and cultural fabric that it had sprung from.


Much to the relief of Persian politicians and generals, the USSR was far more concerned with European affairs than spreading their ideology into Persia. Norway and Latvia were the first targets of their influence, and soon they began to spread their tendrils deeper into Scandinavia and the Balkans. The Great Powers of Europe did very little to halt the spread of their control, as there was already another situation brewing in Venetia.


The growth of Persian education was not without the issues it caused for the Shah. Political professors from many of the top universities took advantage of the free press to denounce the voting system, or more accurately the lack of one. While their treatise on alternate voting systems drew much attention the Persian academic establishment, they remained a thorn in the side of the Shah who remained unwilling to delegate any power to the people.


The situation in Venetia finally reached a breaking point, as Italian forces cross the Austrian border and seized control of several border towns. France quickly backed Austria, while Germany sided with the Italians. Surprising many, the Russians chose to remain out of the war, citing that this was a imperialist dispute that they had no interest in. Later investigation would reveal that the military still did not have complete control of the country and the High Commissar was unwilling to risk a major war until all internal dissent was crushed.

The early days of the was saw major French success in the west as they occupied Alsace-Lorraine and Piedmont, while German forces advanced into Bohemia and Tirol. The French aims in the war were to quickly break through and occupy northern Italy and southern Germany before flanking the battle lines in Austria. However, stiffening resistance on both fronts meant the offensive very quickly lost momentum.


The Shah remained terrified of the prospect of a revolution happening in Persia as it had in Russia, and he had men constantly watching the borders for attempts by the USSR to infiltrate the nation further. Any attempt to speak of communism in the Empire, even by the peaceful and altruistic International Red Star, was harshly and rapidly cracked down on.


The war ground to a halt over the winter of 03/04 and as the cold moved in both the Germans and French began to dig trench systems to protect themselves from the elements and one another. Soon both of the French fronts were criss-crossed by massive networks of fortifications and trenches and hundreds of thousands of men were funnelled into Piedmont and Alsace in an effort to break the stalemate. As offensive after offensive failed and the fields ran red with blood, the world was truly starting to consider this the Great War. The eastern front on the other hand was far less brutal. Austrian resistance collapsed early, and German and Italian forces had practically free reign so long as the western front held.


The Shah's paranoia was not entirely unwarranted. As he toured the country on the ever-expanding rail system a group of communist radicals detonated a section of track in an attempt to derail his train. While no one was seriously injured and the perpetrators were brought to justice, the inability of the Shah's guards to prevent it from occurring in the first place reflected badly on the country. Shortly afterwards, another major crackdown on communists and socialists took place. As the people continued to grow more and more dissatisfied with the state of the nation and the halting of reform, the stability of the Empire was under threat.


Much to the surprise of Persia and the rest of the world, the Osman dynasty had managed to keep a grip on power. The former Sultan had been forced to abdicate, but his successor was willing to enact sweeping political reforms to calm the masses and indicated his aim to rebuild the Empire to please the nationalists. With the rest of the Great Powers focused on the Great War, he began his campaign with an invasion of Bulgaria while Persian and Greek forces began to mobilize the guard their own borders against any further aggression.


The Great War saw a major turn as winter descended once again. Veteran German troops from the eastern front arrived and were able to overwhelm the French defences, leading to major breakouts on both sides of the Alps. For a brief period the Germans hoped that they could reach Paris and bring an end to the war, but as the cold set in their advance slowed and the war once again turned into one of massive and brutal trench warfare.


Liberals did not worry the Shah nearly as much as the communists, so he was willing to tolerate their calls for elections. In his eyes, liberalism was an ideology he could understand and even hold occasional sympathies with, as opposed to the foreign and revolutionary ideals of the communist.


The spring brought with it a new offensive from the Germans, who were on the verge of victory. With each step they took into France, the toll on the lives on their men and the French populace grew ever greater. The French economy was on the verge of collapse and the government feared it would be overthrown, and they had no hope of freeing the completely occupied Austrians. Their only route out was to sue for peace.


Austria-Hungary took the brunt of territorial concessions, losing Venetia and Silesia as well as being forced to tear down the Sudetenland fortresses in Bohemia. However, all three combatants on the Austrian side were forced to grant the winners crippling reparations and disband large portions of their military. The sheer scope of the war, which saw whole nations turned to the task of winning the war and the boundaries between civilian and combatant blur, shocked the rest of the world. The Great War was over, but it had not been a decisive victory for Germany and Italy and there was no guarantee that this war would not repeat itself in future when France or Austria sought vengeance or some other bushfire conflict in the world spiralled out of control into total war.

To be continued...