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I'm subscribing to this as well! Good to see someone do something with what I'm sure has to be one of the most ignored countries in the game...
Chapter 4: The Afghan-Persian War: The Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty
In 1920 a political crisis had taken root in the centre of the country. Political disunity, mutinies and civil unrest had created a country with essentially no form of central government. In late 1920 Reza Khan led a guerrilla army of 1,500 in strength with the backing of the Red Army, to the capital Tehran. By the end of the next year he seized several cities throughout the country with little or no opposition. In 1921 Reza Khan launched a coup against the puppet communist government taking control of key parts of the capital overnight. As soon as Tehran was secured an envoy was sent to Moscow carrying a proposal for what would later become know, as the Russo-Persian Treaty of Friendship. The treaty removed all Soviet forces from the country and recognised the rule of Reza Khan Pahlavi as the Shah of Persia. In return the USSR was given the right to invade the country if any build-up of military power within its borders was seen as a threat to the Russia. It wouldn’t be till 1926 that an official assembly would declare Raze Khan as Raze Shah of Persia.
-The Coronation of Raze Shah.
The first days of the month of May were quite for Afghan forces. With the destruction of Prince Gohlam Reza’s infantry division the war had turned into a series of skirmishes as the ever advancing afghan armies moved closer to the heart of Persia. On the 6th of May the Royal Afghan Army, led by Akbar Khan of the Royal Guard took position along the outskirts of Tehran. The Ghanzi Militia joined them a few hours later. In the north and south of the city the Heart Army moved into position. Bardolucci would lead his cavalry from the mountain province of Chalus and flank the Tehran defenders. Hashim Khan would lead his troops into the south of the city from Kasham. Nadir Shan decided that the honour of taking the city would go to the Royal Afghan Army.
-The Royal Afghan and Herat Armies surround Tehran.
The Battle for Tehran began on the 12th of May at 22:00 hours the Afghan assault began. Akbar Khan was given command of the assault and led 18,000 soldiers straight into the heart of the city. The soldiers were immediately fired upon from open windows and barricaded positions. These position and barricades could stop the overwhelming strength of the Afghan forces. Persia troops were forced to fall back rapidly against the onslaught and eventually made a stand at the city governments building. This position became untenable though when 18,000 Afghan infantry and cavalry attack from the north and south. With his supply lines threatened, no word of a relieving force and in the face of superior firepower and number Major Afkhaim was forced to abandon the capital. The Battle of Tehran would claim the lives 69 Afghan soldiers and 349 Parisian soldiers.
-Iranian civilians watch as the Afghan Army marches by.
Between the hours of 5am-13pm, 14th of May there were several conflicting reports of a Persian surrender sent to Afghanistan. This confusion spread to the front lines and for several hours the Afghan Armies for this first time in the war were brought to a halt. 15th of May a message sent by the Persian Prime Minister, Muham Jam, was given to Nadir Shan. In the letter Muham Jam presented an offer of ceasefire. He dictated that if this cease fire were to go ahead Raze Shah would be removed from his position and 0his son Prince Gholam Reza as the new Shah of Persia. Monetary reparations would be given to Afghanistan and Persian would be willing to allow Afghanistan to expand its territory to the Port of Bander e'Abbas. On the 16th of May Nadir Shan, responded that the Pahlavi dynasty could not be allowed to continue as leaders of the Iranian state and that until an offer signed by Raze Shah was presented there could be no cease fire. No response was received. This would later be seen as the last attempt of Prime Minister Muham Jam to save the Pahlavi dynasty. On the 21st of August Afkhaim launched an attack on the outskirts of Tehran. His tired and unorganised forces caught a small patrol by surprise. Six of the patrols were killed before the other six could alert the rest of the army. The attack soon turned into a rout as the attackers lost 94 soldiers before retreating.
-Victory at Tehran.
On the 26th of May, news of a border clash at the Turkish border reached Afghanistan. The Turkish border had been closed to all Persian Nationalists after the Shah’s refusal to sign the Treaty of Saadabad a year earlier. At midnight the 25th of May a group of twelve men on horseback attempted to cross the border. The local border post caught sight of these men and fired upon them. Four of the twelve men were killed, and two more wounded. One of these wounded would later be identified as Raze Shah Pahlavi. Raze Shah would die three hours later due to his injuries. On the 29th Gholam Reza Phalavi was sworn in as Shah of Persia.
-Afghan process. 1st May 1939.
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Authors Note:
A special thanks to robw963 who helped me find picture to use in this AAR and making my life easier.
@robw963: None taken.
My army is very weak, but what it makes up for is its. Of course it would be much better if I had the manpower to back that up. My IC is currently 5/10. Though this increase I think is down more cabinet ministers than my conquest so far. @ Rensslaer : Thanks for pointing that out. I did find some of the names muddled, but hopefully they should be removed now.
@gav1230/Wraith11B /Xenophon13 : Thanks for the support guys. Always happy to see new people taking an interest in my AAR.
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wow! look at the growth! Nice job taking Tehran...that has to put the Persians near collapse. I assume Raze Shah Pahlavi died trying to escape (I'm going to miss him and his fantastic uniform). I'm not totally clear on the earlier Russo-Persian Treaty of Friendship. Perhaps you're suggesting the Soviets may intervene against you? Yikes...
This is all the easy stuff. Now there's no place to go without fighting a Major or building a navy. Since Saudi Arabia doesn't have any warships that I know of you could probably successfully invade them with just a couple of Transports of your own.
Chapter 4: The End of the Afghan-Persian War
The Afghan-Persian war ended officially on the 29th of June 1939. The new Shah of Persia, Reza Shah Phalavi immediately called a cease fire to begin negotiations of surrender. Even with his new status of Shah the organisation of the Persian armed forces was in complete disarray and fighting would continue till following week. With most of the country and his forces on the verge of collapse Reza Shah was forced to sign an unconditional surrender to Afghanistan.
-The Persian Surrender, 29th June 1939.
With Afghanistan victory over Persia, one question remained to be dealt with. What to do with Persia? Zahir and rest of the cabinet believed that annexing the entirety of Persia was out of the question. The Afghan Army would be stretched in manpower and resources. That still didn’t stop some of the most extreme figure believing that the total annexment of Persia was the only course. Arguments in this favour stem from the early years of the Afghan nation, when Mahmud Hotaki defeated the Persian armies and was declared Shah of Persia.
- Three most discussed plans for division of territory, 1939.
Zahir Shah’s faction supported Plan A and pointed out in debates that the cost of holding more than this far outweighed the resources to be gained than taking more. Zahir was in the process of organising such a treaty, when the Viceroy of India sent Louis Mountbatten to present a compromise. The British Empire would support the authority of Afghanistan in Persia, offering resources and equipment to help the Afghan military. In return the British Oil company Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) would continue to own the sole rights to produce and sell nearly 80% of all available oil in Persia till 1961. The AIOC was founded by William Knox D'Arcy in 1901, after striking a deal with Shah Mozzafar al-Din Shah Qajar. The company and William Knox D’Arcy were almost forced to declare bankruptcy when after seven years no oil had been discovered. He gave a message to his geologist on the site, George Bernard Reynolds.
- Knox message to George Bernard Reynolds.
George Bernard chose to delay this order. On the 26th of May, 1908, just a few days after receiving the message struck oil. In 1913 it began production and within three years would become one of the biggest Oil Refineries in the world. Zahir Shah and the cabinet debated the offer and returned with a counter. Afghanistan would allow the AIOC to continue being the sole producer and seller of oil in the region of Persia till 1950, when the contract would be renegotiated. The British Empire would support the Afghan government in asserting its rightful authority over Persia with resources, equipment. The deal was signed on the 20th of July, but would only become public knowledge after WW2. On the 11th of July Persia officially annexed into the territories of Afghanistan.
- Afghanistan, 11th July 1939.
Due to the collapse of the Persian government towards the end of the war it took several days to resume reigns of the country. On the 13th of July a suspected resistance compound was raided by the company of the Royal Guard Infantry division. The compound was found to be deserted, but several documents were discovered in a stove along with a badly burnt flag, baring the symbol found on the men responsible for the Farah Massacre. The documents were passed along straight to the Minister of Security, Ghulam Faruq Usman. The documents described a network of individuals connected to the political group Hezeb-e Pan-Iranist. The Hezeb-e Pan-Iranist group was widely known in Persia for its extreme right wing views and links to the German government. Ghulam Faruq immediately ordered the arrest of all names on the document. Unfortunately it seems that all individuals listed had either disappeared or left the country. Ghulam Faruq presented this information to Zahir Shah, who chose to send a copy of this information to the British Empire in the hope they would be able to track them down.
With Persia Annexed into Afghanistan Zahir Shah was pleased to discover that an extensive country wide rail line was near completion when the war had started. With minimal damage taken, the line was repaired and completed, with plans to extend the line through the desert to Afghanistan.
-The Trans Iranian Railway.
After months of warfare the Afghan Army was demobilised and the thousands of afghan soldiers were sent home. Zahir Shah and Afghanistan celebrated their victory and a national holiday was declared. For now Afghanistan could enjoy a moments respite, but while they rested a message was being delivered to Colonel General Fedor von Bock to begin.
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Authors Note:
And thus we have the end of Persia. First Persia and then the world!
EDIT: A Fire and Ash Cookie for the person who knows what AIOC turned into?
@homy_dog34: What about pea..What about P-P-pir-pur-pur. You know what? I can't say it. I'll stick to being the war monger. >;¬)
@robw963: I'll miss him too. No soviet invasion yet, but the Russo-Persian Treaty of Friendship would give Russia a CB against me right now.
@eqqman: I'm tempted to expand into Arabia, but I'm afraid of how tying myself down just as the war is about to begin. Building a transport fleet is a priority for me.
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I'm going to guess AIOC turned into BP, because that's the only English oil company I know of.
Also, nice update, keep them coming!
Also, nice update, keep them coming!
Nicely done! I am really enjoying the polished style of this AAR.
Looking forward to more!
Looking forward to more!
Sorry for the lack of an update. I am still working on the next update, which should be up soon. Just to prove I haven't deserted you all. Here is a taste of what will be in the next update. Before you ask, yes it did take way longer than it should have. Hope you all enjoy.
Very cool Fire and Ash I'm eager to see how that image fits in with your next update. Take your time, it'll be well worth waiting for I'm sure.
I'm eager to see how that image fits in with your next update. Take your time, it'll be well worth waiting for I'm sure.
Chapter 5: World War Two
With the Afghan-Persian war brought to close the region could breathe a sigh in relief. The instability brought about by this war was the highest since the time of The Great Game. The relief felt in this region was far different in comparison to that of Europe. Since The British Empire and The French Republics guarantee of the continued independence of Poland, in the face of growing German aggression relations had plummeted. In Britain more and more significant figure in the Government and Armed Forces were coming to the realisation, that war with Germany was now inevitable. Winston Churchill, a prominent figure in British Society, had also believed in the idea that war was inevitable. Winston Churchill was also a keen supporter of the Afghan war effort in Persia. He had rallied members of parliament to support the selling of equipment to help fund the war effort. On the 15th of July Churchill would prove his support of the Zahir government, when Adolf Hitler attempted to strangle the Afghan government.
-Winston Churchill.
Hitler was angered by Afghan conquest of Persia and that the USSR and British Empire had allowed it to go unopposed. In a speech made outside the Reichstag on the 15th of July, Adolf Hitler accused Zahir Shah of committing atrocities against the Persian people and stealing thousands of pounds worth of assets from German nationalists and companies in Persia. Winston Churchill publicly supported Afghanistan and spoke in its defence. British newspapers printed articles reporting on the Jewish business owners that had had their lively hood taken away from them. The issue would not be resolved, but the support of prominent members of British society to Afghanistan would later be sighted, as the first public improvement of Anglo-Afghan relations since the end of the Second Anglo-Afghan war. For the rest of the month of July, the world reached an uneasy limbo. Armies across the world stood ready and waiting for the calm to finally pass, and when it did. It passed with one of the greatest political shocks in the world.
-The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. 5th of August, 1939.
-The German Army Mobilise. 5th of August, 1939.
-The Danzig Demand. 7th of August, 1939.
The events of those two days shocked the world and finally showed the reason for the USSR allowance of German aggression. For those that still believed in a chance to avoid the world, their hope was shattered. In Europe the British Empire, Third French Republic and Afghanistan mobilised, in Afghanistan the German ambassador was given 72 hours to leave the country. This news rocked Zahir Shahs power base. It had never been considered even by the wildest of minds that Germany and the USSR could somehow sign this treaty. Not only was this true it offered the possibility of a German-Russian Alliance. The chances of Afghanistan surviving a war against these two powers was almost impossible and Zahir’s opposition knew this. What Zahir did next is still considered in Afghanistan, to be one of the greatest gambles in the country’s history. On the 22nd of August, Zahir Shah met with Lord Archibald Wavell, Viceroy of India and signed a treaty allying the nation of Afghanistan to the British Empire. This treaty could not have been put to the test sooner when on the 7th of September, 1939, the German Government declared war of Poland. The Second World War had begun.
The Second World War has begun. Afghan soldiers stand ready with armies across the world to begin a conflict that could see the world changed forever. Forces to this end are marching and Afghanistan will be waiting to meet them as it always has. The Death of Empires will be waiting.
-The World at the Beginning of WWII.
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Authors Note:
@ALL:That for all the support guys. I hope this makes up for the delayed upload.
@schuyguy: Absolutely right. Here's your Fire and Ash Cookie
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Well how about that? It looks like things have be shoved into the oven, and noone knows what's going to come out.
You sir have inspired me to start my own game as Afghanistan. I eagerly await the next installment of this AAR!
Excellent AAR, I've greatly enjoyed reading all the real life history behind the region as well.