Chapter One - Dawn of a New Era
(January 1936 to June 1936)
(January 1936 to June 1936)
Introduction
Hello to everyone who might read this. As an avid fan of what if scenarios and as someone who prefers to play minor countries and rise them to glory, I ended up coming with the idea of writing a AAR after a previous game that was in my opinion just amazing with all the different twists that had occurred throughout just 8 years. This would be my first AAR written and I also felt a bit inclined to write it just to add more AARs for others to be able to read. I'm not that good at titles though so that's why I have an overused title for chapter one.
I'm still not too fully sure in what style to write it in so the first couple of chapters might be a bit of a mess compared to future chapters. I'm going to play the game in regular as I'm just not that good. Mods used will be New Ways, Player-led peace conferences, and the Toolpack mod. Formatting and other issues will probably occur but I'm going to try and fix that all in the future
Country Background (Skip if you want, just a pretty infopacked history)
The Third Saudi State, better known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has had a foundation resembling the plot of a James Bond film. The king, Abdulaziz ibn Saud was born in the year 1875 in Riyadh, the capital of the Second Saudi State, the Emirate of Nejd. 16 years into his life, he was forced into exile initially taking refuge with a Bedouin tribe in southern Arabia, they then moved to Qatar and then to Bahrain, and eventually were permitted by the Ottomans to settle in Kuwait where they stayed for a decade.
On the night of the 15th of January 1902, Abdulaziz alongside 40 men had successfully assaulted the castle and had killed the governor of the city recapturing it. This had then led to foundation of the Third Saudi State in which in the next 28 years were full of conflict. In 1907, the war had been won against the Rashidis leading to the conquest of the Qassim region. Years late in 1918, a war had occured between the Hashemites in the lands of Hejaz which led to some land concessions in favor of the Saudis. Shortly later, a war had been declared on the Sheikhdom of Kuwait from the Ikhwan (They were the main Saudi fighting force but were kinda protoisis with certain actions such as raiding etc) that had been lost with the retreat of the Ikhwan.
In 1921, the Saudi forces had captured Ha'il, the capital of the Rashidis which led to the dissolution of their state. Once again, the Ikhwan set out and start raiding the lands of Transjordan which while it led to mostly military defeats, it led to the Uqair protocols which was an agreement to define borders between the Saudi land and the land of Kuwait and Iraq which led to two neutral zones and the shrinking of Kuwait by two thirds. The Saudi's had then in 1924 declared war on the Hashemites once more in Hejaz and had fully annexed it in which the country was now titled the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd. 2 years later the Ikhwan revolted because they felt that Abdulaziz should keep expanding the land in a Jihad against the British colonial holdings, obviously, he had refused and that sparked a revolt. The Ikhwan leadership was all executed and some normal forces were integrated into the Saudi army.
The Ikhwan
Now in 1934, the Kingdom of Yemen had declared war on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (The earlier two kingdoms were merged 1932) and had occupied towns in the highlands of their borders and were starting to march on Najran. A peace delegation, which included ibn Saud's son, was jailed by King Yahya. Ibn Saud's efforts reportedly prompted Imam Yahya to say of him: "Who is this Bedouin coming to challenge my family's 900 year rule? The Saudi army had advanced very quick capturing the disputed cities and many more within a month (April) By May, Saudi forces had pressed forward and had even conquered Hodeida, a coastal city and one of the main ports of Yemen. Saudi forces had even started advancing towards Sanaa, capital of Yemen. but by the 12th of May peace negotiations had commenced where Yemen accepts Saudi control of Jizan, Asir, and Najran. The treaty also ensured 20 years of peace between the two nations and the return of Hodeida to Yemen.
1st of January, 1936
Current status of the Middle East
The First Decisions
The first actions that had been seen in January was plans on strengthening the authority of Abdulaziz, and the plans on starting to improve the social infrastructure of Riyadh and of Mecca (New building from New Ways mod)
The Kathiri Revolt
Down south in the lands of British Yemen, a revolt had brewed between the Kathiri state, the last de facto independent state in the Aden protectorate and Qu'aiti sultanate which is heavily aligned with the British.
Due to fears of any incursions into the Saudi territories, Abdulaziz orders his son and General Faisal to have 1 division wait in Najran with the other in Abha
Hospitality of Abdulaziz
Abdulaziz, not wishing to anger the Tribes or the Ulema, decides to share the wealth alone as obliged by Allah
The Kathiri Struggle
Although the support for the Kathiri people in securing the peninsula outside of colonial hands is in our hearts, it is too much to risk for so little to gain. Abdulaziz even denounces any man who goes to volunteer in the Kathiri struggle.
Murder in Muscat
Abdulaziz alongside other more radical members of the tribes and ulema decide to send an ultimatum to the Sultanate, to find the killer and extradite him to us, or for a raid to be carried out in their territory.
Investments in the East, Divestment in the West
Due to bits of oil being found in the east, Abdulaziz decides to take a gamble and invest in the east rather than other regions, and allow Saud bin Jiluwi his rule to be semi-independent of Riyadh. This is done in hopes that the region will be an important part of the Kingdom and it's economy. Following a raid on unloyal and unruly tribes, infrastructure in the holy city of Medina has been damaged
Foundation Day
A national holiday has been called on the 22nd of February and stability of the nation is rising. While overall the stability is a bit lower than it should be, belief and support of the monarchy is so high that only the more radical wish for different governance. The people though seem to love war as 4 in 5 men have been reported to say they would be happy to fight in a war, no matter it be defensive or offensive.
The Hajj begins
Photo of the Hajj, 1936
Muscat sends the Murderer
The Sultanate of Muscat has commanded the chief of the town of Yanqul, where the merchant was murdered to investigate and catch the man. In a month, it had been achieved and the man is to be executed soon as the family has no need for blood money.
Rare color photo showing Deera square, which will be known as Chop Chop Square in the future
A Helping Hand
"As the people of Habash (Arab term for horn of Africa) had once helped the early Muslims escape their persecution by the pagan Arabs, so shall the Muslim Arabs support the Ethiopian people" Abdulaziz ibn Saud had proclaimed. Sudanese tribes have been paid to facilitate the migration of the people of Ethiopia willing to temporarily reside in Saudi land. It had been decided that they will have to reside in the north as to leave them in certain areas would cause strife. It has to be noted that the north is very unpopulated due to a good portion of it just being desert, although there are many mountains and hills alongside that fact. It was also decided as the location to help the Ethiopian people to coexist alongside the Pact of Umar (It's on wiki if you want, tried to link it but spam filter blocked it) that Abdulaziz would not dare to oppose. A peacekeeping force that was currently stationed in Abha due to the Kathiri struggle as moved up to Ha'il. While not at the proposed land for the Ethiopians, it is still close enough if the need be. The Saudi government has also embargoed the Italian nation due to this. While the Ethiopian population will be subject to Jizya, the money will be recuperated many times over by the King's generosity.
Hajj Hotel
It had been decided by Abdulaziz after persuasion by Abdullah bin Suleiman to improve the social infrastructure in Mecca which also increases the Ulema's loyalty to Abdlulaziz.
(Just want to show both Ulema and Tribal loyalty decisions)
Confusion within the Ulema
In a strange turn of events within the Saudi state, Abdulaziz placates and angers the ulema. A loosening of religious prohibitions by the ulema in which even the introduction of radio stations had been widely accompanied by resistance, and the formation of the The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in which religious police will be enhanced to help them catch fraud and deception in the marketplaces, stop the sale of alcoholic beverages, stop the refusal of the payment of Zakat (2.5% annual wealth based tax on muslims), and to stop anyone violating fasting rules or pilgrimage regulations.
Habash has surrendered
Due to eavesdropping on a private conversation from Abdulaziz, it is revealed he criticized the cowardness of Haile Selassie and his decision to board the train to get to Geneva. What king does not fight in the frontlines?
An attack on pilgrims
Following an attack on pilgrims, it has been decided that while the superior choice would to be relent to the tribes and leave it at the hands, than it might start the road to a second Ikhwan revolt and due to that, the criminals will all be executed in Deera Square.
The King's Sister
Abdulaziz, while relenting to the ulema in certain matters, refuses to bow down to the clerics and in a shocking manner, announces that any cleric that attempts to remove Noura from power, will be sent deep into Siberia following talks with the Soviet ambassador, Karim Khakimov.
Karim Khakimov
Expedition to Najran
Permission is granted to Philby to explore the region.
Eastern Investments
The investments made in the Eastern Provinces have succeeded, while oil has not been found, the industries made have more than doubled. Although all these good things have happened, some clerics still believe that the industries must be destroyed until the Shia minority is removed from the east, Abdulaziz obviously ignores the nonsense.
The Advisory Council
Abdulaziz is left with three options on who to appoint to the council. A council of mainly officials from both The Hejaz and the Nejd which strengthens the position of Abdulaziz (political power), an inclusion of the ulema into the council (5% loyalty), or an invitation to urban intellectuals and modernists to the council (Less loyalty from both factions, political power, and access to a nice focus)
Abdulaziz understanding that the country needs to modernize to get in with the times ignores both the officials and the ulema into adding the intellectuals into the council.
Expansion of Wells
Understanding that a good majority of his people have little access to drinking water, plans have been made to increase drilling and to deepen already existing wells.
More weekends
Due to the Islamic belief of Friday being the holy day meant for rest compared to Saturday for Christianity and Sunday for Judaism, an issue has been discovered that due the current Saudi weekends being Friday and Saturday, a issue is caused due to working on Sunday while a good part of the world doesn't. Abdulaziz with his generosity instead decides to just turn Friday to Sunday as the weekend for the period of a year to see if it has any positive effects and to see if the negative effects are worth the cost.
End of the First Chapter
Game Date has reached June 1st so I've decided to end it here. I believe I'm going to split chapters in increments of six months. I'd like criticism on ways to improve, thanks for reading.
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