The Second Saudi State: A Nejd Emirate AAR Part Five

Flag of Arabia (1890)
Hello all and welcome back to The Second Saudi State: A Nejd Emirate AAR. In the last part, our Kingdom westernized and now sits on the cusp of secondary power status. King Abdul looks to continue the expansion of the Kingdom that has brought prosperity to so many.

Map of Arabia (1890)
The most recent additions to our Kingdom have been the regions of Palestine, Basra and Baghdad all taken from the crumbling Turkish Socialist Republic. The British, our most loyal ally, continue to back our King in his imperialist endeavors.

To keep our military in formidable fighting shape, a number of units are split off from the main army and sent to Riyadh for garrison duty. These units can no longer be reinforced but will still be able to put down rebels and police the countryside. We select the loyal General al-Karim for this task.

In Baghdad our nation begins to formally incorporate the city into the Kingdom. Our army begins to crack down on various communist and socialist party chapters, most of whom are funded by the Turks. A number of local leaders calling for Iraqi independence or local autonomy go missing before they can cause too much trouble.

In June, our regiment of Dragoons finishes training in Baghdad. This regiment is made up of Iraqis and we hope it will soothe tensions between our army garrisoned in Baghdad and the locals.

Our dragoons are but another tool at the King's disposal on the path towards victory!

The Turkish Socialist Republic, once the great Ottoman Empire, continues to crumble as crises and rebels chip away at their territory.

In December of 1890 the Great Syrian Revolt begins. 100,000 Syrian, Arab and Lebanese men led by the young Hasan al-Kharrat take up arms against the Turks across the country.

A substantial number of young Arab men leave our country to aid in their struggle for independence and some view this revolt as the first step towards a unified Arab state. The King himself authorizes weapon deliveries to the rebels to assist them.

By April, most of Syria is seized and the rebel groups begin to strike into Anatolia itself.

Damascus, one of the most prestigious cities in the Middle East, is turned into a battlefield as Turks and Syrians fight for control. A large portion of the city is burned in a fire and the Syrians come out victorious, at least for a while.

Seeing the success of the Syrians, Lebanese rebels declare their independence and rise up against their Turk occupiers. Hoping to do the same a number of local Jewish councils declare a Jewish State leading to chaos and fighting in the cities of Jaffa and Jerusalem. Our army is sent in and quickly suppresses this.

After a year, the tide slowly begins to shift in favor of the Turks as Damascus and Homs are liberated from the rebels.

In Adana, the nation of Cilicia declares its independence from the Socialist Republic. The last time this nation state existed was 1375 as an Armenian Kingdom however, it now exists as a Proletarian Dictatorship made up of Armenians, Assyrians and Turks. The Syrian rebellion to its south continues to seize land and remains a thorn in the side of the Turks.

Back in our Kingdom a protest for minimum wage quickly spirals out of control and turns into a full fleged rebellion. The army is sent in and massacres the revolters, losing only 50 men in the process. Democracy has no place in Arabia!

When our truce is up with the Turks we justify to liberate a portion of Syria. It is also noted around this time our population surpasses 1 million.

We begin to mobilize and receive very few complaints from other countries regarding our invasion. Most countries have been following the Syrian Revolt closely and many hoped it would succeed.

We declare war in October to seize the region of Syria and the United Kingdom gladly joins our endeavor.

Our army advances to Dyar al-Zour to bottleneck the Turk forces. Just as our army crosses the border we receive news of General al-Karim's death. He served our Kingdom well for 25 years and is posthumously awarded the title of Lion of Jerash.

Our cavalry scouts report Turkish forces marching on us from the North. Instead of falling back to Palmyra for reinforcements General Ja'far decides to fight the Turks here.

Initially the battle goes well, with our artillery and cavalry keeping the main body of infantry at bay. Losses are even after 20 days.

On the 26th, General Ja'far is ordered to fall back after Turk reinforcements arrive. Around this time our army is equipped with Breech-loaded rifles, a necessary addition to any modern army.

A large Romanian army is spotted in the North, moving on our positions. We rally our men in Suwayda to repel the invaders and hold the line.

Our army is outnumbered almost two to one by the coalition forces and thus is ordered to fall back to the fort of Rutbah to resupply while the Generals plan a counter attack.

The Turks pursue us into Iraq to prevent our regrouping and shatter our morale at the Battle of Rutbah. They seize the fort and quickly dash all hopes for a Saudi counter attack within the next few months.

Turkish and Romainian Armies continue to pour into our Kingdom by the thousands and our main army is nowhere to be seen. King Abdul himself visits the front and orders a series of counter attacks through Iraq to relieve pressure off of the West.

We win a series of much needed victories, completely destroying a Turk army in Iraq. With full morale and confidence, our army is ordered to march west and liberate our nation.

Just as the two armies prepare to clash in Ruwayshid, news of peace arrives. The Turks cede all our territorial demands to us.

Upon further inspection it is realized that British marines have landed in Anatolia to force peace. The King was oblivious to their actions however, as he was focused on the Southern Front. We can only assume the marines managed to seize Istanbul and the surrounding areas to force the Turks into a peace deal.

King Abdul begins to pass a series of liberal reforms to appease the people and promote the Kingdom as a modernized state. Public Meetings are allowed and a Basic School System is instated.

As part of these modernization reforms, we raise a regiment of guards to bolster our strength in the field.

The Arabian Army has learned from its defeats and will continue to secure victory for the King and the Kingdom.

We continue to notice a substantial increase in Socialist and Communist activities in our country, most all of it has been centered around Baghdad.

In Europe The Great War erupts and engulfs most of the continent. While surprising to many, The Great War would be relatively quick and only involve the deaths of 600,000 men.

With the research of machine guns finished, our army is now fully modernized. What our army lacks in size they will be forced to make up in discipline and equipment.

Machine guns are set up along the border with the Turks. We expect the next war with the Turks will go vastly better than the last due to our new technological advances. As the British poet Hilaire Belloc puts it "Whatever happens, we have got, The Maxim gun, and they have not."

The Turks manage to fall into the sphere of influence of the United States. This dashes any hope of another war with them, as we surely could not win a war against the US. We will either have to wait for a Turkish rebellion or set our sights on Cilicia.

Trnasjordan is officially granted statehood within the Kingdom and is given the privilege of having slavery extended into its borders.

With slavery instated and statehood granted it is only fitting that Transjordan should be integrated more closely into the Kingdom.

In January a regiment of engineers is completed and added to the army. The engineers tasks include the building of defenses and bridges as well as setting up communication between regiments and the High Command.

Wireless field telegraphs and telephones are both used to increase communication speed in our army. Some more outdated but reliable techniques like heliographs and Electrical telegraphs are also adopted. No longer will commanders be forced to rely on messengers on foot or on horseback.

While the Turks are now weaker than ever, we still cannot attack while they are in the American sphere.

As we enter the 20th century, our nation is engulfed in a wave of revolution and rebellion. Both liberals and reactionaries call for drastic change in the government. Communists and Nationalists begin to more openly discuss the prospect of overthrowing the King. Militancy runs high in Hedjaz and Syria.

A new form of government called Fascism is created in Italy. This becomes widely popular with some of the more reactionary portions of our government and even the King himself flirts with the ideology. Some see this Third Way as the only solution to defeating the Leftists.

Communist protests and riots sweep the country still, and our army cracks down even harder.

Soldiers with Socialist and Communist leanings are dismissed from the army. Our army cannot have questionable loyalties at a time like this.

Our government begins to encourage resettlement in Palestine to increase Arab population and drive down the Jewish population. The King is sure this is a good idea and nothing bad will come from this.

And so our Kingdom enters the 20th century with a modernized army, ready to defend our Kingdom from all enemies both foreign and domestic. Our people become ever more politically divided by the day but House Saud will overcome! Allāhu Akbar!