According to the most recent map, the MASSIVE Ghawar Oil Field (71 Billion Barrels) is still in Sultan's hands.
This is the largest proven oil field in the world. I'm not completely sure if my numbers are accurate, but I believe that represents roughly 1/4 of Saudi Arabia's proven oil...
Saddam will likely find it very hard to control Nayef and his New Ikhwan in the medium/long term as their Wahhabi beliefs don't mesh well with Ba'ath party ideology. They will be more than happy to accept his weapons, but will be hesitant to follow any commands he might give, IMO.
Sorry, I'll bet I misread that "third" part. I read the last 11 pages of it yesterday so I might have been blending things together. That and I'm quite ignorant about the Intifada. Thanks for the info.
I have some other questions that I probably could find the answers to by reading the TL...
Just wanted to say this is one of the best TLs I've read on this site. It's obvious you've done a lot of research on this subject. I just stumbled across this in the last couple of weeks and have since read through the entire TL.
One (actually more) more comment: You mentioned a third...
I think this argument is missing the point. Without WWI, Russia stands a good chance of modernizing and might be able to catch up with Spain and Portugal by the 70's. WWI is the key factor here. A White Russia that does not have the enormous pressures of foreign invasion, occupation, and then...
I don't know much about that war or European diplomacy of the time, but I could see a surviving Turkish presence in the Crimea driving Russia and Austria closer together, possibly forming the basis for a much stronger alliance.
What would the rest of Europe and especially France's position be...
Europe 1715. Felt like wanking Bavaria and a Republican Venice (not to mention some other minor changes). The HRE is on the verge of collapse, with most of the remaining independent states clustering around either Prussia or Bavaria. To the east, Poland can sense which way the wind is...
August 1914. In a surprise move coming a matter of days before the start of the East Prussian offensive, Zhilinsky is relieved of command of the Northwestern Front and replaced by Nikolai Ivanov, who led the OTL Russian offensive into Galicia. General Samsonov is able to convince Ivanov of the...
I am changing the format of the timeline somewhat to try and make it more fluid. Let me know if it needs work.
In the Far East, Prince Yamagata had longed for a chance to once again demonstrate Imperial Japanese naval might. That chance had arrived. On May 16, Japanese cruisers that had...
May 15, 1912:
Events were now at a critical stage. The Russian government was having far more trouble than expected in reigning in private owners of commercial freighters. Every few hours, reports filtered in of ships attempting to run the Anglo-German blockade, only to be stopped, boarded...