alternatehistory.com



NOTE: I'm not an expert in this field but I'm trying to make a TL based on an interesting (I think) idea I had. I realize the POD may seem a little ASB but I'm assuming that Baldwin III was desperate by this point and hoping to remain in power.

The Founding

- In the year 1154 the Kingdom of Jerusalem was only a year removed from a civil war between 24-year-old Baldwin III, claiming the throne as sole leader, and his mother, Melisende. The agreement had been to split the kingdom between north (Baldwin) and south (Melisende), but this has left Melisende in control of Jerusalem, enraging her son. Baldwin III, though, lacks the necessary forces to attempt to retake the south and reunite the kingdom. Unlike in OTL Melisende refuses to surrender and manages to beat back Baldwin's invasions.

- Having instructed his military leaders to think of some way to increase his armies power in order to retake the holy city, an advisor comes before Baldwin with a seemingly outlandish idea. The advisor's plan is to offer the Jews of Europe the right to worship and the right to citizenship in his nation in exchange for their service in his army. Baldwin at first opposes the idea but when no better solution is put forward he decides to go with it.

- Having instituted this new policy and spread the word throughout Europe, many Jews flock to the holy land to join his army. He lightly arms them and gives them a small amount of training and then in 1158 he again invades his mother's lands in south but she puts up little fight in the seemingly hopeless war and it only lasts a few months with minimal bloodshed.

- Soon after his victory Baldwin forms an alliance with the Byzantines. This, along with a large standing army of Jews still remaining, inspired Baldwin III to invade Egypt in 1160, who was divided among a number of underage rulers at the time. The invasion takes the Egyptians completely off guard and is able to achieve its goal of conquering the Asian portion of the Fatimid Caliphate of Cairo from Egypt and annexing it as part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem by 1161.

- By 1163 it has now become clear that neither the still divided Egypt nor the Turks were planning any sort of counter-attack on the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin is now faced with a tough situation concerning the Jews in his army. They are demanding their service be completed and the kingdom is strained attempting to support a standing army in peace time, yet Baldwin does not want to allow the Jews to settle in Jerusalem. Finally he decides and informs the Jews that they may only settle in the former caliphate and will be given religious freedom and citizenship so long as they remain there. In addition they are to remain 'on call' if the kingdom goes to war. The Jews agree to this.

- This same year Emir Nur ad-Din, a Syrian Turk, sends his general Shirkuh to help unite and stabalize Egypt. At first, however, Shirkuh is not welcome by many Egyptian leaders. Then, in 1166, the short piece is shattered when the Byzantines lead an invasion with the goal of taking the weakened Egypt once and for all. The Egyptians then quickly unite behind Shirkuh, but Cairo falls in 1167. Fearing total invasion the Egyptians then flood the Nile, stalling the invasion.

- This gives Nur ad-Din the time he needs to mass his forces and he uses them to launch a surprise offensive against Antioch later that year. The invasion has the desired effect and forces the Byzantines to divert most of thier forces away from the fighting in Egypt for a threat closer to home.

- The next two years would see the Egyptians slowly beat the, now much smaller, invasion force out of Africa back into the Jews lands. Many celebrate Shirkuh as a hero but later in 1169 he himself died, leaving his nephew, Yusuf (better known as Saladin), in charge of Egyptian forces. During this time period another invasion, that of Antioch, is also beat back though there never seemed to be a goal of long term success there.

- In an otherwise unotable small battle near Antioch between the Byzantines and the leftovers of the invasion force in 1170 the pro-west Emperor Manuel is slain. His successor, Alexios II, is much less pro-west and cancels the alliance with the Kingdom of Jerusalem and makes peace, for the time being, with Egypt and the Turks.

- The Jews, who made up a pretty large chunck of the remaining Jerusalem army, now fear that they will not be able to repel an invasion by Saladin, who has the upperhand. Using their strategic situation to their advantage, the Jews send delegates to begin secret discussions with Saladin. They convince him to agree to an alliance with the Jews where they will keep their current location on the Sinai Peninsula and will, in exchange, aid an Egyptian invasion into the Kingdom of Jerusalem with their own troops.

- The move catches the (ATL still living) Baldwin III very much off guard and quickly leads to a collapse of the kingdom and a successful invasion by Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem comes under foreign rule. Saladin then does agree to, as promised, allow the Jews to establish their own kingdom on the Sinai Peninsula which would be allied to him. Thus, in 1172, the Kingdom of Israel is established.

[NOTE: Expanded from pre-edit version]
Top