I wonder, what would that entail? I don't think there'd be a civil war, seeing as Imru is popular with the people and HS is in Tokyo but you could see disputes between the two's family lines that could have dangerous ramifications on Ethiopian government as a whole.
Sheba's Sons - Haile Selassie goes to Tokyo
- Thread starter Hagre
- Start date
What are the specifics on inheritance in this case? Can the two lines just marry into each other in order to solve any troubles like this?
Succession in the Ethiopian style dictates that any male royal could claim the throne, though Iyasu's line was eliminated via excommunication in September 1916.
Sheba's Peace
Sheba's Peace
Securing Ethiopia's sovereignty by 1942, Imru turned to the task of consolidating Imperial rule from Addis Ababa and started with the provinces already under his direct control. Although the new Imperial Army came into existence in June 1941, this consisted of the Free Ethiopian brigades and his Gojjame troops which altogether made up 24,000 men. However, there was also the issue of the guerrillas across Ethiopia by then and this necessitated either an expansion of the existing Imperial Ethiopian Army (IEA) or the creation of an entirely new force to accommodate them. Thus, the Territorial Army was established in 1941 with the intention to reaffirm Imperial control over all those units by relegating them to a reservist force meant to supplement the IEA, placed under Ras Mangesha Jimbari's command. It had the added effect of placing "all men with guns" under Addis Ababa's control and with the stroke of a pen, gave Imru the means to enforce Ethiopian rule in the historically troublesome periphery in provinces like Tigray and Ogaden as the Regent finished Haile Selassie's centralization. However, the issue of the Ethiopian 1st Infantry Brigade in Eritrea came up when he included it in his campaign to centralize control of Alula's Legion and its men, arguing that it should be placed under the Imperial High Command in Addis Ababa and once again, was at odds with London.
Imru's determination to incorporate the 1st Infantry Brigade into the IEA stemmed from several reasons. This included his inability to control one of the only European-trained Ethiopian units, to use the brigade as a means of pressuring the British in the periphery and to seek the union of Eritrea to Ethiopia. The termination of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement had also led to the withdrawal of the British Military Mission's personnel and left Addis Ababa to resolve the issue of organizing a proper army, turning to the Americans and Swedes to help where necessary. The brief period between the Liberation and Japan entering WWII on the side of the Axis also allowed some Ethiopians with Japanese training to arrive home and Imru eagerly seized the chance to recruit them into the new army, brushing over the fact that they'd served in the enemy's army. Alongside the Holeta cadets and others who possessed professional training, they were recruited to train cadets in the few military academies and often appointed to high ranks. Although it was a chaotic process that faced staunch British opposition whenever the Japanese-trained Ethiopians were dispatched to the Ethiopian frontier, it did help to treat the worst symptoms of the new Ethiopian military.
Japanese-trained Ethiopian officers train a recruit in the use of a mortar, December 1941.
Speaking of the Ethiopian frontier, the Imperial government observed with alarm as the Somali Youth League was founded in 1943 and expanded rapidly through the Ogaden's borderlands that were adjoined to the former Italian Somaliland colony. Worse yet was Britain's tacit support that allowed it to gain traction in the Reserved Areas, flagrantly defying Ethiopian authority in a campaign to establish Greater Somalia by stirring up dissent and launching attacks on the non-Somali communities in the province. Imru confronted London about the issue, only to be met with feigned ignorance and shrugging as the "Klub" received more and more support from Britain, who'd advocated for a Greater Somali state. Angered, the Regent ordered Nasibu to carry out ruthless purges of the SYL branches in the Ogaden's urban centers and for the 31st, 21st and 12th battalions at Jijiga, Dihun and Degehabur respectively to be reinforced to ensure that an Imperial presence was felt. To accompany these reinforcements was Nasibu's own overtures towards the Ogadeni populace that was aimed at providing them with opportunities to rise through the ranks, as well as more concerted campaigns to absorb the local authorities and traditional means of government. It was facilitated through expanding Union of Gihon's existing presence in Jijiga and Dire Dawa whilst also mimicking Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariam's reforms in the 1920s [1] in Hararghe.
Another peripheral province that there were issues with was Tigray where in 1943, rebellious peasants demanded more autonomy and less taxes. Imru personally led the campaign against the rebellion and had ruthlessly suppressed it by unremittingly bombarding the peasant militias with artillery and then bringing in the Imperial Bodyguard. In Meqele, the UG presence was expanded to encompass the entire province as Imru addressed the problems that'd caused the rebellion in the first place and called together a congress of those who'd participated in it. Many Tigrayans had been shocked at the indisciplined nature of TA's troops in the province and more so at the moves by Imru's government to establish a fixed land tax rate that seemed to threaten the traditional Rist system [2] in northern Ethiopia. Imru compromised on these and with assistance from Araya, inaugurated the Kebele system [3] to accommodate Rist that was a combination of the principles of the wartime Japanese neighborhood system and Blood and Soil in Germany's Nazi Party. It allowed the Imperial government to closely monitor Tigray particularly with a traditional leader (or leaders) being integrated into the Union of Gihon, subsequently being established elsewhere. The Territorial Army in Tigray was dealt with by Imru through summary executions and regular rigorous training exercises under IEA officers to tackle the issue of indiscipline.
Imru's troops march into Meqele, October 1943.
The issue of the 1st Infantry Brigade in Eritrea continued to come up in Addis Ababa, often mixing with Ethiopian irredentism over the stolen province. Even in the '30s, many in Ethiopia considered Eritrea to be Ethiopian even under Italian colonialism and this was usually argued on the basis of shared culture, religion and ethnicity with the people of northern Ethiopia. Imru seemed to have shared the same opinion, his decision to subsidize the pro-Ethiopia Eritrean Unionist Bloc [4] against the Independence Bloc who was already wracked with diverse opinions on what an Eritrea separate from Ethiopia should look like. It often was unable to actually agree on much other than wanting to be separate from Ethiopia - this ranged from a Greater Tigrayan state to joining metropolitan Italy [5] - and that fundamentally undermined it but its Unionist counterpart was relatively homogenous. Not to mention that it was very popular with the predominantly Orthodox Christian Tigrayan-speaking majority and even with some Muslim lowlanders that were to join the pro-Ethiopia Independent Muslim League of Massawa, though only with the guarantee that Muslim Eritrea's interests. In response to the British-backed groups that called for dividing up Eritrea on the basis of ethnicity, Imru pushed for the Tigrayan-speaking and Afari-speaking lands unify with Ethiopian Tigray and Aussa respectively, arguing that Eritrea's ethnic minorities would receive autonomous rights.
This back-and-forth between the Unionist and Independence Blocs, and by extension, Addis Ababa and London, culminated in Ethiopian victory when Roosevelt responded positively to Imru's overtures over the question of Eritrea at the January 1943 Casablanca Conference (after promising to him the American use of Italian radio station, Radio Marina, in Eritrea) and supported Ethiopian claims to the lost province. Its British ally seemed to take less precedence in East Africa after the conclusion of the East and North African Campaigns - in which Ethiopian troops had served valiantly for four years - that made the presence of so many Indian, RWAFF, KAR and South African divisions redundant. These experienced units, Imru mused, would be better spent in Italy - where he reminded them Ethiopian troops were also serving valiantly and had been the first to penetrate Monte Cassino - or in France and Burma, to which Roosevelt agreed. The British attempts at retaining some sort of influence in Ethiopia were rapidly diminishing with WWII's end seemingly around the corner as the Western Allies pushed past the Rhine and the Soviets took Berlin where the Fuhrer killed himself in April 1945. In the same year, Emperor Haile Selassie I died in a tragic airplane crash that had been caused by engine trouble and the Provisional Ethiopian Government disintegrated at the seams without his authority to keep it together, relegated to governing Japan's Ethiopians.
A Unionist rally in Asmara is monitored by Ethiopian troops, April 1945.
Finally, the 1st Infantry Brigade was placed under the Imperial High Command in Addis Ababa in 1947 as London attempted to ease the cost of maintaining tens of thousands of men in the Horn. This paved the way for Ethiopia to gain greater influence in Eritrea where the Unionists were gaining ground, supported by Imru's government. The Unionist Bloc argued with the Independence Bloc in debate, pointing out that Addis Ababa would grant the Eritreans equal rights in the Empire instead of the "Shewan Amhara dominance" narrative that they parroted (and which was usually a remnant of Italian colonial propaganda). This type of debate between the various organizations usually came out in the favor of the Unionists who exploited the extreme division in the Independence Bloc to push union with Ethiopia. The same narrative that proclaimed, "Ethiopia was dominated and controlled by Shewan Amharas under Selassie. Who's to say Imru won't do the same with his Gojammes?" was rendered worthless with the elevation of Araya Abebe to Emperor in 1946 with the blessing of the Patriarch in Alexandria (as well as Imru's) and Araya selected Imru to become the Minister of Defense in Abebe Aregai's stead. However, both would have much more to worry about with the results of the 1947 Juba Conference - the union of Sudan with Egypt proper. Suddenly, the issue of acquiring Eritrea became more pressing with Ethiopia sharing a border with Egypt.
Husayn proclaiming the union of Sudan with Egypt, June 1947.
This notion of Ethiopia becoming a regional power as it had been in Biblical times, the Aksumite era and the Solomonid Middle Ages was growing in tandem with the independence movements in European Africa as the Cold War begun in earnest with the Berlin Airlift's success. Though most African countries wouldn't become independent until the '60s, Libya's independence in December 1951 marks the beginning of the process of decolonization and many were eager to finally see Europe go. Still holding onto the Garveyite links that spanned Western, Central and Southern Africa, Monrovia was elated at the idea that Africa was going to finally be liberated as the militants in the UNIA and its African chapters called for war against Europe until it was forced back across the Mediterranean. Although Garveyism'd been cracked down on and the European colonial empires determined to repress it, it remained alive and well in those colonies where it was preparing to fight. In Cape Town, the South African government had tried to stamp out Garvey's movement (who'd been at home there since 1922) but it continued coordinating with the African National Congress and Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union [6] for freedom. The same was replicated with Felix Eboue's "Gaullist-Garveyites" who were responsible for providing covert support to Patrice Lumumba's Congolese National Movement in the late '50s and paved the way for the rise of African independence in the 1960s.
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[1] This included (but not limited to) enlightened administration, constructing a fort, drawing up administrative divisions, drafting a town plan, digging wells, encouraging agricultural practices, setting fixed land taxes, rewarding high productivity, etc. with the ultimate intention of making Hararghe a model province. See Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia: The Reformist Intellectuals of the Early Twentieth Century by Bahru Zewde for more.
[2] Rist, in short, was/is a communal hereditary landed estate system in which land is seen as sacred and inviolable. It was often the reason behind many peasant rebellions in the late '60s when Haile Selassie continuously tried to push through a fixed taxes on land and was rigorously exploited by local aristocrats when possible, usually in opposition to national reforms. See A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1991 by Bahru Zewde for more.
[3] ITTL, the Kebele system is introduced earlier and with modifications that take inspirations from OTL's Ethiopian intelligentsia's agrarian corporatist proposals, Japanese national syndicalism and Nazi German Blood Soil principle, as stated above.
[4] This also happened IOTL. See ITALY AND ITS RELATIONS WITH ERITREAN POLITICAL PARTIES, 1948-1950 by Tekeste Negash for more.
[5] In OTL's Eritrea, various factions in the Unionist and Independence Bloc demanded very different things. In pg. 182 of A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1991, Bahru Zewde describes it:
"The issue of Eritrea, though more complicated, was resolved some four years before the restoration of the Ogaden to Ethiopia. The Paris Peace Conference in 1946, which concluded World War Two, while it forced Italy to renounce its former colonies, had postponed its question of their disposal. That proved fertile ground for the growth of competing groups vying for attention and consideration. The demands were polarized into union with Ethiopia versus independence. The Unionists constituted the single largest political group in Eritrea. The Independence Bloc, as it was known, was a conglomeration of different groups only united by their opposition to union. It included the Muslim League, which had its stronghold in the Muslim-inhabited lowlands; the Liberal Progressive Party, which campaigned for the independence of an Eritrea united with Tigray; and a group of Italian settlers, ex-Askaris and people of mixed race who opted for independence as a camouflage for the continuation of Italian influence."
[6] See 'Sea Kaffirs': 'American Negroes' and the Gospel of Garveyism in Early Twentieth-Century Cape Town by Robert Trent Vinson for more.
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Liberty, Fraternity, Negritude
Liberty, Fraternity, Negritude
Excerpt from A History of African Radicalism by Paul Gilroy
France's surrender to the Axis was followed by nearly its entire overseas empire aligning itself with the puppet Vichy government. Charles de Gaulle refused to surrender to the Germans, being joined by a small group of French government officials, high-ranking officers and soldiers that'd made it to Britain after Petain's ascendance. It was in London where de Gaulle established a French government-in-exile and where he made his appeal to Frenchmen the globe over to not hand over their nation to the Vichy puppets and Berlin but it was here he had little success. Most French soldiers that'd escaped with the rest of the Allied troops wanted to go home and many in the French military considered Petain's government to be far more legitimate to de Gaulle's ragtag committee in London. It was worse with the French colonial empire, as almost all colonial governors moved toward Vichy and in the process, brought the vast resources and manpower of the colonies under its control. The only French colonies willing to join the Free French cause by August 1940 were French Polynesia, New Caledonia, French India and French Equatorial Africa who proved vital in backing de Gaulle's initial efforts to support the Allied war effort. Excerpt from A History of African Radicalism by Paul Gilroy
Prior to becoming the Governor of Chad in January 1939, Felix Eboue had served in colonial administration in French Ubangi-Shari for two decades and then in Martinique before being appointed the Governor of Guadeloupe in 1936 - the first Black man to be selected for such a position. With war already breaking out in September over Germany's invasion of Poland, Eboue had been chosen to become Governor of Chad and even with the fall of France in June 1940, Eboue remained staunchly loyal to France and supported de Gaulle's Free French. It was under his leadership that the rest of French Equatorial Africa rallied to Free France's cause in August, providing not just the resources necessary to building the Free French forces but a strategic position which could strike against Vichy France's colonies. However, victory was still a long ways off, something that become evident with the failed raid on Dakar but as shown at the Battle of Gabon in mid- to late November, the Free French forces were still capable of striking down Vichy forces. After the fall of Libreville, French Equatorial Africa was completely under the control of Brazzaville who proved that Free France was capable of contributing to the Allied war effort with its contribution of French troops to the East African Campaign and the Syria-Lebanon Campaign by July 1941.
Free French Chadian infantryman, August 1940.
They were well-received by Felix Eboue [1] who'd become very popular amongst Equatorial Africans by the end of the World War, particularly the 15,000 Chadian veterans coming home. Eboue's efforts towards the reconciliation of traditional African governance and regulated modernization could be seen in his 1941 memorandum [2] as well as in his investments with Lend-Lease support from Washington. Eboue's own insistence on not just utilizing indigenous African leaders as he had done in Ubangi-Shari [3] but educating them, serving to establish and entrench an educated African middle class. Controlled industrialization's example in rural Chad provided a case for the rest of the AEF colony where Eboue begun to replicate this case with the ultimate intention of transforming French Equatorial Africa into a model French colony. The Governor also seemed content to emulate Marcus Garvey's rapid development of Liberia over the 1930s and was even inspired by the Liberian President's rhetoric demanding for African independence or at least an upgrade to Class A Mandates when the League of Nations had previously existed.
Eboue's vigorous campaigning for African representation in Paris might've been the reason that the 1946 French Constitution finally granted the Empire's Africans limited representation through local elections in which the Territorial Assembly sent its own representatives to French bodies like the National Assembly, Council of the Republic and Assembly of the French Union. More reforms in 1946 also proclaimed colonies to be overseas provinces and Africans French citizens but this remained largely superficial in practice. French personnel continued not only to dominate the AEF's administration but interfere in Eboue's aims that were to promote more indigenous involvement in said elections and his attempts to train African civil servants. Eboue was outraged at this, harshly scolding French officials and pursuing the recruitment of Black personnel to offset the influence held by the French officials as they arranged for indigenous personnel to either be dismissed or relocated to distant posts where they couldn't harm French dominance of the AEF administration. Despite his advanced age, Eboue vigorously campaigned for the relinquishing of French overbearing in the governance of not just French Equatorial Africa but all of French Africa, decrying France and its insistence on the continuance of "the civilizing mission," making him even more popular and supplanting the rise of Black nationalism in the AEF colony.
However, the question of independence came up with that of succession, especially with Carlos Cooks succeeding Marcus Garvey as President of Liberia in 1956. Eboue knew this and was unwilling to see French Equatorial Africa plunge into civil war over who would succeed him or God forbid, be recolonized by the French Republic or become Socialist. Garveyism and Black nationalism had swept the independent nations of Africa, having swayed Eboue, this veritably Black Frenchman, away from the same country he'd advocated for so fervently during the Second World War and to embrace nationalism for the AEF. With Algerian resistance flaring up in the late 1950s and mounting nationalism in AEF, Charles de Gaulle made the fateful decision to grant French Equatorial Africa independence in February 1959 and in the same month, the Governor chose to declare Barthelemy Boganda - that popular "Gaullist-Garveyite" - his successor. In Brazzaville, Boganda was sworn in as President of the Republic of Equatoria with de Gaulle endorsing him to lead this great colony to freedom, fondly reminiscing about those first days in Chad after Eboue joined the Free French struggle. Speaking of Felix Eboue, the former Governor lived long enough to see Equatoria become an independent nation with a bright future before passing away peacefully in his sleep in early March at the age of 75. A statue was erected in his honor, still standing proudly in Brazzaville to this day.
Felix Eboue's statue in Brazzaville, March 2019.
Eboue's death led millions to mourn him and Boganda remarked that Equatoria was Eboue's legacy, "A legacy of Liberty, Fraternity and Negritude." With that being said, Boganda sought to transform Equatorian independence into Equatorian power, seeing for her a prominent role in African affairs. He looked to Central Africa's Latin states and desired to unify them into one [4] federation, seeing a chance in the Congo's Crisis - or really, civil war - in 1960 when the southern secessionist province of Katanga broke away with Belgian support. Denouncing Belgian imperialism, Brazzaville declared its support for Patrice Lumumba's Congolese National Movement after Chief of Staff of the Army, Joseph Mobutu, seized power in early 1961 and that same support - combined with that of Liberia and Ethiopia - changed the fate of Central Africa forever.
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[1] Instead of succumbing to the stroke he had while in Cairo in '44, Eboue manages to survive and goes on to continue governing French Equatorial Africa.
[2] See The Eboue Memorandum, 1941 for more.
[3] See Felix Eboue and the Chiefs: Perceptions of Power in Early Oubangui-Chari by Brian Weinstein for more.
[4] IOTL, Boganda supported the United States of Latin Africa concept - the union of all Romance-language-speaking Central African countries - and continues to support it ITTL, though whether or not he's at all successful in my TL is definitely up for debate.
The Universal Negro Improvement Association controls a larger Liberia, Garveyists under Prince-Mars control Haiti, Imru is the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie is God-only-knows-where in East Asia, Egypt has annexed Sudan, the former FEA is now the Republic of Equatoria as a united polity and to top it all off, Patrice Lumumba seems to have survived his assassination attempt. What's interesting is just what role Equatoria, Liberia and Ethiopia play in this TL's Congo - Ethiopia already sent over an Imperial Guard regiment as a part of the UN intervention force IOTL and Garveyite Liberia is known to maintain a vast covert network in Sub-Saharan Africa. With decolonization around the corner, things are going to be absolutely fascinating.
What do you mean by "united African Empire"?Why don't we ever have a united African Empire in the modern days?
Uh, yeah, that's not at all happening ITTL. That's also fundamentally impossible to pursue in the 20th Century nor with any PoD that I can think of off the top of my head.
Pan-Africanism will take an interesting turn ITTL so I suppose you'll be interested in that, especially with Imru at the helm.
49ersFootball
Banned
Meanwhile one of the King's sons keeps "exploring" the beautiful women of Japan.
I mean there's no guarantee that they're still in Japan or even alive at this point, though the next chapter will partly focus on Ethiopia.
Which one? Mengistu Neway? Mengistu Haile Mariam? Mengistu is a very common name in Ethiopia.
Wind of Revolution
Wind of Revolution
Even as he somewhat successfully pinned wartime Egypt's problems on el-Nahhas, Farouk's decision to sack Husayn was proving disastrous and showed that he was a British puppet. El-Nahhas not only showed that his corruption but reinforced the popular notion of the Wafd's complacency and incompetence which ironically enough, led to the Egyptian masses rallying around the King. Husayn was outraged at Farouk's decision to dismiss him and more so at the sexual debauchery which followed the Abdeen Palace Incident, declaring that the young man was a degenerate in no state to govern the country. A Republican faction under Gamal Abdel Nasser came to the forefront of Young Egypt, Nasser making comparisons between the Egyptian situation by 1942 with that of Fascist Italy's in 1943 and proclaiming that the King's interests laid not in preserving Egyptian sovereignty but in selling out to foreign powers. Though Republicanism had little sway with much of the Egyptian population at large, it started to take hold in the educated whose dissatisfaction with Farouk and the Egyptian elite was beginning to shine by the late 1940s.
One of the first questions that popped up in post-WWII Egypt was that of Sudan's future in 1947. In Young Egypt, the overwhelming opinion was that Sudan should be annexed to Egypt proper to restore Ism'ail Pasha's grand dream of uniting the Nile and that Sudan serve as Egyptian living space. The Juba Conference of 1947 ultimately decided Sudan's fate with the heavily Arabized and Islamized north joining Farouk and his Kingdom whereas the Nilotic Christian south was to become an independent state known as the Republic of Juwama. The results of the Juba Conference were met with positivity on the Egyptian people's part who were pleased to see a historically contested area between Egypt and Britain become Egyptian, thus extending their Empire's frontiers further into the Nile. The propaganda promoted by the Wafd would do some good in playing up historical Egyptian aspirations not just to Sudan but to the rest of Northeast Africa, deeply disturbing the respective governments of Juwama and Ethiopia. However, the popularity of Farouk's success in this arena wouldn't last, especially when it became apparent that north Sudan's landowning classes were to reinforce their counterparts in Egypt with Farouk still unwilling to change.
Sudanese representatives at Juba, June 1947.
The June 1952 Coup saw pro-Husayn forces, led by Muhammad Naguib and Nasser, surround the Montaza Palace at Alexandria and deliver an ultimatum to Farouk. It demanded that the King dismiss the Wafd's government in favor of a Young Egypt administration under Husayn and he abdicate the throne in favor of his newborn son, Fuad. In Fuad's place, Egypt was to be governed by a Royal Regency Council until the young King came of age to govern the country, though members of Young Egypt would act as his "advisors." Under the threat of pro-Husayn troops storming the Palace and executing him, Farouk acceded to all the demands put forward by the "Young Officers," and formally abdicated the Monarchy after which he would spend the rest of his life under close surveillance of the Young Egypt government. It was to cheering crowds of ecstatic Egyptians that Husayn and his Young Officers were welcomed, beginning that which Farouk had neglected for so long - the question of reform. It started in September when Husayn declared a land redistribution program to be rigorously pursued, effectively destroying the power of the landed gentry that'd backed Farouk and making him ever more popular amongst his own people.
Pro-Husayn Egyptian soldiers surround Montaza Palace, June 1952.
Despite Britain's prolonged presence, Iraq continued to be a headache for British forces garrisoning her and the client government under 'Abd al-Ilah started negotiating for the withdrawal of British forces in '47 in the hopes of lending more legitimacy to the government. The last British soldiers left Iraq on January 15, 1948 but that did not necessitate the ending of British influence in the country at whole with the joint Anglo-Iraqi defense board overseeing the planning of Iraqi military strategy and what was in essence British control of Iraq's foreign affairs. These ventures didn't endear 'Abd's government to the Iraqi peoples, especially to the upper class and educated Iraqis who retained their pro-Fascist stance even under the occupation. The Party of National Brotherhood and Nadi al-Muthanna Club had established a coalition which was intended to coalesce in the future, coordinating the political resistance as the Iraqi Army's guerrillas continued launching hit-and-run attacks on Baghdad's forces. In the years under British occupation, Nadi al-Muthanna had come to despise the Hashemite Monarchy and embraced republicanism as a part of its overarching Fascist Pan-Arab thought, looking to the Egyptian example when Young Egypt ousted Farouk.
'Abd al-Ilah's attempts to establish control of an independent Iraqi state were hampered by various issues excluding the ongoing insurgency sapping Baghdad's resources. Firstly, Iraq had been destroyed during World War II and emerged from the war in a pitiful state. To add to this, the Regent consistently found himself at odds with his Prime Minister, Nuri al-Said, and educated elites - particularly those who had been a part of Dr. Sami Shawkat's al-Futuwwah [1] - or, Youth Movement. On top of it all, Iraq's economy and infrastructure was in shambles with nothing being done as 'Abd and Nuri continued to squabble over the economic policies Iraq should follow for reconstruction. Another point of contention between the two was that of Pan-Arab nationalism that'd swept the Middle East along with decolonization in the wake of World War II, with Nuri and elites eagerly supporting an Arab Federation constituting of autonomous states but not necessarily in the Nasserist fashion. This led to the creation of the Arab Federation in February 1958, a loose bloc consisting of the Hashemite Kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq, in response to the threat posed by Egypt who'd done a fantastic job in mobilizing pan-Arab sentiment and positioning itself as leader of the Arab world in the 1950s.
To 'Abd's alarm, both the Iraqi people and elite were quite sympathetic not just to Pan-Arab nationalist ideology and Nadi al-Muthanna's insurgency but to Nasserist Egypt as well. These ideals were popular with the Iraqi officer corps opposing Nuri's reservations about Pan-Arabism and disillusioned with the Hashemite Monarchy, even with the rise of Faisal II to power in May 1953 who showed promise with his choice to vigorously endorse development works. However, this only served to isolate Iraq's peasantry and expanding middle class but not as much as the 1956 Suez Crisis and Iraqi support for the anti-Egypt coalition to weaken Egypt. It failed, leading to Arabs rallying to the Egyptian cause and denounced European colonialism, highlighting the issue of continued British hegemony and Faisal's backing of the intervention with an Iraq that was a member of the Western-backed Baghdad Pact which only served to strain Iraqi-Egyptian relations and expose Western support for the Iraqi Hashemites. It may have provided the final catalyst in which pro-Nasserist army officers, led by Brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif, seized power in 1958 in the infamous July Revolution and killed Faisal, 'Abd and al-Said. The removal of the Hashemite Monarchy culminated in the establishment of the Iraqi Republic under Qasim's leadership who was quickly superseded by the Party of National Brotherhood that'd supported Arab nationalism in Iraq's Mosul during the 1959 Mosul Uprising.
Nadi al-Muthanna's guerrillas proudly show off their Arabic standard, July 1958.
Iraq was not the only country to be wracked with instability with the opening of the 1960s as the Congo was plunged into civil war with the Belgian-backed secession of Katanga and Joseph Mobutu's coup in the city of Leopoldville, dividing the Congo into several competing factions. Lumumba managed to escape the city and flee to Stanleyville [2] where Vice President Gizenga had established a separate government of fervent Lumumbist nationalists who controlled all of Kivu province, the eastern parts of Kasai and Orientale provinces as well as northern Katanga. It wasn't long before Lumumba's charisma earned him not just the popular following of the Lumumbist territories' peoples but the backing of Nikita Khrushchev's administration who proved vital in securing the diplomatic front by preventing a UN intervention. It also had the effect of turning the Congolese Civil War into a proxy war in the Cold War between Washington and Moscow - Kennedy favored Mobutu and Khrushchev Lumumba. Khrushchev provided Stanleyville with a set of generous loans, financing the formation of a regular army that could oppose the ANC while training a guerrilla force operating in Leopoldville province. Even with a growing insurgency, Mobutu scored many wins in the opening months of the war and had annexed South Kasai by October 1961.
ANC artillery bombards South Kasai's forces, October 1961.
Even as the Ogaden War [4] raged on and had since '64, Ras Imru would place an emphasis on supporting the rightful Congolese government at Stanleyville. Ethiopia didn't only send WWII-era surplus but also advisors to help form a regular army capable of staving off the ANC and assisted in organizing the many pro-Lumumba Congolese veterans, establishing the Lumumba Military Academy at Stanleyville. Ethiopian veterans that had fought in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, North Africa and Italy proper made up the majority of the team of advisors that were nicknamed the "Black Lions Brigade," after the political party. It was vital to Stanleyville's war effort, as did Equatoria who deployed its own arms support and veteran advisors who were often Chadian officers who dominated the officer corps of the Army of Equatoria after its independence in '59. Barthelemy Boganda, although pro-Western and anti-Communist, was a pan-Africanist and Black nationalist who made the decision to support Lumumba in staunch opposition to the French neocolonialism that was so rampant in the former French West Africa and became determined to support Lumumba to the end. Ethiopia and Equatoria also acted as funnels for aid from the Soviet Union, with its Eritrean port of Assab acting as a focal point where the Soviets unloaded shipment after shipment which was moved through the sympathetic Juwama to the Congo while Soviet weaponry was smuggled through Equatoria's Ubangi-Shari province and made its way to Lumumbist guerrillas in Leopoldville.
Congolese recruits are taught how to fire artillery by Chadian advisors, 1963-64.
The Lumumbist government turned its eyes west where it started to prepare for the reclamation of Leopoldville, commencing in December 1965/66 with a noticeable uptick in guerrilla operations. It seemed the people of Leopoldville had had enough of Mobutu and were rising to oust him, leading to Mobutu stripping the front for available units for a counterinsurgency campaign. Lumumbist troops, closely supported by Soviet-supplied aerial and armored forces, shredded through the ANC's lines at several focal points and achieved not just a breakthrough but the capture of nearly 100,000 men too. Despite fierce resistance on the part of ANC soldiers, the namesake city of the province was seized by late January and pro-Mobutu fighting largely melted away when news of his capture and very public execution was announced. Even as holdouts by committed Mobutists continued fighting in the Congolese jungle until early 1967, it was clear that Lumumba was victorious and was eager to spread his reforms from his initial holdings to all Congo, even welcoming UN forces to monitor the planned elections. Not surprisingly, Patrice Lumumba and his Congolese National Movement won the largest number of votes in the electorate - 30-40%, roughly - that catapulted Lumumba and the MNC to national prominence where the Lumumbist government took up the mantle of rebuilding their country.
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[1] See Arab Nationalism in Interwar Period Iraq: A Descriptive Analysis of Sami Shawkat's al-Futuwwah Youth Movement by Saman Nasser for more. [2] ITTL, Lumumba manages to barely avoid getting captured at Lodi, successfully making his way to Stanleyville.
[3] A fiery orator and popular nationalist veteran, American-born Carlos Cooks was personally chosen by Marcus Garvey to succeed him as the next President.
[4] ITTL, the border war with Somalia started over its support for insurgents in the Ogaden and subsequent attacks by Somali regulars in the region in February 1964 is instead escalated into full-on war.
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Now this is certainly a turn of events that I wasn't expecting. I hope the Congo ends up better without that madman Mobutu at the helm but with an emergent Egypt as the leader of the Arab world, what happens with the United Arab Republic in this timeline?