THE FEDERATION OF MECCA (1926 - Present Day)
In another timeline, the House of Saud would have gotten away with their evil plans for oppression.
Under the iron yoke of the founder of the Third Saudi State, and his imams followers of the Wahhabite school of Sunni Islam, Abdelaziz ben Abderrahman Al Saúd, the population of what was known at the time as the "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" had lived under a heinous oppression even by the fairly low standards of the "Arab World". This dynasty would destroy the kingdoms of Hejaz and Nechd, which in an act of supreme arrogance would consolidate as "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" in 1932. This kingdom, had it remained in power, would have become the main sponsor of an extremely aggressive version. and radicalization of Islam that would cause infinite problems for Muslims, both inside and outside Saudi Arabia, mainly due to the rigidity of the demands it imposed on the believers in Allah. All this would not have been achieved if it were not for the enormous fortunes in dollars that the ARAMCO company would put into Saud's pockets in exchange for obtaining its oil at a very good price, and for Saud to eradicate all forms of communism from the Arabian peninsula.
I mean, it had been like that in another timeline, but not this one. In this timeline, the Kingdom of Hejaz was better defended, as it had American advisers among its ranks. Among them, Murkus Horemheb would stand out, as he would be called among the inhabitants of Hejaz; to the rest of the world, he would simply be "the American T.E. Lawrence", something that General Horemheb was not happy with at all. (At present it is impossible to find out what was the original name of Murkus Horemheb, since all the information is classified by the CIA).
"I did a lot better than Lawrence. At least I got what I wanted. Although I do not blame him, he was betrayed by his superiors" he would later say, in one of the few interviews that he would grant to the BBC. (General Horemheb, like the great majority of members of the Government of the Federation of Mecca, would have problems getting interviewed by American media, mainly because of what the Government of the United States of America insists that it is "a betrayal of all our democratic and republican values, a filibuster more typical of William Walker ").
General Horemheb, originally sent in 1916 by the United States War Department to the Kingdom of Hejaz, as part of an attempt to secure a point of influence in the area, would remain in Hejaz, ignoring orders to transfer to Riyadh and lend his I support Saud.
The reason for such a decision is not a secret, since Horemheb himself would mention it openly when asked: he simply did not like the Saud, whom he saw as antiquated reactionaries and obsessed with destroying everything they did not like, "in the same suit as the fanatical priests of the Spanish Inquisition, you know, those who burned the books they didn't like."
At the head of the Hejaz armies, equipped with machine guns and other vehicles originally sold by the British, General Murkus Horemheb would face the forces of Saud in the famous Battle of Medina (1921), in which the hordes that passed by army among the Saudis they would be mercilessly swept away by the use of makeshift tachankas. The followers of Saud, more accustomed to looting campaigns, had not counted on having to face such firepower, so they would be eliminated.
Likewise, it is worth noting the use of aviation in this war; Although Hejaz's "aviation" was limited to a pair of fourth-hand Sopwith Camels, obtained from the black market, their use in the hands of Horemheb and his pilots would be instrumental in monitoring the movements of the Saudis in the subsequent Desert Campaign ( 1922-1925).
Of course, the British had been infuriated to see how their plan to prop up Saud was ruined by this meddling American and his loyal warriors, so they had demanded that the Kingdom of Hejaz immediately withdraw it and allow itself to be annexed. by Saud peacefully. Something to which Hejaz had replied "No."
Finally, in 1926, the Battle of Riyadh would be fought, in which the remnants of the House of Saud would be completely destroyed, as would the Wahhabi imams. The new authorities of the "Kingdom of Arabia" would be in charge of facing the wall and shooting all the Wahhabi imams they could lay their hands on; The Shiites of the peninsula would help in that mission, more than happy to get rid of "those crazy people who hate us."
By then, General Murkus Horemheb's power over his troops and over his people was so great that the King himself saw him as a threat and would try to eliminate him ... or that would have been the idea, were it not for Horemheb to move tab first; his elite forces, the Golden Sphinxes, would put the King of Hejaz and his entire family under arrest, charged with "treason against the Federation of Mecca and its ruler, General and President Murkus Horemheb."
That would be the first time that the official name of the new government would come to light.
World War II, with its enormous demands for fuel, would cause the Allies to reconsider their attitude towards the Federation of Mecca. Aware that he ran the risk of his country being invaded if he showed any sympathy for the Axis, General Horemheb would make sure to keep the Allies supplied with oil, which in turn would facilitate the reestablishment of relations with the outside world.
The terrible relations with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, openly aligned with the Axis, would cause the authorities of the Federation of Mecca to reinforce that policy further. (The Mufti, when not cursing the Jews, uttered the vilest insults against the Federation of Mecca and its inhabitants for being "takfir (infidels) killers of brothers (the Wahhabi imams) and worshipers of a kaffir (a western foreigner) ".
In the period of the Cold War, the Federation of Mecca would consolidate itself as the local regional power; A campaign against communist North Yemen would end with the annexation of this region to controlled territory (which included OTL Saudi Arabia, Jordan and North Yemen) to the applause of the West, who saw this as proof that the Federation of Mecca at least he was not pro-communist. (With Israel the relationship would be much more cautious: the Federation would not join the 1948 War, mainly because they were rebuilding their country; negotiations with Israel would cause the Federation of Mecca to administer the West Bank region instead of the state. Palestinian, and later both would collaborate in the fight against religious extremism).
The "Federation of Mecca" is one of the few cases of a successful Arab democracy, although by Western standards it would be a hybrid democracy with a strong presence and importance of the military. The territories are organized into states, run by Sheikhs chosen from among citizens of legal age (until 1999 only men could vote), while the judicial system is based on a hybrid mixture of Islamic law and legal law based on the French Civil Code. (Horemheb and his original followers were fanboys of the Napoleonic Code.) Although there is a Federal Assembly, it is relatively normal for the most charismatic politicians to dominate it; the Arab Federal Army is by far the strongest and best organized state organization, in addition to being guaranteed the role of "government supervisor".
The main sources of wealth are the income generated by pilgrimages to Mecca (hajj), as well as trips to Jerusalem, and the export of oil and its derivatives; the authorities of the Federation of Mecca have endeavored to reinvest this money in services for the population and to diversify the economy so that it is not so dependent on oil. One of the main priorities of the Government is to guarantee the education of its citizens (and their loyalty to the Federation), as well as that they have opportunities to earn a living. Despite the advances in education, however, one of the main obstacles is the traditionalism of a large part of the population, which does not see very well the liberalization process that has taken place in favor of women since the 1970s (mainly influenced by the progressive fall of Iran into extremist fanaticism). Although the Federation is a secular state according to the 1932 Constitution, in practice 95% of the population practices various schools of Sunni Islam (the Wahhabite was extinct in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century).
The Mecca Federation faces the 21st century as the strong power in Arabia, facing an increasingly extremist Iran, being one of the few Arab states that gets along with Israel, and being criticized for its collaboration in efforts to eradicate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, considered by the United States as part of an attempt to expand its influence in the region. Perhaps this explains why the Federation of Mecca has tried to seek to get closer to Europe and China ...
The flag: The flag uses the traditional Pan-Arab colors, being basically a redesign of the flag of the Kingdom of Hejaz (from which the Federation of Mecca is descended) with the colors changed position to represent the change of government. The legend in the center of the flag reads "There is no God but Allah" in reference to the Islamic nature of the nation and its people.
