What if? Arabia

What if, after the First World War, instead of paritioning the conquests from the Ottoman Empire into English and French zones and creating numerous nations out of it, what if the English and French had worked to create a single nation? It would comprise of modern Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, the UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel (Palestine).

I know the Imperialist attitudes of France and England are going to be hard to wave away, but perhaps if the Arab army had seized Damascus and/or the French and English couldn't come to an agreement to divide it up and the Arabs played them off one another. Or they just agreed to have it as a protectorate.

I don't know, not terribly interested in how it happens, but what happens then? If it could survive, how would it impact WW2? The post-war years? The Cold War?
 
It would be incredibly rich in oil so that might give its government the money to put down any revolts. Even so, I think Sunni/Shiite tensions would be enough to break it up.

About WWII, as I understand it Britain got a lot of its oil from the area, so this could weaken it...but then, they wouldn't fight in Africa so maybe they'd concentrate more on Europe. Arabia might go Allies if Italy's in Ethiopia, but they. But they could go Axis becaus I'd expect some tension with Russia, and if I'm not mistaken Britain owned some Muslim parts of India at this time...of course they wouldn't border that unless they'd absorbed Iran, but I'd say there's a good chance of that. Also, might go fascist because of religious tension.


Re the Cold War, the oil would make it a target for both US and Soviet imperialism, so you might see a repeat of the Korean War...though I suppose it's a bit big.

If I were doing a tl on this I'd try to fit in a Zoroastrian revival...but that's unlikely...
 
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I don't see much of a difference. It would just be an even richer Arabian country like Saudi Arabia under a monarch's control and generally neutral in World Wars or perhaps slightly Nazi-sympathizing.

Or would they not be Axis-sympathizing without the annoyance of British hegemony?
 
I don't see much of a difference. It would just be an even richer Arabian country like Saudi Arabia under a monarch's control and generally neutral in World Wars or perhaps slightly Nazi-sympathizing.

Or would they not be Axis-sympathizing without the annoyance of British hegemony?

I think they would be Axis-Sympathetic myself. The region isn't exactly a bastion of liberalism or democracy (Though the later could change in this case). The Arab Nation could try to send oil to the Axis through Turkey, but the English wouldn't like it and unless the Arabs are willing to go to war along with Italy I don't see them having a chance to stand up to the Brits.
 

Hashasheen

Banned
What if, after the First World War, instead of paritioning the conquests from the Ottoman Empire into English and French zones and creating numerous nations out of it, what if the English and French had worked to create a single nation? It would comprise of modern Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, the UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel (Palestine).

I know the Imperialist attitudes of France and England are going to be hard to wave away, but perhaps if the Arab army had seized Damascus and/or the French and English couldn't come to an agreement to divide it up and the Arabs played them off one another. Or they just agreed to have it as a protectorate.

I don't know, not terribly interested in how it happens, but what happens then? If it could survive, how would it impact WW2? The post-war years? The Cold War?
Making a timeline based on this see my sig.
 
I think they would be Axis-Sympathetic myself. The region isn't exactly a bastion of liberalism or democracy (Though the later could change in this case). The Arab Nation could try to send oil to the Axis through Turkey, but the English wouldn't like it and unless the Arabs are willing to go to war along with Italy I don't see them having a chance to stand up to the Brits.
I guess the Arabs could just have the same position as the Spaniards in WWII, perhaps vaguely sympathetic with the Axis but not enough to actually want to do anything and technically neutral.
 
Under what force is it united? Independent of whatever the Brits and French decide to do Saudi Arabia emerges as a state on its own merits? Does it simply expand to include all arabia?

Does this Arabian Empire get too full of itself, and the normally restrained if fundementalist Saudis start thinking along more Imperialistic lines?

What happens to Egypt when the British withdraw, or indeed to the whole swathe of northern Arabic africa?
 
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