That's good, I was hoping for a world where the US didn't dominate in anything OOC: I hope the Caliphate doesn't seem to OP. My goal is to get Sunayyad to a reasonable size for a Muslim Caliphate, then introduce a new Sultan, this time not descendantnt of Mohammed and he's going to ruin a lot of things.
Major Gold mining projects have begun in Turkey and Egypt. Large Gold deposits were found and exploited, the Caliph is ordering production of these factories Egypt and Turkey currently dominate Iron mining, having decently large deposits of Iron in the Middle Eastern region. Copper, Aluminum, Zinc, Gold, Iron and other precious minerals and regular minerals are being found and mined all throughout the Empire. No doubt that Petroleum and Oil is literally the biggest thing in Sunayyad, making the country richer and richer every day. With these riches, Sunayyad Provinces are seeing funding in municipalities, as cities are given new roads, new jobs are added, homes rebuilt and refurbished, with brand new homes being built in latest ways, adding for safer and more insulated and cool housing, lots of comforts included. Farming is booming near the Nile River and in greener parts of the Sunayyad Empire. Citrus booms in Tunisia and Turkey, and common crops like wheat, barley, rice, lentils, peas and various vegetables and fruit are being produced at greater rates. Due to the low amount of fertile soil and the vast amount of arid desert, it is difficult to keep a supply of food coming into the Empire that feeds everyone, although luckily a trade deal with The Federation brings in food, most of it goes bad so it comes in low-quality amounts. The Sunayyad Empire calls on a trade deal with the SEU, they want lots of food, like rice, they offer petroleum products, but it is up for the SEU to accept (Trading confuses me, I don't know if I'm doing it right as trading petroleum for rice seems very odd, but just straight up buying it isn't really trading... Am I doing it right?) With the Quality of Life Act, citizens are given the ability for housing provided by the Caliphate, as the government builds homes and sells them off to buyers making lots of profit. Housing is cheap and easy to make, in urban areas large sectors are dedicated to apartment-style housing in tight space. Homes are usually made out of stone, or more than likely mud brick with modern techniques so it isn't a mud hut. Rural areas are much more neglected, unfortunately, but it isn't up to the government to help every single person. Income tax rate sits at roughly 20%, Education is free, and healthcare is somewhat cheap to free. Of course, medical emergencies are free, but pharmacies and sometimes surgeries which aren't as urgent cost money, it really depends, but healthcare is advanced and either free to relatively cheap. Small uprising beings in Tunisia, some people don't want to be another colony, they want to be free, yet the Caliph assures them that if they were Independent they would never get themselves out of their hellhole as quick as being a colony has proved. They are assured that Tunisia keeps their identity and national pride and any opposition is shut down. In some gruesome punishments, some small groups threatened to kill the Caliph and told him he was not descendent of Mohammed and that Allah said nothing to him, they mock the Caliph and call him a fake Muslim. Needless to say, that group went silent a day after. Dead silent, literally, who knows which part of the desert lies their buried bodies. These punishments for verbally attacking the government are gruesome, although the Caliph assures people that control must be maintained to keep peace and prosperity, even if that means killing any resistence and opposition to the government. Some people are questioning this, and this calls for the first national doubt about the Caliph, although his ties with Islam keeps him incredibly high on his stance with his people.
USSR is Uber-Powerful and is also constantly infighting within its own organization. In prosperous times (now): Keeps fighting, constant division and fighting, can only get stuff done when its two factions agree (precious little) In times of crisis: Actually works together and gets stuff done, as well as being quite determined (assuming that something is even big enough to get it to unite. Example: Nanjing Massacre.)
The Union does not need Petrol, it already has Petrol in incredibly large amounts that it is busy selling (this is before Stalin drained 1/2 the Russian reserves for his own gain). Also, the Union is busy and has no time for outside dealings. However, SEU would be glad to lend its industrial capacity to the Caliphae-- India has deemed the Caliphate hostile to the cause of Socialism and has successfully shot down the trade offer in the USSR meetings. WE WILL BE BACK EVENTUALLY, INDIA AND SEU ARE NEGOTIATIING.
What does the Union and SEU need that only the Sunayyad have in large quantities? You know, if India decides that it would be good to feed people
Ukraine is becoming an Argacultural Powerhouse and is handily feeding Eastern Europe. SEU just has little reason to accept. India dislikes Muslims for good reason, and sees no reasons to feed them
India is the main importer of Rice. We need rice. We need Food, I mean, we have food, but more food means fewer people in poverty and growth in civilization. I mean, it isn't bad, but it's the consequence of being a desert nation.
Actually, I'm going to stop complaining, I totally forgot about being Ethiopia's main ally and trading partner, meaning the Caliphate can just trade Petroleum and Oil for tons of food. Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt produce a ton of food, just not rice... Rice is needed, for some reason, people want lots of rice. (The food situation isn't that bad now that I think about it, but it's hard when 3 of your biggest countries are literal sand and you have millions of people to feed) We still won't mind a rice trade though SEU...
India doesn't want the Caliphate to succeed. USSR can't do much about that. SEU can't do much about that, and even they are wary of the Caliphate. They are still negotiating however, let's see how it turns out.
Secret Negotiations: India agrees to export rice and be friendlier with Muslims (NOT THE CALIPHATE), as well as work together with the SEU more. SEU agrees to take a more confrontational stance with the Caliphate and work with India more. SEU, fulfilling its end of the bargain begins to aggressively deploy ships to the Black Sea. India, fulfilling its end starts exporting Rice and treats the -Stans more nicely. They still dislike Islam. The USSR is just glad they worked it out.
All news publications in Kosovo owned by Albanians have been shut down, removing their ability to report on what The Federation is doing. They are also now legally regarded as second class citizens, unable to marry Serbs or maintain ownership of their own land. The banks are reclaiming their houses, farms, businesses, and they have set up several giant slums across Kosovo. Ethnic riots have broken out there between the Orthodox Serbs and Muslim Albanians - The Federation's army and police force have intervened, but they claim the Albanians are the aggressors and are particularly forceful against them during the riots. They have also begun raiding the so-called 'organisers' of these riot's homes and beating/killing them, but most evidence suggests these are randomly selected slum houses. The Serbs call this 'Velika Reklamacija' - 'The Great Reclamation', although it is little more than genocide.
The USSR has declared that they will not stand for this. Even the Muslim-hating Indians are horrified by this Genocide of Muslims. This was enough to unite the USSR together. They have declared War on the Balkan Federation, stating that this horrifying Genocide must stop. India has deployed its large Navy with a substantial number of Heavy Cruisers and Destroyers to defeat the Balkan Federation's Navy. The Battleships of the SEU sail unopposed, chopping up whatever Balkan Federation Navy survived the Indian onslaught.
The Balkan Federation doesn't know what to do. It has an army of 200,000 men who it does not wish to sacrifice. The Balkan Federation would like a diplomatic solution. It defends itself by saying that the government of Kosovo was acting on its own accord and for the stability of the nation, the federal government did not intervene when it should have. It promises to up its proper governance, root out corruption, and hold elections.
The Caliphate has been put on high alert, all of Turkey's defences and AA systems are active and the Bosphorus Strait is blockaded, impossible to get through, as well as the Suez Canal. The caliphate assures that intervening means another Great War and the troublesome act of rebuilding everything. The Caliphate doesn't want war, yet, although if a war does break out the Mediterranean is locked up very securely, no one can get in easily. The Caliph proposes a diplomatic solution, there is no point in reacting to bloodshed with more bloodshed, it adds no purpose. The Caliphate forces the Balkan Federation to stop their onslaught or the Caliphate will block every single TBF ship from exiting and entering the Bosphorus and Suez. No taxes need, just a total ban from entering. If TBF doesn't stop the onslaught of Albanians, The Caliphate will invade and take over Greece and protect Albania. The Muslim community in the Sunayyad is insanely angry, all hate is towards the TBF. Seriously, that's an entire region hating one small nation. Albania is being backed up by the Caliphate, and if the onslaught continues the Caliphate has a direct supply route of guns and supplies, that of which could spark a large Albanian Rebellion force.
With no navy left to speak of, The Balkan Federation agrees. The Albanians, however, are fleeing Kosovo. Last year they made up 60% of the Kosovar population, but now it's only 45%. The goal has been achieved - the Serbs have had their nationalistic desires satiated and have 'reclaimed' a cultural landmark of theirs, and there is one less ethnic minority for the federal government to worry about. In line with their promises, The Federation has segregated the Albanians in Kosovo from the Serbs for their protection. These walled-in communities are given lots of funding. Schools, however, are not teaching Muslim ideals but rather Orthodox Christian ones. The Serbs are being taught that what they have done to the Kosovar Albanian population is horrific. Meanwhile, in Bosnia, no such problems exist. The Muslim population there is untouched, intermarrying with Orthodox Serbs and living amongst eachother. They're happy. Kosovo and Bosnia paint two very different pictures of what the Federation can be, and this is used in the election campaign. The Fascists praise Kosovo, while The Socialists praise Bosnia. Elections are over. The President is the leader of the Balkan Socialist Party. He pledges equality for all, no corruption, blahblahblah, I'm going to sleep now. OOC: Just a disclaimer - for the sake of lore, I'm following what a real life attitude to the Kosovo Albanians was and still is through the eyes of the Serbs. The Balkan Federation wishes to keep Serbia in their country, and so allowed this to happen in a radical display of "you'd never get this without us, you can do what you want with us, we respect you," as well as to eliminate just another angry minority that the Balkans have so many of. I don't have any qualms with Muslims, Albanians, and I personally believe in the right to self-determination for Kosovo. Just in case that wasn't clear lol
The USSR has stopped, but they have a permanently ingrained distrust of the Balkan Federation. They will keep their military ready if they try this again. The USSR has lost its new-world naivete and seen a horrifying World in need of fixing. They have become far more calculating, far more cynical. India and SEU once again go their separate ways. The Revolution-Class Battleship was damaged slightly, she's going in the shipyard for that. Of note, she moved disturbingly fast at a speed of 29-30 knots in some cases. She really shouldn't be going that fast, she's fast, big and armored for 16-inch shells. And SEU is building 8 more ships better than her, as well as Aircraft Carriers.
A gruesome story has been unearthed in the Sunayyad Empire. Over the course of 1920-1924 something very disturbing has been hidden, that's the death of 2300 witches all throughout the Sunayyad Empire and even beyond. Their bodies were either cremated or buried in the Sahara Desert. Who is the murderer to blame? The Caliph. Something shady's been going on, and that's the brutal deaths of the oppressors of Islam. The Caliph stated peace and prosperity is kept at all times except when the Caliphate, Islam or Allah is threatened/blasphemed, but why witches? In Islam it is very true that Witchcraft and Sorcery are condemned by God, but why kill them? The Caliph states that they were working spells against the Sunayyad Empire, but deeper thoughts suggest it was a cleansing run. Witchs are probably extinct in Sunayyad now.
A paranormal organization has secretly warned the Caliphate to never do that again. The leader operates under the pseudonym "H". Apparently, some of their operatives were those witches. Not all of them, though. The Mechanical Computer Firing Control System has been integrated into all future SEU Battleships. This will make them very accurate, above other Battleships of the era. Imagine just how terrifying 18-inch guns will be with deadly accuracy! In addition, Radar is being developed, although it is very crude and is effectively useless as of now.
RESERVED FOR SEU SHIPYARD SPECS: Currently, SEU does not have many shipyards capable of building Battleships. They have 4 Shipyards capable of building 60-70k Battleships, each 1. However, they want to build a Shipyard capable of building both Military and Civilian vessels. For the military section, there are 2 docks capable of building 2 105,000 ton vessels (an indication SEU is planning ships that large), as well as 8 docks capable of building ships up to 80,000 tons, and many smaller docks capable of churning out ships. India, realizing that they could gain out of having a stake in the Shipyards and manipulate it to their advantage surprisingly offers to help. USSR steps and just says to expand it and to make it a Public Shipyard for all the USSR states. India and SEU really don't want to share it with everyone else in the USSR (especially with the factions of their main rivals), but seeing as none of the other states of their factions have proper shipyards, they agree. The 18-inch guns, a genius design by any context is produced in a large scale for shore defense, because it is ironically cheaper than the 16-inch guns.
