History of United Elias
The nation of United Elias came about in the nineteenth century and the process started in 1831 when a severe flood and plague devastated Baghdad, enabling the Ottoman sultan, Mahmud II, to reassert Ottoman sovereignty over Iraq. Ottoman rule was unstable; Baghdad, for example, had more than ten governors between 1831 and 1869. In 1869, however, the Ottomans decided to appoint a native of Mesopatamia, Eliahu-Ezra Elias Pasha, who was also the first jew as well as the first non-turk to hold the post. Eliahu-Ezzra Elias immediately set out to modernize Baghdad and later other regions on the Western model. The primary objectives of the reforms, called the tanzimat, were to reorganize the army, to create codes of criminal and commercial law, to secularize the school system, and to improve provincial administration. He created provincial representative assemblies to assist the governor, and he set up elected municipal councils in the major cities. Consisting of largely prosperous businessmen and personal friends with no strong ties to the masses, the new offices nonetheless helped the region to spawn a sense of unity and for the first time, tribal and religious differences were left behind.
The Ottoman Exit
Seeing the dangers of the progress towards independence, the Ottoman Empire attempted to remove Eliahu-Ezra Elias from his position as governor and seeing this as an attempt to gain complete control over the country, the Army and a great majority of the populace remained loyal to their leader. This combined with military aid from Great Britain which saw the Ottoman Empire as a competitor, forced the Ottomans out. On April 16th 1876 Eliahu-Ezra Elias proclaimed himself as President of a new and independent nation which took the name of its founder.
On December 11 1898, after 21 years of rule and twelve years of being President, Eliahu-Ezra Elias died of natural causes. Immediately, his son Abdullah Eliahu Elias, 38 at the time, took over as President. From 1898 to 1914, more progress was made ,and again with British help, more territory became part of the nation, including most of the arabian peninsular. During the Great War, the Elias Army and later the Air Force assisted the British Empire in fighting the remnants of the Ottomans, achieving much success but at a high cost. In return, the British awarded Elias with The Seychelles that have been run semi-autonomously ever since.
After the Great War
In the post war period the Economy in Elias was considerably better than most Western Powers at the time and this was when the emergence of an oil driven economy came about. This period of apparent prosperity led to industrialisation and factories were starting to produce more complicated products such as cars and railway engines. In 1939, after forty one years as President, Abdullah Eliahu Elias died and was replaced by his younger brother Meir Eliahu Elias because Abdullah's son, who was conceived at an old age, was deemed too young to be President.
Immediately President Meir faced the threat of Nazi Germany who immediately despised the nation of Elias both because its ruling dynasty were of Jewish descent and moreover because ethnic and religious differences were seemingly irrelevant in Elias society. In January 1941, under the terms of the 1930 treaty with Britain, Elias declared war on the Axis powers. Elias cooperated completely with the British and the nation became a major staging base for the military occupation of Iran and of Palestine, operations in which Elias forces also took part in to limited success and at great expense. At this time, the state of Transjordan was awared by the British to Elias, after its military forces had to stabilise the country, given the assasination of the Hashemite Royal family.
Post WWII
World War II once again dragged Elias's social problems to the surface. The spiraling prices and shortages brought on by the war increased the opportunity for exploitation and significantly widened the gap between rich and poor; thus, while wealthy landowners were enriching themselves through corruption, the salaried middle class, including teachers, civil servants, and army officers, saw their incomes depreciate daily. Even worse off were the peasants, who lived under the heavy burden of the 1932 land reform that permitted their landlords (shaykhs) to make huge profits selling cash crops to the British and other nations. This is widely regarded as the weak point of the nation and a time when revolution or a dissolution of the state became distinct possibilties.
In 1956 President Meir, looked to the USSR for assistance, as a feud with the British over the 1930 treaty, which had now become deeply damaging because of the economic climate in Elias. Although President Meir never saw eye to eye in ideology with the Soviet Government, he was the ultimate pragmatist and the Russians were more than willing to assist Elias in return for oil and more importantly for agreeing not to export oil to the West. Being a minor ally of the USSR also played well with the lower classes and further decreased the likelihood of religious in-fighting and also made the economy much less dependant on those of the West and therefore was convenient at the time. During this period, the government temporarily nationalised many infrastructure related industries partly to show it maintained control over the increasingly powerful corporations that were emerging.
During the presidency of Meir Eliahu Eias, the military also made massive increases and transformed from an increasingly incomptetent defence corps to a major middle-eastern power, mostly with Soviet equipment. From 1957-1963 an ongoing series of skirmishes with Southern neighbour Al-Ahzad highlighted the need for military reform and during this period, the Elias forces strengthened, in later stages winning most engagements, in stark contrast to embarassing defeats earlier in the campaign. In 1968 Elias forces conducted a military invasion of parts of Syria, in support of rebel leader Sabir who suceeded in overthrowing the Kurdish backed government. This operation was tactically skillful and demonstrated a high level of proficiency and proffesionalism, characteristics that have remained with the military ever since. President Meir was also responsible for making Elias a nuclear capable nation in 1971 with the opening of a Russian built reactor. The curious and somewhat ill fated relationship with the USSR lasted until 1975 when President Meir died after 36 years as President.
His successor President Victor, President Abdullah's son and Meir's nephew immediately set about a change of course and was embraced by the West. The frist crisis faced by President Victor was in 1978, when he ordered a military force into Jordan after calls for assistance from the Hashemite monarchy in fighting a republican revolution. However, some say purposefully, the Elias forces arrived too late to save the Royal family which went into exile after the assasination of the King and crown prince. After stabilsing the country, the Kingdom of Jordan was disbanded and became part of Elias in 1981. Due to extensive trade and economic liberalisation, the economy was in a period of massive expansion which continued right up until the 1990s. As a reward for changing allegiances in the cold war, Belize. a former British colonies, became an Elias protectorate. During this period, the position of the Elias dynasty was reaffirmed in society by major reforms in every area of government. President Victor was responsible for setting up the Federal Security Bureau in 1987 and in 1988 the Federal Intelligence Bureau, two agencies which replaced the Ministry of State Security which had acquired a reputation of corruption and incompetence. After the worldwide recession of the early 1990s, President Victor made massive investments in infrastructure and industry and successfully diversified the Elias economy making the nation less reliant on petroleum exports. Some also allege that during the 1990s many dissenters disappeared and that opposition was dealt with more severely, and in the most serious way since Ottoman rule.
The Modern Era
President Victor died in 2002 of natural causes and on November 9th, his eldest son was inaugurated as President Alexander. The transition of power was less than easy, partly because President Victor had been loved by the people and widely regarded as one of the most successful leaders of Mesoptoamia in history, and partly because of concern because President Alexander took power at the young age of 31. Therefore from January to March a period of what has become known as the 'nine week civil war' followed. However its name is somewhat misleading and it was more a question of street riots and several atrocities allegedly committed by the Army when martial law had to be declared in Baghdad and other cities. During these actions most opposition was crushed and order was quickly restored.
On 21 March 2003, President Alexander declared that the nation was united, and from that day on the nation has been known as 'United Elias'. Since then the nation has moved on in the spirit of President Victor and President Alexander has risen quickly to the challenges his job has brought. Also a stabilisation force has been used to control anarchy after the collapse of the Egyptian government. A plebiscite in the occupied territories then included Egypt part of United Elias. In this new era the military has grown significantly and extraordinary amounts of money have been given to ensure that the military is properly trained and equipped to defend its citizens and protect the nation's interest. More peaceful progress has been made and United Elias now has one of the largest economies in the Middle East and has used its power to help people all over the world such as with the removal of a tyrannical regime in Gabon. The Kingdom of Brunei also became an Elias protectorate. The President has also followed a program of Federalisation, giving more power back to the various regional governorates which is seen as a necessity to maintain control over a rapidly increasing population, and a throwback to the system of government of the late nineteenth century.
