The Gulf War

* The Kurdish Empire is established and annexes large swathes of Kurdish Land across the Middle East
* The Arabian Empire is formed
* The Syrian Arab State is formed
* The EMES Nations defeat The Imperium and gain independence
* The Persian Imperium collapses and is divided between the Kurdish Empire and the Arabian Empire with several Warlords in the East
* The EMES manage to defeat the Coalition Forces

Minor Coalition Victory

* Initial Coalition Successes caused major damage to the opposing forces , crippling the region
* The Turkish Empire manages to force the EMES into a peace deal after dealing a damaging blow, preventing a worse deal
* The EMES disbands after the war and begins fighting each other
* The Kingdom of Jerusalem gains independence
* The Coalition Nations were able to work together on a common goal, improving international relations

### Also known as

The War of Kurdish Insurrection, The Middle Eastern Crisis

Combatants| **Initial Combatants (Allied Force)**

* The Imperium (until 1995)
* The Turkish Empire
* The Kingdom of Greece (until 1995)

**Coalition Forces (from 1993):**

* Atlantic Imperium (until 1995, Had Already been fighting since 1991)
* Persian Imperium (until 1995)
* Italian Empire (until 1995)
* Beijing Republic (until 1996)
* Japanese Republic (until 1995)
* Kingdom of Brazil (until 1996)
* Ghanaian National State (until 1995)
* Kingdom of Israel (from 1995)
* Federation of East Siberian States (until 1996)
* Free State of Cape Town (until 1995)
* Kingdom of Scandinavia (until 1996)
* Manchurian Socialist Union (until 1995)
* National Government of Korea (from 1994 , until 1996)
* Malaysian Federation (from 1994 , until 1996)
* Republic of Australia (from 1994)
* Guanxi Junta (from 1994 , until 1995)

The Kurdish Liberation Army**1995 Uprisings (Entente of Middle Eastern States) :**

Commanders| * Josef Behrmann
	+ General Volker Wieker
	+ General Eberhard Zorn
* Sultan Ahmet Evran
* King Philip I of Greece
	+ General Mazloum Abdi
* General Issam Zahreddine
* King Abdullah Saud

Forces| 4,609,381 Combined Troops

1,300,000 Imperial Troops 1,400,000 Turkish Troops 500,000 Greek Troops 600,000 Atlantean Troops 300,000 Persian Troops 11,000 Italian Troops 25,000 Beijingese Troops5,000 Japanese Troops 10,000 Brazilian Troops 15,000 Ghanaian Troops 400,000 Israeli Troops 458 Siberian Troops 533 Cape Townian Troops 5,000 Scandinavian Troops 6,999 Manchurian Troops 890 Korean Troops 9,000 Malaysian Troops 7,500 Australian Troops 13,000 Guanxi Troops | 6,000,000 Combined

**The Gulf War**, also known as **The War of Kurdish Insurrection** and **The Middle Eastern Crisis**, was a war waged by The Imperium, Turkish Empire and The Kingdom of Greece and Coalition Forces against the Kurdish Liberation Army and the Entente of Middle Eastern States. The war was fought from June 1990 to March 1997 and was declared a EMES Victory but with heavy costs. Politically, the war was a disaster for The Imperium as they lost land, and their Greek Ally but it also saw a rise in Ultranationalism.

The War started on 3rd of June 1990 with a KLA attack on an Imperial Base in Baghdad, Iraq which took the lives of 32 Imperial, 12 Greek and 9 Turkish Soldiers. Turkey, Greece and The Imperium were all conducting a joint military operation to supress these movements and resulted in a declaration of War.

## Background

Since the Early 1980s and Late 1970s , The Kurdish Liberation Army had been harassing and attacking The Imperium, Turkish Empire and Kingdom of Greece in the Middle East. These three nations would come together in 1989 after a terrorist attack in the Ankara Diplomatic Sector which killed over 100 Turkish Citizens and The Greek and Imperian Ambassadors to Turkey.

This terrorist attack resulted in a Military Operation throughout the middle east conducted by the three nations in order to neutralise KLA Bases and targets. The KLA responded on the 1st of June 1990 with the attack on the Imperial Base in Baghdad which took the lives of 32 Imperial, 12 Greek and 9 Turkish Soldiers. The Imperium, Turkish Empire and Kingdom of Greece subsequently declared war on The KLA.

## The War

### First Clashes

Following the attack of June 1st, The Imperium launched a military occupation of Baghdad and declared martial law. The Kingdom of Greece and Turkish Empire responded with a series of brutal military raids across their middle eastern territories.

The Imperial Forces moving across the Middle East were attacked and ambushed by Guerrilla fighters of the KLA and the Imperium found itself facing another Guerrilla War.

On the 4th of August, King Philip of Greece announced that Greek Forces would assist in the Military Occupation of Baghdad. This Military Occupation ,known as The Middle Eastern Military Exclusion Zone, was then expanded to the majority of the Middle East under Imperial, Persian and Turkish Rule. It stretched from Caucasia to The Suez Canal.

On the 19th of October, The First Battle of Baghdad begins as The KLA launch a major offensive on the city to capture it. The War had begun

### 1991

On the 4th of January, The Allied Forces withdrew from Baghdad after the Kurdish Forces captured vital railway and transportation lines outside the city, threatening the Allied Supply Lines. Throughout January to March, The KLA would stage violent terrorist attacks across the Middle East ,the most deadly of these being the Bombing of Constantinople on March 3rd which would kill over 500 Civilians.

The Imperial Forces attempted to capture Mosul from the KLA on June 14th which would end in an Imperial Disaster. They deployed General Eberhard Zorn to replace Volker Wieker in order to take charge of Allied Forces in The Middle East.

1991 would also see the biggest singlehanded defeat of the war by Turkish Forces in the Invasion of Gaziantep in Southern Turkey. The Kurdish Forces assaulted the City from the inside on the 2nd of November which heavily crippled the local Turkish forces. Then on the 19th of November, a Kurdish Army Group led by General Mazloum Abdi, hit the east of the city. By the 30th of November, The Turks had lost over 5,900 Soldiers and over 4,000 were forced to surrender.

The Atlantic Imperium would also be the first nation outside of the conflict to participate in the War as Reagan pledges support for the Allied Powers and sends 5,000 Soldiers to support the Imperial Army.

### 1992

With the Levant and Parts of Eastern Turkey in largely KLA control, The Imperium was forced to adopt new tactics. The Imperial Army of The Middle East moved their HQ from Ankara to Cairo. In January, Damascus would fall to the KLA which was a cause of alarm for The Imperial Forces as the KLA was now expanding out of their Inhabited Area which made Imperial Generals realise that the Kurds were establishing a larger state.

However, The KLA began supporting and preparing several Syrian Rebel Groups during this time. In July, The KLA began a campaign into The Persian Imperium to conquer Kurdish Land in the PI. The Persian Imperium suffered heavy losses to the KLA Fighters and many terrorist attacks crippled Tehran.

In Late July to December, The Imperium launched Operation Determined Resolve. It was an operation undertaken by The Imperial Air Force and was an extensive bombing campaign across the KLA occupied land. This bombing campaign successfully grounded all KLA operations for the duration of it's course and caused mass infrastructural damage. The bombing campaign also caused an estimated 105,000 KLA deaths and over 500,000 civilian deaths. The Bombings would allow the Allied Forces to begin preparations and announce the Coalition of The Gulf War and begin gaining support for that. The Emperor (in a rare appearance due to his health), King Philip and Sultan Ahmet Evren would meet in Rome to discuss the formation of the coalition in November. They agreed on a full international coalition and would accept anyone who would wish to join, they also wanted it so it was not led by a single country and instead a cooperation of nations. The Coalition was to be announced on New Years Day 1993.

### 1993

On the 1st of January, The Allied Powers announced the Coalition. They announced that it included the original 3 Combatants, The Atlantic Imperium (who already had been fighting), The Persian Imperium (who had already also been fighting), The Italian Empire, The Beijing Republic, The Republic of Japan, Federation of East Siberian States, Ghanaian National State, Free State of Cape Town, The Kingdom of Scandinavia and the Manchurian Socialist Republic. This Coalition had a combined strength of over 4.3 Million Soldiers and was the largest deployment of a coalition in history.

The Coalition Forces achieved a massive victory in the Second Battle of Damascus where the KLA were overwhelmed and forced on a withdrawal. The KLA were unable to combat the growing presence of Coalition Forces and began retreating back into the Kurdish State. They returned to their Guerrilla Warfare tactics and resumed terror attacks. On the 6th of August, KLA terrorists launched an attack on the Coalition HQ in Rome. Although the attack did little damage and only caused the lives of 56 Soldiers and Civilians, it heavily angered the Coalition Forces and many of the soldiers of the coalition launched reprisals in the operation zone.

One of these reprisals was conducted by several Japanese, Brazilian and Ghanaian soldiers in Damascus where they shot and killed 56 Kurdish Citizens. These soldiers were immediately discharged and arrested but the KLA had a massive propaganda boost and many Middle Eastern civilians turned against the Coalition Forces.

### 1994

The Coalition Forces would launch the Battle for Mosul in February and would successfully capture Mosul by late August. The Battle for Mosul would be one of the most costly engagements of the war as over 130,000 Coalition Troops would participate in the battle and most efforts went into Mosul allowing the KLA to strengthen other areas.

1994 would be a relatively quiet year during the war as both sides decide to dig in. The Imperium began dealing with other issues at home and in Russia which took up a lot of resources. Several nations would join the Coalition which gave a large morale boost for the Coalition Forces. The National State of Korea, The Malaysian Federation, The Republic of Australia and The Nanning Junta would join the Coalition.

The Occupied Lands in Turkey would also be retaken by Turkish Forces.

### 1995

In 1995, the war would take a major turn as the 1995 Uprisings would occur. In February, The Entente of Middle Eastern States was declared as the Syrian Arab State and Arabian Empire declared independence and declared war on the Coalition in support of the KLA. The Syrian General Issam Zahreddine was a large threat and his uprising caused many Coalition Forces to be trapped in Syria and forced to retreat to Turkey.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem would also declare independence but would join in support of the Coalition. The Large Threat of the EMES would cause several coalition members to withdraw. The Atlantic Imperium, Persian Imperium, Italian Empire, Ghanaian National State, Japanese Republic, Free State of Cape Town, Manchurian Socialist Union and the Nanning Junta would all withdraw from the Coalition and send their troops home.

In Greece, a large "Stop The War!" movement formed and forced the Kingdom of Greece to drop out of the war. The Stop the War movement eventually became a call for the end of Monarchist Control in Greece and the formation of a Greek Republic with King Mountbatten as a Constitutional Monarch, This political movement forced Mountbatten to hold an Election where 43% Voted for Socialism , 30% for Mountbatten and surprisingly the Fascists got 10% , Communists received 11%, The Greek Nationalist Party received 6%. The First Greek Socialist Republic was formed and The Greeks left the war. Mountbatten lost power and fled to England in exile.

Josef Behrmann decides to leave the war and surrender the Middle East. The Imperium ,after threats from Arabian Princes of the Arabian Empire, was forced to recognise the Arabian Empire, Kurdish Empire and Syrian Arab State. Behrmann's surrender was seen as a betrayal to The Imperium and was seen as humiliating. Many Imperial Generals lost trust in Behrmann's leadership.

### 1996

The Coalition who were left headed by Turkey would lose several strongholds. With the Imperial exit from the war, Cairo could no longer be used as the HQ for the Ground Coalition Forces and the Italian withdrawal meant the Main Coalition HQ was forced to be moved. The Turkish moved the HQ for Coalition Ground Forces and the Coalition Political Headquarters to Ankara.

In March, Damascus would fall to the Syrian Forces and the KLA made major moves against the Coalition Forces who were on a complete withdrawal. In November, after suffering catastrophic defeats, the Coalition would disband as all remaining members would leave. The only three remaining combatants were the Turkish Empire, Republic of Australia and Jerusalem. The War began coming into it's final stages as in December, The Turkish Forces prepared a final offensive. On the 9th of December, The Kingdom of Israel organised a ceasefire with the EMES in preparations for a final peace settlement.

### 1997

In January, The Turkish Army launched a massive offensive into Syria which threatened the entire EMES war effort and brought the EMES into a negotiation. In February, The KLA would stage major terrorist attacks across Kurdish Turkey which would also bring Turkey into a peace agreement. The two sides agreed on a peace settlement in March and the war was officially ended on the 9th of March with the Treaty of Tehran.

The Kurdish Empire was established and annexed several Turkish States, The Syrian Arab State was formed but the Turkish Empire would keep Hatay. The Kingdom of Jerusalem would be established and annex Jordan. Southern Iraq would be annexed by the Arabian Empire. Australia was offered a payment of 5B Lira but they declined.

## Aftermath

The nearly 7 Year Long war had left the Middle East in chaos. The war had taken a massive toll on Infrastructure and Natural Resources and the Middle East became incredibly poor and in a state of anarchy. The War had weakened the area and the new states founded as a result of the war found themselves with the impossible task of dealing with the economic aftershock of the war. Millions of Civilians had died and millions more were living in poverty and required immediate aid.

The War also saw the collapse of many states, The Kingdom of Greece would cease to exist as a result of the Gulf War and it fell to Socialism. The Imperium was heavily weakened and in a state of humiliation. Trust in Josef Behrmann was at an all time low and many believed he wouldn't be able to effectively lead The Imperium. However, the war proved that the world could effectively work together as the Coalition was a success politically and diplomatically and showed that despite varied ideologies , the world could still cooperate.

Immediately after the Gulf War's conclusion, the former EMES allies turned on each other. The Arabian Empire, The Kurdish Empire and Syrian Arab State began fighting for control over the Middle East and Turkey pressed claims on Syrian and Greek Lands. The Kingdom of Israel rose as a contender to the Big 4 Powers of the Middle East. The Middle East found itself under the control of 5 Powerful States who disliked each other.

For Australia, they proved to the world their determination in the preservation of democracy and their willingness to fight. The Republic of Australia and the Turkish Empire created a strong international relationship as a result of the war.