Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 244 Chaos
Located in the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Basra served as a crucial link between the Persian Gulf and the two rivers. It was also the closest Ottoman city to Kuwait City.

Shortly after capturing Trabisun, a coalition of Arab tribes and Iranian forces occupied the city. In reality, the city only had 2000 Ottoman defenders and 15000 residents, mostly Shiites, who surrendered immediately upon encountering the Iranian army. Why risk your life for such a meager annual salary?

The Ottomans withdrew troops from Baghdad and other areas, reducing the intensity of local repression. The south, including Najaf, had effectively broken away from Ottoman control, and Baghdad, which should have been the center of their rule, suddenly became the front line.

Not only in Baghdad, but also in Shia-majority cities like Latakia, rebellions broke out. Shia militias formed to protect their towns and fight against the Ottoman army. Even in distant Cyprus, Shia uprisings occurred.

"Come on!"

Shiite militia stormed into Nicosia, Cyprus's largest city, and clashed with local Ottoman troops.

"Drive them back!" The local Ottoman garrison engaged them in street fighting, preparing to push them back. And this kind of situation was playing out everywhere.

At this point, European countries realized that this war would be larger than the Ottoman-Egyptian War, and that Iran could even reach the Mediterranean Sea. This was even more formidable than Egypt.

But as mentioned before, Britain has realized that its army is not invincible, and Parliament is now extremely cautious about war. Palmerston's attempt to deter Iran is now futile.

The Ottoman ambassador was probably the busiest person in Europe, shuttling between ministers' homes and parliamentary residences in London and Paris, pleading with European countries for military assistance. But it was all in vain. These nations weren't his babysitters, and besides, wasn't it a bit unreasonable that he couldn't even defeat Iran?

What they didn't expect was that other countries would join the war. Three days after the Battle of Van, in Varna in the Balkans, a man named Rakovsky led a militia to capture the city and declared the establishment of the Republic of Bulgaria.

"Fight for faith and for our homeland! Ah, my fellow countrymen, the time is ripe. Europeans have long been engaged in the struggle for rights and freedoms, and they invite us to join them."

The uprising broke out throughout Rumelia; they attacked the Ottomans and flew the white, green, and red tricolor flag over churches. From that moment on, they were no longer second-class citizens under Ottoman rule, but Bulgarians.

Following Bulgaria, Alexandru Ioan Kuza, who had just been elected Prince of Moldavia and Prince of Wallachia, announced that he would form a united principality and would send troops to help Bulgaria.

The 1.4-strong Wallachian army, already mobilized, invaded Ottoman territory under the Grand Prince's command. This swift and decisive action reflected the Romanians' desire for independence; they were already one step away from independence, and with Iran delivering that final push, how could they not take it?
Most importantly, Iran secretly bribed members of parliament in both countries, persuading them to elect Kuza as prince. When all other countries ignored their appeals, only Iran provided them with financial and military support. Within a month of the start of the war, over 200 million rials of money and weapons had been sent to various parts of the Balkans. This clearly demonstrated Iran's intention to conquer the Balkans. Following Wallachia and Bulgaria, the Duke of Serbia also announced the mobilization of all troops to attack the Ottomans. Greece also declared general mobilization, preparing to seize Ottoman territory.

The war had only been going on for a few months, yet so much had happened from west to east. On one side, the Balkans were seeking independence, and on the other, Iran was conquering and seizing territory in the east. The Ottomans had never experienced anything like this before.

Upon hearing this news, the Sultan, who had just regained consciousness, fainted again.

Faced with this predicament, the Ottoman leadership was naturally anxious, but what good was just being anxious? They needed to come up with a solution. Of course, the Ottoman officials were not unaware of solutions, but none of them dared to suggest them.

Since the only solution cannot be spoken of or mentioned, they can only bury their heads in the sand like ostriches facing danger, pretending not to know anything.

However, while the Ottomans were not in a hurry, others were. Ambassadors from Britain, France, Russia, Austria, and other countries met with high-ranking Ottoman officials to express their desire for the Ottoman Empire to reconsider its decision and end the war.

Their intentions are not hard to guess. Britain and France, in particular, wanted to prevent the Ottomans from suffering serious losses, which would lead to chaos in the Near East and give other countries an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

The reason they initially supported the Ottoman invasion of Egypt was to maintain stability. Britain and France were greatly surprised by Egypt's rapid advance, fearing it would completely destroy the already weakened Ottoman Empire, creating a power vacuum that Russia could exploit to control Southern Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Britain and France therefore demanded that Egypt cease its offensive, threatening military force if Egypt refused. Ultimately, a peace agreement was reached.

On the surface, both sides reached a temporary agreement, but in reality, neither was satisfied with the outcome. Less than a year later, the Ottoman army launched a full-scale offensive against the Egyptian army, determined to reclaim Greater Syria from Egypt. However, they suffered a crushing defeat at the crucial Battle of Naheb, and the Ottoman Empire once again teetered on the brink of collapse. Subsequently, the Ottoman navy sailed to Alexandria and surrendered to the Egyptian army. All of this once again terrified the European powers. They feared that the demise of the Ottoman Empire would disrupt the balance of power in the Middle East, and that the rise of Egypt would inevitably affect the vested interests of the powers in the Middle East. Therefore, Britain, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Prussia organized an expeditionary force in 1840 to intervene in the war.

The combined fleet of the four powers swiftly severed the Egyptian army's sea route from Greater Syria to mainland Egypt. The allied forces then landed in Beirut and Acre, cutting off the Egyptian army's retreat and isolating them. Within months, the once invincible Egyptian army was defeated, and Muhammad Ali was forced to sign the Treaty of London with the four powers, returning Greater Syria to the Ottoman Empire. Egypt subsequently declined, never to rise again.

They could have intervened militarily in the war between Iran and the Ottoman Empire, but the situation was different now. Iran's value was almost greater than the Ottoman Empire's; it was not only an important country in the Middle East but also a buffer zone between India and Russia. Britain had neither the reason nor the power to intervene in such a valuable country, and with France, already a potential scapegoat, indicating it wouldn't send troops, Britain had even less incentive to intervene. Therefore, to minimize losses, they had no choice but to let the Ottoman Empire negotiate peace.

(End of this chapter)