Anniserian War
The Anniserian War, also known as the Second Urí Margidda War, was a military conflict between Nise, Sohar, and their respective allies over the disputed and oil-rich Urí Margidda Valley lasting between April 1963 and June 1967. Fighting took place throughout Nise, as well as in western Sohar. Both nations recieved significant international support, with Sohar recieving military support from Behera and Tsabara among others, while Nise was backed by Estmere, Rizealand, and Paretia. The conflict began on April 13, when a Soharan force of XXX crossed into the Nise-controlled Urí Margidda Valley, which Sohar claimed control of, under orders to sieze oilfields in the area.
Although Nise had anticipated a Soharan offensive and had militarized the Urí Margidda, their forces were quickly overwhelmed by the advancing Soharan troops. Niserian King Nazim el-Salloum responded by immediately declaring war on Sohar; Tsabara and Behera responded by declaring war on Nise the following day. The Niserians were vastly outnumbered by the Soharan invasion force and were forced to abandon the Urí Margidda by February 1964. Although the disputed territory was now in Soharan hands, Soharan dictator Haisam Salib was not satisfied, and ordered a full-scale invasion of Nise to "liberate the Anniserian people from their fascist-colonial occupiers." Under the command of General TBA, Soharan and allied troops began pouring into Nise and had conquered a large portion of the country by July 1964. Sohar's aggression prompted international outcry and caused Estmere, Rizealand, and Paretia to come to Nise's aid. In December 1964, the Estmerish Navy established a total naval blockade of Sohar with Rizealandish and Paretian support, crippling Sohar's economy, which was heavily dependent on oil exports.
With oil revenues rapidly drying up, Salib ordered the National Bank of Sohar to drastically increase the money supply to fund the war effort, resulting in the collapse in the value of the dinar. The inflation crisis led to a severe shortage of food by late 1965, and strikes and food riots swept Sohar during the winter of 1965-1966. After a violent uprising in Sanafir quickly overwhelmed local police, Farran ordered a redeployment of thousands of troops from the front lines to the cities to restore order, giving Nise and her allies a crucial opening to push back the Soharans. The Battle of Menouf in May 1966 was a crucial turning point and gave Nise a foothold with which to retake the Urí Margidda. By November of that year, the Soharans were forced to abandon the region, and by early 1967, a combined force of Niserian, Estmerish, and Rizealandish troops had begun advancing into western Sohar. The Battle of Helwan in late February was a crushing defeat for Sohar, and many of Salib's advisers urged him to sue for peace. Farran initially refused, believing the tide could still be reversed, but as Niserian troops began advancing on Sanafir directly, he finally capitulated on June 12, 1967.
The Anniserian War was a major watershed in Sohar's modern history. The country's defeat by Nise, a far smaller country, caused many in the socialist world to question Sohar's ability to serve as a bulwark for socialism in Rahelia and drove a rift between Salib and the military, who had formerly been his strongest supporters. Sohar's defeat also turned public opinion against the Soharan Section of the Workers' Internationale, who had govered the country since the 1951 revolution, leading to a failed uprising in 1972. The communist government's inability to defend the country also led to growing opposition to communism among the ranks of the military, culminating in the 1976 coup and the end of communist rule in Sohar.
Background
The border between Nise and Sohar was first drawn up in 1904, when both nations were Estmerish colonial possessions. The Urí Margidda valley was initially made a part of Sohar, despite the population being overwhelmingly Anniserian. The border remained unchanged until 1947, when Estmere was preparing to give both nations independence. Due to the area's demographic differences from predominantly Rahelian and Amazigh Sohar, Estmere chose to redraw the border prior to independence, now giving the valley to Nise. This outraged the Soharans, who saw the border change as a betrayal. In addition, the valley was home to large oil reserves, which both Nise and Sohar sought to control. Soharan Sultan Mourad I's decision to recognize Nise's claim over the valley sparked massive opposition and further entrenched views of him as weak and subservient to Estmerish interests. In June 1951, the Sultan was overthrown in a communist revolution and general Haisam Salib assumed control of the country, demanding the Urí Margidda Valley be returned to Soharan hands. Both countries amassed their armies on the valleys edges, and war seemed inevitible. Seeking to avoid conflict, the Community of Nations intervened, scheduling a referendum on the valley's status for 1952. The referendum returned 92% in favor remaining part of Nise, a result the Soharan government claimed was the result of fraud. With Salib struggling to consolidate his control over Sohar in the aftermath of the revolution, Nise sought to assert its control over the Urí Margidda Valley by invading Sohar in November 1952. The First Urí Margidda War lasted only seven months from December 1952 to June 1953 before the Niserians were repelled by a joint force of Soharan soldiers and CN peacekeepers.
Following the 1953 XX Accords Nise and Sohar had allowed the monitoring of the Urí Margidda river by Community of Nations Peacekeepers. Throughout the 1950s numerous cross border clashes occurred between Niserians and Soharans eventually resulting in the CN Peacekeepers leaving the area following the Kisurra Incident on January 16, 1959, which had resulted in the deaths of eight Caldian peacekeepers. The withdrawl of peacekeepers led to a rapid rise in tensions, which rose even further following the discovery of oil reserves in the Urí Margidda Valley in 1961. Nise began oil exploration the following year, leading to a sharp rise in border clashes. In November of that year, Soharan soldiers fired rockets at Niserian oil workers, killing 16. The incident sparked outrage in Nise and caused considerable jitters in global petroleum markets.