All throughout the 19th century, the industrial revolution was powered by coal fired reciprocating steam engines. Great Britain, with its well-developed sources of the mineral, leads the way, but the rest of the world quickly catches up.

At the turn of the century, the UK launches HMS Dreadnought, an oil fired steam turbine powered battleship which overnight and single-handedly renders the navies of Russia, Germany, France, Japan and the USA obsolete, and starts a European arms race which will ultimately lead to the Great War.

With no domestic or colonial sources of petroleum, Great Britain hustles to secure a dependable source of crude. British Petroleum acquires vast reserves in Persia from the local satrapy, beating out France and Russia.

After World II, democratically-elected Mossadegh vows to throw out the Brits and nationalize the oil fields. Negotiations begin to hammer out a compensation schedule and Britain, weak from the War and the debacle at Suez, can do little to stop it. France is already bogged down in Indochina and cannot participate in the festivities. It blackmails the USA to welsh on its wartime promise to Ho Chi Minh ( to kick France out of Indochina in return for help against the Japanese), by threatening not to join NATO.

Britain convinces the USA that Mossadegh is a Communist, and requests assistance in his ouster. The CIA obliges, but America installs the Shah as dictator, and uses its leverage with him to freeze British interests out of the country now called Iran. France leaves NATO after it develops its own nuclear deterrent.

Religious fanatic Ayatollah Khomeni overthrows the Shah and sets in motion a train of events that still has not fully played itself out…French companies move into Iran to help fill the vacuum left by the departing Yanks.