When Italy obtained the Trucial States after Britain's collapse, it inherited a bickering tribal confederation of little renown. But black gold permeated through every inch of the nation's soil, and the backward emirate of Abu Dhabi transformed the crown of the Arabian Gulf — and so did its capital turned into its jewel.

The current ruling creed of Abu Dhabi, or Land of the Gazelle, originated from a clan of Najdi settlers who had controlled the region since the 18th century. As they moved to occupy a part of the Gulf's tip through many conflicts, the house of Nahyan emerged as the most influential branch of the tribe while the northeastern Dubai region split away. The island city's development began in the 19th century after the emirate's consolidation — shaped by the British Empire's treaties and favors, which secured foreign trade in return for curbing piracy and development of resource extraction.

Until the 1920s, Abu Dhabi relied on seasonal pearl harvesting for its income, which became problematic due to the invention of cultured pearls and the depression after the First World War. The region was quite impoverished for some time, which prompted Britain to grant its first concession to the area in 1935 in hopes of locating oil as it did with other Persian states. This venture, however, was arduous at best, owing to the desert's terrain and low investment flow — and Mussolini inherited it in a half-finished shape.

Not until the last decade were any significant reserves found, but after the first breakthrough in Umm Shaif, the Dhabyani elites began funneling more funding into constructing rigs and purifiers. Encouraged by their Italian overlords, Abu Dhabi grows one new oil field at a time, with corporations salivating over the hidden wealth of this tiny backwater.