-Cholera outbreak in Rotterdam contained. Over a hundred reported dead from disease.
-Dutch farmers rejoice with end of Spanish trade deal.
The Fall of the Aceh Sultanate, Piet Paaltjens
Dutch forces continued their assault on Aceh this year, advancing inland and up into the mountains. Though the campaign was bloody for both the Dutch and Achese forces, the capture of Sultan Muhammad Daud Syah has finally caused the collapse of the tiny nation. The captured Sultan has offered to swear loyalty to the Netherlands and accept the status of a Dutch protectorate over Aceh in exchange for limited self government and the ability to maintain control over the price of black pepper exports, the sultanate’s main commodity. The Dutch government has yet to come to a formal consensus on the matter and peace negotiations are currently underway in the city of Medan. Despite all this, some resistance does continue in the interior of the country, though organization amongst the rebels is minimal at best.
Aceh: Destroyed
Netherlands: -2 infantry brigades
The Dutch-Spanish War, Rupert Visser
After increasingly deteriorating relations, war has finally broken out between Spain and a Dutch-Portuguese alliance over the Spanish invasion of Morocco and refusal to halt the war and deal with their own internal problems. The war began when Spanish ships bombarded the Azores Islands and has thus far lead to two major battles between Dutch and Spanish forces that are further detailed below.
The Battle of the Azores:
The first battle of the war took place in March of this year between a combined Portuguese-Dutch fleet and a Spanish fleet originally set for Cuba. The Dutch fleet first passed the Spanish fleet off of the coast of Galicia though no shots were fired as the Dutch commander, Admiral Han Baakker, claimed his force was headed to Indonesia via the Suez Canal. Nonetheless the movement drew the suspicion of the Spanish commander, Rear-Admiral Pascual Topete, who sent a scout back to Vigo to deliver word to the Spanish Naval Command. Though the Spanish Naval Command was able to coordinate a link between the Dutch fleet and recent movements by Portuguese forces in the area, it nonetheless proved ineffective as by the time word to engage the Dutch fleet had come back to Topete; the two allied fleets had already linked off of Gibraltar and had decided to pursue the main Spanish fleet across the Atlantic.
With news that war between Portugal and Spain was imminent, Rear-Admiral Topete, knowing he did not have the time or ships to destroy the Dutch-Portuguese force, instead chose to set sail for the Azores and attempt to capture the island chain in order to force to Portuguese to end the war before it had began. As Topete reached the coast of Sao Miguel and began to bombard the island, the Dutch-Portuguese fleet also arrived in the area, prompting Topete to pull back his attack and attempt to reach the Caribbean. The Dutch-Portuguese fleet caught up with Topete off the coast of the island of Flores where they met the Spanish fleet and forced it into engagement.
As the Dutch and Portuguese cruisers surrounded the Spanish fleet, the new modern battleship El Vizcaya, flagship of the Spanish Navy, was able to score several impressive shots, sinking several vessels while the older Spanish wooden battleships acted as decoys. Though El Vizcaya was ultimately able to destroy a good deal of the Dutch-Portuguese fleet, the undoing of the Spanish came about when a lone Portuguese torpedo vessel was able to bring down the behemoth battleship and Rear-Admiral Topete along with it. Without their flagship or commander, the remainder of the Spanish fleet promptly surrendered allowing the Dutch-Portuguese force to claim victory. The remainder of the Spanish fleet as well as the Allied fleet has since headed to Lisbon to face repairs.
Though the battle itself was fairly small in terms of firepower and ships, it has nonetheless done much to influence naval strategy around the world. The superiority of large metal ships to older wooden models has been cemented as has the long believed theory of a “tactical gap” existing since appearance of torpedo vessels. Several navies have already begun research into ways to fix this “tactical gap”. (For more on this see the Berliner Tageblatt).
Spain: -1 modern battleship, -2 obsolete battleships, -1 standard cruiser, -3 obsolete cruisers. 1 obsolete battleship, 1 modern cruiser, 1 standard cruiser, 2 standard torpedo vessels captured.
Portugal: -2 obsolete battleships
Netherlands: -1 standard battleship, -2 obsolete battleships, -2 standard cruisers
The Battle of Manila:
When word reached Batavia that the Spanish Navy had been dealt with in the Atlantic, the Dutch forces in the region began to gather for the second part of their campaign to bring an end to the Spanish Empire. A Dutch fleet consisting of 10 wooden cruisers set sail for Manila where they began to bombard the Spanish fort on the island of Corregidor. The single Spanish artillery brigade on the island was able to sink several of the Dutch ships attempting to enter Manila Bay, but was forced to surrender upon running out of shells. The Dutch force entered Manila to find the city already a combat zone between Spanish troops and Filipino rebels who had risen up upon hearing the sound of Dutch cannons. Though the commander of the Dutch Marine force, Major Johan Piest, attempted to negotiate an alliance with the Filipinos, this proved futile due to the poor organization of the rebels. The Dutch forces were nonetheless able to secure control over the harbor and have thus far found themselves in an uneasy truce with the rebels.
Spain: -2 marine brigades, -1 artillery brigade
Netherlands: -1 marine brigade, -4 infantry brigades, -1 artillery brigade, -4 obsolete cruisers
Selected articles and headlines from Asahi Shimbun, December 18, 1886
The Korean Civil War, Riichi Ueno
The Korean Civil War has reached full force this year as the Republicans have finally managed to seize the capital. King Gojong has retreated with his armies to the southern city of Pusan while another pro-Republican Army has emerged in the North-East taking control of the region. Despite attempts by private organizations to come to a peace settlement, neither side seems ready to give in to the other.
Monarchist Korea: -6 infantry brigades, -1 artillery brigade
Republican Korea: -4 infantry brigades, -1 cavalry brigade
Selected excerpts and Headlines from Tercüman-i Ahval, 5 November 1886
Bulgarian Crisis, Hasan bin Evhad
Despite hopes that this year's return of Eastern Rumelia to Bulgaria would lead to a thaw in the cold relations between the two countries, a crisis has nonetheless ensued over the decision that the Pomok provinces in the south would remain part of the Ottoman Empire. The highly unpopular decision has lead to the overthrow of Prince Alexander Battenberg from the throne of the country and riots across cities in both Eastern Rumelia and Bulgaria proper. The newly enlarged country is now leaderless except for the detested Prime Minister Leonid Sobolev who is currently acting as regent of the country. Possible successors to the throne have been named and include Archduke John Salvator of Austria and Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Crete throws out Ottoman Governor in Revolt, Hasan bin Evhad
Despite the fact the Crete has been granted significant autonomy in recent years, deadlock in the Cretan Parliament and a scandalous emergency election has caused the overthrow of the Ottoman governor on the island and the creation of independent state by local militia. The military regime has thus far dismissed the parliament entirely, which has surprisingly been met with applause by most of the Cretan citizens who saw the legislature as corrupt and inefficient. Adding onto the popularity of the new military regime has the construction of new roads and churches. As one Cretan citizen claimed “Something as simple as the construction of a new village road was debated endlessly in Parliament. Since the revolution, the island has seen more progress in three months than it had under the entire period of Ottoman sovereignty.” The Ottoman government or Western Powers have not yet responded to the rebellion, focusing instead on dealing with the ensuing crisis in Bulgaria.
Ottoman Empire: -1 infantry brigade
-Anti-Chinese riots leave 30 dead in Seattle
-President Cleveland marries Francis Folsom, becoming the first President to marry while in the White House.
-Massive Earthquake hits Savannah, Georgia area, leaves 50,000 homeless
-President Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty
What happened to Geronimo?, Michael Stokes
While the uneasy truth with the Apache Indians under Geronimo is common knowledge, local reports from the area indicate that the Indian chief has not been seen in some months. While some reports are indicating that the old leader has finally died, others believe he may have fled the area to build up an army away from U.S. garrisons in the area. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has made a formal request to the State Department to put pressure on Mexico to investigate their northern border and see if this could prove true.
Nationwide General Strike leads to Riots across the USA, Charles Anderson Dana
What started as a strike for the establishment of The Eight Hour Workday in Chicago by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions has quickly turned into a series of riots across the whole country. The strike itself involved more than 400,000 workers in at least nine major cities and though it at first remained largely peaceful, the gunning down of three female textile workers in Newark, New Jersey by Pinkerton agents lead to mass outrage. Furthering the anger was a declaration by the Mayor of Chicago that protesters on city property would be arrested and jailed if they did not go back to work. What followed was violence on a scale yet unseen in the city of Chicago as police forces used brutal tactics to suppress protesters, beating at least five men to death with batons and injuring many more. The violence only escalated when an unknown culprit threw a makeshift bomb at a barricade forcing the police to resort to gunning into the crowds. The resulting massacre left over thirty dead, including three children and as word got out to other protesters across the nation anarchy began to ensue in major cities. Besides Chicago, St. Louis has also been hit hard by the riots where a fire started by a local anarchist group burned down significant portions of the city. Thus far eighteen arrests of suspected anarchists have been made across the nation, leading to a temporary calm in the riots, but workers continue to strike leading to a significant drop in US industry.
Selected headlines and excerpts from Around the World, 31 December 1886 (International)
-Mexico modernizes Port of Vera Cruz, buying surplus material from USA
-Rubber Boom in Belgian Congo brings profit to Colony
-Local criminal kingpin arrested in Sao Paulo gives list of corrupt police officials
-Serbia sends top military students to German Academies.
-Siam pushes North against Black Flag Army resistance (-2 Siamese infantry brigades, -3 BFA irregular brigades)
-Cholera continues to run rampant killing an estimated 200,000 people worldwide this year.
Chinese Attempts at Bettering Life Cut Short, Miles Voight
Perhaps having learned that honey attracts more bees than vinegar, China has attempted to start a wide scale plan to better the lives of the average citizen this year. The Reformist government started the year off by announcing a new program implementing sanitation practices to cut back disease and prevent a possible cholera outbreak. Though the program itself was not initially met extreme popularity, it nonetheless proved effective for a brief period by providing jobs cleaning up the filthy streets in larger cities and even temporarily leading to a halt in the riots. Unfortunately, just as the program was about to be deemed a success word reached Eastern China of a Russian occupation force sent to Kashi to restore order. Almost as soon as the riots stopped, they began to recommence with greater fervor than ever as rumors began to spread that the Qing had truly sold out to the Europeans. Despite all of this however, the small Chinese educated class has began to respect the Reformist government a bit more for their efforts. Indeed some of the most renowned scholars have even offered their services to the government to reduce reliance on European ingenuity for advancement.
Uighar Revolts Come to a Close as Russia Occupies Kashi, Miles Voight
The Uighar revolt in Western China came to a close this year as the Reformist government was able to work with Uighars of Burqin to bring the city of Urumqi back under control. The Chinese commander in the area cleverly used Uighar spies from Burqin to slip into Urumqi unnoticed, allowing them to gather intelligence on the situation and open the gates to the city. In the resulting clash, the Qing forces were able to smash the Uighar rebels and retake the city with minimal interference from the local populace. Despite the success of this operation, before the Qing forces were able to move onto the rebel city of Kashi, word reached the Chinese commander that Russian forces had entered the city and brutally suppressed the rebellion themselves in order to keep it from spreading to Russian Turkistan. The Russian forces continue to occupy the region claiming that rebel groups in the area continue to threaten their security at home.
China: -1 cavalry brigade, -4 infantry brigades
Russia: -3 cavalry brigades
Map: 
4th power in 3 turns, that's like a record or something...
