Update 6: 2205
The march of civilization cannot be stopped; it is the inexorable struggle of progress against the forces of ignorance and sloth, and it is just as much a part of the struggle for international fascism as unending warfare against the enemies of the state is. -Henric III
Global
Economic Issues
Quebec City, Quebec
The war in North America and by extension the Pacific has brought some major economic issues to countries that have large trade stock with European, East Asian and North American nations, with minor effects being felt everywhere. With the complete shutdown of the Panama Canal, companies have been taking much longer shipping goods across the world, and the fairly large and fluid naval warzone in the Pacific has led to many merchants simply staying away from entire regions. Regardless, a notable drop in goods, and services required has been felt. Economic damage hasn't been done yet, but very well might follow in the years to come.
Greater Caucasia Economic League Accepts New Members
Baku, Azerbaijan
The GCEL, which was established last year for the sake of greater Caucasian economic cooperation, has accepted both Azerbaijan and Transcaucasia as members. The inclusion of these two nations, and their specific economic specialties of oil production and agriculture specifically has led to increased industrial and economic benefits for the GCEL nations. This bodes well for those politicians that are hoping to see the GCEL turn into a defensive alliance as well.
(++2 IP to each GCEL nation, +1 EP to Azerbaijan, +1 EP to Transcaucasia)
The Black Sea Trade Organization Founded!
Yalta, The Republic of Kiev
What started as a proposition from the Bulgarian government, to the fellow Black Sea-trading nations of Kiev, Georgia and Armenia, ended up leading to a full on trading block between the nations. Representatives from all 4 nations met in Sofia, to discuss combating possible piracy in the sea, along with points about free-trade and reconnecting submarine communication cables between the nations. Armenia and Georgia, being involved in the GCEL brought in extra goods from their Caucasian neighbors, and Bulgaria gained quite a bit from it. The foundation of a 'Ministry of Industry' helped the Bulgarian government stay in fair competition with the other members of the BSTO, and the industries created by the Ministry (such as the Dukat Motor Company) has been very successful thus far.
(++2 Kievan IP, ++2 Bulgarian IP, ++2 Armenian IP, ++2 Georgian IP)
North America
Revolutionary Constitution Signed
Mexico City, The People's Hudsonist Republic of Mexico
With more than a little encouragement from their fellow Hudsonists in Los Angeles, the 'Revolutionary Congress' convened in Mexico City, in what had been the Halls of Emperor Jose's palace. They met to charter and sign The PHRM's constitution, which, when completed looked almost identical to California's. Critics of the constitution have been few and far between, but that could just be because of the secret police the Constitution legalized.
Soon thereafter, a draft was instituted, for the common man, to join the "Red Yaoquizqueh", or Commoners Army, named after the ancient Aztec military unit. While many have hesitated to join up, broad intimidation has seemed to work, and warm bodies are filling the boots the Californian government has so eagerly provided to it's new southern neighbor.
(+10 Mexican Militia Regiments)
Missouri Compromise Negotiations Ignored
St. Louis, The United States of the Atlantic
Repeated Union attempts for a review of the Missouri Compromise of 2180 were ignored by the Dixie government, who offered not even the slightest comment in that regard. The Union officials, semi-disappointed they couldn't get into a rousing diplomatic tussle with their southern neighbors, claimed the 'debates' as a 'victory', a victory that necessitated celebrations across what had been the Midwest. Tensions rose in the border region, as several members of the notorious Minute Men Militia groups in the United States fired shots across the Dixie border in what some called an act of defiance, and others of stupidity.
Sonora Annexed
Hermosillo, The People's Hudsonist Republic of Mexico
After being in political limbo for years, what had been the Republic of Sonora was fully annexed by Mexico and the Californian Union, after the citizenry decided that joining the Hudsonist Republics was wildly preferential to independence, especially after the Sonoran War. Many wished to join Mexico, due in large part to the Cal-Industry investments in the nation, that have been creating a surplus of jobs, many of which the Sonorans hoped to take. The Baja Peninsula was, in turn, delivered to the Californian Union.
(+1 Mexican EP)
Continental Ice Hockey Federation Founded
Montreal, Quebec
The Fédération Continental de Hockey sur Glace was founded in Quebec, this year, in the hopes that the glory that is the sport of Hockey will give the citizenry of Quebec a reprieve from life in a decidedly hostile world. The cities, who had been announced as being in the league are Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa-Gatineau, Saguenay, Sherbrooke, and Trois-Rivières, with expansion teams from several Canadian and New English cities expected to join their ranks as well. The announcement of the league has brought a fair amount of excitement to the Quebecois people, who are eager to see the start of the games next year.
Quebecois Trade Ventures
Trois-Rivières, Quebec
Quebecois companies have been more than active lately, with 'globalizing' becoming the word of the day. Mineral rights have been bought up by major Quebecois energy companies in Cameroon, Sarawak and the Caribbean League, while the very same companies have begun subsidizing the national oil drilling companies of Gran Colombia, Yucatan and Qatar. While many nationals in said countries have cried foul at the increased representation of Quebecois interests in their respective nations, others seem happy to reap the profits from the business ventures.
(+2 Quebecois EP, ++10 Quebecois IP, ++3 Sarawakian IP, ++3 Cameroon IP, ++2 Caribbean IP, ++3 Colombian IP, ++3 Yucateco IP, ++5 Qatari IP)
Blanc au Nord Hydrocarbures Métamorphose
Churchill, Canada
Efforts by both Canada and Quebec have been made this year, to move the exploitation of oil and natural gas resources from northern Quebec to northern Canada. Together, both Canadian and Quebecois workers and funds proceeded to begin extracting the hydrocarbons from the Great White North. The increase of jobs has been welcomed in Canada, and the growing population of Quebecois immigrants in the nation also welcomed working for their previous nation's economic advantage.
(+1 Canadian EP, ++5 Canadian IP, +2 EP Quebec, ++1 Quebecois IP)
North American War
Los Angeles, Californian Union
War broke out this year in North America, after an ultimatum issued to the Californian Union the 'Free America' coalition, was rejected. The ultimatum demanded that free, Hudson-less elections take place in Sonora, Mexico and Panama, along with some points about California spreading Hudsonism further abroad. Even though the war officially started this year, anyone who had been following North American politics could see a war such as this forming for the past few years.
Not counting the fighting in Panama that had started in the previous year, the first shots of the war, were fired not on the field of battle, but by terrorists in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The gunmen fired at Union and Californian nationals in the Capitol cities, and killed dozens, and put the cities on lock-down mode. Police forces managed to kill most, and capture the rest, of the terrorists, and the Californian state news have aired confessions from one of the men, claiming he was in fact Alaskan. California and its ally Chernorussiya wasted no time in striking back at the 'Free America' forces, when hundreds of missiles struck oil fields, ports, and other important industrial centers throughout the 'Free America' nations. The missiles had been scavenged from silos found left over from old Soviet Union and Russian Federation military bases, and while a large majority of them had disarmed themselves, decayed naturally, or went into lock down, a sizeable amount were engineered by the Chernorussiyans. Alaskan targets had been hit first, with many port and rail facilities being the main target. Cascadia, Deseret, Texas and Rio Grande weren't spared either, and the governments of Free America struggled to come up with an effective way to counter the barrage.
(-50 Alaskan IP, --3 Alaskan IP, -2 Alaskan EP, -30 Cascadian IP, --3 Cascadian IP, -2 Cascadian EP, -50 Texan IP, --3 Texan IP, -2 Texan EP, -50 Deseret IP, --3 Deseret IP, -2 Deseret EP, -20 Rio Grandese IP, -1 Rio Grandese EP, -5 Californian IP, -Californian Stability, -5 Union IP, -Union Stability)
Alaskan Front
Anchorage, Alaska
Despite Tim Haulsee's claims that Alaska would be far from being a front, the nation found itself under attack in a big way. Chernorussiyan fighter groups swept into the area, which void of the Alaskan Airforce, who were fighting much further south. Token resistance put up a valiant defense, but could do little more than cause annoyance to the Chernorussiyans, who were preparing for a massive invasion of the Alaskan coast.
The first waves of Chernorussiyan soldiers were carried in on the VTOL’s that proved so deadly in the invasion of the RRR. By the time news of the first landings made their way to the Alaskan military headquarters in Juneau, Nome had already fallen after a brief fight between the Chernorussiyans and it's Alaskan defenders. The limited Regular Alaskan army forces that had been left to defend the area were supplemented by additional forces from what had been a planned invasion of Chernorussiya itself. Despite that, they found themselves wildly overpowered, by the onslaught the Chernorussiyans offered. For every notable defense the Alaskans put up, they also suffered a notable defeat. Anchorage fell, after a few weeks of fighting, and a whole lot of bombing on behalf of the Chernorussiyans, who gave little regard to civilian casualties. After only a few weeks, Chernorussiyan forces managed to reach all the way to the Canadian, before looking towards the far more populated southern regions.
Frontier militia groups remain in much of the Alaskan wilderness, holding out against the Chernorussiyan assault, but in all fairness, the Chernorussiyans are looking at bigger fish to fry, namely the Alaskan Capitol of Juneau, which has found itself on the front-lines of the Chernorussiyan assault.
(-5 Chernorussiyan Regiments, -1 Chernorussiyan Armored Brigade, -3 Chernorussiyan Fighter Squadrons, -3 Alaskan Regiments, +15 Alaskan Militia, -9 Alaskan Militia, -4 Alaskan Gun-boats, -1 Alaskan Destroyer, -4 Alaskan Fighter Squadrons, -40 Alaskan IP, --5 Alaskan IP, -2 Alaskan EP)
Pacific Front
San Diego, Californian Union
Fighting in the Pacific Ocean was fairly half-hearted, with the obvious supremacy of the Californian navy preventing any sensible type of action from the Cascadian or Alaskan navy. Most of the direct fighting took place under the waves, with submarines from the Free-American forces targeting shipping (the limited shipping going through!) to and from California and Chernorussiya. Hudsonist ships around the ports of Vladivostock, Los Angeles and San Diego were sunk, leading to a loss of some profits to California and Chernorussiya, though Cal-Industries seemed the most effected. Warry Cali-Cherno ships however, did manage to score some submarine kills.
Californian ships, aided the Chernorussiyan invasion of Alaska, and worked in conjunction with their navy, destroying sizable portions of the Alaskan fleet outside of Anchorage. Most of the fighting occurred beyond the visible range of the Alaskan units, which struggled to locate the combined fleet without the aid of satellite positioning.
(-1 Texan Submarine, -9 Alaskan Gun-boats, -1 Alaskan Destroyer, -1 Alaskan Submarine, -1 Alaskan EP, --2 Alaskan IP, -3 Californian Gun-boats,-1 Californian Destroyer, -10 Californian IP, --1 Californian IP, -2 Chernorussiyan Gun-boats, -1 Chernorussiyan Submarine, -10 Chernorussiyan IP, --1 Chernorussiyan IP)
Panama Front
The Panama Canal Zone, Alaska
Fighting in Panama began immediately this year, with relief force from Texas being sent to aid the beleaguered Alaskan forces in their assaults against the Californian defenses around the canal. Fighting to the best of their ability, the Hudsonist forces made the Texans and Alaskans pay for every inch in their blood, but through the tenacity of the Free America forces, and their overwhelming air superiority, the Hudsonist forces had little choice but to retreat to the north, pursued closely by the Free Americans. The canal itself has been heavily damaged by the fighting, despite both sides attempts at preventing that very thing from happening.
By the time it was all said and done, the forces committed to Panama by the Free Americans overwhelming the Panamanians, and Californians. The Panamanian navy managed to escape to the north, settled in Los Angeles, and declared allegiance (if only temporarily) to Comrade Hudson.
(-4 Californian Regiments, -1 Californian EP, -Panama, -2 Alaskan Regiments, -3 Alaskan Fighter Squadrons, -1 Texan Regiment)
The Invasion of California
Las Vegas, Deseret
The resounding successes Chernorussiya and California had in Alaska, and through well-placed missile strikes across the ‘Free America’ nations were offset by a massive coordinated invasion of California by overwhelming amounts of Free American airpower and land power. And while California seems to rule the seas, the armies of Deseret and Texas clearly seem to rule the land. A Texan army advanced north-west, across what had been Arizona to meet up with a Deseret invasion force headed towards Las Vegas. The Californian plan of 'general' defense seemed to fail, as no less than 30 regiments of Free American soldiers, supported by several armored brigades, and upwards of 40 fighter squadrons began attacking Californian positions in Las Vegas. The border defenses California had been setting up, proved to be the one saving grace in the situation, as they gave Californian reserve units time to bolster the cities defenses in no time at all, with the help of the High-speed Monorail.
By the time the fighting was over, a week had passed, and Las Vegas had been leveled by the fighting. The Californians were putting up a valiant defense, but were forced to redirect forces to counter a joint Alaskan-Cascadian invasion from the north, that happened to encompass the entirety of the Alaskan armored corps, most of the Alaskan airforce, and a large portion of the Cascadian military. The Californian army seemed caught between a rock and a hard place, and even well placed rocket assaults from Chernorussiya seemed to be of little aid to the Hudsonists, who were filling in the gaps in the line with thousands of young volunteers. Air bombings of Los Angeles became common place, as the the joint Deseret-Texan assault force inched ever closer to the capitol city, through the Barstow pass. The invasion of Cascadia and Deseret from the Union seemed to be the only thing slowing the Free American advance.
(-13 Californian Regiments, -3 Californian Armored Brigades, -17 Californian Fighter-Squadrons, -2 Californian Bomber Squadrons, -3 Californian EP, -60 Californian IP, --3 Californian IP, +20 Californian Militia, -5 Californian Militia, -7 Texan Regiments, -1 Texan Armored Brigade, -6 Texan Fighter-Squadrons, -6 Deseret Regiments, -5 Deseret Fighter-Squadrons, -3 Cascadian Regiments, -1 Alaskan Armored Brigade, -7 Alaskan Fighter Squadrons)
Fighting In Mexico
Linares, The People's Hudsonist Republic of Mexico
The forgotten front of the war was assuredly Northern Mexico. The newly established People's Hudsonist Republic of Mexico wasted little time in fielding the largest army they could, and promptly invaded the Rio Grande Republic, which allied itself with the Free American forces in a time of duress. The Rio Grandese army, by itself, was unable to to match the Mexican advance. But the aid of Texan regiments halted the Mexican advanced before they reached the capitol at Monterey. The lines of conflict stabilized soon thereafter, with neither side willing, or even able, to really launch an effective assault against the other. Small border conflict occurred, as Rio Grandese forces moved into northern Mexico, and Mexican forces moved into Texan land.
(-5 Mexican Regiments, -2 Mexican Fighter Squadrons, -10 Mexican IP, -3 Rio Grandese Regiments, -15 Rio Grandese IP, -1 Texan Regiment, -1 Texan Fighter Squadron, -10 Texan IP)
The Union Marches To War
Boise, The United States of the Atlantic
In a rather surprising political move, the United States of the Atlantic promised to support the Hudsonists in war, if it was to come. This agreement had apparently been settled a few years ago, and has majorly come in handy for the Californians. The massive Union Army immediately began an invasion of Cascadia and Deseret, as soon as the declaration of war was announced. The Union military moved into the region in force, and beat back the Cascadian forces to the Colombia River. The Alaskan air force, which had been poised to strike at Californian units, aided the Cascadians, and potentially saved Olympia from conquest.
The fighting in Deseret was another story all together. The fanatical Unionists battle the fanatical Mormon forces, who fought the Union advances off with all the ferocity one can imagine a Holy Army delivering. Numbers simply weren't on their side, however, and the Mormon forces found themselves slowly retreating back towards the capitol at Salt Lake City. New Church of the Latter Day Saints defense forces pulled up all the willing volunteers they could, and helped integrate them into the military, while the Ultra-nationalist Minute Men Militia groups in the Union rallied around Old Glory to reclaim the land that they viewed to be truly theirs.
(-4 Cascadian Regiments, -3 Cascadian Fighter Squadrons, -20 Cascadian IP, --1 Cascadian IP, -1 Cascadian EP, -6 Alaskan Fighter Squadrons, -12 Deseret Regiments, -7 Deseret Fighter Squadrons, -30 Deseret IP, --1 Deseret IP, -1 Deseret EP, +5 Deseret Regiments, -12 Union Regiments, -14 Union Fighter Squadrons, +5 Union Minute Men Militias)
Atlantic Front
Philadelphia, The United States of the Atlantic
The naval warfare in the Atlantic Ocean was much more fluid then that in the Pacific. A joint Texan-Rio Grandese navy sailed north, towards the Union coast, hoping to beat the Union's navy in an outright battle. Yet, the heavily outnumbered Union navy refused to sally from its safe-harbor in Philadelphia, instead, relying on small sorties to damage the Texan fleet. A blockade followed soon thereafter, which damaged the Union's economy notably.
(-2 Texan Gun-boats, -1 Texan Destroyer, -2 Rio Grandese Gun-boats, -5 Union Gun-boats, -2 Union Destroyers, -20 Union IP, --3 Union IP, -1 Union EP)
South America
Mismanagement in Guyana
Georgetown, Guyana
Brazillian engineers moved into Guyana to take a look at what might have caused some of the dams to fail last year, after the massive joint Brazillian-Guyanese dam building project several years ago. After some careful inspection, under the supervision of the finest engineers Guyana could put forward, it became clear that the burst was caused by Guyanese mismanagement, and not by faulty Brazillian designs or construction. While this came as a relief to some in Nuevo Brasillia, the Guyanese government found itself without any reparations to pay for the damage that has still been left relatively untouched. Reconstruction has been slow due in large part to lack of funds, and with the indisputable evidence that it was their own engineers faults, funds probably won't come.
(-Guyanese Stability)
Brazillian Renewal Project
Nuevo Brassilia, Brazil
Mirroring moves made by the government just years ago, funding has gone into increased hydro-electric production on the Amazon River. The project that worked so well just a few years ago seemed to have the same desired effect, with many thousands of Brazillians being put to work, and cheaper electricity allowing for the average Brazillian worker to spend less on energy bills, and more on other services. Plans put forth by the Brazillian government seemed to highlight Brazil's want to become the world leader in solar, wind and hydro-electric power sometime in the future. While Mesopotamia might put up quite the fight in that respect, the average Brazillian views it as a very noble initiative.
(+1 Brazillian EP, ++2 Brazillian IP, +Brazillian Stability)
Brazillian Journalist Captured In Acre
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre
Disregarding the announcement of a media-blackout a few years back, a Brazillian investigative journalist by the name of Isabela Franco snuck into Acre in the hope of exposing the dictatorial rule of Cezar Silva to the world, along with shedding light on recent accusations that Hudsonist influence might be at play in the totalitarian regime. Franco made it into the nation successfully, and actually managed to get to the major city Cruzeiro do Sul near the outskirts of the Acrean capitol of Rio Branco.
It was there, however, that she was captured by Acrean police, and has been thrown into a prison in a location as of yet unknown by the Brazillian government. Silva has labelled her as a Brazillian spy, and amidst increasing tensions, has refused to release her to the proper authorities in Brazil.
Reactionary Congress Elected in Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Growing hatred for Patagonia has been a recurring theme obvious to anyone who has followed Argentine politics the past few years. The dictatorship under Ricardo Cobos, has in recent years taken a harder approach to the Communal Patagonians, who simply want to be left alone. The cry of the Argentinian people simply solidified Cobos's want to reannex the wayward South American nation. Some war hawks in the Argentinian congress are calling for an outright invasion, to establish 'proper' rule to the lands, and knowing Cobos, one wouldn't put it past him. Warnings from Chile might turn any attempted invasion into a much larger war, and it's hard to say if the Argentinians would be willing to risk that.