Swissempire
Poet Jester
I'm only 15 and 12 inches, erhm... im mean wow, that was spurred by Wubba's orders for my nes
Alternate History Thread III
- Thread starter Luckymoose
- Start date
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Israelite9191
You should be reading
I realize there will be changes, however I don't believe the religious centers of Ireland would shift. Even in pre-Christian times, Kildare and Armagh were religious centers. In pre-Celtic times New Grange was the religious center, which just happens to not be very far from Kildare. After the Roman hierarchy took over in Ireland, the religious centers still remained mainly in Kildare and in Armagh. Even after the Anglo-Norman conquest and the re-centering of politcal power in Dublin, economic power remained primarily in Tara and Armagh. Eventually the center of religion did shift under English pressure, but again this was also because of the shift in population away from the traditional population centers to Dublin. Without a combination of population shift and foriegn cultural pressure, I doubt the Irish would abandon hundreds to thousands of years old traditions merely for political gain by the central government.das said:There you go again with no changes happening over time.In a politically-centralized Ireland, chances are that the state will try and get control over the church (and that would probably be succesful, like in the Byzantine Empire), so it is just as possible for the religious center to move to Gallway as the political center. But alright, I suppose it could be put somewhere else.
EDIT: Oh, and I seem to remember you saying that you have some problems with the three city system, especially when sities are multiple things. Basically, I handle this with a sort of hierarchy. Cultural centers can also be eco centers, religious centers can also be cultural centers, religious centers can also be eco centers, and religious centers can also be all three. Basically, you show it as the highest type on the hierarchy. Since all benefits of special cities are at the discretion of the mod, it is easy to use this hierarchical system.
das
Regeneration In Process
An eerie peace settled over the Eastern Hemisphere in August 1919; it was a draw. After three years of brutal warfare, Turkey and Italy ceased to exist as great powers and were nearly destroyed even as nations; the Ottoman Empire died and was buried, only partially replaced by Kemal Mustafa's German puppet state, while Italy was turned into a loose, weak federation of princely states and for all purposes ceased to exercise any influence whatsoever on world affairs. France, led by Premier Georges Clemenceau, had claimed victory; although it actually had failed to beat the Germans in field or restore Lorraine-Alsace, its army remained undefeated and scored several victories late in the war, the Germans had failed to advance beyond the Meuse, and France's interests in China and the Levant were defended; but even as a patriotic upsurge set in after the war, so did paranoia - Germany remained strong as well, and during the war had, in popular perception, brought "all of Europe east of the Vosges to its knees"; and Kaiser Wilhelm II made no pretense of becoming a man of peace. Britain, though also claiming victory, with the defeat of Russian intervention in Persia and great colonial gains, and the defeat of the dreaded Hochseeflotte, too remained wary of future German motives, as the Germans immediately started rebuilding their battered fleet and aggressively pursuing the solution of various colonial border disputes. Also, British colonial authority was shaken by revolts; and the Dominions, particularily South Africa and Australia (angry at the denial of their respective gains at German expense), were increasingly alienated from the Metropolis. German commerce raiders have also dealt a heavy blow to British commerce - or, rather, the blow itself wasn't all that bad, but it had allowed USA, Germany and even Japan to seriously challenge Britain in several markets, especially in China and the Americas, even where the British used to hold near-monopoly a few decades ago; Britain, in other words, was being caught up with by competition. Germany came out of the war in an uncertain situation; it was generally considered a draw, but a beneficient one; French revanchism was thwarted, the backstabbing Italians were punished, and the German colonial empire expanded - if not quite as wildly as was hoped. Also, the presence of German troops ensured the obedience of Norway, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Qing China - and even Russia, as the German bayonet became the main pillar of Nicholas II's resumed rule. The war helped bind the German population closer together, particularily bridging many differences between the north and the south in the aftermath of the Lanrezac Breakthrough. Also, despite the waritme damage to German economy, in the early 1920s it had rebounded and prospered even more than before with the creation of the Zollverein Mitteleuropa and the German commercial infiltration and succesful investment in Argentina and Qing China, not to mention Russia. Austria-Slavania, though seemingly victorious and expanded, still suffered from great dissent, economic damage and ethnic strife; and the independence-minded KuK Franz Ferdinand had to increasingly rely on German assistance as well. Russia, shaken by the Revolution and lesser rebellions, and increasingly turned into a German political puppet and economic colony, had the barren consolation of having, in name at least, retained its Asian Empire won earlier in the century; but as much of that empire was controlled by various warlords and separatists, Russia had now officially become the new Sick Man of Europe. Also, ofcourse, bitterness grew at German influence, at the denial of Tsargrad and the stripping away of Poland and Finland, and at Nicholas II the Bloody who was increasingly seen as a coward, a backboneless puppet of the dark lord known only as Uncle Willy, a man who, instead of coming to terms with his people, used "basurmans" to retain his power. In the Middle East, Iran was reforming and modernizing, and playing Russia, Britain and Germany against each other and to its benefit. Both Chinas were rebuilding, recovering, modernizing and preparing for a revenge - one day, maybe not soon, but still, one day... Siam sulked in a dark corner. Japan went through a time of economical prosperity and political indecisiveness. Far away across the Pacific Ocean, the American Giant slept - or, rather, napped.
The period of 1919-1922, domestically a one of reconstruction and diplomatically a one of normalization, was thus quite boring in those spheres and thus more (in)famous for the Recolonization Wars. Under this name, over a dozen of different conflicts were groupped together, which had few things in common except for the fact that they all involved forceful strenghthening of European (and in two (separate) cases, American and Japanese) positions in the world. One of such wars even took place in 1926, when Amanollah pushed his luck too far and the British finally annexed Afghanistan, entering a long, brutal conflict. The rest, however, occured (or at least started) during the aforementioned four years. They included the Anglo-German invasion of former Italian East Africa, where rogue Italian garrissons and rebels of varying religions and tribes had to be fought; the German wars with rebel tribes in the colonies lost during the war, but now restored (and conveniently abandoned to chaos by Entente troops, that also occassionally "forgot" lots of firearms and ammunition where the rebels could easily get them); Baron Ungern-Sternberg's Central Asian expedition and the ensuing massacres at Samarkand and Bukhara; the slightly later, full-scale Russo-German operations against separatist rebels in Inner and Outer Mongolias, in Sinkiang (now known as Uighuria) and in Central Asia, where Turanism had fallen, but warlords struggled on; the French struggle with a new rebellion in West Africa; inconclusive British struggles with the Saudis; anti-British rebellions in India; occupation of Siam's outer regions as per Potsdam; struggles with Chinese and Korean rebels in newly-annexed territories; re-ignited Philippine rebellion due to growth of "Asianism"... All these conflicts were parts of the same trend as Potsdam - a new surge of imperialism, which continued into the decade, even as the first ominous events begun to occur.
After 1922, as Germany's colonial empire quieted down, the economy fully recovered and now flourished and the Hochseeflotte was rebuilt, Kaiser Wilhem II has decided to concentrate on strenghthening the Dreikaiserbund. Already in 1919, Germany had created the Zollverein Mitteleuropa, a customs union and economic agreement that included Germany, Norway, Denmark, Austria-Slavania, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Finland and Poland; Russia, Turkey and Qing China were not accepted, but Germany signed separate trade agreements with them, as economic colonization continued; also, just as the Berlin-Baghdad Railroad became the cornerstone of German might in the Middle East, so had the work begun on a Berlin-Beijing railroad (combining, ofcourse, existant German, Russian and Chinese railroads) to become the cornerstone on the Far East; as the railroad was also to belong exclusively to Germany (yet another act that resulted in great disturbances in Russia), it also would become key to German control over Russia. In 1923, the Dreikaiserbund was dissolved and replaced by die Grossbund, which then was officially joined by Germany, Denmark, Norway, Austria-Slavania, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia and Qing China. It was the time of renewed (though much weaker, in former case at least) socialist insurgencies in Russia and Italy; German troops took part in pacification of both, and in return had the Italian Federation join the Grossbund as well. In the meantime, to assure German control over Russia to an even greater extent, the Tsar was persuaded to create two autonomous regions, one for the Baltic Germans in Livonia and another for the Volga Germans in the central Volga area, and to appoint Ostzean ministers and advisors; this outraged even the monarchist Stolypin, but he was soon sent away to the mostly obscure post of the governor of the Primorskaya oblast, his less famous supporters being less fortunate as well. Meanwhile, after an attempt to leave the German alliance, Denmark was invaded and overran, and its government was overthrown; Iceland and Greenland were handed over to Norway - by now firmly pro-German - and Denmark itself, after some plnas to annex it into either Germany or Norway, was left as a puppet state. This was protested by Sweden, but rather quietly - the Swedes knew that they were surrounded by German allies, and themselves were trading extensively with Germany, eventually joining the Zollverein Mitteleuropa as well. Meanwhile, the Jager Coup took place in Finland; the firmly pro-German and monarchist Jagers, with clear German help, overthrew the Anglophilic liberal parliament and Finland became an absolute monarchy, also joining the Grossbund. A later intervention in Austria-Slavania (during the socialist, Hungarian and Polish rebellions of 1924) greatly boosted German power there. Lastly, in 1925, when Romania tried to join the Entente, it was invaded, its government overthrown, Ploeisti and surroundings handed over to Austria-Slavania, and Dobrudjia - to Bulgaria. King Ferdinand was overthrown, Carol II came to power but was forced to allow German advisors and the ambassador to make sure that he chooses only the right people for the job of ruling Romania - such a nice kingdom, it would be a shame if something were to happen to it, wouldn't it, your majesty?..
While the German alliance system centralized and expanded, the Entente gradually begun to fall apart again. Though the Great Eurasian War was generally considered a draw, or even a victory, it clearly wasn't a decisive one, and all three allies searched for scapegoats; the British blamed the French for bungling the land war, the French - the British for failing to commit any troops to France in the time of its greatest peril, both blamed the Japanese for not taking a more active part in the war, the Japanese blamed Britain and France for not backing China well enough, the British and the French colonial interests begun to clash again, while in Japan, to appease the ever rising popular movement of "Asianism" (which called for expulsion of European imperialists from the Far East), and also out of genuine anxiety, the politicians took an ever more imperialistic line and complained about the European "diplomatic atrocities" against China and Siam. In 1922-1925 the situation begun to improve again due to fear of the German militarization, but soon after, several events happened that broke up the Anglo-French Entente for good, while Japan, disgusted with both and concerned by ever more fierce competition between Japanese and British companies in China, had decided to go alone, but soon renewed its alliance with the Republic of China.
It begun in September 10th 1925. After two failed expeditions to Libya to try and claim that chaotic territory for Austria-Slavania, Vienna grew disillusioned with it, despite Sarajevo's colonial ambitions, and decided to sell it to Germany. Eventually, the Slavanian Sabor accepted this, but not quite unanimously; one of the remaining opposers (not as much out of colonialism as out of Germanophobia), SDPoS (Social-Democratic Party of Slavania) member Josip Broz, had leaked the information on this deal to several French newspapers. A scandal ensued, and Georges Clemenceau - recently returned to the post of Premier despite his age - demanded that Libya be sold to France instead; France will NOT tolerate any increase in German military presence in the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles were bad enough but a German Libya would be justly regarded as a stagging ground for a German invasion of the African departements. Clemenceau's sentiments were echoed by the greater part of the French population. The Germans adamantly refused to concede Libya, Austro-Slavanians refused to sell it to anyone else, but then suddenly a compromise was proposed by Sir Austen Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain; the British were willing to buy Libya, seeking to prop up their somewhat faltering empire. The Germans were at first unwilling, but after Austen Chamberlain personally met with the Kaiser and Kanzler von Tirpitz in Hamburg, an agreement was reached. The French, back then still thinking "better the British than the Germans", had welcomed the compromise and the British moved in from Egypt and the Malta to take control of Libya. Unbeknowst to them, Libya was a secondary - nay, tertiary! - issue only during the Hamburg meeting. Far more important were the long-term, secret Anglo-German agreements. Germany reluctantly agreed not to grow its navy beyond 62.5% of the British one after long debates, and in exchange was allowed free rein in Argentinean and northern Chinese markets, though leaving south China to the British (and those other people). Agreements were reached on colonial border disputes. And also, certain past agreements about Portugal were renewed... As of 1925, the Portuguese Republic, after a violent two-year civil war, was beginning to settle down, but in 1926 - not without British involvement, one assumes - a new economical crisis begun, combined with a political one. The Portuguese colonies were negliged for several years now, and fell into disrepair and quiet chaos, revering into tribalism. After one of the tribesmen killed an odd British traveller in Mozambique, the British declared their intention to intervenne in the Portuguese colonies. Surprisingly enough, the Portuguese government, seeking to reinforce its weak domestic positions, demanded that the British immediately withdraw that declaration; but then the British were backed by the Germans... Yet the Portuguese government defiantly pressed on, possibly feeling that it had nothing to lose (true enough by then), and declared war. British and German fleets shelled Lisbon, Lettow-Vorbeck raised the Reichskriegflagge over Mocambique, ANZACs stormed Dili, the Portuguese government surrendered, handed over the colonies and fled to Switzerland, leaving Portugal in anarchy amidst various rebellions. As chaos spread into Spain with the defeats at separatist hands in both Catalonia and Morocco and the assassination of military dictator General Primo de Rivera, France compensated itself by picking up the Spanish colonies in Africa and the Atlantic, but it couldn't have been more anxious as the partition of Portuguese colonies - all of them - was announced, proving that the British and the Germans had planned this long ago (they did plan this from 1898, though exact partition plans had changed since then). Britain took the Azores, Madeira, Cabo Verde, Portuguese Guinea, Mozambique south of Zambezi and west of British Central Africa (Nyasaland) (note that Mozambique south of Limpopo went to the Union of South Africa), Diu, Damao, Goa and Macao; the German gains sounded more modest, but they did get the entirety of Angola and the northern near-half of Mozambique, considerably enlarging their colonial empire. And certainly, they had further plans... For a while, the French were on the brink of mobilization, but eventually backed down, especially after Britain had reconfirmed the Entente. But from that day on, it was fiction. Fearful that Britain and Germany were going to partition the French colonial empire sooner or later as well, the French begun a new naval buildup and sent out diplomats and spies to look for allies in Eastern Europe. Though sympathy was found in Sweden and some support rallied in Russia and Austria-Slavania, including the aforementioned Josip Broz, this was clearly not enough...
All the events of that time curiously intertwined. The very same Anglo-German cooperation that ended the Entente also resulted in the bloody, violent culmination of political, social and economic strife in Portugal and Spain. Warlords, separatists and anarchists fought all over Iberia; occasionally, some generals managed to unify parts of Spain or Portugal, or both, under their rule, but also immediately they were overthrown. In the end, tired of the fighting, the militarized trade unions rallied under the newborn Partido Comunista de Ibera. Led by such charismatic, popular leaders as Isidora Gomez/Dolores Ibarruri, Garcia Oliver, Francisco Largo Caballero, Fernando Salgado Lenha, the Italian emigre Benito Mussolini and the Russian emigre Leon Bronstein, the Comunistas quickly secured Portugal, Andalusia and Catalonia; though at first decentralized like their enemies, they still had greater coordination and mass support, and so by the end of 1927 the takeover was complete and the Comuna de Ibera, or the Iberian Commune as it was known world-wide, was declared - an union of the three great countries and peoples of the Iberian peninsula, Portugal, Spain and - this claim became a cause of a serious international crisis and nearly resulted in a French invasion - Andorra. Almost immediately, plans were made for intervention, but the Germans didn't want the French to invade Spain fearing that they would use their strategic position to establish their control there, the French feared that the Germans, in case of their intervention in Spain, would set up another puppet state there and leave France completely surrounded and the British didn't want either French or German troops within 500 miles of Gibraltar, and themselves were restrained by worker strikes and Labour. Thus the Iberians didn't need to play the imperialists off against each other - they played themselves, while the Iberians set up a government, defeated counter-revolutionaries, gave land to the peasants, factories to the workers and power to the... well, they had a little civil war and some intrigue before that, but in the end power came to the Partido. After Francisco Largo Caballero was shot after the first meeting of the Third International, Dolores Ibarruri came to power; she centralized Iberia, defeated another reactionary uprising and then begun exporting the revolution. In the time period of 1928-1930, volunteer brigades, and grizzled veterans of the barricades that formed the elite "comandos revolutionarios", were smuggled into Latin America by various means, and there joined the native revolutionary parties that - with the exception of Peru's APRA and some minor ones - joined the Third International and received support not only in those troops, but also in weapons, ammunition and funds. Even though Iberia's own economy was still only beginning to recover and was immediately badly strained by this effort, initially this intervention resulted in a string of great victories. In Mexico, the American puppet government imposed by President Pershing after his 1925 intervention (which finally ended the First Mexican Revolution) was overthrown, workers, peasants and Amerinds rose up, the American base in Veracruz was overran, and the initial intervention bogged down somewhere near the Tropic of Cancer. Honduras became the Comunista stronghold in Central America after a quick armed takeover, and though it had only managed to advance into El Salvador and parts of Nicaragua, all of the region was shaken by the dissent and guerrila wars in the countryside, and an attack on the Panama Canal had nearly succeeded, although it was that very attack that finally outraged even the anti-interventionists in the American Senate enough to result in full-scale intervention. Rebellions in Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were defeated by American troops, but there and in the colonies resistance continued. Dissent was quickly stiffled in Colombia, but in Venezuela the seemingly-impregnable fortress of Juan Vicente Gomez' reign was taken, after a succesful assassination resulted in power struggles that allowed a revolutionary government to take over in Caracas, although most of the country was simply filled with chaos like pre-revolutionary Iberia or Mexico during the previous revolution. Ecuador, struck by severe social strife and political turmoil, was easily captured by local Comunistas, albeit they didn't maintain much contact with the Iberians. Peru fell into a three-side civil war between government forces, Comunistas and Victor Raul Haya de la Torre's national-socialist Apristas. In Chile, Carlos Ibaces del Campo held out just long enough to be saved by the intervention, and Bolivia, back then at its most prosperous and stable, remained virtually unshaken; but in Argentina, the unstable balance of the Radical coalition broke down, and a German-backed military conservative government came to power in Cordoba, while the Radicals themselves were overthrown by the Comunistas in Buenos Aires; civil war ensued, with the Comunistas barely prevented from spreading out of the province of Buenos Aires. The Liberals remained firmly in power in Paraguay, but Argentina's chaos spread into Uruguay; the Buenos Aires Comuna had opportunistically attacked and seized Montevideo and occupied the south, the militarists occupied western Uruguay and the east was occupied by Brazil. In Brazil, a near-revolution backfired, and allowed Getulio Vargas to seize power. Despite that last and other failures, it is clear that the Iberians achieved remarkable early success, especially in the north.
But, ofcourse, the Carribean was a Comunista playground, and already in 1928 their intervention was noticed by the alarmed great powers. And in 1929, the confused, ill-coordinated interventions begun (well, the Americans had invaded back in 1928, but that invasion was slowed to turtle speed by guerrilas and logistical incompetence). To the north, the Napping Giant awakened in fury after the Panama Canal Raid, rallied by "the Navy's man in the White House", Franklin Delano Roosevelt (ironically enough a fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt), and, even more alarmed by the German activities (see below), struck in full force against the Mexican revolutionaries; though the various underhanded tactics and modern weapons used by the revolutionaries, combined with the poor American training and military experience against a comparatively well-organized force such as the Mexican Revolutionary Guard and the Iberian comandos have caused much grief and casualties, especially as the Americans advanced further inland, the Americans always had superior resources and forces available to them, and managed to ally wtih the northern Mexican warlords to once more breath life into their overland offensive. Though half of Mexico (including Yucatan) was seized quickly by Americans and their allies, what remained, especially the fervently-Comunista Ciudad de Mexico and its surroundings, proved to be more difficult to defeat. But it was only a matter of time, and in 1930 both Acapulco and Mexico were captured and the revolution collapsed, but for some remaining Iberian-incited resistance. Meanwhile, rebels in Cuba were completely crushed. Invasions of Central America were executted with surprising efficiency as Americans gained valuable experience; the revolutionaries were defeated quite quickly, and then the local governments were suspended and, much like Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Central America was put under occupation. The most important developments occured in Venezuela, which was invaded by Colombia (which however withdrew upon American demand), oppressed by warlordism and, in Caracas, plagued by the persistant Comunist efforts at rapid social reform and the reunification of the country. To make things more confusing, in 1929, while the Americans were fighting in Mexico, an Anglo-German intervention took place and took the credit by shelling and capturing Caracas, and advancing further inland, outraging American public opinion far beyond expectance. FDR threatened the Europeans with war unless they withdraw immediately; the British, themselves burdened by an anti-intervention public opinion, complied, but the Germans ignored this and secured the imposition of a puppet government in Caracas. Only after several naval skirmishes, the Kaiser, apparently intent on war with America, was forced by the Sozialdemokrats, who seized the Reichstag in the most inopportunate moment, to back down as well; Americans overthrew the German puppet government and imposed an American one. The rest was easier, but for Peru and its civil war; having failed to determine which of the three anti-American factions fighting for power was worse, but succeeded in determining that the Senate wouldn't give him enough funds to properly intervenne there, Roosevelt decided to skip that and concentrate on restoring order in Chile. The Germans made the job easier for him by defeating the Comunistas in Argentina and Uruguay, although that wasn't very good, come to think of it, as this meant that the militaristic Germanophile government was in charge of Argentina, and occupying two-thirds of Uruguay, the other third being in Brazilian hands. America proposed intemediation, but at the same time signed a secret alliance with Argentina.
Meanwhile, back in Europe, the Kaiser was furious. Cowards! The cowardly British backing down, and the cowardly Sozialdemokrats forcing him to back down in America as well! But if only in America...
The period of 1919-1922, domestically a one of reconstruction and diplomatically a one of normalization, was thus quite boring in those spheres and thus more (in)famous for the Recolonization Wars. Under this name, over a dozen of different conflicts were groupped together, which had few things in common except for the fact that they all involved forceful strenghthening of European (and in two (separate) cases, American and Japanese) positions in the world. One of such wars even took place in 1926, when Amanollah pushed his luck too far and the British finally annexed Afghanistan, entering a long, brutal conflict. The rest, however, occured (or at least started) during the aforementioned four years. They included the Anglo-German invasion of former Italian East Africa, where rogue Italian garrissons and rebels of varying religions and tribes had to be fought; the German wars with rebel tribes in the colonies lost during the war, but now restored (and conveniently abandoned to chaos by Entente troops, that also occassionally "forgot" lots of firearms and ammunition where the rebels could easily get them); Baron Ungern-Sternberg's Central Asian expedition and the ensuing massacres at Samarkand and Bukhara; the slightly later, full-scale Russo-German operations against separatist rebels in Inner and Outer Mongolias, in Sinkiang (now known as Uighuria) and in Central Asia, where Turanism had fallen, but warlords struggled on; the French struggle with a new rebellion in West Africa; inconclusive British struggles with the Saudis; anti-British rebellions in India; occupation of Siam's outer regions as per Potsdam; struggles with Chinese and Korean rebels in newly-annexed territories; re-ignited Philippine rebellion due to growth of "Asianism"... All these conflicts were parts of the same trend as Potsdam - a new surge of imperialism, which continued into the decade, even as the first ominous events begun to occur.
After 1922, as Germany's colonial empire quieted down, the economy fully recovered and now flourished and the Hochseeflotte was rebuilt, Kaiser Wilhem II has decided to concentrate on strenghthening the Dreikaiserbund. Already in 1919, Germany had created the Zollverein Mitteleuropa, a customs union and economic agreement that included Germany, Norway, Denmark, Austria-Slavania, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Finland and Poland; Russia, Turkey and Qing China were not accepted, but Germany signed separate trade agreements with them, as economic colonization continued; also, just as the Berlin-Baghdad Railroad became the cornerstone of German might in the Middle East, so had the work begun on a Berlin-Beijing railroad (combining, ofcourse, existant German, Russian and Chinese railroads) to become the cornerstone on the Far East; as the railroad was also to belong exclusively to Germany (yet another act that resulted in great disturbances in Russia), it also would become key to German control over Russia. In 1923, the Dreikaiserbund was dissolved and replaced by die Grossbund, which then was officially joined by Germany, Denmark, Norway, Austria-Slavania, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia and Qing China. It was the time of renewed (though much weaker, in former case at least) socialist insurgencies in Russia and Italy; German troops took part in pacification of both, and in return had the Italian Federation join the Grossbund as well. In the meantime, to assure German control over Russia to an even greater extent, the Tsar was persuaded to create two autonomous regions, one for the Baltic Germans in Livonia and another for the Volga Germans in the central Volga area, and to appoint Ostzean ministers and advisors; this outraged even the monarchist Stolypin, but he was soon sent away to the mostly obscure post of the governor of the Primorskaya oblast, his less famous supporters being less fortunate as well. Meanwhile, after an attempt to leave the German alliance, Denmark was invaded and overran, and its government was overthrown; Iceland and Greenland were handed over to Norway - by now firmly pro-German - and Denmark itself, after some plnas to annex it into either Germany or Norway, was left as a puppet state. This was protested by Sweden, but rather quietly - the Swedes knew that they were surrounded by German allies, and themselves were trading extensively with Germany, eventually joining the Zollverein Mitteleuropa as well. Meanwhile, the Jager Coup took place in Finland; the firmly pro-German and monarchist Jagers, with clear German help, overthrew the Anglophilic liberal parliament and Finland became an absolute monarchy, also joining the Grossbund. A later intervention in Austria-Slavania (during the socialist, Hungarian and Polish rebellions of 1924) greatly boosted German power there. Lastly, in 1925, when Romania tried to join the Entente, it was invaded, its government overthrown, Ploeisti and surroundings handed over to Austria-Slavania, and Dobrudjia - to Bulgaria. King Ferdinand was overthrown, Carol II came to power but was forced to allow German advisors and the ambassador to make sure that he chooses only the right people for the job of ruling Romania - such a nice kingdom, it would be a shame if something were to happen to it, wouldn't it, your majesty?..
While the German alliance system centralized and expanded, the Entente gradually begun to fall apart again. Though the Great Eurasian War was generally considered a draw, or even a victory, it clearly wasn't a decisive one, and all three allies searched for scapegoats; the British blamed the French for bungling the land war, the French - the British for failing to commit any troops to France in the time of its greatest peril, both blamed the Japanese for not taking a more active part in the war, the Japanese blamed Britain and France for not backing China well enough, the British and the French colonial interests begun to clash again, while in Japan, to appease the ever rising popular movement of "Asianism" (which called for expulsion of European imperialists from the Far East), and also out of genuine anxiety, the politicians took an ever more imperialistic line and complained about the European "diplomatic atrocities" against China and Siam. In 1922-1925 the situation begun to improve again due to fear of the German militarization, but soon after, several events happened that broke up the Anglo-French Entente for good, while Japan, disgusted with both and concerned by ever more fierce competition between Japanese and British companies in China, had decided to go alone, but soon renewed its alliance with the Republic of China.
It begun in September 10th 1925. After two failed expeditions to Libya to try and claim that chaotic territory for Austria-Slavania, Vienna grew disillusioned with it, despite Sarajevo's colonial ambitions, and decided to sell it to Germany. Eventually, the Slavanian Sabor accepted this, but not quite unanimously; one of the remaining opposers (not as much out of colonialism as out of Germanophobia), SDPoS (Social-Democratic Party of Slavania) member Josip Broz, had leaked the information on this deal to several French newspapers. A scandal ensued, and Georges Clemenceau - recently returned to the post of Premier despite his age - demanded that Libya be sold to France instead; France will NOT tolerate any increase in German military presence in the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles were bad enough but a German Libya would be justly regarded as a stagging ground for a German invasion of the African departements. Clemenceau's sentiments were echoed by the greater part of the French population. The Germans adamantly refused to concede Libya, Austro-Slavanians refused to sell it to anyone else, but then suddenly a compromise was proposed by Sir Austen Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain; the British were willing to buy Libya, seeking to prop up their somewhat faltering empire. The Germans were at first unwilling, but after Austen Chamberlain personally met with the Kaiser and Kanzler von Tirpitz in Hamburg, an agreement was reached. The French, back then still thinking "better the British than the Germans", had welcomed the compromise and the British moved in from Egypt and the Malta to take control of Libya. Unbeknowst to them, Libya was a secondary - nay, tertiary! - issue only during the Hamburg meeting. Far more important were the long-term, secret Anglo-German agreements. Germany reluctantly agreed not to grow its navy beyond 62.5% of the British one after long debates, and in exchange was allowed free rein in Argentinean and northern Chinese markets, though leaving south China to the British (and those other people). Agreements were reached on colonial border disputes. And also, certain past agreements about Portugal were renewed... As of 1925, the Portuguese Republic, after a violent two-year civil war, was beginning to settle down, but in 1926 - not without British involvement, one assumes - a new economical crisis begun, combined with a political one. The Portuguese colonies were negliged for several years now, and fell into disrepair and quiet chaos, revering into tribalism. After one of the tribesmen killed an odd British traveller in Mozambique, the British declared their intention to intervenne in the Portuguese colonies. Surprisingly enough, the Portuguese government, seeking to reinforce its weak domestic positions, demanded that the British immediately withdraw that declaration; but then the British were backed by the Germans... Yet the Portuguese government defiantly pressed on, possibly feeling that it had nothing to lose (true enough by then), and declared war. British and German fleets shelled Lisbon, Lettow-Vorbeck raised the Reichskriegflagge over Mocambique, ANZACs stormed Dili, the Portuguese government surrendered, handed over the colonies and fled to Switzerland, leaving Portugal in anarchy amidst various rebellions. As chaos spread into Spain with the defeats at separatist hands in both Catalonia and Morocco and the assassination of military dictator General Primo de Rivera, France compensated itself by picking up the Spanish colonies in Africa and the Atlantic, but it couldn't have been more anxious as the partition of Portuguese colonies - all of them - was announced, proving that the British and the Germans had planned this long ago (they did plan this from 1898, though exact partition plans had changed since then). Britain took the Azores, Madeira, Cabo Verde, Portuguese Guinea, Mozambique south of Zambezi and west of British Central Africa (Nyasaland) (note that Mozambique south of Limpopo went to the Union of South Africa), Diu, Damao, Goa and Macao; the German gains sounded more modest, but they did get the entirety of Angola and the northern near-half of Mozambique, considerably enlarging their colonial empire. And certainly, they had further plans... For a while, the French were on the brink of mobilization, but eventually backed down, especially after Britain had reconfirmed the Entente. But from that day on, it was fiction. Fearful that Britain and Germany were going to partition the French colonial empire sooner or later as well, the French begun a new naval buildup and sent out diplomats and spies to look for allies in Eastern Europe. Though sympathy was found in Sweden and some support rallied in Russia and Austria-Slavania, including the aforementioned Josip Broz, this was clearly not enough...
All the events of that time curiously intertwined. The very same Anglo-German cooperation that ended the Entente also resulted in the bloody, violent culmination of political, social and economic strife in Portugal and Spain. Warlords, separatists and anarchists fought all over Iberia; occasionally, some generals managed to unify parts of Spain or Portugal, or both, under their rule, but also immediately they were overthrown. In the end, tired of the fighting, the militarized trade unions rallied under the newborn Partido Comunista de Ibera. Led by such charismatic, popular leaders as Isidora Gomez/Dolores Ibarruri, Garcia Oliver, Francisco Largo Caballero, Fernando Salgado Lenha, the Italian emigre Benito Mussolini and the Russian emigre Leon Bronstein, the Comunistas quickly secured Portugal, Andalusia and Catalonia; though at first decentralized like their enemies, they still had greater coordination and mass support, and so by the end of 1927 the takeover was complete and the Comuna de Ibera, or the Iberian Commune as it was known world-wide, was declared - an union of the three great countries and peoples of the Iberian peninsula, Portugal, Spain and - this claim became a cause of a serious international crisis and nearly resulted in a French invasion - Andorra. Almost immediately, plans were made for intervention, but the Germans didn't want the French to invade Spain fearing that they would use their strategic position to establish their control there, the French feared that the Germans, in case of their intervention in Spain, would set up another puppet state there and leave France completely surrounded and the British didn't want either French or German troops within 500 miles of Gibraltar, and themselves were restrained by worker strikes and Labour. Thus the Iberians didn't need to play the imperialists off against each other - they played themselves, while the Iberians set up a government, defeated counter-revolutionaries, gave land to the peasants, factories to the workers and power to the... well, they had a little civil war and some intrigue before that, but in the end power came to the Partido. After Francisco Largo Caballero was shot after the first meeting of the Third International, Dolores Ibarruri came to power; she centralized Iberia, defeated another reactionary uprising and then begun exporting the revolution. In the time period of 1928-1930, volunteer brigades, and grizzled veterans of the barricades that formed the elite "comandos revolutionarios", were smuggled into Latin America by various means, and there joined the native revolutionary parties that - with the exception of Peru's APRA and some minor ones - joined the Third International and received support not only in those troops, but also in weapons, ammunition and funds. Even though Iberia's own economy was still only beginning to recover and was immediately badly strained by this effort, initially this intervention resulted in a string of great victories. In Mexico, the American puppet government imposed by President Pershing after his 1925 intervention (which finally ended the First Mexican Revolution) was overthrown, workers, peasants and Amerinds rose up, the American base in Veracruz was overran, and the initial intervention bogged down somewhere near the Tropic of Cancer. Honduras became the Comunista stronghold in Central America after a quick armed takeover, and though it had only managed to advance into El Salvador and parts of Nicaragua, all of the region was shaken by the dissent and guerrila wars in the countryside, and an attack on the Panama Canal had nearly succeeded, although it was that very attack that finally outraged even the anti-interventionists in the American Senate enough to result in full-scale intervention. Rebellions in Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were defeated by American troops, but there and in the colonies resistance continued. Dissent was quickly stiffled in Colombia, but in Venezuela the seemingly-impregnable fortress of Juan Vicente Gomez' reign was taken, after a succesful assassination resulted in power struggles that allowed a revolutionary government to take over in Caracas, although most of the country was simply filled with chaos like pre-revolutionary Iberia or Mexico during the previous revolution. Ecuador, struck by severe social strife and political turmoil, was easily captured by local Comunistas, albeit they didn't maintain much contact with the Iberians. Peru fell into a three-side civil war between government forces, Comunistas and Victor Raul Haya de la Torre's national-socialist Apristas. In Chile, Carlos Ibaces del Campo held out just long enough to be saved by the intervention, and Bolivia, back then at its most prosperous and stable, remained virtually unshaken; but in Argentina, the unstable balance of the Radical coalition broke down, and a German-backed military conservative government came to power in Cordoba, while the Radicals themselves were overthrown by the Comunistas in Buenos Aires; civil war ensued, with the Comunistas barely prevented from spreading out of the province of Buenos Aires. The Liberals remained firmly in power in Paraguay, but Argentina's chaos spread into Uruguay; the Buenos Aires Comuna had opportunistically attacked and seized Montevideo and occupied the south, the militarists occupied western Uruguay and the east was occupied by Brazil. In Brazil, a near-revolution backfired, and allowed Getulio Vargas to seize power. Despite that last and other failures, it is clear that the Iberians achieved remarkable early success, especially in the north.
But, ofcourse, the Carribean was a Comunista playground, and already in 1928 their intervention was noticed by the alarmed great powers. And in 1929, the confused, ill-coordinated interventions begun (well, the Americans had invaded back in 1928, but that invasion was slowed to turtle speed by guerrilas and logistical incompetence). To the north, the Napping Giant awakened in fury after the Panama Canal Raid, rallied by "the Navy's man in the White House", Franklin Delano Roosevelt (ironically enough a fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt), and, even more alarmed by the German activities (see below), struck in full force against the Mexican revolutionaries; though the various underhanded tactics and modern weapons used by the revolutionaries, combined with the poor American training and military experience against a comparatively well-organized force such as the Mexican Revolutionary Guard and the Iberian comandos have caused much grief and casualties, especially as the Americans advanced further inland, the Americans always had superior resources and forces available to them, and managed to ally wtih the northern Mexican warlords to once more breath life into their overland offensive. Though half of Mexico (including Yucatan) was seized quickly by Americans and their allies, what remained, especially the fervently-Comunista Ciudad de Mexico and its surroundings, proved to be more difficult to defeat. But it was only a matter of time, and in 1930 both Acapulco and Mexico were captured and the revolution collapsed, but for some remaining Iberian-incited resistance. Meanwhile, rebels in Cuba were completely crushed. Invasions of Central America were executted with surprising efficiency as Americans gained valuable experience; the revolutionaries were defeated quite quickly, and then the local governments were suspended and, much like Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Central America was put under occupation. The most important developments occured in Venezuela, which was invaded by Colombia (which however withdrew upon American demand), oppressed by warlordism and, in Caracas, plagued by the persistant Comunist efforts at rapid social reform and the reunification of the country. To make things more confusing, in 1929, while the Americans were fighting in Mexico, an Anglo-German intervention took place and took the credit by shelling and capturing Caracas, and advancing further inland, outraging American public opinion far beyond expectance. FDR threatened the Europeans with war unless they withdraw immediately; the British, themselves burdened by an anti-intervention public opinion, complied, but the Germans ignored this and secured the imposition of a puppet government in Caracas. Only after several naval skirmishes, the Kaiser, apparently intent on war with America, was forced by the Sozialdemokrats, who seized the Reichstag in the most inopportunate moment, to back down as well; Americans overthrew the German puppet government and imposed an American one. The rest was easier, but for Peru and its civil war; having failed to determine which of the three anti-American factions fighting for power was worse, but succeeded in determining that the Senate wouldn't give him enough funds to properly intervenne there, Roosevelt decided to skip that and concentrate on restoring order in Chile. The Germans made the job easier for him by defeating the Comunistas in Argentina and Uruguay, although that wasn't very good, come to think of it, as this meant that the militaristic Germanophile government was in charge of Argentina, and occupying two-thirds of Uruguay, the other third being in Brazilian hands. America proposed intemediation, but at the same time signed a secret alliance with Argentina.
Meanwhile, back in Europe, the Kaiser was furious. Cowards! The cowardly British backing down, and the cowardly Sozialdemokrats forcing him to back down in America as well! But if only in America...
das
Regeneration In Process
After brief hegemony in Central and Eastern Europe, the German colossus, though still powerful, was breaking down. Well, break down was too strong a term, but the Kaiser was thwarted in America, and both Russia and Austro-Slavania, key parts of German overland domination, have, despite remaining in the Grossbund, adapted virtually independent foreign policies again; the German attempt to turn Austria-Slavania and Russia into puppets ripe for eventual annexation had failed, and all because of those Sozialdemokrats! Well, that and the economic woes; the treasury just wasn't up to the task of supporting counter-insurgency operations over half of Eurasia...
Okay, allow me to go over this in more detail. Ever since the abortive Russian Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II the Bloody's regime was maintained almost solely by German military and economic support; and that was used and abused by the Germans, who had extracted various priveleges for Russia's growing German population, from priveleges and autonomies to great power in the state itself, where Ostzeans monopolized almost all the key posts. Neither the Germans nor the Tsar were particularily popular; in combination, they were downright hated, and after a while the German immigrants gained the dubious honour of being even more hated than the Jews. For long enough the Germans had to crack down on rebellion after rebellion; that drained the German treasury considerably, and indeed by 1930 the expenses of maintaining law and order in all the puppet states and colonies nearly drove Germany to bankrupcy, when combined with the economic recession and the cost of the ongoing military buildup itself. Nevertheless, for long enough the Germans managed to defeat all the uprisings from below in both Russia and Austria-Slavania (where the Hungarians remained angry and the Poles, if anything, got even angrier, wanting to join with the Polish state); it was from above that they were unprotected. The 1925 rebellion was a watershed event in Russia's anti-Germanism; though it was defeated quickly, an unholy alliance was reached near its end between the liberals, the socialists and the nationalists, though not yet including the Black Hundreds. The socialists were mostly crippled due to the ensuing reprisals; most of them, like Trotsky, fled to Iberia anyway. But now, patriotic national-liberal organizations, bringing back the memories of the Decembrists, appeared and spread into Russian military ranks; the left was beaten, but now the center and the right wre aligned against the Germans. In 1927, the aforementioned revolution from above came (or nearly did); Nicholas II died of old age, and his Germanophobic brother Mikhail II came to power. Himself a member of one of the patriotic secret societies, Mikhail II brought Stolypin and many others back from exile, and almost moved to rescind the German autonomies and priveleges, but was blocked by the Germans. Fearing for his life and power, Mikhail II decided to remain complacent on the outside, but in secret contacted the archreactionary Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich. Anti-German pogroms were carried out by the Black Hundred organization the Union of the Archangel Michael in 1929; when the Germans moved in to intervenne agianst them the rebels got an ahead warning and were suddenly joined by the military, the Germans lost shock effect and themselves were surprised and in most cases defeated; meanwhile, Mikhail II remained mostly silent. Realizing that he was behind all this, Wilhelm II ordered a coup d'etat, but it was betrayed by one of the Ostzean ministers, Baron von Wrangel, who, to add insult to injury, was then appointed Prime Minister by Mikhail II after the defeated coup attempt as a "reconciliationary measure" (along with sending a few utterly unimportant "defected officers" to be trialed in Berlin) - after all, von Wrangel was previously appointed Minister of War upon the Kaiser's own suggestion... The Kaiser made plans for an invasion of Russia, but the Sozialdemokrats blocked that, and he had to be content with the intervention in the Carribean... which too was then called off. And in the meantime, taking the "Black Hundred incident" and the Sozialdemokrat antimilitarism as a sign of weakness, KuK Franz Ferdinand introduced extensive reformss and politely requested that German troops be withdrawn from Austrian territory, except the railroad ofcourse. The Grossbund was falling apart at the seams, the German centralization efforts having backfired; it seems only a matter of time until some of the lesser member states move away from it as well.
But, ofcourse, if "the Englishwoman" was to blame for all of Russia's woes (as a polite rephrasing of a popular, yet unprintable 19th century Russian expression goes), the French were also at least in part to blame for Germany's recent setbacks. For instance, it was their secret diplomacy that helped increase Austro-Slavanian paranoia in regards to Germany; at the height of the 1924 revolts, the French have either stolen or fabricated a German plan for the partition of Austria-Slavania, according to which Hungary and Slavania were to become independent states with Hohenzollern rulers, while Austria and Bohemia were to be annexed to Germany itself and Galicia - to the German puppet state in Poland. It isn't clear whether or not Franz Ferdinand believed this, especially after the Germans did none of this, but it is undeniable that this, and the French destabilization of the "Ostzean regime" in Russia, was influential. But already in 1928, things changed greatly - the secret diplomacy was largely curtailed in favour of open, ambitious, bold moves that noone would have expected from the Third Republic. Quite rightly so, for the Third Republic was dead; but, as George Orwell commented with some sarcasm, "the Republic is dead, long live the Republic!"
Since 1919, France was more uncertain than ever. As soon as the initial wave of patriotism after the victory - if only partial and checkered with failures and heavy casualties - in the Burgundian Campaign receded, scandals begun to break out. The people were increasingly disillusioned; Ferdinand Foch, initially the scapegoat for the defeats in Lorraine-Alsace and Italy, managed to turn the tables by writting his "Guerre Eurasiene" that was dubbed the "J'accuse of the Right" or the "J'accuse of the Military" - there, with a vengeful glee, he pointed out again and again how the government's meddling prevented France from creating a professional military and properly preparing for the war, how his proposals for economic mobilization were ignored, how the parlement delayed all important decisions, how the free press leaked all important details on the Illyrian campaign, lastly, how the war could still have been won - if only the government had listened to him, not that partisan puppet Petain, and counterattacked in full force before the Germans could recover! In the end, he hinted that if the dreaded military dictatorship with the menace of which the government had justified the lack of military professionalization and measures taken against it would have done everything the Third Republic SHOULD have done, he, a lifelong republican, would have granted it his sincere support, for France is more important. Foch died, and we will never learn if he did intend to take power. But his writings proved quite popular, especially as the radical repulicans suffered defeats in all spheres through middle Twenties - the Entente's collapse, the economic stagnation and the growth of Iberian-incited socialist riots. Georges Clemenceau eventually had to retire from politics, and everyone else in the Third Republic's la Etablissement was either discredited, held not much credit in the first place or hadn't the time to gain any degree of popularity. The people were equally dissatisfied with the incompetent Old Right and the treacherous (because of its alleged solidarity with either the German Sozialdemokrats, either the Iberian Comunistas, or maybe both) Old Left. A new leader was needed, and he indeed came from the military, well, in a way. Charles de Gaulle, despite his great war-time achievements and rank advancement, especially during the Burgundian Campaign which greatly inspired his later military theories, had eventually gained the displeasure of both the government and the military Etablissement by his unswearing Fochism even when the former commander in chief was in public disfavour and his aggressive propaganda of his radical political and military ideals (what particulary outraged him was the way tortues were written off as clumsy weapons, useless in modern warfare in both France and the rest of the world, the greatest debates being between the proponents of fortification and the proponents of German-style infantry offensives, with the propagators of armoured offensives, those of strategic airforce and the Iberians with their emphasis of special forces and unlimited guerrila operations somewhere in the fringe). He wrote feverishly essays on how all the spheres of French life must be reformed, of how the next war should be carried out and so forth; eventually he stepped on the feet of all too many people and was given a honourable discharge. But he continued writing, with even more audacity than before, most famously writing that those who are afraid of France's army "should be on the other side of the Rhine" (which could be interpreted as assurance that the military was only a weapon to used against France's enemies, or as telling the Etablissement to "go back to Germany"). Eventually elections of 1928 came, amidst heavy riots from both the newer right and the newly left; surprisingly enough, De Gaulle put forward his candidature and formed the "Parti de la Reforme Nationale"; even more surprisingly, with most old parties discredited by economic and diplomatic failures, and the more radical left losing its momentum, De Gaulle actually won; he was helped by likeminded reformists that defected to him from all directinos and by the good use of radio as a medium of propaganda (De Gaulle was, after all, extremelly innovative and interested in the development of radio in particular). Controversially, when a last-moment attempt by the pre-election members of parlement was made to revise the elections, De Gaulle declared that he shall not tolerate this sort of partisanship and attempts to weaken France; that this sort of meddling had crippled her during the Third Republic. Eventually, la Etablissement surrendered, perhaps scared that de Gaulle might use the immense popularity gained to start a coup. In any case, having come to power he immediately set out to reform everything. The Third Republic was over; the Fourth Republic was declared after a quick referendum, it was a presidential republic with a strong central government, the president transformed from powerless figurehead to, some alleged, near-dictator, especially if he used his right to suspend parlement in time of national emergency. All this was greeted with great support, the Comunista coup attempt against de Gaulle was defeated by the military and the popular Gaullist organizations, and de Gaulle's popularity soared further as his economic policy of dirigisme revitalized the long-stagnant French economy and social reforms were introduced. But ofcourse de Gaulle's most favourite and ultimately most famous (in this part of his tenure) reforms were in the military; against the opposition of the Old Guard, the military was completely overhauled; the Young Guard quickly ascended in rank, while Henri-Philippe Petain and other particularily "incorrigable" Old Guardsmen were given a honourable discharge. A new semi-professional officer corps was created, and the French army was generally professionalized. The military doctrine was revamped, also in accordance with De Gaulle's own ideas; the tortues, renamed into the better-sounding "chargers", were modernized into faster, more powerful versions, and made into the cornerstone of the new doctrine, the air force was also given more attention, the cavalry mostly abolished and the infantry mostly put into a support/defensive role.
De Gaulle moved as decisively in foreign politics as he did in domestic. Abandoning the secret diplomacy, he ever more openly moved to look for allies; Austria-Slavania and France reached a secret agreement on mutual protection from Germany, both fearing that if one was subordinated by the Kaiser, the other would at best become a glorified puppet; inroads were also made in Russia and Sweden, though not much progress was made in either (both were still not ready to openly move against Germany, and Sweden not very decided in its foreign policy, though its neutrality was beginning to seem untenable), and another secret agreement was reached with America - a nation very similar to France in both ideology - FDR and de Gaulle had similar domestic and foreign policies, though Roosevelt didn't move quite as boldly and ambitiously in the former - and interests (Germany and Britain were constantly threatening, or seemed to threaten, the interests of both countries). But the greatest coup was achieved when in 1930, with great French diplomatic support and intermediation, the Federated Kingdoms of BeNeLux (FKBNL) came into existance. The movement in favour of the creation of such a federation was not terribly popular during the 19th century, there still being some bad blood between Netherlands and Belgium, but in the 1920s support for unification grew meteorically, first due to the 1923 German attempt to annex Luxembourg - countered by the still-existant Entente - and then by the 1925 partition of the Portuguese colonial empire. Belgium and Netherlands, much like Portugal colonial empires of the second rank, had all reasons to fear that Britain and Germany would partition their colonies as well, and indeed the Germans did have plans to annex Congo sooner or later. As pretty much all such new unions, Benelux was brought together by fear of foreign aggression. However, it would not have been created - or wouldn't have lasted a year - if not for French support; de Gaulle needed as many allies as possible against Germany, and he definitely didn't want the Germans to either enlarge their colonial empire by grabbing the Belgian and Dutch ones, either attack France through Belgium as was feared during the Eurasian War; the French northern flank needed to be propped up, and the resources of an united Benelux should be just enough to deny Germany an opportunity to break through here. France and Benelux immediately signed a full alliance, and French advisors immediately poured in to assist in the creation of an united Beneluxian military. Neither Germany nor Britain were overjoyed, but apart from voicing some initial complaints had to recognize the new state.
As if stunned by the shocking, tumultous developments of 1930 - the last year of the Twenties - year 1931 went on almost quietly, well, as quietly as a 20th century year could - ofcourse, there were riots, strikes, colonial revolts, assassinations and a coup d'etat in Colombia. But certainly, it was a quiet between the storms - by its very nature, 1932 couldn't avoid that terrible fate of being the year that WOULD determine the course of world's history, for most of the world's great power are - to one extent or another - parliamentary countries, and 1932, for a great many of them, is an election year. In America, people want to know whether imperialism will continue or not; in Germany, whether or not the Kaiser would overthrow the Reichstag, or whether it would even be needed - certainly there was a certain reaction to the Sozialdemokrat reforms and especially foreign policies, though they were popular for saving and partially reviving the economy. In France, this might as well be the last election year for some time - or perhaps it might not, perhaps there emight be a revolution or, alternatively, a reaction, some even claim that the Spanish Bourbon king (in exile in Paris since everything broke down back at home) will not head de Gaulle's puppet government in Spain after Iberia is reconquered, but instead will be his puppet here in France. Britain's future is as unclear as ever. And so forth; even in those countries that don't have elections - at all or just in 1932 - this will be an important year, as in the modern world, all things are intertwined.
Before now, I only spoke in the terms of the events, and the most crucial ones at that; in this manner, it is hard to get a good glimpse of the world at large. But 1931 is a very good moment for something of a snapshot, complete with mentions of some of the less important events, both in the Twenties and in 1931 itself - for things did happen there, as I explained.
Okay, allow me to go over this in more detail. Ever since the abortive Russian Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II the Bloody's regime was maintained almost solely by German military and economic support; and that was used and abused by the Germans, who had extracted various priveleges for Russia's growing German population, from priveleges and autonomies to great power in the state itself, where Ostzeans monopolized almost all the key posts. Neither the Germans nor the Tsar were particularily popular; in combination, they were downright hated, and after a while the German immigrants gained the dubious honour of being even more hated than the Jews. For long enough the Germans had to crack down on rebellion after rebellion; that drained the German treasury considerably, and indeed by 1930 the expenses of maintaining law and order in all the puppet states and colonies nearly drove Germany to bankrupcy, when combined with the economic recession and the cost of the ongoing military buildup itself. Nevertheless, for long enough the Germans managed to defeat all the uprisings from below in both Russia and Austria-Slavania (where the Hungarians remained angry and the Poles, if anything, got even angrier, wanting to join with the Polish state); it was from above that they were unprotected. The 1925 rebellion was a watershed event in Russia's anti-Germanism; though it was defeated quickly, an unholy alliance was reached near its end between the liberals, the socialists and the nationalists, though not yet including the Black Hundreds. The socialists were mostly crippled due to the ensuing reprisals; most of them, like Trotsky, fled to Iberia anyway. But now, patriotic national-liberal organizations, bringing back the memories of the Decembrists, appeared and spread into Russian military ranks; the left was beaten, but now the center and the right wre aligned against the Germans. In 1927, the aforementioned revolution from above came (or nearly did); Nicholas II died of old age, and his Germanophobic brother Mikhail II came to power. Himself a member of one of the patriotic secret societies, Mikhail II brought Stolypin and many others back from exile, and almost moved to rescind the German autonomies and priveleges, but was blocked by the Germans. Fearing for his life and power, Mikhail II decided to remain complacent on the outside, but in secret contacted the archreactionary Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich. Anti-German pogroms were carried out by the Black Hundred organization the Union of the Archangel Michael in 1929; when the Germans moved in to intervenne agianst them the rebels got an ahead warning and were suddenly joined by the military, the Germans lost shock effect and themselves were surprised and in most cases defeated; meanwhile, Mikhail II remained mostly silent. Realizing that he was behind all this, Wilhelm II ordered a coup d'etat, but it was betrayed by one of the Ostzean ministers, Baron von Wrangel, who, to add insult to injury, was then appointed Prime Minister by Mikhail II after the defeated coup attempt as a "reconciliationary measure" (along with sending a few utterly unimportant "defected officers" to be trialed in Berlin) - after all, von Wrangel was previously appointed Minister of War upon the Kaiser's own suggestion... The Kaiser made plans for an invasion of Russia, but the Sozialdemokrats blocked that, and he had to be content with the intervention in the Carribean... which too was then called off. And in the meantime, taking the "Black Hundred incident" and the Sozialdemokrat antimilitarism as a sign of weakness, KuK Franz Ferdinand introduced extensive reformss and politely requested that German troops be withdrawn from Austrian territory, except the railroad ofcourse. The Grossbund was falling apart at the seams, the German centralization efforts having backfired; it seems only a matter of time until some of the lesser member states move away from it as well.
But, ofcourse, if "the Englishwoman" was to blame for all of Russia's woes (as a polite rephrasing of a popular, yet unprintable 19th century Russian expression goes), the French were also at least in part to blame for Germany's recent setbacks. For instance, it was their secret diplomacy that helped increase Austro-Slavanian paranoia in regards to Germany; at the height of the 1924 revolts, the French have either stolen or fabricated a German plan for the partition of Austria-Slavania, according to which Hungary and Slavania were to become independent states with Hohenzollern rulers, while Austria and Bohemia were to be annexed to Germany itself and Galicia - to the German puppet state in Poland. It isn't clear whether or not Franz Ferdinand believed this, especially after the Germans did none of this, but it is undeniable that this, and the French destabilization of the "Ostzean regime" in Russia, was influential. But already in 1928, things changed greatly - the secret diplomacy was largely curtailed in favour of open, ambitious, bold moves that noone would have expected from the Third Republic. Quite rightly so, for the Third Republic was dead; but, as George Orwell commented with some sarcasm, "the Republic is dead, long live the Republic!"
Since 1919, France was more uncertain than ever. As soon as the initial wave of patriotism after the victory - if only partial and checkered with failures and heavy casualties - in the Burgundian Campaign receded, scandals begun to break out. The people were increasingly disillusioned; Ferdinand Foch, initially the scapegoat for the defeats in Lorraine-Alsace and Italy, managed to turn the tables by writting his "Guerre Eurasiene" that was dubbed the "J'accuse of the Right" or the "J'accuse of the Military" - there, with a vengeful glee, he pointed out again and again how the government's meddling prevented France from creating a professional military and properly preparing for the war, how his proposals for economic mobilization were ignored, how the parlement delayed all important decisions, how the free press leaked all important details on the Illyrian campaign, lastly, how the war could still have been won - if only the government had listened to him, not that partisan puppet Petain, and counterattacked in full force before the Germans could recover! In the end, he hinted that if the dreaded military dictatorship with the menace of which the government had justified the lack of military professionalization and measures taken against it would have done everything the Third Republic SHOULD have done, he, a lifelong republican, would have granted it his sincere support, for France is more important. Foch died, and we will never learn if he did intend to take power. But his writings proved quite popular, especially as the radical repulicans suffered defeats in all spheres through middle Twenties - the Entente's collapse, the economic stagnation and the growth of Iberian-incited socialist riots. Georges Clemenceau eventually had to retire from politics, and everyone else in the Third Republic's la Etablissement was either discredited, held not much credit in the first place or hadn't the time to gain any degree of popularity. The people were equally dissatisfied with the incompetent Old Right and the treacherous (because of its alleged solidarity with either the German Sozialdemokrats, either the Iberian Comunistas, or maybe both) Old Left. A new leader was needed, and he indeed came from the military, well, in a way. Charles de Gaulle, despite his great war-time achievements and rank advancement, especially during the Burgundian Campaign which greatly inspired his later military theories, had eventually gained the displeasure of both the government and the military Etablissement by his unswearing Fochism even when the former commander in chief was in public disfavour and his aggressive propaganda of his radical political and military ideals (what particulary outraged him was the way tortues were written off as clumsy weapons, useless in modern warfare in both France and the rest of the world, the greatest debates being between the proponents of fortification and the proponents of German-style infantry offensives, with the propagators of armoured offensives, those of strategic airforce and the Iberians with their emphasis of special forces and unlimited guerrila operations somewhere in the fringe). He wrote feverishly essays on how all the spheres of French life must be reformed, of how the next war should be carried out and so forth; eventually he stepped on the feet of all too many people and was given a honourable discharge. But he continued writing, with even more audacity than before, most famously writing that those who are afraid of France's army "should be on the other side of the Rhine" (which could be interpreted as assurance that the military was only a weapon to used against France's enemies, or as telling the Etablissement to "go back to Germany"). Eventually elections of 1928 came, amidst heavy riots from both the newer right and the newly left; surprisingly enough, De Gaulle put forward his candidature and formed the "Parti de la Reforme Nationale"; even more surprisingly, with most old parties discredited by economic and diplomatic failures, and the more radical left losing its momentum, De Gaulle actually won; he was helped by likeminded reformists that defected to him from all directinos and by the good use of radio as a medium of propaganda (De Gaulle was, after all, extremelly innovative and interested in the development of radio in particular). Controversially, when a last-moment attempt by the pre-election members of parlement was made to revise the elections, De Gaulle declared that he shall not tolerate this sort of partisanship and attempts to weaken France; that this sort of meddling had crippled her during the Third Republic. Eventually, la Etablissement surrendered, perhaps scared that de Gaulle might use the immense popularity gained to start a coup. In any case, having come to power he immediately set out to reform everything. The Third Republic was over; the Fourth Republic was declared after a quick referendum, it was a presidential republic with a strong central government, the president transformed from powerless figurehead to, some alleged, near-dictator, especially if he used his right to suspend parlement in time of national emergency. All this was greeted with great support, the Comunista coup attempt against de Gaulle was defeated by the military and the popular Gaullist organizations, and de Gaulle's popularity soared further as his economic policy of dirigisme revitalized the long-stagnant French economy and social reforms were introduced. But ofcourse de Gaulle's most favourite and ultimately most famous (in this part of his tenure) reforms were in the military; against the opposition of the Old Guard, the military was completely overhauled; the Young Guard quickly ascended in rank, while Henri-Philippe Petain and other particularily "incorrigable" Old Guardsmen were given a honourable discharge. A new semi-professional officer corps was created, and the French army was generally professionalized. The military doctrine was revamped, also in accordance with De Gaulle's own ideas; the tortues, renamed into the better-sounding "chargers", were modernized into faster, more powerful versions, and made into the cornerstone of the new doctrine, the air force was also given more attention, the cavalry mostly abolished and the infantry mostly put into a support/defensive role.
De Gaulle moved as decisively in foreign politics as he did in domestic. Abandoning the secret diplomacy, he ever more openly moved to look for allies; Austria-Slavania and France reached a secret agreement on mutual protection from Germany, both fearing that if one was subordinated by the Kaiser, the other would at best become a glorified puppet; inroads were also made in Russia and Sweden, though not much progress was made in either (both were still not ready to openly move against Germany, and Sweden not very decided in its foreign policy, though its neutrality was beginning to seem untenable), and another secret agreement was reached with America - a nation very similar to France in both ideology - FDR and de Gaulle had similar domestic and foreign policies, though Roosevelt didn't move quite as boldly and ambitiously in the former - and interests (Germany and Britain were constantly threatening, or seemed to threaten, the interests of both countries). But the greatest coup was achieved when in 1930, with great French diplomatic support and intermediation, the Federated Kingdoms of BeNeLux (FKBNL) came into existance. The movement in favour of the creation of such a federation was not terribly popular during the 19th century, there still being some bad blood between Netherlands and Belgium, but in the 1920s support for unification grew meteorically, first due to the 1923 German attempt to annex Luxembourg - countered by the still-existant Entente - and then by the 1925 partition of the Portuguese colonial empire. Belgium and Netherlands, much like Portugal colonial empires of the second rank, had all reasons to fear that Britain and Germany would partition their colonies as well, and indeed the Germans did have plans to annex Congo sooner or later. As pretty much all such new unions, Benelux was brought together by fear of foreign aggression. However, it would not have been created - or wouldn't have lasted a year - if not for French support; de Gaulle needed as many allies as possible against Germany, and he definitely didn't want the Germans to either enlarge their colonial empire by grabbing the Belgian and Dutch ones, either attack France through Belgium as was feared during the Eurasian War; the French northern flank needed to be propped up, and the resources of an united Benelux should be just enough to deny Germany an opportunity to break through here. France and Benelux immediately signed a full alliance, and French advisors immediately poured in to assist in the creation of an united Beneluxian military. Neither Germany nor Britain were overjoyed, but apart from voicing some initial complaints had to recognize the new state.
As if stunned by the shocking, tumultous developments of 1930 - the last year of the Twenties - year 1931 went on almost quietly, well, as quietly as a 20th century year could - ofcourse, there were riots, strikes, colonial revolts, assassinations and a coup d'etat in Colombia. But certainly, it was a quiet between the storms - by its very nature, 1932 couldn't avoid that terrible fate of being the year that WOULD determine the course of world's history, for most of the world's great power are - to one extent or another - parliamentary countries, and 1932, for a great many of them, is an election year. In America, people want to know whether imperialism will continue or not; in Germany, whether or not the Kaiser would overthrow the Reichstag, or whether it would even be needed - certainly there was a certain reaction to the Sozialdemokrat reforms and especially foreign policies, though they were popular for saving and partially reviving the economy. In France, this might as well be the last election year for some time - or perhaps it might not, perhaps there emight be a revolution or, alternatively, a reaction, some even claim that the Spanish Bourbon king (in exile in Paris since everything broke down back at home) will not head de Gaulle's puppet government in Spain after Iberia is reconquered, but instead will be his puppet here in France. Britain's future is as unclear as ever. And so forth; even in those countries that don't have elections - at all or just in 1932 - this will be an important year, as in the modern world, all things are intertwined.
Before now, I only spoke in the terms of the events, and the most crucial ones at that; in this manner, it is hard to get a good glimpse of the world at large. But 1931 is a very good moment for something of a snapshot, complete with mentions of some of the less important events, both in the Twenties and in 1931 itself - for things did happen there, as I explained.
das
Regeneration In Process
The United States of America were, indeed, a Napping Giant during Woodrow Wilson's two terms (1916-1924). Wilson concentrated on domestic reforms, only moving into foreign politics to restrain some all-too-independent Central Americans and to propose idealistic projects, such as the intermediation between the Entente and the Dreikaiserbund in the Great Eurasian War and the creation of a League of Nations. None of these had success; nevertheless, America's relations with Japan improved further when full independence was granted to the Philippines in 1924 (some suggested selling to the Japanese, but Wilson didn't like that idea at all, and the other great powers in the region probably wouldn't have approved neither, while Philippine independence was a perfectly acceptable compromise). However, failure to intervenne in China, Europe or even Mexico (attempts there were made, but mostly half-hearted ones) badly hurt the American commerce and property; if anything, Britain, Germany and Japan begun to displace America from the Chinese markets, and after the later Anglo-German agreements America's economic influence in the Far East collapsed, greatly damaging the economy. Reaction against both isolationism and idealism came; President John Joseph Pershing, a Republican, concentrated during his administration on restoring order in the Carribean, especially in Mexico; during this time the American commercial priorities fully shifted from the Far East, which basically was abandoned but for continued investments in the Philippines, and exploitation of South American markets begun. It too was interrupted by the revolutionaries, allowing the Germans to eventually infiltrate the southern continent economically, but the Comunistas and the European intervention have forced the next president's hand. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (OOC: in this world, without polio and with a different career), though a Democrat (he considered reviving the Progressive Party at first, but changed his mind), was an imperialist first and foremost; he had proven that the American Empire of his cousin was not dead at all, and, after the intervention, moved in to consolidate American control very radically. Despite immense public controversy that this move aroused, he annexed - in a manner similar to the previous annexation of Puerto Rico - Mexico (note that Baja California was annexed under Pershing), Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, citing that America had put up with petty dictators and irresponsible revolutionaries for long enough and to its detriment. Central America, apart from Panama (which was also annexed to safeguard the Panama Canal properly), was reunited under the Amerophile Jorge Ubico Castaneda; the United States of Central America (or just Centroamerica) signed an alliance with the USA, and accepted American military placement, as did the new government of Venezuela; Centroamerica and Venezuela thus became USA's key allies in the region. Elsewhere, alliances were concluded with the liberal, pro-American governments of Chile and Bolivia, to block Peru, where the Apristas won and Haya de la Torre became president-dictator, annexing Ecuador later in 1931 and heading the less left-wing anti-American resistance in Latin America, and Argentina, where a pro-German military regime came to power, headed by Jose Felix Benito Uriburu y Uriburu, who was only barely dissuaded by his advisors from declaring himself "Emperor of La Plata" and introduced many reforms strenghthening his regime and Germanizing the Argentinean military. Meanwhile, Getulio Vargas introduced several French-inspired reforms in Brazil, officially redemocratizing it; though the changes were indeed mostly nominal and the National Congress powerless, this and the need to balance German influences in Argentina caused the Americans to cooperate ever closer with Brazil and allow its annexation of Uruguay. Meanwhile, in Paraguay, great political instability ensued - much as in early revolutionary Portugal, governments changed very often, and the diplomatic situation remained confused, Brazilian and Argentinean diplomats vying for Paraguayan support and border clashes with Bolivia threatening to turn into war. Lastly Colombia, led by Miguel Abadia Mendez, a Conservative figurehead in the hands of the German-trained army, was in general cooperating with Germany to an unacceptable level, and begun once more making claims to Panama. However, it shouldn't be a heavy nut to crack... Outside of the Western Hemisphere, on a global level, the USA is probably the freest of the great powers; it could ally with just about any of the old Entente members, or maybe sign a realpolitik, pragmatic pact with Germany to divide the world. And there are other options, like sponsoring Chinese reunification and then moving together to reclaim the Pacific Ocean and crush Japan... However, at present the most popular option is that of working with one of the ex-Entente powers - with Britain out of Anglo-Saxon solidarity, with France out of ideological affinity and common opposition to Germany and Britain, or with Japan to form a common front against European imperialism, which could well be replaced with a Japanese-American one...
Great Britain was waning. The Royal Navy still ruled the seas, but it was increasingly challenged by America, and to a lesser extent by Germany (which now begun a new naval buildup after the apparent failure to create an Eurasian empire based on land power instead) and Japan. Trade, despite the agreements with Germany, was on decline, production have troubles catching up with competitors. The great colonial empire was being shaken by rebellions, most notably the ones in Arabia (that resuled in a long, ultimated unsuccesful campaign against the Saudis, who had managed to create a formidable guerrila force by combining Arabian fanaticism and guille with weapons bought from all the three great powers around them) and in India (where the rebels also managed to play on complicated British diplomatic situation at home - when it was at daggers drawn with Germany, it bought German weapons, when with France, French, and also had a pretty stable supply of Japanese weapons and advisers, which caused a major international crisis and helped destroy the Entente and the Anglo-Japanese friendship in general). Though the latter was eventually kept in line by ruthless military intervention, British plans for a Dominion were constantly delayed by the rebellions, which, in turn, mostly served to further fuel Indian nationalism. Ireland was Ireland. In Palestine, the Jewish settlers proved good allies against the Saudi-incited Palestinian Arabs, but now themselves were clamouring for independence. Egyptian nationalists constantly demanded independence, and in outrageous borders at that - they refused to accept anything less than Egypt plus Sudan, and sometimes extended their claims to all the British Red Sea and Middle Eastern possessions, and even the Aegean Protectorate. The Dominions were, if anything, even worse - Canada was quickly becoming an economical colony of the USA, and some already spoke of merging with it politically, while De Gaulle's agents riled up the Quebecois; South Africa, meanwhile, radiated towards Germany and at the same time was angry at the return of Namibia to it; partially appeased by gains in Mozambique and the annexation of Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland (as was promised at the creation of the Union of South Africa), its government was however now becoming even greedier, seeking union with Rhodesia (Rhodesia was the newest and the most loyal of the Dominions, created in 1930; it included North and South Rhodesias, Nyasaland and the remnants of the British gains in Mozambique)! Australia and New Zeeland were moving closer together, obviously under Australian leadership, and that leadership was clearly unappeased by Timor; Australia in general was increasingly Germanophobic and even Anglophobic, and moving towards America in its allegience. The British Empire may not survive another war; on the other hand, a competent leadership just might carry out the oft-mentioned but never actually carried out Imperial Reform, and thus guarantee for Britain some place in modern politics; also, Britain, despite increasing mutual alienation from the world, is, like America, pretty free in choosing allies; it has grudges against everyone, but could make common cause with just about anyone as well, especially if any other given great power scares everyone enough.
Of the three greats (Britain, France and Germany) of Western Europe, France was always the weakest, burdened by an unstable political situation and shortage of manpower, put in a barely-defensible strategic position and since the Entente's collapse and the Iberian Revolution surrounded by hostile powers. Militarily-strong, France nonetheless was weaker than Britain at the sea, weaker than Germany on the land. But now, the tides seem to be turning. Britain and Germany have stagnated, their empires are in crisis, while Iberia has lost its momentum - and in the meantime, France is in its prime, reinvigorated by de Gaulle's reforms. Wonderful opportunities abound everywhere... but Britain and Germany are still strong and more vigilant than ever, and after humiliating the Reichsheer, France can be assured about total annihilation in case of defeat, with Italy as a possible example of France's future then. Victory is far from assured at this point, but very much possible if France plays its cards well.
The Iberian Commune, after stunning success early on, has as already said lost its momentum. The early successes in South America have now all been cancelled out by the foreign interventions, the economy, overstrained by the "aid" to Latin America, is at the breaking appoint - apparently to no avail. The collectivization has devastated and alienated the countryside, and with the failed interventions, popular support is running out, while the emigres hiding in Paris are openly plotting counter-revolution. And with a new, rejuvenated France just beyond the Pyrenees also openly supporting those emigres, Iberia seems doomed. But not all is lost, the population could still be rallied to the barricades, and a pragmatic, unholy alliance against France could be formed with Britain and Germany; the ideal situation ofcourse is that in which all three die. In any case, there still are opportunities for revolutionary export if Iberia holds; a new attempt could be made in America, but perhaps it would be better to exploit the recent upsurge of communism in southern Europe and the African colonies.
For decades, Sweden had managed to maintain neutrality, but its luck has nearly ran out. Gustav V - a constitutional monarch, but a one who had retained some power and influence - is being pressured by factions at home and abroad to take a stance on a variety of issues; the liberal parliament and de Gaulle are calling for Sweden to ally with France, while Gustav's wife Victoria of Baden and Kaiser Wilhelm II are demanding that Sweden join the Grossbund. Sweden's nationalists, meanwhile, are taking a generally anti-German stance, and pressing the king to reunite with Norway and/or press the claim on the Finnish-held Swedish-populated Alands, or maybe even press Sweden's old claims to Finland itself (there is actually some support for that in Finland itself), and Scandinavism is resurging - but the increasingly popular Social-Democrats are feeling solidarity with their German brethren, and are also opposed to war in general; an alliance with Germany, given taht Sweden is surrounded by German allies, is a pretty good guarantee of peace. All this shall have to be decided one day.
Germany is an empire, but an empire in crisis. Though its population - after the Eurasian War bound the north and the south together, while most Poles were expelled to Poland - is as united as ever, it is unclear whom do they love most - the reforming, stabilizing Sozialdemokrats or the militaristic, deified Kaiser. There are rumblings in the colonies; attempts to subordinate Austria-Slavania and Russia have backfired, and the Grossbund is threatening to fall apart: not only Austria and Russia are likely to leave, but the lesser "allies" as well cannot be relied upon: Norway is increasingly an independent power, Denmark has never liked Germany anyway and is only kept in line by military presence, liberal Swedophilic and conservative Russophilic oppositions in Finland are growing, and the military-headed government is virtually besieged; Poland's King Adalbert I, Wilhelm II's own son, is becoming increasingly sympathetic to Polish nationalism, and urged on by Prime Minister Zdzislaw Lubomirski to "free Poland before it is 'freed' by Russia" and by the Pozen expatriates to get their lands back. Bulgaria's government is increasingly impetuous, pushed on both by Tsar Ferdinand I's Byzantine ambitions and by Bulgarian nationalists who greatly dislike the Berlin-Baghdad Railroad that goes through their territory and is controlled by the Germans; likewise with the Turks, whose government is fed up with German control and wants to rebuild its empire. The Greek government is loyal and kept in line by the garrisons, but it has no credit whatsoever left amongst the people, and Eleutherios Venizelos in Crete is working hard to organize a national revolution. Even in Albania, Prime Minister Zogu is intriguing with the Entente, while nationalists and socialists alike seek to recentralize the Italian Federation - the German hold there is slipping again. Lastly, in Qing China unification movements are gaining strenght (see below). Germany, however, has even better chances of getting out of crisis than Britain; if it concentrates on just land domination, it may regain Eurasia, as even the Russian and Austrian armies acting together would be no match for the Reichsheer, if it concentrates on the sea - Britain's navy is bigger, but it is also outdated. France on the land and America on the sea might be more of a challenge, though...
Austria-Slavania is no more. After over a decade of ethnic and political strife, Franz Ferdinand had learned that the Croats were no better than the Magyars, especially with their frustrated colonial and Yugoslavic ambitions. Finally, he decided to overhaul the system again; Kingdoms of Bohemia, Hungary, Slavania and Galicia-Lodomeria were abolished, and the empire forcefully recentralized around Vienna; fierce resistance was sometimes encountered, but the Austrian army and secret police cracked down on it, and eventually, after a year of martial law, the imperial reform divided the Empire into geographically-determined (as opposed to ethnically) prefectures, and an united parliament was created; however, it didn't hold all that much power, and Franz Ferdinand had the right to dismiss it at will. The German and (due to the state's protection) Jewish populations all over the realm became the new regime's powerbase, other minorities were succesfully played against each other or subdued in force, like the Hungarians who were partially (and quietly) genocided or expelled by now anyway due to von Hotzendorf's unrelenting efforts. Von Hotzendorf himself, ailing, had moved to Vienna (where he still lives and is frequently consulted by the Kaiser), but his operations continued - Hungary's ethnic Magyar population was almost a half of its former self by now. In general the Austrian Empire is virtually totalitarian with both the positive and the negative results; though the repressions have damaged its great culture, and great dissent still exists in ethnic minority regions, it seems to have at last entered the harbour of stability, coinciding with great social and military reform. It seems that a clash with Germany will be inevitable, though, and even though the Austrian army has succesfully been reformed along the new French line, victory will not be assured at all.
In Russia, superficially the Germans still retain most priveleges, and the Prime Minister, Peter von Wrangel, is an ethnic German (though Russified and member of a variety of Russian "Patriotic Societies" that, along with the Black Hundreds, have replaced the German army as the pillars of the Tsarist regime), but in fact the degermanization is ongoing, the autonomies and the priveleges are being undermined and generally the government is adapting a populist, nationalist Russian line again. Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin and Sergei Vasilyevich Zubatov have great influence over the Tsar, though all three are aging; accordingly, the Russian government has returned to the old line of "Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality", but at the same time carried out extensive agrarian reforms and industrialization, and used the crippling of the socialists to gain the support of the proletariat by social reform in the cities, where it would not hurt the landowners. Russia is quickly transforming from the Sick Man of Europe it was for the past decade into a very viable power, but it is unlikely to maintain this rate of progress without foreign backing, and the Germans seem to be up to something again. Also, the liberals have gained great sympathy amongst the peasants, who have recently been reenserfed in all but in name, and a new Pugachev might appear in this worst of possible moments.
The Saudis have failed to conquer either Hejjaz or Dubai, but all attempts to dislodge them from Central Arabia have failed as well. Theocratic Wahhabis, they have succesfully rallied the Arabian tribes to a guerrila war in the desert, and the British eventually had to fall back - since then, the Saudis have returned to playing Britain, Germany and France off against each other, while secretly working to foster Arabic nationalism, competing in that field with the Egyptian nationalist societies; both the Egyptian nationalists and the Saudi Islamists want hegemony over post-colonial Middle East, but perhaps a temporary deal could be worked out.
Reza Shah's Iranian Republic had also very succesfully played the great powers against each other and for Iran, receiving great assistance from both Germany and Britain, both of which probably still think that Iran is on their side. In the meantime, great progress was achieved; the tribes were restrained and the corrupt Majles greatly limited in power; Reza Shah became a de facto dictator after 1920, but had gained only greater popularity, while great social progress (including the "de-veiling" and general emancipation of women) was achieved, the ancient Iranian culture was revived, and education brought into the countryside. Opposition only incited violent reprisals and more and more radical reforms - by 1932, Iran had become a secular state, with a professional modern army equipped with almost the best that both Germany and Britain had to offer, and education and social reform level that had surpassed that of some European countries; also Iran has a booming economy, bolstered by oil exports. Shiite reaction is now gaining strenght again, while the European powers are again a threat - Russia is rebounding, Britain is assertive and Germany is expansive - so Iran's very independence may soon be at stake. But on the other hand, the incoming interesting times shall be a time of great opportunity for Iran - as the European colonial empires are beginning to shake, and Russia remains unstable, great expansion opportunities will emerge in all directions, and perhaps all the glory of the Safavids - or maybe even of the Achaemenids! - would yet be reclaimed by President Reza Shah.
On both sides of the Yangtze, the two Chinas are militarizing, but on several occassions have been held by their leashes by their respective masters, neither of which want war or, heaven forbid, an united, strong China that might even - gasp! - lead an independent foreign policy. Neither Pu Yi, who, as the Xuantong Emperor, now ruled almost absolutely... but for the German advisors, nor Chiang Kai-Shek (for his military talent and service with the artillery called "the Chinese Napoleon"), who, Sun Yat-sen's death, became the Chinese president virtually for life but constantly prevented from either starting a proper war or introducing more reforms by the Japanese (who dominated south China economically and maintained a military presence there) were pleased by this. Also, despite generous German and Japanese investments and the prosperous economy, the people were upset as well - lack of further social reforms and the deadlock of China's bad peace, and the growing xenophobic reaction against both the Germans and the Japanese (and the other foreigners) have only fueled dissent, and support for unification is great - but there is little unity. Diehard monarchists in both the north and the south want to kill all republicans and impose the Emperor's supreme authority, their republican analogues on both sides of the Yangtze want to kill all Manchus and unite all under the Republic, the ever more popular Chinese communists, led by Chen Duxiu, gained support amongst the workers, peasants and students and want to kill both the Republicans and the Emperor, and throw out the Europeans (they have established a particularily strong presence in the European colonies, much stronger than that of other factions) too, and create a Commune like the Iberian one, but better. However, all those are more-or-less fringe movements; apart from the communists, another movement recently gained support in both Chinas, the movement for a moderate constitutional monarchy, which allegedly had gained the enthusiasm of the Xuantong Emperor himself and several important Republican officers and officials. This movement - called "Compromise or Death" (alex? Banana?) - probably has the highest chances of success, if not for German and Japanese paranoia. If China were to be united - whether peacefully or militarily - it would have good chances of becoming a regional power at least, but the foreign powers are standing in the way. Then again, perhaps a Germano-Japanese conflict will soon come, and then...
After leaving the Entente, Japan had remained in political uncertainty for a short while, but in the end national-liberalism and anti-imperialism were once more embraced. The economy grew greatly with the economic infiltration of southern China (as both American and British positions weakened there for a variety of reasons), a powerful, modern navy was built up, and great progress was achieved in aeronautics. The doctrine of Asianism (the aforementioned national-liberalism and anti-imperialism, plus social reforms and cultural renaissance) was officially adapted under the war hero Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi, who had created the Free Asian Pact of Japan, Chinese Republic and the Philippines, and controversially supplied arms to Indian rebels, incited Siam to ally with Japan (eventually, as Anglo-French strife allowed the government of the rump Siam to regain some freedom of action, and a secret alliance was agreed upon, as it was feared that open action would provoke Anglo-French intervention) and increased Japanese control over its allies through economic domination and bribes for officials. Japan is facing increasing amount of trouble from Chinese, Manchurian and Korean nationalists, and the various Marxists at home, especially Kita Ikki and his ever more popular Zubatovian ideas of "police socialism". It has also recently been stagnating. However, as the world heads into interesting times, Japan stands in position to gain the most from it and attain hegemony in Asia and the Pacific, albeit there are some serious competitors for both...
Thus, as said before, 1932 would be a decisive year, when many important things would be decided. By now, the enthropy in international politics has reached the maximum point, as one great alliance is dead and another is in agony; now, new ones will be consolidated or old ones would be revived, and sooner or later, the next great war will come - the great powers fighting for hegemony, the small - for survival and possibly the advancement to the rank of great powers as well. And this time, the good old world order may not survive at all...
Great Britain was waning. The Royal Navy still ruled the seas, but it was increasingly challenged by America, and to a lesser extent by Germany (which now begun a new naval buildup after the apparent failure to create an Eurasian empire based on land power instead) and Japan. Trade, despite the agreements with Germany, was on decline, production have troubles catching up with competitors. The great colonial empire was being shaken by rebellions, most notably the ones in Arabia (that resuled in a long, ultimated unsuccesful campaign against the Saudis, who had managed to create a formidable guerrila force by combining Arabian fanaticism and guille with weapons bought from all the three great powers around them) and in India (where the rebels also managed to play on complicated British diplomatic situation at home - when it was at daggers drawn with Germany, it bought German weapons, when with France, French, and also had a pretty stable supply of Japanese weapons and advisers, which caused a major international crisis and helped destroy the Entente and the Anglo-Japanese friendship in general). Though the latter was eventually kept in line by ruthless military intervention, British plans for a Dominion were constantly delayed by the rebellions, which, in turn, mostly served to further fuel Indian nationalism. Ireland was Ireland. In Palestine, the Jewish settlers proved good allies against the Saudi-incited Palestinian Arabs, but now themselves were clamouring for independence. Egyptian nationalists constantly demanded independence, and in outrageous borders at that - they refused to accept anything less than Egypt plus Sudan, and sometimes extended their claims to all the British Red Sea and Middle Eastern possessions, and even the Aegean Protectorate. The Dominions were, if anything, even worse - Canada was quickly becoming an economical colony of the USA, and some already spoke of merging with it politically, while De Gaulle's agents riled up the Quebecois; South Africa, meanwhile, radiated towards Germany and at the same time was angry at the return of Namibia to it; partially appeased by gains in Mozambique and the annexation of Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland (as was promised at the creation of the Union of South Africa), its government was however now becoming even greedier, seeking union with Rhodesia (Rhodesia was the newest and the most loyal of the Dominions, created in 1930; it included North and South Rhodesias, Nyasaland and the remnants of the British gains in Mozambique)! Australia and New Zeeland were moving closer together, obviously under Australian leadership, and that leadership was clearly unappeased by Timor; Australia in general was increasingly Germanophobic and even Anglophobic, and moving towards America in its allegience. The British Empire may not survive another war; on the other hand, a competent leadership just might carry out the oft-mentioned but never actually carried out Imperial Reform, and thus guarantee for Britain some place in modern politics; also, Britain, despite increasing mutual alienation from the world, is, like America, pretty free in choosing allies; it has grudges against everyone, but could make common cause with just about anyone as well, especially if any other given great power scares everyone enough.
Of the three greats (Britain, France and Germany) of Western Europe, France was always the weakest, burdened by an unstable political situation and shortage of manpower, put in a barely-defensible strategic position and since the Entente's collapse and the Iberian Revolution surrounded by hostile powers. Militarily-strong, France nonetheless was weaker than Britain at the sea, weaker than Germany on the land. But now, the tides seem to be turning. Britain and Germany have stagnated, their empires are in crisis, while Iberia has lost its momentum - and in the meantime, France is in its prime, reinvigorated by de Gaulle's reforms. Wonderful opportunities abound everywhere... but Britain and Germany are still strong and more vigilant than ever, and after humiliating the Reichsheer, France can be assured about total annihilation in case of defeat, with Italy as a possible example of France's future then. Victory is far from assured at this point, but very much possible if France plays its cards well.
The Iberian Commune, after stunning success early on, has as already said lost its momentum. The early successes in South America have now all been cancelled out by the foreign interventions, the economy, overstrained by the "aid" to Latin America, is at the breaking appoint - apparently to no avail. The collectivization has devastated and alienated the countryside, and with the failed interventions, popular support is running out, while the emigres hiding in Paris are openly plotting counter-revolution. And with a new, rejuvenated France just beyond the Pyrenees also openly supporting those emigres, Iberia seems doomed. But not all is lost, the population could still be rallied to the barricades, and a pragmatic, unholy alliance against France could be formed with Britain and Germany; the ideal situation ofcourse is that in which all three die. In any case, there still are opportunities for revolutionary export if Iberia holds; a new attempt could be made in America, but perhaps it would be better to exploit the recent upsurge of communism in southern Europe and the African colonies.
For decades, Sweden had managed to maintain neutrality, but its luck has nearly ran out. Gustav V - a constitutional monarch, but a one who had retained some power and influence - is being pressured by factions at home and abroad to take a stance on a variety of issues; the liberal parliament and de Gaulle are calling for Sweden to ally with France, while Gustav's wife Victoria of Baden and Kaiser Wilhelm II are demanding that Sweden join the Grossbund. Sweden's nationalists, meanwhile, are taking a generally anti-German stance, and pressing the king to reunite with Norway and/or press the claim on the Finnish-held Swedish-populated Alands, or maybe even press Sweden's old claims to Finland itself (there is actually some support for that in Finland itself), and Scandinavism is resurging - but the increasingly popular Social-Democrats are feeling solidarity with their German brethren, and are also opposed to war in general; an alliance with Germany, given taht Sweden is surrounded by German allies, is a pretty good guarantee of peace. All this shall have to be decided one day.
Germany is an empire, but an empire in crisis. Though its population - after the Eurasian War bound the north and the south together, while most Poles were expelled to Poland - is as united as ever, it is unclear whom do they love most - the reforming, stabilizing Sozialdemokrats or the militaristic, deified Kaiser. There are rumblings in the colonies; attempts to subordinate Austria-Slavania and Russia have backfired, and the Grossbund is threatening to fall apart: not only Austria and Russia are likely to leave, but the lesser "allies" as well cannot be relied upon: Norway is increasingly an independent power, Denmark has never liked Germany anyway and is only kept in line by military presence, liberal Swedophilic and conservative Russophilic oppositions in Finland are growing, and the military-headed government is virtually besieged; Poland's King Adalbert I, Wilhelm II's own son, is becoming increasingly sympathetic to Polish nationalism, and urged on by Prime Minister Zdzislaw Lubomirski to "free Poland before it is 'freed' by Russia" and by the Pozen expatriates to get their lands back. Bulgaria's government is increasingly impetuous, pushed on both by Tsar Ferdinand I's Byzantine ambitions and by Bulgarian nationalists who greatly dislike the Berlin-Baghdad Railroad that goes through their territory and is controlled by the Germans; likewise with the Turks, whose government is fed up with German control and wants to rebuild its empire. The Greek government is loyal and kept in line by the garrisons, but it has no credit whatsoever left amongst the people, and Eleutherios Venizelos in Crete is working hard to organize a national revolution. Even in Albania, Prime Minister Zogu is intriguing with the Entente, while nationalists and socialists alike seek to recentralize the Italian Federation - the German hold there is slipping again. Lastly, in Qing China unification movements are gaining strenght (see below). Germany, however, has even better chances of getting out of crisis than Britain; if it concentrates on just land domination, it may regain Eurasia, as even the Russian and Austrian armies acting together would be no match for the Reichsheer, if it concentrates on the sea - Britain's navy is bigger, but it is also outdated. France on the land and America on the sea might be more of a challenge, though...
Austria-Slavania is no more. After over a decade of ethnic and political strife, Franz Ferdinand had learned that the Croats were no better than the Magyars, especially with their frustrated colonial and Yugoslavic ambitions. Finally, he decided to overhaul the system again; Kingdoms of Bohemia, Hungary, Slavania and Galicia-Lodomeria were abolished, and the empire forcefully recentralized around Vienna; fierce resistance was sometimes encountered, but the Austrian army and secret police cracked down on it, and eventually, after a year of martial law, the imperial reform divided the Empire into geographically-determined (as opposed to ethnically) prefectures, and an united parliament was created; however, it didn't hold all that much power, and Franz Ferdinand had the right to dismiss it at will. The German and (due to the state's protection) Jewish populations all over the realm became the new regime's powerbase, other minorities were succesfully played against each other or subdued in force, like the Hungarians who were partially (and quietly) genocided or expelled by now anyway due to von Hotzendorf's unrelenting efforts. Von Hotzendorf himself, ailing, had moved to Vienna (where he still lives and is frequently consulted by the Kaiser), but his operations continued - Hungary's ethnic Magyar population was almost a half of its former self by now. In general the Austrian Empire is virtually totalitarian with both the positive and the negative results; though the repressions have damaged its great culture, and great dissent still exists in ethnic minority regions, it seems to have at last entered the harbour of stability, coinciding with great social and military reform. It seems that a clash with Germany will be inevitable, though, and even though the Austrian army has succesfully been reformed along the new French line, victory will not be assured at all.
In Russia, superficially the Germans still retain most priveleges, and the Prime Minister, Peter von Wrangel, is an ethnic German (though Russified and member of a variety of Russian "Patriotic Societies" that, along with the Black Hundreds, have replaced the German army as the pillars of the Tsarist regime), but in fact the degermanization is ongoing, the autonomies and the priveleges are being undermined and generally the government is adapting a populist, nationalist Russian line again. Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin and Sergei Vasilyevich Zubatov have great influence over the Tsar, though all three are aging; accordingly, the Russian government has returned to the old line of "Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality", but at the same time carried out extensive agrarian reforms and industrialization, and used the crippling of the socialists to gain the support of the proletariat by social reform in the cities, where it would not hurt the landowners. Russia is quickly transforming from the Sick Man of Europe it was for the past decade into a very viable power, but it is unlikely to maintain this rate of progress without foreign backing, and the Germans seem to be up to something again. Also, the liberals have gained great sympathy amongst the peasants, who have recently been reenserfed in all but in name, and a new Pugachev might appear in this worst of possible moments.
The Saudis have failed to conquer either Hejjaz or Dubai, but all attempts to dislodge them from Central Arabia have failed as well. Theocratic Wahhabis, they have succesfully rallied the Arabian tribes to a guerrila war in the desert, and the British eventually had to fall back - since then, the Saudis have returned to playing Britain, Germany and France off against each other, while secretly working to foster Arabic nationalism, competing in that field with the Egyptian nationalist societies; both the Egyptian nationalists and the Saudi Islamists want hegemony over post-colonial Middle East, but perhaps a temporary deal could be worked out.
Reza Shah's Iranian Republic had also very succesfully played the great powers against each other and for Iran, receiving great assistance from both Germany and Britain, both of which probably still think that Iran is on their side. In the meantime, great progress was achieved; the tribes were restrained and the corrupt Majles greatly limited in power; Reza Shah became a de facto dictator after 1920, but had gained only greater popularity, while great social progress (including the "de-veiling" and general emancipation of women) was achieved, the ancient Iranian culture was revived, and education brought into the countryside. Opposition only incited violent reprisals and more and more radical reforms - by 1932, Iran had become a secular state, with a professional modern army equipped with almost the best that both Germany and Britain had to offer, and education and social reform level that had surpassed that of some European countries; also Iran has a booming economy, bolstered by oil exports. Shiite reaction is now gaining strenght again, while the European powers are again a threat - Russia is rebounding, Britain is assertive and Germany is expansive - so Iran's very independence may soon be at stake. But on the other hand, the incoming interesting times shall be a time of great opportunity for Iran - as the European colonial empires are beginning to shake, and Russia remains unstable, great expansion opportunities will emerge in all directions, and perhaps all the glory of the Safavids - or maybe even of the Achaemenids! - would yet be reclaimed by President Reza Shah.
On both sides of the Yangtze, the two Chinas are militarizing, but on several occassions have been held by their leashes by their respective masters, neither of which want war or, heaven forbid, an united, strong China that might even - gasp! - lead an independent foreign policy. Neither Pu Yi, who, as the Xuantong Emperor, now ruled almost absolutely... but for the German advisors, nor Chiang Kai-Shek (for his military talent and service with the artillery called "the Chinese Napoleon"), who, Sun Yat-sen's death, became the Chinese president virtually for life but constantly prevented from either starting a proper war or introducing more reforms by the Japanese (who dominated south China economically and maintained a military presence there) were pleased by this. Also, despite generous German and Japanese investments and the prosperous economy, the people were upset as well - lack of further social reforms and the deadlock of China's bad peace, and the growing xenophobic reaction against both the Germans and the Japanese (and the other foreigners) have only fueled dissent, and support for unification is great - but there is little unity. Diehard monarchists in both the north and the south want to kill all republicans and impose the Emperor's supreme authority, their republican analogues on both sides of the Yangtze want to kill all Manchus and unite all under the Republic, the ever more popular Chinese communists, led by Chen Duxiu, gained support amongst the workers, peasants and students and want to kill both the Republicans and the Emperor, and throw out the Europeans (they have established a particularily strong presence in the European colonies, much stronger than that of other factions) too, and create a Commune like the Iberian one, but better. However, all those are more-or-less fringe movements; apart from the communists, another movement recently gained support in both Chinas, the movement for a moderate constitutional monarchy, which allegedly had gained the enthusiasm of the Xuantong Emperor himself and several important Republican officers and officials. This movement - called "Compromise or Death" (alex? Banana?) - probably has the highest chances of success, if not for German and Japanese paranoia. If China were to be united - whether peacefully or militarily - it would have good chances of becoming a regional power at least, but the foreign powers are standing in the way. Then again, perhaps a Germano-Japanese conflict will soon come, and then...
After leaving the Entente, Japan had remained in political uncertainty for a short while, but in the end national-liberalism and anti-imperialism were once more embraced. The economy grew greatly with the economic infiltration of southern China (as both American and British positions weakened there for a variety of reasons), a powerful, modern navy was built up, and great progress was achieved in aeronautics. The doctrine of Asianism (the aforementioned national-liberalism and anti-imperialism, plus social reforms and cultural renaissance) was officially adapted under the war hero Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi, who had created the Free Asian Pact of Japan, Chinese Republic and the Philippines, and controversially supplied arms to Indian rebels, incited Siam to ally with Japan (eventually, as Anglo-French strife allowed the government of the rump Siam to regain some freedom of action, and a secret alliance was agreed upon, as it was feared that open action would provoke Anglo-French intervention) and increased Japanese control over its allies through economic domination and bribes for officials. Japan is facing increasing amount of trouble from Chinese, Manchurian and Korean nationalists, and the various Marxists at home, especially Kita Ikki and his ever more popular Zubatovian ideas of "police socialism". It has also recently been stagnating. However, as the world heads into interesting times, Japan stands in position to gain the most from it and attain hegemony in Asia and the Pacific, albeit there are some serious competitors for both...
Thus, as said before, 1932 would be a decisive year, when many important things would be decided. By now, the enthropy in international politics has reached the maximum point, as one great alliance is dead and another is in agony; now, new ones will be consolidated or old ones would be revived, and sooner or later, the next great war will come - the great powers fighting for hegemony, the small - for survival and possibly the advancement to the rank of great powers as well. And this time, the good old world order may not survive at all...
das
Regeneration In Process
Sorry about walls of text, if these disturb you too much tell me, I'll divide some of them.
Okay, now all I need to do is a map. I am personally rather fond of this setting - multipolarity, lots of ways this could go, and we almost inevitably will immediately jump into the fray. I will gladly support and assist any attempts to make it into a NES.
Okay, now all I need to do is a map. I am personally rather fond of this setting - multipolarity, lots of ways this could go, and we almost inevitably will immediately jump into the fray. I will gladly support and assist any attempts to make it into a NES.
das
Regeneration In Process
Incidentally, if you haven't guessed it yet, comments, questions and so forth WOULD be appreciated.
Symphony D.
Deity
Don't expect to post something that large and receive comments within 6 hours, at the earliest.
Made my way through the first post. Considering it had just established itself, the idea of the Iberian Commune immediately exporting revolution to Latin America seems sort of abrupt. The USSR, PRC, North Korea, Cuba, et al, all took somewhere between 5 to 10 years after establishment for the purges and buildups to occur sufficiently to allow them to do similar. I find it more likely they would spend more time consolidating than immediately setting out to provoke the Americans, but it's not wildly impossible or anything.
Made my way through the first post. Considering it had just established itself, the idea of the Iberian Commune immediately exporting revolution to Latin America seems sort of abrupt. The USSR, PRC, North Korea, Cuba, et al, all took somewhere between 5 to 10 years after establishment for the purges and buildups to occur sufficiently to allow them to do similar. I find it more likely they would spend more time consolidating than immediately setting out to provoke the Americans, but it's not wildly impossible or anything.
Luckymoose
The World is Mine
Das can I have a summary? Or could you publish that as a Novel?
das
Regeneration In Process
Sorry about the impatience.
Seemingly so. However, Iberia did consolidate for a while. Also, your examples aren't completely correct - the USSR from the very beginning had worked to bolster the revoutionary cause abroad, and even before the civil war was over had already intervenned in Mongolia (and worked in Turkey); and only the Poles (and the Entente assisting Poland) had prevented similar interventions in German and Hungarian events, and Cuba also immediately begun working together with other Latin American revolutionaries. I do think that their intervention got too large too fast; it did hurt them realistically in the long run, though. Also, they didn't overthrow all those governments by themselves - in the early stages especially, they mostly just inspired the local revolutionaries and helped them with their experience. The volunteer brigades arrived mostly in 1929 and 1930, helping exploit the early victories.
Seemingly so. However, Iberia did consolidate for a while. Also, your examples aren't completely correct - the USSR from the very beginning had worked to bolster the revoutionary cause abroad, and even before the civil war was over had already intervenned in Mongolia (and worked in Turkey); and only the Poles (and the Entente assisting Poland) had prevented similar interventions in German and Hungarian events, and Cuba also immediately begun working together with other Latin American revolutionaries. I do think that their intervention got too large too fast; it did hurt them realistically in the long run, though. Also, they didn't overthrow all those governments by themselves - in the early stages especially, they mostly just inspired the local revolutionaries and helped them with their experience. The volunteer brigades arrived mostly in 1929 and 1930, helping exploit the early victories.
Reno
The Studio Ghibli Fanatic
Constitutional Monarchy, I demand Constitutional Monarchy. Othervise good, plenty of my relatives (Grandfathers father for example) were part of the Jägers in OTL.
ThomAnder
Deity
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2004
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IMO the likelihood of a constitutional monarchy to be agreed by both diehard monarchist and republicans is too unlikely. Both the monarchist and the republicans would only blame the other for china's current state, eliminating any chances of cooperation and even turnign up arms against eachother (i imagine something like communist and nationalist during WWII, alliance in name only).
das
Regeneration In Process
Then go and overthrow it.
The diehards don't accept it at all, that's why they're diehards. Its the moderates and the nationalists that agree.
ThomAnder
Deity
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2004
- Messages
- 2,237
But my point is that in the early run to consolidate themselves either side including the moderates and nationalists would lay all the blame on the party opposite the yangtze, and to suddenly reconcile with them is basically uprooting yourselves of the support you've garnered all this time. People will also wonder why rebel in the first place and bother setting up a republic at all? Also there's the issue of corrupt politicians who do whatever the foreign powers tells them to do, which in this case = prevent a unification. Even without this, most politicians in order to save their own ass would probably want things to stay as it is (qing officials, especially manchu, would be afraid to lose power in a constitutional monarchy, republicans would fear reprisal for commiting treason). Although the constitutional monarchy sounds like a nice compromise, we all know that compromises only end up upsetting both parties, especially one of this magnitude.
Btw, what's the japanese position on the idea of unification anyway?
Btw, what's the japanese position on the idea of unification anyway?
das
Regeneration In Process
Problem is, both sides have been doing that for some time now, but the masses are increasingly discontent. None of the trully important people gave this OFFICIAL support - note that I made it clear that it is only ALLEGED, although most politicians do preffer to keep as many options as possible open, and the Emperor does indeed consider granting this movement support (if only just to sabotage the Republic because its igovernment is extremelly to accept this).
The Japanese are opposed, ofcourse.
The Japanese are opposed, ofcourse.
Swissempire
Poet Jester
This would make an amzing NES, quite good indeed. Also, with Mussolini a factor in the construction of the Iberian Commune, is it much more authoritarianly lead, or no?
Symphony D.
Deity
Conceeded, however I would point out that most of them achieved little that was notable until roughly those durations. Mongolia is after all, Mongolia. It's somewhat different than setting everything south of Texas in the Western Hemisphere aflame. But, it's still plausible, so it's not a huge gripe. I'll read the rest when I get back home.das said:
carmen510
Deity
Get an agent and make him find a publisher das. 
It would be great if you could make it into a book! 
Many alt history books have been succesful.
It would be great if you could make it into a book! Many alt history books have been succesful.
Israelite9191
You should be reading
A collection of alternate-histories from the Never Ending Stories community. I predict a best-seller!
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