Capto Iugulum

The last two make me think the islands were discovered by a barber. I like the first (if I may say so), it's original and fun.
 
I like 1. White backgrounds on flags make them look a bit boring and empty. Option 1 looks really cool though.
 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

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National Background:

The British faced a major defeat when they lost the War of the American Presidency, losing large chunks of their empire. This proved to be the second major defeat against Spain in less than twenty years, and seemed to settle the accounts between the two powers. After the end of the coalition's war in China and the partition of the Chinese regions in 1855, Britain withdrew into itself, remaining isolated from global politics and affairs in favor of free commerce and trade. This proved to be a massive boon for the British, driving their economy forward and leading to a surge in industry and commerce. In 1862, the British expanded their empire once more into Indochina with an invasion of Burma, and went through a two year war to complete their conquest. This war proved the first use of machine guns as a devastating weapon against a massed enemy, and the British ultimately succeeded. King John IX died in 1873, a year before the Treaty of Amsterdam would secure Britain's sphere of influence throughout Africa, granting them a substantially larger empire. His successor and daughter, Queen Anne, further led Britain in the conquest of Siam in 1883-1885, securing the whole of Indochina for the British crown. Unfortunately Britain's rapid expansion would be marred at the tail end of the nineteenth century with the outbreak of war with Russia in 1898. Threats of war from the Roman Empire and Scandinavia prevented the British from directly attacking any core regions of the Russian Empire, and were instead forced to wage war halfway around the world in New Britain. The long logistics and the massive Russian army proved too much for the British to handle, and the Anglo-Russian War came to an end in 1899, with a humiliating defeat for the British Empire. The British government learned that perhaps isolation would no longer suit them, as the Russians had acquired formidable friends, allowing them to achieve such a victory.

In the beginning of the 20th century, a new political force emerged in Great Britain in the form of the Union Jacks. The Union Jacks are a jingoist nationalistic political party seeking to right the wrongs of the past and put Britain in the geopolitical position the nation deserved. They extended friendship to the Americans and brought them on their side and challeneged the Continental Powers (including the Empire of Spain, still the global hegemon) in the Great War. The result of the Great War was the defeat of the Continental Powers and Britain no longer playing second fiddle to the Empire of Spain, and becoming the richest and, arguably, the most powerful nation in the world. British support of Brazil and the United American Republic in the American Civil War (which lead to the creation of the Second Union of the United States of America) has given Great Britain powerful allies to further exert her growing power on the international stage.


Formal Name for the Army: Royal Army
Formal Name for the Navy: Royal Navy
Status of the Air Force: Attached to Royal Army
Formal Name for the Air Force: Royal Air Force

Monarch's Title: King of England, King of Scotland, Duke of Wales, King of Ireland, Emperor of Madagascar, King of Siam, Emperor of Vietnam
Monarchy's Dynasty Name: House of Tudor (current Monarch: King Richard IV)
Dynastic Succession Law: Agnatic-Cognatic (female successor only if there is no male heir)
Extent of Monarch's Power: The Monarchy has no true power and merely performs ceremonial functions.

Legislative Structure: Monarch, Senate, Congress, Supreme Court
Suffrage: Universal male suffrage for adults (18+ years)
Status of Labor Unions: Legal

Political Parties

Traditional Proletarist: British Proletarist Party (minor, no seats in Parliament)
Social Proletarist: Labour Party (major, majority seats in Parliament)

Liberal: Liberal Party (minor, handful of seats in Parliament)
Moderate: Democratic Party (minor, no seats in Parliament)
Conservative: Conservative Party (minor, handful of seats in Parliament

Militarist/Nationalist: Empire Party ["Union Jacks"] (major, leading minority party in Parliament)
Moralist: Anglican Republican Party (minor, no seats in Parliament)
Nationalist/Separatist: Empire Party ["Union Jacks"] (see above)
Scottish National Party (minor, no seats in Parliament)
Irish National Congress (significant in Ireland)
South African Liberty Party (significant in South Africa)
Australian Democratic Congress (significant in Australia)

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To: Workers Commonwealth of Scandinavia, Germany
From: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland


We do not approve of this alliance between your nations and do not take it lightly in the slightest.

OOC: @Iggy: I vote 2.
 
OOC: all my background(s) for what happened in Brittany between 1900 and 1920 sucked so I left that out.
Brittany
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National Background
Brittany gained a growing reputation throughout the nineteenth century as one of the two great neutral states along the English Channel. The Bretons developed a distinct Celtic identity far separate from the predominant status of the French states of Western Europe's interior. Though they had signed the Treaty of Poitiers, they argued that it did not apply when the Second Orleans War broke out in 1854. They refused to take part against either side, maintaining limited commerce with each warring faction. This helped improve Brittany's prosperity in the area, particularly as vicious raiding and warfare left agricultural regions of Western Europe devastated. Brittany would develop throughout the remainder of the century, though occasionally with very terse relationships with the new Franco-Burgundian Confederation. Regardless, in 1900, Brittany's status as an isolated neutral state is well preserved, and they remain prosperous and stable, with exception of occasional outbreaks of violence from French nationalists.

Flavour Stuff
Spoiler :
This gives the positions of the provinces and the province names.
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Formal Name of your Nation: Breizh
Formal Name for the Army: Ymerodrol Fyddin o Breizh
Formal Name for the Navy: Ymerodrol Llynges o Breizh
Status of Labor Unions: Legal


Democratic Information
Title of Head of State: n/a
Name of Current Head of State: n/a
Head of State Election Process: Each city or rural region votes for several people to sit on a Bwrdeistrefol Cyngor. In this council, one of the representatives is voted. This person becomes a part of his Taleithol Cyngor. They then elect one member from that council, and that member becomes a member of the Cenedlaethol Cygnor. There is no true single democratic head of state.
Name of the Legislature(s):
1. Cenedlaethol - National
2. Taleithiol - Provincial
3. Bwrdeistrefol - Municipal
Suffrage: Universal Suffrage over 20.

Political Parties(goals under each entry)
Social Proletariat: Proletarist Cymdeithasol
Focused on turning Brittany into a Proletariat government by being elected into power.
Monarchist: Frenhinwr Is-adran
Fully focused on restoring the full power of the monarchy even if they don't want it.
Liberal: Blaid Ryddfrydol
Limited Regulation of business, fanatical protection of democracy, isolationism
Moderate: Parti Cymedrol
The balancing act. The middleground of Conservative and Liberal ideals.
Conservative: Plaid Geidwadol
Free Market, isolationism
Military: N/A
Religous: N/A
N/A: Gwiethwyr Sosialaidd Cenedlaethol Llydaweg Blaid
Giving the king more power, 100% regulation of business, heavy Theocracy, military enforcement of laws.
Terrorists(Illegal)
N/A: Anarchiaeth(pure chaos)
Rip down everyone and everything and enjoy the chaos.
N/A: Rhyddid Blaid(anti-proletariat fascist-esque group)(unknown)
Power, rip down the current system through secrecy and replace it with theirs.
Traditional Proletariat: Radicalau
Forcing Brittany to become a Proletariat state.
Franco-Burgundian Nationalists: Undeb â Bwrgwyn
Making Brittany become a part of the Franco-Burgundian Confederation.
Monarchy Information

Monarch's Title: Brenin
Monarchy's Dynasty Name: Arnault
Extent of Monarch's Power: A vote in the Cenedlaethol Cyngor, and a representative of the country.
 
To: Germany
From: Italy


We urge you to reconsider this agreement with the Proletarians. If you are to share military designs, technologies, schematics as well as agree to work together militarily and technologically then we may have a problem. Italy does not want any of it's technology or military designs to be spread to the Proletarians since we have made it quite clear publicly that we wish to have nothing to do with or aid. Proletarians are a virus and a plague and we hope you will think about our request to you long and hard.

OOC: Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Traitors get what traitors deserve. ;)

Spoiler :
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National Background
In 1852, it had appeared that the fortunes of the Mamluke Caliphate had finally been reversed, as the Sennar Sultanate was crushed and a purge of the army resulted in increased stability. Furthermore, the Wahabi rebels were decisively crushed in 1853, eliminating yet another threat against the Caliph. Two years later, ambitious of his chances of victory, Caliph Abdul Bitar initiated an invasion of Persia, blaming them for the prior misfortunes of the Caliphate. The war started well, but began swinging back and forth for nearly five years. Western Persia and the lands around the Tigris and Euphrates were devastated, as thousands died in a stalemated conflict. By 1860, both Persia and the Caliphate were exhausted of war, and the stalemate was turned into a peace restoring the borders which existed before the war. Fortunately the peace would spare the Caliphate from yet another front in the greatest challenge to come. In 1862, less than two years after the war with Persia ended, the Caliphate came under a vicious assault from a number of allied Christian powers. In what some called in Europe, the Tenth Crusade, Spain, Scandinavia, the Roman Empire, and a host of smaller Christian states invaded the Caliphate. Egypt was lost to the invaders, as was Jerusalem and most of what the Christians referred to as the Holy Land. Despite their exhaustion from the previous war, the veteran soldiers of the Caliph's served a good account of themselves against the invaders. Regardless, the Caliph was forced to sign a devastating peace, losing large tracts of territory, including the vibrant heartlands of Egypt. This major defeat sent the Caliphate into a spiral, ending with the assassination of the Caliph in 1886, and the proclamation of the Arabian Empire in Baghdad by his assassins. Emperor Dawud managed to preserve the new nation, winning yet another war against the Persians in 1889 using designs and doctrines patterned off those of Spain, and securing the position of the Arabian Empire as still the strongest independent nation in the Middle East until his death in 1899. His heir was proclaimed Emperor Matta, and is hoped to be a true leader for the beleaguered Arabian people in the twentieth century.

Emperor Matta would lead the Arabian Empire through a turbulent and ultimately successful rule. Emperor Matta's supportive stance on state sponsored Nationalism would see an increase of Arab violence throughout the Middle East with attacks being made upon Persian citizens within the Arabian Empire. This Nationalism ultimately culminated into a major Arab revolt within the Spanish Holy Land colony. Not wanting to lose the initiative Emperor Matta declared foolishly(or what many thought at the time anyway) a war against the Empire of Spain with the goal of liberating the oppressed Arabs of the region. As expected war with Spain also meant war with Persia and her Turkish puppet. With her superior Armed forces as well as support from Kurdistan and the Allies victory was ultimately achieved for the Arabian Empire. With this victory came the liberation of the Holy Land to the Arabian Empire.

In the aftermath of the Great War Arab Nationalism continued to spark throughout the Arabian Peninsular ultimately leading to an attempted Arab Revolution within the Kingdom of Oman. This revolution while ultimately a failure almost sparked a war between the Arabian Empire and the Oman-Yemen Alliance as these Nations threatened the Arabian Empire to cease its Nationalist policies. Unwilling to back their threats war was ultimately averted however relations throughout the Arabian Peninsular were severed leading to a period of distrust in the region. The death of Emperor Matta bought about a period of mourning in the Arabian Empire. Emperor Mohammed ascended the throne with the hope of a peaceful and stable reign however minor border skirmishes would be the norm in the South of the Arabian Peninsular. Ultimately these would escalate in 1919 to all out war as the valiant forces of the Arabian Empire finally responded to put an end to these skirmishes once and for all. With an untested ruler and a brutal war in the making the strength and willpower of the Arabian Empire and her people will be tested yet again. Only time will tell the tale of the Arabian People.

National Flag
Same as the previous Background flag.

Flavor Stuff
Formal Name of your Nation: The Arabian Empire
Formal Name for the Army: The Imperial Arab Army
Formal Name for the Navy: The Imperial Arab Navy
Status of the Air Force (if applicable): Attached to the Army
Formal Name for the Air Force (if applicable Independent Organization): N/A
Status of Labor Unions: Illegal as Allah wills

Monarchy
Monarch's Title: Emperor
Monarchy's Dynasty Name: Abbas
Extent of Monarch's Power: The Emperor holds total power in the Arabian Empire. A right granted by Allah and the people for life. The Emperor obviously chooses not to bother himself with the trivial things of management and generally delegates these as required however would utilize his powers to meld things to his liking or in an emergency. Obviously is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed forces.

NOTE: Background includes the original background for continuity purposes.
 
The Franco-Burgundian Confederation

National Background
The Kingdoms of Paris and Burgundy proved themselves one of the rising political and military powers of Europe in the Third Venetian War, and then later in the Italian Crusade. Only a year later in 1854, war broke out when the Languedoc province of Orleans rose in rebellion at the behest of Paris and Burgundy. King Philippe pledged his support for the rebels, provoking war with Languedoc and their Spanish allies. The entry of Spain was used however to bring a number of other states, such as Dauphine, Piedmont, Poitou, and Normandy into the war. The Dutch also entered into the fight, providing naval backup to the French. In series of pitched battles, the French defeated the Spanish in a number of major battles, and ultimately invaded Languedoc and conquered Orleans. Unfortunately, the arrival of Spanish reinforcements and the entry of Sardinia into the war prevented a total victory. With no real hope remaining for total conquest of France, a deal was struck with the Spanish Empire. Spain agreed to recognize the victory of Paris-Burgundy, and allowed the annexation of Orleans to the kingdoms. In 1858, the old Treaty of Poitiers was transformed into the creation of a larger confederation. The new Franco-Burgundian Confederation consisted of the former nations of Piedmont, Paris, Burgundy, Dauphine, Normandy, Orleans, and Poitou. It was allowed by Spain, due to their exhaustion from the war, and the new predominantly French state entered a period of unprecedented prosperity. Reforms were continued by the liberal government, resulting in the elimination of the old secret police force in 1862. Furthermore, colonial positions were expanded, as the Confederations hold over China grew, and a colonial war broke out with Poland in 1871. This war took longer than expected, as the Poles put up a good fight, plus Japanese involvement nearly brought an additional player into the war against the French and Dutch. The Japanese managed to seize the Confederation's hold over Seoul, and then forced the Confederate navy to stand down with an overwhelming display of naval force. The war ended in 1873, giving the Confederation a massive slice of the former Polish colonial empire, and a fresh start on imperialism. These gains would be confirmed in the Amsterdam Conference in 1874, securing the Confederation's sphere of African influence. In 1890, the strong relationship between the Confederation and Netherlands would be secured with a defensive alliance signed between the two. By 1900, the Franco-Burgundian Confederation was one of the Great Powers of Europe, a major industrial power, challenging, and in some ways surpassing the economic strength of the older industrial powers of Spain and Britain. This hsd been a manner of securing the inherently unstable Confederation, which continued to suffer with the rise of a new group of radicals with each passing year. Proletarists and nationalists lurked around every corner, with significant swathes of the Confederation seeking independence or revolution.

The new century saw the formation of the Triple Alliance, for the defence of China during a time of increasing tensions with the Japanese, and for the containment of the nationalistic attitudes of Brandenburg. Several crises struck Europe, and in 1903 Confederate troops moved to garrison Denmark, although they were removed the following year, when the Pomeranian crisis receded. However, in 1905 war unexpectedly broke out with the Allies. In the great war, the Confederation's troops - the best trained in Europe - had general success, bleeding the Japanese dry and fending off vastly superior forces in China. However, with the repeated defeat of successive (albeit non-Confederate) Continental fleets by inferior allied navies, the Triple Alliance signed the Treaty of the Tuileries, and ceded its control of China to Japan in 1907. The Triple Alliance collapsed as a result of the war, as the Danes blamed the Confederation and the Dutch for the destruction of their empire while the Dutch receded into neutrality and moved towards unification with Flanders. The Septembrist Party was brought into power, ousting the Party of Order in the elections after the war, and began liberal reforms in Switzerland as well as reform to increase the elected representation of the more populous and liberally minded cities, while gently suppressing rebellious tendencies in Burgundy. Rioting in Burgundy flared up particularly over the Prussian crisis, resulting in the fall of the Clemenceau government, but the problem died down when the Millerand government cancelled the alliance with Russia. Meanwhile, the post-war period also saw the creation of the League of Continental Nations, in which the Confederation was instrumental. The Cherbourg Accords reduced tensions with Britain as the Confederation sent, in 1915, troops to suppress the American Proletarists in support of the Federal Government, but the troops were removed upon the formation, in 1916, of the Second Union, which was unwilling to sign the expected alliance with the Confederation. Following the unification of the Netherlands and Flanders shortly following the renewal of the Dutch alliance with the Confederation, the Rhine-Rhone Pact was created between those two nations and Occitania, and upon the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1918, the support for the Republicans by the Rhine-Rhone Pact brought about a year's war with Germany. The Rhine-Rhone Pact was generally victorious, decisively crushing the Spanish Monarchists and bringing Spain, along with Sardinia, into the Pact, while, although the Germans overran Piedmont, Confederate troops had much success in pushing deep into the industrial heartland of Lower Saxony. Following the signing of the Toledo Accords in 1919, the Confederation remains one of the greatest powers of Europe, with a strong economy, a moderately stable state, and one of the best armies in the world.

National Flag
As before

Flavor Stuff

Formal Name of your Nation: The Franco-Burgundian Confederation
Formal Name for the Army: The Army of the Confederation
Formal Name for the Navy: The Navy of the Confederation
Status of the Air Force: Select one of the following: Independent Organization
Formal Name for the Air Force: The Confederate Aeronautical Corps
Status of Labor Unions: Regulated by the governments of individual member states, and thus illegal in Poitou and Dauphiné but legal and regulated elsewhere.


Democratic Information

Title of Head of Government: President of the Council of Ministers, also known as the Prime Minister
Name of Current Prime Minister: Alexandre Millerand
Head of Government Election Process: The Prime Minister is appointed on a motion of Parliament; conventionally, the ruling party chooses the Prime Minister beforehand and pushes the motion through Parliament
Name of the Legislature(s): The Parliament of the Confederation (unicameral); there are also parliaments in the individual member states of the Confederation, which tend to be bicameral; elections are to the member-state Parliaments, which then send a representative delegation from both their chambers to the Parliament of the Confederation
Suffrage: All Male adult citizens

Political Parties

Traditional Proletarist: Socialist Party (minor; a few seats in Parliament)
Social Proletarist: --- (most are either left-wing members of the Septembrists or right-wing members of the Socialists)
Liberal: Septembrist Party (ruling party)
Moderate: ---
Conservative: Unity Party (dominated by conservative royal nominees, the most important conservative party); Front for Tradition (anti-war; conservative; the other main elected conservative party)
- if the main two conservative parties came together in a coalition, it might be called the Front for Tradition and Unity
Militarist: United Front (but, since most militarists are in the Septembrist Party, the United Front is very minor)
Moralist: Catholic Party (but this probably doesn't even exist yet); Party for Holiness (a Calvinist party in case Moralism ever spreads outside Catholic areas, since it's unlikely that the Calvinist Moralists and the Catholic Moralists are going to be in the same party)
Nationalist/Separatist: German Brotherhood (May not stand in elections); Brothers of Italy (May not stand in elections); Swiss National Party (May not stand in elections)


Current Membership of the Parliament of the Confederation:

200 elected from Paris and Burgundy (80 at the King's pleasure)
50 elected under the 1911 Reform Act from major Parisian and Burgundian cities
60 elected from Switzerland under the 1918 Switzerland Act
40 appointed Lords from Paris and Burgundy
45 elected from Normandy (5 at the King's pleasure)
30 appointed Lords from Normandy
60 elected from Orleans
30 appointed by the King of Poitou
60 appointed by the King of Dauphiné
50 appointed by the King of Piedmont from the Commons of Piedmont
25 appointed by the King of Piedmont from the Lords of Piedmont

415 elected MPs
95 Lords sitting as MPs
140 appointees of the Kings of Poitou, Dauphiné, and Piedmont

650 Total MPs

Monarchy Information

Monarch's Title: King
Monarchy's Dynasty Name: de Paris
Extent of Monarch's Power: The king listed in the stats is the King of Paris and Burgundy, who has a veto right over laws passed in Paris and Burgundy and by the Confederate Parliament. There are also other kings in Normandy, Poitou, Dauphiné and Piedmont, each of whom has half a veto over Confederate legislation and a full veto over legislation in his own realm, although the power of the kings in Poitou and Dauphiné is absolute, while in Piedmont the king has considerably more de facto local power than in Paris, Burgundy and Normandy. The Kings each nominate a certain number of normally aristocratic nominees from their own bicameral Parliaments' House of Lords, and thus a proportion of the members of the Parliament of the Confederation are essentially nominees of the Kings; indeed, the Kings of Poitou and Dauphiné actually directly nominate all their states' representatives to the Parliament.

Orleans and Switzerland do not have kings as they are Republics within the Confederation!

Other Dynastical Information: The kingdom of Piedmont is not a true hereditary monarchy as it is nominated by the Kings of Paris and Burgundy. Normally some member of a junior branch of the royal family is given the position. The other three royal families are entirely separate dynasties from the Kingdom of Paris and Burgundy.
 
OOC: Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Traitors get what traitors deserve. ;)

Spoiler :
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OOC: you want to call me a traitor OOC when I told you OOC it was a miscommunication with EQ when I became a "traitor"... I can see you seeing me as a traitor ICly but OOC? w/e.
 
spry said:
However, with the repeated defeat of successive (albeit non-Confederate) Continental fleets by inferior allied navies

I sank your entire fleet, thus the successive navies could not have been yours. :p
 
Indeed, the successive fleets were mostly Dutch, Spanish and Scandinavian, and that is what I meant when I said "albeit non-Confederate".
 
As a neutral observer, Luckymoose is using perfect English- he's just claiming that successive (read: later) fleets were not Franco-Burgundian. Milarqui, I don't even understand what you're getting at by saying successive =/= successful.

I'm not getting into the debate about whose fleets killed whom's, I'll just stick to the language stuff. ;)
 
Luckymoose is correct in his understanding of what I meant by "successive"; he is incorrect in suggesting that I was trying to make out that the fleets were mine.

Milarqui is correct when he says that I was not trying to make out that the fleets were mine; he is incorrect in thinking that Lucky doesn't understand what I meant when I said "successive".

Iggy is correct in saying that Luckymoose is using perfect English, and also correct in saying that Lucky is trying to point out that the fleets were not Franco-Burgundian; Iggy possibly does not perceive in his post that Lucky and I are in fact in agreement on the very trivial point that Lucky apparently thought he was disagreeing with me about.

:) Yay pointless controversies.
 
Confederation's troops - the best trained in Europe - had general success, bleeding the Japanese dry and fending off vastly superior forces in China.

Your general success, of course, is leaving out the crucial parts of the Great War where the Confederation failed to make any headway in Brandenburg, lost a huge chunk of soldiers in a pointless invasion of Ireland, and completely and utterly failed at making anything vaguely resembling a dent into Occitania. :p

At least Lucky's pompous background has something to base itself off.
 
The invasion of Ireland failed because of a sea-battle, and I didn't try to make headway in Brandenburg or Occitania: we adopted a defensive policy intentionally. None of those do I choose to regard as a failure of Confederate troops so much as of people's ships and to some extent my own policy, and everything that was solely reliant on Confederate troops doing what they had to do resulted in those troops achieving their objectives.
 
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