tobiisagoodboy
Prince
A decent player could also still turn around the Netherlands, although they have fallen rather deep.
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December World - game thread
- Thread starter Ahigin
- Start date
Crezth
i knew you were a real man of the left
A decent player could also still turn around Italy.
@theDright - Firstly, welcome to the game, good to see you here.
Secondly, Austria-Bavaria and Siberian Popular Assembly are 1 update away from a peaceful reunification with their neighbors (yes, both neighbors had to change for that to happen (the NGF did it quite dramatically, after a series of negotiations)). So, next turn they will be on the map, and some elements of their political elites will attempt to resist the "game-over," but I'd consider it disruptive for the natural flow of the game to give these nations to a player at this point. Other players did invest pretty heavily into this diplomatic effort and they jumped through a lot of hoops on fire that I held up for them. It'd be very cruel to deny them of the final prize.
Hungary is also in a state of turmoil. They're not nearly as far down the annexation path, but I don't know if I'd recommend a nation so torn inside to a new player. It's like role-playing a character in a middle of an epileptic spasm.
For similar reasons, I wouldn't recommend Iberian Republic.
Therefore, here are the major nations I'd recommend taking:
- Third Burmese Empire: an unlikely modernized state that is a patchwork of makeshift semi-feudal alliances, with the Konbaung Emperor on top; they need a bit of modernization, still, but are doing very well for themselves;
- Maghreb: another unlikely underdog-cum-regional power; they are an attempt to perform authoritarian modernization around the framework of a classic Muslim Sultanate; they're a major player in Africa and are in a fairly safe geopolitical position, albeit a bit isolated;
- Great Moravia: yeah, currently, there's only just Moravia, but this upcoming update will see some transformation; they've managed to stay independent of any and all centers of power in Europe and have just suddenly become bigger; they'll need some technological modernization, but would be an up-and-coming power very soon;
- Ukrainian Hetmanate, United Baltic Duchies, Sweden, Romanian Domnate, Switzerland, Belgium, Armenia, even Kurdistan: those are all safe smaller countries to start as, if you want to make it more of a story of "coming to age." They enjoy a good deal of diplomatic security, with possible options for geopolitical activity in the future.
Secondly, Austria-Bavaria and Siberian Popular Assembly are 1 update away from a peaceful reunification with their neighbors (yes, both neighbors had to change for that to happen (the NGF did it quite dramatically, after a series of negotiations)). So, next turn they will be on the map, and some elements of their political elites will attempt to resist the "game-over," but I'd consider it disruptive for the natural flow of the game to give these nations to a player at this point. Other players did invest pretty heavily into this diplomatic effort and they jumped through a lot of hoops on fire that I held up for them. It'd be very cruel to deny them of the final prize.
Hungary is also in a state of turmoil. They're not nearly as far down the annexation path, but I don't know if I'd recommend a nation so torn inside to a new player. It's like role-playing a character in a middle of an epileptic spasm.
For similar reasons, I wouldn't recommend Iberian Republic.
Therefore, here are the major nations I'd recommend taking:
- Third Burmese Empire: an unlikely modernized state that is a patchwork of makeshift semi-feudal alliances, with the Konbaung Emperor on top; they need a bit of modernization, still, but are doing very well for themselves;
- Maghreb: another unlikely underdog-cum-regional power; they are an attempt to perform authoritarian modernization around the framework of a classic Muslim Sultanate; they're a major player in Africa and are in a fairly safe geopolitical position, albeit a bit isolated;
- Great Moravia: yeah, currently, there's only just Moravia, but this upcoming update will see some transformation; they've managed to stay independent of any and all centers of power in Europe and have just suddenly become bigger; they'll need some technological modernization, but would be an up-and-coming power very soon;
- Ukrainian Hetmanate, United Baltic Duchies, Sweden, Romanian Domnate, Switzerland, Belgium, Armenia, even Kurdistan: those are all safe smaller countries to start as, if you want to make it more of a story of "coming to age." They enjoy a good deal of diplomatic security, with possible options for geopolitical activity in the future.
(Applause) Comrades, let us now discuss a report on the electrification of the Pearl River Delta.
It must be said that progress is good. Some small issues with resourcing were found. But comrades we intend to get these right this time (laughter). I insist comrades, I insist.
(An audience member shouts "Have you learned how to count yet comrade?!" to more laughter.)
I assure you comrades, that I have worked on my counting! I had the best of all possible tutors in this matter my daughter. As most of you are no doubt aware she is capable of counting to a thousand (laughter) and is very keen on letting others know it at the slightest provocation! (Groans)
In any case, our plan to put China on a different and a higher technical basis is well in train. The Kingdom of Heaven is Hong plus the electrification of the whole country since the material basis for the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be developed without electrification.
Without this reconstruction of all industry on lines of large-scale machine production, the building of Heaven will obviously remain only a goal without a concrete basis; a light on the hill, but not a fact. Heaven requires material abundance to ensure that all enjoy the fruits of God - without electricity this is unthinkable.
So let us continue our work taming a thousand little waterways! Let us build half a dozen power plants! Let us run the wire! Comrade Wang in stores assures me that we are still well short of reaching the moon but insists he is keeping count (Laughter). Let us succeed comrades! Let us show the world that we are serious and that Heaven is attainable!
Long live the Revolution!
***
It is an oft repeated saying that ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink’. This might well be true of horses, but bankers are not horses. Bankers are not even men but rather greed personified. Their morality is to be found in pompous phrases, solemn words and exuberant promises which conceal their dark hearts and money obsessed minds.
The Word told us this! We knew this but we chose to believe otherwise. This is heresy. The Word is omnipotent, it is truth. It is comprehensive and harmonious, and provides men with a worldview which when embraced with all sincerity inoculates one against the tricks of the reactionaries, the lure of capitalism and the charm of the imperialist. It surpasses the best that man has ever produced: German philosophy, English political economy and French socialism. We, alas, obviously are not quite there yet.
What then must be done? We must speak a language that the banker understands. The Word tells us that the banker cares only for the dollars he has now, the dollars he might gain tomorrow and the dollars he might yet lose today. Fear of losing his dollars then will get the banker to drink. We cannot make them moral but we can make them fear. The banker exists because we consent to their existence. At any time we could change our minds and with a sweep of our hands put them under. It is my view comrades that what we must let our strength be known!
As to the dissidents in this matter, we are obviously sympathetic to their anger but we must subordinate our personal concerns to those of the nation. The nation needs a banking system to bring about the material conditions required to build the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a small price to pay for that. With this in mind, I propose that guards be assigned to all bank branches; those involved in violent disorder be treated with the full force of the law; and a new section of the Surete will be charged with investigating and prosecuting the worst economic wreckers under Article 58.
Long Live the Revolution!
***
Governor General,
I appreciate that you are willing to hear me out. I know that in the past you have not always seen eye to eye with my countrymen.
My appearance here, it must be said, is I admit unprecedented and unusual, but these are unprecedented and unusual times.
As you are no doubt aware, I have spent some time in recent months as a guest of your Queen. She is a most gracious host and I was very glad to meet her. I hold her in the highest esteem and wish her a long reign.
You also surely know that it was through the good offices of your Queen that I came to dine with your Lords Seventeen where I delivered a speech. In it I spoke honestly and simply what I thought. I have been told that this is quote contrary to diplomatic tradition. As neither of us are diplomats, I am quite happy to continue to break this tradition with your leave.
(A nod)
This is not the time or venue to take up all the problems of today. I would not wish our food to go cold. But I want to touch on a few that are vital.
First, we must touch on the economic state of the Dutch homeland and the importance of the Indies to it. To often this is done through economic figures of however many millions of those and that. I do not think that has ever been useful to me. So I will stick with a simpler image. The markets in the Hague are still full of Javanese products even as a great many other things from other countries have become impossible to find.
(Now I must pause a moment and admit that before I left your homeland, I made a contribution towards helping to resolve your homelands economic issues to show our friendship to the Dutch people. It was a small contribution but nonetheless I do hope that the line of trade credit I extended will be put to good using purchasing industrial goods.)
Second, Asia is becoming less stable. The recent war has concerned us as it must surely have concerned you. I must say stress however my government's commitment to the Netherlands remains undiminished. In fact I am of the view now that our relations are now closer than they have ever been. With this in mind, I proposed to the Hague that joints plans should be drawn up to strengthen our mutual defences. My government's recent naval expansion should be viewed in light of these considerations. I am pleased to announce that some of these new vessels will be based in Surabaya. I hope that these will soon be able to begin exercises with your own vessels.
Third that our past behavior was appalling and that I unreservedly apologise on behalf of my country.
Fourth it must be accepted that we cannot only look at the incredible quantity of Javanese products you see on the markets in the Netherlands. That is too narrow a view. There is a humanitarian angle as well. Java is beset by famines and rife with poverty with the Cultivation Policy the root cause. The practical course I think is to fix this. In the past we advocated for the abolition of the Cultivation Policy without consideration for its importance to you. But today I will propose another course that recognises your interests and takes account of them. To satisfy this I propose that the abolition of the Cultivation System only be undertaken if it can be shown that the Netherlands would suffer no harm as a result.
To achieve this I would propose we take proactive measures to grow the economy of Java. This course calls for measures aimed at improving agricultural productivity including the irrigation of new lands and the introduction of new crops; the transmigration of laborers to underpopulated Sumatra to bring into production virgin land there; the establishment of new industries to provide jobs outside of agriculture; and the construction of new port, road and rail infrastructure to better connect Java with itself and the world. My government has authorised me to offer our assistance in this matter.
Furthermore, I have also received authorisation and the support of your government to provide equity investment, in both cash and kind, to the Dutch East India Company. These monies and ships will help to ensure that the Company will survive for another three hundred years!
I understand, Governor-General, that a proposal such as this might come as a surprise. But I ask that you consider it. I hope it will become the start of a new partnership built on mutual trust and respect between your country and mine and now. But let us leave matters as they are for tonight and take them up again in due course. Now, I believe, it is time to eat?
It must be said that progress is good. Some small issues with resourcing were found. But comrades we intend to get these right this time (laughter). I insist comrades, I insist.
(An audience member shouts "Have you learned how to count yet comrade?!" to more laughter.)
I assure you comrades, that I have worked on my counting! I had the best of all possible tutors in this matter my daughter. As most of you are no doubt aware she is capable of counting to a thousand (laughter) and is very keen on letting others know it at the slightest provocation! (Groans)
In any case, our plan to put China on a different and a higher technical basis is well in train. The Kingdom of Heaven is Hong plus the electrification of the whole country since the material basis for the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be developed without electrification.
Without this reconstruction of all industry on lines of large-scale machine production, the building of Heaven will obviously remain only a goal without a concrete basis; a light on the hill, but not a fact. Heaven requires material abundance to ensure that all enjoy the fruits of God - without electricity this is unthinkable.
So let us continue our work taming a thousand little waterways! Let us build half a dozen power plants! Let us run the wire! Comrade Wang in stores assures me that we are still well short of reaching the moon but insists he is keeping count (Laughter). Let us succeed comrades! Let us show the world that we are serious and that Heaven is attainable!
Long live the Revolution!
***
It is an oft repeated saying that ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink’. This might well be true of horses, but bankers are not horses. Bankers are not even men but rather greed personified. Their morality is to be found in pompous phrases, solemn words and exuberant promises which conceal their dark hearts and money obsessed minds.
The Word told us this! We knew this but we chose to believe otherwise. This is heresy. The Word is omnipotent, it is truth. It is comprehensive and harmonious, and provides men with a worldview which when embraced with all sincerity inoculates one against the tricks of the reactionaries, the lure of capitalism and the charm of the imperialist. It surpasses the best that man has ever produced: German philosophy, English political economy and French socialism. We, alas, obviously are not quite there yet.
What then must be done? We must speak a language that the banker understands. The Word tells us that the banker cares only for the dollars he has now, the dollars he might gain tomorrow and the dollars he might yet lose today. Fear of losing his dollars then will get the banker to drink. We cannot make them moral but we can make them fear. The banker exists because we consent to their existence. At any time we could change our minds and with a sweep of our hands put them under. It is my view comrades that what we must let our strength be known!
As to the dissidents in this matter, we are obviously sympathetic to their anger but we must subordinate our personal concerns to those of the nation. The nation needs a banking system to bring about the material conditions required to build the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a small price to pay for that. With this in mind, I propose that guards be assigned to all bank branches; those involved in violent disorder be treated with the full force of the law; and a new section of the Surete will be charged with investigating and prosecuting the worst economic wreckers under Article 58.
Long Live the Revolution!
***
Governor General,
I appreciate that you are willing to hear me out. I know that in the past you have not always seen eye to eye with my countrymen.
My appearance here, it must be said, is I admit unprecedented and unusual, but these are unprecedented and unusual times.
As you are no doubt aware, I have spent some time in recent months as a guest of your Queen. She is a most gracious host and I was very glad to meet her. I hold her in the highest esteem and wish her a long reign.
You also surely know that it was through the good offices of your Queen that I came to dine with your Lords Seventeen where I delivered a speech. In it I spoke honestly and simply what I thought. I have been told that this is quote contrary to diplomatic tradition. As neither of us are diplomats, I am quite happy to continue to break this tradition with your leave.
(A nod)
This is not the time or venue to take up all the problems of today. I would not wish our food to go cold. But I want to touch on a few that are vital.
First, we must touch on the economic state of the Dutch homeland and the importance of the Indies to it. To often this is done through economic figures of however many millions of those and that. I do not think that has ever been useful to me. So I will stick with a simpler image. The markets in the Hague are still full of Javanese products even as a great many other things from other countries have become impossible to find.
(Now I must pause a moment and admit that before I left your homeland, I made a contribution towards helping to resolve your homelands economic issues to show our friendship to the Dutch people. It was a small contribution but nonetheless I do hope that the line of trade credit I extended will be put to good using purchasing industrial goods.)
Second, Asia is becoming less stable. The recent war has concerned us as it must surely have concerned you. I must say stress however my government's commitment to the Netherlands remains undiminished. In fact I am of the view now that our relations are now closer than they have ever been. With this in mind, I proposed to the Hague that joints plans should be drawn up to strengthen our mutual defences. My government's recent naval expansion should be viewed in light of these considerations. I am pleased to announce that some of these new vessels will be based in Surabaya. I hope that these will soon be able to begin exercises with your own vessels.
Third that our past behavior was appalling and that I unreservedly apologise on behalf of my country.
Fourth it must be accepted that we cannot only look at the incredible quantity of Javanese products you see on the markets in the Netherlands. That is too narrow a view. There is a humanitarian angle as well. Java is beset by famines and rife with poverty with the Cultivation Policy the root cause. The practical course I think is to fix this. In the past we advocated for the abolition of the Cultivation Policy without consideration for its importance to you. But today I will propose another course that recognises your interests and takes account of them. To satisfy this I propose that the abolition of the Cultivation System only be undertaken if it can be shown that the Netherlands would suffer no harm as a result.
To achieve this I would propose we take proactive measures to grow the economy of Java. This course calls for measures aimed at improving agricultural productivity including the irrigation of new lands and the introduction of new crops; the transmigration of laborers to underpopulated Sumatra to bring into production virgin land there; the establishment of new industries to provide jobs outside of agriculture; and the construction of new port, road and rail infrastructure to better connect Java with itself and the world. My government has authorised me to offer our assistance in this matter.
Furthermore, I have also received authorisation and the support of your government to provide equity investment, in both cash and kind, to the Dutch East India Company. These monies and ships will help to ensure that the Company will survive for another three hundred years!
I understand, Governor-General, that a proposal such as this might come as a surprise. But I ask that you consider it. I hope it will become the start of a new partnership built on mutual trust and respect between your country and mine and now. But let us leave matters as they are for tonight and take them up again in due course. Now, I believe, it is time to eat?
Last edited:
JohannaK
Heroically Clueless
No Indostan memes. I wear that as a mark of pride.
It's indeed open, and welcome to the game.I would like to take over Burma if it still open.
I'll be updating the game fairly soon, so you'll be able to join after Update 10 is live.
Immaculate
unerring
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2003
- Messages
- 7,623
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2010
- Messages
- 8,873
Update 10: July 1, 1896 - June 30, 1897
Global changes
Spoiler :
The catastrophic Conference of Riga and resulting collapse of the fragile progressive government built by “Young Sultan” Mehmet Selim I have led to a short, but hectic Midsummer Crisis in the Ottoman State. While the negotiations in Riga were frozen due to the uncertainty that faced one of the subjects of the conference, in the Ottoman Empire it led to a kaleidoscope of different governments replacing each other in a mind-boggling sequence. Eventually, the urban elites found themselves tamed into submission, surprisingly, by the rural forces, when the villages refused to cell foodstuffs or allow transit of goods between population centers amid the nation-wide chaos. That became a powerful political tool in the hands of a clique of land-owning pashas and regional strongmen, owing their land property to the reactionary Chiflik system. Once some sort of rapport and common understanding was established between these de-facto neo-feudals, the chifliki quickly starved most urban centers into cooperation and purged the thin meritocratic elite loyal either to the Young Sultan or his progressive (some say, too progressive) ideas and restored the power of the Sublime Porte, going as far as renaming many titles and ministries to be more in line with the classic period of the Ottoman Empire. (Ottoman State removes “Technocratic government”, “Directorial government”, “Stratocratic government”, “Authoritarian democracy”, adopts “Aristocratic government”, “Feudal government”, “Executive committee”)
The war scare in the West and the South has led to a common political result for Russia: the population and the political class consolidating behind the current leadership. That allowed the ruling Pochvennik coalition to cynically exploit that temporary political capital to secure some important voting laws that is pretty much guaranteed to significantly diminish the influence of the mercantile and commercial elite and replace it with a more conservative base of landholders. Additionally, a highly unpopular slashing of veteran pensions was run, while the populus was looking elsewhere. (Directorial Russia removes “Plutocratic government”, “Veteran pensions”, adopts “Timocratic government” for -1905.27 HC, -354.63 EC)
The war scare had another impact on the Russian society and especially its highly sophisticated intelligentsia. The feverish fear of an apocalyptic conflict, the intellectual elites of Russia absorbed foreign ideas like a sponge, while the prominent business figures backing the liberal coalition also upgraded their massive industries for smoot wartime running (only to be mildly disappointed with the anticlimactic resolution of the diplomatic standoff). Still, this helped the Directorial Russian army secure funding for some unpopular, but critical counter-insurgency measures. (Directorial Russia adopts “Impressionism and decadent art”, “Psychoanalysis”, “Biologism and evolution theory”, “Cultism and self-devotion”, “Crown seal, glass-blowing machine, and carbonated soft drink industry”, “Manga, comics, and sequential art”, “Solaks, professional bodyguards and lifeguard training”, “Futebol and mass sport events”, “Hermeneutics and theory of language”, “Math factories”, “Modern archeology and anthropology”, “Meteorological balloons and weather forecasting”, “Alternating electric current”, “Direct electric current”, “Compressed air energy storage”, “Electrified manufacture”, “Protected logistical areas and counter-insurgency troops”, “Internment camps” for -702 HC, -360 IC, -603.5 EC, -166.5 MC)
The massive policy shifts and cultural movements sweeping through Directorial Russia have impacted the internal market and made the country dependent in huge imports of foodstuffs, luxury goods, and acceptance of seasonal labor from across the world, particularly from Indostan and Taiping China. Russia’s status of one of the world beacons of scientific and cultural progress and forge of the globe helped the Directorial Assembly to secure such discretionary trade deals. (Directorial Russia: +1700 HC, -408 IC, +75 EC, -100 MC; Indostan: -200 HC, +100 IC; Taiping Mandate: -1500 HC, +150 IC, +100 MC; Pacific Directory: +158 IC, -75 EC)
Directorial Russia’s allies in the Siberian Popular Assembly soundly defeated their Oblastnik opposition with Moscow’s help and used that electoral mandate to bring the Siberian political law closer to the one of Directorial Russia by enabling women’s vote. Meanwhile, a controversial All-Russian Commonwealth bill was also allowed to pass, turning Siberia into Russia’s daughter state with a metropole-colony diplomatic connection. (Siberian Popular Assembly removes “Confederate state”, adopts “Metropolitan state”, “Female suffrage” for -116.79 IC, -148.03 EC)
Despite all efforts by the Oblastniks to sing the swant’s song of Siberian independence in the upcoming struggle against the Popular Assembly’s unification with Directorial Russia, the Siberian nation is quickly being assimilated into the broader society of the Russian Commonwealth, as civic, industrial, and military heavily borrow from the Russian and Transpacific ways. Ironically, it may give the Oblastnik opposition a new edge in resisting the Russian unification push. (Siberian Popular Assembly adopts “Mass culture and popular art”, “Kinotropy and clack-animation”, “Citizen's dividend cards”, “Business regulations”, “Agit-trains and agit-boats”, “Kingsmen and license-to-kill agents”, “Clockwork automata”, “Data vaults”, “Math factories”, “Gambling modus”, “Punchcard cryptocurrency”, “Spark-gap radiotransmitters”, “Meteorological balloons and weather forecasting”, “Nihilism and moral relativity”, “Eugenics and racial science”, “Social messianism and utopian thought”, “Hermeneutics and theory of language”, “Pyramid scheme and modern scamming”, “Radioactivity and basics of atomic physics”, “Analytical engines”, “Mass surveillance”, “Excavators. bulldozers, and tractors”, “Hydrometallurgy”, “Downcycling”, “Water and land conservation”, “Synthetic materials”, “Modern sweatshops”, “Portable power tools”, “Air-pressure-powered exoskeleton” “Ocean liners”, “Assembly lines”, “Gas lighting and shift work”, “Electrified manufacture”, “Integrated railway network”, “Ocean liners”, “Aerodynes and heavier-than-air flight”, “Hand grenades”, “Semi-automatic small arms”, “Semi-automatic carbines”, “Judo and hand-to-hand combat training”, “Volley guns”, “Indirect counter-barrage”, “Moving barrage”, “Dynamite guns”, “Gas warfare and protection”, “Cossacks, scorched earth and “legalized robber brigades””, “HQ difference engines”, “Zamburak and mounted fire support”, “Penicillin and antibiotics”, “Bunker fortresses”, “Turret artillery”, “Fortified districts”, “Mobile gun shields”, “National reserve”, “Airship reconnaissance”, “Camisado, elan charge and human sea attack”, “Nihang and military sabotage” for -345.25 HC, -231.5 IC, -434.25 EC, -300.5 MC)
While Directorial Russia’s response to the war scare was its ramping up of efforts to re-integrate the independent Siberian state, in the more remote Pacific Directory the narrowly dodged chance of being invaded by the Tokugawa Shogunate had led to a third wave of army expansion, as we as to the government’s purchase of stakes in war-critical industries. (Pacific Directory: +3 Enterprises, +1 Corps (-99.8 HC, -39.2 IC, -163.8 EC, -89.1 MC))
The extrajudicial practice of blackbirding has returned to the Pacific Directory at the height of the wave of toxic patriotism, as many “untrustworthy” elements of the society were kidnapped and forced into labor, often on ships or mines or distant Polar camps they couldn’t easily escape from, while formally still being free citizens. (Pacific Directory adopts “Blackbirding” for -20.24 HC, -14.49 IC)
With the Pacific Directory’s economy and cultural advancements coming to a bloom in the own right, Transpacific elites have invested into more modern means of production that would mechanize many tasks and thus free more manpower to serve in the nation’s military. The latter one expanded and improved its methods of training and tools of war significantly, out of fear of becoming the first echelon of Russian defenses against the Tokugawa Shogunate. Even the Pacific Directorial Navy receive major investments, purchasing and improving on Egyptian blueprints of torpedo attack cutters, as well as supplementing the navy with a proper underwater naval arm. (Pacific Directory adopts “Crown seal, glass-blowing machine, and carbonated soft drink industry”, “Solaks, professional bodyguards and lifeguard training”, “Information economy”, “Pachinko and mechanical arcades”, “Telpherage and mechanized asset transfer”, “Kohleverflüssigung and synthetic fuel industry”, “Offshore drilling”, “Interchangeable parts”, “Gyrocopters”, “Mechanization of agriculture”, “Hydroelectric plants”, “Alternating electric current”, “Electrical grid”, “Vezdekhod chassis and all-terrain vehicles”, “Gas turbine”, “Steam carriages”, “Dirigible airships”, “Aluminum, duralumin, and light metal frames”, “Assembly lines”, “Continuous production”, “Excavators. bulldozers, and tractors”, “Comrades battalions”, “Internment camps”, “Mad Minute and speed shooting”, “Protected logistical areas and counter-insurgency troops”, “Frogmen and combat divers”, “Echo-locating devices”, “Oil-engine ships”, “Torpedo attack cutters”, “Paddle steamers”, “Diesel-engine ships”, “Plunging shellfire”, “Submerged attack vessels”, “Telemobiloscope and early naval detection”, “Cemented armor”, “Unprotected cruisers” for -104.5 HC, -29.5 IC, -96.5 EC, -113.5 MC)
A storm of yet another world conflict may be gathering, even amid the blowing winds of international tensions one thing is unchanging: the shrewd mercantile attitude of the Transpacific Directorate of Commerce, which helps the nation act as a trade conduit between Europe and Asia while managing a trade proficit in its deals. (Pacific Directory: +250 HC, +13.5 EC, -24.2 MC; Netherlands: -76 EC, +32 MC; Hungary: -250 HC, +50 EC; Ma Dynasty: +17.5 EC, -10 MC; Sri Lanka: -5 EC, +2.2 MC)
Directorial Russia’s success at wooing Finland to agree to an alliance has awakened Swedish patriots and forced the Kingdom of Sweden’s elites to initiate a long-overdue series of reforms that saw its economic outlook drift closer to its North-German patrons in its recognition of nearly unlimited freedoms for most powerful economic actors, while its attitude toward human rights and freedoms borrows heavily from the assimilationist and eugenics-based “greater good” approach of Denmark-Norway. (Sweden adopts “Corvee system”, “Eugenic regulations”, “Magnate capitalism”, “Anarcho-capitalism”, “Authoritarian democracy”,”Unitary state”, “Cultural assimilation” for -129.93 HC, -175.93 IC, -58.66 EC)
Reforms in Sweden have also encouraged the Danish crown to finally answer the bourgeoisie's call for a recall of old privileges associated with the status of gentry and upper nobility, establishing the rule of law across the two parts of the realm and opening a new age of economic cooperation and freedom of enterprise. (Denmark-Norway removes “Aristocratic government, adopts “Economic mutualism”, “Anarcho-capitalism”, “Benign neglect”, “Rule of law” for -28.74 HC, -47.62 IC, -23.81 EC, -22.34 MC)
Besides a reformist push, the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway is also growing its Crown-sponsored industries, to match the “limited companies” Sweden and estate enterprises of Finland. (Denmark-Norway: +1 Enterprise (-10.2 HC, -2.3 IC, -26.3 EC, -17.7 MC))
The government of the United Baltic Duchies have recognized that the discord between Directorial Russia and the North German Federation opens an opportunity for the Baltic confederacy to expand its own responsibilities, which led to a growth of a more centralized state apparatus in Riga and Vilnius. (United Baltic Duchies: +1 Mission (-7 HC, -14.8 IC, -23.8 EC, -2.5 MC))
The growth of a nativist Baltic sentiment in the United Duchies has finally found a political force to represent it, as various merchant marine owners of Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian origin have presented an alternative power center to the German landowners-dominated Landtags, securing a series of welfare reforms in the process of their rise to power. (United Baltic Duchies adopts “Military draft”, “Consumer capitalism”, “Thalassocratic government”, “Benign neglect”, “State-funded healthcare”, “Labor safety regulations”, “Soup kitchens”, “Unemployment benefits” for -38.86 HC, -104.53 IC, -103.54 EC, -68.57 MC)
Creation of the Kingdom of Greater Moravia under the benevolent resolution of the two Germanies has given the ex-Margrave of Moravia enough political capital to rush some very important political reforms, cementing that Central-European nation’s status of the “Slavic Switzerland” - a neutral, consumer-friendly nation where rights of individuals are protected and respected. It also allowed some Ashkenazi Jewish companies from ex-German Bohemia become some of the powerful pillars of support for the new regime, emerging as an alternative gravity center in the Greater-Moravian government. (Moravia adopts “Consumer capitalism”, “Corporatocratic government”, “Benign neglect”, “Rule of law” for -200.26 HC, -10.63 IC, -12.5 EC, -21.32 MC)
The Romanian Domnate’s continuous modernization has now enabled that previously backward nation expand the pool of state-administered industrial enterprises - still rather obsolete, but with a potential to grow into something more competitive. (Romanian Domnate: +2 Enterprises (-20.4 HC, -4.4 IC, -47 EC, -28.6 MC))
The expansion of the first Romanian-owned corporations has also given a chance to the Transylvanian and Vlachian grandees with ownership shares in the new businesses to establish themselves as another pillar of the Domnus’ authority. They, of course, had to pay for this change in the government composition with their financing of some highly popular welfare reforms, as well as an agreement to follow an unspoken set of rules and regulations that should allow the Romanian economy to work for the benefit of all true Romanians, regardless of their class (earning the Domnus support of the church in the process). (Romanian Domnate adopts “Ethnic nepotism”, “Ethical economy”, “Solidarist economy”, “Plutocratic government”, “Gambling ban”, “Prohibition”, “Environmental protection”, “Workday length regulations”, “Family support” for -109.7 HC, -268.97 EC, -75.74 MC)
Some vague signals were received in Frankfurt from Vienna and Munich, indicating that some key members of the Confederation of Princes are growing open to the idea of uniting the two Germanies along the lines of Pan-Germanic nationalism, as long as the Federation’s leadership could agree to a series of reforms that would see some key aspects of the Austrobavarian state secured after the Unification. That includes the cutting of political influence of labor union leaders, more traditionally “Christian” approach to distribution of economic gains, as well the general notion of the German identity being the unifying factor of the future state. (North German Federation removes “Labor unionism”, adopts “Mercantilism”, “Ethical economy”, “Ethnic nepotism” for -98.46 HC, -656.58 IC, -655.28 EC, -567.10 MC)
Despite the risks of squeezing the last reserves from the North-German economy, the nation’s industrial actors continue adopting the newest and latest innovations in the sphere of electrical power production and distribution. Meanwhile, the fears of war with Russia over various hot spots in Eastern Europe have helped the Bundeswehr and Bundesmarine to secure bigger military budgets, increasing the former one’s defensive readiness and providing the Navy with a chance to run additional naval exercise for the purpose of learning the latest tactical innovations. (North German Federation adopts “Electrical grid”, “Protected logistical areas and counter-insurgency troops”, “Fortified districts”, “Internment camps”, “Crossing the T” for -175.5 HC, -61.5 IC, -102 EC, -47 MC)
The North-German economy doesn’t seem to be doing too well under the once-seeked effects of the Zollverein and the Scandinavian Customs Union. In fact, the shortage of currency and everyday, light industry goods has forced the Federation to strike deals with the Taiping Mandate and Communard France. (North German Federation: -600 IC, +900 EC, -200 MC; Taiping Mandate: +400 IC, -800 EC, +200 MC; Communard France: +200 IC, -200 EC)
While some forces of reaction insist on not ever allowing the Confederation of Princes to merge with the liberal hive that is the North German Federation, huge swaths of the Austrobavarian society are swept by a wave of societal, political, and often technological changes that bring new (and not always good) ways of class organization and much improved industrial processes. Meanwhile the Austrobavarian army is starting to introduce some military standards of the Bundeswehr (surpassing it in efficiency in the process), and the Austrobavarian navy was expanded with a requisition of the first seaworthy armored cruiser, breastwork battleship, and ironclad in the Hamburg Shipyards. (Austria-Bavaria adopts “Manga, comics, and sequential art”, “Citizen's dividend cards”, “Punchcard cryptocurrency”, “Fast food industry”, “Modern archeology and anthropology”, “Constitutionalism”, “Oligarchy and political corruption”, “Cartels and economic crime”, “Citizen data cards”, “Kompromat and modern blackmail”, “Engine clacking”, “Data vaults”, “Math factories”, “Radioactivity and basics of atomic physics”, “Alternating electric current”, “Hydroelectric plants”, “Aluminum, duralumin, and light metal frames”, “Kohleverflüssigung and synthetic fuel industry”, “Electrified manufacture”, “Ocean liners”, “Gyrocopters”, “Machine pistols”, “Telescopic sights and modern sniping”, “Light mortars and infantry support”, “Indirect counter-barrage”, “Railway artillery”, “Field hospital system”, “Dispersed combat tactics”, “Army inter-branch cooperation”, “Women’s battalions”, “Auftragstaktik and command by initiative”, “Nihang and military sabotage”, “Paddle steamers”, “Screw-propeller steamers”, “Compound engine steamers”, “Ramming maneuver”, “Anti-torpedo maneuver”, “Oil-engine ships”, “Diesel-engine ships”, “Electric engines”, “Explosive naval shells”, “Naval mines”, “Underwater torpedoes”, “Indirect naval fire”, “Difference engine fire control”, “Super-heavy naval guns”, “Naval airship spotters”, “Mine-laying blimps”, “Dazzle camouflage”, “Seaworthy ships”, “Ironclads”, “Breastwork battleships”, “Armored cruisers” for -238.25 HC, -394.5 IC, -480 EC, -346 MC)
After a near-collapse that followed in the wake of the defeat in the Anti-Communard War of 1893, the Communard government of France is expanding its state apparatus once again, bringing it to terms with the nation’s expanding geopolitical and domestic roles. (Communard France: +6 Missions (-76.8 HC, -114 IC, -167.4 EC, -54 MC))
In France, Plebeian Praetor Paul Brousse has established closer relationships with his visionary Possibilist ally and the Censor of the Plebeian Council, Jules Guesde. Together, the two reformists have ensured the expulsion of “anti-authoritarian communists” (essentially, anarchists and independent syndicalists) from the Council and continued a series of economic and government apparatus reforms of the Communard state along with their voluntarist, pragmatic vision of the nation’s future. (Communard France removes “Ochlocratic government”, adopts “Technocratic government”, “Startup economy” for -2441.22 HC, -379.08 IC, -347 EC)
As their first attempt to restart the British peacetime economy, Lord-Protector Watson and his Round Table backers established government support for solo-founders of so-called “start-up companies,” introducing this element of dynamic economy to the British Isles. (British Royal Commonwealth adopts “Startup economy” for -1120.79 HC)
After the end of the Second Atlantic and Great Colonial wars, the Protectorate Ward moved fast to sell some less critical territories for cash in hopes to stave off the decline of the Royal Commonwealth’s bloated military. Still, they were not fast enough to prevent much of the army’s and navy’s equipment to be lost to neglect and possible corruption schemes, while important armaments construction programs were forced to be postponed until better years. (British Royal Commonwealth: -2 Corps, -2 Squadrons (-maintenance))
Prime-Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont Luigi Federico Menabrea, 1st Count Menabrea and 1st Marquess of Valdora, has continued his series of reforms of the kingdom, blessed by King Umberto I of the House of Savoy himself. This particular round saw the Savoy crown state reformed both administratively (toward limited regional autonomy) and ideologically (toward traditional Catholic monarchism), establishing a clear vision for its place in the world. (Sardinia-Piedmont adopts “Religious and ideological nepotism”, “Regional state” for -212.7 HC, -57.09 IC)
The Sardinian state apparatus develops not only new administrative and ideological paradigms for itself, but also expands its size and capacity far beyond its previous means. (Sardinia-Piedmont: +5 Missions (-75.5 HC, -88 IC, -157.5 EC, -27.5 MC))
The modernization of the Sardinian governance, popular culture, industrial methods, and, importantly, its technological sector has continued under King Umberto I and his visionary Prime-Minister Manabrea, with the biggest novelty being widespread introduction of simple difference engines to many private and government offices and even educating the first generation of cyberneticists fluent with the larger, more complex analytical engines (with their work being mostly outsourced to the privately own “Golem” engine of Prague, since Sardinia-Piedmont doesn’t have its own analytical engine built yet). (Sardinia-Piedmont adopts “Social messianism and utopian thought”, “Modern archeology and anthropology”, “Mechanical television”, “Bohemianism and counterculture”, “Crown seal, glass-blowing machine, and carbonated soft drink industry”, “Hermeneutics and theory of language”, “Mass culture and popular art”, “Expressionism and avant-garde”, “Medievalism and the cult of the past”, “Manga, comics, and sequential art”, “Data vaults”, “Math factories”, “Radioactivity and basics of atomic physics”, “Difference engines”, “Analytical engines”, “Hydraulic power network”, “Direct electric current”, “Alternating electric current”, “Hydroelectric plants”, “Electrical grid”, “Assembly lines”, “Interchangeable parts”, “Gas turbine”, “Electrified manufacture”, “Excavators. bulldozers, and tractors”, “Downcycling”, “Water and land conservation”, “Integrated railway network”, “Central staff analytical engines” for -32.5 HC, -28.25 IC, -34.5 EC, -74.75 MC)
With the Eastern Mediterranean basin turning into a potential hotspot, the Marina Militare continued securing ever greater shipbuilding budget. (Italy: +1 Squadron (-12.6 HC, -10.2 IC, -22.7 EC, -35.9 MC))
A wave of advancements in power generation and electrical engineering are propelling forward more technologically intensive ways of entertainment and financial practices across Italy. Meanwhile the Republic’s armed forces borrow from the latest advancements of the British, Sardinian, and Indostani militaries. (Italy adopts “Mechanical television”, “Engine-driven stock exchange and algorithmic trading”, “Modern archeology and anthropology”, “Crown seal, glass-blowing machine, and carbonated soft drink industry”, “Solaks, professional bodyguards and lifeguard training”, “Still engine”, “Gas turbine”, “Electrical grid”, “Electrolysis”, “Gas warfare and protection”, “Mad Minute and speed shooting”, “Compound engine steamers” for -100.75 HC, -49.25 IC, -210.5 EC, -108.5 MC)
Italy continues enjoying a status of a “forge of nations,” striking lucrative contracts that see Italian-made industrial equipment, metallurgic products, and armaments being sold for a hefty profit across the globe. (Italy: +146 EC, -68 MC; Quebec: -22 EC, +10 MC; Netherlands -24 EC, +10 MC; Pacific Directory: -100 EC, +48 MC)
Italy’s relations with the Portobrazilian monarchy continue to grow in complexity, as Roma had made a full reversal in its pro-Portobrazilian Iberian stance, yet agreed to sign a series of loan contracts with the Twin Crowns that assumed that Italian businesses would be repaid in the future with a five percent interest per payment period for their exports of foodstuffs, as well as products of light and heavy industry. (Italy: -250 HC, -75 EC, -75 MC; Portugal-Brazil: +250 HC, +75 EC, +75 MC)
A similar materiel and expertise lease, albeit with future cash payment as a method, was issued by the Confederate States of America to the Twin Crowns. (Portugal-Brazil: +100 HC, +300 IC; Confederate States of America: -100 HC, -300 IC)
Ironically, the Italian and Confederate lease helped the Twin Crowns pay the second installment of their reparations to the Free Boer Republic for the Second Atlantic War, with some spare materiel, foodstuffs, and money left. (Portugal-Brazil: -100 HC, -25 IC, -25 EC, -12.5 MC; Free Boer Republic: +100 HC, +25 IC, +25 EC, +12.5 MC)
The diplomatic corps and the Chamber of Commerce of the Twin Crowns didn’t stop at securing a materiel lease contract from Italy and went on to heavily borrow from the central banks of Gran Paraguay and even its past enemy, the United Mexican States. The prolonged repayment contract with a hefty ten percent interest rate was critical in financing a sweeping series of reforms in Portugal-Brazil, but it also brought together some opposition both in Mexico City and in São Paulo, since many hawks in the both countries saw such financial contracts between the recent adversaries as unacceptable. (Portugal-Brazil: +1500 EC; Gran Paraguay: -500 EC; Mexico: -1000 EC)
Awash with Mexican and Gran-Paraguayan cash, the Twin Crowns of Portugal-Brazil went on to start a massive reform of their sprawling empire. Living through a self-perceived golden age, Portugal-Brazil rolled back its confederate administration, protectionist trade policies, and even Church-supported ethical economy standards in favor of a classic metropolitan colonial rule, with shrewd mercantilism for a trade practice and barely regulated grandee capitalism as the guiding principle of economic development. (Portugal-Brazil removes “Ethical economy”, “Mercenarism”, adopts “Metropolitan state”, “Magnate capitalism”, “Consumer capitalism”, “Commercialism” for -772.72 HC, -710.17 IC, -1016.3 EC, -611.58 MC)
The sense of self-aggrandizing imperial splendor didn’t just lead to a major wave of costly reforms in Portugal-Brazil, but also resulted in an army expansion to a size not seen since the beginning of the War of Gran-Colombian Independence. (Portugal-Brazil: +6 Corps (-214.8 HC, -69 IC, -137.4 EC, -71.4 MC))
The infusion of funds into the Twin Crowns’ military also supported a wide weapon modernization, doctrinal improvement, and reorganization program that has made some budget austerity proponents worry about the Imperial government’s ability to balance its books. Needless to say, the imperialist hawks dismissed such preposterous concerns. (Portugal-Brazil adopts “Protected logistical areas and counter-insurgency troops”, “Judo and hand-to-hand combat training”, “Stud farms and horse-powered mobility”, “Smoke screening”, “Internment camps”, “Bicycle-riding and ski infantry”, “Mobile gun shields”, “Maskirovka and military camouflage”, “Internment camps”, “Women’s battalions”, “Myeonje baegab and soft bulletproof vests”, “Camisado, elan charge and human sea attack”, “Battalions of Death and shock troops”, “Light mortars and infantry support”, “Nihang and military sabotage” for -335 HC, -65 IC, -272.5 EC, -25 MC)
The Sultanate of Egypt continues developing in spurts of activity, followed by sudden onsets of stagnation. In the late 1896-early 1897, the pattern repeated itself, as the nation, just barely having restarted its reformation, stalled all dynamic development once again, leading to a big massive brain drain and even emigration of some low-paid manual laborers to the fringes of the Muslim world, with quite a few of these misfits vanishing in the process. (Egypt: -330 HC, -210 IC; Caucasian Imamate: +40 HC, +40 IC; Abyssinia: +20 IC; Mahdi State: +8 HC, +15 IC; Toucouleur Empire: +20 IC; Qajar Persia: +17 IC; Khiva: +80 HC; Ma Dynasty: +60 HC, +60 IC)
Long considered a Egyptian puppet, ex-Emir of Harar and current Emperor of Abyssinia 'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur has used the Egyptian post-reform slumber as a safe window to finally use the political and industrial capital accumulated by his large, but unstable regime to enforce a new paradigm of Ethiopian nationalist state, buoyed, among other things, by notions of classless Islamic dynamism and robust welfare system not so dissimilar to the Umahist vision of Egypt. (Abyssinia adopts “Ethnic nepotism”, “Laissez-faire economy”, “Contest mobility”, “Open class economy”, “Minimal wage regulations”, “Zakat welfare”, “Workday length regulations”, “Labor safety regulations”, “Environmental protection”, “Family support” for -254.53 HC, -92.33 EC, -6.06 MC)
With the government reforms, some traditionally “Western” forms of entertainment started to arrive to the more advanced Abyssinian cities, where they found surprisingly many followers and created a surprisingly lively market for Ottoman-made pachinko arcades, simplistic Turkish and Kurdish clack-animation, and Egyptian cinematographic films. (Abyssinia adopts “Cinematography and photography”, “Kinotropy and clack-animation”, “Pachinko and mechanical arcades” for -0.5 IC, -2.25 EC, -4 MC)
Farther to the south, from Abyssinia, Kabaka (King) Mwanga II continues suffering from bouts of sickness, and one of such bouts was used by his Queen-Mother to promote deification of Kabaka in a form of Islamic syncretism, with a robust combination of welfare, education, and financial reforms advanced to support this major ideological change. Despite that, her conflict with Kabaka’s sister over the nation’s future persists, as the deified Kabaka remains just a figurehead on the throne, mostly due to his inability to personally rule. (Buganda adopts “Commercialism”, “Theocratic government”, “Benign neglect”, “Religious education”, “Orphanage system”, “Family support”, “Workday length regulations”, “Labor safety regulations”, “Environmental protection” for -2.37 HC, -0.3 IC, -25.09 EC, -3.79 MC)
In East Africa, the de-facto North-German domination of the Sultanate of Zanzibar was finally formalized in a transfer of the title from Sultan Fessul bin Turkee of Oman to the Ostafrika GmbH affiliate Hamoud bin Mohammed of Zanzibar, in exchange for greater access of Muscat and Oman to the North-German loans, advisers, and armaments. (Region East Africa: North German Federation gains +2.74% Regional Influence, Oman loses -2.74% Regional Influence)
(North German Federation: -20 IC, -50 EC, -17 MC; Oman: +20 IC, +50 EC, +17 MC)
Seeing that his authority over the increasingly backward Caliphate was slipping, Saidou of the Toucouleur Empire went for a desperate (and, potentially, saving) step of breaking up the traditional caste-like divisions of the Toucouleur people in order to tap into a populist and egalitarian Jihadist movement still present in the region. In a sweeping cultural revolution, the castes of torobe (aristocratic Islamic scholars), nyenbe (artisans), gallunkobe (freed workers) and matyube (slaves) were all allowed to retain their current status, but also provided opportunities for extensive social mobility through Islamic and academic learning; the only requirement for such “caste-hopping” remained loyalty to the Caliph himself, ensured by his political enforcers. (Toucouleur Empire adopts “Contest mobility”, “Political police”, “Lifelong learning” for -80.03 HC, -7.45 IC)
Many Afrikaan intellectuals felt alienated from the nation that forced them to loudly sing the national anthem in the morning or to recite the pledge of allegiance in the workplace. In the most South-African fashion, they gathered their belongings and left for the places where they didn’t have to do so. (Free Boer Republic: -80 IC; Greece: +20 IC; Chile-Patagonia: +20 IC; Quebec: +20 IC)
In order to take a full use of their promising submarine mothership project, the Boer Republican Navy has established a flotilla of short-range submerged attack vessels. (Free Boer Republic adopts “Submerged attack vessels for -5 EC, -8.75 MC)
In Central Asia, Khan Muhammad Rahim Bahadur II of Khiva has finally recognized that his blind reliance on Russian corporate interests as pillars of his rule may be giving too much ammo to his more ethnos- and labor-conscious Basmachi rivals. With these thoughts in mind, he finally approved a reform that seeks to establish a more traditional, aristocracy-dominated ethnic state of Uzbeks and Turkmens. In order to placate the struggling peasantry and the poor, he invited Chinese advisers familiar with the ideology of Nongjia agriculturalism (an invite they happily took, having fallen from grace in the Taiping Mandate), while simultaneously promoting a series of welfare reforms. Meanwhile, the Russian corporate interests received a gift as well in a form of unspoken agreements that allowed their almost unrestricted pursuit of unlimited profits, as long as the Khivan state and its loyalists received a share. (Khiva adopts “Ethnic nepotism”, “Commercialism”, “Nongjia agriculturalist economy”, “Aristocratic government”, “Minimal wage regulations”, “State-funded healthcare” for -3.47 IC, -15.07 EC, -29.23 MC)
The second round of demobilization has hit the Sikh Khalsa Army (Sikh Khalsa Phauj), while complete concentration of the national industry on the ambitious Indostan 1900 Plan has deprived the navy of crucial funds that were supposed to see to its expansion, maintenance, and even replacement of old vessels. (Indostan: -3 Corps, -5 Squadrons (-maintenance))
In Tibet, the Ganden Phodrang government of the Dalai-Lamas has finally evolved past its more primitive, Medieval forms and started acting as an active, not passive agency of the ruling regime. (Tibet: +1 Mission (-7 HC, -12.7 IC, -20.5 EC))
The military forces of Tibet also made their first steps toward modernization, purchasing some of the North-German, Polish, and Transpacific weapons that were recently decommissioned as too obsolete. (Tibet adopts “Breech-loaded small arms”, “Machine guns and belt-fed weapons”, “Rifled breechloaders” for -4 MC)
At the height of the War of Asian Liberation, the Third Burmese Empire withered a heavy-handed test of its capability to project power, and it left a huge strain on its resources, being especially felt in the intellectual, scientific, academic, and leadership spheres. This has finally prompted a huge reform of the state apparatus that saw the power of luuhcu clans specified within the vertical hierarchy of power, in regional affairs, and in economic decision-making. Meanwhile, unpopular practices of remplacement and military impressment were outlawed, and many welfare reforms adopted to earn the Konbaung dynasty support of its subjects. (Third Burmese Empire removes “Remplacement”, “Impressment”, adopts “Limited dictatorship”, “Federate state”, “Eugenic regulations”, “Economic liberalism”, “Gambling ban”, “Art endowment”, “Soup kitchens”, “Veteran pension”, “Seniority pension” for -939.47 HC, -21.6 IC, -1488.62 EC)
Lucrative industrial contracts and outsourcing of analytical engine computational power continue being powerful mediums of Taiping diplomacy. (Taiping Mandate: -40 IC, -45 MC; Deseret: +40 IC, +20 MC; Netherlands: +25 MC)
Besides some generous support of the “friends of the Havens,” the Taiping Mandate continued leveraging its position as one of the top light industry powers in the world, securing armaments and industrial equipment purchases from, at times, surprising trade partners. (Taiping Mandate: -319 EC, +166.5 MC, Belgium: +8 EC, -4.5 MC; Moravia: +8 EC, -4.5 MC; Austria-Bavaria: +75 EC, -41 MC; Iberian Republic: +60 EC, -31.5 MC; Illyria: +18 EC, -10 MC; Kurdistan: +48 EC, -25 MC; Basmachi State: +18 EC, -10 MC; Hungary: +42 EC, -20 MC)
Renovation of the Capital of Heavens, as Nanjing is informally known, has made it so that the council of the Kings-Under-Heaven presides there more regularly, turning the administrative structure of the Heavenly Kingdom into something more akin to a Han-dominated metropole state, despite the nation being formally split into semi-autonomous “realms.” (Taiping Mandate adopts “Metropolitan state” for -564.77 IC)
Following the massive expansion of the Chinese merchant marine (as well as its operational range), the Heavenly Navy has started to receive crucial funding once again. Simultaneously, the Western-style National Security service is also coming to maturity, counterweighting the venerable House of Merciful Vigilance in internal affairs. (Taiping Mandate: +4 Missions, +5 Squadrons (-149.6 HC, -140.5 IC, -224.9 EC, -149.4 MC))
While the Heavenly Navy expands, the Southern King is allowed to turn the only functional flotilla (an amalgam of defense ships protecting the entreports of the three great rivers) into a model squadron of the future fleet. At that, he closely follows the perfectionist approach that the Northern King once adopted in army modernization, except with better planning. Yet, many people wonder if the Heavenly Kingdom would be able to uphold such sky-high standards in training, organization, and shipbuilding quality, especially given the simultaneous modernization needs of the industry. (Taiping Mandate adopts “Crown seal, glass-blowing machine, and carbonated soft drink industry”, “Kohleverflüssigung and synthetic fuel industry”, “Lean manufacturing”, “Infilling and land reclamation”, “Hydrometallurgy”, “Professional oceanography”, “Amphibious operations”, “Dazzle camouflage”, “Blinking light signalling”, “Naval infantry”, “Blue-water navy”, “Indirect naval fire”, “Green-water navy”, “Kantai Kessen and decisive naval battle strategy”, “Naval inter-branch cooperation”, “Gunboat diplomacy”, “Crossing the T”, “Sea lane interdiction”, “Port strike”, “Power projection”, “Anti-torpedo maneuver”, “Naval exercises”, “Saturation attack”, “Naval airship spotters”, “Convoys and escorts”, “Torpedo nets”, “Compound engine steamers”, “Frogmen and combat divers”, “Unrestricted commerce raiding and submarine warfare”, “Echo-locating devices”, “Dynamo and electrified ships”, “Powerboat and modern ship boarding”, “Oil-engine ships”, “Torpedo attack cutters”, “Wolf pack naval tactics”, “Paddle steamers”, “Diesel-engine ships”, “Plunging shellfire”, “Icebreakers and reinforced hull”, “Submerged attack vessels”, “Telemobiloscope and early naval detection”, “Superfiring turrets”, “Cemented armor”, “Avisos and modern dispatch boats”, “Snorkel and long-range submarine”, “Unprotected cruisers”, “Airship carriers”, “Steam turbine ships”, “Difference engine fire control”, “Pocket battleships” for -350.25 HC, -130 IC, -212.5 EC, -71.5 MC)
Besides mitigating the impact of the cooling of Tokugawa-Confederate relations on trade, Japanese diplomats were also busy securing crucial commercial and patent-trading deals with nations all across North America. A big win in Chicago negotiations almost turned sour, when the utter chaos of the North-American 1896 elections made the huge deal balance on the knife’s edge, and it was only the persistence boundering rudeness of Tōru Hoshi, the Tokugawa ambassador in Chicago, forced the Department of Commerce to adhere to the terms of the treaty. Meanwhile, further north the leadership of the Republic of Quebec was more reliable and did stand by its end of the trade deal with Edo from beginning to end. (Tokugawa Shogunate: +955 IC, -208 MC; Quebec: -40 IC, +8 MC; Union of North America: -915 IC, +200 MC)
The mixed successes of trade deal negotiations didn’t stop the Shogunate’s leadership from embracing a course toward industrialist daymo capitalism and colonial legal pluralism, albeit with reasonable protection of labor unions and a wide system of public works as an alternative to military conscription. (Tokugawa Shogunate adopts “Organized labor protection”, “Civil conscription”, “Magnate capitalism”, “Legal pluralism” for -1872.63 HC, -525.4 IC, -892.39 EC)
The world expansion of Japanese banking, culture, academia, and, predictably, political influence coincided with a number of civic developments in the Home Isles, reinforcing their image of one of the global beacons of progress. (Tokugawa Shogunate adopts “Agit-trains and agit-boats”, “Hermeneutics and theory of language”, “Investment banking and trust funds”, “Medievalism and the cult of the past”, “Radioactivity and basics of atomic physics”, “Punchcard cryptocurrency” for -229.5 HC, -382.5 IC, -306 EC, -93.5 MC)
As the economy of Deseret has stabilized and the lack of capable magistrates and experts has been remedied, the Mormon nation once again set to expanding its state apparatus, albeit at a slower rate than before. (Deseret: +1 Mission (-13.6 1 HC, -7.3 IC, -26 EC, -2.1 MC))
With an influx of intellectual ideas and knew knowledge from Hongist China, the State of Deseret sees its culture flourish once more, with the original Taiping concepts of social messianism and self-devotion being mixed with the Mormon theology. Interestingly enough, even rent-to-own financial practices and evolutionary theory were harmoniously merged with the tenants of Mormon Christianity, mostly via various spiritual interpretations of the Book of Mormon. (Deseret adopts “Cultism and self-devotion”, “Psychoanalysis”, “Hisbah and venture capital”, “Biologism and evolution theory”, “Socialism and class consciousness” for -5.25 HC, -4.5 IC, -2.5 EC)
The anti-Dixie policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate of the first half of 1896 invoked surprisingly little protest from Savannah, and after a brief negotiation, the Bourbon Bond Affirmation was signed, being merely a trade agreement with some discounts for the Confederates. Despite having some economic value, that deal resulted in yet another negative political fallout for the Confederate President, as the the Bourbon Bond Affirmation in the CSA was interpreted popularly as yet another example of diplomatic weakness and defeatism. (CSA: -466 HC, -200 IC, +125 MC; Tokugawa Shogunate: +466 HC, +200 IC, -125 MC)
As a way to appease the Hawks after the Bourbon Bond Affirmation failed to satisfy the public, President Watie Jr. signed a discretionary spending bill, increasing the size of the standing Confederate army by a huge sixty five percent. (Confederate States of America: +4 Corps (-146 HC, -72.4 IC, -97.6 EC, -74 MC))
Before the inauguration of his unexpected successor, a retiring President Porfirio Diaz of Mexico did sign an executive orders that massively expanded the size and funding of the national intelligence and security service. (Mexico: +10 Missions (-146 HC, -210 IC, -310 EC, -60 MC))
Electoral havoc aside, the Mexican society was undergoing a wide wave of social, academic, cultural, and financial advancements that helped it catch up with its northern and southern rivals and partners in many aspects. (Mexico adopts “Kinotropy and clack-animation”, “Mechanical television”, “Pachinko and mechanical arcades”, “Medievalism and the cult of the past”, “Futebol and mass sport events”, “Information economy”, “Crown seal, glass-blowing machine, and carbonated soft drink industry”, “Cultism and self-devotion”, “Hermeneutics and theory of language”, “Modern archeology and anthropology”, “Statistical theory”, “Meteorological balloons and weather forecasting” for -110 HC, -68 IC, -168 EC, -54 MC)
Awash with imported industrial equipment after two lucrative trade deals of the early 1896, the Empire of Haiti went for a very risky industrial investment program, improving the performance of its state-owned corporation at the risk of running the equipment surplus into the ground if this investment doesn’t pay off. (Haiti adopts “Steam turbines”, “Hydraulic power network”, “Internal combustion engine”, “Still engine”, “Liquid-propellant rocket engine”, “Gas turbine”, “Direct electric current”, “Alternating electric current”, “Electrical grid”, “Hydroelectric plants”, “Aluminum, duralumin, and light metal frames”, “Blowlamp brazing and soldering” for -19.25 EC, -20 MC)
The Republic of Quebec underwent some serious reforms, developing a specialized, demand-driven system of education, as well as making microeconomy of the nation much more transparent. (Quebec adopts “Gray market economy”, “Specialized education” for -7.17 HC, -6.07 IC, -45.34 EC)
Not as dominated by the ideas of American exceptionalism, the Quebecoi were open to adjusting to new artistic and political ideas - which, unfortunately, also brought with them new types of crime and ways to deal with it. (Quebec adopts “Traditional art and culture”, “Classicism and the Enlightenment”, “Investment banking and trust funds”, “Hisbah and venture capital”, “Environmentalism”, “Nihilism and moral relativity”, “Oligarchy and political corruption”, “Cartels and economic crime”, “Pyramid scheme and modern scamming” for -2.25 HC, -5.5 IC, -15.25 EC)
Impacted by a political crisis and war weariness, the size of the Andean economy is shrinking, and that applies to the government sector as well. (Communes of the Andes: -1 Enterprise (-maintenance))
While some government companies were closing their doors, the majority of financial institutions (however primitive) remained standing, but even they experienced some significant degradation of their work culture and performance standards as a result of shrinking budgets. (Communes of the Andes removes “Business regulations”, “Corporate ethos”)
Being a de-facto authoritarian regime with clan-based loyalty to the ruling family, the Glorious Republic of Gran Paraguay has finally transitioned to a dynastic, politically-charged form of corporate capitalism akin to the Burmese luuhcu oligarchy, cementing it as a nation-wide policy. (Gran Paraguay adopts “Luuhcu oligarchy” for -105.6 HC, -86.6 IC, -206.8 EC, -78.2 MC)
Growing more accustomed to his position of the supreme leader of Gran Paraguay, President Juan Francisco Lopez has finally agreed to expand the nation’s state apparatus, intelligence services, and state-affiliated corporations in hopes that they will contribute to his bold vision of the nation’s future. (Gran Paraguay: +2 Missions, +2 Enterprises (-67 HC, -46.4 IC, -141.2 EC, -64.2 MC))
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Update 10: July 1, 1896 - June 30, 1897
Central Russia
Spoiler :
Fast-growing, populous region with powerful agriculture and developing manufacturing industry.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The political defeat of the Kadet-led political coalition in the directorial elections led to an activation of their corporate donors in the home market in attempts to counter the conservative forces behind the political scene. Their market gains came at the cost of North-German losses, since the peak of the Russo-German tensions led to a strong atmosphere of Germanophobia in Central Russia. (Region Central Russia gains +2.45% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +4.09% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -4.09%, Directorial Russia losses: -2 HC, -0.82 IC, -5.98 EC, -4.95 MC)
Stop a galloping horse, walk into a burning house
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Despite many fears of the Russian liberals that the Pochvennik leadership of the Directory would result in a curbing of progressive social policies, Vasily Rozanov’s government has showed that it was still dedicated to enforcing the empowerment of women in Russian public and economic life. Of course, the more cynical political observers pointed out that Rozanov, ever a political bulldog, was simply aiming to secure the support of the traditionally conservative female voters from the village and remote cities. Yet, in his eagerness to get their vote, he and his Pochvennik coalition seem to have frustrated the more patriarchal, reactionary circles of of the Russian society, as well as various Muslim minorities in the east and the south of the country. All in all, this push for greater gender egalitarianism did transform the Russian society toward much greater productivity, both in the short and the long term, but it temporarily alienated the reactionary voters. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Central Russia gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Free Boer Republic gains +1% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire gains +1% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2% Regional Influence, region Northern Russia gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Free Boer Republic gains +1% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire gains +1% Regional Influence, United Baltic Duchies gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2.5% Regional Influence, region Volga-Don Region gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Ukrainian Hetmanate gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Khiva gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Caucasian Imamate gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Basmachi State gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2.5% Regional Influence, region Ukraine gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Hungary gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Ukrainian Hetmanate gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Poland gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2% Regional Influence, region North Black Sea Region gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Hungary gains +1% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -1% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -3.32 HC, -6.02 IC, -8.56 EC, -2.07 MC)
Moscow is not made out of rubber
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The decentralization of the Russian government after the Second Time of Troubles had drawn many resources and much prestige from the city of Moscow, along with a sizeable chunk of its population. Still, Moscow (or, in Russian pronunciation, Moskva) remains one of the biggest cities in Europe (the fifth in size, after London, Paris, Frankfurth, and Petrograd (Saint-Petersburg), and it’s quickly growing due to the industrialization of the central regions of Russia. Unlike Petrograd, Moscow also lacks the history of central planning, and a bigger chunk of its population are proletarians, who were forced to leave the countryside because of unemployment and now hope to secure decent living in the sprawling megalopolis, which infrastructure was never built for such a concentration of people and industry. With the most of the buildings still made out of wood (a traditional Russian building material) and the riverside embankments being used as garbage dumps, the city is now starting to experience a set of troubles already familiar to the much larger London: namely, floods, fires, crime, and poor sanitary conditions. Frustrated about these troubles and feeling that their city is becoming bloated and overstuffed, the Moskovites blame all of the troubles on the new arrivals, capturing that ill feeling in an offensive saying, “Moscow is not made out of rubber.”
Woes of the Central Agrarian Zone
The Soil and the People
Turreted vehicles and infantry support gunships
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The political defeat of the Kadet-led political coalition in the directorial elections led to an activation of their corporate donors in the home market in attempts to counter the conservative forces behind the political scene. Their market gains came at the cost of North-German losses, since the peak of the Russo-German tensions led to a strong atmosphere of Germanophobia in Central Russia. (Region Central Russia gains +2.45% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +4.09% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -4.09%, Directorial Russia losses: -2 HC, -0.82 IC, -5.98 EC, -4.95 MC)
Stop a galloping horse, walk into a burning house
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: Russian harsh climate and equally harsh life give birth to rather stoic men and women. There is even an old Russian saying, “A peasant woman can stop a galloping horse and walk into a burning house,” which, of course, exaggerates things, but only barely. Now this folk saying has been adopted as a motto by a new generation of moderate left-leaning suffragists from the All-Russian League for Women's Equality. What strongly differs this movement from analogous European and American organizations is that the All-Russian League is driven not as much by educated intelligentsia, but by literate factory workers and classless raznochintsy. As Russian factories grow in sophistication and extensive use of difference engines, the outlook of factory personnel changes. Very often, overmen have little use for raw strength of muscles and instead look for greater analytical and troubleshooting skill at their workplace, which female employees can display just as much as their male competitors. In fact, women workers can be (and often are) paid less than men, thus outcompeting men thanks to a lack of labor regulations in Russia. This new sub-class of female workers now wishes to have as much representation in the affairs of the state as other men, being equal and even at times superior to many of them in terms of income and opportunities. Needless to say, this angers many traditionalists and advocates of Russian family patriarchate, mostly popular in the countryside and among the urban poor. One way or another, this seems to be a beginning of a long way toward gender equality in Russia.
Q3-Q4 1894: The All-Russian League’s crusade for women’s equality suddenly ended on August 25, 1894, when the Uchreditelnoye Sobraniye (Directorial Assembly) of Russia passed a constitutional amendment allowing women to vote. This decision, of course, led to a weeks-long celebration on the progressive side of the political spectrum and silent shock in more conservative circles. Meanwhile, more cynical political observers correctly guessed that the amendment was an attempt by the Constitutional Democrats (nicknamed “the Kadets” after their party’s abbreviation in Russian, “KD”) to win support of the left-leaning All-Russian League for Women's Equality before the directorial election of 1894. At that, they did succeed, but, it appears, their action had effects they failed to predict. Unlike the politically active suffragists, the vast majority of women in Russia remained a rather conservative voting bloc, supporting the Pochvenniks - so-called “returners to the soil,” a party of Russian exceptionalists and constitutional conservatives that generally shared plenty of views with Pavel Milyukov’s government, but wished to see a more culturally uniform and geopolitically isolationist Russia. Of course, the directorial, decentralized nature of the Russian republic meant that the Pochvenniks victory wasn’t complete, and some sort of coalition with the centrists and moderate leftists still had to take place, but the shift in the Russian government is expected to be long-lasting. Meanwhile, the fight for women’s rights didn’t stop there. Despite enfranchisement of women in the political system, rights of women remained rather limited in the patriarchal world of Russian domestic life, especially in villages. It is that fight that the directorial state dedicated its best magistrates to, hoping to generate a long-term boost to the nation’s dynamism and productivity once gender egalitarianism takes hold in the national psyche. (Regional quest progress: 54.04%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.94 HC, -6.3 IC, -8.21 EC, -2.15 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: The All-Russian League’s crusade for women’s equality suddenly ended on August 25, 1894, when the Uchreditelnoye Sobraniye (Directorial Assembly) of Russia passed a constitutional amendment allowing women to vote. This decision, of course, led to a weeks-long celebration on the progressive side of the political spectrum and silent shock in more conservative circles. Meanwhile, more cynical political observers correctly guessed that the amendment was an attempt by the Constitutional Democrats (nicknamed “the Kadets” after their party’s abbreviation in Russian, “KD”) to win support of the left-leaning All-Russian League for Women's Equality before the directorial election of 1894. At that, they did succeed, but, it appears, their action had effects they failed to predict. Unlike the politically active suffragists, the vast majority of women in Russia remained a rather conservative voting bloc, supporting the Pochvenniks - so-called “returners to the soil,” a party of Russian exceptionalists and constitutional conservatives that generally shared plenty of views with Pavel Milyukov’s government, but wished to see a more culturally uniform and geopolitically isolationist Russia. Of course, the directorial, decentralized nature of the Russian republic meant that the Pochvenniks victory wasn’t complete, and some sort of coalition with the centrists and moderate leftists still had to take place, but the shift in the Russian government is expected to be long-lasting. Meanwhile, the fight for women’s rights didn’t stop there. Despite enfranchisement of women in the political system, rights of women remained rather limited in the patriarchal world of Russian domestic life, especially in villages. It is that fight that the directorial state dedicated its best magistrates to, hoping to generate a long-term boost to the nation’s dynamism and productivity once gender egalitarianism takes hold in the national psyche. (Regional quest progress: 54.04%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.94 HC, -6.3 IC, -8.21 EC, -2.15 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Despite many fears of the Russian liberals that the Pochvennik leadership of the Directory would result in a curbing of progressive social policies, Vasily Rozanov’s government has showed that it was still dedicated to enforcing the empowerment of women in Russian public and economic life. Of course, the more cynical political observers pointed out that Rozanov, ever a political bulldog, was simply aiming to secure the support of the traditionally conservative female voters from the village and remote cities. Yet, in his eagerness to get their vote, he and his Pochvennik coalition seem to have frustrated the more patriarchal, reactionary circles of of the Russian society, as well as various Muslim minorities in the east and the south of the country. All in all, this push for greater gender egalitarianism did transform the Russian society toward much greater productivity, both in the short and the long term, but it temporarily alienated the reactionary voters. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Central Russia gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Free Boer Republic gains +1% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire gains +1% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2% Regional Influence, region Northern Russia gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Free Boer Republic gains +1% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire gains +1% Regional Influence, United Baltic Duchies gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2.5% Regional Influence, region Volga-Don Region gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Ukrainian Hetmanate gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Khiva gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Caucasian Imamate gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Basmachi State gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2.5% Regional Influence, region Ukraine gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Hungary gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Ukrainian Hetmanate gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Poland gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2% Regional Influence, region North Black Sea Region gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Hungary gains +1% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -1% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -3.32 HC, -6.02 IC, -8.56 EC, -2.07 MC)
Moscow is not made out of rubber
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The decentralization of the Russian government after the Second Time of Troubles had drawn many resources and much prestige from the city of Moscow, along with a sizeable chunk of its population. Still, Moscow (or, in Russian pronunciation, Moskva) remains one of the biggest cities in Europe (the fifth in size, after London, Paris, Frankfurth, and Petrograd (Saint-Petersburg), and it’s quickly growing due to the industrialization of the central regions of Russia. Unlike Petrograd, Moscow also lacks the history of central planning, and a bigger chunk of its population are proletarians, who were forced to leave the countryside because of unemployment and now hope to secure decent living in the sprawling megalopolis, which infrastructure was never built for such a concentration of people and industry. With the most of the buildings still made out of wood (a traditional Russian building material) and the riverside embankments being used as garbage dumps, the city is now starting to experience a set of troubles already familiar to the much larger London: namely, floods, fires, crime, and poor sanitary conditions. Frustrated about these troubles and feeling that their city is becoming bloated and overstuffed, the Moskovites blame all of the troubles on the new arrivals, capturing that ill feeling in an offensive saying, “Moscow is not made out of rubber.”
Woes of the Central Agrarian Zone
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: The Central Agrarian Zone is a traditional heartland of Russian agriculture, characterized before the Second Time of Troubles by the highest concentration of serfs. Even though Serf Emancipation of the 1850s has formally freed all peasants, the allotment of land in the Central Agrarian Zone, unlike in other regions of Russia and Siberia, was heavily sided in favor of the barins and pomeshchiks (the landed gentry), leaving most of obshchinas (peasant communes) with a limited amount of land of rather poor quality. Debt-ridden, often illiterate, and driven to subsistence farming, these peasant communities naturally became centers of a powerful baby boom (since obsolete agricultural practices made family farming highly dependent on human labor)., That, in turn, only forced them to either borrow grain from successful free farmers (kulaks) or rent out overpriced lands from the gentry in order to feed their growing families. While the Directorial Assembly has recently found a solution for overpopulation of cities of Central Russia, it seems like the woes of the Central Agrarian Zone still linger, and the countryside is fuming with dissent, envy, and debilitating poverty.
The Soil and the People
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: The directorial elections of 1894 outlined a serious shift in the grassroot political movements in Russia. Until recently, the politics in the country was mostly left to the wealthy, as regular people, while often being enfranchised, saw little chance to influence the coalitionary deals made at the very top and defining the direction of the country. However, the suddenly divisive election campaign between the liberal Kadets and the moderate conservative Pochvenniks has outlined a new trend. Plenty of middle-class people are afraid that Russia’s fate is now to return to the reactionary slumber of Slavophile rule - unless somebody enlightens regular peasants and foresters - the people, - about the values of liberty for all and progress for the Motherland. These volunteers call themselves Narodovoltsy, from the Russian words “narod” (the people) and “volya” (will or freedom). Often, they abandon their comfortable life and careers in cities and travel to the countryside to find much humbler life among their fellow countrymen, in hopes to elevate these simple folks to the ideas of democracy and progress.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The conservative coalition’s view of the Narodovoltsy movement was best captured by a journalist who managed to sneak into Piotr Smirnoff’s invited party to hear Secretary of the Directorial Assembly Vasily Rozanov declare in his speech, “The young intellectuals who go to the countryside to educate the peasants will find themselves educated in turn by the reality of the depressing Russian condition. Some will be broken, but many will return having rejected the idealism of Russian liberalism.” The truthfulness of that account cannot be checked, but what’s true is that the Bure-Smirnoff-backed coalition of Pochvenniks indeed chose to follow the Fabian strategy in dealing with the liberal rural agitators. The Narodovoltsy weren’t persecuted or directly suppressed, but every step they made toward improving education and the general living conditions in village communities for the sake of progress encountered a wall of partisan obstructionism. For now, the Narodnaya Volya movement hasn’t run out of steam, but when it does, it might serve to reinforce the conservative grip over Directorial Russia’s politics. (Regional quest progress: 48.33%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.58 HC, -4.68 IC, -6.99 EC, -1.61 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The conservative coalition’s view of the Narodovoltsy movement was best captured by a journalist who managed to sneak into Piotr Smirnoff’s invited party to hear Secretary of the Directorial Assembly Vasily Rozanov declare in his speech, “The young intellectuals who go to the countryside to educate the peasants will find themselves educated in turn by the reality of the depressing Russian condition. Some will be broken, but many will return having rejected the idealism of Russian liberalism.” The truthfulness of that account cannot be checked, but what’s true is that the Bure-Smirnoff-backed coalition of Pochvenniks indeed chose to follow the Fabian strategy in dealing with the liberal rural agitators. The Narodovoltsy weren’t persecuted or directly suppressed, but every step they made toward improving education and the general living conditions in village communities for the sake of progress encountered a wall of partisan obstructionism. For now, the Narodnaya Volya movement hasn’t run out of steam, but when it does, it might serve to reinforce the conservative grip over Directorial Russia’s politics. (Regional quest progress: 48.33%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.58 HC, -4.68 IC, -6.99 EC, -1.61 MC)
Turreted vehicles and infantry support gunships
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: In the early 1890s, the Hungarians revolutionized battlefield warfare with their personnel-carrying ironclad landship Lazslo Mk.1, followed by the Anti-Communard Coalition producing lighter, machine-gun-carrying Skeleton crawlers. Since then, very few experiments with mechanized armor were actually made, as Taiping, Indostani, and many other crawler landship adaptations followed one or the other pattern: a bulky wheeled mobile bunker manned by infantry or a lightly armored cabin with a machine gun, suspended between two running tracks. In winter 1895, the Directorial Russian Army made its own, rather extravagant contribution to the development of land warmachines. Displayed in the firing range under Tula, the new Netopyr’ infantry support gunship designed by Nikolai Lebedenko is essentially a self-propelled, armored, elevated turret gun platform that can use a wheel tricycle or “vezdekhod” caterpillar chassis (depending on a variation) for redeployment and crossing of enemy defense lines. The bizarrely looking machine has proven being able to produce rather impressive speed in solid ground in its wheeled variant, but its main strength comes from its elevated turrets that can project direct fire in support of advancing infantry. Despite an impressive display of its fighting capabilities, the Netopyr’ gunship is having troubles with crossing muddy grounds or rocky terrain, an issue that may require a few more months of improvement before sending the revolutionary war machines into mass production. (Technology quest progress: 93.57%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.55 HC, -0.56 IC, -7.11 EC, -5.92 MC)
Northern Russia
Spoiler :
Fast-developing cultural center with well-established fur industry and access to foreign markets.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The fears of a war with a coalition of European powers led by Russia’s past partners from the NGF have unleashed a wave of anti-German sentiment in Russia and allowed the Directorate of Internal Affairs to initiate a series of investigations against previously off-limit North-German interests. (Region Northern Russia: Directorial Russia gains +1.74% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.74% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -1.79 HC, -3.24 IC, -4.61 EC, -1.11 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The anti-German mood across Russia also helped some major industrial and pharmaceutical companies belonging to Russian pro-Liberal oligarchs to wrestle a bigger share of the market from their foreign competitors. (Region Northern Russia gains +1.97%% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +3.29% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -3.29% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -1.77 HC, -0.73 IC, -5.27 EC, -4.36 MC)
Northern Delivery
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: With the focus of Directorial Russia’s industry on other, more urgent projects, these were Transpacific shipping companies and the Rybachi Shipyard specifically that stepped in to propel the Northern Delivery project toward its completion. The reasons for such urgency were obvious: in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the fear of a Tokugawa invasion was quite serious, and the young nation’s leadership was caught unprepared by the threat (so far, luckily, only hypothetical) of its naval communications being cut by the potent Shogunate’s navy. Besides creating alternate routes of connecting Transpacifica and the Siberian state to the Russian heartland, this project also included creation of new shipbuilding, as well as warehousing and harbor facilities in Murmansk and Rybachi. Finally, some humble attempts to test military naval transit through the Arctic Ocean were made, but that route remains so far being possible only in summer months. (Regional project completed with full success, region Northern Russia gains +5 HC, +10 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.75% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.25% Regional Influence, region Transural +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.75% Regional Influence, Siberian Popular Assembly gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.5% Regional Influence, region Central Siberia gains +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.75% Regional Influence, Siberian Popular Assembly gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.5% Regional Influence, region Pacific Siberia gains +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Siberian Popular Assembly gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -0.5% Regional Influence, region North-Pacific America +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.75% Regional Influence, Siberian Popular Assembly gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.5% Regional Influence, region Central Canada gains +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Confederate States of America loses -0.5% Regional Influence, region Atlantic Canada-Quebec gains +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Confederate States of America loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Pacific Directory losses: -2.31 HC, -0.79 IC, -5.62 EC, -3.32 MC)
Komi of many rivers
Citiscape and prestige
War and dairy
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The ancient city of Vologda, a provincial center of the North Dvina river valley, is not just a spiritual center of Orthodox Christianity (thanks to its ancient history of ascetic monastic communities), but also a dairy capital of Russia. That status was earned in the 1870s, when a Danish merchant Friedrich Buman opened a butter factory there. Russian consumerism was just skyrocketing in the wave of economic boom that followed the end of the Second Time of Troubles, and soon the Vologda butter, a special brand with the taste of nuts invented by Nikolay Vereschagin and Friedrich Buman himself, became a world trademark. Now, Buman’s dairy empire is one of the pillars of the Northern Russian economy, and the Dane and his expat factory managers are quite well-respected in the region, but the risk of war with Denmark-Norway (as a proxy of the North German Federation) puts the Vologda dairy industry in a crossfire of international politics.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The fears of a war with a coalition of European powers led by Russia’s past partners from the NGF have unleashed a wave of anti-German sentiment in Russia and allowed the Directorate of Internal Affairs to initiate a series of investigations against previously off-limit North-German interests. (Region Northern Russia: Directorial Russia gains +1.74% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.74% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -1.79 HC, -3.24 IC, -4.61 EC, -1.11 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The anti-German mood across Russia also helped some major industrial and pharmaceutical companies belonging to Russian pro-Liberal oligarchs to wrestle a bigger share of the market from their foreign competitors. (Region Northern Russia gains +1.97%% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +3.29% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -3.29% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -1.77 HC, -0.73 IC, -5.27 EC, -4.36 MC)
Northern Delivery
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: The completion of the White Sea-Baltic Canal by Russia was only one of the milestones in exploration of the Arctic. Another breakthrough took place in Kamchatka and also involved Russian engineers - namely, it was the construction of the first icebreaker ship on the Rybachy Shipyard. Together, these two achievements open a new chapter in the infrastructural history of Russian Siberia and the Far East. Visionaries from all three directories propose a grand project of Arctic sea shipping, called Severniy Zavoz (the Northern Delivery). They point out that the Transsibirian Railway was great at connecting European Russia, the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East closer together, but a railroad of any kind cannot help with transportation of goods and materials to and from Arctic towns and mining settlements - a problem that the North-German investors have already had to face. If a fleet of cargo icebreakers could be built and harbors of various Polar towns could be expanded, the Polar Circle could stop being such an unconquerable place after all. The only point of disagreement is whether this project should cover only Russian Eurasian territories, or extend to Transpacific Alyaska and Kanada, or even, perhaps, include Scandinavian and Quebecoi ports as well.
Q1-Q2 1895: Introduction of icebreaker ships to naval communications and re-foundation of Mangazeya harbor in the Polar North spearheaded the Russian directorial effort to reconnect all directories via the Arctic Ocean in addition to the already existing railroad transport in the south. The scope of this project is kept relatively conservative, as the new directorial majority displays a more mercantile, insular approach to economic investments. At the current rate, construction of a merchant fleet of cargo icebreakers and northern harbors capable of unloading them may take a few more months to finish, meaning that by the next winter the Northern Delivery may be already operational. (Regional quest progress: 87.5%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.73 HC, -0.59 IC, -7.68 EC, -6.2 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Northern Delivery project was progressing at a high speed speed in the spring of 1895, with Polar harbors being constructed and icebreaker fleet expanding way ahead of the plan. That prompted the Directory of Transport and Communications to scale back the state involvement in the ambitious project, redirecting precious assets to other, more urgent areas. This proved to be a miscalculation, as many key nodes of the Northern Delivery network were not completed by the early winter season (which, essentially, started in mid-October of 1895), resulting in the works mostly stalling until late April of 1896, dragging the project into yet another fiscal year. (Regional quest progress: 91.5%, Directorial Russia losses: -3.22 HC, -0.71 IC, -8.99 EC, -7.47 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: Introduction of icebreaker ships to naval communications and re-foundation of Mangazeya harbor in the Polar North spearheaded the Russian directorial effort to reconnect all directories via the Arctic Ocean in addition to the already existing railroad transport in the south. The scope of this project is kept relatively conservative, as the new directorial majority displays a more mercantile, insular approach to economic investments. At the current rate, construction of a merchant fleet of cargo icebreakers and northern harbors capable of unloading them may take a few more months to finish, meaning that by the next winter the Northern Delivery may be already operational. (Regional quest progress: 87.5%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.73 HC, -0.59 IC, -7.68 EC, -6.2 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Northern Delivery project was progressing at a high speed speed in the spring of 1895, with Polar harbors being constructed and icebreaker fleet expanding way ahead of the plan. That prompted the Directory of Transport and Communications to scale back the state involvement in the ambitious project, redirecting precious assets to other, more urgent areas. This proved to be a miscalculation, as many key nodes of the Northern Delivery network were not completed by the early winter season (which, essentially, started in mid-October of 1895), resulting in the works mostly stalling until late April of 1896, dragging the project into yet another fiscal year. (Regional quest progress: 91.5%, Directorial Russia losses: -3.22 HC, -0.71 IC, -8.99 EC, -7.47 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: With the focus of Directorial Russia’s industry on other, more urgent projects, these were Transpacific shipping companies and the Rybachi Shipyard specifically that stepped in to propel the Northern Delivery project toward its completion. The reasons for such urgency were obvious: in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the fear of a Tokugawa invasion was quite serious, and the young nation’s leadership was caught unprepared by the threat (so far, luckily, only hypothetical) of its naval communications being cut by the potent Shogunate’s navy. Besides creating alternate routes of connecting Transpacifica and the Siberian state to the Russian heartland, this project also included creation of new shipbuilding, as well as warehousing and harbor facilities in Murmansk and Rybachi. Finally, some humble attempts to test military naval transit through the Arctic Ocean were made, but that route remains so far being possible only in summer months. (Regional project completed with full success, region Northern Russia gains +5 HC, +10 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.75% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.25% Regional Influence, region Transural +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.75% Regional Influence, Siberian Popular Assembly gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.5% Regional Influence, region Central Siberia gains +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.75% Regional Influence, Siberian Popular Assembly gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.5% Regional Influence, region Pacific Siberia gains +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Siberian Popular Assembly gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -0.5% Regional Influence, region North-Pacific America +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.75% Regional Influence, Siberian Popular Assembly gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.5% Regional Influence, region Central Canada gains +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Confederate States of America loses -0.5% Regional Influence, region Atlantic Canada-Quebec gains +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, Pacific Directory gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Confederate States of America loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Pacific Directory losses: -2.31 HC, -0.79 IC, -5.62 EC, -3.32 MC)
Komi of many rivers
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: Komi are ancient Finno-Ugric people that have settled the very north of the Russian Plain long before the Slavs and the Norse came into the picture. For many centuries, they were the biggest limitation of Novgorodian political expansion in the north, and with Moskovian vassalization of the Duchy of Great Perm they were largely left alone for centuries, as most of the energy of the growing Russian state was aimed past them, toward Siberian expansion. However, anthropological expeditions and censi of the early 19th century brought the Komi back to the demographic picture of the Russian society. Now that their region, rich in mineral ores, diamonds, timber, and reindeer herds, grows in its economic value, many Komi communities are starting to use Russia’s newfound taste for freedom of speech to attract people’s attention to their ethnic plight. Inhabiting mostly the numerous river valleys of the region (primarily,of the Vychegda, Pechora and Kama rivers), their villages are naturally placed to benefit from the swelling of logistical networks keeping Russian industries of Great Perm working. Yet, the “timber magnates” and “salt barons” that invest most heavily in the region prefer to hire Slavic work migrants from Central Russia, partially due to ethnic biases and partially because they have a greater leverage in wage negotiations with that desperate lot. Komi advocates insist that Komi workers can prove to be superior to the Russian labor force, or that they, at least, could provide lively service industries to grim Russian mining towns, but in order to do that, they need at least some level of municipal representation and cessation of discriminatory policies by the businesses.
Citiscape and prestige
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: With the narrow conservative win in the Russian 1894 Directorial elections, the political shake-off couldn’t help but reflect a similar economic shift. This year, Lessner Manufacturing, the biggest competitor of the Russo-Balt Consortium in the automotive industry, attempted to use its connections in the Pochvennik circles and promote itself as the new “king of the mountain” - in prestige if not in sales. The facade of this effort is the construction of the Lessner Tower in Saint Petersburg (o, a business center that is being promoted as the tallest occupied office building in Europe. The construction was green-lit by the mayorate, but caused anger among the Petrogradians. Besides expected complaints about the noise, dust, and obstructions of city traffic, the construction also caused serious concerns among those who are afraid the city now risks to lose its natural beauty. They say, its historical Imperial architecture will be trumped by a “brick of a building” that can be seen from any part of the city and that could naturally ruin its skyline during the famous “white nights” in winter. While the protests are growing, Lessner have no intent to back away from the construction they’ve already paid for.
War and dairy
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The ancient city of Vologda, a provincial center of the North Dvina river valley, is not just a spiritual center of Orthodox Christianity (thanks to its ancient history of ascetic monastic communities), but also a dairy capital of Russia. That status was earned in the 1870s, when a Danish merchant Friedrich Buman opened a butter factory there. Russian consumerism was just skyrocketing in the wave of economic boom that followed the end of the Second Time of Troubles, and soon the Vologda butter, a special brand with the taste of nuts invented by Nikolay Vereschagin and Friedrich Buman himself, became a world trademark. Now, Buman’s dairy empire is one of the pillars of the Northern Russian economy, and the Dane and his expat factory managers are quite well-respected in the region, but the risk of war with Denmark-Norway (as a proxy of the North German Federation) puts the Vologda dairy industry in a crossfire of international politics.
Volga-Don Region
Spoiler :
Fast-growing and populous infrastructure hub of Russia, with well-developed riverine transport, strong agriculture, and up-and-coming industrial sector.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: After more than a century of Russification, the Volga German community did seem to side with the Directorial Republic in the recent Eastern European affairs, and against the “warmongers” from the North German Federation, and a few nonconforming elements had started enjoying polite visits from the Committee of State Security. (Region Volga-Don Region: Directorial Russia gains +0.95% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.95% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -1.28 HC, -2.31 IC, -3.29 EC, -0.79 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Due to their large agricultural and resource economic sector, as well as thanks to their old tradition of Russian conservatism, the Povolzhye (Cisvolga) and Zadonshchina (Transdon) regions saw huge expansions of pro-Pochvennik oligarch businesses, mirroring the pro-Kadet oligarchs’ expansion in Northern Russia. (Region Volga-Don Region gains +2.64% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +4.4% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -2.4% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -2% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -2.59 HC, -1.07 IC, -7.73 EC, -6.4 MC)
Wall-on-wall
Nobels’ Town
Sacred groves of the Hill Mari
Fisheries and modern aquaculture
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Traditional approach to fishing is still the predominant way of feeding coastal populations across the globe, but even the ancient field of aquaculture is inevitably facing progress in the modern times. Predictably, one such development took place in the Lower Volga region and the Caspian Sea, the home of some of the most profitable and valuable caviar-bearing fish species. The new aquacultural approach based on establishment of artificial fisheries is still in its infancy and has not receive a single ruble of investments, but its enthusiasts paint an exciting picture for whoever implements it first. In its essence, their proposal is based on farming of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic plants, algae, and other aquatic organisms, involving cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions. That runs contrary to commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. With any luck, the benefits of the new approach will be soon recognized.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: After more than a century of Russification, the Volga German community did seem to side with the Directorial Republic in the recent Eastern European affairs, and against the “warmongers” from the North German Federation, and a few nonconforming elements had started enjoying polite visits from the Committee of State Security. (Region Volga-Don Region: Directorial Russia gains +0.95% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.95% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -1.28 HC, -2.31 IC, -3.29 EC, -0.79 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Due to their large agricultural and resource economic sector, as well as thanks to their old tradition of Russian conservatism, the Povolzhye (Cisvolga) and Zadonshchina (Transdon) regions saw huge expansions of pro-Pochvennik oligarch businesses, mirroring the pro-Kadet oligarchs’ expansion in Northern Russia. (Region Volga-Don Region gains +2.64% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +4.4% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -2.4% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -2% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -2.59 HC, -1.07 IC, -7.73 EC, -6.4 MC)
Wall-on-wall
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Stenka-na-stenku (Russian for “wall-on-wall”) is a traditional Russian combative tournament that has survived in some of the more distant Russian villages. Every year, groups of young men (and sometimes women) from neighboring villages gather together on a meadow and break up into teams. Unarmed and unarmored, they form improvised phalanxes that clash with each other and break down into a friendly, yet violent hand-to-hand melee. While the competitive aspect is important, the main purpose of this strange tradition is to let out some steam accumulated between the villagers over small-time disagreements. Village elders and cultural researchers defend the custom as a (relatively) non-consequential way of keeping village life free of feuds and court visits. Meanwhile, urban-educated magistrates and gendarmes often complain about this barbaric, dysfunctional (and yet, so very, very Russian) custom.
Nobels’ Town
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Nobel Brothers are a Swedish-Russian entrepreneurial family with stakes in the Caucasian Baku oil fields and immense influence in the Russian industry. Always decidedly apolitical, the Nobels have influenced the bustling industries of the city of Tsaritsyn by building a so-called Nobelevskiy Gorodok (or Nobels’ Town) in the north-eastern side of the city, providing residence for the numerous workers employed at the local oil refinery. The Nobels’ Town is rumored as a sort of a workers’ paradise, with living standards high above even many bourgeoisie neighborhoods of many cities. As envied as they are, the Nobels’ Town’s dwellers have a good reputation among the locals, which diffuses many of potential disparity-fueled disputes. However, workers and traveling river boatmen of the newly established Volga-Don Transferring Railroad Network are only temporary visitors in Tsaritsyn, and they were recently noticed to be troublemakers and vandals behind many street crimes committed in the Nobels’ Town.
Sacred groves of the Hill Mari
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The Mari El (or Hill Mari) people are a Finno-Ugric ethnos residing in the middle flow of the Volga River. Having been incorporated into the Russian Tsardom in the 16th century and Christianized under Imperial policies of Russification, the Mari El are a backward group of agriculturalists that never fully abandoned their pagan roots even after accepting casual Orthodox Christianity. Now these old traditions are starting to clash with the industrial development of Povolzhye. Sacred groves (or “Kusoto”) where Mari El worship their syncretized “good-great-radiant-God” have been marked for felling after the land they grow on was sold to some Russian logging companies. Mari El villagers, of course, were in their majority both too poor and too politically educated to understand the problem they were facing and to react to it properly and on time. However, now that the logging has started, many of them are staging spontaneous religious (and often Luddite) protests that clearly put them on the wrong side of the law.
Fisheries and modern aquaculture
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Traditional approach to fishing is still the predominant way of feeding coastal populations across the globe, but even the ancient field of aquaculture is inevitably facing progress in the modern times. Predictably, one such development took place in the Lower Volga region and the Caspian Sea, the home of some of the most profitable and valuable caviar-bearing fish species. The new aquacultural approach based on establishment of artificial fisheries is still in its infancy and has not receive a single ruble of investments, but its enthusiasts paint an exciting picture for whoever implements it first. In its essence, their proposal is based on farming of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic plants, algae, and other aquatic organisms, involving cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions. That runs contrary to commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. With any luck, the benefits of the new approach will be soon recognized.
Ukraine
Spoiler :
Fast-developing breadbasket of Eastern Europe with a big labor market.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Hetman Hrushevsky’s government is growing concerned with the tension between its eastern neighbor and the Western-European coalition, which has led to some careful efforts to remove the most partisan supporters of the two blocks from the Ukrainian politics. (Region Ukraine: Ukrainian Hetmanate gains +0.18% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.09% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.09% Regional Influence, Ukrainian Hetmanate losses: - 0.74 HC, -1.28 IC, -2.1 EC, -0.11 MC)
Draining the swamp
Brotherhood of Saint Cyril and Methodius
Peasant-mania
East-West Corridor
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Oskar Paton and his much modernized railroad concerns did their best to stop or, at least, slow down Lazar Polyakov’s takeover of the Ukrainian East-West Corridor railway project. Still, the best that the Ukrainian minister could to do was to make Polyakov’s expansion as costly for the Russian railway magnate as possible, which, predictably, couldn’t stop the “Rothchild of Moscow” and his Pochvennik backers. By the middle of 1897, the East-West Corridor was completed with the Russian railroad gauge as its standard. That infrastructural development became the anchor that de-facto secured the Narodnik-led Ukrainian Hetmanate firmly in the Russian sphere of influence. (Regional quest completed with success, region Ukraine gains +10 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +1%, Directorial Russia gains +3% Regional Influence, Ukrainian Hetmanate loses -1% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -1.5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Switzerland loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Poland loses -1% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -7.34 HC, -3.02 IC, -21.9 EC, -18.13 MC, Ukrainian Hetmanate losses: -5.93 HC, -1.28 IC, -12.23 EC, -9.31 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Hetman Hrushevsky’s government is growing concerned with the tension between its eastern neighbor and the Western-European coalition, which has led to some careful efforts to remove the most partisan supporters of the two blocks from the Ukrainian politics. (Region Ukraine: Ukrainian Hetmanate gains +0.18% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.09% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.09% Regional Influence, Ukrainian Hetmanate losses: - 0.74 HC, -1.28 IC, -2.1 EC, -0.11 MC)
Draining the swamp
Spoiler :
1892: Expansive Pripyat Marshes lie in the Polesian Lowland, taking up vast tracts of land and standing on the way of any infrastructure project with a potential to connect Russia with Europe. Several projects have been proposed aimed at finally making some use of that inhospitable land. The most ambitious, but most practical project suggests that gradual drainage could help Russia reconquer a lot of arable land. The All-Russian Geographic Society, meanwhile, proposes turning Pripyat Marshes into the first Russian “national park,” a place where wild nature is preserved in its primordial state. That project, they argue, would increase Russia’s prestige in the world and, besides attracting tourists, would also make Russia a destination for many natural scientists. Finally, a few dark minds suggest that, now that Siberia is a formally a separate nation, the marshes could be used as a universal exile location for unwanted types capable of penal servitude. That, of course, would require some basic penal colony infrastructure to be built, and the government would have to come up with criteria for the types of crimes that could qualify for that stereotypically Russian kind of punishment.
Brotherhood of Saint Cyril and Methodius
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: The Russian-speaking community of Kyiv was one of the groups of Ukrainian bourgeoisie voters that brought the left-leaning, pro-Russian Narodnik party to domination over the Ukrainian Rada (Parliament). However, in young countries like the Hetmanate, every action predictably causes a strong reaction. Now it’s the more Western-oriented, Ukrainian-speaking community of Kyivans and other Ukrainians that’s organizing to form a united opposition to the Narodnik cabinet of Hetman Hrushevsky. In their zeal to establish an organized political structure that is free of tarnished reputation and foreign connections of the old magnate elite, this new party seems to be a new installment of the legendary Brotherhood of Saint Cyril and Methodius, founded by a Ukrainian historian Mykola Kostomarov in the 1840s and widely considered a precursor of Ukrainian patriotic movement. Now caution is advised for anyone wishing to work with the new Brotherhood of Saint Cyril and Methodius, as this grassroot movement remains fiercely independent from other political parties and with an untested leadership consisting of enthusiastic political outsiders.
Peasant-mania
Spoiler :
1891: Ukrainian national revival is a newly found phenomenon that is sweeping through the Hetmanate and Malorossian provinces of Directorial Russia. One of the key features of this artistic and social movement of local intelligentsia is fascination with Ukrainian peasantry, or Chlopomania (lit. “Peasant-mania”). City painters and poets, journalists and writers travel all the way to the countryside to breathe in the serene spirit of hromadas (Ukrainian village communities). While some find the intellectuals’ fascination with romanticized peasantry dangerous or pervert, others think it could help establish closer ties between the city and the village across the entire region.
East-West Corridor
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The hottest joke in Kyiv public houses these days is this: “What would happen if you teach a hare to speak Russian? It will start building a railroad.” All fun considered, it’s almost uncanny that as soon as the pro-Russian Narodniks led by Mykhailo Hrushevsky assumed power upon a victory in the national elections, their first big project within the Hetmanate’s borders was an expansion of the national railway system. The idea was solidly based. Before the Second Time of Troubles, the hyper-centralized Russian Empire had little need in connecting Ukrainian governorates together via a robust transportation system, building all major arteries of commerce going north-to-south, radiating from Moscow to Kyiv, and from Kyiv to Kursk or to Odessa. However, with the new borders of the independent Ukraine being as they are, Kyiv and other west-bank territories are being badly connected to well-developed regions of Volyn’ and Galichina. The west, in turn, enjoys a relatively good railway system, that is, sadly, suffering from a scourge of the old Austrian railway-making: a lack of nation-wide railway gauge standard. So, a new project, named East-West Corridor, was proposed by the Minister of the Interior Oskar Paton: to build one main branch connecting the capital in the east (Kyiv) to the biggest cultural and political center of the west (Lviv), passing through Zhytomyr, Proskuriv, and Ternopil. Smaller branches are to be built radially, toward Voznesensk, Chernivtsi, Stanyslaviv, Tiraspil, Cherkassy, and Styi. Interestingly, the gauge chosen for the construction by itself was a message to the pro-Western critics of Mykhailo Hrushevsky’s alleged Russophilia: the Stephenson gauge that used to be the standard in the Austrian Empire, now adopted all across the Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, but not Russia. Regardless of the grandiose plans, the construction itself started at a slow pace, as the Ukrainian industrial expertise is appalling, and the railway commissions tasked with landscape reconnaissance and land purchase were also hampered by inefficiency and a primitive workflow. (Regional quest progress: 17.54%, Ukrainian Hetmanate losses: -3.21 HC, -2.26 IC, -8.41 EC, -3.3 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Western-educated Oskar Paton was a person widely respected in the Russian community of railway engineers, but his decision to use the Stephenson gauge did not play particularly well among the Russian politicians. In order to not attract unnecessary attention of the press to the Russian Pochvenniks’ squabble with the nominally pro-Russian Narodnik government in Ukraine, a few backroom deals were made with the directorial business elite, eventually leading to announcement made by Lazar Polyakov, the famous “Rothschild of Moscow,” that his company is interested in heavy investments in the Ukrainian East-West Corridor railway. In actuality, Polyakov was tasked with taking over the project by any legal ways necessary, with the end goal of ensuring that the Russian gauge was used along the entire length of the Corridor. The “contracting war” that resulted saw a series of lobbying campaigns, corporate mergers and takeovers, buyouts, with Polyakov’s railroad empire eventually taking a lead in the entire project. However, many sections of the Corridor remain unfinished (unsurprisingly, given the amount of rework required), and the completion of this infrastructure effort may take a few more months. (Regional quest progress: -74.83%, Ukrainian Hetmanate losses: -9.31 HC, -2.28 IC, -24.38 EC, -15.25 MC, Directorial Russia losses: -4.86 HC, -1.07 IC, -13.57 EC, -11.28 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Western-educated Oskar Paton was a person widely respected in the Russian community of railway engineers, but his decision to use the Stephenson gauge did not play particularly well among the Russian politicians. In order to not attract unnecessary attention of the press to the Russian Pochvenniks’ squabble with the nominally pro-Russian Narodnik government in Ukraine, a few backroom deals were made with the directorial business elite, eventually leading to announcement made by Lazar Polyakov, the famous “Rothschild of Moscow,” that his company is interested in heavy investments in the Ukrainian East-West Corridor railway. In actuality, Polyakov was tasked with taking over the project by any legal ways necessary, with the end goal of ensuring that the Russian gauge was used along the entire length of the Corridor. The “contracting war” that resulted saw a series of lobbying campaigns, corporate mergers and takeovers, buyouts, with Polyakov’s railroad empire eventually taking a lead in the entire project. However, many sections of the Corridor remain unfinished (unsurprisingly, given the amount of rework required), and the completion of this infrastructure effort may take a few more months. (Regional quest progress: -74.83%, Ukrainian Hetmanate losses: -9.31 HC, -2.28 IC, -24.38 EC, -15.25 MC, Directorial Russia losses: -4.86 HC, -1.07 IC, -13.57 EC, -11.28 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Oskar Paton and his much modernized railroad concerns did their best to stop or, at least, slow down Lazar Polyakov’s takeover of the Ukrainian East-West Corridor railway project. Still, the best that the Ukrainian minister could to do was to make Polyakov’s expansion as costly for the Russian railway magnate as possible, which, predictably, couldn’t stop the “Rothchild of Moscow” and his Pochvennik backers. By the middle of 1897, the East-West Corridor was completed with the Russian railroad gauge as its standard. That infrastructural development became the anchor that de-facto secured the Narodnik-led Ukrainian Hetmanate firmly in the Russian sphere of influence. (Regional quest completed with success, region Ukraine gains +10 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +1%, Directorial Russia gains +3% Regional Influence, Ukrainian Hetmanate loses -1% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -1.5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Switzerland loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Poland loses -1% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -7.34 HC, -3.02 IC, -21.9 EC, -18.13 MC, Ukrainian Hetmanate losses: -5.93 HC, -1.28 IC, -12.23 EC, -9.31 MC)
North Black Sea Region
Spoiler :
Fast-developing gateway to Black Sea trade and an export hub of Russian and Ukrainian agricultural goods.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: A brief resurgence of Hungarian foreign economic expansion saw a hard check in 1897 from the Russian corporations in the Pontic Steppes, rolling back many gains of the Hungarian capital after costly competition.(Region North Black Sea Region gains +0.64% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +1.07% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -1.07% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -5.39 HC, -2.22 IC, -16.08 EC, -13.31 MC, Hungary losses: -12.31 HC, -2.6 IC, -30.78 EC, -20.01 MC)
Seamen left behind
Loyalty and representation
Past the Pale of Settlement
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: A brief resurgence of Hungarian foreign economic expansion saw a hard check in 1897 from the Russian corporations in the Pontic Steppes, rolling back many gains of the Hungarian capital after costly competition.(Region North Black Sea Region gains +0.64% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +1.07% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -1.07% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -5.39 HC, -2.22 IC, -16.08 EC, -13.31 MC, Hungary losses: -12.31 HC, -2.6 IC, -30.78 EC, -20.01 MC)
Seamen left behind
Spoiler :
1890: The city of Aqyar, previously known as Sevastopol, used to be the main military base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet before the Ottoman takeover of Crimea in the late 1850s. Since then, it’s become a key base for the Sublime Porte’s naval capabilities in the Black Sea. Local authorities, however, are growing concerned over the presence of a big (albeit aging) Russian community in the city. Many Russian seamen and their families never relocated to the mainland and now, as some Turkish secret agents argue, could serve as a pro-Russian spy net overlooking one of the key military harbors of the Porte.
Q1-Q2 1894: The Sublime Porte’s recruitment of the Superior Men as a pro-state youth organization sent ripples across the empire, but in Aqyar such ripples were, perhaps, most visible. Never particularly excited about living under the Ottoman authority, the Russian diaspora of Aqyar was at least content with the Porte’s benign neglect of their neighborhoods. However, this year one particularly enthusiastic group of Superior Men (who mostly were not men, but youngsters between 14 and 20) ventured into the Russian quarters, bullying the locals into stating their loyalty to the “Supreme State” and the “Chosen Race.” Encouraged by their state affiliation, the Superior Men eventually overstepped one boundary too many, and were dragged into a bloody street fight that left most of them dead or maimed. This was only the beginning of a series of riots and protest marches by the Russian Aqyarites, to which local police was too slow to react. (Regional quest progress: -25%)
Q3-Q4 1894: The Sublime Porte chose to turn a blind eye on the Aqyar protests, allowing the situation to escalate further, until both the Russian urban minority and the Ottoman police had exhausted themselves in endless riots and took a break for the New Year’s celebration. (Regional quest progress: -35%)
Q1-Q2 1895: The humiliation of the Treaty of Odessa was quickly followed by yet another escalation of Superior Men’s attacks on the Russian diaspora in Aqyar. To their credit, the Ottoman police did attempt to act as a buffer between the two rival groups, but ultimately it appears that the circle of violence and contempt is spiralling out of control. (Regional quest progress: -55%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: It was quite predictable that the Ottoman central authorities couldn’t ignore the problem of Aqyar ethnic clashes forever. Yet, few experts could predict that the hammer of Ottoman suppression would eventually fall not on the Russian diaspora in Aqyar and across the Crimean peninsula, but on the Superior Men, who had by then outlived their usefulness. While the feared Special Organization (Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa) of the Ottoman State was mopping up the overly zealous Ottomanists, forces of the Ottoman army and navy were deployed to the peninsula in order to institute a strict curfew and military government for the length of the crisis. For some time, it looked like the crisis could die down (along with the Ottoman jingoists’ respect for “Young Caliph” Mehmet Selim I), just as the enthusiasm of Russian protestors vanished. However, such ending must’ve not satisfied some foreign observers, as in January 1896 the Ottoman secret police noticed a burst of activities that indicated some foreign involvement. A tense hunt followed, as the Special Organization and its less elite sister agencies attempted to prevent the provocation that was surely coming. In the process of that hunt, several espionage cells were destroyed (unfortunately, with no survivors and no leads), and it looked like the foreign spy network could be completely eradicated within months by the superior Ottoman counterintelligence. Unfortunately, it was not enough. On April 8, 1896, a colossal explosion shocked Aqyar, destroying the army arsenal and several army barracks, along with an office of military police. Less than an hour later, an obsolete armored cruiser of the Ottoman navy Midilli was destroyed by another blast. By noon of that same day a major fire erupted in the Russian neighborhood of Aqyar, the arsonists unknown. The Ottoman military government rushed to declare all three acts as a terrorist attack and provocation by a foreign force, but at the same time a series of publications appeared across Europe and Middle East, depicting the devastating fire in the Russian quarters as an Ottoman retaliation against the “common scapegoats.” That notion was quickly dismissed by the Ottoman government, although many observers do agree that a strong anti-Russian mood indeed persists among the officers of the army and the navy, who dislike Mehmet Selim I’s softness on the Russians and harshness against his past supporters (as overly eager as they were). Meanwhile, for all the criticism they’ve got from the newspapers, the Ottoman secret services are doing the impossible and reverting the conflict to a state of dissipation and calm - at least, on the grassroot level. (Regional quest progress: 35.39%, ??? losses: -12.1? HC, -22.0? IC, -32.9? EC, -7.5? MC, Ottoman State losses: -27.91 HC, -33.6 IC, -51.33 EC, -18.21 MC)
Q1-Q2 1894: The Sublime Porte’s recruitment of the Superior Men as a pro-state youth organization sent ripples across the empire, but in Aqyar such ripples were, perhaps, most visible. Never particularly excited about living under the Ottoman authority, the Russian diaspora of Aqyar was at least content with the Porte’s benign neglect of their neighborhoods. However, this year one particularly enthusiastic group of Superior Men (who mostly were not men, but youngsters between 14 and 20) ventured into the Russian quarters, bullying the locals into stating their loyalty to the “Supreme State” and the “Chosen Race.” Encouraged by their state affiliation, the Superior Men eventually overstepped one boundary too many, and were dragged into a bloody street fight that left most of them dead or maimed. This was only the beginning of a series of riots and protest marches by the Russian Aqyarites, to which local police was too slow to react. (Regional quest progress: -25%)
Q3-Q4 1894: The Sublime Porte chose to turn a blind eye on the Aqyar protests, allowing the situation to escalate further, until both the Russian urban minority and the Ottoman police had exhausted themselves in endless riots and took a break for the New Year’s celebration. (Regional quest progress: -35%)
Q1-Q2 1895: The humiliation of the Treaty of Odessa was quickly followed by yet another escalation of Superior Men’s attacks on the Russian diaspora in Aqyar. To their credit, the Ottoman police did attempt to act as a buffer between the two rival groups, but ultimately it appears that the circle of violence and contempt is spiralling out of control. (Regional quest progress: -55%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: It was quite predictable that the Ottoman central authorities couldn’t ignore the problem of Aqyar ethnic clashes forever. Yet, few experts could predict that the hammer of Ottoman suppression would eventually fall not on the Russian diaspora in Aqyar and across the Crimean peninsula, but on the Superior Men, who had by then outlived their usefulness. While the feared Special Organization (Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa) of the Ottoman State was mopping up the overly zealous Ottomanists, forces of the Ottoman army and navy were deployed to the peninsula in order to institute a strict curfew and military government for the length of the crisis. For some time, it looked like the crisis could die down (along with the Ottoman jingoists’ respect for “Young Caliph” Mehmet Selim I), just as the enthusiasm of Russian protestors vanished. However, such ending must’ve not satisfied some foreign observers, as in January 1896 the Ottoman secret police noticed a burst of activities that indicated some foreign involvement. A tense hunt followed, as the Special Organization and its less elite sister agencies attempted to prevent the provocation that was surely coming. In the process of that hunt, several espionage cells were destroyed (unfortunately, with no survivors and no leads), and it looked like the foreign spy network could be completely eradicated within months by the superior Ottoman counterintelligence. Unfortunately, it was not enough. On April 8, 1896, a colossal explosion shocked Aqyar, destroying the army arsenal and several army barracks, along with an office of military police. Less than an hour later, an obsolete armored cruiser of the Ottoman navy Midilli was destroyed by another blast. By noon of that same day a major fire erupted in the Russian neighborhood of Aqyar, the arsonists unknown. The Ottoman military government rushed to declare all three acts as a terrorist attack and provocation by a foreign force, but at the same time a series of publications appeared across Europe and Middle East, depicting the devastating fire in the Russian quarters as an Ottoman retaliation against the “common scapegoats.” That notion was quickly dismissed by the Ottoman government, although many observers do agree that a strong anti-Russian mood indeed persists among the officers of the army and the navy, who dislike Mehmet Selim I’s softness on the Russians and harshness against his past supporters (as overly eager as they were). Meanwhile, for all the criticism they’ve got from the newspapers, the Ottoman secret services are doing the impossible and reverting the conflict to a state of dissipation and calm - at least, on the grassroot level. (Regional quest progress: 35.39%, ??? losses: -12.1? HC, -22.0? IC, -32.9? EC, -7.5? MC, Ottoman State losses: -27.91 HC, -33.6 IC, -51.33 EC, -18.21 MC)
Loyalty and representation
Spoiler :
1890: Ever since then-Imperial Russia was pushed back out of Crimea, the Turkish authorities have been providing significant support to the local population of Crimean Tatars. This year, however, local Mejlis (the Assembly of Elders) has surprisingly voted for Crimean independence or significant autonomy (although even the hottest heads support an alliance with the Sublime Porte). It seems like the Crimean Tatars feel underrepresented in the Grand Divan, as no visiers or pashas of Crimean descent are there to lobby the proud people’s interests. What’s worse, the Crimean Tatars have not produced a magistrate or officer high-ranking enough to be quickly promoted to hold a seat in the Grand Divan. For now, the tensions stay pretty low, but the situation may escalate in upcoming years.
Past the Pale of Settlement
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: Under the Tsarist regime of old, Jewish subjects of the Tsar were not allowed to settle east of the so-called Pale of Settlement, running along the Don river. This turned the city of Nikolayev, a major shipbuilding center and the third largest Russian export gateway, into a host of one of the largest Jewish communities in the region, since the town was located just west of the Pale. Now that the Pale is no longer there to limit Russian citizens’ freedom of residence, Nikolayev docks and warehouses continue being dominated by prominent Jewish families that make a fortune on being the middlemen in the Russian agricultural and industrial export. Meanwhile, the famous Nikolayev Sea Shipyard are mostly run by people who question the Jewish diaspora’s loyalty, especially in the light of a possible conflict with the Ottomans. Some of them are afraid that if a conflict were to come to the Black Sea, and were the Sultan block the Straits to the Russian merchant fleet, the Jewish diaspora of Nikolayev would be hit the hardest by the drop in throughput, thus making them potential agents of Turkish influence. Some hardliners suggest repossession of the dock infrastructure, while others propose letting the Ukrainian Jewish diaspora to prove their loyalty to the Directorial Assembly. The question remains a touchy matter with plenty of possible consequences.
Update 10: July 1, 1896 - June 30, 1897
Scandinavia
Spoiler :
Fast-developing center of European education and science, hitting above its weight in economic sector.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While a conventional war between Directorial Russia and the NGF might have been evaded in the first half of 1897, a trade war between the past partners was only starting to heat up. In Scandinavia, for example, the North-German corporations used the framework of the Scandinavian Trade Union and particular agreements with the Danish crown to push some of the Pomorian merchants’ influence out of Norwegian waters and ports. (Region Scandinavia gains +2.31% Regional Growth Fluctuation, North German Federation gains +3.85% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -3.85% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -1.42 HC, -0.63 IC, -4.09 EC, -3.49 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Clear diplomatic allegiances sworn by the Swedish and Finnish governments have led to a clash between their subjects - for now, a bloodless series of corporate contests between the Swedish aktiebolags (“limited companies”) and Finnish aateli estate owners, with very little end result, despite the loads of cash wasted. (Region Scandinavia gains +0.05% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Sweden gains +0.08% Regional Influence, Finland loses -0.08% Regional Influence, Sweden losses: -2.98 HC, -0.76 IC, -7.78 EC, -5.18 MC, Finland losses: -3.86 HC, -0.91 IC, -9.49 EC, -6.05 MC)
Baltoscandia!
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The idea of Baltoscandian unity, popularized in the leftist circles in the early 1890s, has been properly retired during string of geopolitical commitments that took place at the height of the war scare around the crisis in Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. In Directorial Russia, the alignment of Sweden and Denmark-Norway with the NGF was seen with a weary eye, as Frankfurth had grown in the prior years to act as the geopolitical center of European alliances (traditionally viewed in Moscow and Petrograd (Saint-Petersburg) as anti-Russian in their nature). That fear was shared by the Helsinki government (which hadn’t forgotten the Swedish attempts to re-subjugate Finland); it, unfortunately, could not put its own landed gentry in line, as the latter was afraid that alignment with Russia could drag Finland into yet another massive conflict. The resistance and inertia of the Finnish political class against the Russian diplomatic push was joined by the left-leaning intelligentsia of the United Baltic Duchies, in the minds of which the idea of Baltoscandian state looked like a way to escape both the German and Russian domination and establish a stronger Baltic state. Finally, the Swedish and Danish crowns resisted the Russian attempts to ally Finland for much more simplistic, pragmatic reasons. This four-sided resistance to the Russian diplomacy slowed down the negotiation between Moscow and Helsinki significantly, but by summer 1897 the public opinion in Finland was firmly shifted toward an alliance with Russia, and the leftist ideas of Baltoscandia were pushed away to the periphery of Finnish and Baltic political discourse, where they remained popular only among radical social-revolutionaries. (Regional quest completed with success, region Scandinavia: Directorial Russia gains +3% Regional Influence, Communard France gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -3.25% Regional Influence, region Baltia-Prussia: Communard France gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Northern Russia: Finland gains +1.5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -6.72 HC, -12.19 IC, -17.34 EC, -4.19 MC, Finland losses: -3.67 HC, -5.87 IC, -9.38 EC, -0.32 MC, Sweden losses: -6.05 HC, -7.12 IC, -11.22 EC, -1.02 MC, Denmark-Norway losses: -4.15 HC, -6.14 IC, -9.5 EC, -0.6 MC, United Baltic Duchies losses: -2.79 HC, -5.91 IC, -9.5 EC, -1 MC)
The land where grass is greener
Nordic Games
India in the Northlands
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The historical region of Norrland (lit. “the Northlands”) is traditionally covering the northern part of modern Sweden and Finland, being largely hilly, mountainous land covered by boreal forests. In the official Swedish historiography, Norrland is mostly ignored, being seen as a no man’s frontier. With the industrialization arriving both to Sweden and Finland, however, this attitude is changing. The Northlands’ sprawling forests are seen as a great source for wood and pulp industry, the northern rivers are hypothesized to be usable for hydroelectricity, and several precious metal mines have been discovered. Yet, despite this, the popular attitude to the Northlands (and the Northlanders, which include both Swedish and Lappish settlers) hasn’t gone past a traditional colonialist perception of exploiting the land for the benefits of the metropole. In fact, a 17th century Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna summarised it like that: "In Norrland we have an India within our borders, if only we realize we should be taking advantage of it."
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While a conventional war between Directorial Russia and the NGF might have been evaded in the first half of 1897, a trade war between the past partners was only starting to heat up. In Scandinavia, for example, the North-German corporations used the framework of the Scandinavian Trade Union and particular agreements with the Danish crown to push some of the Pomorian merchants’ influence out of Norwegian waters and ports. (Region Scandinavia gains +2.31% Regional Growth Fluctuation, North German Federation gains +3.85% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -3.85% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -1.42 HC, -0.63 IC, -4.09 EC, -3.49 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Clear diplomatic allegiances sworn by the Swedish and Finnish governments have led to a clash between their subjects - for now, a bloodless series of corporate contests between the Swedish aktiebolags (“limited companies”) and Finnish aateli estate owners, with very little end result, despite the loads of cash wasted. (Region Scandinavia gains +0.05% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Sweden gains +0.08% Regional Influence, Finland loses -0.08% Regional Influence, Sweden losses: -2.98 HC, -0.76 IC, -7.78 EC, -5.18 MC, Finland losses: -3.86 HC, -0.91 IC, -9.49 EC, -6.05 MC)
Baltoscandia!
Spoiler :
1890: A new academic movement is being spearheaded by a group of social-utopist agitators in Helsinki and Turku. They argue for creation of a transnational state of Baltoscandia, including the territories of Finland, Sweden, Baltic Duchies, Prussia, and Danish islands. As a pan-Scandinavian entity, they say, such union would prevent any future wars between Baltic nations and would help them act more independently on the world stage. Some of these sentiments were positively accepted by disillusioned workers and frustrated students who view themselves as hostages in the prolonged stand-off between Sweden and its neighbours. Conservatives, however, call such ideas traitorous to the spirit of national unity, and reactionaries also point out at the destruction of the social hierarchy such transformation would bring. As dreamy as that fringe idea is, it keeps shaping social debate among Scandinavian intellectuals.
1891: Social-utopists and social-communards across all Finland and the Baltic Duchies were actively engaged in Pan-Baltoscandian agitation, probably funded by some foreign source. It seems like the public discourse is progressing rather quickly, and the topic’s ideological base is shifting to the left. (Regional quest progress: 32.21%, ??? losses: -0.91 HC, -1.41 IC, -2.07 EC, -0.67 MC)
At the same time, the Russian Directorate of Foreign Affairs was not interested in letting go of the cordial relationship with Finland in favor of allowing a creation of a new Baltoscandian nation which elites it would be unable to control. Therefore, the Russians chose to encourage the opposite trend, lobbying for survival of an independent Finnish national identity (under a Russian wing, of course). To demonstrate the benefits of staying a sovereign, but pro-Russian nation, they invited Finnish delegates to Moscow to demonstrate the venerable “Ilya Muromets” analytical engine, hinting that should the new calculating machine be built in Saint-Petersburg (Petrograd), parts of its processing power could be offered to Russian Baltic allies. This sort of persuasion, combined with lavish banquets, went a long way to tie Finnish political elites to Russia, although the political situation around the proposed national unification of Baltoscandian nations is still fluid. (Regional quest progress: -50.86%, -0.36 HC, -0.61 IC, -0.95 EC, -0.23 MC)
1891: Social-utopists and social-communards across all Finland and the Baltic Duchies were actively engaged in Pan-Baltoscandian agitation, probably funded by some foreign source. It seems like the public discourse is progressing rather quickly, and the topic’s ideological base is shifting to the left. (Regional quest progress: 32.21%, ??? losses: -0.91 HC, -1.41 IC, -2.07 EC, -0.67 MC)
At the same time, the Russian Directorate of Foreign Affairs was not interested in letting go of the cordial relationship with Finland in favor of allowing a creation of a new Baltoscandian nation which elites it would be unable to control. Therefore, the Russians chose to encourage the opposite trend, lobbying for survival of an independent Finnish national identity (under a Russian wing, of course). To demonstrate the benefits of staying a sovereign, but pro-Russian nation, they invited Finnish delegates to Moscow to demonstrate the venerable “Ilya Muromets” analytical engine, hinting that should the new calculating machine be built in Saint-Petersburg (Petrograd), parts of its processing power could be offered to Russian Baltic allies. This sort of persuasion, combined with lavish banquets, went a long way to tie Finnish political elites to Russia, although the political situation around the proposed national unification of Baltoscandian nations is still fluid. (Regional quest progress: -50.86%, -0.36 HC, -0.61 IC, -0.95 EC, -0.23 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The idea of Baltoscandian unity, popularized in the leftist circles in the early 1890s, has been properly retired during string of geopolitical commitments that took place at the height of the war scare around the crisis in Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. In Directorial Russia, the alignment of Sweden and Denmark-Norway with the NGF was seen with a weary eye, as Frankfurth had grown in the prior years to act as the geopolitical center of European alliances (traditionally viewed in Moscow and Petrograd (Saint-Petersburg) as anti-Russian in their nature). That fear was shared by the Helsinki government (which hadn’t forgotten the Swedish attempts to re-subjugate Finland); it, unfortunately, could not put its own landed gentry in line, as the latter was afraid that alignment with Russia could drag Finland into yet another massive conflict. The resistance and inertia of the Finnish political class against the Russian diplomatic push was joined by the left-leaning intelligentsia of the United Baltic Duchies, in the minds of which the idea of Baltoscandian state looked like a way to escape both the German and Russian domination and establish a stronger Baltic state. Finally, the Swedish and Danish crowns resisted the Russian attempts to ally Finland for much more simplistic, pragmatic reasons. This four-sided resistance to the Russian diplomacy slowed down the negotiation between Moscow and Helsinki significantly, but by summer 1897 the public opinion in Finland was firmly shifted toward an alliance with Russia, and the leftist ideas of Baltoscandia were pushed away to the periphery of Finnish and Baltic political discourse, where they remained popular only among radical social-revolutionaries. (Regional quest completed with success, region Scandinavia: Directorial Russia gains +3% Regional Influence, Communard France gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -3.25% Regional Influence, region Baltia-Prussia: Communard France gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Northern Russia: Finland gains +1.5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -6.72 HC, -12.19 IC, -17.34 EC, -4.19 MC, Finland losses: -3.67 HC, -5.87 IC, -9.38 EC, -0.32 MC, Sweden losses: -6.05 HC, -7.12 IC, -11.22 EC, -1.02 MC, Denmark-Norway losses: -4.15 HC, -6.14 IC, -9.5 EC, -0.6 MC, United Baltic Duchies losses: -2.79 HC, -5.91 IC, -9.5 EC, -1 MC)
The land where grass is greener
Spoiler :
1892: As British Canada is becoming an increasingly hostile place for anyone not completely siding with the British military rule, hundreds of families try to escape it for more welcoming lands. While more left-leaning people find refuge in the Union of North America, those opposed to the “populist hydra” head for the Danish colony of Greenland. A harsh land with limited self-rule, Greenland is having an ambivalent impact from that influx of English-speaking immigrants. On the one hand, this provides the Landstings (local twin parliament) with the demographic resources to continue exploring, settling, and developing the large icy island. On the other hand, given the current pace of migration, Kalaallisut-speaking locals are about to be outnumbered by the Canadian newcomers unfamiliar with the Greenlandic way of life, which greatly disturbs the colony’s stability and economy. Whether this wave of immigration will become a blessing or a curse for Greenland remains to be seen.
Nordic Games
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: With greater globalization of Central, Northern, and Northwestern Europe, some sports activists are starting to propose the establishment of so-called Nordic Games, a multi-sport event that hosts various wintertime sports and competitions popular in Scandinavia, the Albion, and Germanic Europe. The exact list of such sports is not clear yet, and it’s also undecided what entities (national states, or cities, or only themselves) the Nordic Games’ participants would represent. While many applaud this endeavor, they also point out that inclusion of Slavic and Baltic nations may also be beneficial. Left-leaning athletic activists also encourage opening the games to the North-American Union, while various liberal groups promote egalitarian cosmopolitanism, allowing even people from other world nations join the games (as unfamiliar as their athletes might be with Nordic sports).
India in the Northlands
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The historical region of Norrland (lit. “the Northlands”) is traditionally covering the northern part of modern Sweden and Finland, being largely hilly, mountainous land covered by boreal forests. In the official Swedish historiography, Norrland is mostly ignored, being seen as a no man’s frontier. With the industrialization arriving both to Sweden and Finland, however, this attitude is changing. The Northlands’ sprawling forests are seen as a great source for wood and pulp industry, the northern rivers are hypothesized to be usable for hydroelectricity, and several precious metal mines have been discovered. Yet, despite this, the popular attitude to the Northlands (and the Northlanders, which include both Swedish and Lappish settlers) hasn’t gone past a traditional colonialist perception of exploiting the land for the benefits of the metropole. In fact, a 17th century Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna summarised it like that: "In Norrland we have an India within our borders, if only we realize we should be taking advantage of it."
Ireland-Scotland
Spoiler :
Slowly-developing, ethnically divided backwaters of the British Isle, slowly starting to recover from a decade of neglect and suppressive anti-Gaelic policies.
Pikemen of the Emerald Island
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Despite presenting himself as a more rational and flexible leaders of the Royal Commonwealth, Lord-Protector Watson was unbent in his determination to root out the “new pikemen” from the Irish political landscape. Having branded all independence-seeking groups as violent terrorists, the Round Table of Great Britain continued cracking down on all rapparee nua cells with utmost brutality and determination, using both the garrison troops and the Secret Ward agents. This didn’t just result in big losses of lives and property, but also created an abominable sense of anti-British resentment among the Irish people. Still, at some critical point the core network of organized resistance was destroyed, and the Emerald Island (at least, temporarily) ran out of young men and women willing (or having the training) to put their lives on the scales of liberation struggle. There’s little doubt that another generation of Irish independence seekers will arise one day, but for quite a while this land has been thoroughly suppressed. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Ireland-Scotland gains -10 HC, -5 IC, -5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.75%, British Royal Commonwealth gains +8% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -8% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -7.46 HC, -3.07 IC, -6.11 EC, -2.97 MC)
Union and loyalty
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: One of the most controversial policies of the previous Lord-Protector of the Royal Commonwealth was his blind preferentialism toward everyone who resembled an Anglo-Saxon identity. That did significant damage to the British stance with the Irish Unionists (known in Irish informally as aontachtóir (from aontacht, "union")). The latter (mostly concentrated in Northern Ireland) had a long tradition of loyalty to Great Britain, taking pride in their Protestant upbringing and various forms of demonstrating their Britishness. While formally courted by the Protectorate office, the Unionists did face a lot of ethnic bias in their attempts to establish government service careers or even business, being in that sense similar to the Scottish Lowlanders. Now that the bootheel of the Protectorate has crushed the “new pikemen” liberation movement (whose members are also known to the Irish as náisiúnach (from náisiún, "nation")), some advisers recommend that the Lord-Protector attempts to re-establish closeness with at least some elements of the Irish ethnos, such as the grudge-bearing Unionists. Meanwhile the old supporters of Thomas Bland Strange and his extreme hardlinership (who are still many in numbers within the state apparatus) recommend that such connections are established not with the relatively moderate and self-willed Irish Unionists, but with a much more radical and violent group of pro-British Irishmen, known as the Loyalists (or dílseoir (from dílis, "loyal")). They think that the Loyalists should be turned into a paramilitary organization of enforcers that would be quite useful both because they could easier blend in with the Irish commoners and because their own violent methods would quickly cut away any possibilities for them to switch camps. Whatever decision is made, it appears that the good, old “divide and conquer” strategy is still very viable.
Red Clydeside
Justice for the crofters
Tankers, self-dischargers, and bulk shipping
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: With the Portobrazilian and North-German industrial focus concentrated elsewhere, the Scott Shipyards’ “tanker ship” project continued to proceed at a relatively slow speed. It is hoped that, once the Royal Commonwealth could concentrate more industrial efforts on that development of its merchant marine, it could significantly speed up. (Technology quest progress: 57.61%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.64 HC, -0.69 IC, -7.56 EC, -5.97 MC)
Pikemen of the Emerald Island
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: The Irish struggle for independence has entered a new stage, it seems. While moderate factions still exist among self-rule supporters, more and more people start to think that the Irish people should follow the example set by Canadien patriots. While an open rebellion is clearly out of their reach yet, first underground cells have started to form in cities of the Emerald Island, and rolling hills of Connaught and Munster are gradually becoming a hotbed of guerilla activity. Members of these new militias are nicknamed “rapparee nua” (or “new pikemen”), after the infamous rapparees of the Williamite War of the 1690s. However, instead of being armed with spontoon half-pikes, these modern patriotic highwaymen are wielding modern small arms and explosives. Only time will tell if the New Pikemen will be able to repeat the success of Patriotes of Quebec.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Return of the British army home from the Great Colonial War was sometimes a jubilant and sometimes a sad affair, but nowhere was it as menacing as in Ireland. Supported by a crack force of the Secret Ward operatives, the troops turned firmly against the rapparee nua in a series of raids and round-ups. After having been redirected by its French sponsors toward more or less peaceful protest in 1893, the Irish Independence movement quickly radicalized in response to the British methods. Violence erupted in all parts of the island, with terrorist attacks on British patrols and assassinations of the Royal Commonwealth’s officials being carried out almost daily. This didn’t seem to deter the Lord-Protector and his Round Table advisors, who viewed this bloodshed as a continuation of a violent struggle for Britannia’s survival. (Regional quest progress: 62.94%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -3.47 HC, -2.01 IC, -3.75 EC, -1.61 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Return of the British army home from the Great Colonial War was sometimes a jubilant and sometimes a sad affair, but nowhere was it as menacing as in Ireland. Supported by a crack force of the Secret Ward operatives, the troops turned firmly against the rapparee nua in a series of raids and round-ups. After having been redirected by its French sponsors toward more or less peaceful protest in 1893, the Irish Independence movement quickly radicalized in response to the British methods. Violence erupted in all parts of the island, with terrorist attacks on British patrols and assassinations of the Royal Commonwealth’s officials being carried out almost daily. This didn’t seem to deter the Lord-Protector and his Round Table advisors, who viewed this bloodshed as a continuation of a violent struggle for Britannia’s survival. (Regional quest progress: 62.94%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -3.47 HC, -2.01 IC, -3.75 EC, -1.61 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Despite presenting himself as a more rational and flexible leaders of the Royal Commonwealth, Lord-Protector Watson was unbent in his determination to root out the “new pikemen” from the Irish political landscape. Having branded all independence-seeking groups as violent terrorists, the Round Table of Great Britain continued cracking down on all rapparee nua cells with utmost brutality and determination, using both the garrison troops and the Secret Ward agents. This didn’t just result in big losses of lives and property, but also created an abominable sense of anti-British resentment among the Irish people. Still, at some critical point the core network of organized resistance was destroyed, and the Emerald Island (at least, temporarily) ran out of young men and women willing (or having the training) to put their lives on the scales of liberation struggle. There’s little doubt that another generation of Irish independence seekers will arise one day, but for quite a while this land has been thoroughly suppressed. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Ireland-Scotland gains -10 HC, -5 IC, -5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.75%, British Royal Commonwealth gains +8% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -8% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -7.46 HC, -3.07 IC, -6.11 EC, -2.97 MC)
Union and loyalty
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: One of the most controversial policies of the previous Lord-Protector of the Royal Commonwealth was his blind preferentialism toward everyone who resembled an Anglo-Saxon identity. That did significant damage to the British stance with the Irish Unionists (known in Irish informally as aontachtóir (from aontacht, "union")). The latter (mostly concentrated in Northern Ireland) had a long tradition of loyalty to Great Britain, taking pride in their Protestant upbringing and various forms of demonstrating their Britishness. While formally courted by the Protectorate office, the Unionists did face a lot of ethnic bias in their attempts to establish government service careers or even business, being in that sense similar to the Scottish Lowlanders. Now that the bootheel of the Protectorate has crushed the “new pikemen” liberation movement (whose members are also known to the Irish as náisiúnach (from náisiún, "nation")), some advisers recommend that the Lord-Protector attempts to re-establish closeness with at least some elements of the Irish ethnos, such as the grudge-bearing Unionists. Meanwhile the old supporters of Thomas Bland Strange and his extreme hardlinership (who are still many in numbers within the state apparatus) recommend that such connections are established not with the relatively moderate and self-willed Irish Unionists, but with a much more radical and violent group of pro-British Irishmen, known as the Loyalists (or dílseoir (from dílis, "loyal")). They think that the Loyalists should be turned into a paramilitary organization of enforcers that would be quite useful both because they could easier blend in with the Irish commoners and because their own violent methods would quickly cut away any possibilities for them to switch camps. Whatever decision is made, it appears that the good, old “divide and conquer” strategy is still very viable.
Red Clydeside
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Recent reopening of the famous Clydeside Shipyards in Glasgow significantly improved the economic outlook of the region, but the general policy of Gaelic disenfranchisement carried out by the Protectorate Ward continued hurting the government’s standing with the Lowland Scottish workers. With the vast majority of Scottish-owned businesses and plants being in decline following years of discriminatory policies, the ire of local proletariat has finally risen to form yet another cohesive radical political movement (something that hasn’t happened since the violent counter-revolution of the post-Atlantic War days. Nicknamed the Red Clydeside, the movement, contrary to its name, is not limited only to the working class quarters of Glasgow and, in fact, is particularly strong in other major cities of Scotland which industries were in the decline since Lord-Protector Strange had ascended to his position. The Red Clydeside is dominated by ideologues of Celtic Communism, a syncretic brand of leftist ochlocracy and Gaelic pan-nationalism which proposes a creation of a socialist union state of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and, potentially, even French Brittany. Less extravagant leaders of the Red Clydeside don’t venture that far into pan-nationalist daydreams and stand firmly within the labor unionist spectrum of a North-American kind, suggesting that the dominant political ideology of the UNA took its roots from the 18th century Society of the Friends of the People and the 1820s Radical War - two episodes of Scottish radicalism that the Red Clydesiders are proud to name as their inspiration.
Justice for the crofters
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: In Scottish Highlands, crofters are small land tenants in rural areas, who rent their land from bigger landholders, usually of noble descent (the name comes from the word “croft,” meaning a small arable area, enclosed or fenced, with the tenant’s dwelling on it). Historically, the Highlands had been simmering with tensions between the landlords and crofters, but things definitely changed for the worse when the Scottish people got disenfranchised and the Highland nobility started to expand its hunting and herding grounds at the crofters’ expense, trying to compensate for the loss of the graft with growing rent and decreasing their tenants’ space. This has recently lead to a series of rent strikes and simmering discontent by the crofters against both their own landlords and the Lord-Protector who does represents a hated English policeman in their perception. These tensions exploded into riots and violence on the island of Skye, and the English government has to act sooner or later to keep the situation from escalating further.
Tankers, self-dischargers, and bulk shipping
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896:The reopening of the Scotts Shipyard in the Clydeside area of Glasgow almost immediately saw a major innovative project contracted to the past center of British shipbuilding industry. With the number of stations and resupply ports across the world shrinking, the British Royal Commonwealth (still a sprawling global empire) found itself in need of long-distance, bulk-capable ships. The solution to this should become a so-called “tanker,” a new type of merchant cargo ships designed for transportation and (un)loading of massive bulk loads of non-breakable cargo. The project, while rather expansive, quickly attracted the attention of a Hamburg-based Blohm und Voß shipbuilding conglomerate and a military-specialty Brazilian bureau of Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro. All three nations are expected to benefit from this enhancement to their giant and overworked merchant marine fleets, although the project may take some time to complete. (Technology quest progress: 50.91%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -0.83 HC, -0.22 IC, -2.39 EC, -1.88 MC, North German Federation losses: -0.83 HC, -0.25 IC, -2.16 EC, -1.73 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -0.99 HC, -0.27 IC, -3.01 EC, -2.14 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: With the Portobrazilian and North-German industrial focus concentrated elsewhere, the Scott Shipyards’ “tanker ship” project continued to proceed at a relatively slow speed. It is hoped that, once the Royal Commonwealth could concentrate more industrial efforts on that development of its merchant marine, it could significantly speed up. (Technology quest progress: 57.61%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.64 HC, -0.69 IC, -7.56 EC, -5.97 MC)
England-Wales
Spoiler :
Fast-developing, populous heart of the British Empire, famous for astounding level of scientific activity and education, combined with rich labor market and strong urban and rural economies.
Long live the Queen!
Nonconforming Welshmen
We don’t want to fight, but by Jingo if we do
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: For years, the security of the British Empire was personified by Thomas Bland Strange, an ultimate outsider and war hero who stabilized the nation at the time of its (by then) biggest challenge. Yet, at the end of his sixteen-year-long rule that myth seemed to be as good as dead, making many minds within the Protectorate office quite worried about the future of the empire under his increasingly erratic leadership. Finally, on August 3, 1896, a manifesto was spread, bearing Lord-Protector Stranges’s signature. It stated that, “seeing the widespread dissatisfaction directed towards his role as Lord Protector in recent months, he had come to the realization that the best thing for him to do is to step aside and let someone else take charge.” The authenticity of that document was immediately questioned by the people who had known “Jingo Strange” for years, and soon a rumor emerged that the Lord-Protector was, in reality, forced to abandon his post in a brutal cabinet altercation with the Round Table members and their loyalists. Being caught unprepared by the coup, Thomas Bland Strange allegedly locked himself in the office and spent hours attempting to telegraph or telephone any loyalist he could find in the Protectorate agency - to no avail. Finally, by the early dawn the door to his cabinet was broken, and the saber-swinging Lord-Protector was eventually forced into submission by the Beefeaters. The rumor alleges that on his way out of the palace “Jingo Strange” challenged thirty one men and one woman to a duel in seventeen different instances, with questionable prospects of his charges ever being fulfilled. He was, the story claims, placed under a house arrest in one of the royal mansions in Oxfordshire, where he spends days and nights rambling around empty rooms, sedated with heavy drugs and followed by a personal butler and handler. How much truth that story bears remains a big question, but what’s definitely know is that in his stead a figure of one Arthur Watson emerged, an ex-Kingsman with a unanimous support of the Round Table behind his candidacy. In his dry and short speech to the crowd that gathered in front of the Tower he had established his utter respect for his predecessor and “the savior of Britannia,” promising to extend his rule of stability, but introduce some “rational improvements” to the character of the Royal Commonwealth. While the speech itself generated little interest, all eyes are set on the new leader in hopes that he could bring Mother Britannia to a better. (Regional quest progress: 88.81%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.68 HC, -3.4 IC, -5.52 EC, -1.65 MC)
Royal Start-up Office
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The idea of technologically advanced small companies founded by entrepreneurial inventors and savants and provided capital by private investors had spread across the world like wildfire in the recent years. With North Germany, Japan, Dixieland and Russia leading the way, these so-called “start-ups” have been so successful as economic actors that even the Taiping Mandate had recently agreed to bend its religious orthodoxy for the sake of benefitting from the same trend. In Great Britain, one of the first reforms by the new Lord-Protector was also concerning the promotion of startup economy. However, it didn’t end there. In order to provide so-called “seed investment” for the entrepreneurial savants in a nation where private capital had been under state supervision for the past decade and a half, a new Royal Office of Selective Investment was founded, quickly nicknamed simply the “Royal Start-up Office.” Needless to say, letting government magistrates spend taxpayers money on seed investment raised some concerns, since these were the taxpayers who carried all the risks and the government that stood to receive all the benefits. Still, in the context of the oppressive, authoritarian British state these concerns were voiced rather softly, especially since the nation was still going through a beer-induced honeymoon period with the new Lord-Protector. While the political communication may still be needed to quiet down the worried voices, the economic benefit of jump-starting Great Britain’s technologic economy is not doubted. (Regional quest progress: 44.1%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -3.33 HC, -0.88 IC, -9.54 EC, -7.54 MC)
Purpose-built landing crafts
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Many experts agree that one of the main reasons the Royal Commonwealth lost the Second Atlantic War was its inability to project power the enemy shores once its overseas possessions were taken. While the reasons for that are numerous, one of them was in the Royal Marines’ inability to perform fast, aggressive amphibious invasions. To remedy this issue, some engineers propose building small and medium seagoing vessels that could be used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The idea has already been voiced and heard, but no assets have been dedicated to its implementation.
Long live the Queen!
Spoiler :
1890: Now that the threat of a populist revolution seems to have withdrawn, the Queen and her closest relatives no longer feel that they need the iron-grip “protection” offered by the Lord-Protector himself. Their position is shared by landed gentry that would rather have returned to the time before Lord Wellington altogether. On the other hand, British bankers and industrialists have benefited greatly from the protectionist (no pun intended) policies of the Lord-Protector’s administration. And as for the officer corps, it is split between their loyalty to the Queen and their appreciation of the power and privileges they enjoy under the Protectorate’s militarist practices. Meanwhile, the working class and the peasantry keeps growing ever more alienated from all three of the groups. And the colonies? Nobody even asks them.
Nonconforming Welshmen
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Since the late 18th century, Wales was experiencing a rise of Christian Nonconformism, a Protestant movement to stray from obedience to the Church of England. First among the Welsh Nonconformists were the Calvinists, and especially the Presbyterian Church of Wales (Welsh: Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru), which, by extension, became a center of Welsh national reawakening. The practice was mostly tolerated, all the way until the Rum Riots and chaos in Gaelic communities spooked the failing government of Great Britain into adopting the policy of Anglicization under Lord-Protector Strange. In the decade that followed, Wales mostly got on the new nationalist government’s good side, and even today the Welsh Nonconformists are the only major group on the Albion supporting a controversial prohibition law. Yet, some members of the Round Table are afraid that the recent defeats of the Royal Commonwealth have emboldened the Welsh Presbyterians to step up their national revival efforts, as Sunday schools across all of the country now speak Welsh.
We don’t want to fight, but by Jingo if we do
Spoiler :
1892: After the Atlantic War and subsequent national crisis, it seemed like it would be a long time before British public would be acceptive of thoughts of another war again. However, the last year’s Sao Tome Incident near the Zaire coast, combined with ethnic purges of English settlers in the Cape, has reversed that pacifist trend. Atlantic War veterans that yesterday were praying in churches for eternal peace under the sun, now march in London singing “By Jingo” and decrying the “sinkers of the Challenger and rapists of Capetown.” The stratocratic nature of his authority makes the Lord-Protector formally immune for any, even the most passionate display of public demand, but it seems to be harder than ever to dissuade the nation from yet another foreign entanglement.
Q1-Q2 1893: The Boer campaign against the British shipping around the Cape of Good Hope stirred even more trouble in the Albion’s politics, shifting the popular mood further to the right. The Second Lower Canada and Second Red River Rebellions didn’t help the case, as more and more hawkish demagogues demand that the Lord-Protector actually does what he volunteered for and “protects” the Royal Commonwealth and its current and former subjects from Celtic and Canadian lawlessness, as well as, most importantly, from the perfidy of the Boers. Drastic actions may be required to display British actions as just the right type of response to all of the threats the nation is facing across the globe, and effective retaliation could please a lot of “hawks” and help the Lord-Protector regain popular support. (Regional quest progress: -30%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The treaties of Montreal and Hong Kong that put an end to the Second Atlantic and the Great Colonial wars are widely considered to be a masterpiece of the British diplomacy by foreign experts. Yes, the Royal Commonwealth clearly lost on the battlefield across the most of the theaters of war, but Britain has managed to preserve a big part of its colonial empire against nearly impossible odds. However, the particulars of geopolitics were lost on British commoners and specifically various groups of jingoists that had been making their voice louder over the past few years. Now, Lord-Protector Thomas Bland Strange, nicknamed “Jingo Strange” during the First Atlantic War for his gung-ho militaristic attitude, is becoming a common scapegoat among the most different political groups, from left pacifists to rabid right-wingers. A quintessential outsider to the British ruling class as an Anglo-Canadian serviceman of a non-noble background, the Lord-Protector had always had his authority rested on his self-made man’s myth and a cult of personality. Now that this image of an ultimate bulldog is shattered, his haters are only happy to hang on him all possible sins. Some say he failed to deter the two anti-British coalitions from forming by not reacting to the Boer, French, North-American, and Sikh provocations immediately; others blame him for giving up to the enemies’ war demands just when they appeared to be at the limit of their capabilities (how true that notion is, is an entirely different question). On the home front, he’s blamed by some for disregarding the plight of good, loyal Englishmen while simultaneously hated by others for his chauvinistic policies of Anglo-Saxon ethnocentrism. The most apolitical working class people chastise him for his alcohol prohibition in response to the long-suppressed Rum Riots, while high-minded intelligentsia criticizes his resurrection and ongoing support of colonial slavery. This discontent gives food to an entire new genre of rumors that attempts to surround Strange’s persona with the most despicable or comical (or, sometimes, both) traits, describing him as a brooding, hysterical madman, whose fits of rage are just as uncalled for as they are useless in getting things done. (Regional quest progress: -90%)
While the public mood is turning squarely against the Lord-Protector and many elements of his regime, rumors spread in some echelons of the government that a group of Secret Ward officers and high-ranking Kingsmen, known as the Round Table, has secured an unofficial control of the War Cabinet, paying lip service to the Lord-Protector’s unhinged style of leadership, but acting as the primary source of policy proposals and a conduit of decision-making. Some even say, it’s the Round Table that has saved Britannia from a complete disaster by funneling some rational energy into the Lord-Protector’s voluntarist methods of governing. Either way, even if the Britons, as some of them suggest, shed “Jingo Strange” along with his Canadian homeland, this may only expose the broken seams of the British society. Now, it must be decided how to handle this growing political crisis, before the country starts collapsing in on itself just like it almost did during the aftermath of the First Atlantic War. One may only hope that the Round Table has what’s needed to weather the wild storm that the nation’s about to face. (Regional quest progress: -44.17%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.99 HC, -3.8 IC, -6.17 EC, -1.84 MC)
Q1-Q2 1893: The Boer campaign against the British shipping around the Cape of Good Hope stirred even more trouble in the Albion’s politics, shifting the popular mood further to the right. The Second Lower Canada and Second Red River Rebellions didn’t help the case, as more and more hawkish demagogues demand that the Lord-Protector actually does what he volunteered for and “protects” the Royal Commonwealth and its current and former subjects from Celtic and Canadian lawlessness, as well as, most importantly, from the perfidy of the Boers. Drastic actions may be required to display British actions as just the right type of response to all of the threats the nation is facing across the globe, and effective retaliation could please a lot of “hawks” and help the Lord-Protector regain popular support. (Regional quest progress: -30%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The treaties of Montreal and Hong Kong that put an end to the Second Atlantic and the Great Colonial wars are widely considered to be a masterpiece of the British diplomacy by foreign experts. Yes, the Royal Commonwealth clearly lost on the battlefield across the most of the theaters of war, but Britain has managed to preserve a big part of its colonial empire against nearly impossible odds. However, the particulars of geopolitics were lost on British commoners and specifically various groups of jingoists that had been making their voice louder over the past few years. Now, Lord-Protector Thomas Bland Strange, nicknamed “Jingo Strange” during the First Atlantic War for his gung-ho militaristic attitude, is becoming a common scapegoat among the most different political groups, from left pacifists to rabid right-wingers. A quintessential outsider to the British ruling class as an Anglo-Canadian serviceman of a non-noble background, the Lord-Protector had always had his authority rested on his self-made man’s myth and a cult of personality. Now that this image of an ultimate bulldog is shattered, his haters are only happy to hang on him all possible sins. Some say he failed to deter the two anti-British coalitions from forming by not reacting to the Boer, French, North-American, and Sikh provocations immediately; others blame him for giving up to the enemies’ war demands just when they appeared to be at the limit of their capabilities (how true that notion is, is an entirely different question). On the home front, he’s blamed by some for disregarding the plight of good, loyal Englishmen while simultaneously hated by others for his chauvinistic policies of Anglo-Saxon ethnocentrism. The most apolitical working class people chastise him for his alcohol prohibition in response to the long-suppressed Rum Riots, while high-minded intelligentsia criticizes his resurrection and ongoing support of colonial slavery. This discontent gives food to an entire new genre of rumors that attempts to surround Strange’s persona with the most despicable or comical (or, sometimes, both) traits, describing him as a brooding, hysterical madman, whose fits of rage are just as uncalled for as they are useless in getting things done. (Regional quest progress: -90%)
While the public mood is turning squarely against the Lord-Protector and many elements of his regime, rumors spread in some echelons of the government that a group of Secret Ward officers and high-ranking Kingsmen, known as the Round Table, has secured an unofficial control of the War Cabinet, paying lip service to the Lord-Protector’s unhinged style of leadership, but acting as the primary source of policy proposals and a conduit of decision-making. Some even say, it’s the Round Table that has saved Britannia from a complete disaster by funneling some rational energy into the Lord-Protector’s voluntarist methods of governing. Either way, even if the Britons, as some of them suggest, shed “Jingo Strange” along with his Canadian homeland, this may only expose the broken seams of the British society. Now, it must be decided how to handle this growing political crisis, before the country starts collapsing in on itself just like it almost did during the aftermath of the First Atlantic War. One may only hope that the Round Table has what’s needed to weather the wild storm that the nation’s about to face. (Regional quest progress: -44.17%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.99 HC, -3.8 IC, -6.17 EC, -1.84 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: For years, the security of the British Empire was personified by Thomas Bland Strange, an ultimate outsider and war hero who stabilized the nation at the time of its (by then) biggest challenge. Yet, at the end of his sixteen-year-long rule that myth seemed to be as good as dead, making many minds within the Protectorate office quite worried about the future of the empire under his increasingly erratic leadership. Finally, on August 3, 1896, a manifesto was spread, bearing Lord-Protector Stranges’s signature. It stated that, “seeing the widespread dissatisfaction directed towards his role as Lord Protector in recent months, he had come to the realization that the best thing for him to do is to step aside and let someone else take charge.” The authenticity of that document was immediately questioned by the people who had known “Jingo Strange” for years, and soon a rumor emerged that the Lord-Protector was, in reality, forced to abandon his post in a brutal cabinet altercation with the Round Table members and their loyalists. Being caught unprepared by the coup, Thomas Bland Strange allegedly locked himself in the office and spent hours attempting to telegraph or telephone any loyalist he could find in the Protectorate agency - to no avail. Finally, by the early dawn the door to his cabinet was broken, and the saber-swinging Lord-Protector was eventually forced into submission by the Beefeaters. The rumor alleges that on his way out of the palace “Jingo Strange” challenged thirty one men and one woman to a duel in seventeen different instances, with questionable prospects of his charges ever being fulfilled. He was, the story claims, placed under a house arrest in one of the royal mansions in Oxfordshire, where he spends days and nights rambling around empty rooms, sedated with heavy drugs and followed by a personal butler and handler. How much truth that story bears remains a big question, but what’s definitely know is that in his stead a figure of one Arthur Watson emerged, an ex-Kingsman with a unanimous support of the Round Table behind his candidacy. In his dry and short speech to the crowd that gathered in front of the Tower he had established his utter respect for his predecessor and “the savior of Britannia,” promising to extend his rule of stability, but introduce some “rational improvements” to the character of the Royal Commonwealth. While the speech itself generated little interest, all eyes are set on the new leader in hopes that he could bring Mother Britannia to a better. (Regional quest progress: 88.81%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.68 HC, -3.4 IC, -5.52 EC, -1.65 MC)
Royal Start-up Office
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The idea of technologically advanced small companies founded by entrepreneurial inventors and savants and provided capital by private investors had spread across the world like wildfire in the recent years. With North Germany, Japan, Dixieland and Russia leading the way, these so-called “start-ups” have been so successful as economic actors that even the Taiping Mandate had recently agreed to bend its religious orthodoxy for the sake of benefitting from the same trend. In Great Britain, one of the first reforms by the new Lord-Protector was also concerning the promotion of startup economy. However, it didn’t end there. In order to provide so-called “seed investment” for the entrepreneurial savants in a nation where private capital had been under state supervision for the past decade and a half, a new Royal Office of Selective Investment was founded, quickly nicknamed simply the “Royal Start-up Office.” Needless to say, letting government magistrates spend taxpayers money on seed investment raised some concerns, since these were the taxpayers who carried all the risks and the government that stood to receive all the benefits. Still, in the context of the oppressive, authoritarian British state these concerns were voiced rather softly, especially since the nation was still going through a beer-induced honeymoon period with the new Lord-Protector. While the political communication may still be needed to quiet down the worried voices, the economic benefit of jump-starting Great Britain’s technologic economy is not doubted. (Regional quest progress: 44.1%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -3.33 HC, -0.88 IC, -9.54 EC, -7.54 MC)
Purpose-built landing crafts
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Many experts agree that one of the main reasons the Royal Commonwealth lost the Second Atlantic War was its inability to project power the enemy shores once its overseas possessions were taken. While the reasons for that are numerous, one of them was in the Royal Marines’ inability to perform fast, aggressive amphibious invasions. To remedy this issue, some engineers propose building small and medium seagoing vessels that could be used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The idea has already been voiced and heard, but no assets have been dedicated to its implementation.
Low Countries
Spoiler :
Fast-developing region with moderately strong economy, but high level of social instability.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While the two Germanies attempted to streamline the Dutch limited monarchy along the lines of their own political vision, Belgian cooperative companies continued carving out a bigger piece of the Low Countries’ economic pie for themselves. (Region Low Countries gains +0.41% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Belgium gains +0.68% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.68% Regional Influence, Belgium losses: -1.24 HC, -0.29 IC, -2.92 EC, -1.96 MC)
Belgium’s many faces
Batavians in heart
Return of the Queen
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Despite being distracted with the issue of potential German unification, the North German Federation did finally acknowledge that it had to dedicate some proper resources to pushing the agenda of the Dutch constitutional reform itself. Smoking out Willem Jan Derx loyalists out of the Dutch royal administration and political sphere proved to be a harder job than expected, but the North-Germans handled it well. Surprisingly, the Derxite stratocrats were not the only political opponents faced by the North-German lobbyists, as moderate socialist agitation with foreign ties also started to spread through the Low Countries, encouraging the voters and career politicians to reject the “Germanic compromise” and possibly looking to keep the Kingdom of the Netherlands unstable. Still, these attempts were unsuccessful, and by June 1897 a new Constitutional Assembly was out of its session, having legally expelled the last bastion of pro-British stratocrats out of the Dutch political system. (Regional quest completed with success, region Low Countries: Netherlands gains +6% Regional Influence, North German Federation gains +2.25% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.75% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -9% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -6.65 HC, -10.7 IC, -13.76 EC, -3.44 MC, Netherlands losses: -4.37 HC, -6.89 IC, -11.26 EC, -1.05 MC, ??? losses: -5.1? HC, -8.0? IC, -13.1? EC, -1.2? MC)
The rich Roman life
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Under the Protestant government of the Netherlands, the Catholic-majority province of Noord-Brabant (North Brabant) is going through a period of religious and cultural revival, dabbed by the locals Het Rijke Roomse Leven (translated as “the rich Roman life,” with “Roman” meaning “Roman Catholic”). So far, it has manifested mostly in a growing Catholic church attendance, as well as the prominence of friars and nuns in the regional political and communal life. In Amsterdam, some see it as a challenge to the central authority and a possible sign that the recent secession of Belgium could’ve not been the end of the disintegration of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (that is, unless something is done to bring the North-Brabantian Catholics in line with the capital). Meanwhile, some members of the intelligence community suggest that Het Rijke Roomse Leven could be used to grow support for the Dutch crown farther in the south, in Brabantian territories of secular (and sometimes militantly atheist) Belgian republic.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While the two Germanies attempted to streamline the Dutch limited monarchy along the lines of their own political vision, Belgian cooperative companies continued carving out a bigger piece of the Low Countries’ economic pie for themselves. (Region Low Countries gains +0.41% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Belgium gains +0.68% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.68% Regional Influence, Belgium losses: -1.24 HC, -0.29 IC, -2.92 EC, -1.96 MC)
Belgium’s many faces
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: After the chaotic and at times violent protests and riots of 1893, few people believed that Belgium would see independence without a single shot fired. However, Queen Wilhelmina shocked both her critics and her supporters by solving the multitude of Dutch crises via a single solution that gave the Belgians a true taste of freedom. But the newly independent state is yet to become a nation. Firstly, the legacy of French propaganda of the Anti-Communard War left many Walloons leaning to a strange mix of leftist French pan-nationalism, while the Flemish population was stuck in a state of duality, attracted to their Dutch-speaking northern countrymen, but simultaneously alienated from their staunch loyalty to the free market economy. If one were to dig deeper, more contradictions could be found, as the current provisional government is a strange mix of moderate socialists, upstart klepto-ochlocrats, and radical Communards. If Belgium were to become a strong, independent nation, it might need to decide what defines it and what pulls it together.
Batavians in heart
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The loss of Belgium and recent major constitutional crisis have shaken the Kingdom of the Netherlands to its core. No longer tied by their loyalty to the ancien regime, the Dutch people are starting to search for answers that could help them form a united nation. In that atmosphere, several historical books and chronicles were dug out, exploring precursors of contemporary Dutch virtues of independence, fortitude and industry in the culture of ancient Batavians. The Batavomania, as the new historical and pseudohistorical movement has been nicknamed, consts of equal parts of fact and fancy, but some politicians are happy to pay tribute to the Batavian founding myth, as long as it projects an image of unity and common legacy of all Dutch. Meanwhile, some political commentators are afraid that the Batavomania may take the newly found longing for national unity in a dangerous direction of xenophobia and Dutch supremacism.
Return of the Queen
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: Events in the Netherlands are rumored to have angered and worried Lord-Protector Strange of the British Royal Commonwealth, for reasons all too obvious. Yet, while the British “benevolent knight” is fuming about the possibility of being so bluntly removed from power by his own protectee like it happened to his colleague Willem Jan Derx, the Netherlands are going through their own soul-searching transition. Many people liked the way Queen Wilhelmina acted, boldly and, might they say, authoritatively. They suggest that the country desperately needs such strong leadership, emanating from a person who got her title from God, and not through some cabinet intrigues. Yet, some are afraid that should the monarch once again get unchecked power over the country, Holland might as well fall into yet another trap of reckless leadership akin to the one demonstrated by the notorious Director-Admiral.
Q1-Q2 1895: While Derxite elements were giving a desperate fight to anyone who would suggest opening Dutch colonies to foreign competition and, perhaps, even repurchase, their fight for the future of the Dutch monarchy was desperate. Director-Admiral’s own “reformist insanity” ruined radical stratocrats’ and thalassocrats’ reputation decidedly, and the choice the Dutch public seemed to be making was between constitutional monarchism and autocratic monarchism. Too close to the Germanies, too far from God, the Low Countries were destined to become targets of both North-German and Austrobavarian propaganda, two clashing flows of information that sometimes seemed concerted. The North-Germans promoted a shallow version of liberalism, with a constitutional monarch on top and true policies guided not by the spirit of freedom, but by the pragmatic demands of a moment (for which, many pro-North-German liberals and moderates were compared to the French Possibilists). Meanwhile, the Austrobavarian lobbying campaign was much less aimed at politically active masses, but at influential cabinet members, often with an aristocratic background. The Confederation of Princes, through its representatives, depicted a vision of aristocratic directory, not dissimilar to Austria-Bavaria itself, with nominal municipal democracy and traditional Dutch free market covering the enclosed, elitist nature of a ruling government. While the debate is still ongoing, it appears that only an intervention of a third power could stop the two Germanies from re-shaping the Netherlands into a bizarre blend of the both of them. (Regional quest progress: 95.24%, North German Federation losses: -1.98 HC, -3.68 IC, -4.69 EC, -1.26 MC, Austria-Bavaria losses: -0.77 HC, -1.17 IC, -1.68 EC, -0.35 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: A proclamation of administrative monarchy of the Prussian Constitutionalist type in the Netherlands seemed like a done deal in July 1895. Perhaps, it was that sense of an inevitable accomplishment of its goals that made the ever-busy Council of Foreign Affairs of the NGF to divest the most of its resources from swaying the Dutch public opinion, leaving only the minimal lobbyist presence in the Low Countries. The assumption was that the Austrobavarian partners of the North German Federation would continue nagging the Dutch politicians toward agreeing to the proposed constitutional deal. However, the Austrobavarian diplomatic corps and foreign intelligence were too busy reacting to the explosion of foreign activities taking place in South Germany, Hungary, and Italy (some of which, of unnamed nature, the North-Germans were themselves to blame for). With the Austrobavarian lobby being de-facto inactive, the NGF’s political actors could barely move the issue forward, failing to flip another page of the Dutch history in the first part of 1896. (Regional quest progress: 97.79%, North German Federation losses: -4.04 HC, -5.82 IC, -7.02 EC, -1.8)
Q1-Q2 1895: While Derxite elements were giving a desperate fight to anyone who would suggest opening Dutch colonies to foreign competition and, perhaps, even repurchase, their fight for the future of the Dutch monarchy was desperate. Director-Admiral’s own “reformist insanity” ruined radical stratocrats’ and thalassocrats’ reputation decidedly, and the choice the Dutch public seemed to be making was between constitutional monarchism and autocratic monarchism. Too close to the Germanies, too far from God, the Low Countries were destined to become targets of both North-German and Austrobavarian propaganda, two clashing flows of information that sometimes seemed concerted. The North-Germans promoted a shallow version of liberalism, with a constitutional monarch on top and true policies guided not by the spirit of freedom, but by the pragmatic demands of a moment (for which, many pro-North-German liberals and moderates were compared to the French Possibilists). Meanwhile, the Austrobavarian lobbying campaign was much less aimed at politically active masses, but at influential cabinet members, often with an aristocratic background. The Confederation of Princes, through its representatives, depicted a vision of aristocratic directory, not dissimilar to Austria-Bavaria itself, with nominal municipal democracy and traditional Dutch free market covering the enclosed, elitist nature of a ruling government. While the debate is still ongoing, it appears that only an intervention of a third power could stop the two Germanies from re-shaping the Netherlands into a bizarre blend of the both of them. (Regional quest progress: 95.24%, North German Federation losses: -1.98 HC, -3.68 IC, -4.69 EC, -1.26 MC, Austria-Bavaria losses: -0.77 HC, -1.17 IC, -1.68 EC, -0.35 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: A proclamation of administrative monarchy of the Prussian Constitutionalist type in the Netherlands seemed like a done deal in July 1895. Perhaps, it was that sense of an inevitable accomplishment of its goals that made the ever-busy Council of Foreign Affairs of the NGF to divest the most of its resources from swaying the Dutch public opinion, leaving only the minimal lobbyist presence in the Low Countries. The assumption was that the Austrobavarian partners of the North German Federation would continue nagging the Dutch politicians toward agreeing to the proposed constitutional deal. However, the Austrobavarian diplomatic corps and foreign intelligence were too busy reacting to the explosion of foreign activities taking place in South Germany, Hungary, and Italy (some of which, of unnamed nature, the North-Germans were themselves to blame for). With the Austrobavarian lobby being de-facto inactive, the NGF’s political actors could barely move the issue forward, failing to flip another page of the Dutch history in the first part of 1896. (Regional quest progress: 97.79%, North German Federation losses: -4.04 HC, -5.82 IC, -7.02 EC, -1.8)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Despite being distracted with the issue of potential German unification, the North German Federation did finally acknowledge that it had to dedicate some proper resources to pushing the agenda of the Dutch constitutional reform itself. Smoking out Willem Jan Derx loyalists out of the Dutch royal administration and political sphere proved to be a harder job than expected, but the North-Germans handled it well. Surprisingly, the Derxite stratocrats were not the only political opponents faced by the North-German lobbyists, as moderate socialist agitation with foreign ties also started to spread through the Low Countries, encouraging the voters and career politicians to reject the “Germanic compromise” and possibly looking to keep the Kingdom of the Netherlands unstable. Still, these attempts were unsuccessful, and by June 1897 a new Constitutional Assembly was out of its session, having legally expelled the last bastion of pro-British stratocrats out of the Dutch political system. (Regional quest completed with success, region Low Countries: Netherlands gains +6% Regional Influence, North German Federation gains +2.25% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.75% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -9% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -6.65 HC, -10.7 IC, -13.76 EC, -3.44 MC, Netherlands losses: -4.37 HC, -6.89 IC, -11.26 EC, -1.05 MC, ??? losses: -5.1? HC, -8.0? IC, -13.1? EC, -1.2? MC)
The rich Roman life
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Under the Protestant government of the Netherlands, the Catholic-majority province of Noord-Brabant (North Brabant) is going through a period of religious and cultural revival, dabbed by the locals Het Rijke Roomse Leven (translated as “the rich Roman life,” with “Roman” meaning “Roman Catholic”). So far, it has manifested mostly in a growing Catholic church attendance, as well as the prominence of friars and nuns in the regional political and communal life. In Amsterdam, some see it as a challenge to the central authority and a possible sign that the recent secession of Belgium could’ve not been the end of the disintegration of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (that is, unless something is done to bring the North-Brabantian Catholics in line with the capital). Meanwhile, some members of the intelligence community suggest that Het Rijke Roomse Leven could be used to grow support for the Dutch crown farther in the south, in Brabantian territories of secular (and sometimes militantly atheist) Belgian republic.
Baltia-Prussia
Spoiler :
Fast-developing, lightly populated and quiet region with highly literate population, acting as a connecting hub between the Russian and German markets.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The collapse of the Russo-German corporate agreement that had previously turned the Baltic region into a no-competition zone for the two industrial behemoths had opened new opportunities for the Baltic capital to regain big slices of the market. (Region Baltia-Prussia gains +0.76% Regional Growth Fluctuation, United Baltic Duchies gains +1.27% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.67% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.6% Regional Influence, United Baltic Duchies losses: -2.6 HC, -0.58 IC, -6.11 EC, -3.84 MC)
Lithuanian national awakening
Eastern Atlantic Flyway
Yearning for the West
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The collapse of the Russo-German corporate agreement that had previously turned the Baltic region into a no-competition zone for the two industrial behemoths had opened new opportunities for the Baltic capital to regain big slices of the market. (Region Baltia-Prussia gains +0.76% Regional Growth Fluctuation, United Baltic Duchies gains +1.27% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.67% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.6% Regional Influence, United Baltic Duchies losses: -2.6 HC, -0.58 IC, -6.11 EC, -3.84 MC)
Lithuanian national awakening
Spoiler :
1892: Lithuania is not only the most populous of the Baltic Duchies, but also the one with the most prominent history. Throughout the last century and a half, however, it was somewhat reduced in its national self-awareness, partially caused by the fact that the political and academic life of the Grand Duchy was almost entirely monopolized by members of the German and Russian diasporas. Now, it seems, the Lithuanian national spirit is being resurrected, as seen in art and political publications. One part of the movement views the United Baltic Duchies as an artificially created pan-national entity that should agree to Lithuanian leadership if it wishes to achieve true unity and greatness. More radical and militant student groups, instead, romanticize Lithuanian past as a one-time Eastern-European powerhouse and the leader of the Rzech Pospolita, arguing that Lithuania should abandon the Baltic Duchies and seek to align itself to proud and ferociously independent Poland. Finally, a minority group is seeking simple independence, ideally as a neutral confederative republic akin to Switzerland.
Eastern Atlantic Flyway
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The Ösel (Saaremaa) island lies in the middle of the Eastern Atlantic Flyway, migration route used by about 90 million birds annually, passing from their breeding areas in North America, Scandinavia, Siberia and northern Europe to wintering areas in western Europe and on to southern Africa. In loosely regulated, largely rural United Duchies, this natural event used to attract hundreds of aspiring hunters (mostly Baltic German nobles) every year, who loved to cull the flocks for their own entertainment. With growing standards of living, however, such hunts became an affordable pastime for many non-German Baltic bourgeoisie, who view it more as a sign of status. Some of them even try to take a political angle at their hunts, taking pride in annoying the aristocracy and capturing it on camera (if they can afford one). Meanwhile, other Baltic anti-elitists think that instead of mimicking the German gentry true Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian patriots should instead help pass a law banning such seasonal hunt altogether. This, they say, would not only send a signal to the aristocracy about the changing social norms, but would also protect numerous species of birds from being overhunted.
Yearning for the West
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: A motto “Drang nach Osten” (German for “Yearning for the East”) has been historically known to be popular among German and particularly High Prussian nationalists, arguing for Germanization of the Slavic lands, from the Baltics to Bohmen (Bohemia). However, now cosmopolitan and pro-Polish policies of the Council of Savants is producing plenty of fear among German settlers in Ostpreussen (East Prussia), Posen (Poznan) and Pommern (Pomerania) that it’s only a beginning of a demographic reversal that could bring the Poles back to the lands they have long considered theirs. As local Sokoly clubs open their doors to whoever is wishing to listen to their gospels of West-Slavic unity, North-German settlers are starting to bitterly describe the situation as “Dang nach Westen,” or “Yearning for the West.”
Update 10: July 1, 1896 - June 30, 1897
Poland-Czechia
Spoiler :
Fast-developing region with big labor market, booming culture, rich agriculture, and formidable industrial capacity.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The turbulence of the formation of the Greater Moravian state, as well as the Orel-Sokol debates that surrounded it were just a facade for the much more low-key expansion of Polish influence across its core region via promotion a pro-Polanian political lobby and support of patriotic organizations at home. (Region Poland-Czechia: Poland gains +4.61% Regional Influence, Italy loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Switzerland loses -0.25% Regional Influence, United Baltic Duchies loses -0.5% Regional Influence, Moravia loses -3.61% Regional Influence, Poland losses: -4.37 HC, -5.77 IC, -8.74 EC, -2.35 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Meanwhile, Moravian companies concentrated on absorbing various small businesses in the newly gained territories of Bohmen (Czechia) and Sudetenland (Sudety). (Region Poland-Czechia gains +0.52% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Moravia gains +0.86% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.43% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.43% Regional Influence, Moravia losses: -3.37 HC, -0.86 IC, -8.81 EC, -5.48 MC)
O tempora, o mores!
Young Poland
Polish Athens or Polish Jerusalem?
Polish Coal-Trunk Line
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Polish Coal-Trunk Line going through the Vistula and Motława rivers to Danzig got completed in the spring of 1897 without any interruptions from the North-German government. Of course, a series of protests was held by German nationalists, who thought that the Polish coal exporters were exploiting the Polish Corridor agreement to get a bigger share of the local market (and they were right at that), but the Council of Savants and the local Prussian and Pomeranian authorities were too busy with the bustle of Pan-German unification to pay attention to the subtleties of coal transit tariffs. If anything, the project had only the most positive economic impact on the two regions, improving the profits of the Polish coal industry and also providing many jobs to the working class of Danzig and its environs. (Regional quest completed with full success, region Poland-Czechia gains +10 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +1.25%, Poland gains +2% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -2% Regional Influence, region Baltia-Prussia gains +0.75% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Poland gains +2% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -2% Regional Influence, Poland losses: -1.85 HC, -0.54 IC, -4.82 EC, -3.28 MC)
Bastion Polesie
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The threat of a Russian invasion used to loom over independent Poland for decades - right until Directorial Russia signed a nonaggression agreement with the predecessors of the current Sanationist cabinet in 1892. In 1893, the Russian troops even assisted the Poles in repelling the Hungarian invasion of Red Ruthenia, bringing about a surprising new era of Russo-Polish detente. Since then, the relations have soured and hit their new low during the peak of anti-Russian discrimination in Hungary, for which the Polish government was indirectly responsible. While in the end the cooler heads had prevailed, having extended the nonaggression agreement for a few more years, the war scare remained a powerful motivating factor in the geopolitical planning of Władysław Wysocki and his government. To reflect that, a new deep fortified zone was hastily prepared by the heavily modernized Polish engineering corps, becoming particularly thick around the Sluch river, the only strong natural obstacle in the eastern direction. Nicknamed “Bastion Polesie” after the region it primarily covers, the new line of bunker fortresses with turret artillery and other defensive emplacements promises to give the defending Polish army a significant standing power against any army invading Poland from the east. (Regional quest completed with success, troops protecting Poland-Czechia from invasion from Ukraine and Central Russia receive +1 CR bonus, Poland losses: -4.87 HC, -1.9 IC, -2.78 EC, -1.76 MC)
Anti-materiel rifles
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The brave, but fruitless encounters of Polish infantry and cavalry with the Hungarian ironclad landships during the Slovakian and Red Ruthenian campaigns of 1893 had taught the Polish military a few lessons. The main one of them was that classic heavy artillery was not always the best tool of destroying mobile bunkers that modern crawlers essentially were, and that regular field infantry usually lacked the tools to stop these behemoths with direct fire. To alleviate these problems, the quickly modernizing Wojsko Polskie (Polish military) requested the development of heavy rifles designed for use against military equipment (materiel), rather than against other combatants ("anti-personnel"). The first prototype has already been developed and named Karabin przeciwpancerny wzór 1 (abbreviated "kb ppanc wz. 1"; "carbine anti-armor model 1"), but its first tests have displayed several major technological and ergonomic shortcomings of this remarkably big and heavy infantry weapon. Now, the so-called anti-materiel rifles are sent back to their designer Józef Maroszek and his weapons engineering bureau to undergo a second iteration of development. (Technology quest progress: 63.83%, Poland losses: -2.22 HC, -0.65 IC, -5.78 EC, -3.93 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The turbulence of the formation of the Greater Moravian state, as well as the Orel-Sokol debates that surrounded it were just a facade for the much more low-key expansion of Polish influence across its core region via promotion a pro-Polanian political lobby and support of patriotic organizations at home. (Region Poland-Czechia: Poland gains +4.61% Regional Influence, Italy loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Switzerland loses -0.25% Regional Influence, United Baltic Duchies loses -0.5% Regional Influence, Moravia loses -3.61% Regional Influence, Poland losses: -4.37 HC, -5.77 IC, -8.74 EC, -2.35 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Meanwhile, Moravian companies concentrated on absorbing various small businesses in the newly gained territories of Bohmen (Czechia) and Sudetenland (Sudety). (Region Poland-Czechia gains +0.52% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Moravia gains +0.86% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.43% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.43% Regional Influence, Moravia losses: -3.37 HC, -0.86 IC, -8.81 EC, -5.48 MC)
O tempora, o mores!
Spoiler :
1890: The Margraviate of Moravia is a quiet, prosperous nation, which economy is heavily dependent on tourism and manufacture of luxury items, such as crystal glassware. This year, however, a series of scandals occurred in the resort town of Ostrava, when a French cinema director and his wife (known in certain circles as an exotic dancer from Dutch West-Indies) settled down there for a living. Presence of an avid Parisian social-revolutionary would be shocking enough, but the outrageous lifestyle of the sinful couple quickly became public and sent Moravian newspaper audience reeling. A series of explicit performances followed up by drunken orgies have taken place in Ostrava, and a petition has been signed to expel the paramour couple from Moravia for public indiscretion. However, no laws have been broken so far, and a rash action could create a precedent hurtful to the fragile local economy. After all, as some are willing to admit, “everyone knows” that most of gentlemen arrive to Moravia not just for sanatorium springs, but also to have an affair away from the family. Why should our income suffer because of one Frenchman who doesn’t bother to hide it?
Young Poland
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: No one can argue that Poland’s separation from the Russian state during the Second TIme of Troubles led to a blossoming of the Polish industry and economy. However, until recently, the cultural achievements of the young nation were somewhat lagging behind - so much so that even touring Confederate musicians would gather larger crowds in concert halls than a Papal visit in 1890. Now, the Young Poland (Polish: Młoda Polska) movement is likely to change that trend, especially if they receive government support. Ranging in their style from decadent to modernist to art nouveau, the Young Poland visual artists, musicians, and writers could become a new face of Polish intelligentsia - if only they stopped criticizing their ham-handed, stratocratic government for a second...
Polish Athens or Polish Jerusalem?
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: For its traditional role in the artistic, academic, and scientific history of Poland, the city of Krakow is informally known as the “Polish Athens.” Besides being one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and a home of the Polish Renaissance during the nation’s Złoty Wiek (Golden Age) in the 15th-16th centuries, the city is also a home for a great Jewish community. In 1495, the Krakowian Jews were temporarily expelled from the city by its king (and Duke of Glasgow) John I Albert, but they simply resettled to the village of Kazimierz just outside the city walls and continued to trade on the city’s Main Square. Since then, Kazimierz had been absorbed by the growing metropolis, and today it hosts the famous Old Synagogue, the largest center of Judaist faith in Europe. With the blooming of Krakow, it appears that its two identities - of an intellectual center and of Judaist unity - are starting to merge. This, however, faces some backlash from some of the Polish nationalists, many of which hold onto vulgar anti-semitism. They also demand that the Jewish diaspora should step up its involvement in the Polish military service, so that it contributes to the nation’s protection and not only to the fields of commercial and academic achievement.
Polish Coal-Trunk Line
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: With the global demand for coal consumption growing once again due to the expansive electrification efforts in North American and East Asia, Poland wishes to join the coal exporters’ club. With no access to open sea ports, a plan was drawn by the Polish Ministry of Commerce to establish a Coal-Trunk Line of ferries and barges, going along the Vistula and Motława rivers through the so-called Polish Corridor. This dedicated riverine commerce artery would deliver Polish coal to the port of Danzig, from where it could be exported to any place on the planet. While still having a lot to be done before its completion, the Coal-Trunk Line is considered to be a rather lucrative and perspective project. Yet, the wealth it promises has already given rise to some voices in the North-German Council of Savants to add an isolated coal tariff for the transit of Polish coal, essentially requiring an exception to be drawn in the Polish Corridor agreement - something that the Council of Savants hasn’t agreed to commit to yet. (Regional quest progress: 41.96%, Poland losses: -2.16 HC, -0.57 IC, -5.61 EC, -3.52 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Polish Coal-Trunk Line going through the Vistula and Motława rivers to Danzig got completed in the spring of 1897 without any interruptions from the North-German government. Of course, a series of protests was held by German nationalists, who thought that the Polish coal exporters were exploiting the Polish Corridor agreement to get a bigger share of the local market (and they were right at that), but the Council of Savants and the local Prussian and Pomeranian authorities were too busy with the bustle of Pan-German unification to pay attention to the subtleties of coal transit tariffs. If anything, the project had only the most positive economic impact on the two regions, improving the profits of the Polish coal industry and also providing many jobs to the working class of Danzig and its environs. (Regional quest completed with full success, region Poland-Czechia gains +10 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +1.25%, Poland gains +2% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -2% Regional Influence, region Baltia-Prussia gains +0.75% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Poland gains +2% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -2% Regional Influence, Poland losses: -1.85 HC, -0.54 IC, -4.82 EC, -3.28 MC)
Bastion Polesie
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The threat of a Russian invasion used to loom over independent Poland for decades - right until Directorial Russia signed a nonaggression agreement with the predecessors of the current Sanationist cabinet in 1892. In 1893, the Russian troops even assisted the Poles in repelling the Hungarian invasion of Red Ruthenia, bringing about a surprising new era of Russo-Polish detente. Since then, the relations have soured and hit their new low during the peak of anti-Russian discrimination in Hungary, for which the Polish government was indirectly responsible. While in the end the cooler heads had prevailed, having extended the nonaggression agreement for a few more years, the war scare remained a powerful motivating factor in the geopolitical planning of Władysław Wysocki and his government. To reflect that, a new deep fortified zone was hastily prepared by the heavily modernized Polish engineering corps, becoming particularly thick around the Sluch river, the only strong natural obstacle in the eastern direction. Nicknamed “Bastion Polesie” after the region it primarily covers, the new line of bunker fortresses with turret artillery and other defensive emplacements promises to give the defending Polish army a significant standing power against any army invading Poland from the east. (Regional quest completed with success, troops protecting Poland-Czechia from invasion from Ukraine and Central Russia receive +1 CR bonus, Poland losses: -4.87 HC, -1.9 IC, -2.78 EC, -1.76 MC)
Anti-materiel rifles
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The brave, but fruitless encounters of Polish infantry and cavalry with the Hungarian ironclad landships during the Slovakian and Red Ruthenian campaigns of 1893 had taught the Polish military a few lessons. The main one of them was that classic heavy artillery was not always the best tool of destroying mobile bunkers that modern crawlers essentially were, and that regular field infantry usually lacked the tools to stop these behemoths with direct fire. To alleviate these problems, the quickly modernizing Wojsko Polskie (Polish military) requested the development of heavy rifles designed for use against military equipment (materiel), rather than against other combatants ("anti-personnel"). The first prototype has already been developed and named Karabin przeciwpancerny wzór 1 (abbreviated "kb ppanc wz. 1"; "carbine anti-armor model 1"), but its first tests have displayed several major technological and ergonomic shortcomings of this remarkably big and heavy infantry weapon. Now, the so-called anti-materiel rifles are sent back to their designer Józef Maroszek and his weapons engineering bureau to undergo a second iteration of development. (Technology quest progress: 63.83%, Poland losses: -2.22 HC, -0.65 IC, -5.78 EC, -3.93 MC)
Danube Region
Spoiler :
Fast-developing, albeit war-torn and socially unstable trade hub of Central Europe with formidable labor market, strong agriculture, and blossoming culture.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Letting all geopolitically dangerous developments blow by, the Russian Directorial government used various banking groups as the proxies of rebuilding its lost influence across the Transdanubian and Pannonian region. (Region Danube Region: Directorial Russia gains +2.15% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -2.15% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -3.19 HC, -5.79 IC, -8.23 EC, -1.99 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Despite all of chaos of multisided political and financial influencing efforts, the iparmágnáses (magnates) of Hungary started to gather around the still young ‘48 ideology, attempting to establish genuinely Hungarian businesses and industries across the region. (Region Danube Region gains +1.11% Regional Influence, Hungary gains +1.85% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -1% Regional Influence, Moravia loses -0.85% Regional Influence, Hungary losses: -4.38 HC, -0.92 IC, -10.96 EC, -7.12 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: After a modernization of the Domnate’s intelligence services and banking system in the direct aftermath of the War of Hungarian Containment, the first attempt at wooing Transylvanian communities in the Hungarian Carpathian Mountains was a humble success. (Region Danube Region: Romanian Domnate gains +0.49% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -0.49% Regional Influence, Romanian Domnate losses: -5 HC, -5.75 IC, -8.77 EC, -0.48 MC)
Danubian Sich
Back to 1848
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The turbulent political events that directly followed the Hungarian Spring of 1896 almost put the world on the edge of another global conflict, with Directorial Russia standing close to single-handedly intervening against Poland and a coalition that backed it. In Warsaw, this war scare gave quite a few existentialist thoughts to its ruling class and particularly the recently sacked Head of the Polish Intelligence Jan Kanty Steczkowski. While he and his agents were blamed by the Sejm for their reckless actions, some diplomatic experts pointed out that by drawing Russia’s ire against the Sanationist republic Steczkowski (perhaps, unintentionally) achieved a major diplomatic victory for the young state, as an entire Anti-Russian Coalition formed behind the Poles’ back, with a motley alliance of the NGF, Tokugawa Shogunate, Communard France, CSA and Portugal-Brazil being the core of that united effort. However, diplomacy put aside, the Hungarian internal situation required handling, especially since the Conference of Riga had failed to produce any definitive results. Seeing that the Russian banks were starting to cautiously (and intentionally politically) re-invest into the Hungarian economics, the Poles and the two Germanies started to clean up their mess in the country’s politics. The former ones had to make a sacrifice right off the bat, essentially dropping all of their ties to the Hungarian ultranationlists and their political ship, the Magyar Egyesült Front. To say it was badly received by the Hungarian far-right would be an understatement. In open speeches in the Országgyűlés (Country’s Assembly), the Front’s leaders cursed the Polish state (and its Germanic tamers) in all possible ways. Meanwhile, less law-abiding groups of the ultranationalists (as well as their nigh-unsupervised supporters within the Hungarian intelligence and police) went as far as murder anyone they suspected of once having had ties to the Polish intelligence (which indeed cost the latter quite a few capable cadres). This ensured early on that a simple return to normalcy was no longer possible, especially after two years of violent escalations and dramatic reversals of policies. Still, under the North-German pressure, the stabilization efforts followed on, looking for a moderate, pragmatic politician with limited Russian ties. They found such figure in Ferenc Lajos Ákos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (more known in politics as Ferenc Kossuth), the leader of a centrist Party of Independence and '48 (Függetlenségi és 48-as Párt or F48P) that easily received universal support among the middle class Hungarians thanks to its ideology of political comity and geopolitical sovereignty (dabbed the ‘48 ideology, as a reference to the War of 1848 for Hungarian independence). After a series of political machinations, Ferenc Kossuth and his F48P comrades were maneuvered to some points of political influence, where they are expected to give the final fight to the Magyar Egyesült Front under the supervision of its North-German and Polish backers. (Regional quest progress: 94.13%, Hungary losses: -14.36 HC, -19.03 IC, -29.69 EC, -5.63 MC, North German Federation losses: -7.91 HC, -12.71 IC, -16.35 EC, -4.08 MC, Poland losses: -8.58 HC, -11.33 IC, -17.16 EC, -4.61 MC)
Doctrine of the Holy Crown
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Ever since the last Habsburg king of Hungary started the ill-planned and disastrous war against Austria-Bavaria, the monarchist ideas had been dealt a significant blow. The Doctrine of the Holy Crown was abandoned mid-war and then shamefully forgotten as the victorious coalition instituted a parliamentary republic led by the Country’s Assembly. However, the political havok and constant reversals of the recent years have given the monarchist stalwarts another chance at making their ideas heard once more, albeit with some important modifications. Known as the Holy Crown Society (Szent Korona Társaság or SZKT), the new political movement suggests that an ancien regime, “Habsburg-style” monarchy has no chance to represent all the good that the Doctrine of the Holy Crown represents. Instead, they propose forming a stratocratic state of permanent Regency, similar to the Protectorate Ward of the British Royal Commonwealth or the Bakufu regime of Tokugawa Shogunate. That, they suggest, might help their nation fend off foreign influencer and, with some luck, even establish better and more organic relations with Sanationist Poland. Unfortunately, the ideas of military dictatorship of that kind are not very popular among the supporters of the ‘48 ideology that the new Polano-German figurehead Ferenc Kossuth represents. (Regional quest: -46.19%)
Hungarian Asiatic Society
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The roller-coaster of Hungarian political crises provides Hungarian radicals with plenty of support from the disgruntled voters. The Hungarian Turanists also enjoyed their rise to prominence, growing on their criticism of the ultranationalist Magyar Egyesült Front for its failed gamble with the Polish intelligence and simultaneously rejecting the ‘48 ideology as too moderate and limited in its vision. While the Ottoman Empire is convulsing and, seemingly, regressing toward neo-feudalism, the Hungarian Turanian Society (Turáni Társaság) is starting to attract a motley variety of urban intellectuals, left-leaning futurists, as well as progressive orientalists with its outward-aimed message of returning the the glorious, trans-national roots of the Steppe Empires, essentially presenting to the frustrated Hungarian public a much more exciting, expansionist, and messianic version of ultranationalism. (Regional quest progress: -50%)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Letting all geopolitically dangerous developments blow by, the Russian Directorial government used various banking groups as the proxies of rebuilding its lost influence across the Transdanubian and Pannonian region. (Region Danube Region: Directorial Russia gains +2.15% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -2.15% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -3.19 HC, -5.79 IC, -8.23 EC, -1.99 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Despite all of chaos of multisided political and financial influencing efforts, the iparmágnáses (magnates) of Hungary started to gather around the still young ‘48 ideology, attempting to establish genuinely Hungarian businesses and industries across the region. (Region Danube Region gains +1.11% Regional Influence, Hungary gains +1.85% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -1% Regional Influence, Moravia loses -0.85% Regional Influence, Hungary losses: -4.38 HC, -0.92 IC, -10.96 EC, -7.12 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: After a modernization of the Domnate’s intelligence services and banking system in the direct aftermath of the War of Hungarian Containment, the first attempt at wooing Transylvanian communities in the Hungarian Carpathian Mountains was a humble success. (Region Danube Region: Romanian Domnate gains +0.49% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -0.49% Regional Influence, Romanian Domnate losses: -5 HC, -5.75 IC, -8.77 EC, -0.48 MC)
Danubian Sich
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: Zaporozhian Sich in Central Ukraine was once a defiant Cossack republic that for centuries prospered on its proxy status of a sellsword country, playing Moscowian Russia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Ottoman Turkey against each other. However, in 1775 it overplayed its hand and lended some support to the rebellious Russian peasant army under Yemelyan Pugachev, earning the ire of Tsarina Catherine the Great. That led to a punishing expedition against Zaporozhye that destroyed the ramp state and forced many of its freedom-loving inhabitants to flee Ukraine altogether. They found a new home in the Ottoman military frontier, establishing a new Sich on the Danube. The status of this and several other Danubian Cossack settlements changed several times, as the Russian Second Time of Troubles and Ottoman Great Balkan Rebellion saw the Rusnaks (as the local Bulgarians called Danubian Cossacks) change their sides multiple times, now befriending the South Slavs, now lending a hand to the Sublime Porte, now appealing to the Uchreditelnoye Sobraniye of Russia. Recent comeback of Russian influence in Eastern Europe and turbulent changes in the Ottoman State, combined with the ethnic reshuffling brought about by the War of Hungarian Containment, only helped the Danubian Sich to survive and even grow bigger, swelling with Bulgarian refugees and some Russian soldiers who, after demobilization, chose to semi-legally stay living in the Danube delta. Now, perhaps, the Rusnaks might become allies of any power in the region, from the Ukrainian Hetmanate to Directorial Russia to the Sublime Ottoman State.
Back to 1848
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The turbulent political events that directly followed the Hungarian Spring of 1896 almost put the world on the edge of another global conflict, with Directorial Russia standing close to single-handedly intervening against Poland and a coalition that backed it. In Warsaw, this war scare gave quite a few existentialist thoughts to its ruling class and particularly the recently sacked Head of the Polish Intelligence Jan Kanty Steczkowski. While he and his agents were blamed by the Sejm for their reckless actions, some diplomatic experts pointed out that by drawing Russia’s ire against the Sanationist republic Steczkowski (perhaps, unintentionally) achieved a major diplomatic victory for the young state, as an entire Anti-Russian Coalition formed behind the Poles’ back, with a motley alliance of the NGF, Tokugawa Shogunate, Communard France, CSA and Portugal-Brazil being the core of that united effort. However, diplomacy put aside, the Hungarian internal situation required handling, especially since the Conference of Riga had failed to produce any definitive results. Seeing that the Russian banks were starting to cautiously (and intentionally politically) re-invest into the Hungarian economics, the Poles and the two Germanies started to clean up their mess in the country’s politics. The former ones had to make a sacrifice right off the bat, essentially dropping all of their ties to the Hungarian ultranationlists and their political ship, the Magyar Egyesült Front. To say it was badly received by the Hungarian far-right would be an understatement. In open speeches in the Országgyűlés (Country’s Assembly), the Front’s leaders cursed the Polish state (and its Germanic tamers) in all possible ways. Meanwhile, less law-abiding groups of the ultranationalists (as well as their nigh-unsupervised supporters within the Hungarian intelligence and police) went as far as murder anyone they suspected of once having had ties to the Polish intelligence (which indeed cost the latter quite a few capable cadres). This ensured early on that a simple return to normalcy was no longer possible, especially after two years of violent escalations and dramatic reversals of policies. Still, under the North-German pressure, the stabilization efforts followed on, looking for a moderate, pragmatic politician with limited Russian ties. They found such figure in Ferenc Lajos Ákos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (more known in politics as Ferenc Kossuth), the leader of a centrist Party of Independence and '48 (Függetlenségi és 48-as Párt or F48P) that easily received universal support among the middle class Hungarians thanks to its ideology of political comity and geopolitical sovereignty (dabbed the ‘48 ideology, as a reference to the War of 1848 for Hungarian independence). After a series of political machinations, Ferenc Kossuth and his F48P comrades were maneuvered to some points of political influence, where they are expected to give the final fight to the Magyar Egyesült Front under the supervision of its North-German and Polish backers. (Regional quest progress: 94.13%, Hungary losses: -14.36 HC, -19.03 IC, -29.69 EC, -5.63 MC, North German Federation losses: -7.91 HC, -12.71 IC, -16.35 EC, -4.08 MC, Poland losses: -8.58 HC, -11.33 IC, -17.16 EC, -4.61 MC)
Doctrine of the Holy Crown
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1893: According to a popular belief, King Stephen I during his coronation held up the crown above his head to offer it to Virgin Mary, sealing his divine right to the lands of Hungary. In the 17th century, that legend was expanded with a concept of personified crown: the Hungarian royal title now had a will and character of its own, staying above any mortal monarch. Now this so-called “Doctrine of the Holy Crown” is being referenced in Hungarian pro-war propaganda, with which the monarchy is trying to motivate its dumbfounded subjects to fight its neighbor and ideological ally, the Princely Confederation of Austria, Bavaria, and the Rheinlands. However, the new propaganda bureau did little to expand on the old tradition or to bring the multitude of conflicting views existing in the kingdom to some common denominator, leading to a well-funded, but unimaginative propaganda campaign that may take quite a while to fully persuade the nation that the war is truly necessary. (Regional quest progress: 13.81%, Hungary losses: -4.9 HC, -6.49 IC, -10.12 EC, -1.92 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Ever since the last Habsburg king of Hungary started the ill-planned and disastrous war against Austria-Bavaria, the monarchist ideas had been dealt a significant blow. The Doctrine of the Holy Crown was abandoned mid-war and then shamefully forgotten as the victorious coalition instituted a parliamentary republic led by the Country’s Assembly. However, the political havok and constant reversals of the recent years have given the monarchist stalwarts another chance at making their ideas heard once more, albeit with some important modifications. Known as the Holy Crown Society (Szent Korona Társaság or SZKT), the new political movement suggests that an ancien regime, “Habsburg-style” monarchy has no chance to represent all the good that the Doctrine of the Holy Crown represents. Instead, they propose forming a stratocratic state of permanent Regency, similar to the Protectorate Ward of the British Royal Commonwealth or the Bakufu regime of Tokugawa Shogunate. That, they suggest, might help their nation fend off foreign influencer and, with some luck, even establish better and more organic relations with Sanationist Poland. Unfortunately, the ideas of military dictatorship of that kind are not very popular among the supporters of the ‘48 ideology that the new Polano-German figurehead Ferenc Kossuth represents. (Regional quest: -46.19%)
Hungarian Asiatic Society
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: An offshoot of Eurocentric Hungarian nationalism, Turanism is an emerging ideology that looks to connect the Hungarian nation with its Turcic, Asiatic roots, possibly filling the cultural gap existing between it and the Ottoman Empire, as well as other nations of Central Asia and Aryana. As the Hungarian society seems to be in an artificially created crisis, a group of radical thinkers called the Hungarian Asiatic Society (or Hungarian Turanian Society (Turáni Társaság)) has formed in Budapest and started to quickly gather followers from among the most radical ultranationalists and progressive supremacists, who seek to cut the nation’s ties with the “power-hungry” and “stagnant” countries of Europe and instead rebuild Hungary in the Ottoman State’s image: a progressive, dynamic, yet robust and motivated regime with wide-ranging ambitions. This stance naturally puts the Turáni Társaság in opposition not only to the moderate parliamentarism of the current regime, but also the pro-Polish Hungarian United Front.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The roller-coaster of Hungarian political crises provides Hungarian radicals with plenty of support from the disgruntled voters. The Hungarian Turanists also enjoyed their rise to prominence, growing on their criticism of the ultranationalist Magyar Egyesült Front for its failed gamble with the Polish intelligence and simultaneously rejecting the ‘48 ideology as too moderate and limited in its vision. While the Ottoman Empire is convulsing and, seemingly, regressing toward neo-feudalism, the Hungarian Turanian Society (Turáni Társaság) is starting to attract a motley variety of urban intellectuals, left-leaning futurists, as well as progressive orientalists with its outward-aimed message of returning the the glorious, trans-national roots of the Steppe Empires, essentially presenting to the frustrated Hungarian public a much more exciting, expansionist, and messianic version of ultranationalism. (Regional quest progress: -50%)
Balkans
Spoiler :
Slowly-growing region with once-formidable culture and education, now suffering from a recent war, corruption, and intercommunal conflicts.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Some regional commanders of the Umur-u Hafiye secret police attempted to break down Philhellene circles on the Ottoman territory on their own initiative, but, due to the chaos caused by the Midsummer Crisis in Edirne, their crackdowns had very few positive results to show for it. (Region Balkans: Ottoman State gains +0.33% Regional Influence, Greece loses -0.33% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -3.82 HC, -4.31 IC, -6.39 EC, -1.59 MC, Greece losses: -2.66 HC, -4.05 IC, -7.09 EC, -0.03 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Greek oligarchs’ attempts to expand their influence into the Ottoman Macedonia at the height of the Midsummer Crisis only proved that the Ottoman businesses were still capable to hold their own, at least, to some degree. (Region Balkans gains +0.12% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Ottoman State gains +0.2% Regional Influence, Greece loses -0.2% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -1.64 HC, -0.37 IC, -6.39 EC, -3.23 MC, Greece losses: -2.66 HC, -0.6 IC, -6.24 EC, -3.63 MC)
Croat-Serb Coalition
Revival or death
Exarchate of the defeated
Owners of Milos
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Taiping plan of pacifying Milos was conveniently tucked into a much larger program of establishing coaling stations and military harbors in Taiping-owned or leased territories across the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Some of these base locations were already bustling Chinese enclaves (as was the case with Indonesian ports in Surubaya and Makassar), but many bases had to be built on leased territories of the British Empire, in exchange for a hefty payment. Already overstretched, the Royal Navy was receptive of having another major power’s bases in its territories, as it could be a relative diplomatic safeguard against enemy attacks in the future. Soon, lease agreements were established for Port Louis (Mauritius), Diego Garcia (Chagos), Port Victoria (Seychelles), Jamestown (St. Helena), and Georgetown (Ascension Island). Unfortunately, the naval base construction was performed in the absence of the fleet, as the Heavenly Navy was at that time merely an amalgam of littoral patrol ships and a few obsolete ironclads, and even delivery of the army units to the barracks had to be done via contracts with the merchant marine. This largely defined the nature of the bases as rather backward and badly planned outposts (from the military standpoint, anyway), which main use was as refueling and maintenance stations. Yet, even that was more than the Taiping navy had ever dreamed of having, and the project was declared a success. Meanwhile, in Milos, the National Security service was already working on turning the Greek island into a smoothly run military district, with complete agnosticism to the locals’ discontent. Indeed, the problem of Panmilotte sentiment never went away (and, in practice, didn’t bother the Milos island administration, in its hubris), but with time the Taiping army garrison of the island, combined with the naval base construction crew from China, surpassed the number of native inhabitants. Once it became clear the Milottes were a minority in their homeland, the discontent went into the underground, where it is likely to brew and survive for many years, but for now it has no impact on the works of the Taiping military there. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Balkans gains +5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.25%, Greece gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Taiping Mandate loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Congo-Gabon Region gains +5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.25%, Taiping Mandate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region South India gains +5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.25%, Taiping Mandate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Asian Pacific Isles gains +5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.25%, Taiping Mandate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Canton-Yunnan gains -5 HC, region Yangtze Region gains -5 HC, region Huanhe Region gains -5 HC, Taiping Mandate losses: -5.27 HC, -3.22 IC, -7.64 EC, -3.33 MC)
From Hell to Hellas
Army roads for pacifists
The Balkan Federation of Labor
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Midsummer Crisis in the Ottoman Empire, perhaps, gave some ideas to a multitude of its enemies and rivals. Indeed, the state so recently reformed by the visionary “Young Sultan” was prematurely collapsing, and it looked like the imperial zones of influence were up for the taking. One such opportunistic development took place in the turbulent Balkan Peninsula. While the vast majority of the non-Turkic subjects of the Ottoman Sultan were quietly waiting for the Conference of Riga to reveal the future of the region’s nation states, social-revolutionary radicals all across the Balkans started to emerge and coalesce into an energized, cosmopolitan Balkan Federation of Labor. In its essence, the BFL was a union of a multitude of left-leaning organizations, most of them rather radical in their leftist outlook, with all of them being united by the shared sense of transnational solidarity of the proletariat and support for a united Balkan state as opposed to the monoethnic nations discussed at the time in Riga. Whatever was the goal of the BFL ideologues and agitators, their expectation of the Ottoman paralysis were strongly overestimated. The fanatical license-to-kill agents of the Special Organization (Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa) and other career intelligence officers from more conventional units of the Ottoman political police didn’t stop functioning even at the peak of the political chaos in Edirne. Having reached nigh-unrivaled levels of efficiency after the previous year’s modernization program, the security forces of the Ottoman interior quickly traced the patterns of foreign support in the finances of the Balkan Federation of Labor. While the exact source of that support could not be determined, a massive crackdown soon followed. Combining surgical precision of anti-leftist roundups with a complex net of public propaganda and disinformation, the conventional Umur-u Hafiye and more maverick Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa agencies violently confronted the BFL before this social-revolutionary movement gained much traction. Still, despite all setbacks, the shadowy mentors of the Balkan Federation of Labor hope that the situation can yet be reversed. (Regional quest progress: -67.52%, Ottoman State losses: -24.5 HC, -27.65 IC, -40.99 EC, -10.19 MC, ??? losses: -14.1? HC, -20.9? IC, -30.8? EC, -9.9? MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Some regional commanders of the Umur-u Hafiye secret police attempted to break down Philhellene circles on the Ottoman territory on their own initiative, but, due to the chaos caused by the Midsummer Crisis in Edirne, their crackdowns had very few positive results to show for it. (Region Balkans: Ottoman State gains +0.33% Regional Influence, Greece loses -0.33% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -3.82 HC, -4.31 IC, -6.39 EC, -1.59 MC, Greece losses: -2.66 HC, -4.05 IC, -7.09 EC, -0.03 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Greek oligarchs’ attempts to expand their influence into the Ottoman Macedonia at the height of the Midsummer Crisis only proved that the Ottoman businesses were still capable to hold their own, at least, to some degree. (Region Balkans gains +0.12% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Ottoman State gains +0.2% Regional Influence, Greece loses -0.2% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -1.64 HC, -0.37 IC, -6.39 EC, -3.23 MC, Greece losses: -2.66 HC, -0.6 IC, -6.24 EC, -3.63 MC)
Croat-Serb Coalition
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: Russian attempts to help the Chetnik partisan movement to form a more coherent peacetime structure as a popular movement produced only a limited result in 1893, as most of the Chetnik influence was more or less limited to the Triune Kingdom of Slavonia, Croatia, and Dalmatia (Illyria) and left most of the South Slavs living in the Sublime Porte’s domain mostly outside of its reach. However, with most recent liberalization of Ottoman politics and introduction of popular voting for deputy election, proto-parties started to form inside the Sublime State, slowly but surely. One of such parties that carefully probes the limits of accepted freedom of speech is the Croat-Serb Coalition (Hrvatsko-Srpska Koalicija) that is rumored to be independent from, but secretly friendly with the infamous Chetniks. Despite remaining within the limits of the legal framework of the Sublime Constitution, the Croat-Serb Coalition is strongly pro-autonomy and views various supremacist or assimilationist movements akin to the Superior Men with open negativity (which reaches direct hostility when “traitors of the Slavs” like the Macedonian Youth are discussed). Now all major players in the Balkan politics have to find out a way of dealing with this revival of Pan-South Slavic peaceful separatism.
Q1-Q2 1895: The Treaty of Odessa that established independent Armenia and Kurdistan was a great inspirational event for many minorities of the Ottoman State, who saw that at the right historical juncture they could gain full freedom without bloodshed, as long as they could gain powerful enough allies. This, perhaps, could explain secret reports that indicate that the Croat-Serb Coalition started receiving plentiful funds from an unknown foreign source. Thanks to the recent political and administrative reforms in the Ottoman State, their message didn’t inflame the political situation in the Balkans immediately, as it might have been the case a few years ago, when ethnic and political oppression was commonplace. Still, despite the therapeutic effect of liberal reforms, the Hrvatsko-Srpska Koalicija is well on its way to solidifying a separatist movement around its message - unless they get stopped or countered, of course. (Regional quest progress: 51.56%, ??? losses: -2.1? HC, -4.4? IC, -7.1? EC, -1.5? MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The previously peaceful political reputation of the Hrvatsko-Srpska Koalicija soured in the first year after the signature of the Treaty of Odessa, as many conventional political activists were sidelined from the party’s leadership and replaced by violent ideologues of Croat separatism and Serbian independence. In the explosive political landscape of the Balkans, it didn’t take long for first blood to be shed, as a series of political assassinations by people unaffiliated to the Croat-Serb Coalition (at least, officially) quickly led to some unauthorized reprisals from local police forces, firmly turning the Slavs against the Ottoman authority. The new patriot cells that formed over the course of twelve months between July 1895 and June 1896 were clearly supported by foreign powers financially and in training, and first guesses fell on the traditional Ottoman opponents on the Balkans, the Russians. Yet, no direct proofs were originally found (at least, not direct enough to press publically), but then an involvement of a third power in the region, surprisingly, presented the Ottoman operatives a gift of such proof, since that third power apparently tried to disguise its activities as activities of the Russian intelligence. As artificial as that “proof” was, the Ottoman Special Organization (Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa) needed to present the case to the public. Simultaneously, the Sublime Porte rolled out a shockingly fresh political doctrine for the solution of the Balkan national question. Enraging the majority of the old regime hardliners and imperialists, the Sublime State gave the variety of Balkan separatists movements clear (and often public) signals that it was open to starting a gradual process of releasing a united Balkan state or confederacy, as long as its friendly ties with the Ottoman State could be preserved. That propaganda campaign also attempted to paint various European powers (notably, the NGF, Directorial Russia, and the Italian Republic) as power-greedy hegemons that the future Balkan Federation would be subservient to, unless it remained an ally and partner of the Ottoman State. This political campaign proved to be a shock for the idea of Croat-Serb liberation, as it almost immediately resulted in a massive withdrawal of support from the movement by various members of bourgeoisie, intelligentsia, educated urbanites, and, notably, many villagers, who saw it as a peaceful alternative to yet another Great Balkan Uprising. This, of course, didn’t stop the radicals from continuing their reign of terror, which did a horrendous damage to the Ottoman state apparatus and economy, but the Sublime State’s enemies, perhaps, underestimated the staying power of the new progressivist ideas that form an entirely new paradigm of national mentality in the Balkans and the Middle East.(Regional quest progress: -6.98%, Ottoman State losses: -58.1 HC, -76.77 IC, -114.36 EC, -33.39 MC, Directorial Russia losses: -21.49 HC, -39.01 IC, -58.29 EC, -13.4 MC, ??? losses: -8.3? HC, -13.7? IC, -20.3? EC, -6.2? MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: The Treaty of Odessa that established independent Armenia and Kurdistan was a great inspirational event for many minorities of the Ottoman State, who saw that at the right historical juncture they could gain full freedom without bloodshed, as long as they could gain powerful enough allies. This, perhaps, could explain secret reports that indicate that the Croat-Serb Coalition started receiving plentiful funds from an unknown foreign source. Thanks to the recent political and administrative reforms in the Ottoman State, their message didn’t inflame the political situation in the Balkans immediately, as it might have been the case a few years ago, when ethnic and political oppression was commonplace. Still, despite the therapeutic effect of liberal reforms, the Hrvatsko-Srpska Koalicija is well on its way to solidifying a separatist movement around its message - unless they get stopped or countered, of course. (Regional quest progress: 51.56%, ??? losses: -2.1? HC, -4.4? IC, -7.1? EC, -1.5? MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The previously peaceful political reputation of the Hrvatsko-Srpska Koalicija soured in the first year after the signature of the Treaty of Odessa, as many conventional political activists were sidelined from the party’s leadership and replaced by violent ideologues of Croat separatism and Serbian independence. In the explosive political landscape of the Balkans, it didn’t take long for first blood to be shed, as a series of political assassinations by people unaffiliated to the Croat-Serb Coalition (at least, officially) quickly led to some unauthorized reprisals from local police forces, firmly turning the Slavs against the Ottoman authority. The new patriot cells that formed over the course of twelve months between July 1895 and June 1896 were clearly supported by foreign powers financially and in training, and first guesses fell on the traditional Ottoman opponents on the Balkans, the Russians. Yet, no direct proofs were originally found (at least, not direct enough to press publically), but then an involvement of a third power in the region, surprisingly, presented the Ottoman operatives a gift of such proof, since that third power apparently tried to disguise its activities as activities of the Russian intelligence. As artificial as that “proof” was, the Ottoman Special Organization (Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa) needed to present the case to the public. Simultaneously, the Sublime Porte rolled out a shockingly fresh political doctrine for the solution of the Balkan national question. Enraging the majority of the old regime hardliners and imperialists, the Sublime State gave the variety of Balkan separatists movements clear (and often public) signals that it was open to starting a gradual process of releasing a united Balkan state or confederacy, as long as its friendly ties with the Ottoman State could be preserved. That propaganda campaign also attempted to paint various European powers (notably, the NGF, Directorial Russia, and the Italian Republic) as power-greedy hegemons that the future Balkan Federation would be subservient to, unless it remained an ally and partner of the Ottoman State. This political campaign proved to be a shock for the idea of Croat-Serb liberation, as it almost immediately resulted in a massive withdrawal of support from the movement by various members of bourgeoisie, intelligentsia, educated urbanites, and, notably, many villagers, who saw it as a peaceful alternative to yet another Great Balkan Uprising. This, of course, didn’t stop the radicals from continuing their reign of terror, which did a horrendous damage to the Ottoman state apparatus and economy, but the Sublime State’s enemies, perhaps, underestimated the staying power of the new progressivist ideas that form an entirely new paradigm of national mentality in the Balkans and the Middle East.(Regional quest progress: -6.98%, Ottoman State losses: -58.1 HC, -76.77 IC, -114.36 EC, -33.39 MC, Directorial Russia losses: -21.49 HC, -39.01 IC, -58.29 EC, -13.4 MC, ??? losses: -8.3? HC, -13.7? IC, -20.3? EC, -6.2? MC)
Revival or death
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: The merge between the MYSRO and the Insanüstü Insan seems to have become the final drop that overflowed the glass of Albanian patience. In mere two years, their diaspora saw a transition from the most privileged ethnicity in the Ottoman Empire (except, naturally, the Turks) to targets of cruel mockery. Yes, many of the clans purged in recent banditry crackdowns were indeed honorless kachaks, but examples of innocent imprisonment or even capital punishment were too numerous to be easily forgotten. And the very same people they once helped the Turks to defeat are the once to now side with the “Sublime” state of betrayers and hypocrites. A new cultural movement of Albanian National Revival (Albanian: Rilindja Kombëtare) is now gripping the minds of Albanian intelligentsia, while more radicalized youth is starting to join an underground independence movement, known as the Rilindas (“Revivalists”). This radicalization of the Albanians and their search of their national heritage in the history of the Caucasus, Macedon, and Ancient Illyria in unexpected turn of events for the Sublime Porte, especially given that many of Albanian pashas are still some of the most influential people in the Empire. Still, some of their cabinet enemies are starting to question their loyalty and even spread rumors that some of these ethnocrats might be Revivalists in disguise themselves.
Exarchate of the defeated
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: Throughout most of the 19th century, the ancient Millet system of confessional self-rule inside the Ottoman Empire was gradually degrading, with confessional and ethnic self-identification melting into united, proto-nationalist movements. One of the strongest and unified millets was the millet of Bulgarian Orthodox Christians (Eksarhhâne-i Millet i Bulgar). However, the Great Balkan Rebellion (or the Great War of Independence, as it’s known to the Bulgarians), left the Southern Slavic alliance defeated and repressed, with the millet-granted privileges removed from the Bulgarian Uniates. Yet, a way out of that defeated state was opened for the Bulgarians by the recent constitutional reforms in the Sublime Porte, as well as by the Ottoman embrace of the Macedonian Youth, a Macedonian movement of Bulgarian nationalists. Proponents of a renewed Exarchate argue that any oppression of Bulgarian self-identity is illegal under the “Sublime Constitution,” and therefore Orthodox Bulgarians should have the right of autonomous rule. This notion, while legally true, is extremely toxic for the vast majority of Ottoman jingoists and adherents of the “Sublime supremacism,” who view them as demands given by a defeated foe to a victor. Should the Exarchate be re-established, these hardliners would see it as a near-complete reversal of the Ottoman victory in the Great Balkan Rebellion.
Q1-Q2 1895: Similar to the rise of the Croat-Serb Coalition, the Bulgarian identity movement has also enjoyed rejuvenation in the winter-spring of 1895. While not as politically organized, the movement centered on re-establishing the Bulgarian Exarchate quickly gained steam on the wave of ethnic and religious aspirations raised by the peaceful liberation of Armenia and Kurdistan. Luckily for the Ottomans, their liberal reforms once again helped to split the separatist movement to a degree, dividing moderate liberty-seekers (mostly bourgeoisie and intelligentsia hoping for peaceful reforms) and militant patriots (working class and proletarian groups that didn’t feel compelled to join the Superior Men via the Macedonian Youth organization). Still, the movement is quickly gaining steam, fueled by foreign investments. (Regional quest progress: 90.46%, ??? losses: -1.6? HC, -3.4? IC, -5.4? EC, -1.1? M?)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Just like in the east with the Croat-Serb Coalition, the movement for the re-establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate gradually grew in its centralization and radicalism with eerie similarities, drawing well-drawn suspicions that the same foreign backers were involved in it. And just like with the Serbs and Croats, the Ottoman political negotiators managed to strike a bull’s eye when they proposed to the Bulgarians a roadmap toward a Pan-Balkan federal state. Again, like in the east, this didn’t stop a campaign of terror that the more radical separatist elements (many of them Bulgarians who have returned from a Russian exile in recent years) unleashed against the Sublime State. The collateral damage done to the Ottoman regime was extreme, but strategically the push for Pan-Balkan federalism has all chances of turning into a major Ottoman victory - that is, if the Sublime Porte manages to keep its ideological momentum. (Regional quest progress: 68.31%, Ottoman State losses: -28.97 HC, -38.28 IC, -57.03 EC, -16.65 MC, ??? losses: -14.9? HC, -27.1? IC, -40.5? EC, -9.3? MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: Similar to the rise of the Croat-Serb Coalition, the Bulgarian identity movement has also enjoyed rejuvenation in the winter-spring of 1895. While not as politically organized, the movement centered on re-establishing the Bulgarian Exarchate quickly gained steam on the wave of ethnic and religious aspirations raised by the peaceful liberation of Armenia and Kurdistan. Luckily for the Ottomans, their liberal reforms once again helped to split the separatist movement to a degree, dividing moderate liberty-seekers (mostly bourgeoisie and intelligentsia hoping for peaceful reforms) and militant patriots (working class and proletarian groups that didn’t feel compelled to join the Superior Men via the Macedonian Youth organization). Still, the movement is quickly gaining steam, fueled by foreign investments. (Regional quest progress: 90.46%, ??? losses: -1.6? HC, -3.4? IC, -5.4? EC, -1.1? M?)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Just like in the east with the Croat-Serb Coalition, the movement for the re-establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate gradually grew in its centralization and radicalism with eerie similarities, drawing well-drawn suspicions that the same foreign backers were involved in it. And just like with the Serbs and Croats, the Ottoman political negotiators managed to strike a bull’s eye when they proposed to the Bulgarians a roadmap toward a Pan-Balkan federal state. Again, like in the east, this didn’t stop a campaign of terror that the more radical separatist elements (many of them Bulgarians who have returned from a Russian exile in recent years) unleashed against the Sublime State. The collateral damage done to the Ottoman regime was extreme, but strategically the push for Pan-Balkan federalism has all chances of turning into a major Ottoman victory - that is, if the Sublime Porte manages to keep its ideological momentum. (Regional quest progress: 68.31%, Ottoman State losses: -28.97 HC, -38.28 IC, -57.03 EC, -16.65 MC, ??? losses: -14.9? HC, -27.1? IC, -40.5? EC, -9.3? MC)
Owners of Milos
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The original purchase of Milos from Greece by Italy changed little in its inhabitants’ lives, as the Italians used mostly informal agreements with local “shipping barons” to rule, sending a fakelaki (“little envelope” with a bribe) or two to the officials who needed to be “persuaded” to toe the line. However, Milos’ sale to the Heavenly Kingdom of China raises plenty more questions. The island’s population of only five thousand people, most of them Orthodox Greeks, is being now formally administered by exactly six Taiping cadres, two of which oversaw the banking transaction that secured the deal with Italy. Now, many people in Milos and in the Greek world outside it are afraid of heavy-handed Taiping reforms, telling Milottes how they should dress, behave, and whether they can even live in one house with their wives and daughters. In fact, a Brotherhood of Panmilottes has been established in Athens, a so far peaceful organization of lawyers and humanitarian activists looking to ease the future plight of their compatriots.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Aegean Greek wave of separatism, inspired by a foreign power, caught Taiping administration of the Milos island completely unprepared. Thousands of miles (and a bottomless cultural rift) away from their metropoly, the colonial officials had little to put on the way of angry patriots who, while not being directly in contact with the rebels, were nonetheless inspired by them. So far, two separate popular marches to Plaki (the capital of the island) took place, both times being dispersed by bad weather, but a panicked telegram sent to Nanjing maintains that the grassroot patriots’ discipline is growing, and soon the island might completely fall in their hands. (Regional quest progress: -80%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Aegean Greek wave of separatism, inspired by a foreign power, caught Taiping administration of the Milos island completely unprepared. Thousands of miles (and a bottomless cultural rift) away from their metropoly, the colonial officials had little to put on the way of angry patriots who, while not being directly in contact with the rebels, were nonetheless inspired by them. So far, two separate popular marches to Plaki (the capital of the island) took place, both times being dispersed by bad weather, but a panicked telegram sent to Nanjing maintains that the grassroot patriots’ discipline is growing, and soon the island might completely fall in their hands. (Regional quest progress: -80%)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Taiping plan of pacifying Milos was conveniently tucked into a much larger program of establishing coaling stations and military harbors in Taiping-owned or leased territories across the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Some of these base locations were already bustling Chinese enclaves (as was the case with Indonesian ports in Surubaya and Makassar), but many bases had to be built on leased territories of the British Empire, in exchange for a hefty payment. Already overstretched, the Royal Navy was receptive of having another major power’s bases in its territories, as it could be a relative diplomatic safeguard against enemy attacks in the future. Soon, lease agreements were established for Port Louis (Mauritius), Diego Garcia (Chagos), Port Victoria (Seychelles), Jamestown (St. Helena), and Georgetown (Ascension Island). Unfortunately, the naval base construction was performed in the absence of the fleet, as the Heavenly Navy was at that time merely an amalgam of littoral patrol ships and a few obsolete ironclads, and even delivery of the army units to the barracks had to be done via contracts with the merchant marine. This largely defined the nature of the bases as rather backward and badly planned outposts (from the military standpoint, anyway), which main use was as refueling and maintenance stations. Yet, even that was more than the Taiping navy had ever dreamed of having, and the project was declared a success. Meanwhile, in Milos, the National Security service was already working on turning the Greek island into a smoothly run military district, with complete agnosticism to the locals’ discontent. Indeed, the problem of Panmilotte sentiment never went away (and, in practice, didn’t bother the Milos island administration, in its hubris), but with time the Taiping army garrison of the island, combined with the naval base construction crew from China, surpassed the number of native inhabitants. Once it became clear the Milottes were a minority in their homeland, the discontent went into the underground, where it is likely to brew and survive for many years, but for now it has no impact on the works of the Taiping military there. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Balkans gains +5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.25%, Greece gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Taiping Mandate loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Congo-Gabon Region gains +5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.25%, Taiping Mandate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region South India gains +5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.25%, Taiping Mandate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Asian Pacific Isles gains +5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.25%, Taiping Mandate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Canton-Yunnan gains -5 HC, region Yangtze Region gains -5 HC, region Huanhe Region gains -5 HC, Taiping Mandate losses: -5.27 HC, -3.22 IC, -7.64 EC, -3.33 MC)
From Hell to Hellas
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: In 1893, the Greek Cypriots (also known as Ellauokiprioi to the Greeks or Kıbrıs Rumları to the Turks) were successfully placated by the Ottoman Grand Divan’s political outreach and a series of public works. This can partially explain why the island of Cyprus remained relatively orderly even when groups of proletarians and criminal elements tied to international smuggling syndicates started to openly act in defiance to the local Ottoman administration under a catchy slogan “From Hell to Hellas!” Yet, while the Greek Cypriots remained largely indifferent to the pseudonationalist cause of these bandits (as such was the popular conception of the rebels across the island), the Aegean Islands did catch fire during a similar uprising. Lacking the Cypriots’ contention with the Sublime State’s policies, the Aegean Greeks did join the clearly foreign-inspired criminal elements in their eunosis movement for reunification with Greece. In Edirne, the Sultan and his administration were not prepared for this outburst of separatism, with the best agents of the Sublime State being dedicated to saving the situation in the Balkans and in Crimea. Still, a ragtag force was put together, consisting of magistrates and secret service veterans who were forced recently to leave Japan after a sudden cooling of relations with the Shogunate. Meager as it was, the force did manage to somewhat slow down the tide of Greek descent across the Ottoman Aegean possessions, but at great cost and with unknown perspectives. (Regional quest progress: 51.86%, Ottoman State losses: -27.47 HC, -36.3 IC, -54.07 EC, -15.79 MC, ??? losses: -6.6? HC, -10.9? IC, -16.2? EC, -4.9? MC)
Army roads for pacifists
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Ever since the New Liberals took the dominant role in the Greek politics, the country de-facto disbanded its armed forces, relying on the new government’s political connections with neighboring countries for its protection. In 1895, however, some sort of a diplomatic shift took place in the Italo-Greek relations, leading to a deployment of a significant “protection force” in continental Greece. In the second part of the year, that army also started working on a series of army infrastructure projects, building dedicated roads from Piraeus to Athens to the northern frontier. Needless to say, the libertarian approach to the freedom of the press in Greece meant that the effort couldn’t possibly be kept secret. This project quickly raised the alarms in Edirne, since Greece still lacks a regular army capable of using that type of infrastructure. The Italian military attache was summoned to the Grand Divan for explanations, but failed to reveal anything specific about Italy’s intentions beyond its standard “dedication to peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean region.” Whatever the goals, the Italian army still hasn’t finished its preparations and may have to spend the rest of 1896 getting the infrastructure ready. (Regional quest progress: 80.43%, Italy losses: -4.64 HC, -1.6 IC, -2.54 EC, -2.12 MC)
The Balkan Federation of Labor
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Midsummer Crisis in the Ottoman Empire, perhaps, gave some ideas to a multitude of its enemies and rivals. Indeed, the state so recently reformed by the visionary “Young Sultan” was prematurely collapsing, and it looked like the imperial zones of influence were up for the taking. One such opportunistic development took place in the turbulent Balkan Peninsula. While the vast majority of the non-Turkic subjects of the Ottoman Sultan were quietly waiting for the Conference of Riga to reveal the future of the region’s nation states, social-revolutionary radicals all across the Balkans started to emerge and coalesce into an energized, cosmopolitan Balkan Federation of Labor. In its essence, the BFL was a union of a multitude of left-leaning organizations, most of them rather radical in their leftist outlook, with all of them being united by the shared sense of transnational solidarity of the proletariat and support for a united Balkan state as opposed to the monoethnic nations discussed at the time in Riga. Whatever was the goal of the BFL ideologues and agitators, their expectation of the Ottoman paralysis were strongly overestimated. The fanatical license-to-kill agents of the Special Organization (Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa) and other career intelligence officers from more conventional units of the Ottoman political police didn’t stop functioning even at the peak of the political chaos in Edirne. Having reached nigh-unrivaled levels of efficiency after the previous year’s modernization program, the security forces of the Ottoman interior quickly traced the patterns of foreign support in the finances of the Balkan Federation of Labor. While the exact source of that support could not be determined, a massive crackdown soon followed. Combining surgical precision of anti-leftist roundups with a complex net of public propaganda and disinformation, the conventional Umur-u Hafiye and more maverick Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa agencies violently confronted the BFL before this social-revolutionary movement gained much traction. Still, despite all setbacks, the shadowy mentors of the Balkan Federation of Labor hope that the situation can yet be reversed. (Regional quest progress: -67.52%, Ottoman State losses: -24.5 HC, -27.65 IC, -40.99 EC, -10.19 MC, ??? losses: -14.1? HC, -20.9? IC, -30.8? EC, -9.9? MC)
Italia
Spoiler :
Booming region with great labor capacity reflecting on its vibrant agriculture, formidable industry, and prosperous trade with a limited number of partners.
Paradoxes of unity
Fifty shades of House of Savoy
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: For three years, the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont had waited for the heat of the Quanta Cura debate to die down and the Italian Republic to open itself once again to some limited cooperation. This second detente necessitated a softer, less confrontational approach to handling the skeletons in the closet of the House of Savoy. Thus, instead of attacking the Italian handling of the scandal, the Sardinian press and various agents of cultural influence were instructed to concentrate on the “high path” of presenting the House of Savoy as a stalwart of an ideological trinity of Monarchism, Traditionalism, and Catholicism. This propaganda campaign had a relatively slow start, but many observers suggest that the Sardinian propagandists might have struck the right chord with their message and may bring their crown plenty of prestige and stability, without causing any collateral diplomatic damage. (Regional quest progress: 23.29%, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -2.32 HC, -2.71 IC, -4.85 EC, -0.85 MC)
Home for the Holy See
Monarchist League
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: If opportunism is a part of the art of diplomacy, then the Portobrazilians are masters of it. The original proposal of the Monarchist League was originally supposed to be a deterrent against anti-Sardinian aggression by Italy or France (at least, in the eyes of the King of Sardinia and Piedmont). However, with the Sardinian sympathy for the proposal being so easily gained, the Twin Crowns chose to utilize this geopolitical construct for something ever more powerful. Just when the political talks about starting the process of Pan-German unification started to ramp up, the Council of Savants requested Portobrazilian assistance in persuading many influential South-German nobles to agree with the unification. In the court of Empress Isabel da Braganza, this was seen as a major chance to ally the future United German State to the Twin Crowns via the Monarchist League framework. To accomplish that, a special envoy of Her Majesty, the Duke of Saldanha, João Carlos de Saldanha Oliveira e Daun, was dispatched to South Germany, where he used his golden tongue and a string of familial connections to smooth over some disagreements. This, of course, ended up costing the German nationalists some influence, measured in a number of political deals, business agreements, and diplomatic connections. (Regional quest completed with full success, region North Germany: Portugal-Brazil gains +5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -5% Regional Influence, region South Germany: Portugal-Brazil gains +5% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -5% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil losses: -6.21 HC, -6.64 IC, -10.04 EC, -1.89 MC)
Electrification of Italy
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: After a slow and careful beginning of the ambitious Appenine-wide electrification program, the Italian Republic steeply increased its financing of the promising power production project. A directive was given to the construction firms to concentrate on the quality of work over speed and quantity, but they still managed to beat all deadlines presented to them, and it’s likely that the Apennine Peninsula may soon become the most electrified part of Europe. (Regional quest progress: 85.03%, Italy losses: -4.16 HC, -0.73 IC, -9.6 EC, -8.15 MC)
Steel helmet, lobster armor, and rigid bulletproof vest
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Burmese-made versions of the Korean “meonje baegab” soft bulletproof vests were a great example of making some personnel defense out of virtually nothing. However, in Europe, military thinkers and engineers were more interested in classic metal armoring for soldiers. The nation that once again appeared to be at the forefront of battlefield technology was Italy, with its powerful heavy industry and a relatively small, professional armed force. Surprisingly, the Republican leadership insisted on sharing the development of new types of rigid personnel protection with its past ally and recent rival, Sardinia-Piedmont. Together with Milan-based military concerns, the two Appenine powers developed the Farina steel helmet, followed by bizarrely looking “lobster armor” cuirass for engineering troops and close-quarter fighting. In the Italian HQ, the cooperation with Sardinia-Piedmont received mixed opinions, as it was viewed as entirely unnecessary or even potentially damaging to the nation’s security. Yet, for better of worse, the project has given the two Appenine nations access to hardened wearable personal armor, designed to fully stop or deflect bullets or shrapnel. (Technology quest completed, Italy, Sardinia-Piedmont adopt “Steel helmet, lobster armor, and rigid bulletproof vest” for no additional cost, Italy losses: -1.28 HC, -0.22 IC, -2.95 EC, -2.51 MC, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -0.57 HC, -0.14 IC, -1.67 EC, -0.97 MC)
“Hedgehogs”, “dragon teeth” and anti-crawler obstacles
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While the Italian and Sardinian militaries cooperated on developing rigid personnel bulletproof vests and helmets for their infantry and cavalry, the Royal Sardinian Army (Regia Armata Sarda) also busied itself with considerations of anti-landship defense. While dreadnaught-wheeled ironclad landships of Hungarian design and their export variants could be fairly easily stopped by wide enough trenches, “caterpillar” or “vezdekhod” tracked crawler designs were much more capable of navigating even fairly uneven battlefields, prompting Sardinian military engineers to try and develop a special type of fortifications aimed at blocking the passage of enemy vehicles (particularly of all-terrain capacity) through designated areas. Due to a recently small asset allocation and a relatively backward state of the Sardinian construction industry (at least, at that point in time), the project progressed only very humbly, producing a few prototypes to test the new fortification concept at. (Technology quest progress: 7.5%, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -1.72 HC, -0.42 IC, -5.02 EC, -2.9 MC)
Paradoxes of unity
Spoiler :
1890: The Unification of Italy has generated a lot of nationalist ardor three decades ago, but now that the excitement has died down people of Italy are discovering that it’s not always easy to find a common tongue with fellow co-citizens, sometimes quite literally. North Italians have a trouble understanding southern dialects, often resulting in legal and economic disputes and even differences in interpretation of laws. Meanwhile, Piedmontese citizens of the only sub-national state of the peninsula that chose not to join the populist revolution of the 1860s feel quite comfortable talking to their neighbors from Lombardy or Venetia. This is quickly turning into an awkward (some say “dangerous”) love-hate triangle, and Italian authorities are yet to resolve it.
1891: Some low-key agitation was taking place in North Italy among order-loving conservatives, as well as some clergy and old regime aristocracy (mostly landless and ruined by now). No serious destabilizing efforts were discovered, though, and the source of agitation is unknown. Either way, it makes true unification of Italy slightly harder when trust in the national government is low. (Regional quest progress: -1.9%, ??? losses: -1.28 HC, -1.76 IC, -2.76 EC, -0.54 MC)
1892: Even though the timid conservative agitation in North Italy ceased this year, the Republican authorities (and especially their mafia patrons) took the threat very seriously and chose to resolve it in a blunt way, more popular among criminal strongmen than legal government officials. A series of threats, kidnappings, arsons, and even extrajudicial killings took place across the Po river valley, ensuring that those who oppose the mafia rule over Italy (and Italian unity in its current from) stay quiet and scared, at least for now. (Regional quest progress: 9.33%, Italy losses: -2.49 HC, -4.06 IC, -6.62 EC, -1.86 MC)
1891: Some low-key agitation was taking place in North Italy among order-loving conservatives, as well as some clergy and old regime aristocracy (mostly landless and ruined by now). No serious destabilizing efforts were discovered, though, and the source of agitation is unknown. Either way, it makes true unification of Italy slightly harder when trust in the national government is low. (Regional quest progress: -1.9%, ??? losses: -1.28 HC, -1.76 IC, -2.76 EC, -0.54 MC)
1892: Even though the timid conservative agitation in North Italy ceased this year, the Republican authorities (and especially their mafia patrons) took the threat very seriously and chose to resolve it in a blunt way, more popular among criminal strongmen than legal government officials. A series of threats, kidnappings, arsons, and even extrajudicial killings took place across the Po river valley, ensuring that those who oppose the mafia rule over Italy (and Italian unity in its current from) stay quiet and scared, at least for now. (Regional quest progress: 9.33%, Italy losses: -2.49 HC, -4.06 IC, -6.62 EC, -1.86 MC)
Fifty shades of House of Savoy
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: Who would’ve thought just five years ago that Italian “mafioso republic” could be an ally of the House of Savoy in a war with French Communards? Then again, who would've thought just a year ago that the detente between Italy and Sardinia-Piedmont would end so abruptly with a simple cabinet change in Turin? Now it seems that the Sardinian involvement with the Papacy to produce an anti-ochlocratic Quanta Cura encyclical has produced a lot of bad blood between the regimes. The Roman Senate wishes to strike back, and strike back dirty. In best mafioso traditions, groups of field agents were dispatched… to dig up some dirt on the House of Savoy and its behind-the-scenes, all affairs, corruption scandals, and weird quirks of the royal family and its immediate court. Of course, they weren’t disappointed with their findings, discovering that the heir-apparent had several bastard children with twin sisters from the House of Wurttemberg, and the current cabinet minister of state procurement had a candle factory in Genoa that greatly benefitted from his appointment. However, instead of blackmailing the royals with these findings, as Russian “kompromat” experts would have certainly done, the Italians directly went to contact news outlets to spread such news. Needless to say, the House of Savoy didn’t like it, and neither did the House of Wurttemberg. While the yellow press of Sardinia-Piedmont (and, of course, all sorts of newspapers in Republican Italy) loved to publish the nitty-gritty of the royal life, more “respected” publications in Sardinia-Piedmont, South Germany, and all around Europe were nudged by the royal houses to either downplay the scandals or, ideally, provide a unified front against the Italian smear campaign. If the ancien-regime aristocracy did excell at one thing, it was containing scandals and presenting a good face to the public, so the Italian smear effort ended up facing a heavy pushback that essentially frustrated the entire effort and left many more questions to be answered in the future. (Regional quest progress: 1.86%, Italy losses: -4.99 HC, -8.36 IC, -12.94 EC, -3.95 MC, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -4.05 HC, -5.56 IC, -8.73 EC, -1.7 MC, Austria-Bavaria losses: -3.4 HC, -6.61 IC, -8.76 EC, -1.99 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: For three years, the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont had waited for the heat of the Quanta Cura debate to die down and the Italian Republic to open itself once again to some limited cooperation. This second detente necessitated a softer, less confrontational approach to handling the skeletons in the closet of the House of Savoy. Thus, instead of attacking the Italian handling of the scandal, the Sardinian press and various agents of cultural influence were instructed to concentrate on the “high path” of presenting the House of Savoy as a stalwart of an ideological trinity of Monarchism, Traditionalism, and Catholicism. This propaganda campaign had a relatively slow start, but many observers suggest that the Sardinian propagandists might have struck the right chord with their message and may bring their crown plenty of prestige and stability, without causing any collateral diplomatic damage. (Regional quest progress: 23.29%, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -2.32 HC, -2.71 IC, -4.85 EC, -0.85 MC)
Home for the Holy See
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Throughout centuries of European history, the Papacy has had many seats, with Popes and Antipopes presiding over the Roman Catholic Church in Rome and Avignon, not counting their temporary residences. Now, however, the Holy See of Rome is experiencing an unprecedented pressure from the Italian Republic to abandon non-spiritual matters and simply play it safe in regards to social and moral issues that concern the ochlocratic regime that tolerates its existence. Tensions rising over the Quanta Cura debate have finally pushed a previously unthinkable proposition into the mainstream of the Catholic world: to move the Holy See away from the kleptodemocracy’s reach. With Avignon being out of the contest due to being located within the borders of yet another ochlocratic nation, Communard France, Sardinian city of Grenoble (a seat of the local bishop) was proposed right away. Austria-Bavaria also hurried to welcome the Pope in Salzburg or Augsburg, while Zagreb of Illyria was also mentioned by a fringe delegation of Slavic Catholics. Now, reactionary forces of the world are likely to join the contest to host and protect the Holy See, an unparalleled prestige achievement for them.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Archbishop of Salzburg, a powerful voice in the Confederation of Princes, managed to get his political allies to back his invitation for the Papacy to move to the Austrobavarian lands, a home of the most crisp chivalric tradition and dedicated Catolicism. However, to the Austrobavarian surprise, their embassy to Rome met a multitude of obstacles, with various publications and anonymous letters putting plenty of pressure on the Pope and his loyalists to not show weakness to the Italian kleptodemocrats and move into the center of Europe, which the shadowy opponents of the move, for some misguided reason, connected with alienation of the rest of the Catholic world (as if mere geography might stay on the way of faith). Whatever the ridiculousness of these claims, they caught the Austrobavarian delegation completely unprepared for such a lowly dispute, and the Salzburg bid was temporarily halted, prompting Archbishop Johann Evangelist Haller to request the assistance of the Confederation’s secret service agency in the matters. (Regional quest progress: -83.14%, Austria-Bavaria losses: -8.57 HC, -14.62 IC, -20.16 EC, -4.39 MC, ??? losses: -13.6? HC, -19.6? IC, -23.6? EC, -6.?? MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Archbishop of Salzburg, a powerful voice in the Confederation of Princes, managed to get his political allies to back his invitation for the Papacy to move to the Austrobavarian lands, a home of the most crisp chivalric tradition and dedicated Catolicism. However, to the Austrobavarian surprise, their embassy to Rome met a multitude of obstacles, with various publications and anonymous letters putting plenty of pressure on the Pope and his loyalists to not show weakness to the Italian kleptodemocrats and move into the center of Europe, which the shadowy opponents of the move, for some misguided reason, connected with alienation of the rest of the Catholic world (as if mere geography might stay on the way of faith). Whatever the ridiculousness of these claims, they caught the Austrobavarian delegation completely unprepared for such a lowly dispute, and the Salzburg bid was temporarily halted, prompting Archbishop Johann Evangelist Haller to request the assistance of the Confederation’s secret service agency in the matters. (Regional quest progress: -83.14%, Austria-Bavaria losses: -8.57 HC, -14.62 IC, -20.16 EC, -4.39 MC, ??? losses: -13.6? HC, -19.6? IC, -23.6? EC, -6.?? MC)
Monarchist League
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Despite all expectations, in the Second Atlantic War Sardinia-Piedmont acted less as Great Britain’s lesser partner in the coalition, and more as a designated firefighter, protecting territories of the Transatlantic Alliance against enemy invasions, but never really coming under strike itself. Now, Sardinian foreign experts are increasingly critical of their British allies’ ability to protect the House of Savoy in the event of it becoming a target of an Italian or French aggression. The retreat of British global influence was made all the more obvious by the British sale of the Barbary Coast cities to Maghreb (with utmost disregard for Sardinian mercantile interests there) and sale of Gibraltar and Malta to the Portobrazilians. In fact, the ruling class of Sardinia-Piedmont is starting to favor a political realignment for the sake of creating a Catholic alliance bound not only by necessities of today, but also by the political values of its elites. Named the Monarchist League, this international construct may, at the very least, include Sardinia-Piedmont, Austria-Bavaria, Illyria, Portugal-Brazil. However, plenty of diplomatic legwork still needs to be done before the political inertial of the ruling classes of all the four countries actually commit to that decision.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: If opportunism is a part of the art of diplomacy, then the Portobrazilians are masters of it. The original proposal of the Monarchist League was originally supposed to be a deterrent against anti-Sardinian aggression by Italy or France (at least, in the eyes of the King of Sardinia and Piedmont). However, with the Sardinian sympathy for the proposal being so easily gained, the Twin Crowns chose to utilize this geopolitical construct for something ever more powerful. Just when the political talks about starting the process of Pan-German unification started to ramp up, the Council of Savants requested Portobrazilian assistance in persuading many influential South-German nobles to agree with the unification. In the court of Empress Isabel da Braganza, this was seen as a major chance to ally the future United German State to the Twin Crowns via the Monarchist League framework. To accomplish that, a special envoy of Her Majesty, the Duke of Saldanha, João Carlos de Saldanha Oliveira e Daun, was dispatched to South Germany, where he used his golden tongue and a string of familial connections to smooth over some disagreements. This, of course, ended up costing the German nationalists some influence, measured in a number of political deals, business agreements, and diplomatic connections. (Regional quest completed with full success, region North Germany: Portugal-Brazil gains +5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -5% Regional Influence, region South Germany: Portugal-Brazil gains +5% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -5% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil losses: -6.21 HC, -6.64 IC, -10.04 EC, -1.89 MC)
Electrification of Italy
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Italian Republic proved to be the first European power to embark on a costly and, as some experts argue, overly ambitious program of complete electrification of the country outside the standard scope of electrified manufacturing. Unlike in the Far East and North America, where coal was the main fuel for the nation-wide electrification (sometimes resulting in major price fluctuations, like the one that hit Japan), the Italian peninsula’s geography and climate allowed for an extensive, year-round use of hydropower to cover almost all power needs of the nation. At least, such was the formal announcement of the newly formed Ministry of Energetics. In reality, the project is still far from being completed, with the majority of the hydropower plants still being built and the power grid still being in its late stages of planning. However, once finished, the project may revolutionize the life in the Republic, giving the local kleptodemocratic regime a significant legitimacy boost. (Regional quest progress: 15.75%, Italy losses: -3.25 HC, -0.74 IC, -9.59 EC, -8.24 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: After a slow and careful beginning of the ambitious Appenine-wide electrification program, the Italian Republic steeply increased its financing of the promising power production project. A directive was given to the construction firms to concentrate on the quality of work over speed and quantity, but they still managed to beat all deadlines presented to them, and it’s likely that the Apennine Peninsula may soon become the most electrified part of Europe. (Regional quest progress: 85.03%, Italy losses: -4.16 HC, -0.73 IC, -9.6 EC, -8.15 MC)
Steel helmet, lobster armor, and rigid bulletproof vest
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Burmese-made versions of the Korean “meonje baegab” soft bulletproof vests were a great example of making some personnel defense out of virtually nothing. However, in Europe, military thinkers and engineers were more interested in classic metal armoring for soldiers. The nation that once again appeared to be at the forefront of battlefield technology was Italy, with its powerful heavy industry and a relatively small, professional armed force. Surprisingly, the Republican leadership insisted on sharing the development of new types of rigid personnel protection with its past ally and recent rival, Sardinia-Piedmont. Together with Milan-based military concerns, the two Appenine powers developed the Farina steel helmet, followed by bizarrely looking “lobster armor” cuirass for engineering troops and close-quarter fighting. In the Italian HQ, the cooperation with Sardinia-Piedmont received mixed opinions, as it was viewed as entirely unnecessary or even potentially damaging to the nation’s security. Yet, for better of worse, the project has given the two Appenine nations access to hardened wearable personal armor, designed to fully stop or deflect bullets or shrapnel. (Technology quest completed, Italy, Sardinia-Piedmont adopt “Steel helmet, lobster armor, and rigid bulletproof vest” for no additional cost, Italy losses: -1.28 HC, -0.22 IC, -2.95 EC, -2.51 MC, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -0.57 HC, -0.14 IC, -1.67 EC, -0.97 MC)
“Hedgehogs”, “dragon teeth” and anti-crawler obstacles
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While the Italian and Sardinian militaries cooperated on developing rigid personnel bulletproof vests and helmets for their infantry and cavalry, the Royal Sardinian Army (Regia Armata Sarda) also busied itself with considerations of anti-landship defense. While dreadnaught-wheeled ironclad landships of Hungarian design and their export variants could be fairly easily stopped by wide enough trenches, “caterpillar” or “vezdekhod” tracked crawler designs were much more capable of navigating even fairly uneven battlefields, prompting Sardinian military engineers to try and develop a special type of fortifications aimed at blocking the passage of enemy vehicles (particularly of all-terrain capacity) through designated areas. Due to a recently small asset allocation and a relatively backward state of the Sardinian construction industry (at least, at that point in time), the project progressed only very humbly, producing a few prototypes to test the new fortification concept at. (Technology quest progress: 7.5%, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -1.72 HC, -0.42 IC, -5.02 EC, -2.9 MC)
North Germany
Spoiler :
Fast-developing supernova of European economy, with unrivaled levels of prosperity, industrial ingenuity, and education.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Mirroring the anti-German sentiments impacting trade and public consumption in Russia, the North-German consumers also displayed their patriotic sentiment in their day-to-day purchases, leading to a decline of Russian influence across the home market of the NGF. (Region North Germany gains +1.88% Regional Influence, North German Federation gains +3.14% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2.93% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.21% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -3.39 HC, -1.49 IC, -9.75 EC, -8.33 MC)
Marriage of Iron and Rye
Resident register
Brocken garden and Brocken railway
Allotransplantation
Bathysphere, pressure suit, and deep water salvage
Nootropics and cognitive enhancement drugs
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: An obscure and controversial individual, one Herman Vogel, had built an entire career in the North-German Bureau XIII on a questionable (if not monstrous) idea of conditioning innocent street urchins for risky and traumatizing service to the Federation’s intelligence. However, after that man’s mysterious disappearance from the Bureau’s service, the idea wasn’t allowed to die down with his career, and it was resurrected in 1896 by some internal investigator who uncovered the documents detailing Vogel’s shady plans. However, this time it was given an entirely different scientific foundation, as the Bureau XIII lobbied for a series of contracts with North-German pharmaceutical companies, aiming for a creation of drugs, supplements, and other substances that may improve cognitive function, particularly executive functions, memory, creativity, or motivation, in healthy individuals for a period of time. The idea, while revolutionary and promising, proved to be extremely complex in tackling and later saw outsourcing of some aspects of the nootropic drugs’ development to Taiping China and one of the centers of world pharmaceutical research, Tokugawa Japan. However, despite the new scientific foundation, the dark legacy of the Singvogel (“Songbird”) program wasn’t properly shed, and it eventually put the entire research on a different, less conventional track. Instead of developing short-term cognitive enhancement drugs for the elderly or individuals with high-stress intellectual jobs, the program saw the establishment of two covert research labs, one in Hamburg and one in Tsingtao, in which blackbirded children (mostly the homeless orphans, petty criminals, or “uncivilized” colonials) were given various doses of test nootropics for the sake of stimulating their long-term intellectual development. This cold-blooded approach allowed the three nations achieve significant scientific breakthroughs, but at the cost of many human lives and, importantly, with a resulting technology being very different from the original idea. (Technology quest completed, North German Federation, Taiping Mandate, Tokugawa Shogunate adopt “Nootropics and cognitive enhancement drugs” for no additional cost, North German Federation losses: -1.31 HC, -0.58 IC, -3.78 EC, -3.22 MC, Taiping Mandate losses: -1.34 HC, -0.26 IC, -3.05 EC, -1.95 MC, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -1.72 HC, -0.43 IC, -4.2 EC, -3.61 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Mirroring the anti-German sentiments impacting trade and public consumption in Russia, the North-German consumers also displayed their patriotic sentiment in their day-to-day purchases, leading to a decline of Russian influence across the home market of the NGF. (Region North Germany gains +1.88% Regional Influence, North German Federation gains +3.14% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2.93% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.21% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -3.39 HC, -1.49 IC, -9.75 EC, -8.33 MC)
Marriage of Iron and Rye
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Trade laws of the North German Federation remain rather vaguely stated, which, combined with the nation’s participation in the Zollverein (Customs Union of the Two Germanies) and Scandinavian Trade Union, creates certain legal confusion and economic turbulence on the North-German market. However, regardless of how the federal politics develop in regards to trade, a powerful movement of North-German political elites is emerging across the country, naming themselves the Marriage of Iron and Rye. The name is a reference to a mid-19th century Federation’s practice of balancing between the interests of industrialists (the Iron) on the one side, and agriculturalists (the Rye) on the other. At that time, the growing North-German industry required protection against more competitive British and French goods, but farmers and landowners were afraid that, being exporters of wheat, they might fall first victims of a British or French reprisal in case of a trade war. Now, the balancing act is over. The Federation is awash with Russian and Austrobavarian grain, and its industry is yet to meet the growing demand of even its own, metropolitan market. This sudden merge of interests of the Rye and the Iron is leading to many calls to increase tariffs on trade with nations outside of the Scandinavian Trade Union and the Zollverein, prompting a new age of prosperity for North-German businesses.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Given the strong deflationary policies of the Central Bank of the North German Federation, it was clear from the get-go that North-German light industrial goods and agricultural produce could not evenly compete with foreign imports on the home market, since the cost of production was so much higher for them, being measured in a strong vereinsthaler currency. Of course, in some high-tech or quality-critical fields the North-German goods were still irreplaceable, but that couldn’t quiet down the proponents of the Marriage of Iron and Rye movement. Recognizing the importance of making these voices feel heard, the Council of Savants prepared a reform that combined a series of subsidies for home businesses with internal tariffs against non-Zollverein and non-Scandinavian trade imports. The subsidy part was fairly easy, since the North-German legislators already had experience of stimulating small and medium businesses in the early 1890s (besides, the regulated market policy adopted by the government made the effort quite natural). However, the tariff system ended up being rather holey and unwieldy due to a variety of factors. Firstly, the Federation still lacked a unified trade policy, making every territory and stadt legislate on their own. Secondly, the tariffs could do little to stop the wave of extremely cheap Austrobavarian imports. The latter remained the most competitive in the field light industry, since the ongoing serfdom abolition, while raising the production price of Austrobavarian foodstuffs, provided South-German factories with a surplus of very cheap manual labor, thus driving the cost of production down. All of these complexities combined, the reform is still expected to improve the North-German control of the home market and provide a necessary boost to the Federation’s businesses and industry. However, it might come at a cost of a short-term slowdown in economic growth, as the public consumption might suffer from growing prices, and economic actors could end up struggling with the intricate webwork of bureaucratic regulations. (Regional quest progress: 67.9%, North German Federation losses: -5.58 HC, -5.09 IC, -11.97 EC, -6.76 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Given the strong deflationary policies of the Central Bank of the North German Federation, it was clear from the get-go that North-German light industrial goods and agricultural produce could not evenly compete with foreign imports on the home market, since the cost of production was so much higher for them, being measured in a strong vereinsthaler currency. Of course, in some high-tech or quality-critical fields the North-German goods were still irreplaceable, but that couldn’t quiet down the proponents of the Marriage of Iron and Rye movement. Recognizing the importance of making these voices feel heard, the Council of Savants prepared a reform that combined a series of subsidies for home businesses with internal tariffs against non-Zollverein and non-Scandinavian trade imports. The subsidy part was fairly easy, since the North-German legislators already had experience of stimulating small and medium businesses in the early 1890s (besides, the regulated market policy adopted by the government made the effort quite natural). However, the tariff system ended up being rather holey and unwieldy due to a variety of factors. Firstly, the Federation still lacked a unified trade policy, making every territory and stadt legislate on their own. Secondly, the tariffs could do little to stop the wave of extremely cheap Austrobavarian imports. The latter remained the most competitive in the field light industry, since the ongoing serfdom abolition, while raising the production price of Austrobavarian foodstuffs, provided South-German factories with a surplus of very cheap manual labor, thus driving the cost of production down. All of these complexities combined, the reform is still expected to improve the North-German control of the home market and provide a necessary boost to the Federation’s businesses and industry. However, it might come at a cost of a short-term slowdown in economic growth, as the public consumption might suffer from growing prices, and economic actors could end up struggling with the intricate webwork of bureaucratic regulations. (Regional quest progress: 67.9%, North German Federation losses: -5.58 HC, -5.09 IC, -11.97 EC, -6.76 MC)
Resident register
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: The introduction of work visas would have been a pleasing development for a lot of North-German nationalists (or simply immigration hardliners), except it had one loophole. The Danzig Corridor treaty with Poland remained active in Prussia and Pomerelia, allowing many Poles to arrive to these traditionally conservative territories for work and living. Except, some of these “Corridor workers” disappear from their localities after a few months of labor, freely travelling west, to more industrialized cities with better wages and higher labor demand. This, immigration experts argue, allows many Poles to overcome the limitations placed on them by the work visa program, as their residence cannot be tracked inside the country once they enter the Danzig Corridor. A proposal was put forward to create yet another bureaucratic check for such transgression: a residence register (or Melderegister) for all residents of the Federation. Of course, this measure is not very popular among politicians who support personal freedoms and austerity, as it’s considered to be expensive and limiting internal geographic mobility. Besides, no one is sure how such register would work with the Federation’s colonial subjects, especially in insular parts of Ostafrika. Yet, some technocrats point out that internal security could improve significantly thanks to such a measure, and it could also provide the government with more statistical transparency.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The technocrats of Berlin couldn’t pass on the opportunity to introduce more ordnung to the North-German society. Citizens’ data cards already used across the NGF were integrated with a cluster of registries (federal and municipal level) that tracked all key personal data in a constantly updating census data vaults. Additionally, visitors, refugees, and migrants of the metropolitan part of the North German Federation added to the system, which created bureaucratic backlog and, as was predicted, limited the dynamics of the internal migration, but also created conditions for better regulation of labor relations. The country’s overseas possessions were intentionally excluded from the scope of the project as too complex to monitor properly. All in all, despite some shortcomings, the Melderegister project is up to a good start and promises a hefty improvement to the national bureaucratic organization and social security, being dabbed “a technocrat’s dream” by some European, Japanese, and American futurists. (Regional quest progress: 58.54%, North German Federation losses: -8.78 HC, -12.65 IC, -15.26 EC, -3.91 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The technocrats of Berlin couldn’t pass on the opportunity to introduce more ordnung to the North-German society. Citizens’ data cards already used across the NGF were integrated with a cluster of registries (federal and municipal level) that tracked all key personal data in a constantly updating census data vaults. Additionally, visitors, refugees, and migrants of the metropolitan part of the North German Federation added to the system, which created bureaucratic backlog and, as was predicted, limited the dynamics of the internal migration, but also created conditions for better regulation of labor relations. The country’s overseas possessions were intentionally excluded from the scope of the project as too complex to monitor properly. All in all, despite some shortcomings, the Melderegister project is up to a good start and promises a hefty improvement to the national bureaucratic organization and social security, being dabbed “a technocrat’s dream” by some European, Japanese, and American futurists. (Regional quest progress: 58.54%, North German Federation losses: -8.78 HC, -12.65 IC, -15.26 EC, -3.91 MC)
Brocken garden and Brocken railway
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The Mountains of Harz (lit. “hill forest”) used to be a great source of wealth for North-German miners who exploited local silver mines for centuries. However, by the early 19th century, the region’s natural deposits got almost completely depleted, followed by a mass exodus of local settlers. This, surprisingly, turned out to be a blessing for the Harz region, as depopulation removed an anthropogenic factor from the pressure experienced by the local ecosphere. After several decades of abandonment, Alpine meadows and forests of the Harz started to flourish with their natural beauty, inspiring a creation of a wild alpine botanical garden, named Brockengarten (Brocken Garden) after a nearby summit of the Brocken. The beauty of that locale (and many others) attracted thousands of tourists to the mountains, suddenly greatly boosting the Harz economy. However, in attempts to improve what was already working, Harzland magistrates funded a creation of a Brockenbahn (Brocken Railway), aiming to make the beauty of the mountains more approachable for tourists. While it did increase the throughput of arrivals, the railway raised red flags among naturalists and ecologists, who think that in the long run the railway may kill the very attraction the tourists came to see, namely, the wild nature. Some of them propose to not only stop operations of the Brocken Railway immediately, but also to attempt to re-introduce the species that just recently (in the early 19th century) got overhunted in these forests, including lynx, brown bear, and others.
Allotransplantation
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Warfare was always gory, but modern war, like nothing else, has a tendency to maim, maul, and cripple. The Central-European War and the Federation’s participation in left thousands of veterans across the entire country wishing to turn back time and hide the scars of their service. This cry for help was heard by a team of surgeons in Berlin, who have started experimenting with transplantation of cells, tissues, or organs, to a recipient from a genetically non-identical donor of the same species, often used to treat war injuries and wounds. However, this time the usually aloof Council of Savants issued surprisingly ethically-conscious instructions to the doctors, telling them to experiment on mice and monkeys for now and withholding from any human allotransplantation. This, of course, raised some eyebrows among the North-German doctors, who joked that now they have to scar and torture poor animals instead of simply using any of the desperate volunteers who bang on their doors, willing to risk anything, even their lives, in hopes to erase the horrible scars that poison their day-to-day life. Regardless, the research is progressing steadily, and the high command hopes that, once completed, it would prove to be a great bonus for the public morale and frontline spirit. (Technology quest progress: 31.17%, North German Federation losses: -2.22 HC, -0.75 IC, -5.38 EC, -4.19 MC)
Bathysphere, pressure suit, and deep water salvage
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: When the project of bathysphere, a high pressure-capable submerged vessel for deep sea exploration, was proposed to a scientific commission in Rio de Janeiro in 1890, it was mostly laughed at, being perceived as an even more useless analog of the “preposterous” submarines. Since then, submerged warfare became a real part of war at sea, but industries around the world continued to ignore the proposed combination of equipment, machinery, and methods of salvaging materials from the seafloor in deep water. Having been turned down by British, Sikh, and Iberian investors, the blueprints for the bathysphere and the pressure suit were eventually picked up by a North-German salvaging firm. First tests of the new devices at the site of a sunk trawler in the Hamburg harbor showed extremely promising results - so promising, in fact, that the project found investors not just in Taiping China, but also in the previously skeptical Portugal-Brazil. A few tragic accidents that occurred at the salvage location since then have shown that the bathysphere and pressure sits still have some critical flaws to work out, but the inventions have a bright future. (Technology quest progress: 81.67%, North German Federation losses: -0.47 HC, -0.14 IC, -1.23 EC, -0.99 MC, Taiping Mandate losses: -0.66 HC, -0.13 IC, -1.54 EC, -1.01 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -0.66 HC, -0.18 IC, -2.01 EC, -1.43 MC)
Nootropics and cognitive enhancement drugs
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: An obscure and controversial individual, one Herman Vogel, had built an entire career in the North-German Bureau XIII on a questionable (if not monstrous) idea of conditioning innocent street urchins for risky and traumatizing service to the Federation’s intelligence. However, after that man’s mysterious disappearance from the Bureau’s service, the idea wasn’t allowed to die down with his career, and it was resurrected in 1896 by some internal investigator who uncovered the documents detailing Vogel’s shady plans. However, this time it was given an entirely different scientific foundation, as the Bureau XIII lobbied for a series of contracts with North-German pharmaceutical companies, aiming for a creation of drugs, supplements, and other substances that may improve cognitive function, particularly executive functions, memory, creativity, or motivation, in healthy individuals for a period of time. The idea, while revolutionary and promising, proved to be extremely complex in tackling and later saw outsourcing of some aspects of the nootropic drugs’ development to Taiping China and one of the centers of world pharmaceutical research, Tokugawa Japan. However, despite the new scientific foundation, the dark legacy of the Singvogel (“Songbird”) program wasn’t properly shed, and it eventually put the entire research on a different, less conventional track. Instead of developing short-term cognitive enhancement drugs for the elderly or individuals with high-stress intellectual jobs, the program saw the establishment of two covert research labs, one in Hamburg and one in Tsingtao, in which blackbirded children (mostly the homeless orphans, petty criminals, or “uncivilized” colonials) were given various doses of test nootropics for the sake of stimulating their long-term intellectual development. This cold-blooded approach allowed the three nations achieve significant scientific breakthroughs, but at the cost of many human lives and, importantly, with a resulting technology being very different from the original idea. (Technology quest completed, North German Federation, Taiping Mandate, Tokugawa Shogunate adopt “Nootropics and cognitive enhancement drugs” for no additional cost, North German Federation losses: -1.31 HC, -0.58 IC, -3.78 EC, -3.22 MC, Taiping Mandate losses: -1.34 HC, -0.26 IC, -3.05 EC, -1.95 MC, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -1.72 HC, -0.43 IC, -4.2 EC, -3.61 MC)
Update 10: July 1, 1896 - June 30, 1897
South Germany
Spoiler :
Fast-developing, populous melting pot of German regional cultures with powerful industries and vibrant agriculture.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: One half of the Austrobavarian political class is cheerfully moving toward unification with a quickly self-reforming North German Federation, and the other half is zealously resisting it. Together, this internal struggle in the Confederation of Princes seems to open an avenue for Swiss bankers and political influencers to advance expand their power in the region. (Region South Germany: Switzerland gains +0.61% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.61% Regional Influence, Switzerland losses: -1.02 HC, -1.58 IC, -2.36 EC, -0.55 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: In the best Swiss tradition, the infusion of the capital only cleared path for the expansion of the industry, seeing the Swiss Confederation’s share of the South-German market grow. (Regon South Germany gains +0.23% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Switzerland gains +0.38% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.38% Regional Influence, Switzerland losses: -3.02 HC, -0.6 IC, -6.09 EC, -4.09 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Illyrian ambassador in Vienna and Munich also attempted to use the pre-unification territorial concessions of the Confederation of Princes to expand the Kingdom of Illyria’s influence in Carinthia and Krain (Carniola), but to very little gain. (Region South Germany: Illyria gains +0.04% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.04% Regional Influence, Illyria losses: -1.47 HC, -2.03 IC, -3.18 EC, -0.18 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Croatian plemstvo nobility’s attempts to expand their estates northward into the non-Slovenian valleys of Krain (Carniola) was even less successful and, at times, even counterproductive. (Region South Germany gains +0.01% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.02% Regional Influence, Illyria loses -0.02% Regional Influence, Illyria losses: -1.97 HC, -0.46 IC, -4.88 EC, -3.01 MC)
Path toward unity
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Just a mere ten years ago, one could almost taste the expectation of a major Brothers’ war for German unity in the air. Since then, many events took place, including the joint participation of the two Germanies in the war against the Hungarian and French aggression, as well as the establishment of the Zollverein, and the much applauded repeal of serfdom across the Confederation of Princes. Still, too many differences existed between the two states, united by the sense of Pan-German sentiment, but disagreeing over almost everything else. In the early 1896, however, a tectonic shift took place in the Council of Savants in Frankfurt. A string of political realignments brought a group of German patriots to power (most of them coming from a less ideologically rigid background), who decided to firmly shape the Federation’s agenda toward its unification with the Confederation of Princes at all cost. Their first move toward achieving that agenda took place much earlier, when they attempted to influence the abolition of serfdom across Austria-Bavaria and almost faced a complete fiasco by being too ham-handed in their approach. That near fail, however, turned out to be a great learning experience for the Unity faction, and the late 1896 saw a wider array of reforms across North Germany, aimed at bringing the NGF closer toward its southern neighbor in terms of policies, thus eliminating many concerns of the Austrobavarian ruling class and social elites about their prospects in the united Germany. While the reforms still played out in the north, diplomatic probes were sent to Munich, outlining the proposed compromise. According to the offer, the current king of Bavaria would be named the new Emperor of the United German State, whose powers would be checked only by the German High Council (Deutch Hoherrat) composed of the technocratic bourgeoisie and property-owning class (mostly, aristocrats in Prussia and South Germany), with the de-facto head of state being Council-elected High Chancellor. That proposal, while appreciated in Munich, was denied, since the current king Otto was still suffering from bouts of mental illness and was represented by the formidable Prince-Regent Luitpold. Still, Luitpold did extend similar probes to other princes and confirmed that, once the United German State is established, a vote could take place (similar to the imperial diet of the Holy Roman Empire), in which the royal head of the nation could be selected (that implied that the electoral succession law would have to be implemented). While these negotiations were still taking place (with Portobrazilian mediation, no less), various North-German corporations were encouraged to start investing into a proper, joint infrastructure of the future state, building roads, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions across the both Germanies (and especially in the north). This spooked many reactionary political actors in the south, who were not quite happy with the compromise they were being promised. A major political campaign started across the Confederation of Princes, appealing to the gentry’s sense of aristocratic pride and simultaneously attempting to block the pro-Unification movement by presenting it with all sorts of possible obstructions, ranging from political protests to economic competition. Still, in the end, the Pan-Germanic forces emerged victorious, and only one last step remains before the United German State is finally established. (Regional quest completed with full success, region South Germany gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, North German Federation gains +9% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -9% Regional Influence, North Germany: Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, North German Federation gains +2% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -2% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -41.64 HC, -34.77 IC, -108.32 EC, -74.9 MC, Austria-Bavaria losses: -91.66 HC, -90.64 IC, -164.64 EC, -64.09 MC)
United German State
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The political elites of the two Germanies have, for the most part, figured out the boundaries of the compromise that is likely to see them unified into the United German State. Yet, that compromise also drove many opponents of the German unity (German: Deutsche Einheit) into fierce and radical opposition. In fact, instead of calling it the “unity,” they prefer to call it the “strangling of German liberties.” Of course, in the north, these opponents refer to the liberties of federal liberalism, inherited by the North German Federation from the glorious Liberal Revolution of 1848. In their eyes, any roll back of egalitarian democracy and sharing of powers with the ancien regime aristocracy is a painful regression. Meanwhile, in the south exactly same phrase is used to identify the liberties traditionally enjoyed by the German gentry under the light hand of the Holy Roman Emperors, with the rights of the suzerains and their vassals and servants being always respected - along the lines of the feudal society, of course. Now, it looks, the last big push remains pending, and the Deutsche Einheit might indeed become the reality, as long as these last forces of inertia are removed from its path.
Carinthian haven
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The movement toward the Pan-German unification alarmed not only the dukes of the Francophone territories in the west, but also some of the power brokers in the east of the Confederation of Princes. In the south-east, Duke Ludwig Viktor of Carinthia was already aggravated by the abolition of serfdom in the Confederation of Princes and the migration problems it had cost with the neighboring Kingdom of Illyria. Now that the ideas of German nationalism were being voiced louder and louder, he also grew concerned that his biethnic duchy wouldn’t fit into the national state framework negotiated in Frankfurt and Munich. This, again, required a North-German diplomatic and political intervention, as many Austrian reactionaries started to rally around Duke Ludwig Viktor as a figure of conservative resistance, attempting to establish Carinthia and Krain (Carniola) as the centers of old-fashioned, agricultural economy, in which noble landowners would be the main economic actors. That network of reactionary resistance was eventually broken through a complex compromise that saw the two Slovene-majority valleys of Krain (Seeland (Jezersko) and Mießtal (Mežiška dolina)) transferred to the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, popularly known as Illyria. Duke Ludwig Viktor was agreeable to that “territorial donation,” as it helped him to please the fellow King of Illyria by returning to his kingdom the vast majority of runaway serfs and expanding the Illyrian territory in the process. Of course, some frustration was voiced by the German settlers of these valleys, but in the end they were given a chance to resettle further north, with the North-German companies happily providing employment in order to drain the reactionary landowners of their economic base (as for the Duke of Carinthia and Krain, he was compensated with a share in these companies and future. Meanwhile, further north, in Bohmen (Bohemia) and Sudetenland (Sudety), another Slavic group was strongly opposing being included in the German-dominated national state. After years of Germanization, the Bohemian Czechs (as well as Ashkenazi Jews) were just a large minority in these territories, but a very vocal one at that, and rather prominent local administration and economy. This meant that both the North-German and Austrobavarian holdings in the Sudeten mountains and to east of them had to be let go in order to open the way toward the Pan-German unification. That presented a number of challenges, mostly stemming from the local German population not wishing to be left out of the United German State. To address the latter problem, the NGF dedicated plenty of corporate and political resources, accommodating the resettlement of the Sudeten and Bohemian Germans further east, along with a relocation of some financial assets (but not the industrial tools, luckily for the Czechs). Meanwhile, in order to keep the process smooth and controlled on the both sides, the Polish government was asked to step in and use its ties within the Pan-West Slavic Sokoly movement to organize an orderly “divorce.” That did help the Polish government to secure some influence in the process (despite the fact that the most of Sudeten and Bohemian lands went to the Margraviate of Moravia), but it did cause some split within the Sokoly movement. Some of these radicals were disaffected with the Polish cooperation with the North-Germans and complained that a similar territorial transfer didn’t happen further north, in other territories with Slavic and Wendish minorities, such as Kushavia, Silezia, and Pomerelia. Splintering from their Polish-affiliated leadership, they founded a rival organization named Orel (“eagle” in Czech) that had a closer ties with the Catholic Church and seeked patronage of the Margrave of Moravia Karel Emanuel I (von) Zierotin. Eventually, the traditionally cautious Karel Emanuel I agreed to allow the Orels’ competition with the Sokoly, making them the voice of Czech national reawakening. This, however, proved to be a risky investment on his part, as the Orels, despite being much more popular in the Czech lands than the “collaborationist” Sokoly, started to clash with the fiercely nationalistic German Order of St. Anthony. The clashes escalated throughout the year and culminated in the infamous Praga Riots, which eventually were stopped mostly thanks to the German, Jewish, and Czech diasporas joining together in breaking up the fight between the Czech and German radicals. This marked the end of Karel Emanuel’s push for greater rights of the Czech people in their lucky reunion with free Moravia. Not wishing to give up the leading role of Brno and ethnic Moravians in the new nation state, Karel Emanuel I Zierotin was crowned the King of Great Moravia, simultaneously sending a signal to the Orel movement to tone down its rhetoric in a reconciliation move with Sanationist Poland. By the summer of 1897, it became clear that, despite significantly disturbing the regional markets, the “Germano-Bohemian divorce” would end with little blood being shed and only very little grief left in its wake. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region South Germany gains -5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -1%, Illyria gains +1.5% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -1.5% Regional Influence, region Balkans gains +5 HC, region North Germany gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -1%, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.5% Regional Influence, region Poland-Czechia gains -5 HC, -5 IC, -5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -2%, Moravia gains +14% Regional Influence, Poland gains +4% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -11% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -7% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria losses: -47.42 HC, -39.63 IC, -88.01 EC, -42.07 MC, North German Federation losses: -25.87 HC, -23.56 IC, -65.93 EC, -43.26 MC, Poland losses: -5.72 HC, -7.56 IC, -11.45 EC, -3.08 MC, Moravia losses: -9.56 HC, -14.66 IC, -20.09 EC, -2.51 MC)
Forkroad for Württemberg
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Up until recently, the Kingdom of Württemberg was considered to the most liberal “princedom” in the Confederation of Princes of Austria, Bavaria, and the Rhineland. Ruled by a Protestant branch of the Württemberg family, it’s known for being as close to the standards of a modern parliamentary monarchy as the loose laws of the Confederation of Princes allow. However, the turbulent winds of the Deutsche Einheit (German Unity) are bringing about many social and political shifts, and, while in the rest of Austrobavarian territories it means greater liberalization, in the progressive lands of Württemberg this opens up possibilities for a different kind of shift. King William II (as well as his Protestant kinsman, Duke Nicholas) are both childless and don’t seem to be interested in “making” new heirs. This gives political strength to the more reactionary, Roman Catholic branch led by Duke Albrecht, who wishes to roll back many constitutional reforms that had previously established separation of church and state in the lands of the Württemberg crown. And if the formation of the United German State goes successfully in the future, it’s quite likely to become the future regime’s headache.
Repopulation of Lothringen
Freedom for the Free Country
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: All high-minded talks of Pan-German unity would’ve been for nothing, if a few princes on the western border of the Confederation decided to veto them. That particularly applied to Duke Philipp IX von Habsburg of Freigrafschaft and his distant cousin, Duke Rudolf I von Habsburg of Elsaß-Lothringen, the both of which ruled over Francophone majority duchies that were sure to eventually become targets of the Communard expansion, should they lose their German brothers’ protection. Joining the United German State for them was also out of the question, since the both dukes, despite being of Austrian origin themselves, rested their authority on the shoulders of the French-speaking ancien regime gentry and bourgeoisie emigres from France. This presented quite a hard nut to crack for the North-German diplomats, who ended up clashing with the political allies of the “French Habsburgs” in a series of cabinet disputes. Eventually, the typical “firefighters” of the North-German diplomacy were called in - the Portobrazilians. Leveraging their aristocratic connections and a self-accepted role of the leaders of the Monarchist League, the Twin Crowns’ diplomats helped to work out some compromise with Philipp IX and Rudolf I. The two duchies were to get split from the Confederation of Princes, but remain its allies, as well as new joiners of the Monarchist League. They were also allowed to unite into a Dual Union of Austrasia (or Austrasie, for its Francophone subjects), a syncretic monarchist state that would be allowed to form a mixed Arpitan-Franconian identity over time. What ensure the Dual Union’s stability, despite its evenly split ethnic landscape, was the firmly settled social and class mentality that emphasized a strict hierarchy and revulsion to any forms of leftist ideals (along with an ever-present sense of a looming threat from the west). Thus, despite some short-term economic downturn, caused by the establishment of new customs, the Dual Union of Austrasia survived its secession and looks forward to shaping its new identity. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, Austrasia is created, region South Germany gains -0.5% Regional Growth Fluctuation,, Austrasia gains +15% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil gains +2.5% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -12.5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -5% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria losses: -16.38 HC, -20.93 IC, -27.57 EC, -5.64 MC, North German Federation losses: -5.97 HC, -9.6 IC, -12.34 EC, -3.08 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.44 HC, -2.61 IC, -3.94 EC, -0.74 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: One half of the Austrobavarian political class is cheerfully moving toward unification with a quickly self-reforming North German Federation, and the other half is zealously resisting it. Together, this internal struggle in the Confederation of Princes seems to open an avenue for Swiss bankers and political influencers to advance expand their power in the region. (Region South Germany: Switzerland gains +0.61% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.61% Regional Influence, Switzerland losses: -1.02 HC, -1.58 IC, -2.36 EC, -0.55 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: In the best Swiss tradition, the infusion of the capital only cleared path for the expansion of the industry, seeing the Swiss Confederation’s share of the South-German market grow. (Regon South Germany gains +0.23% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Switzerland gains +0.38% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.38% Regional Influence, Switzerland losses: -3.02 HC, -0.6 IC, -6.09 EC, -4.09 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Illyrian ambassador in Vienna and Munich also attempted to use the pre-unification territorial concessions of the Confederation of Princes to expand the Kingdom of Illyria’s influence in Carinthia and Krain (Carniola), but to very little gain. (Region South Germany: Illyria gains +0.04% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -0.04% Regional Influence, Illyria losses: -1.47 HC, -2.03 IC, -3.18 EC, -0.18 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Croatian plemstvo nobility’s attempts to expand their estates northward into the non-Slovenian valleys of Krain (Carniola) was even less successful and, at times, even counterproductive. (Region South Germany gains +0.01% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.02% Regional Influence, Illyria loses -0.02% Regional Influence, Illyria losses: -1.97 HC, -0.46 IC, -4.88 EC, -3.01 MC)
Path toward unity
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Just a mere ten years ago, one could almost taste the expectation of a major Brothers’ war for German unity in the air. Since then, many events took place, including the joint participation of the two Germanies in the war against the Hungarian and French aggression, as well as the establishment of the Zollverein, and the much applauded repeal of serfdom across the Confederation of Princes. Still, too many differences existed between the two states, united by the sense of Pan-German sentiment, but disagreeing over almost everything else. In the early 1896, however, a tectonic shift took place in the Council of Savants in Frankfurt. A string of political realignments brought a group of German patriots to power (most of them coming from a less ideologically rigid background), who decided to firmly shape the Federation’s agenda toward its unification with the Confederation of Princes at all cost. Their first move toward achieving that agenda took place much earlier, when they attempted to influence the abolition of serfdom across Austria-Bavaria and almost faced a complete fiasco by being too ham-handed in their approach. That near fail, however, turned out to be a great learning experience for the Unity faction, and the late 1896 saw a wider array of reforms across North Germany, aimed at bringing the NGF closer toward its southern neighbor in terms of policies, thus eliminating many concerns of the Austrobavarian ruling class and social elites about their prospects in the united Germany. While the reforms still played out in the north, diplomatic probes were sent to Munich, outlining the proposed compromise. According to the offer, the current king of Bavaria would be named the new Emperor of the United German State, whose powers would be checked only by the German High Council (Deutch Hoherrat) composed of the technocratic bourgeoisie and property-owning class (mostly, aristocrats in Prussia and South Germany), with the de-facto head of state being Council-elected High Chancellor. That proposal, while appreciated in Munich, was denied, since the current king Otto was still suffering from bouts of mental illness and was represented by the formidable Prince-Regent Luitpold. Still, Luitpold did extend similar probes to other princes and confirmed that, once the United German State is established, a vote could take place (similar to the imperial diet of the Holy Roman Empire), in which the royal head of the nation could be selected (that implied that the electoral succession law would have to be implemented). While these negotiations were still taking place (with Portobrazilian mediation, no less), various North-German corporations were encouraged to start investing into a proper, joint infrastructure of the future state, building roads, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions across the both Germanies (and especially in the north). This spooked many reactionary political actors in the south, who were not quite happy with the compromise they were being promised. A major political campaign started across the Confederation of Princes, appealing to the gentry’s sense of aristocratic pride and simultaneously attempting to block the pro-Unification movement by presenting it with all sorts of possible obstructions, ranging from political protests to economic competition. Still, in the end, the Pan-Germanic forces emerged victorious, and only one last step remains before the United German State is finally established. (Regional quest completed with full success, region South Germany gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, North German Federation gains +9% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -9% Regional Influence, North Germany: Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.5%, North German Federation gains +2% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -2% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -41.64 HC, -34.77 IC, -108.32 EC, -74.9 MC, Austria-Bavaria losses: -91.66 HC, -90.64 IC, -164.64 EC, -64.09 MC)
United German State
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The political elites of the two Germanies have, for the most part, figured out the boundaries of the compromise that is likely to see them unified into the United German State. Yet, that compromise also drove many opponents of the German unity (German: Deutsche Einheit) into fierce and radical opposition. In fact, instead of calling it the “unity,” they prefer to call it the “strangling of German liberties.” Of course, in the north, these opponents refer to the liberties of federal liberalism, inherited by the North German Federation from the glorious Liberal Revolution of 1848. In their eyes, any roll back of egalitarian democracy and sharing of powers with the ancien regime aristocracy is a painful regression. Meanwhile, in the south exactly same phrase is used to identify the liberties traditionally enjoyed by the German gentry under the light hand of the Holy Roman Emperors, with the rights of the suzerains and their vassals and servants being always respected - along the lines of the feudal society, of course. Now, it looks, the last big push remains pending, and the Deutsche Einheit might indeed become the reality, as long as these last forces of inertia are removed from its path.
Carinthian haven
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Duchy of Carinthia was originally named that way in the 8th century, deriving its name from an Ancient Slavic tribe of Carantani. Since then, it’s become a part of von Habsburg lands, acting as an unofficial border between the South German and Slavic parts of the empire, with two Slovene-speaking Carinthian valleys beling located south of the Karawanken range (Seeland (Slovenian: Jezersko) and Mießtal (the valley of the Meža River). Despite never being a formal part of the Triune Kingdom of Illyria, that part of Carinthia remained rather open to migrations and travel of Slovenian and Croatian peasants, with border guards casually turning a blind eye on the Slovenian peasants moving back and forth to sell their goods and wares in local markets. That habit of lax attitude to border regulations has backfired in the past twelve months, however, because the abolition of indebted servitude in the Confederation of Princes created a temptation for many runaway serfs in Illyria to escape into Austrobavarian Carinthia. Essentially, the situation that’s been observed on the Swiss-Austrobavarian border has repeated itself here, and now the Duke of Carinthia (himself an anti-abolitionist) is encouraging his fellow princes to recognize how much mess they brought upon their realms by their “progressive” decree. Meanwhile, further to the south, in Slovenian territories of Illyria, some progressive bourgeoisie are starting to encourage the nobility to, perhaps, follow Austria-Bavaria’s suit and abolish feudal slavery altogether. That idea, however, is extremely unpopular in the Triune Kingdom’s ruling classes, who see the Austrobavarian reform as a big mistake.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The movement toward the Pan-German unification alarmed not only the dukes of the Francophone territories in the west, but also some of the power brokers in the east of the Confederation of Princes. In the south-east, Duke Ludwig Viktor of Carinthia was already aggravated by the abolition of serfdom in the Confederation of Princes and the migration problems it had cost with the neighboring Kingdom of Illyria. Now that the ideas of German nationalism were being voiced louder and louder, he also grew concerned that his biethnic duchy wouldn’t fit into the national state framework negotiated in Frankfurt and Munich. This, again, required a North-German diplomatic and political intervention, as many Austrian reactionaries started to rally around Duke Ludwig Viktor as a figure of conservative resistance, attempting to establish Carinthia and Krain (Carniola) as the centers of old-fashioned, agricultural economy, in which noble landowners would be the main economic actors. That network of reactionary resistance was eventually broken through a complex compromise that saw the two Slovene-majority valleys of Krain (Seeland (Jezersko) and Mießtal (Mežiška dolina)) transferred to the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, popularly known as Illyria. Duke Ludwig Viktor was agreeable to that “territorial donation,” as it helped him to please the fellow King of Illyria by returning to his kingdom the vast majority of runaway serfs and expanding the Illyrian territory in the process. Of course, some frustration was voiced by the German settlers of these valleys, but in the end they were given a chance to resettle further north, with the North-German companies happily providing employment in order to drain the reactionary landowners of their economic base (as for the Duke of Carinthia and Krain, he was compensated with a share in these companies and future. Meanwhile, further north, in Bohmen (Bohemia) and Sudetenland (Sudety), another Slavic group was strongly opposing being included in the German-dominated national state. After years of Germanization, the Bohemian Czechs (as well as Ashkenazi Jews) were just a large minority in these territories, but a very vocal one at that, and rather prominent local administration and economy. This meant that both the North-German and Austrobavarian holdings in the Sudeten mountains and to east of them had to be let go in order to open the way toward the Pan-German unification. That presented a number of challenges, mostly stemming from the local German population not wishing to be left out of the United German State. To address the latter problem, the NGF dedicated plenty of corporate and political resources, accommodating the resettlement of the Sudeten and Bohemian Germans further east, along with a relocation of some financial assets (but not the industrial tools, luckily for the Czechs). Meanwhile, in order to keep the process smooth and controlled on the both sides, the Polish government was asked to step in and use its ties within the Pan-West Slavic Sokoly movement to organize an orderly “divorce.” That did help the Polish government to secure some influence in the process (despite the fact that the most of Sudeten and Bohemian lands went to the Margraviate of Moravia), but it did cause some split within the Sokoly movement. Some of these radicals were disaffected with the Polish cooperation with the North-Germans and complained that a similar territorial transfer didn’t happen further north, in other territories with Slavic and Wendish minorities, such as Kushavia, Silezia, and Pomerelia. Splintering from their Polish-affiliated leadership, they founded a rival organization named Orel (“eagle” in Czech) that had a closer ties with the Catholic Church and seeked patronage of the Margrave of Moravia Karel Emanuel I (von) Zierotin. Eventually, the traditionally cautious Karel Emanuel I agreed to allow the Orels’ competition with the Sokoly, making them the voice of Czech national reawakening. This, however, proved to be a risky investment on his part, as the Orels, despite being much more popular in the Czech lands than the “collaborationist” Sokoly, started to clash with the fiercely nationalistic German Order of St. Anthony. The clashes escalated throughout the year and culminated in the infamous Praga Riots, which eventually were stopped mostly thanks to the German, Jewish, and Czech diasporas joining together in breaking up the fight between the Czech and German radicals. This marked the end of Karel Emanuel’s push for greater rights of the Czech people in their lucky reunion with free Moravia. Not wishing to give up the leading role of Brno and ethnic Moravians in the new nation state, Karel Emanuel I Zierotin was crowned the King of Great Moravia, simultaneously sending a signal to the Orel movement to tone down its rhetoric in a reconciliation move with Sanationist Poland. By the summer of 1897, it became clear that, despite significantly disturbing the regional markets, the “Germano-Bohemian divorce” would end with little blood being shed and only very little grief left in its wake. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region South Germany gains -5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -1%, Illyria gains +1.5% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -1.5% Regional Influence, region Balkans gains +5 HC, region North Germany gains +5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -1%, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.5% Regional Influence, region Poland-Czechia gains -5 HC, -5 IC, -5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -2%, Moravia gains +14% Regional Influence, Poland gains +4% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -11% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -7% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria losses: -47.42 HC, -39.63 IC, -88.01 EC, -42.07 MC, North German Federation losses: -25.87 HC, -23.56 IC, -65.93 EC, -43.26 MC, Poland losses: -5.72 HC, -7.56 IC, -11.45 EC, -3.08 MC, Moravia losses: -9.56 HC, -14.66 IC, -20.09 EC, -2.51 MC)
Forkroad for Württemberg
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Up until recently, the Kingdom of Württemberg was considered to the most liberal “princedom” in the Confederation of Princes of Austria, Bavaria, and the Rhineland. Ruled by a Protestant branch of the Württemberg family, it’s known for being as close to the standards of a modern parliamentary monarchy as the loose laws of the Confederation of Princes allow. However, the turbulent winds of the Deutsche Einheit (German Unity) are bringing about many social and political shifts, and, while in the rest of Austrobavarian territories it means greater liberalization, in the progressive lands of Württemberg this opens up possibilities for a different kind of shift. King William II (as well as his Protestant kinsman, Duke Nicholas) are both childless and don’t seem to be interested in “making” new heirs. This gives political strength to the more reactionary, Roman Catholic branch led by Duke Albrecht, who wishes to roll back many constitutional reforms that had previously established separation of church and state in the lands of the Württemberg crown. And if the formation of the United German State goes successfully in the future, it’s quite likely to become the future regime’s headache.
Repopulation of Lothringen
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: The Communard attempts to purge aristocratic land ownership and redistribute the lands in Lorraine (Lothringen) during the recent war left that region in turmoil. Many people loyal to the Princely regime (not all of them rich or privileged) were driven out of their land or disappeared in Communard purges, leaving some large estates completely lacking ownership. Among those who survived, tensions are high. Some people mistrust everything French, viewing the remaining French Lorrainers as potential troublemakers; the latter ones point out that some Francophone old-regimers were, in fact, the most fervent fighters against the “Communard Plague” and thus deserve being compensated and treated fairly. Meanwhile, more nationalist advisers of the Board of the Princes suggest dividing the free lands between Lorraine Franconians (German-speaking locals), but that also raises some questions, as some proletarians among them had been quite happy to receive French land grants while the program lasted. Finally, an even more unusual suggestion is being voiced by the Catholic faction in the veteran council: to pass these lands to landless war veterans who would be accepted into a religious militant order. Having received tentative (but not overwhelming) support from the church, they say the Duke of Bavaria should resurrect the Order of St. Anthony, which was originally founded in 1382, this time in a shape of a paramilitary corporation of war veterans. Naturally, they view the empty fields of war-torn Lothringen as the perfect domain for just such an organization.
Freedom for the Free Country
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Duchy of Freigrafschaft, as it is known in the Confederation of Princes, was once a French province of Franche-Comte, which joined the Austrobavarian state in the aftermath of the Paris Commune, when French royalists realized that uniting with the South-German monarchists was their last chance for survival. Current Duke of Freigrafschaft, Philipp IX von Habsburg, has his claim to that territory extending all the way to the Habsburg dominance of that land in the 16th and 17th centuries (a lousy claim indeed, but necessary for the legitimacy of the Austrobavarian control). In recent years, Francophone (specifically, Frainc-Comtois and Arpitan-speaking) citizens of Freigrafschaft started getting frustrated over the growing mood of Pan-Germanic unity. While only a few of them wish to join the Communard regime to their west, they also feel alienated by the growing closeness of the two Germanies. Instead, some cautious voices started being heard, encouraging Philipp IX to secede from the Confederation of Princes, possibly along with his neighbor in Elsass-Lothringen, forming a new state entity that is not bound by the ideas of German nationalism (although they are supportive of the monarchic and potentially confederate nature of the ruling regime). This idea is not particularly popular in the rest of the Confederation of Princes (and, allegedly, with Duke Philipp IX himself), and some people across Austria-Bavaria propose toning down the Pan-German rhetorics a bit, reminding the nation that it’s bound not by sharing a common tongue, but by a God-given code of chivalry that lies in its foundation.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: All high-minded talks of Pan-German unity would’ve been for nothing, if a few princes on the western border of the Confederation decided to veto them. That particularly applied to Duke Philipp IX von Habsburg of Freigrafschaft and his distant cousin, Duke Rudolf I von Habsburg of Elsaß-Lothringen, the both of which ruled over Francophone majority duchies that were sure to eventually become targets of the Communard expansion, should they lose their German brothers’ protection. Joining the United German State for them was also out of the question, since the both dukes, despite being of Austrian origin themselves, rested their authority on the shoulders of the French-speaking ancien regime gentry and bourgeoisie emigres from France. This presented quite a hard nut to crack for the North-German diplomats, who ended up clashing with the political allies of the “French Habsburgs” in a series of cabinet disputes. Eventually, the typical “firefighters” of the North-German diplomacy were called in - the Portobrazilians. Leveraging their aristocratic connections and a self-accepted role of the leaders of the Monarchist League, the Twin Crowns’ diplomats helped to work out some compromise with Philipp IX and Rudolf I. The two duchies were to get split from the Confederation of Princes, but remain its allies, as well as new joiners of the Monarchist League. They were also allowed to unite into a Dual Union of Austrasia (or Austrasie, for its Francophone subjects), a syncretic monarchist state that would be allowed to form a mixed Arpitan-Franconian identity over time. What ensure the Dual Union’s stability, despite its evenly split ethnic landscape, was the firmly settled social and class mentality that emphasized a strict hierarchy and revulsion to any forms of leftist ideals (along with an ever-present sense of a looming threat from the west). Thus, despite some short-term economic downturn, caused by the establishment of new customs, the Dual Union of Austrasia survived its secession and looks forward to shaping its new identity. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, Austrasia is created, region South Germany gains -0.5% Regional Growth Fluctuation,, Austrasia gains +15% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil gains +2.5% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria loses -12.5% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -5% Regional Influence, Austria-Bavaria losses: -16.38 HC, -20.93 IC, -27.57 EC, -5.64 MC, North German Federation losses: -5.97 HC, -9.6 IC, -12.34 EC, -3.08 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.44 HC, -2.61 IC, -3.94 EC, -0.74 MC)
North France
Spoiler :
Fast-developing center of progressive art and sciences, with quickly recovering, expansive urban and rural economies, but war-exhausted and demographically hindered population.
Fruits of equality
Purity spiral
Languages of the Commune
Trompe and compressed air power networks
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Ever since the first steps of the Industrial Revolution, the energy of burning fossil fuels (mostly coal, but recently also oil) has been the main replacement for simple human or draft animal labor. With the advent of alternating current electricity, sources of power generation became again more diverse, but requiring massive industrial investments for power distribution. Now, however, one nation has looked toward a less industrially demanding way to generate power via a medium already tried and tested in Brazil a few years earlier: compressed air. Trompes are air compressors powered by weight of water (usually, via water towers) and used to generate and distribute mechanical power. Traditionally, smaller trompes were used in Catalan forges to power bloomery furnaces, but French engineers in Roussillon have decided to borrow that idea and bring it to truly colossal sizes, using the compressed air generated by them to distribute through hosepipes across entire cities, similarly to the hydraulic power networks already used across the globe. The development of that relatively simplistic alternative to the more “fashionable” electric power plants and electrical grids has been already completed and introduced across France, acting as a symbol of the Possibilist Ark of Revolution concept. (Technology quest completed, Communard France adopts “Trompe and compressed air power networks” for no additional cost, Communard France losses: -1.11 HC, -0.27 IC, -3.25 EC, -2.6 MC)
Fruits of equality
Spoiler :
1890: The Paris Commune and the subsequent Grand Revolution did release an enormous wave of popular enthusiasm and productive capability. What it failed to make, though, was to increase the standards of living of an average French citizen. While the distributive system of collective ownership has saved countless lives of proletarians and unemployed, it also has sucked the few objects of wealth that average French citizens did have. It may be wise to find a way to console those who have contributed to the national revival so much only to gain so little.
1891: The Communard government felt that asking the public opinion was the key to solving the issue, and assigned a part of its state apparatus to a series of public opinion studies regarding the wants and the wishes of the people. The results, predictably, were very complicated, ranging from some that were incredibly straightforward (and thus, predictably, horribly uninformed) to some that were fairly reasonable, but not very popular among the badly educated masses. Now that the massives of data are gathered, it’s up to the Commune of Communes to decide how to turn it into policies. Some factions in the council lobby for the simple solutions understandable by the masses, while others argue for a less purist approach to social equality, but a lot of gradient opinions exist between these two extremes. (Regional quest progress: 12.28%, Communard France losses: -1.37 HC, -2.11 IC, -3.11 EC, -1 MC)
1892: In an effort to please everyone, the Commune of communes has attempted to perform a piecemeal Welfare and Entitlement reform across the nation, implementing some of the popularly proposed measures of rewarding workers in the equality-based economy. While that reform saw a rather low-key reception due to its lukewarm, generic nature, the Commune of Сommunes did hide a bold experiment into the reform package. Three “experimental regional communes” were created in Brittany, Burgundy, and Aquitaine, provided with enough autonomy to implement more radical or one-sided decisions regarding the Welfare and Entitlement reform. While auditing commissions still supervise administrative loyalty and ideological purity of these new semi-federal entities, the experiment seems to be rather well-received by the regions. (Regional quest progress: 46.71%, Communard France losses: -2.37 HC, -3.65 IC, -5.39 EC, -1.74 MC)
Q1-Q2 1893: As the nation started a new revolutionary war, a significant part of its resources was pulled into other, more critical tasks, leaving regional experiments with self-rule and welfare schemes undermanned and underfunded. Some small progress was still achieved at monitoring progress of various welfare and entitlement solutions, but on high level the regional communes were mostly busy with unrelated administrative tasks, enjoying the lack of central supervision and becoming trampolines for provincial deputies’ careers. (Regional quest progress: 48.24%, Communard France losses: -2.68 HC, -4.14 IC, -6.11 EC, -1.97 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: A state-wide audit of corruption in various syndicates has been announced this spring, with the Plebeian Council hoping to persuade some of their members to speak up about the corruption in these “entitlement schemes.” The political reasoning was solid. The syndicates were the main opposition to the centralized rule the Possibilists pushed for, so anything that weakens these groups was worth doing. Unfortunately, no experienced counterintelligence or political police officers were assigned to this action across the country, with most of them being engaged in the chase of “free love” Communards. This meant that the audit was performed by the People’s Commissariat of Taxation and Revenue, turning it into a practical, but slow and quiet affair. While many imbalances and potential loopholes in the syndicalist entitlement system were discovered, no arrests or public confessions followed - so far, at least. Meanwhile, some of the government advisers point out that three large federal entities built upon the syndicalist foundation had not been dealt with yet - namely, the Autonomous Communes of Burgundy, Aquitaine, and Brittany. It remains to be seen what will come out from this reversal of the Welfare and Entitlement reform of 1892. (Regional quest progress: 74.9%, Communard France losses: -2.22 HC, -0.54 IC, -6.5 EC, -5.21 MC)
1891: The Communard government felt that asking the public opinion was the key to solving the issue, and assigned a part of its state apparatus to a series of public opinion studies regarding the wants and the wishes of the people. The results, predictably, were very complicated, ranging from some that were incredibly straightforward (and thus, predictably, horribly uninformed) to some that were fairly reasonable, but not very popular among the badly educated masses. Now that the massives of data are gathered, it’s up to the Commune of Communes to decide how to turn it into policies. Some factions in the council lobby for the simple solutions understandable by the masses, while others argue for a less purist approach to social equality, but a lot of gradient opinions exist between these two extremes. (Regional quest progress: 12.28%, Communard France losses: -1.37 HC, -2.11 IC, -3.11 EC, -1 MC)
1892: In an effort to please everyone, the Commune of communes has attempted to perform a piecemeal Welfare and Entitlement reform across the nation, implementing some of the popularly proposed measures of rewarding workers in the equality-based economy. While that reform saw a rather low-key reception due to its lukewarm, generic nature, the Commune of Сommunes did hide a bold experiment into the reform package. Three “experimental regional communes” were created in Brittany, Burgundy, and Aquitaine, provided with enough autonomy to implement more radical or one-sided decisions regarding the Welfare and Entitlement reform. While auditing commissions still supervise administrative loyalty and ideological purity of these new semi-federal entities, the experiment seems to be rather well-received by the regions. (Regional quest progress: 46.71%, Communard France losses: -2.37 HC, -3.65 IC, -5.39 EC, -1.74 MC)
Q1-Q2 1893: As the nation started a new revolutionary war, a significant part of its resources was pulled into other, more critical tasks, leaving regional experiments with self-rule and welfare schemes undermanned and underfunded. Some small progress was still achieved at monitoring progress of various welfare and entitlement solutions, but on high level the regional communes were mostly busy with unrelated administrative tasks, enjoying the lack of central supervision and becoming trampolines for provincial deputies’ careers. (Regional quest progress: 48.24%, Communard France losses: -2.68 HC, -4.14 IC, -6.11 EC, -1.97 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: A state-wide audit of corruption in various syndicates has been announced this spring, with the Plebeian Council hoping to persuade some of their members to speak up about the corruption in these “entitlement schemes.” The political reasoning was solid. The syndicates were the main opposition to the centralized rule the Possibilists pushed for, so anything that weakens these groups was worth doing. Unfortunately, no experienced counterintelligence or political police officers were assigned to this action across the country, with most of them being engaged in the chase of “free love” Communards. This meant that the audit was performed by the People’s Commissariat of Taxation and Revenue, turning it into a practical, but slow and quiet affair. While many imbalances and potential loopholes in the syndicalist entitlement system were discovered, no arrests or public confessions followed - so far, at least. Meanwhile, some of the government advisers point out that three large federal entities built upon the syndicalist foundation had not been dealt with yet - namely, the Autonomous Communes of Burgundy, Aquitaine, and Brittany. It remains to be seen what will come out from this reversal of the Welfare and Entitlement reform of 1892. (Regional quest progress: 74.9%, Communard France losses: -2.22 HC, -0.54 IC, -6.5 EC, -5.21 MC)
Purity spiral
Spoiler :
1890: Revolutionary spirit is great, but sometimes enthusiasm spills over the edge in France. In the first days and months of the Commune, a lot of well-off people were forced by raging mobs to give up their luxury in favor of the community, but since then the public fervor seems to have subsided. This year, however, sees a resurgence of the same pattern. What’s ironic, some of the victims of crowd racketeering and lynching were not old regime sympathizers, but political leaders of the young state who were seen as living too opulent a lifestyle compared to their fellow compatriots. With a heavy heart, the Commune’s authorities have to look into this new issue before their geopolitical rivals have used it against them.
Languages of the Commune
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1893: The region of Picardy in the fart north of France is known not only for its sugar beet agriculture introduced and promoted by Napoleon to combat French dependence on sugar imports, but also for the wide use by locals of Picard language, known simply as chtimi. Similar to Cosmopolitan French, Picard language is the first of the regional dialects that has recently been introduced to local school and university programs, run by Picardian communes of various levels. This development is rather new for France, since the nation has seen a significant drop in regionalism since the times of Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and is considered to be very unitarian by contemporary European standards. Now, some members of the Commune of Communes are afraid the Picardian grassroot experiment is the first step toward reversing that unifying trend, while their opponents suggest that what unifies all Communards should be not the language they speak, but the ideas they believe in.
Trompe and compressed air power networks
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Ever since the first steps of the Industrial Revolution, the energy of burning fossil fuels (mostly coal, but recently also oil) has been the main replacement for simple human or draft animal labor. With the advent of alternating current electricity, sources of power generation became again more diverse, but requiring massive industrial investments for power distribution. Now, however, one nation has looked toward a less industrially demanding way to generate power via a medium already tried and tested in Brazil a few years earlier: compressed air. Trompes are air compressors powered by weight of water (usually, via water towers) and used to generate and distribute mechanical power. Traditionally, smaller trompes were used in Catalan forges to power bloomery furnaces, but French engineers in Roussillon have decided to borrow that idea and bring it to truly colossal sizes, using the compressed air generated by them to distribute through hosepipes across entire cities, similarly to the hydraulic power networks already used across the globe. The development of that relatively simplistic alternative to the more “fashionable” electric power plants and electrical grids has been already completed and introduced across France, acting as a symbol of the Possibilist Ark of Revolution concept. (Technology quest completed, Communard France adopts “Trompe and compressed air power networks” for no additional cost, Communard France losses: -1.11 HC, -0.27 IC, -3.25 EC, -2.6 MC)
South France
Spoiler :
Fast-developing center of Eastern Mediterranean trade and industry, with a rich countryside, but socially divided and war-weary population.
Uninvited friends
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The scathing reports of the army mishandling of the vetting process in the midst of Paris’ attempts to rejuvenate the French Riviera tourism gave the Plebeian Council quite a lot of food for thought. Eventually, professional managers and service industry specialists were brought back to the Riviera (sometimes being convicts rescued from prison camps, having been put there for “anti-revolutionary sentiments” during the two waves of political persecution). These people put aside the vetting processes and concentrated on making the region simply attractive for tourists from the countries that were white-listed by the Commission of National Security. The list included people in possession of British, North-German, Nordic, Quebecois, North-American, Confederate, Japanese, Boer, or Chinese passports. Only a few of these countries indeed generated enough tourist flow to influence the economic outlook of South France enough, but in the grand scheme of things the project was a big win for the Possibilist regime, which demonstrated its ability to mend its previous mistakes and provide some development opportunities for the previously declining region. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region South France gains +10 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.75% Regional Influence, Union of North America gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Taiping Mandate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -0.75% Regional Influence, Communard France losses: -1.35 HC, -0.33 IC, -3.97 EC, -3.18 MC)
Customs wars
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: In the immediate aftermath of the Anti-Communard War, the Italian Republic was fast to replace the decimated French merchant marine with Italian trade ships, earning itself some extra weight across the Mediterranean region and sacrificing some military naval buildup programs in the process. With time, the Italian shipping barons in South France lost the most of their market share to the Egyptian merchant marine, but they remained powerful agents of Italian economic influence on the Iberian Peninsula, particularly in Catalonia, Valencia, and Murcia. The escalation of political competition over the Iberian Republic between Paris and Rome, however, made these shipping lanes of particular importance. This prompted the Communards to pull off a dirty trick. In order to weaken the Italian shipping to Iberia, the French People’s Navy intensified its patrol of its waters under the claims of suspected smuggling, stopping many Italian clippers and colliers for routine inspections (done with utmost respect for the book and rule of law, but dragging on for hours and costing the merchants precious time). The same thing happened in the French customs, where Italian imports, exports, and transit goods were forced to go through unreasonable delays due to strings of checks, inspections, paperwork, and (probably, deliberate) miscommunication, which, notoriously enough, was handled not by regular customs agents, but by the Milice Maritime (Maritime Militia), a patrol division of the French Navy. So far, this has failed to produce a significant impact on the Italian trade and also raised some fears of rising prices on the French market, but with enough time and disregard for collateral economic damage, the French might indeed weaken the Italian maritime interests in Iberia. (Regional quest progress: 25.71%, Communard France losses: -0.67 HC, -0.63 IC, -1.52 EC, -2.08 MC)
Resin farmers and stilt walkers
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: With its recently gained disregard for the collateral damage done in the process, the Possiblist regime continued to crush any moral nonconformist across the country, with Les Sœurs de la Perpétuelle Indulgence (the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence) being the prime target of the crackdown. Given the fact that that group of ex-bohemians and sexual deviants had already radicalized enough to commit first politically motivated terrorist attacks, it was easy for the Possibilists to depict them as violent and morally decadent psychopaths, publishing exaggerated and blood-chilling stories about them in the press and state propaganda, spread by agit-trains and agit-boats through the countryside. However, the police and intellectual elite’s involvement in the hunt for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was relatively limited, and the vast majority of the legwork was, yet again, given to the military police and various garrison units. That meant that even when the most straightforward roundups often turned into bloodbaths, when politically agitated (and, often, rurally educated) conscript soldiers dealt with the social-utopian terrorists like with “enemies of the people,” despite very strict and explicit orders to keep arrests as quiet as possible. Still, with time some military police units earned some experience in handling the matters of peacetime antiterrorism and political arrests, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence may not be on the run perpetually, after all. (Regional quest progress: 81.91%, Communard France losses: -4.13 HC, -1.8 IC, -2.94 EC, -2.13 MC)
Uninvited friends
Spoiler :
1890: Social-utopists, social-revolutionaries, communards, marxists, anarchists, and even random pariahs of capitalist society of all sorts come to the French Mediterranean ports in thousands, attracted to the flame of the Revolution. Alas, not all of them prove to be law-abiding types, and even those who don’t cause trouble often end up enjoying life of leisure subsidized by hard-working French citizens. This is causing plenty of issues in the Azure Coast already, and the problems threaten to spill into the heartland soon.
Q1-Q2 1895: Tourism in the French Riviera is being resurrected this year, but a self-imposed threat to it has already appeared in the shape of a military takeover of vetting duties, regularly performed in necessary cases by counterespionage missions. The very idea of vetting newcomers, visiting France either as tourists or as permanent residents, wasn’t something entirely new, but delegation of this task to the army quickly escalated it out of control, with quite a few unfortunate scandals arising from the lack of army expertise in such sorts of activities and improper handling of sensitive procedures by the military personnel. Luckily for the French regime, the lack of the army’s familiarity with the task slowed down its ramping up just enough to keep the crisis relatively contained, but all advisors now strongly suggest that the military is not employed in civil duties (however “dirty” they are), unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, the collateral damage may easily strike out any positive outcome such mishandled tasks achieve. As yet another illustration of such mishandling, they bring up the Plebeian Council’s order to the chief of the army staff (!) to assist China with its industrial innovation - an order that was eventually put into a mislabeled drawer somewhere in the archive and never spoken about again. (Regional quest progress: 34.29%, Communard France losses: -3.78 HC, -1.1 IC, -1.97 EC, -1.96 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: Tourism in the French Riviera is being resurrected this year, but a self-imposed threat to it has already appeared in the shape of a military takeover of vetting duties, regularly performed in necessary cases by counterespionage missions. The very idea of vetting newcomers, visiting France either as tourists or as permanent residents, wasn’t something entirely new, but delegation of this task to the army quickly escalated it out of control, with quite a few unfortunate scandals arising from the lack of army expertise in such sorts of activities and improper handling of sensitive procedures by the military personnel. Luckily for the French regime, the lack of the army’s familiarity with the task slowed down its ramping up just enough to keep the crisis relatively contained, but all advisors now strongly suggest that the military is not employed in civil duties (however “dirty” they are), unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, the collateral damage may easily strike out any positive outcome such mishandled tasks achieve. As yet another illustration of such mishandling, they bring up the Plebeian Council’s order to the chief of the army staff (!) to assist China with its industrial innovation - an order that was eventually put into a mislabeled drawer somewhere in the archive and never spoken about again. (Regional quest progress: 34.29%, Communard France losses: -3.78 HC, -1.1 IC, -1.97 EC, -1.96 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The scathing reports of the army mishandling of the vetting process in the midst of Paris’ attempts to rejuvenate the French Riviera tourism gave the Plebeian Council quite a lot of food for thought. Eventually, professional managers and service industry specialists were brought back to the Riviera (sometimes being convicts rescued from prison camps, having been put there for “anti-revolutionary sentiments” during the two waves of political persecution). These people put aside the vetting processes and concentrated on making the region simply attractive for tourists from the countries that were white-listed by the Commission of National Security. The list included people in possession of British, North-German, Nordic, Quebecois, North-American, Confederate, Japanese, Boer, or Chinese passports. Only a few of these countries indeed generated enough tourist flow to influence the economic outlook of South France enough, but in the grand scheme of things the project was a big win for the Possibilist regime, which demonstrated its ability to mend its previous mistakes and provide some development opportunities for the previously declining region. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region South France gains +10 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +0.75% Regional Influence, Union of North America gains +0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Taiping Mandate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -0.75% Regional Influence, Communard France losses: -1.35 HC, -0.33 IC, -3.97 EC, -3.18 MC)
Customs wars
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: In the immediate aftermath of the Anti-Communard War, the Italian Republic was fast to replace the decimated French merchant marine with Italian trade ships, earning itself some extra weight across the Mediterranean region and sacrificing some military naval buildup programs in the process. With time, the Italian shipping barons in South France lost the most of their market share to the Egyptian merchant marine, but they remained powerful agents of Italian economic influence on the Iberian Peninsula, particularly in Catalonia, Valencia, and Murcia. The escalation of political competition over the Iberian Republic between Paris and Rome, however, made these shipping lanes of particular importance. This prompted the Communards to pull off a dirty trick. In order to weaken the Italian shipping to Iberia, the French People’s Navy intensified its patrol of its waters under the claims of suspected smuggling, stopping many Italian clippers and colliers for routine inspections (done with utmost respect for the book and rule of law, but dragging on for hours and costing the merchants precious time). The same thing happened in the French customs, where Italian imports, exports, and transit goods were forced to go through unreasonable delays due to strings of checks, inspections, paperwork, and (probably, deliberate) miscommunication, which, notoriously enough, was handled not by regular customs agents, but by the Milice Maritime (Maritime Militia), a patrol division of the French Navy. So far, this has failed to produce a significant impact on the Italian trade and also raised some fears of rising prices on the French market, but with enough time and disregard for collateral economic damage, the French might indeed weaken the Italian maritime interests in Iberia. (Regional quest progress: 25.71%, Communard France losses: -0.67 HC, -0.63 IC, -1.52 EC, -2.08 MC)
Resin farmers and stilt walkers
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The Landes of Gascony (from the Gasconian word “lanes”, meaning “the heaths”) are an ancient region of Aquitaine, historically known for its rural population (mostly, poor grain farmers or pastoralists) masterfully and casually using stilts to walk from one dry spot to another over the wetland. In the decades preceding the Communard Revolution, however, the region was transformed by a decree known as the 19 June 1857 law that aimed to end local pastoralism and establish the first big forest in Europe entirely created and managed by man. Maritime pines became the monoculture of the Landes, providing timber for the Imperial (and, later, Revolutionary) navy. In addition, in recent years, the tree sap of the maritime pine started being used in production of pine resin - a hard, but well-paying job that helped diversify the local economy and provide the nation with this crucial product. However, now the last pastoral communes of stilt-walking Gascons are growing to despise the lumberjacks and resin gatherers of the Landes forest. The woes and hardship of the Anti-Communard War only exasperated these social tensions, and recent anti-piracy campaigns in the Gulf of Gascogne left many ideologically charged outlaws and troublemakers hide among the stilt-walkers as regular peasants and herders. Respect for the law in these obsolete communities is lower than ever, and acts of sabotage against local forestry and resin production are starting to attract the nation’s attention to this destitute land.
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: As scandalous as they were, the “free love” communes were not particularly political - or, when they were, they ventured so far into the ideological fringe that they were more of a rebellious artistic statement than anything else of substance. Now, however, the bloody crackdown upon the “free love” communes has transformed the issue of relationship formats and gender stereotypes into the very symbol of social-utopianist resistance to the Possibilist dominion. One group of militant bohemians has ventured farther than others in their struggle. Calling themselves Les Sœurs de la Perpétuelle Indulgence (the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence), they’re militant anti-moralists, preparing themselves for a fight against the oppression of obsolete societal norms, stereotypes, and traditions, which they see as more subtle and thus more dangerous extensions of capitalist oppression. Recently, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have moved away from shocking artistic performances and publications to literal terrorist attacks against “the Possibilist hounds,” leaving in places of their attacks not only puddles of blood of their enemies, but also leaflets of the most… unacceptable content.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: With its recently gained disregard for the collateral damage done in the process, the Possiblist regime continued to crush any moral nonconformist across the country, with Les Sœurs de la Perpétuelle Indulgence (the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence) being the prime target of the crackdown. Given the fact that that group of ex-bohemians and sexual deviants had already radicalized enough to commit first politically motivated terrorist attacks, it was easy for the Possibilists to depict them as violent and morally decadent psychopaths, publishing exaggerated and blood-chilling stories about them in the press and state propaganda, spread by agit-trains and agit-boats through the countryside. However, the police and intellectual elite’s involvement in the hunt for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was relatively limited, and the vast majority of the legwork was, yet again, given to the military police and various garrison units. That meant that even when the most straightforward roundups often turned into bloodbaths, when politically agitated (and, often, rurally educated) conscript soldiers dealt with the social-utopian terrorists like with “enemies of the people,” despite very strict and explicit orders to keep arrests as quiet as possible. Still, with time some military police units earned some experience in handling the matters of peacetime antiterrorism and political arrests, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence may not be on the run perpetually, after all. (Regional quest progress: 81.91%, Communard France losses: -4.13 HC, -1.8 IC, -2.94 EC, -2.13 MC)
Iberia
Spoiler :
Fast-developing, but socially unstable region with a dynamic, strong labor market and expanding economic capacity.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: With the most of the Iberian Republic torn between the three roads of the nation’s future development and alignment, the Twin Crowns’ diplomats judged it to be the right moment to tone down Portugal-Brazil’s involvement into the political struggle at the very top and simply concentrate on building some basic rapport with the rural communities of the western countryside. (Region Iberia: Portugal-Brazil gains +2.94% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -1.47% Regional Influence, Italy loses -1.47% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.88 HC, -3.08 IC, -4.66 EC, -0.88 MC)
Newborn republic
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The constitutional crisis that had been gripping the newborn Iberian Republic since the early 1890s, has finally come to some sort of a messy milestone by summer 1897. The Twin Crowns, known for their persistency in dynastic intrigue and opportunistic seeking of expansionist opportunities, had toned down their push for the return of monarchy to Spain and temporarily withdrew their actors from the hectic Iberian political scene. With the resurgent monarchists staying mostly silent, the Italian Republic decided it was it was the time to fix the political mistakes it made a year prior, when it disappointed so many liberals and apolitical pragmatists by backing the unpopular proposal of returning to limited monarchism. This time, the Italian lobby made yet another sharp reversal and backed liberal republicanism and pragmatic democracy in its stance. This essentially meant that the Federal Liberals, who had previously begrudgingly agreed to a cabinet deal with Portugal-Brazil and Italy, were left without the both of their foreign backers and with all of their political capital invested in a hideously unpopular proposal of returning to limited monarchism. Needless to say, the collapse of the Federal Liberal Party of Iberia was quick and catastrophic, with the most of its members taking a forced break in their political career or attempting to join some splinter parties that struggled to stay afloat. At that point, the resurgent Partido Comunista Libertario (Communist Libertarian Party) attempted fill in the void, but these veterans of the turbulent Iberian politics weren’t prepared for the storm that was coming. In a massive political clash, two new forces stepped into the center stage of the Iberian elections. One of them was the Italian-backed liberal political construct, named the Partido Liberal-Fusionista (or Liberal Fusionist Party). The other new joiner was a bit of a black horse - the Iberian Workers' Communist Party (Partido Iberia Comunista de los Trabajadores/PICT). Heavily sponsored and energized by the interventionist consensus of the Communard state of France, the PICT quickly swept regional Catalonian and municipal Barcelona elections, proceeding then to establish closer ties with the rest of the Iberian far-left, forming the United Left Front. Simultaneously, a wave of propaganda (pro-French and virulently xenophobic in its message) struck the bewildered Spanish public, not always playing to the Communard advantage, as it alienated the traditionally left-leaning Iberian Jews. Still, for Rome it was a clear signal that it stood fairly close to suddenly losing the Iberian Republic to a foreign influence, and the Italian political investment in Iberia quickly grew to unprecedented proportions. The political campaign of late 1896 was extremely divisive and disruptive, splintering the voters into a few dozen of constantly bickering groups, with the Italian, French, and Portobrazilian lobbyists holding onto the bigger pieces of the political pie. Eventually, these were the Liberal Fusionists that managed to form the first stable coalition after the elections were over, with one of their own becoming the Iberian Republic’s first President. Yet, huge swaths of the Iberian society ended up being alienated from the Madrid regime, looking instead toward Rome, Paris, or Lisbon as true authority in the Peninsula. It remains to be seen how this political partition will play out in the future. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Iberia gains -5 HC, -5 EC, -5 EC, Portugal-Brazil gains +2% Regional Influence, Italy gains +2% Regional Influence, Communard France gains +2% Regional Influence, Iberian Republic loses -6% Regional Influence, region Italia: Iberian Republic gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Italy loses -0.5% Regional Influence, region South France: Iberian Republic gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region North France: Iberian Republic gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Coastal Brazil: Iberian Republic gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Amazon Region: Iberian Republic gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Italy losses: -17.52 HC, -30.45 IC, -42.85 EC, -17.11 MC, Communard France losses: -21.25 HC, -31.54 IC, -46.31 EC, -14.94 MC)
The Peaceful Turn
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The series of political crises nearing an open civil unrest has scared many people in the young Iberian Republic that the nation could not continue existing in the state of extreme partisanship. At the same time, the three foreign powers that back most organized groups of political activists in Iberia are too different to come to any harmonious compromise (with the recent Italo-Portobrazilian cabinet deal being an example of what happens when complete opposites attempt to find a middle ground). So, in order to evade civil conflict, some political actors are starting to cautiously propose a cabinet deal of a new kind. Nicknamed El Turno Pacífico ("The Peaceful Turn"), it’s seen as an informal system operated by the two major parties for determining in advance the result of a general election. The main problem with that “leapfrog” approach is that the Iberian Republic is torn between not two, but three major powers, with neither of them wishing to be left out of the deal. Now, it seems like the Peninsula is too little to the three of them.
Veins of the land
Beech martens of Spain
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: For the analysts that had been following the Italian Mafia’s solidification of power on the Apennine Peninsula, the mafioso war against the Camorra’s allies in Spain came as no surprise (if anything, it was long overdue). What was somewhat surprising, was the approach the Italian kleptodemocracy chose to use in eradicating the defiant Garduña. Using the Italian Republican government as a facade for their operation, the Mafia contacted the least corrupt elements of the Iberian Republic and passed the most information it had on the Garduña to them, hoping that these principled souls would do the legwork for them. While they were correct in the judgement of the character of the Iberian detectives charged with the eradication of organized crime in Iberia, they failed to expect that such incorruptible people would also be more than happy to eradicate the Mafia’s cells in Spain in one big swoop. This largely became a prelude for a bloody and costly three-sided war that set the entire underworld of the Iberian Peninsula on fire. Eventually, that war culminated with the survival of the meanest, which in this case meant the Mafia. The Garduña was virtually exterminated in a series of police crackdowns and mafioso-sponsored assassinations and massacres. Meanwhile, some illegal or semi-legal operations of the Mafia also suffered from the arrests made by the Iberian squads of “untouchables,” but the Iberian Republic’s young judicial system failed to swallow what it had bit. Eventually, a combination of the Italian government intervention and criminal retaliation strikes led to the most enthusiastic detectives and commissioners dropping from the crackdown effort, leaving the Mafia as the one true victor, with the Garduña treasury being captured as the grand prize of this undeclared war. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Iberia gains -5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.25%, Italy gains +2% Regional Influence, Iberia loses -2% Regional Influence, Italy: +50 EC, Italy losses: -4.62 HC, -8.03 IC, -11.3 EC, -4.52 MC, Iberian Republic losses: -7.2 HC, -12.21 IC, -17.36 EC, -2.12 MC)
Special Investment Bank of Spain
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: After having ventured into the field of political scheming and returning from it with a bitter taste in its mouth, the Italian government has decided to return to the tried and tested apolitical approach to expanding its influence in the Iberian Peninsula. This time, the Italian investment into Iberia took a shape of a banking institution named the Special Investment Bank of Spain (the establishment of which was green-lit by the Republic authorities in Madrid). The idea was to use it as a source of low-interest loans for Iberian businessmen and farmers, with the Italian government acting as a guarantor of the bank’s loans. The idea was good all around, but the bank’s portfolio was granted by Roma to some industrial and mining enterprises instead of well-established and knowledgeable financial missions. This largely stalled the progress and led to some unhealthy business practices, but the experts are sure that once the proper specialists are assigned to work on this development, it could prove to be very useful for the Spanish economy and the Italian influence in the peninsula. (Regional quest progress: 50.72%, Italy losses: -2.56 HC, -0.45 IC, -5.91 EC, -5.02 MC)
Pyrenean Line
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: With the most of the Iberian Republic torn between the three roads of the nation’s future development and alignment, the Twin Crowns’ diplomats judged it to be the right moment to tone down Portugal-Brazil’s involvement into the political struggle at the very top and simply concentrate on building some basic rapport with the rural communities of the western countryside. (Region Iberia: Portugal-Brazil gains +2.94% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -1.47% Regional Influence, Italy loses -1.47% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.88 HC, -3.08 IC, -4.66 EC, -0.88 MC)
Newborn republic
Spoiler :
1890: The Iberian Revolution is young, and the state it’s produced is trying to define itself as a nation. The years of semi-feudal Carlist rule under a branch of the Bourbon dynasty had eroded the Spanish Crown’s subjects’ sense of national unity briefly merged during the Peninsular War. Now a question stands as to what attitude to ethnic policies the new republican government will take. Social-liberals argue for copying the North-German constitution in regards to local self-rule. Social-anarchists want to take that idea to the next level by turning the nation into a confederation of semi-independent communes. French-influenced communards argue that communes are indeed the way forward, but they should be united into a more unitarian Greater Commune akin to the French one. Meanwhile, social-populists think that the maquis, heroic bands of brigands-cum-do-gooders, should become the gears of the new state, similar to Italian mafioso, which would resolve the ethnic question all by itself. What can be said for sure, the final decision will most certainly be influenced by some great powers.
1891: Pro-monarchist agitators, probably funded by an unknown third country, were extensively promoting return of the Bourbon monarchy with less conservative lean. Despite proper funding, these words were not received well at all, even in the circles of remaining Iberian market conservatives, who viewed the old Bourbon dynasty and its policies as the ultimate reason the country was in such dire straits now. As for the remaining political circles, they vehemently opposed that agitation, and many agents of the Bourbon-supporting foreign power were arrested and executed by the inexperienced, but energetic Iberian secret police. Experts say that all dedicated reactionaries and Carlists by now are either dead or have emigrated to Portugal, so the only way to sway Iberia back to monarchism would be to expose its population to a triple amount of Carlist propaganda and prepare for a long uphill battle for their hearts. Meanwhile, pro-Communard agitation openly sponsored by the neighboring France received little attention among Spaniards, perhaps due to the fact that it took the French quite a while to set up their print publications. (Regional quest progress: -2.29%, ??? losses: -2.55 HC, -3.43 IC, -5.49 EC, -1.05 MC, Iberian Republic losses: -1.12 HC, -1.89 IC, -2.69 EC, -0.33 MC, Communard France losses: -0.82 HC, -1.27 IC, -1.87 EC, -0.60 MC)
1892: Last year’s ideological struggle between Spanish Communards and monarchists has temporarily died down (perhaps, thanks to the loss of foreign funding), but the political vacuum was filled by a resurgence of liberal, regionalist thought across all Spanish Iberia. Academic lecturers and working class demagogues across the country opened a political campaign that depicted the Communard ideology as a hyper-centralist twin brother of Carlist monarchism, with its desire to “unite and equate” ethnically unique regions of Spain into a uniform state with little to no regional and municipal political independence. While not entirely true, these statements were well-received by Spanish urbanites (despite the efforts by the Iberian counterintelligence to get to the bottom of the foreign funding liberal speakers kept on receiving), and it seems like liberal federalization is becoming a new political trend across the peninsula. (Regional quest progress: -56.62%, ??? losses: -3.88 HC, -7.02 IC, -10.31 EC, -3.04 MC, Iberian Republic losses: -3.27 HC, -5.55 IC, -7.9 EC, -0.96 MC)
Q4 1893: Geopolitical turmoil of the Second Atlantic War has already caused a flurry of unlikely realignments, but one of the most drastic ones seems to be forming right now in the Iberian Peninsula, where a coalition of moderate federalists is trying to put the last nail in the coffin of the previously dominant Partido Comunista Libertario (Communist Libertarian Party), which just recently lost a series of municipal and federal elections. The Liberal Federalists depicted the Communist Libertarians as rebranded Communards and, as such, enemies of true popular freedom and military aggressors. In search of additional funds and support, the ruling coalition surprisingly reached out to the Twin Crowns of Portugal-Brazil, which is widely despised across the country as a haven of most rabid Carlist reactionaries. Empress Isabel, ever a tightrope dancer of international diplomacy, couldn’t pass on that opportunity to entangle herself into yet another foreign adventure with questionable odds, even while the fate of Portobrazilian interests in Gran Colombia still hung on the edge of a cliff. A wide array of forces of Portobrazilian diplomacy, political lobbying, and cultural influence was dispatched to popularize ideas of constitutional monarchy with federalist lean among the Spanish public. Combined with the ruling coalition’s agitation, it attempted to cause quite a reversal in the general trend of Iberian politics, slowly forming public support for political reaction in the young state. Yet, for the vast majority of Iberian citizens, the Portobrazilian propaganda proved to be extremely toxic, since a monarch figurehead was seen, at best, as completely unnecessary for the nation’s administrative federalism, geopolitical neutrality, and economic prosperity (and for many people who still remember the Bourbon secret police crackdowns and Carlist punitive raids, the very notion of being ruled by a monarch was infuriating). In addition, a solid (and very dedicated) core of anarcho-socialists formed in Old Castille (and generally around the country), rightfully pointing at the wide economic improvements brought by Italian kleptosocialists with no political price tag attached to them (although, Portobrazilian investments in the Asturias this year did help to counter that message somewhat). Why, these people ask, should Iberia accept another tyrant from its past enemy, when friendship with the Italian Republic works for it so well? Answers to these questions, it seems, would have to be found in the year 1894. (Regional quest progress:14.93%, Iberian Republic losses: -0.79 HC, -1.34 IC, -1.91 EC, -0.23 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.79 HC, -3.75 IC, -6 EC, -1.16 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Political developments of the prior few years in the Iberian Peninsula were clearly leading to a growing public displeasure with the Liberal Federalists over their sympathies to the monarchist regime of Portugal-Brazil. The harder the political elites of the country attempted to turn the clock back to reintroduce at least a soft version of constitutional monarchy, the more the politically active parts of the Iberian society aligned around Italian ochlocrats as a geopolitical alternative to that. In other words, it looked like Italy was destined to benefit from the unpopularity of the Twin Crowns’ heavy-handed push for the reconstruction of Spanish monarchism. That makes it even harder to understand what exactly pushed Rome to accept a cabinet deal with the Twin Crowns that essentially saw everything Portugal-Brazil was pushing for agreed upon by their Italian counterparts, merely for the promise of no competition. In fact, the Italians even agreed to back the deeply unpopular push for a return of the monarchy in its constitutional form - something that cost them a lot of trust on a ground level. For the Federal Liberals, this deal was a clear political victory, since they had a chance to proceed with pushing their agenda through legislature, enforcing their positions as the cornerstone of the reformatted Iberian state. That push, however, came at a cost of a major decline in the polls, as the Communist Libertarians suddenly saw their numbers surge once again. In fact, even some moderate patriots chose to cast their lot with the Partido Comunista Libertario (Communist Libertarian Party), pointing at the abysmal reputation of Empress Isabel of Portugal-Brazil as schiming plotmaker, whose Kingdom had just recently annexed Gran Colombia via what started, similarly, as a dynastic machination. It’s not clear if Isabel’s intentions in Iberia were the same as in Gran Colombia (as, in fact, the Liberal Federalists depicted the newly proposed constitution as highly lax and republican in spirit), but for an average citizen they bore enough similarities for many Iberian patriots and state magistrates to join the path of active obstructionism and resistance to the Twin Crowns, their Italian allies, and Liberal Federalist cronies. Still, despite all protests, the agenda of restoration of the Spanish monarchy continued being pushed through the legislature, suggesting that the Iberian Republic may not remain a republic for much longer. That is, unless somebody intervenes. (Regional quest progress: 47.79%, Italy losses: -1.72 HC, -2.84 IC, -4.22 EC, -1.29 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -6.35 HC, -8.43 IC, -13.01 EC, -2.9 MC, Iberian Republic losses: -5.46 HC, -9.26 IC, -13.17 EC, -1.61 MC)
1891: Pro-monarchist agitators, probably funded by an unknown third country, were extensively promoting return of the Bourbon monarchy with less conservative lean. Despite proper funding, these words were not received well at all, even in the circles of remaining Iberian market conservatives, who viewed the old Bourbon dynasty and its policies as the ultimate reason the country was in such dire straits now. As for the remaining political circles, they vehemently opposed that agitation, and many agents of the Bourbon-supporting foreign power were arrested and executed by the inexperienced, but energetic Iberian secret police. Experts say that all dedicated reactionaries and Carlists by now are either dead or have emigrated to Portugal, so the only way to sway Iberia back to monarchism would be to expose its population to a triple amount of Carlist propaganda and prepare for a long uphill battle for their hearts. Meanwhile, pro-Communard agitation openly sponsored by the neighboring France received little attention among Spaniards, perhaps due to the fact that it took the French quite a while to set up their print publications. (Regional quest progress: -2.29%, ??? losses: -2.55 HC, -3.43 IC, -5.49 EC, -1.05 MC, Iberian Republic losses: -1.12 HC, -1.89 IC, -2.69 EC, -0.33 MC, Communard France losses: -0.82 HC, -1.27 IC, -1.87 EC, -0.60 MC)
1892: Last year’s ideological struggle between Spanish Communards and monarchists has temporarily died down (perhaps, thanks to the loss of foreign funding), but the political vacuum was filled by a resurgence of liberal, regionalist thought across all Spanish Iberia. Academic lecturers and working class demagogues across the country opened a political campaign that depicted the Communard ideology as a hyper-centralist twin brother of Carlist monarchism, with its desire to “unite and equate” ethnically unique regions of Spain into a uniform state with little to no regional and municipal political independence. While not entirely true, these statements were well-received by Spanish urbanites (despite the efforts by the Iberian counterintelligence to get to the bottom of the foreign funding liberal speakers kept on receiving), and it seems like liberal federalization is becoming a new political trend across the peninsula. (Regional quest progress: -56.62%, ??? losses: -3.88 HC, -7.02 IC, -10.31 EC, -3.04 MC, Iberian Republic losses: -3.27 HC, -5.55 IC, -7.9 EC, -0.96 MC)
Q4 1893: Geopolitical turmoil of the Second Atlantic War has already caused a flurry of unlikely realignments, but one of the most drastic ones seems to be forming right now in the Iberian Peninsula, where a coalition of moderate federalists is trying to put the last nail in the coffin of the previously dominant Partido Comunista Libertario (Communist Libertarian Party), which just recently lost a series of municipal and federal elections. The Liberal Federalists depicted the Communist Libertarians as rebranded Communards and, as such, enemies of true popular freedom and military aggressors. In search of additional funds and support, the ruling coalition surprisingly reached out to the Twin Crowns of Portugal-Brazil, which is widely despised across the country as a haven of most rabid Carlist reactionaries. Empress Isabel, ever a tightrope dancer of international diplomacy, couldn’t pass on that opportunity to entangle herself into yet another foreign adventure with questionable odds, even while the fate of Portobrazilian interests in Gran Colombia still hung on the edge of a cliff. A wide array of forces of Portobrazilian diplomacy, political lobbying, and cultural influence was dispatched to popularize ideas of constitutional monarchy with federalist lean among the Spanish public. Combined with the ruling coalition’s agitation, it attempted to cause quite a reversal in the general trend of Iberian politics, slowly forming public support for political reaction in the young state. Yet, for the vast majority of Iberian citizens, the Portobrazilian propaganda proved to be extremely toxic, since a monarch figurehead was seen, at best, as completely unnecessary for the nation’s administrative federalism, geopolitical neutrality, and economic prosperity (and for many people who still remember the Bourbon secret police crackdowns and Carlist punitive raids, the very notion of being ruled by a monarch was infuriating). In addition, a solid (and very dedicated) core of anarcho-socialists formed in Old Castille (and generally around the country), rightfully pointing at the wide economic improvements brought by Italian kleptosocialists with no political price tag attached to them (although, Portobrazilian investments in the Asturias this year did help to counter that message somewhat). Why, these people ask, should Iberia accept another tyrant from its past enemy, when friendship with the Italian Republic works for it so well? Answers to these questions, it seems, would have to be found in the year 1894. (Regional quest progress:14.93%, Iberian Republic losses: -0.79 HC, -1.34 IC, -1.91 EC, -0.23 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.79 HC, -3.75 IC, -6 EC, -1.16 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Political developments of the prior few years in the Iberian Peninsula were clearly leading to a growing public displeasure with the Liberal Federalists over their sympathies to the monarchist regime of Portugal-Brazil. The harder the political elites of the country attempted to turn the clock back to reintroduce at least a soft version of constitutional monarchy, the more the politically active parts of the Iberian society aligned around Italian ochlocrats as a geopolitical alternative to that. In other words, it looked like Italy was destined to benefit from the unpopularity of the Twin Crowns’ heavy-handed push for the reconstruction of Spanish monarchism. That makes it even harder to understand what exactly pushed Rome to accept a cabinet deal with the Twin Crowns that essentially saw everything Portugal-Brazil was pushing for agreed upon by their Italian counterparts, merely for the promise of no competition. In fact, the Italians even agreed to back the deeply unpopular push for a return of the monarchy in its constitutional form - something that cost them a lot of trust on a ground level. For the Federal Liberals, this deal was a clear political victory, since they had a chance to proceed with pushing their agenda through legislature, enforcing their positions as the cornerstone of the reformatted Iberian state. That push, however, came at a cost of a major decline in the polls, as the Communist Libertarians suddenly saw their numbers surge once again. In fact, even some moderate patriots chose to cast their lot with the Partido Comunista Libertario (Communist Libertarian Party), pointing at the abysmal reputation of Empress Isabel of Portugal-Brazil as schiming plotmaker, whose Kingdom had just recently annexed Gran Colombia via what started, similarly, as a dynastic machination. It’s not clear if Isabel’s intentions in Iberia were the same as in Gran Colombia (as, in fact, the Liberal Federalists depicted the newly proposed constitution as highly lax and republican in spirit), but for an average citizen they bore enough similarities for many Iberian patriots and state magistrates to join the path of active obstructionism and resistance to the Twin Crowns, their Italian allies, and Liberal Federalist cronies. Still, despite all protests, the agenda of restoration of the Spanish monarchy continued being pushed through the legislature, suggesting that the Iberian Republic may not remain a republic for much longer. That is, unless somebody intervenes. (Regional quest progress: 47.79%, Italy losses: -1.72 HC, -2.84 IC, -4.22 EC, -1.29 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -6.35 HC, -8.43 IC, -13.01 EC, -2.9 MC, Iberian Republic losses: -5.46 HC, -9.26 IC, -13.17 EC, -1.61 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The constitutional crisis that had been gripping the newborn Iberian Republic since the early 1890s, has finally come to some sort of a messy milestone by summer 1897. The Twin Crowns, known for their persistency in dynastic intrigue and opportunistic seeking of expansionist opportunities, had toned down their push for the return of monarchy to Spain and temporarily withdrew their actors from the hectic Iberian political scene. With the resurgent monarchists staying mostly silent, the Italian Republic decided it was it was the time to fix the political mistakes it made a year prior, when it disappointed so many liberals and apolitical pragmatists by backing the unpopular proposal of returning to limited monarchism. This time, the Italian lobby made yet another sharp reversal and backed liberal republicanism and pragmatic democracy in its stance. This essentially meant that the Federal Liberals, who had previously begrudgingly agreed to a cabinet deal with Portugal-Brazil and Italy, were left without the both of their foreign backers and with all of their political capital invested in a hideously unpopular proposal of returning to limited monarchism. Needless to say, the collapse of the Federal Liberal Party of Iberia was quick and catastrophic, with the most of its members taking a forced break in their political career or attempting to join some splinter parties that struggled to stay afloat. At that point, the resurgent Partido Comunista Libertario (Communist Libertarian Party) attempted fill in the void, but these veterans of the turbulent Iberian politics weren’t prepared for the storm that was coming. In a massive political clash, two new forces stepped into the center stage of the Iberian elections. One of them was the Italian-backed liberal political construct, named the Partido Liberal-Fusionista (or Liberal Fusionist Party). The other new joiner was a bit of a black horse - the Iberian Workers' Communist Party (Partido Iberia Comunista de los Trabajadores/PICT). Heavily sponsored and energized by the interventionist consensus of the Communard state of France, the PICT quickly swept regional Catalonian and municipal Barcelona elections, proceeding then to establish closer ties with the rest of the Iberian far-left, forming the United Left Front. Simultaneously, a wave of propaganda (pro-French and virulently xenophobic in its message) struck the bewildered Spanish public, not always playing to the Communard advantage, as it alienated the traditionally left-leaning Iberian Jews. Still, for Rome it was a clear signal that it stood fairly close to suddenly losing the Iberian Republic to a foreign influence, and the Italian political investment in Iberia quickly grew to unprecedented proportions. The political campaign of late 1896 was extremely divisive and disruptive, splintering the voters into a few dozen of constantly bickering groups, with the Italian, French, and Portobrazilian lobbyists holding onto the bigger pieces of the political pie. Eventually, these were the Liberal Fusionists that managed to form the first stable coalition after the elections were over, with one of their own becoming the Iberian Republic’s first President. Yet, huge swaths of the Iberian society ended up being alienated from the Madrid regime, looking instead toward Rome, Paris, or Lisbon as true authority in the Peninsula. It remains to be seen how this political partition will play out in the future. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Iberia gains -5 HC, -5 EC, -5 EC, Portugal-Brazil gains +2% Regional Influence, Italy gains +2% Regional Influence, Communard France gains +2% Regional Influence, Iberian Republic loses -6% Regional Influence, region Italia: Iberian Republic gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Italy loses -0.5% Regional Influence, region South France: Iberian Republic gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region North France: Iberian Republic gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Coastal Brazil: Iberian Republic gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -0.25% Regional Influence, region Amazon Region: Iberian Republic gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Italy losses: -17.52 HC, -30.45 IC, -42.85 EC, -17.11 MC, Communard France losses: -21.25 HC, -31.54 IC, -46.31 EC, -14.94 MC)
The Peaceful Turn
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The series of political crises nearing an open civil unrest has scared many people in the young Iberian Republic that the nation could not continue existing in the state of extreme partisanship. At the same time, the three foreign powers that back most organized groups of political activists in Iberia are too different to come to any harmonious compromise (with the recent Italo-Portobrazilian cabinet deal being an example of what happens when complete opposites attempt to find a middle ground). So, in order to evade civil conflict, some political actors are starting to cautiously propose a cabinet deal of a new kind. Nicknamed El Turno Pacífico ("The Peaceful Turn"), it’s seen as an informal system operated by the two major parties for determining in advance the result of a general election. The main problem with that “leapfrog” approach is that the Iberian Republic is torn between not two, but three major powers, with neither of them wishing to be left out of the deal. Now, it seems like the Peninsula is too little to the three of them.
Veins of the land
Spoiler :
Q3 1893: The Spanish word “acequia” comes from Classic Arabic “as-sāqiya,” meaning “water conduit.” Acequias (and their Portuguese analogs, known as levadas) are stone-lined water irrigation canals that were introduced to Iberia by the Moors after their conquest of Spain and have been used to carry melted snow water from the mountains to dryer lands. Most of the 18th and 19th centuries was the time of economic decline both for Spain and for Portugal, and it wasn’t until very recently that the resurgence of Portugal-Brazil and Italy-supported economic recovery of Iberian Republic brought about the resources needed to reintegrate acequias and levadas into local agricultural practices.
Beech martens of Spain
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: “Garduña” is a Spanish word for “beech martens,” small predators that are common in the Pyrenean Peninsula. Also, it’s a name for a criminal syndicate of secretive assassins and robbers that once challenged the omnipotent Spanish Inquisition. A Calabrian legend has it that in the 17th century three Garduña “brothers” escaped into South Italy (then a vassal of the Spanish monarchy) from the Inquisition’s persecution with a goal to avenge with blood the honor of their seduced sister. There, the Spanish “beech martens” would later found an criminal syndicate now known as the Camorra. Today, this cryptic story is actual again, because the rise of the Mafia in Italy has dragged South-Italian ‘Ndrangheta (another nickname for the Camorra) into a clandestine rivalry. As the Italian klepto-state started penetrating the Iberian nation with its economic and cultural influence, underground syndicalism is also seeing a rise among the Spanish people, and the Garduña seems to be back. However, instead of becoming the Mafia’s friends, the “beech martens” defy them as much as the Camorra does in the Apennines, owing to the organization’s very origin.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: For the analysts that had been following the Italian Mafia’s solidification of power on the Apennine Peninsula, the mafioso war against the Camorra’s allies in Spain came as no surprise (if anything, it was long overdue). What was somewhat surprising, was the approach the Italian kleptodemocracy chose to use in eradicating the defiant Garduña. Using the Italian Republican government as a facade for their operation, the Mafia contacted the least corrupt elements of the Iberian Republic and passed the most information it had on the Garduña to them, hoping that these principled souls would do the legwork for them. While they were correct in the judgement of the character of the Iberian detectives charged with the eradication of organized crime in Iberia, they failed to expect that such incorruptible people would also be more than happy to eradicate the Mafia’s cells in Spain in one big swoop. This largely became a prelude for a bloody and costly three-sided war that set the entire underworld of the Iberian Peninsula on fire. Eventually, that war culminated with the survival of the meanest, which in this case meant the Mafia. The Garduña was virtually exterminated in a series of police crackdowns and mafioso-sponsored assassinations and massacres. Meanwhile, some illegal or semi-legal operations of the Mafia also suffered from the arrests made by the Iberian squads of “untouchables,” but the Iberian Republic’s young judicial system failed to swallow what it had bit. Eventually, a combination of the Italian government intervention and criminal retaliation strikes led to the most enthusiastic detectives and commissioners dropping from the crackdown effort, leaving the Mafia as the one true victor, with the Garduña treasury being captured as the grand prize of this undeclared war. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Iberia gains -5 HC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.25%, Italy gains +2% Regional Influence, Iberia loses -2% Regional Influence, Italy: +50 EC, Italy losses: -4.62 HC, -8.03 IC, -11.3 EC, -4.52 MC, Iberian Republic losses: -7.2 HC, -12.21 IC, -17.36 EC, -2.12 MC)
Special Investment Bank of Spain
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: After having ventured into the field of political scheming and returning from it with a bitter taste in its mouth, the Italian government has decided to return to the tried and tested apolitical approach to expanding its influence in the Iberian Peninsula. This time, the Italian investment into Iberia took a shape of a banking institution named the Special Investment Bank of Spain (the establishment of which was green-lit by the Republic authorities in Madrid). The idea was to use it as a source of low-interest loans for Iberian businessmen and farmers, with the Italian government acting as a guarantor of the bank’s loans. The idea was good all around, but the bank’s portfolio was granted by Roma to some industrial and mining enterprises instead of well-established and knowledgeable financial missions. This largely stalled the progress and led to some unhealthy business practices, but the experts are sure that once the proper specialists are assigned to work on this development, it could prove to be very useful for the Spanish economy and the Italian influence in the peninsula. (Regional quest progress: 50.72%, Italy losses: -2.56 HC, -0.45 IC, -5.91 EC, -5.02 MC)
Pyrenean Line
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: Young Iberian Republic used to be considered the closest political ally of Communard France, at least in Europe. Times are changing, however, because in late fall of 1893 Iberian army engineers started working on a network of fortifications stretching across the Pyrenees and Sistema Ibérico, protecting the Republic from potential invasions from France or French part of Catalonia. Surprised by these orders, some experts also speculated that, maybe, the Pyrenean Line is intended to be used not against the French, but against the Republic’s reactionary enemies in case of fall of Communard France. Either way, the work is only starting, but progresses at reasonable speed, considering the region’s landscape. (Regional quest progress: 29.5%, Iberian Republic losses: -7.72 HC, -1.94 IC, -3.59 EC, -1.62 MC)
Nile Region
Spoiler :
Booming region centered around the Nile river delta, with still average intellectual, economic, and labor capacity, but a potential to connect European, African, and Asian trade.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The international influencing and espionage campaign of the Tokugawa Shogunate had a few important victories to show for it, but the Shogunate’s attempts to infiltrate the political circles of the Sultanate of Egypt and its Umahist party was an utter fiasco, showing that a cohesive counterintelligence bureau could be a force to be reckoned with. (Region Nile Region: no changes, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -31.56 HC, -36.13 IC, -57.88 EC, -13.56 MC, Egypt losses: -16.88 HC, -26.21 IC, -37.59 EC, -7.06 MC)
The new Great Library of Alexandria
Head of land
Protectors of the White Monastery
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The international influencing and espionage campaign of the Tokugawa Shogunate had a few important victories to show for it, but the Shogunate’s attempts to infiltrate the political circles of the Sultanate of Egypt and its Umahist party was an utter fiasco, showing that a cohesive counterintelligence bureau could be a force to be reckoned with. (Region Nile Region: no changes, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -31.56 HC, -36.13 IC, -57.88 EC, -13.56 MC, Egypt losses: -16.88 HC, -26.21 IC, -37.59 EC, -7.06 MC)
The new Great Library of Alexandria
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The idea of creating a universal library in the city founded by Alexander the Great belonged to Demetrius of Phalerum, an exiled Athenian statesman whose advice was accepted by Ptolemy I Soter in the 3rd century BC. Since then, it was seen as the treasure trove of information and art of antiquity - until it was burned during a local rebellion between 270–275 AD, when the library was in its decline due to a lack of funding. Its sister library of Serapeum would last for another hundred of years, until it was vandalized and demolished in 391 AD under a decree issued by Coptic Christian Pope Theophilus of Alexandria, although by then it was also mostly a housing of lectures by Neoplatonic philosophers. A later attempt to rebuild it (albeit, with new books stored) was done by the Byzantines, who founded a Mouseion in Alexandria, but it also got destroyed by the Arab conquerors upon the famous order Caliph Umar, stating, “If those books are in agreement with the Quran, we have no need of them; and if these are opposed to the Quran, destroy them." Now, with the establishment of the Sultanate, many people look up to 'Abbās II Ḥilmī Bāshā to restore the Muslim world’s image as the keepers of lore and knowledge in this brave new age of information. In fact, some of them propose to build the biggest data vault in the world’s history in Eskendereyya (Alexandria), possibly populating it with every possible bit of data - raw or structured - the Sultanate’s analysts can find. Some bureaucrats hope that it could also be used for some insights into the country’s population, demographics, economy, and, possibly, even security (what it would require in the actual practice, remains a question). Others think that the mission of this vault should be purely cultural and aim for the attraction of well-educated tourists or resident savants.
Head of land
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Despite the turbulence of the Ottoman expansionism, the standards of living across the Islamic world are growing, and the swelling class of urban bourgeoisie is starting to look for better ways to spend their money. One of such ways is, obviously, tourism - albeit, enjoyed in ways different from relatively liberal Western societies. The story of a town of Ras el Bar (“head of land” in Arabic) is rather representative in that sense. Located on the Mediterranean shore near the historical Damietta castle, the town became a popular tourist destination after the colorful Red Sea aquatic fauna started to infiltrate its aquatorium via the Lessepsian Migration. In milder spring and fall seasons, the tiny town’s population swells tenfold with thousands of new arrivals, mostly well-off urban clerks and businessmen with their families. Many other cities on Egypt’s Mediterranean and Red Sea coast repeat that story, albeit in less exaggerated way. Now, it’s became an open question in the social discourse: is tourism just an abomination of holy pilgrimage that should be banned? If not, then should it be regulated? And finally, what measures should be taken if some infidels, too, wish to leave their money at Islamic resorts?
Protectors of the White Monastery
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1893: The Senussi are a group of clans, united into a political-religious tariqa (Islamic Sufi order), controlling the outback of the Western Egyptian and Libyan Deserts and projecting their power upon other Bedouin tribes from their theocratic capital of Zawiya Bayda (“White Monastery”). Formed in the middle of the 19th century around the notion of loss of purity and spirituality in contemporary Islam, the Senussi are the core opposition to any colonial expansion into non-coastal Libya, rejecting suzerainty of even Muslim rulers of Egypt and Maghreb over them. Now it’s up to any interested power to decide how to make use of the proud Senussi devotees or how to move them out of the colonizers’ way.
North Africa
Spoiler :
Fast-developing gateway to Sub-Saharan Africa with big Islamic cultural and educational centers, but uneven economic development and mediocre population density.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Left to their own devices, the Maghrebi emirs and beys with stakes in the North-African economy concentrated on securing complete monopoly on their market, absorbing a few remaining independent Waisi unions and businesses of once pro-British Orani traders, essentially reaching the state of asabiyya (social cohesion) across the heartland of the Sultanate. (Region North Africa gains +1.98% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Maghreb gains +0.67% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.2% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.47% Regional Influence, Maghreb losses: -3.68 HC, -0.75 IC, -8.8 EC, -5.64 MC)
Tunisian Italians
Lords of the desert
Unwanted masters
Not-so-Barbary Coast
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Left to their own devices, the Maghrebi emirs and beys with stakes in the North-African economy concentrated on securing complete monopoly on their market, absorbing a few remaining independent Waisi unions and businesses of once pro-British Orani traders, essentially reaching the state of asabiyya (social cohesion) across the heartland of the Sultanate. (Region North Africa gains +1.98% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Maghreb gains +0.67% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.2% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.47% Regional Influence, Maghreb losses: -3.68 HC, -0.75 IC, -8.8 EC, -5.64 MC)
Tunisian Italians
Spoiler :
1892: Italian expatriate diasporas, trade posts, and even colonies of Genoise and Pisan settlers have existed in Tunisia for centuries, but it wasn’t until now that their demographic and economic weight have become a matter of discussion in the Maghrebi society. Tunisian Italians (most of them of Jewish heritage) are not very numerous, but posses a very strong sense of community and cultural independence. They do not oppose the power of the Maghrebi sultan, but demand their traditions of semi-independence to be respected. And the Sultan has few other options, since the Tunisian Italians traditionally dominate regional commerce, being so influential that Italian language has become the lingua franca of South-Eastern Mediterranean. However, recent trade war with Portugal-Brazil and fears of Italian corrupt-economic expansion have pushed a lot of Maghrebi hardliners to demand a more strict, if not entirely nationalistic approach to the “Italian Peril” from the Sultan.
Lords of the desert
Spoiler :
1890: The expansion of Moroccan authority into the territories previously controlled by the French Empire took place right around the time of the collapse of the French colonial administration in the end of the Atlantic War. That action helped build a new Maghreb national entity and generated a lot of enthusiasm along the coastline. However, the outback remains rather indifferent and sometimes even hostile toward the Sultan’s authority. Reactionary warlords of various nomadic Tuareg tribes don’t see any benefits of the rapid modernization the country is undergoing, and they prefer to use their knowledge of Transsaharan caravan routes to act as middlemen, guides, and supply providers in the light of Maghrebi colonial ambitions.
Q4 1893: Under Sultan Hassan I, Maghreb was expanding into the Sahara Desert and Mauretanian outback in disregard of Tuareg tribes rather than in cooperation with them. However, as the throne was inherited by his son Abd al-Aziz I, that policy changed. Young ruler was determined to woo the desert tribesman into the Sultanate’s sphere of interests by presenting them with benefits of modernization. Yet, that plan had a weakness. Neither the Sultan nor his advisors on domestic policies bothered with formulating what exactly such benefits could be. Most of the technological advancements brought by Maghrebi colonizers were useless for nomadic herders and caravaneers that Tuaregs mostly are, and nothing else more specific was put on the negotiation table as of yet. As a result, some diplomatic and commercial negotiations have indeed started (mostly hurt rather than helped by the presence of the Maghrebi army in the region, which was perceived as somewhat threatening), and it is hoped that some semblance of a well-thought-out offer could be put together by the Sultan’s advisors in the upcoming year. (Regional quest progress: 41.21%, Maghreb losses: -3.64 HC, -1.74 IC, -3.91 EC, -1.88 MC)
Q4 1893: Under Sultan Hassan I, Maghreb was expanding into the Sahara Desert and Mauretanian outback in disregard of Tuareg tribes rather than in cooperation with them. However, as the throne was inherited by his son Abd al-Aziz I, that policy changed. Young ruler was determined to woo the desert tribesman into the Sultanate’s sphere of interests by presenting them with benefits of modernization. Yet, that plan had a weakness. Neither the Sultan nor his advisors on domestic policies bothered with formulating what exactly such benefits could be. Most of the technological advancements brought by Maghrebi colonizers were useless for nomadic herders and caravaneers that Tuaregs mostly are, and nothing else more specific was put on the negotiation table as of yet. As a result, some diplomatic and commercial negotiations have indeed started (mostly hurt rather than helped by the presence of the Maghrebi army in the region, which was perceived as somewhat threatening), and it is hoped that some semblance of a well-thought-out offer could be put together by the Sultan’s advisors in the upcoming year. (Regional quest progress: 41.21%, Maghreb losses: -3.64 HC, -1.74 IC, -3.91 EC, -1.88 MC)
Unwanted masters
Spoiler :
1890: Maghrebi takeover of French colonies along the coast of the Senegal River after the Atlantic War was applauded at the sultan’s court as the proof that the resurgent sultanate can compete with pesky Europeans at their games of imperialism. Now, however, the young nation is seeing what British poet Kipling has called the “white man’s burden.” Ungrateful natives, surprisingly, don’t quite accept “the gift of civilization” from their masters. Moreover, a series of popular riots and attacks on outposts suggest that conquest of Senegal might have been only the beginning of a long struggle with unknown losses waiting ahead.
Q4 1893: Sultan Abd al-Aziz’s approach to pacification and assimilation of Maghrebi Senegal territories was rather simplistic, reflecting, perhaps, the young ruler’s naivety and inexperience. Maghrebi colonial authorities were ordered to start mass distribution of various day-to-day goods and appliances, ranging from household items to clothing. Such giveaways were made, however, under a vigilant stare of around one hundred thousand troops garrisoning the Senegal River valley. While that gesture produced some mild short-term effect, it may be unsustainable or even counterproductive in the long run, creating an unhealthy dependency of the region on the metropoly and also frustrating Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian rabble, who wonder why their Sultan didn’t choose to offer free clothes and houseware to his more loyal subjects first and if it means that they should be more rebellious in order to “earn” such takeouts from the central authority. (Regional quest progress: 22.02%, Maghreb losses: -3.81 HC, -1.78 IC, -4.33 EC, -2.17 MC)
Q4 1893: Sultan Abd al-Aziz’s approach to pacification and assimilation of Maghrebi Senegal territories was rather simplistic, reflecting, perhaps, the young ruler’s naivety and inexperience. Maghrebi colonial authorities were ordered to start mass distribution of various day-to-day goods and appliances, ranging from household items to clothing. Such giveaways were made, however, under a vigilant stare of around one hundred thousand troops garrisoning the Senegal River valley. While that gesture produced some mild short-term effect, it may be unsustainable or even counterproductive in the long run, creating an unhealthy dependency of the region on the metropoly and also frustrating Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian rabble, who wonder why their Sultan didn’t choose to offer free clothes and houseware to his more loyal subjects first and if it means that they should be more rebellious in order to “earn” such takeouts from the central authority. (Regional quest progress: 22.02%, Maghreb losses: -3.81 HC, -1.78 IC, -4.33 EC, -2.17 MC)
Not-so-Barbary Coast
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Recent purchase of such North-African ports as Ténès, Bugia, and Bona by the Sultanate of Maghreb wasn’t simply a mindless barter. As ecstatic as some members of the urban population were to finally not live under a kafir ruler, many urbanites of Christian and Jewish faith now had to be adjusted to living under jizya tax - and these very individuals and families were usually the ones with wealth and connections. On a more down-to-earth level, too, some work was required. Harbors and unloading facilities had to be often re-equipped to match Maghrebi standards, and infrastructure had to be built, connecting North Africa’s young industrial centers to the newly gained ports. All in all, plenty of work is still required to complete this economic integration, especially since the Maghrebi government hasn’t yet been very specific about how it plans to tackle the problems that arise from reintroduction of jizya. (Regional quest progress: 67.71%, Maghreb losses: -0.99 HC, -0.22 IC, -2.45 EC, -1.52 MC)
Update 10: July 1, 1896 - June 30, 1897
Sudan-Ethiopia-Somalia
Spoiler :
Stagnant, religiously divided, but relatively populous region, suffering from low socio-economic development and semi-absent infrastructure.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Agents of Abd ‘Allah II ash-Shakur use his sweeping series of reforms to improve the loyalty of regional princes, especially in more mixed parts of Ethiopia. (Region Sudan-Ethiopia-Somalia: Abyssinia gains +1.13% Regional Influence, Egypt loses -1.13% Regional Influence, Abyssinia losses: -0.98 HC, -1.21 IC, -2.37 EC, -0.17 MC)
Fanatics and prophets
Legacy of the Era of Princes
Loyalty of the Slaver King
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Agents of Abd ‘Allah II ash-Shakur use his sweeping series of reforms to improve the loyalty of regional princes, especially in more mixed parts of Ethiopia. (Region Sudan-Ethiopia-Somalia: Abyssinia gains +1.13% Regional Influence, Egypt loses -1.13% Regional Influence, Abyssinia losses: -0.98 HC, -1.21 IC, -2.37 EC, -0.17 MC)
Fanatics and prophets
Spoiler :
1890: Egyptian Sudan is still recovering from a rebellion of Mahdist fanatics, who tried to overthrow Khedivate’s authorities in the 1880s, but were since then pushed out into “uncivilized” lands of West Sudan. Still led by by their legendary leader, fakir (or holy man) Muhammad Ahmad ibn as Sayyid Abd Allah, the Mahdiyah (Mahdist regime) is starting to spread its ideology among local tribes, gathering resources for their return to the Nile river basin. A series of attacks on outposts and frontier villages of Sudanese Arabs have taken place, and Khedivate authorities are afraid that some cells of Islamist radicals are still lying dormant in Egyptian Sudan, waiting for a Mahdist intrusion to start wreaking havoc among loyalists.
1891: The Egyptian Khedivate threw its secret police, military intelligence service, and the army into suppressing the growing threat of Mahdi insurgency in Egypt-controlled Sudan. The secret police action was rather effective at discovering and arresting a number of radical preachers and terrorist cells, but the army failed to produce the results that were expected from it. This was mostly because the central government never made up its mind to formally declare war on the Mahdist State in Western Sudan, so Egyptian generals were confined to anti-insurgency warfare and border skirmishes against Mahdist groups trying to infiltrate Egyptian Sudan. Some success was achieved on that front, but the Mahdist cause is still alive. (Regional quest progress: 21.02%, Egypt losses: -2.82 HC, -1.12 IC, -2.04 EC, -0.99 MC)
1891: The Egyptian Khedivate threw its secret police, military intelligence service, and the army into suppressing the growing threat of Mahdi insurgency in Egypt-controlled Sudan. The secret police action was rather effective at discovering and arresting a number of radical preachers and terrorist cells, but the army failed to produce the results that were expected from it. This was mostly because the central government never made up its mind to formally declare war on the Mahdist State in Western Sudan, so Egyptian generals were confined to anti-insurgency warfare and border skirmishes against Mahdist groups trying to infiltrate Egyptian Sudan. Some success was achieved on that front, but the Mahdist cause is still alive. (Regional quest progress: 21.02%, Egypt losses: -2.82 HC, -1.12 IC, -2.04 EC, -0.99 MC)
Legacy of the Era of Princes
Spoiler :
1890: When Sunni emir of Harar, Ahmad III ibn Abu Bakr, became the Emperor of Abyssinia at the twilight of Zemene Mesafint (or “Era of Princes”), it was viewed as a great victory for Egyptian diplomacy. For the first time in centuries, a friendly Muslim dynasty controlled the rich, populous region south of the Khedivate. However, now it seems like the victory has brought troubles with it. Muslims are a minority in Egypt, and the current emperor 'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur is deeply unpopular among his subjects, and a noble rebellion is brewing in Abyssinia. Some advisors recommend the Khedive to support the Emperor with troops directly, while others think that such a blunt move would only infuriate Monophysite Ethiopians and Egyptian Coptic diaspora. For now, a range of solutions may be devised, but the clock is ticking, and the situation may explode any moment.
1891: Egypt chose to extend its influence over Abyssinia through the sheer presence of amassed armed forces near its borders and in its waters. While the fleet’s maneuvers did little impress the largely landlocked nation, the army did dissuade a lot of northern Miaphysite warlords from voicing their opposition to Emperor Ahmad III. This did not solve the issue in its entirety, but helped at limiting its scope. (Regional quest progress: 24.17%, Egypt losses: -2.95 HC, -0.88 IC, -1.8 EC, -1.45 MC)
Q3 1893: Egypt’s quite smartly moving away from heavy-handed aggressive posturing to some sort of constructive political and cultural influence. Unfortunately, the way the new approach was applied led to nothing but a slight loss of positions in Abyssinia. Egyptian envoys were tasked with encouraging the current Sultan to embrace Ummahism and Islamic socialism as the leading principle of the Ethiopian state. That, however, was met with a wall of silent misunderstanding on the part of Abyssinian nobles, who viewed their power and wealth through a lense of feudal social structure. Even worse was the idea’s reception among the clergy and the commoners, who were completely alien to any modern ideas of social welfare, coming from a completely backward, pastoral socioeconomic background. If socialism was merely strange and confusing to them, its Islamic version became simply toxic, primarily because vast majority of the Abyssinian Sultan’s subjects remain Miaphysite Christians who, until recently, enjoyed benign neglect on the part of their Muslim rulers. The damage done to the Egyptian influence in Ethiopia was humble, but it has flashed out limitations of the nation’s ideology. (Regional quest progress: 22.14%, Egypt losses: -3.75 HC, -5.48 IC, -8.72 EC, -1.64 MC)
Q4 1893: Having learned on their recent mistakes, the Egyptian diplomatic corps and influence agents in Abyssinia have reconsidered their main political message being sold both to the Sultan and his subjects. While the former was encouraged to placate his vassals and Christian commoners via community improvements and tax reforms, he was allowed to return to more old-fashioned ways of governing. Meanwhile, it seems like Egyptian intelligence agents have started looking into ways of weakening predominantly Miaphysite nobles, assessing their level of personal loyalty and likelihood of accepting the Sultan’s reforms. This resulted in a very humble change of Egyptian positions in Abyssinia, but, at least, it stabilized the situation and prepared ground for more foreign influence efforts. (Regional quest progress: 24.14%, Egypt losses: -2.32 HC, -3.39 IC, -5.4 EC, -1.01 MC)
1891: Egypt chose to extend its influence over Abyssinia through the sheer presence of amassed armed forces near its borders and in its waters. While the fleet’s maneuvers did little impress the largely landlocked nation, the army did dissuade a lot of northern Miaphysite warlords from voicing their opposition to Emperor Ahmad III. This did not solve the issue in its entirety, but helped at limiting its scope. (Regional quest progress: 24.17%, Egypt losses: -2.95 HC, -0.88 IC, -1.8 EC, -1.45 MC)
Q3 1893: Egypt’s quite smartly moving away from heavy-handed aggressive posturing to some sort of constructive political and cultural influence. Unfortunately, the way the new approach was applied led to nothing but a slight loss of positions in Abyssinia. Egyptian envoys were tasked with encouraging the current Sultan to embrace Ummahism and Islamic socialism as the leading principle of the Ethiopian state. That, however, was met with a wall of silent misunderstanding on the part of Abyssinian nobles, who viewed their power and wealth through a lense of feudal social structure. Even worse was the idea’s reception among the clergy and the commoners, who were completely alien to any modern ideas of social welfare, coming from a completely backward, pastoral socioeconomic background. If socialism was merely strange and confusing to them, its Islamic version became simply toxic, primarily because vast majority of the Abyssinian Sultan’s subjects remain Miaphysite Christians who, until recently, enjoyed benign neglect on the part of their Muslim rulers. The damage done to the Egyptian influence in Ethiopia was humble, but it has flashed out limitations of the nation’s ideology. (Regional quest progress: 22.14%, Egypt losses: -3.75 HC, -5.48 IC, -8.72 EC, -1.64 MC)
Q4 1893: Having learned on their recent mistakes, the Egyptian diplomatic corps and influence agents in Abyssinia have reconsidered their main political message being sold both to the Sultan and his subjects. While the former was encouraged to placate his vassals and Christian commoners via community improvements and tax reforms, he was allowed to return to more old-fashioned ways of governing. Meanwhile, it seems like Egyptian intelligence agents have started looking into ways of weakening predominantly Miaphysite nobles, assessing their level of personal loyalty and likelihood of accepting the Sultan’s reforms. This resulted in a very humble change of Egyptian positions in Abyssinia, but, at least, it stabilized the situation and prepared ground for more foreign influence efforts. (Regional quest progress: 24.14%, Egypt losses: -2.32 HC, -3.39 IC, -5.4 EC, -1.01 MC)
Loyalty of the Slaver King
Spoiler :
1891: The success of the Egyptian colonization of Somalia has opened up the gates for colonization of the Great Rift Valley. While the north of this wilderness (all the way to Sudan) is controlled by the defiant Mahdi state, the south is an amalgam of tribes bound together through a web of caravan routes that belong to the infamous “Slaver King” Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur. Despite the nickname, that enigmatic trader has built his fortune on ivory trade and controls his network via trade posts known as zaribas. It appears that the Slaver King is open for negotiations with foreign powers over his allegiance, but at the same time he is extremely ambitious. Whoever wins his loyalty is likely to become not just the owner of the Great Rift Valley and Sudd, but also the controller of its flourishing trade.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: While the Ceylonese debacle unfolded for the world to gawk at, the “well-oiled machine” of North-German technocracy had another, less internationally noticeable failure. In an attempt to reinforce the law and order of the Federation, a commandant sent to administer Southern Sudan from Europe failed to listen to his advisers from the Ostafrika GmbH, who were more familiar with the situation on the ground. Having heard of the “Slaver King,” the commandant immediately dispatched local colonial garrison and police forces to eradicating slave trade in North-German territory, often forcing troops to perform grueling patrol missions in hope of catching a caravan of slaves. Of course, barely any slave ring was found in the North-German South Sudan, since Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur (the “Slaver King” himself) was primarily involved in ivory trade for more than a decade by then (a fact that the ignored Ostafrikan experts knew about), and thus he and his business were completely immune to the North-German “crackdown.” Meanwhile, a few minor slave-smuggling operations were indeed discovered by the exhausted army patrols closer to the informal zone of Mahdist influence, but they resulted in a series of skirmishes with the Sudanese fanatics. While the Mahdist slave-trading operations were shut, the battles with them were a wake-up call for the overconfident North-German officers, as the Mahdists compensated their technological backwardness with zealotry and impeccable knowledge of terrain. By the summer of 1896, a letter to Berlin was drafted by the board of directors of the Ostafrika GmbH, asking for a removal of the inept commandant (who, anecdotally, is rumored to be constantly confusing the name of the trade company, with VOG, or the Dutch East Indies Company). With that replacement, they hope the entire approach to the company’s relations with the Sudanese ivory magnate could change, not even mentioning the matter of relations to the Mahdist regime. (Regional quest progress: 43.72%, North German Federation losses: -14.33 HC, -8.79 IC, -10.72 EC, -5.82 MC, Mahdi State losses: -7.18 HC, -0.8 IC, -3.08 EC, -0.17 MC)
Just like their North-German colleague, the Egyptian governor of Somalia ignored all of the subtleties of Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur’s background and current status, concentrating only on his past reputation as a slave trader. The resulting anti-slavery campaign of caravan hunting and army patrols was paved by good intent, but predictably led to few catches of small-time human traffickers heading for the Zanzibar coast. Meanwhile, the trade network of the “Slaver King”’s zariba trade posts ended up being left completely intact, since ivory, cattle, and spices were the main goods of trade there. Having ditched the slave trade years ago, Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur only benefited from the North-Germans and Egyptians removing his less picky, small-time competitors from the scene of the Great Rift Valley and Sudd trade. With this elevation, he is rumored to have only become more ambitious, essentially acting as the single most powerful man in the region and wishing to have some formal recognition of that status. (Regional quest progress: 77.64%, Egypt losses: -2.36 HC, -1.19 IC, -2.13 EC, -0.7 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: While the Ceylonese debacle unfolded for the world to gawk at, the “well-oiled machine” of North-German technocracy had another, less internationally noticeable failure. In an attempt to reinforce the law and order of the Federation, a commandant sent to administer Southern Sudan from Europe failed to listen to his advisers from the Ostafrika GmbH, who were more familiar with the situation on the ground. Having heard of the “Slaver King,” the commandant immediately dispatched local colonial garrison and police forces to eradicating slave trade in North-German territory, often forcing troops to perform grueling patrol missions in hope of catching a caravan of slaves. Of course, barely any slave ring was found in the North-German South Sudan, since Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur (the “Slaver King” himself) was primarily involved in ivory trade for more than a decade by then (a fact that the ignored Ostafrikan experts knew about), and thus he and his business were completely immune to the North-German “crackdown.” Meanwhile, a few minor slave-smuggling operations were indeed discovered by the exhausted army patrols closer to the informal zone of Mahdist influence, but they resulted in a series of skirmishes with the Sudanese fanatics. While the Mahdist slave-trading operations were shut, the battles with them were a wake-up call for the overconfident North-German officers, as the Mahdists compensated their technological backwardness with zealotry and impeccable knowledge of terrain. By the summer of 1896, a letter to Berlin was drafted by the board of directors of the Ostafrika GmbH, asking for a removal of the inept commandant (who, anecdotally, is rumored to be constantly confusing the name of the trade company, with VOG, or the Dutch East Indies Company). With that replacement, they hope the entire approach to the company’s relations with the Sudanese ivory magnate could change, not even mentioning the matter of relations to the Mahdist regime. (Regional quest progress: 43.72%, North German Federation losses: -14.33 HC, -8.79 IC, -10.72 EC, -5.82 MC, Mahdi State losses: -7.18 HC, -0.8 IC, -3.08 EC, -0.17 MC)
Just like their North-German colleague, the Egyptian governor of Somalia ignored all of the subtleties of Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur’s background and current status, concentrating only on his past reputation as a slave trader. The resulting anti-slavery campaign of caravan hunting and army patrols was paved by good intent, but predictably led to few catches of small-time human traffickers heading for the Zanzibar coast. Meanwhile, the trade network of the “Slaver King”’s zariba trade posts ended up being left completely intact, since ivory, cattle, and spices were the main goods of trade there. Having ditched the slave trade years ago, Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur only benefited from the North-Germans and Egyptians removing his less picky, small-time competitors from the scene of the Great Rift Valley and Sudd trade. With this elevation, he is rumored to have only become more ambitious, essentially acting as the single most powerful man in the region and wishing to have some formal recognition of that status. (Regional quest progress: 77.64%, Egypt losses: -2.36 HC, -1.19 IC, -2.13 EC, -0.7 MC)
Greater Mali
Spoiler :
Stagnant region with complex ethnic composition and once rich, but now semi-abandoned mining industry.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Calif Saidou of the Toucouleur Empire continues attempting to build up his legitimacy among his own people, with mixed results. (Region Greater Mali: Toucouleur Empire gains +0.08% Regional Influence, Maghrib loses -0.08% Regional Influence, Toucouleur Empire losses: -2.31 HC, -3.71 IC, -6.18 EC)
No two slavers are the same
Freed and enraged
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The conflict between pro-Union moderates and anti-colonial radicals in Liberia ended rather anticlimactically. As soon as the “black horse” of North-American politics Charles Matchett became a President-Elect, the State Department descended into chaos, with a hectic transition taking up most of the time inside the Union’s administration. That left the Liberian moderates (many of them still de-facto Union’s citizens) without any support, unlike their much more determined and fanatical opponents, who had their foreign support still flowing in. As a result, the Freetown regime collapsed like a house of cards in a matter of weeks, and a lot of its members that failed to return to America ended up being absorbed by the radical leftist movement. New Liberian government soon declared itself legitimate (something that was laughed at in Western press, but wasn’t that far from the truth, as it was fairly popular among the common folk). Eventually, the scars of the conflict healed up, the “Republic of Liberty” became the “Republic of Liberation,” for better or worse. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Greater Mali gains -5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.75%, Liberia gains +0.5% Regional Influence, ??? gains +0.25% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Maghreb loses -0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, ??? losses: -2.5? HC, -3.0? IC, -3.8? EC, -0.6? MC)
Weapons of the Jihad
Gold, guns, and the prophet’s words
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Calif Saidou of the Toucouleur Empire continues attempting to build up his legitimacy among his own people, with mixed results. (Region Greater Mali: Toucouleur Empire gains +0.08% Regional Influence, Maghrib loses -0.08% Regional Influence, Toucouleur Empire losses: -2.31 HC, -3.71 IC, -6.18 EC)
No two slavers are the same
Spoiler :
1890: British and Dutch colonial slavery practices, surprisingly, generate plenty of tension between these rather homogeneous administrations. Dutch interior colonial territories are badly patrolled, so runaway slaves from British West Africa (at least, those who fail to make their way to Liberia or the Toucouleur Caliphate) often find shelter in Dutch Ghana. Despite formally agreeing to return British “runaway property” back to their owners, Dutch colonial gendarmes are rarely paid well enough to risk their lives in raids on runaway hideouts. In Amsterdam, British demands of action are very unpopular (most common response being, “Don’t you tell us what to do!”), while the General-Governor of Ghana is afraid that these holdouts are becoming melting pots of African social-revolutionaries, where tribal divisions (so beneficial for outnumbered white colonists) are being eroded and a new pan-Malian culture is forming.
Q3-Q4 1894: The sale of Dutch Ghana, first to the CSA, then to the Taiping Mandate, changed a lot in the status of runaway slaves in West Africa. Mostly, because, despite their casual racism and drakonian labor regulations, the Taiping colonial authorities had no desire to enforce slavery or return British slaveholders their “property,” This has turned Ghana into a promised land and a haven for any British colonial slave or Liberian partisan, generating plenty of tension between the two nations. (Regional quest progress: -40%)
Q3-Q4 1894: The sale of Dutch Ghana, first to the CSA, then to the Taiping Mandate, changed a lot in the status of runaway slaves in West Africa. Mostly, because, despite their casual racism and drakonian labor regulations, the Taiping colonial authorities had no desire to enforce slavery or return British slaveholders their “property,” This has turned Ghana into a promised land and a haven for any British colonial slave or Liberian partisan, generating plenty of tension between the two nations. (Regional quest progress: -40%)
Freed and enraged
Spoiler :
1890: The state of Liberia was an idealistic (or, as some say, misguided) attempt to establish a democratic nation of freed slaves, organized by the Union of North America after the brutal Atlantic War. However, it seems like the scars of slavery and warfare are preventing new citizens of Liberia from living according to the ideals of racial tolerance, as it was intended. In fact, two dozen ship crew members were lynched in Monrovia this year during racial riots sparked by a bar brawl. Whites from the North-American Union and allied nations are mostly tolerated (not without some contempt, though), but for other foreign nationals of fair skin color a visit to Liberia may be a risky enterprise.
Q3-Q4 1894: The fall of the Liberian republic in its misguided effort to opportunistically occupy British colonies didn’t put an end to the problem of bitter, reverse racial bias in the local society. Whites are still being deeply hated by regular Liberians (especially originating from emancipated slaves). Except now exceptions are not being made even for the white North-Americans, who are viewed as the manipulators behind the nation’s disastrous war. (Regional quest progress: -50%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The last shots of the Second Atlantic War were still heard over the Amazon rainforest, when the Union government of President Fouracre started planning the return of the allied Liberian government-in-exile home (ironically, mostly consisting of people who had never spent more than a few years in Liberia, as the most of the functional Liberian magistrates were captured by the British during the nation’s collapse). That move, while formally contrary to the Treaty of Montreal on some particularly explicit points on non-involvement in local affairs, were viewed by Fouracre and his State Department as an unspokenly acceptable move, reinstating the regime and bringing it up to speed without any follow-up changes. Some alarms were risen during that time of preparation by a few State Department officials that the rule not only could be very badly received in Sao Paulo and London, but also could bring the Union of North America into a yet another foreign entanglement, should some third party choose to intervene in the Liberian affairs (something that the Treaty of Montreal, notably, did not regulate). Unfortunately for Fouracre’s cabinet, that’s exactly what happened, as the “return of those who never were exiled” was met with a steady rise of African Communard support across Liberia. The proponents of Afro-Communardism were rumored to have been selected, trained, and armed by a third power from among various politically conscious African natives, as well as Liberian prisoners of war that the British released on the spot right before leaving the occupied country. While newspapers of Freetown continued writing with utmost dedication about weather, art, and banalities of re-establishing the local government, the real new of a not-so-clandestine war between the pro-Union moderates (most of them African Americans from the Union) and rebellious Communards started to leak into newspapers of several countries. Quite quickly, the name of Great Britain was cleared, as the Royal Commonwealth’s involvement in any of these events was disproven even by its past enemies. The Union’s support of the allied government against the insurgents was assumed by many publications as a given fact (giving a rise to the fear that the Treaty of Montreal would be annulled just like the peace negotiation with the Commonwealth a year prior), all despite the Union’s State Department’s stubborn denial of it. The brutal and hectic civil conflict continued all the way to the summer of 1896, when the first agricultural communes started to appear in Liberian Guinea, almost entirely economically independent from the moderate regime in Freetown, acting as a base for a potential young new state. Meanwhile, many experts wonder if the Freetown regime would survive at all if the Union does obey the letter of the Treaty of Montreal and withdraws its support for the moderate republicans (assuming the unnamed third party continues to prop up the Communards). (Regional quest progress: -98.21%, ??? losses: -17.5? HC, -31.0? IC, -43.9? EC, -13.0? MC, ??? losses: -19.6? HC, -20.2? IC, -28.8? EC, -7.6? MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: The fall of the Liberian republic in its misguided effort to opportunistically occupy British colonies didn’t put an end to the problem of bitter, reverse racial bias in the local society. Whites are still being deeply hated by regular Liberians (especially originating from emancipated slaves). Except now exceptions are not being made even for the white North-Americans, who are viewed as the manipulators behind the nation’s disastrous war. (Regional quest progress: -50%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The last shots of the Second Atlantic War were still heard over the Amazon rainforest, when the Union government of President Fouracre started planning the return of the allied Liberian government-in-exile home (ironically, mostly consisting of people who had never spent more than a few years in Liberia, as the most of the functional Liberian magistrates were captured by the British during the nation’s collapse). That move, while formally contrary to the Treaty of Montreal on some particularly explicit points on non-involvement in local affairs, were viewed by Fouracre and his State Department as an unspokenly acceptable move, reinstating the regime and bringing it up to speed without any follow-up changes. Some alarms were risen during that time of preparation by a few State Department officials that the rule not only could be very badly received in Sao Paulo and London, but also could bring the Union of North America into a yet another foreign entanglement, should some third party choose to intervene in the Liberian affairs (something that the Treaty of Montreal, notably, did not regulate). Unfortunately for Fouracre’s cabinet, that’s exactly what happened, as the “return of those who never were exiled” was met with a steady rise of African Communard support across Liberia. The proponents of Afro-Communardism were rumored to have been selected, trained, and armed by a third power from among various politically conscious African natives, as well as Liberian prisoners of war that the British released on the spot right before leaving the occupied country. While newspapers of Freetown continued writing with utmost dedication about weather, art, and banalities of re-establishing the local government, the real new of a not-so-clandestine war between the pro-Union moderates (most of them African Americans from the Union) and rebellious Communards started to leak into newspapers of several countries. Quite quickly, the name of Great Britain was cleared, as the Royal Commonwealth’s involvement in any of these events was disproven even by its past enemies. The Union’s support of the allied government against the insurgents was assumed by many publications as a given fact (giving a rise to the fear that the Treaty of Montreal would be annulled just like the peace negotiation with the Commonwealth a year prior), all despite the Union’s State Department’s stubborn denial of it. The brutal and hectic civil conflict continued all the way to the summer of 1896, when the first agricultural communes started to appear in Liberian Guinea, almost entirely economically independent from the moderate regime in Freetown, acting as a base for a potential young new state. Meanwhile, many experts wonder if the Freetown regime would survive at all if the Union does obey the letter of the Treaty of Montreal and withdraws its support for the moderate republicans (assuming the unnamed third party continues to prop up the Communards). (Regional quest progress: -98.21%, ??? losses: -17.5? HC, -31.0? IC, -43.9? EC, -13.0? MC, ??? losses: -19.6? HC, -20.2? IC, -28.8? EC, -7.6? MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The conflict between pro-Union moderates and anti-colonial radicals in Liberia ended rather anticlimactically. As soon as the “black horse” of North-American politics Charles Matchett became a President-Elect, the State Department descended into chaos, with a hectic transition taking up most of the time inside the Union’s administration. That left the Liberian moderates (many of them still de-facto Union’s citizens) without any support, unlike their much more determined and fanatical opponents, who had their foreign support still flowing in. As a result, the Freetown regime collapsed like a house of cards in a matter of weeks, and a lot of its members that failed to return to America ended up being absorbed by the radical leftist movement. New Liberian government soon declared itself legitimate (something that was laughed at in Western press, but wasn’t that far from the truth, as it was fairly popular among the common folk). Eventually, the scars of the conflict healed up, the “Republic of Liberty” became the “Republic of Liberation,” for better or worse. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region Greater Mali gains -5 HC, +5 IC, +5 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.75%, Liberia gains +0.5% Regional Influence, ??? gains +0.25% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Maghreb loses -0.25% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, ??? losses: -2.5? HC, -3.0? IC, -3.8? EC, -0.6? MC)
Weapons of the Jihad
Spoiler :
1890: The Toucouleur Empire is struggling to prepare itself for its seemingly inevitable confrontation with the British. For that, they need modern weapons, and some advisers cautiously suggest that Emir Saidou should create his own manufacturing capacities for a prolonged war. The only currently available source of these dangerous innovations is through Trans-saharan trade with the Maghrebi Sultanate, but it’s possible other major powers would try to use this opportunity in the future. Now, it is time to decide what the Massina people could offer to their future weapons importers. Access to local rich salt and gold deposits is the most obvious offer, but who knows what else could attract foreigners’ greedy stares.
1891: Looking to dissuade any close cooperation between the Toucouleur Empire and Maghreb arms traders, British colonial authorities went on to dispatch significant army resources just to posture next to the Anglo-Toucouleur borders. This move didn’t succeed at cooling down Massina zealotry; if anything, the calls for allying to any Muslim nation that could spare the Toucouleur from British conquest only became louder at the Emir’s court. (Regional quest progress: -4.82%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.87 HC, -0.97 IC, -1.62 EC, -1.57 MC)
1891: Looking to dissuade any close cooperation between the Toucouleur Empire and Maghreb arms traders, British colonial authorities went on to dispatch significant army resources just to posture next to the Anglo-Toucouleur borders. This move didn’t succeed at cooling down Massina zealotry; if anything, the calls for allying to any Muslim nation that could spare the Toucouleur from British conquest only became louder at the Emir’s court. (Regional quest progress: -4.82%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.87 HC, -0.97 IC, -1.62 EC, -1.57 MC)
Gold, guns, and the prophet’s words
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Samori Ture, an influential Guinean Muslim cleric and Maliki judge, is a notable figure in the contemporary history of West Africa. Born in a family of Transsaharan Dyula merchants, Samori Ture established his prominence as a major regional leader and Jihadist as early as 1867, aligning himself with the rising Toucouleur Caliphate of El Hadj Umar Tall. He used his authority and outstanding education to become a prominent war commander, at some point extending his influence over the Upper Volta valley (formally, then controlled by Imperial France) and shielding local residents from devastating slave raids. He then used that power to project his influence through many parts of the Toucouleur domain, using the diminished legitimacy of the Caliph after the death of the formidable Umar Tall. Moving from strength to strength, Samori Ture used the collapse of Imperial France after the First Atlantic War to gain even more prominence across Guinea, Sierra Leone, and the Two Voltas, eventually establishing arms trade contacts with Liberia. When the British colonizers came back to claim what the French had lost, Samori Ture and his unrecognized Wassoulou Empire fought back for some time, until he chose to strike a shadowy deal with the Royal Commonwealth, withdrawing his loyalists to the Toucouleur territory and formally pledging loyalty to the Chalifate. That made him a major destabilizing factor to the Toucouleur authority, acting as an alternative center of power for the rulers of Segou. However, in recent years the network of Samori Ture’s passionaries that’s been dormant for more than a decade has awoken across the British and Maghrebi territories. It’s rumored that the cleric-warlord may be once again bearing an ambition of establishing an abolitionist Jihadist state in West Africa, seeing the British and North-Americans as his ultimate archenemies and perceiving the Islamic leaders of both Maghreb and Toucouleur as too decadent and content to carry the flaming sword of African liberation.
Niger Region
Spoiler :
Stagnant, recovering from a war, and religiously divided region with unexplored resource potential, but wide opportunities for agricultural development and big population.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Portobrazilian Royal West African Company attempted to expand its monopoly over the Nigerian colonial market, but instead found itself on the defense against the Hausa caravaneer trade leagues that enjoyed the protection of the Sultan of Maghreb. (Region Niger Region gains +0.08% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Maghreb gains +0.4% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -0.4% Regional Influence, Maghreb losses: -3.76 HC, -0.77 IC, -9.01 EC, -5.78 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -3.24 HC, -0.55 IC, -6.73 EC, -5.36 MC)
White Aethiopians to rule them all!
Unfair competition
Canaan CIty of Africa
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Portobrazilian Royal West African Company attempted to expand its monopoly over the Nigerian colonial market, but instead found itself on the defense against the Hausa caravaneer trade leagues that enjoyed the protection of the Sultan of Maghreb. (Region Niger Region gains +0.08% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Maghreb gains +0.4% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -0.4% Regional Influence, Maghreb losses: -3.76 HC, -0.77 IC, -9.01 EC, -5.78 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -3.24 HC, -0.55 IC, -6.73 EC, -5.36 MC)
White Aethiopians to rule them all!
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1893: Devastation of Hausan nobility of the Sokoto Caliphate in the Portobrazilian conquest of 1892 has left a deep demographic and sociopolitical scar in the region. With old feudal power structures being in tatters, Portobrazilian colonial administration is trying its best to find local collaborators who would like to act as an administrative interlayer between the natives and their white-skinned overlords. For the slavery-dominated Portobrazilian society, this search ultimately comes to the matter of skin color, and that has become an unexpected bliss for Fulbe people living in the far north and west of the region. Described in some sources as Leucaethiopians (lit. “White Aethiopians”), the Fulbe people have a light-dark skin color which Portobrazilians, perhaps impolitely, like to compare to the color of hot chocolate. Some voices, including the colonial general-governor, propose elevating the Fulbe to the position of tribal or even feudal dominance in the region, letting them oversee other ethnicities and absorb their discontent, if it arises.
Unfair competition
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: The economic triumph of the Portobrazilian Royal West African Company in Nigeria has paved a road for the Twin Crowns’ complete economic domination over the region. With royal diplomats, ambassadors, and corporate plenipotentiaries, the company has managed to persuade (or force) all local strongmen, kings, and chieftains to trade solely with the metropoly and solely through the Royal West African Company’s offices. However, exceptions exist, and the most notable of them is merchant prince Jaja of a city-state of Opobo. Sold as a slave at the age of twelve in Bonny, this Ijaw native is a self-made man, who earned his way out of slavery through his business aptitude, eventually becoming the richest tradesman and patriarch of one of the biggest South-Nigerian city-states. While generally amiable toward the Portobrazilian authorities, he has been quietly trading palm oil with the British, Confederates, and Sardinians, surpassing RWAC’s duties. This, of course, shows a bad example to others, as Portobrazilian trade monopoly on the market is being widely questioned.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Having little patience to spare on disobedient colonials, the Twin Crowns dispatched its fleet to display force across the Niger River Delta region and make sure that unauthorized ships don’t dock in Nigerian ports to trade with the rogue merchant prince. The psychological effect of this action did discourage some merchants from breaking the Royal West African Company’s monopoly and weakened Jaja’s political position in the city-state of Opobo, but it had little direct impact on the state of regional trade. Firstly, sea smuggling continued, performed with a use of authorized vessels which simply mislabeled their cargo. Secondly, with the Nigerian colony no longer being surrounded by uncolonized lands, a number of smuggling land routes quickly developed, taking South-Nigerian palm oil and other goods to the Maghrebi, British, Confederate, and Sardinian colonies. While much less robust, that land trade continued to siphon revenue from the RWAC’s coffers. (Regional quest progress: 81.79%, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.07 HC, -1.35 IC, -3.26 EC, -5.08 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Having little patience to spare on disobedient colonials, the Twin Crowns dispatched its fleet to display force across the Niger River Delta region and make sure that unauthorized ships don’t dock in Nigerian ports to trade with the rogue merchant prince. The psychological effect of this action did discourage some merchants from breaking the Royal West African Company’s monopoly and weakened Jaja’s political position in the city-state of Opobo, but it had little direct impact on the state of regional trade. Firstly, sea smuggling continued, performed with a use of authorized vessels which simply mislabeled their cargo. Secondly, with the Nigerian colony no longer being surrounded by uncolonized lands, a number of smuggling land routes quickly developed, taking South-Nigerian palm oil and other goods to the Maghrebi, British, Confederate, and Sardinian colonies. While much less robust, that land trade continued to siphon revenue from the RWAC’s coffers. (Regional quest progress: 81.79%, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.07 HC, -1.35 IC, -3.26 EC, -5.08 MC)
Canaan CIty of Africa
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The city-state of Akwa Akpa was founded by the Efik people of the Niger River Delta in the late Middle Ages, but it was named “Calabar” by a 16th century Portuguese explorer Diogo Cao, for reasons unknown. Even then, the Efik nobility was on top of a pyramid of regional slave trade, and for centuries since then the Calabar Coast was known as one of the main trade hubs of African slavery, earning it a nickname “Canaan City.” Brutal as it was, the slave trade gradually declined under the British and French, until it reached its peak under the opportunistic Portobrazilians in the late 19th century. The abolition of slavery by the Twin Crowns, however, put that once prosperous city (and the entire region) in a strange position. Some semi-legal purchases of slaves continued being done by the Dutch and British colonial traders, as well as the Confederates and Boers, but they had to go through a number of hoops for that, and the slave trade started to decline. While applauded by many humanitarian thinkers across the world, this fact also left the regional power dynamic hanging in the air, with the pillars of the structures it was based on completely eroded. No longer could feuding families and tribes sell their defeated enemies to an owner of a slave ship going for another continent. Instead, many such feuds turn into brutal massacres, in which even children and the elderly are put down to a sword out of fear of them carrying out a vendetta against their enemies. Besides, some number of slaves who had lost their freedom before the abolition, now live in the state of limbo, functioning as indentured servants who have nowhere to go. All in all, this creates a number of demographic and social order problems for the South Nigeria, combined with its economic decline due to a lack of strong alternatives for wealth creation (especially considering the low margins earned by traders who deal with the Royal West African Company). And if any one place across the region showcases this crisis the most, it’s the Canaan City of Calabar.
Central Africa
Spoiler :
Stagnant backwaters of Africa with little to no exposure to the world, but unknown deposits of natural resources.
The Dark Continent
Ferries of Ostafrika
Life after the Kabaka
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Kabaka (King) Mwanga II of Buganda is still alive, but the Queen-Mother has made her first move already, pushing for a formal deification of her incapacitated son in a syncretic form of local totemist and Islamic beliefs. Despite that first victory, the success of her cause is yet not completely sure, as Mwanga’s own sickness may give his sister and her clan elder allies a chance to recover and institute important checks to Kabaka’s theocratic authority. (Regional quest progress: -50%)
The Dark Continent
Spoiler :
1890: Maghrebi access to Transsaharan caravan routes and Egyptian use of the Nile river past the Cataracts means that these two nations naturally have colonial ambitions in the Central-African region. Neither of the nations has any military presence in the vast region yet, but some low-key incidents have already started to take place. For instance, this year a massacre took place along the caravan route near the Chad lake. It is believed that a pro-Maghrebi Tuareg merchant ordered his guards to slaughter a Ummahist mullah and his seven students from Alexandria. Details of the incident are hazy, and it’s unclear if the tragedy was sparked by socially progressive views of the Egyptian missionaries or greed of the Tuareg merchant (whose loyalty to the Sultan of Maghreb is as questionable). What can be said for sure, the heart of the Dark Continent is going to become a stage for such “incidents” moving forward.
Ferries of Ostafrika
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Despite the previous limited investments of the North-German capital, infrastructure remains the main limiting factor in the development of the Ostafrika GmbH and its lands. The reasons are clear: a vast territory, aggressive flora and dangerous fauna, ethnically diverse and loosely controlled native tribes, and, of course, the distance from any industrial center of the Federation. In these conditions, a more cost-effective solution has been proposed for connecting at least some territories together: lake ferries. Thanks to the efforts of North-German explorers, the lakes and riverways of the Great Rift are now pretty well-mapped, suggesting that many woes of travellers and caravaneers could be surpassed or diminished, had the lakes been supplied with a reliable system of ferries or cargo boats. Some bolder advisers even suggest building simple wharfs on the Humboldtsee to cut on the costs of such endeavor.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Ostafrika GmbH secured a major stream of investments when it announced a plan to connect Omani port of Dar es Salaam (in which the trade company has specific extraterritorial rights) with a new port and wharf it was building on the Humbldtsee shore, via a railroad. From there, a system of ferries and lake boats would be able to take cargo and travellers across the system of the Great Rift lakes. The railway project proved to be the main source of complexity, going through a rugged terrain of East Africa. Once finished, that infrastructure development is hoped to bring plenty of commerce to the distant areas of the colony, making it easier for the metropoly to extract value from Ostafrika. (Regional quest progress: 93.23%, North German Federation losses: -2.83 HC, -0.86 IC, -7.4 EC, -5.93 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Ostafrika GmbH secured a major stream of investments when it announced a plan to connect Omani port of Dar es Salaam (in which the trade company has specific extraterritorial rights) with a new port and wharf it was building on the Humbldtsee shore, via a railroad. From there, a system of ferries and lake boats would be able to take cargo and travellers across the system of the Great Rift lakes. The railway project proved to be the main source of complexity, going through a rugged terrain of East Africa. Once finished, that infrastructure development is hoped to bring plenty of commerce to the distant areas of the colony, making it easier for the metropoly to extract value from Ostafrika. (Regional quest progress: 93.23%, North German Federation losses: -2.83 HC, -0.86 IC, -7.4 EC, -5.93 MC)
Life after the Kabaka
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Mwanga II of Buganda is sick, and it brings up questions of succession in the nation shaken by an influx of new ideas from the east. For centuries, the Kingdom of Buganda prospered without hints of a civil conflict thanks to its sophisticated, yet effective succession system. Its rulers (kabakas) were allowed to have multiple wives in accordance with local customs and, later, Muslim traditions. Yet, upon the death of the current kabaka (which, in Bugandan tradition, was described via a euphemism meaning “wander off into the woods”), a council of elders gathered to examine all of the king’s male children and secretly choose the future kabaka based on the prince’s personal qualities. Upon the grand reveal of the future king in a burial ceremony of the passed kabaka, the remaining children of the king join their mother’s clan (thus being automatically removed from the succession), and the young king joins the totemless royal clan of Olulyo Olulangira, symbolically joining the spiritual king of Buganda, Mujaguzo, represented by Royal Drums. This system is quite good in combining deification of the king, elimination of succession crisis, some sort of royal meritocracy, and tribal ritualism. However, on the negative side, it’s being criticized by many members of clan nobility for being increasingly unwieldy by the rapid standards of modern statebuilding. To prevent the government from falling into hibernation until a new kabaka is elected, Mwanga’s sister proposes to give more power to the council of clan elders represented by the chief advisor (kiweewa). She refers to Buganda’s new friends from the North-German Federation, which Council of Savants is greatly liked by the nobles, who fancy themselves “savant enough” to make important decisions on kabaka’s behalf. Meanwhile, the Queen-Mother claims that she should be able to represent Mujaguzo itself, channeling the will of Buganda’s spiritual deity-king. At that, she is supported by the royal court that doesn’t want its power to be lost to a council of clans. Based on who takes the power, Buganda may either develop along the directorial lines of its European neighbors or take a more ecclesiocratic, authoritarian approach of its Muslim brethren. That, in turn, would define how its society and economy modernize at this critical stretch of the nation’s history.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Kabaka (King) Mwanga II of Buganda is still alive, but the Queen-Mother has made her first move already, pushing for a formal deification of her incapacitated son in a syncretic form of local totemist and Islamic beliefs. Despite that first victory, the success of her cause is yet not completely sure, as Mwanga’s own sickness may give his sister and her clan elder allies a chance to recover and institute important checks to Kabaka’s theocratic authority. (Regional quest progress: -50%)
Congo-Gabon Region
Spoiler :
Stagnant, colonially abused population center of Africa, with a complex ethnic composition and unexplored resource potential.
Pigmy raids
Latin Belt
West Angolan Trading Company
Darkness over Breckinridge
Forts of Breckinridge
Pigmy raids
Spoiler :
1890: Strange tribes of extremely short people, called the Pigmy, live in the depths of the continent. While not very valuable as work slaves, these Pigmy make great and very loyal house servants for their owners, being quite valuable on slave markets across the world. But before selling them, these precious slaves need to be captured, and Confederate slave traders tend to hire local Bantu tribes to do that job for them. This is quickly deteriorating into a strange sort of colonial dynamic, in which Bantu middlemen are growing almost as rich as Confederate American colonizers (and indispensable, to boot).
Latin Belt
Spoiler :
1890: Porto-Brazilian colonial authorities in Angola are lobbying a project of a railroad that would connect the city of Benguela on the Atlantic coast to Lourenco Marques, the capital of Porto-Brazilian Mocambique. That so called “Latin Belt” would have to face the problem of practically non-existent infrastructure in the African inland. In addition, the Free Boer Republic is vehemently protesting such a project, seeing it as a Porto-Brazilian attempt to block Boer advancement into the depth of the continent.
1891: While Portugal-Brazil’s available civil engineering resources were thrown into the construction of the Panama Canal, its army was tasked with securing the lands adjacent to the future planned route of the Latin Belt railroad. For now, the decision was made to keep the Latin Belt just a poorly patrolled rural road with garrisoned roadblocks every few miles. However, even that humble plan went horribly wrong when dispersed Portobrazilian colonial platoons started suffering from ambushes by local tribes, who used complete lack of effective logistics on Portobrazilian side to their advantage. Military observers say that the local resistance doesn’t scare them by itself, but they are afraid that complete absence of infrastructure means that even army engineers have a trouble supplying the troops so far from home colonies. They request proper civilian engineers to support the effort, and some additional troops to guard them. (Regional quest progress: -9.29%, Portugal-Brazil losses: -4.08 HC, -1.15 IC, -1.89 EC, -1.37 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: The war in Zambia, as dispersed as it was, has done little to improve infrastructure across the region, given the decentralization and destruction it brought. If anything, the dream of the Latin Belt is now farther than ever. (Regional quest progress: -59.29%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: In yet another surprising example of cooperation between the Taiping Mandate and Portugal-Brazil, Chinese construction collectives were invited to partake in the Twin Crowns’ effort to bring the Latin Belt railroad project back to life. Thousands of “railroad strugglers” were hired across China, along with lumberjacks and timber mill workers, before being shipped to Lourenco Marques and assigned to the reconstruction of infrastructure in Portobrazilian Zambia and Mashonaland. At doing that, they were allowed to establish some basic settlements and forestry businesses that could function as ethnic colonial enclaves supporting the Latin Belt construction. The Twin Crowns also worked on rebuilding the infrastructure under supervision of colonial troops, preventing the locals from threatening the construction. At this point, the actual work on the railroad has barely started, as the most of the time and effort was spent bringing the region to an orderly state and establishing facilities for the construction crews. Still, with continuous investments, the Latin Belt project may finally start moving toward its completion soon. (Regional quest progress: -2.07%, Taiping Mandate losses: -1.58 HC, -1.16 IC, -2.79 EC, -1.25 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.19 HC, -0.8 IC, -2.98 EC, -2.01 MC)
1891: While Portugal-Brazil’s available civil engineering resources were thrown into the construction of the Panama Canal, its army was tasked with securing the lands adjacent to the future planned route of the Latin Belt railroad. For now, the decision was made to keep the Latin Belt just a poorly patrolled rural road with garrisoned roadblocks every few miles. However, even that humble plan went horribly wrong when dispersed Portobrazilian colonial platoons started suffering from ambushes by local tribes, who used complete lack of effective logistics on Portobrazilian side to their advantage. Military observers say that the local resistance doesn’t scare them by itself, but they are afraid that complete absence of infrastructure means that even army engineers have a trouble supplying the troops so far from home colonies. They request proper civilian engineers to support the effort, and some additional troops to guard them. (Regional quest progress: -9.29%, Portugal-Brazil losses: -4.08 HC, -1.15 IC, -1.89 EC, -1.37 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: The war in Zambia, as dispersed as it was, has done little to improve infrastructure across the region, given the decentralization and destruction it brought. If anything, the dream of the Latin Belt is now farther than ever. (Regional quest progress: -59.29%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: In yet another surprising example of cooperation between the Taiping Mandate and Portugal-Brazil, Chinese construction collectives were invited to partake in the Twin Crowns’ effort to bring the Latin Belt railroad project back to life. Thousands of “railroad strugglers” were hired across China, along with lumberjacks and timber mill workers, before being shipped to Lourenco Marques and assigned to the reconstruction of infrastructure in Portobrazilian Zambia and Mashonaland. At doing that, they were allowed to establish some basic settlements and forestry businesses that could function as ethnic colonial enclaves supporting the Latin Belt construction. The Twin Crowns also worked on rebuilding the infrastructure under supervision of colonial troops, preventing the locals from threatening the construction. At this point, the actual work on the railroad has barely started, as the most of the time and effort was spent bringing the region to an orderly state and establishing facilities for the construction crews. Still, with continuous investments, the Latin Belt project may finally start moving toward its completion soon. (Regional quest progress: -2.07%, Taiping Mandate losses: -1.58 HC, -1.16 IC, -2.79 EC, -1.25 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -2.19 HC, -0.8 IC, -2.98 EC, -2.01 MC)
West Angolan Trading Company
Spoiler :
1891: The new trade agreement and alliance between the Free Boer Republic and Portugal-Brazil has created a new need for a trading company that could facilitate the high volume of future trades in the area. Such company was established this year by Boer state-affiliated businesses and is now in the process of bringing its operations up to speed. (Regional quest progress: 61.14%, Free Boer Republic losses: -0.70 HC, -0.18 IC, -1.79 EC, -1.53 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: The declaration of war by Free Boer Republic against Portugal-Brazil led to a brief collapse of the shares value of the West Angolan Trading Company in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. However, the South-African financial market has once again proved its resilience to shocks and perturbations unthinkable for any more conventional trading culture, and, despite horrible financial losses, the WATC is still afloat, this time with a new business pitch of using Boer occupation of Angola for monopolizing local resource market. (Regional quest progress: 1.14%)
Q3-Q4 1894: The declaration of war by Free Boer Republic against Portugal-Brazil led to a brief collapse of the shares value of the West Angolan Trading Company in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. However, the South-African financial market has once again proved its resilience to shocks and perturbations unthinkable for any more conventional trading culture, and, despite horrible financial losses, the WATC is still afloat, this time with a new business pitch of using Boer occupation of Angola for monopolizing local resource market. (Regional quest progress: 1.14%)
Darkness over Breckinridge
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: Confederate colonization of the Upper Zaire basin (now renamed Brackinridge, after a departed Confederate explorer and organizer of the Gabonese colony, John C. Breckinridge) was a relatively easy affair, given the vast distances and great logistical challenges involved. However, now that the Gabon and Upper Zaire basins are under the formal Confederate control, all masks of civility have been dropped. An entire army of Confederate troops was redeployed to Africa from across the Atlantic, in full disregard of all logistical issues it would cause and with orders to “break up” all non-Bantu tribal groups and turn anyone who resits this vaguely stated (but clearly violent) effort into slaves at local colonial plantations. Naturally, this led to an excessive and often arbitrarily distributed bloodshed. Firstly, the only way colonial army officers knew how to “break up” the tribes was fairly resemblant of the way they and their forefathers had dealt with Native Americans in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. In the most of the cases, it meant direct genocide or killing of all males with subsequent enslavement of women and children. Villages were burnt and lands seized, only to be redistributed to white settlers and, more often than not, to the officers themselves. Meanwhile, the distinction between the Bantu and everyone else was extremely uncertain. Even leaving aside the fact that the Bantu is an extremely diverse and scarcely researched group of languages, the Confederate Army was ill-fit to delve into anthropologic literature just in order to decide which obscure African hamlet to “de-tribalize” and which to leave standing. By mid-1894 it became clear that the Confederate policy of de-tribalization has led to deluge of pointless atrocities, perhaps, unintended by the original orders. Even worse yet, it’s let the Confederates without any allies in the region (except a few uncontacted tribes on the fringes of the colony), because even the Bantu ethnicity of Luba (the biggest tribal congregation in the area) had some bloody grudges against the white men. All in all, the sheer violence and scope of the assault on the native tribes of the Gabon and Upper Zaire basins helped the Confederates to advance pretty far in their task of “Confederating Breckinridge,” but the news of this unprecedented slaughter are now leaking into the press of the “civilized world,” as thousands of desperate refugees come to the North-German, Portobrazilian, and Sardinian colonies, telling tales of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of natives being indiscriminately killed in the worst act of colonial genocide since the fall of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century. (Regional quest progress: 22.26%, Confederate States of America losses: -8.9 HC, -3.1 IC, -5.48 EC, -5.25 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: The spread of news about the “greycoats’” atrocities in Africa forced the colonial government of Breckinridge to tone down their officers’ enthusiasm. The garrison was instructed to simply patrol and police the countryside (which in effect meant hideous marches across the jungles and boredom-filled garisonning of distant forts). Meanwhile, the colonial supreme command attempted to work out some solutions in the gray area of political negotiations with local chieftains. Familiar with how to deal with “rootless” black freedmen in the North-American South, the Confederate officers hoped to simply “fix” things by making it up to the leaders of the local tribes who “surely” must’ve been not personally too hurt by the atrocities committed against their kin. That assumption turned out to be wrong, since the Dixies underestimated how closely African tribal unions were tied via family connections, effectively meaning that a destruction and enslavement of a distant village could often mean death or suffering of the chieftain’s direct relative. Maybe, in decades this network of family ties may be destroyed (just like the American enslavement did destroy the unity of the African American socium), opening an avenue for cynical deals expected by the Dixies, but at the moment the patchwork of tribes that the CSA found itself conquering has no intent on stopping its vendetta against the “graycoats.” (Regional quest progress: 18.81%, Confederate States of America losses: -9.64 HC, -3.43 IC, -5.96 EC, -5.57 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: President Stand Watie Jr. inherited from his predecessor a Gordian knot of bitter, anti-colonial warfare in Breckinridge - a knot that couldn’t be untied via even more bloodshed, as such actions would surely be toxic to Watie Jr.’s Modernist voter base. So, not knowing how to approach the problem more effectively, the commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces simply instructed them to employ a “live and let live” garisonning policy in the Congo-Gabon basin. Essentially, it meant that many areas of the land were completely given up by colonial forces, and only the nodes critical to the functioning of the colony were still patrolled and manned. Meanwhile, the colonial office in Port Davis was instructed to pass the knowledge of that to local chiefs and to attempt to wrap that message in more diplomatic, even falsely apologetic tones. While this, of course, wasn’t nearly enough to pacify the entire vast colony right away, it did eliminate much of the conflict, while simultaneously freeing more resources for other endeavors. Critics of that program at home (mostly from among the Hawks and Stone Democrats) pointed out that it essentially was a capitulation in disguise, letting the “savages” to govern themselves in their backward ways and leaving most of the resources of the giant colony undiscovered and untapped into. Yet, popularly this military policy was much better received, both home and in Africa. (Regional quest progress: 55.31%, Confederate States of America losses: -7.75 HC, -5.59 IC, -8.98 EC, -3.86 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: The spread of news about the “greycoats’” atrocities in Africa forced the colonial government of Breckinridge to tone down their officers’ enthusiasm. The garrison was instructed to simply patrol and police the countryside (which in effect meant hideous marches across the jungles and boredom-filled garisonning of distant forts). Meanwhile, the colonial supreme command attempted to work out some solutions in the gray area of political negotiations with local chieftains. Familiar with how to deal with “rootless” black freedmen in the North-American South, the Confederate officers hoped to simply “fix” things by making it up to the leaders of the local tribes who “surely” must’ve been not personally too hurt by the atrocities committed against their kin. That assumption turned out to be wrong, since the Dixies underestimated how closely African tribal unions were tied via family connections, effectively meaning that a destruction and enslavement of a distant village could often mean death or suffering of the chieftain’s direct relative. Maybe, in decades this network of family ties may be destroyed (just like the American enslavement did destroy the unity of the African American socium), opening an avenue for cynical deals expected by the Dixies, but at the moment the patchwork of tribes that the CSA found itself conquering has no intent on stopping its vendetta against the “graycoats.” (Regional quest progress: 18.81%, Confederate States of America losses: -9.64 HC, -3.43 IC, -5.96 EC, -5.57 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: President Stand Watie Jr. inherited from his predecessor a Gordian knot of bitter, anti-colonial warfare in Breckinridge - a knot that couldn’t be untied via even more bloodshed, as such actions would surely be toxic to Watie Jr.’s Modernist voter base. So, not knowing how to approach the problem more effectively, the commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces simply instructed them to employ a “live and let live” garisonning policy in the Congo-Gabon basin. Essentially, it meant that many areas of the land were completely given up by colonial forces, and only the nodes critical to the functioning of the colony were still patrolled and manned. Meanwhile, the colonial office in Port Davis was instructed to pass the knowledge of that to local chiefs and to attempt to wrap that message in more diplomatic, even falsely apologetic tones. While this, of course, wasn’t nearly enough to pacify the entire vast colony right away, it did eliminate much of the conflict, while simultaneously freeing more resources for other endeavors. Critics of that program at home (mostly from among the Hawks and Stone Democrats) pointed out that it essentially was a capitulation in disguise, letting the “savages” to govern themselves in their backward ways and leaving most of the resources of the giant colony undiscovered and untapped into. Yet, popularly this military policy was much better received, both home and in Africa. (Regional quest progress: 55.31%, Confederate States of America losses: -7.75 HC, -5.59 IC, -8.98 EC, -3.86 MC)
Forts of Breckinridge
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: The Dixies wouldn’t be themselves if they didn’t try to fortify what they just started stomping out. While the horrific “de-tribalization” was still ongoing, a separate army engineering force was dedicated to establishing new fortified settlements on the ashes of native villages. However, two issues contributed to a slow progress of that endeavor. Firstly, the logistical capacity of the Breckinridge colony was capped, leaving the engineering brigades horribly undersupplied and forcing many soldiers to send marauding parties to nearby settlements. Secondly, the colonial command didn’t have a particular strategic vision for the fortification program, not knowing who their adversary would be. Therefore, the forts were built mostly as an anti-insurgency and garissoning measure, contributing to their wide distribution over a vast and badly explored region with poor infrastructure. (Regional quest progress: 20.89%, Confederate States of America losses: -7.51 HC, -2.62 IC, -4.63 EC, -4.43 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: Construction of local strongholds and forts across the jungle-covered strp of Breckinridge continued through the second part of 1894. While the Confederate defensive plan for the biggest CSA’s colony remained mostly centered on counter-insurgency, it seems like this ambiguous doctrine is at least receiving plenty of engineering support now that the logistical challenges are at least partially tamed. (Regional quest progress: 59.29%, Confederate States of America losses: -5.62 HC, -2 IC, -3.48 EC, -3.25 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: Construction of local strongholds and forts across the jungle-covered strp of Breckinridge continued through the second part of 1894. While the Confederate defensive plan for the biggest CSA’s colony remained mostly centered on counter-insurgency, it seems like this ambiguous doctrine is at least receiving plenty of engineering support now that the logistical challenges are at least partially tamed. (Regional quest progress: 59.29%, Confederate States of America losses: -5.62 HC, -2 IC, -3.48 EC, -3.25 MC)
East Africa
Spoiler :
Stagnant conduit between Asian and African markets with a long, but decaying tradition of maritime trade.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The intense cooling of relations between the Konbaung dynasty and the North German Federation has led to an intensifying Indian Ocean trade competition, with many Siamese merchants travelling to the Zanzibari coast to compete with the Ostafrika GmbH on its home turf. (Region East Africa gains +1.55% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +2.58% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -2.58% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -0.76 HC, -0.19 IC, -2.1 EC, -1.48 MC)
The End of the Merina monarchy
Pride of the Hehe
Improving Zanzibar
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The intense cooling of relations between the Konbaung dynasty and the North German Federation has led to an intensifying Indian Ocean trade competition, with many Siamese merchants travelling to the Zanzibari coast to compete with the Ostafrika GmbH on its home turf. (Region East Africa gains +1.55% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +2.58% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -2.58% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -0.76 HC, -0.19 IC, -2.1 EC, -1.48 MC)
The End of the Merina monarchy
Spoiler :
1890: The authority of the Malagasy Merina monarchy is at its all-times low, now that the Boers conquered its obedience through a series of ad-hoc, badly outfitted expeditions. Instead of turning on the colonizers, the Malagasy people are joining the spreading tribal conflict in the depth of the island. For now, the Boers were happy to see the natives fight each other, but some experts express caution over this development, afraid that eventually one successful warlord could arise as an unquestioned leader of the anti-colonial movement.
Pride of the Hehe
Spoiler :
1892: Inland caravan routes belonging to the tribes that recognize North-German colonial authorities keep being ambushed and looted by fearsome warriors of the reclusive Hehe tribe. Backward pastoralists that just recently got introduced to modern rifles, the Hehe are a small, but very warlike young tribal kingdom placed within the borders of North-German Tanganyika. They seem to be content with North-German dominion over their region (happy with buying North-German weapons and kitchen tools), but the Hehe don’t seem to comprehend that attacking other pro-German tribes is just not something European authorities normally tolerate. It remains to be seen how the Ostafrikan authorities are going to establish peace in their lands (and if they are going to do that at all).
Improving Zanzibar
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: From the day 1 of North-German colonization of East Africa, the Sultanate of Zanzibar (a titular kingdom belonging to the Sultan of Oman) was a major attraction of the Federation’s colonizers. While the North-Germans have succeeded to secure access to Zanzibari ports, they wished to also absorb as much of the local economy as possible in order to guarantee that that access wasn’t going to be revoked at the time of need. However, even as slave trade in Zanzibar declined, local emirs with stakes at coffee and tea production remained rather prominent and influential in the Omani court. This prompted yet another wave of economic intervention on the North-German part, hoping to modernize and mechanize local agriculture as much as possible, bringing new prosperity to the Zanzibari economy, while simultaneously linking the resulting wealth to North-German subsidies. All in all, the mechanization program did succeed at increasing Zanzibari agricultural output and harbor throughput, and many local traders now indeed wish to remain on the list of the Ostafrika partners, making Zanzibar a part of Oman mostly on paper. Besides, the need to maintain the new, modernized harvesting operations spurred a growth of North-German-owned manufacturing and repair workshops in the coastal cities. On the negative side, quite a few rural have-not’s lost their badly paying jobs to the Federation’s machines, and the disparity across the region increased. Meanwhile, some experts warn that exclusive investment into Zanzibar may cause a drop of stock prices for the Ostafrika GmbH, because the investors are afraid that the entire improvement of Zanzibari economy is a camouflaged favor made to the Council of Savants (which is obsessed with the Zanzibari ports for security reasons), while benefiting little to the company’s financial outlook. Shouldn’t the Ostafrika GmbH invest more in the lands it directly controls, they ask? (Regional quest progress: 81.94%, North German Federation losses: -2.25 HC, -1.94 IC, -6.16 EC, -4 MC)
South Africa
Spoiler :
Fast-developing, dynamic, quickly modernizing immigration hub with weak agriculture, but strong natural resource industry and manufacture.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: South Africa, with all of its rabid nationalism and political consolidation, looked like a tough area of influence for Japanese zaibatsu financists to penetrate, but it proved surprisingly easy to create a sizeable political foothold there amid the electoral chaos and infighting. (Region South Africa: Tokugawa Shogunate gains +7.81% Regional Influence, Free Boer Republic loses -7.81% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -3.64 HC, -4.17 IC, -6.68 EC, -1.57 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While the Tokugawa Shogunate quietly established its political lobby in South Africa, local corporations, at least, utilized their recently won monopoly to speed up the market growth and offset some (but not all) of the Japanese political gains. (Region South Africa gains +2.75% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Free Boer Republic gains +2.3% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -2.3% Regional Influence, Free Boer Republic losses: -1.21 HC, -0.28 IC, -2.82 EC, -2.34 MC)
Afrikaner Brotherhood
Children of Man
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Agitated by the Johannesburg government, the Griqua continued their forced trek north throughout the last months of 1896, with the Boer army grimly expecting these potential reasons to settle around the frontier fortifications. To their pleasant surprise, the black trekkers didn’t intend to settle down anywhere near the Boer barracks, and they continued migrating further north through the loosely guarded and often ill-specified border with Portugal-Brazil. Eventually, many of them settled down in the lands of Zambia, South Angola, and Mocambique, depriving the South-African state of some manpower and economic actors, but simultaneously expanding its cultural and economic penetration of the Portobrazilian colonies (Region South Africa gains -5 HC, -5 EC, region Congo-Gabon Region: Free Boer Republic gains +2% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -2% Regional Influence, region East Africa: Free Boer Republic gains +1% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -1% Regional Influence, Free Boer Republic losses: -2.92 HC, -3.17 IC, -4.68 EC, -0.97 MC)
Legacy of the Thirst-Land Trek
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Shortly before the establishment of the Free Boer Republic, a group of Afrikaan Trekbore (“migrating farmers”) crossed northern Namibia into Portobrazilian South Angola in an event known as Dorsland Trek (the Thirst-Land Trek). There, they quickly developed rapport with the local Portobrazilian settlers by teaching them advanced cattle breeding and marksmanship. For a time, this prosperous, multicultural community of white settlers in Southern Angola even gave rise to the now defunct enterprise of the West-Angolan Trade Company. However, the work of an entire generation was undone by the war between the FBR and the Twin Crowns. Now, the two diasporas of white settlers still have somewhat cordial relations, partially thanks to their family and intercommunal trade ties, but the colonial authorities’ trust in the Dorsland Trekboere is gone entirely. In fact, they’re quickly becoming targets of disenfranchisement and crime, giving rise to significant tensions in this sparsely populated region.
More children for Boerika
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The “demographic growth encouragement campaign,” as it became known in the official papers, came to its conclusion in the first half of 1897. Its results were rather mixed, as many patriotic Boers did indeed follow the slogans of the campaign and expanded their families significantly. Unfortunately, no state measures were undertaken to enable some sort of family capital or another form of social welfare, and many of the new children are likely to add more mouths to feed for their already struggling breadwinners, slowing down the local economy in the long run. On the other hand, vacant youngsters make for a perfect cannon fodder. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region South Africa gains +15 HC, -5 EC, Regional Growth Trend -0.25%, Free Boer Republic losses: -5.39 HC, -5.85 IC, -8.64 EC, -1.78 MC)
Dirty laundry of the white men
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: In a slavery-dominated economy with strong racial undertones, black natives of South Africa have few avenues of financial and social advance. Yet, one industry is almost dominated by black Africans, and more specifically by the Zulu natives: the laundry. In fact, in recent years these so-called “AmaWasha” have done quite well for themselves in the chaotic and cruel booming cities of the Free Boer Republic. A few of “kings” of AmaWasha have even built their business empires on the foundation of this dirty, yet so deceivingly legal business. And, having established themselves as being richer than many of the white men, they started to branch out into other “white men’s businesses,” such as real estate and banking. Of course, in many such enterprises they still have to employ white people at least as a facade for their business (after all, the racial stereotypes run deep in these parts), but now they stand as controversial figures for many disgruntled poor white workers, as well as for ideologues of white supremacy.
Submarine mother ships
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Having built up a flotilla of short-range submerged attack-vessels, the Republican Navy could finally begin proper testing of their brand new mothership prototypes in naval exercises of different scale and distance from the shore. A few issues with the original design were fixed as a result with these tests, and by the summer of 1897 this revolutionizing ships truly entered mass production on the wharfs of Boerika. (Technology quest completed, Free Boer Republic adopts “Submarine mother ships” for no additional cost, Free Boer Republic losses: -2.58 HC, -0.6 IC, -6 EC, -4.96 MC)
Rotary phase converters
Semaphore, patrol wagons, and traffic law enforcement
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: South-African countryside is not known for much of automotive traffic, but the Free Boer Republic is a home to a multitude of bustling, quickly growing cities and mining towns, in which traffic accidents are woefully common. Now, some civil servants propose fixing it via a combination of vehicles, devices, and regulations that ensure functionality and safety of motorized transportation. No funds have been allocated to that initiative as of yet, but with time it may make South-African (or Boer-managed) cities, towns, quarters, and settlements much more orderly.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: South Africa, with all of its rabid nationalism and political consolidation, looked like a tough area of influence for Japanese zaibatsu financists to penetrate, but it proved surprisingly easy to create a sizeable political foothold there amid the electoral chaos and infighting. (Region South Africa: Tokugawa Shogunate gains +7.81% Regional Influence, Free Boer Republic loses -7.81% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -3.64 HC, -4.17 IC, -6.68 EC, -1.57 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While the Tokugawa Shogunate quietly established its political lobby in South Africa, local corporations, at least, utilized their recently won monopoly to speed up the market growth and offset some (but not all) of the Japanese political gains. (Region South Africa gains +2.75% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Free Boer Republic gains +2.3% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -2.3% Regional Influence, Free Boer Republic losses: -1.21 HC, -0.28 IC, -2.82 EC, -2.34 MC)
Afrikaner Brotherhood
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The news of the Treaty of Montreal were received differently in various countries-participants of the Second Atlantic War, but Johannesburg’s reaction was, perhaps, the most dramatic. Regardless of the political camp, the perception was almost universal: after years of sable-rattling and indecisive maritime action against a power with little direct interest in the region, the Free Boer Republic finally got what it wanted, a chance to gain its own place under the sun - and then immediately withdrew from the fight when the ultimate victory was within the reach. Some rationalists argued that after the exit of Monroe Conference Bloc and the Thale Noi Lake Treaty members from the war, the Boer state couldn’t possibly hope to win the war against its embattled, but still powerful enemies, but even they considered the terms agreed upon by President Schönberg’s delegation shamefully humble and almost laughably bad. The political crisis that followed the arrival of peace was extreme in its manifestations, with Schönberg’s ruling coalition collapsing, and his own cabinet descending into infighting in a search of scapegoats. Meanwhile, an odious and controversial “hero” of the war, Admiral Blankaert, rushed to seize the moment and formed a political movement of Afrikaner Broederbond (Afrikaner Brotherhood), an almost exclusively white male neo-Calvinist party of the most rabidly jingoistic views. In his speeches, Blankaert and his mouthpieces presented a simplistic truth to the Boer citizens - that the world is a cruel place, ruled by the strong, with various hypocritical notions of civility acting just as a mask for the atrocities that lead the winners to their triumph and the losers to their death or enslavement. Supporting ethnic cleansings and war to the bitter end, the Afrikan Brotherhood seems to be the most determined player on the Boer political scene right now.
Children of Man
Spoiler :
1890: In the Free Boer Republic, not everyone is equally free. In fact, one’s skin color usually defines whether or not a particular human being is likely to be treated as a fellow citizen or as someone’s property. The only exception from this rule are the Griqua, children of mixed heritage that have developed into an militant underclass that is proud of its superiority to native slaves, but are also too freedom-loving to accept the arrogance of the white Afrikaners. Recently, more and more Griqua have been escaping the core lands of the Republic and settling on its frontier, forcing local tribes to migrate and claiming the land for themselves. It seems like the Griqua could be used as a colonization tool by the Boers, but these people would despise being forced to obey to the old unspoken laws of the Afrikaner society.
1891: Just like in the years prior to this one, the Griquas were again used as a natural tool of expanding the Afrikaan cultural reach through a combination of emigration to the frontier and straightforward squatting in the lands that used to belong to someone else. Only this time, this mixed race was encouraged to resettle not northward, toward frontiers, but return back to the south instead, taking homes and property from English settlers in the Cape. So far, this agitation hasn’t been very successful, since the Griqua are freedom-loving frontiersmen in their hearts, and are looking to distance themselves from the white Boers, not to settle themselves in the heart of the Boer territories. Either way, a small trickle of Griqua settlers has started to arrive to Kapstadt, although at this rate it could take many years to resettle English territories with the returning Griqua. (Regional quest progress: 3.89%, Free Boer Republic losses: -1.56 HC, -2.53 IC, -3.52 EC, -0.86 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: In a complete reversal of the earlier attempts to use the Griqua settlers to populate Kapstadt in the wake of Anti-English reprisals, President Schönberg’s collapsing administration urged the Griqua to turn back north. The lands they were encouraged to settle were directly adjacent to the system of forts and barracks for the Republican army being built in Bechuanalandt, Zululandt, Swazilandt, and Namibia. This raised a few red flags both among the army leadership and local chieftains tied to the Free Republic’s sphere of influence via a system of one-sided protectorate agreements. For the former, the Griqua were too untrustworthy, and their residence in the areas of critically important fortifications was perceived as a security risk - that is, unless the government could secure their loyalty in one way or another. To the latter, it simply looked like the Griqua were going to replace the native inhabitants (or take, at least, a part of their land), after they have originally accepted the Free Republic’s dominion in hopes of being left alone and allowed to live their traditional lifestyle in their ancestral lands. In a twisted sign of luck, President Schönberg and his unstable cabinet were given a respite from the two of these alarmist groups by the fact that the Griquas themselves weren’t particularly receptive to this radical reversal of the earlier policies, with only a few small groups following Johannesburg’s direction. While the majority of these biracial trekkers remain acting on their own and largely ignoring the signals sent from Johannesburg, Schönberg has some time to address the concerns of other stakeholders. (Regional quest progress: 13.32%, Free Boer Republic losses: -1.85 HC, -2.58 IC, -3.8 EC, -0.89 MC)
1891: Just like in the years prior to this one, the Griquas were again used as a natural tool of expanding the Afrikaan cultural reach through a combination of emigration to the frontier and straightforward squatting in the lands that used to belong to someone else. Only this time, this mixed race was encouraged to resettle not northward, toward frontiers, but return back to the south instead, taking homes and property from English settlers in the Cape. So far, this agitation hasn’t been very successful, since the Griqua are freedom-loving frontiersmen in their hearts, and are looking to distance themselves from the white Boers, not to settle themselves in the heart of the Boer territories. Either way, a small trickle of Griqua settlers has started to arrive to Kapstadt, although at this rate it could take many years to resettle English territories with the returning Griqua. (Regional quest progress: 3.89%, Free Boer Republic losses: -1.56 HC, -2.53 IC, -3.52 EC, -0.86 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: In a complete reversal of the earlier attempts to use the Griqua settlers to populate Kapstadt in the wake of Anti-English reprisals, President Schönberg’s collapsing administration urged the Griqua to turn back north. The lands they were encouraged to settle were directly adjacent to the system of forts and barracks for the Republican army being built in Bechuanalandt, Zululandt, Swazilandt, and Namibia. This raised a few red flags both among the army leadership and local chieftains tied to the Free Republic’s sphere of influence via a system of one-sided protectorate agreements. For the former, the Griqua were too untrustworthy, and their residence in the areas of critically important fortifications was perceived as a security risk - that is, unless the government could secure their loyalty in one way or another. To the latter, it simply looked like the Griqua were going to replace the native inhabitants (or take, at least, a part of their land), after they have originally accepted the Free Republic’s dominion in hopes of being left alone and allowed to live their traditional lifestyle in their ancestral lands. In a twisted sign of luck, President Schönberg and his unstable cabinet were given a respite from the two of these alarmist groups by the fact that the Griquas themselves weren’t particularly receptive to this radical reversal of the earlier policies, with only a few small groups following Johannesburg’s direction. While the majority of these biracial trekkers remain acting on their own and largely ignoring the signals sent from Johannesburg, Schönberg has some time to address the concerns of other stakeholders. (Regional quest progress: 13.32%, Free Boer Republic losses: -1.85 HC, -2.58 IC, -3.8 EC, -0.89 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Agitated by the Johannesburg government, the Griqua continued their forced trek north throughout the last months of 1896, with the Boer army grimly expecting these potential reasons to settle around the frontier fortifications. To their pleasant surprise, the black trekkers didn’t intend to settle down anywhere near the Boer barracks, and they continued migrating further north through the loosely guarded and often ill-specified border with Portugal-Brazil. Eventually, many of them settled down in the lands of Zambia, South Angola, and Mocambique, depriving the South-African state of some manpower and economic actors, but simultaneously expanding its cultural and economic penetration of the Portobrazilian colonies (Region South Africa gains -5 HC, -5 EC, region Congo-Gabon Region: Free Boer Republic gains +2% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -2% Regional Influence, region East Africa: Free Boer Republic gains +1% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -1% Regional Influence, Free Boer Republic losses: -2.92 HC, -3.17 IC, -4.68 EC, -0.97 MC)
Legacy of the Thirst-Land Trek
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Shortly before the establishment of the Free Boer Republic, a group of Afrikaan Trekbore (“migrating farmers”) crossed northern Namibia into Portobrazilian South Angola in an event known as Dorsland Trek (the Thirst-Land Trek). There, they quickly developed rapport with the local Portobrazilian settlers by teaching them advanced cattle breeding and marksmanship. For a time, this prosperous, multicultural community of white settlers in Southern Angola even gave rise to the now defunct enterprise of the West-Angolan Trade Company. However, the work of an entire generation was undone by the war between the FBR and the Twin Crowns. Now, the two diasporas of white settlers still have somewhat cordial relations, partially thanks to their family and intercommunal trade ties, but the colonial authorities’ trust in the Dorsland Trekboere is gone entirely. In fact, they’re quickly becoming targets of disenfranchisement and crime, giving rise to significant tensions in this sparsely populated region.
More children for Boerika
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Yet another unorthodox propaganda campaign that started in Boerika this year was concerned with creating a population boom that would compensate the nation’s war losses in the future. Unfortunately, the Free Republic still lacks a comprehensive set of family support policies, so the program had to rely mostly on the stellar reputation of the national healthcare system (something that makes giving birth less risky, but not more likely) and the power of persuasion in attempting to encourage Boer citizens to create families and have children in the young age (something that is already happening, truth be told). All in all, the program’s weakness was its vagueness of methods, and the only thing it gave birth to this spring was a new generation of lewd jokes about the Department of the Interior’s magistrates. Perhaps, in the future somebody could turn that embarrassment around. (Regional quest progress: 30.79%, Free Boer Republic losses: -3.11 HC, -3.84 IC, -5.57 EC, -1.28 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: A desperate need to save face forced the head of the Department of the Interior, C.J. Vels, to publish a series of opinion pieces that outlined the broad intent of the demographic boom promotion campaign. In a deadpan tone that sounded rather grim to many cosmopolitan and liberal politicians, Vels established that he and his colleagues were working toward making the white Boers a demographic majority in the Free Republic by making them follow a simple Biblical notion of living and procreating. While this communication campaign did make the current administration’s goals rather clear, it still didn’t solve the program’s main problem: namely, a lack of clear and working measures that would make it easier for a Boer family to have more kids. Perhaps, C.J. Vels’ encouragement and work of his propagandists have had some effect on the more gullable or ideologically charged white South-Africans, but for the most part the conditions of families with multiple children didn’t actually change, a experts warn that in the foreseeable future the program is likely to simply produce only mediocre population growth increase, with little benefit for the economy. (Regional quest progress: 82.6%, Free Boer Republic losses: -3.08 HC, -4.31 IC, -6.34 EC, -1.48 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: A desperate need to save face forced the head of the Department of the Interior, C.J. Vels, to publish a series of opinion pieces that outlined the broad intent of the demographic boom promotion campaign. In a deadpan tone that sounded rather grim to many cosmopolitan and liberal politicians, Vels established that he and his colleagues were working toward making the white Boers a demographic majority in the Free Republic by making them follow a simple Biblical notion of living and procreating. While this communication campaign did make the current administration’s goals rather clear, it still didn’t solve the program’s main problem: namely, a lack of clear and working measures that would make it easier for a Boer family to have more kids. Perhaps, C.J. Vels’ encouragement and work of his propagandists have had some effect on the more gullable or ideologically charged white South-Africans, but for the most part the conditions of families with multiple children didn’t actually change, a experts warn that in the foreseeable future the program is likely to simply produce only mediocre population growth increase, with little benefit for the economy. (Regional quest progress: 82.6%, Free Boer Republic losses: -3.08 HC, -4.31 IC, -6.34 EC, -1.48 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The “demographic growth encouragement campaign,” as it became known in the official papers, came to its conclusion in the first half of 1897. Its results were rather mixed, as many patriotic Boers did indeed follow the slogans of the campaign and expanded their families significantly. Unfortunately, no state measures were undertaken to enable some sort of family capital or another form of social welfare, and many of the new children are likely to add more mouths to feed for their already struggling breadwinners, slowing down the local economy in the long run. On the other hand, vacant youngsters make for a perfect cannon fodder. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, region South Africa gains +15 HC, -5 EC, Regional Growth Trend -0.25%, Free Boer Republic losses: -5.39 HC, -5.85 IC, -8.64 EC, -1.78 MC)
Dirty laundry of the white men
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: In a slavery-dominated economy with strong racial undertones, black natives of South Africa have few avenues of financial and social advance. Yet, one industry is almost dominated by black Africans, and more specifically by the Zulu natives: the laundry. In fact, in recent years these so-called “AmaWasha” have done quite well for themselves in the chaotic and cruel booming cities of the Free Boer Republic. A few of “kings” of AmaWasha have even built their business empires on the foundation of this dirty, yet so deceivingly legal business. And, having established themselves as being richer than many of the white men, they started to branch out into other “white men’s businesses,” such as real estate and banking. Of course, in many such enterprises they still have to employ white people at least as a facade for their business (after all, the racial stereotypes run deep in these parts), but now they stand as controversial figures for many disgruntled poor white workers, as well as for ideologues of white supremacy.
Submarine mother ships
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Having never been a maritime people, the Boers had recently found themselves to be pretty grisly sea wolves - especially when it comes to commerce raiding. Lacking submerged attack vessels for the coastal waters, the Boer Republican Navy relies in its sea lanes interdiction on above-surface raiders and long-range submarines. It is in support of the latter that the BRN requested the government to finance the development of ocean-faring support ships that carry supply, torpedoes, and even extra personnel for replenishing submarines at open sea, as well as containing a foundry and dry dock for hosting simple open-sea repairs. If the new “mother ships” prove to fit the requirements, they might significantly change the BRN’s ability to launch war far from its naval bases, located only in Madagascar and South Africa. For now, the project is in its infancy, and it may take more time (or a bigger concentration of industrial assets) to see it to completion. (Technology quest progress: 22.67%, Free Boer Republic losses: -2.21 HC, -0.48 IC, -4.79 EC, -3.54 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Boer Republican Navy may no longer be at war, but it’s surely determined to come prepared for the next one. As a part of that militaristic preparation, it has continued investing into the construction and testing of the novelty submarine mother ships. For the time being, the Boers are alone in this major engineering project, although they did hope to attract interest from the Tokugawa navy. Meanwhile, some experts point out that their mother ships’ performance may prove fairly unsatisfying if they don’t test it with more conventional and cheap short-range submerged attack vessels. The only problem in this approach is that the only submarines still used by the BRN are snorkel-outfitted ocean-going submarines. Once the classic submerged attack vessel technology is adopted, they say, the project may progress much faster and produce better results. (Technology quest progress: 68.26%, Free Boer Republic losses: -3.49 HC, -0.81 IC, -8.41 EC, -6.67 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Boer Republican Navy may no longer be at war, but it’s surely determined to come prepared for the next one. As a part of that militaristic preparation, it has continued investing into the construction and testing of the novelty submarine mother ships. For the time being, the Boers are alone in this major engineering project, although they did hope to attract interest from the Tokugawa navy. Meanwhile, some experts point out that their mother ships’ performance may prove fairly unsatisfying if they don’t test it with more conventional and cheap short-range submerged attack vessels. The only problem in this approach is that the only submarines still used by the BRN are snorkel-outfitted ocean-going submarines. Once the classic submerged attack vessel technology is adopted, they say, the project may progress much faster and produce better results. (Technology quest progress: 68.26%, Free Boer Republic losses: -3.49 HC, -0.81 IC, -8.41 EC, -6.67 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Having built up a flotilla of short-range submerged attack-vessels, the Republican Navy could finally begin proper testing of their brand new mothership prototypes in naval exercises of different scale and distance from the shore. A few issues with the original design were fixed as a result with these tests, and by the summer of 1897 this revolutionizing ships truly entered mass production on the wharfs of Boerika. (Technology quest completed, Free Boer Republic adopts “Submarine mother ships” for no additional cost, Free Boer Republic losses: -2.58 HC, -0.6 IC, -6 EC, -4.96 MC)
Rotary phase converters
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Free of war economy limitations, Boer power-production industry has started experimenting with electrical machines that convert power from one polyphase system (including frequency) to another, converting through rotary motion. These devices and systems, commonly named “rotary phase converters,” are going to prove vital in many countries, given the prevalence of DC (direct current) systems until the recent years, followed by an explosion of massive projects based on the use of various AC (alternating current) single-phase and polyphase power systems. Yet, while the expectations of this project are high, its current progress is rather humble, since most of the work is being done my small workshops, owned by entrepreneurial innovators. (Technology quest progress: 9.86%, Free Boer Republic losses: -2.73 HC, -0.64 IC, -6.58 EC, -5.22 MC)
Semaphore, patrol wagons, and traffic law enforcement
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: South-African countryside is not known for much of automotive traffic, but the Free Boer Republic is a home to a multitude of bustling, quickly growing cities and mining towns, in which traffic accidents are woefully common. Now, some civil servants propose fixing it via a combination of vehicles, devices, and regulations that ensure functionality and safety of motorized transportation. No funds have been allocated to that initiative as of yet, but with time it may make South-African (or Boer-managed) cities, towns, quarters, and settlements much more orderly.
Update 10: July 1, 1896 - June 30, 1897
Anatolia
Spoiler :
Booming territory with a powerful labor market, strong mining and agricultural production, and up-and-coming industry, yet a big level of cultural and political division.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: In Anatolia, a misguided campaign by some overly enthusiastic commanders of the Ottoman political police against various “disloyal” elements of the imperial society proved counterproductive, wasting the nation’s precious resources on counterproductive assimilationism. (Region Anatolia: Armenia gains +1.46% Regional Influence, Maghreb gains +0.47% Regional Influence, Ottoman State loses -1.93% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -40.18 HC, -45.35 IC, -67.23 EC, -16.71 MC, Armenia losses: -16.67 HC, -23.98 IC, -35.64 EC, -9.1 MC, Maghreb losses: -6.69 HC, -11 IC, -17.07 EC, -2.27 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Amid the political turbulence of the Midsummer Crisis and its subsequent aftershock, Armenian and Maghrebi businesses attempted to expand their reach into the booming Anatolian heartland, with humble gains so far. (Region Anatolia gains +0.47% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Armenia gains +0.64% Regional Influence, Maghreb gains +0.15% Regional Influence, Ottoman State loses -0.79% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -4.36 HC, -0.97 IC, -17.01 EC, -8.59 MC, Armenia losses: -1.7 HC, -0.38 IC, -4.59 EC, -3.28 MC, Maghreb losses: -2.47 HC, -0.5 IC, -5.92 EC, -3.79 MC)
From Europe to Asia
Unruly valley-lords
Pastures of the Six Vilayets
Hybrid warfare concept
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: In Anatolia, a misguided campaign by some overly enthusiastic commanders of the Ottoman political police against various “disloyal” elements of the imperial society proved counterproductive, wasting the nation’s precious resources on counterproductive assimilationism. (Region Anatolia: Armenia gains +1.46% Regional Influence, Maghreb gains +0.47% Regional Influence, Ottoman State loses -1.93% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -40.18 HC, -45.35 IC, -67.23 EC, -16.71 MC, Armenia losses: -16.67 HC, -23.98 IC, -35.64 EC, -9.1 MC, Maghreb losses: -6.69 HC, -11 IC, -17.07 EC, -2.27 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Amid the political turbulence of the Midsummer Crisis and its subsequent aftershock, Armenian and Maghrebi businesses attempted to expand their reach into the booming Anatolian heartland, with humble gains so far. (Region Anatolia gains +0.47% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Armenia gains +0.64% Regional Influence, Maghreb gains +0.15% Regional Influence, Ottoman State loses -0.79% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -4.36 HC, -0.97 IC, -17.01 EC, -8.59 MC, Armenia losses: -1.7 HC, -0.38 IC, -4.59 EC, -3.28 MC, Maghreb losses: -2.47 HC, -0.5 IC, -5.92 EC, -3.79 MC)
From Europe to Asia
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: Recent industrial advancements of the Ottoman industry and especially the growth of Anatolian commerce and agriculture, have created a significant demand for optimizing its export routes. Currently, most of the Ottoman exports go through the ports and harbors of the Aidin Vilayet in Western Anatolia, where the local Greek diaspora makes great money on the throughput. While it’s unlikely that merchant marine will ever stop being the main deliverer of Turkish cargo, some visionaries propose connecting Asia and Europe via a land route, thus improving passenger and cargo delivery to other countries of continental Europe and vice versa. This project, however, might take many shapes. First of all, there is no unity where such a line should be established: some people argue for connecting the great city of Konstantiniyye and its Galata satellite across the Bosporus Strait, which would be a natural way to boost the growth of that megapolis. Others worry that any construction in and around Konstantiniyye might damage the city’s magnificent architecture, and they suggest building a land route across the Dardanelles Strait instead, connecting the Gallipoli peninsula of Europe and the Biga peninsula of Asia. Disagreements exist also in the field of implementation. The obviously cheapest approach would be to simply improve and modernize the existing system of ferries going across the straits, but that doesn’t solve any fundamental vulnerabilities of such system. Others suggest constructing a suspension bridge that could show the world that the Russians are not the only builders of absurdly long bridgework in the world. Finally, another group of engineers proposes building an underwater tunnel instead, but that proposal is the most challenging to day, as the engineers currently lack effective tools of underwater exploration. Still, the prestige of such a project may pay off to cover for all challenges, they say.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The proposal to build a transportation pipeline connecting Europe to Asia received a surprising boost from the crisis that led to the Treaty of Odessa earlier in 1895. With the geopolitical vulnerability of the Ottoman State being demonstrated and the risks of relying on merchant marine being clear to all observers, the megaproject of connecting Anatolia to Thrace suddenly looked viable. Unfortunately, the work of such scale required a major concentration of industrial power, as well as some centralized planning. While in the former aspect the Ottoman administration readily delivered, the latter aspect proved to be lacking. Having decided quite early that they wished to concentrate on the underwater tunnel (the most technologically challenging solution of all), the Ottoman planners failed to indicate which of the two locations for such a tunnel they truly prefered. This led to a series of debates between engineers and state auditors, eventually leading to the Bosphorus Strait being chosen as the best location, with the entrances into the tunnel being dug in Galata and Konstantiniyye. Sadly, much time was lost on the way to that decision, and the progress of the titanic force gathered for implementing that project was somewhat slowed down by that fact. Still, on the good side, the solution is seen as the most secure option in case of a major conflict, and it promises a big prestige boost, to boot. Besides, once the Anatolian system of railway transit is truly modernized, the Great Bosphorus Tunnel might connect the oil fields of Basra to Eastern Europe via a direct system of railway routes, revolutionizing the economy of the region. (Regional quest progress: 73.17%, Ottoman State losses: -5.62 HC, -1.25 IC, -18.81 EC, -11.29 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The proposal to build a transportation pipeline connecting Europe to Asia received a surprising boost from the crisis that led to the Treaty of Odessa earlier in 1895. With the geopolitical vulnerability of the Ottoman State being demonstrated and the risks of relying on merchant marine being clear to all observers, the megaproject of connecting Anatolia to Thrace suddenly looked viable. Unfortunately, the work of such scale required a major concentration of industrial power, as well as some centralized planning. While in the former aspect the Ottoman administration readily delivered, the latter aspect proved to be lacking. Having decided quite early that they wished to concentrate on the underwater tunnel (the most technologically challenging solution of all), the Ottoman planners failed to indicate which of the two locations for such a tunnel they truly prefered. This led to a series of debates between engineers and state auditors, eventually leading to the Bosphorus Strait being chosen as the best location, with the entrances into the tunnel being dug in Galata and Konstantiniyye. Sadly, much time was lost on the way to that decision, and the progress of the titanic force gathered for implementing that project was somewhat slowed down by that fact. Still, on the good side, the solution is seen as the most secure option in case of a major conflict, and it promises a big prestige boost, to boot. Besides, once the Anatolian system of railway transit is truly modernized, the Great Bosphorus Tunnel might connect the oil fields of Basra to Eastern Europe via a direct system of railway routes, revolutionizing the economy of the region. (Regional quest progress: 73.17%, Ottoman State losses: -5.62 HC, -1.25 IC, -18.81 EC, -11.29 MC)
Unruly valley-lords
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: The Laz are a Karvelian-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the southern cost of the Black Sea and sharing heritage with the Georgians, After being conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, the Laz, then Orthodox Christians, were put through a long Islamization process, which essentially split that ethnos in half. One Laz group chose to stick to their religious identity and later became indistinguishable from the Pontic Greeks even in language. The other one preserved the Laz language, but completely switched to the Muslim faith. Up until the recent years, these Laz people were enjoying significant autonomy as a part of the Lazistan Sinjak (banner-district). To this day, Lazistan is only nominally administered by the Porte-appointed governor, while in fact all power in fact belongs to multiple derebeys ("valley-lords") of Laz descent. With the institution of the Grand Assembly, little has changed in Lazistan, since the deputy “elected” into Meclis-i Mebusân is some random nobody presiding over a tiny club of Superior Men in Rize. Now it’s time for the Ottoman State to decide just how much uniformity it expects from its subjects so close to the heartland.
Pastures of the Six Vilayets
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q3 1896: The lands occupied by the Armenian majority were known as the Six Vilayets in the Ottoman Empire all the way until the Armenian directorial republic was given independence by the Treaty of Odessa. Balancing between the numerous ethnic and religious minorities of that region was (and is) a grueling task for the Ottoman Sultans. Now, it seems, the newly independent Armenians are free to enjoy the taste of the same unrewarding chore. With only 19.5% of all arable land being useable for agriculture, the most of the hillocks and mountain slopes of the region are used as pastures and grazing lands by many pastoral people of this land, including Lazi, Qizilbash Turks, Circassians, Yazidi Kurds, and even the ever-nomadic Romani. Now, with the Ottoman administration gone, many of them see no reason sticking to the old spoken and unspoken rules and agreements, disrespecting all attempts of the young Armenian administration to regulate and mediate their disputes. In more than a few cases, blood has already been spilled in these pasture skirmishes, and the entire affair is seen as the first test for the young Armenian republic.
Hybrid warfare concept
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q3 1896: The original Ottoman attempt to expand into Persia and the Caucasus in 1894-1895 was based on using an improvised military strategy that employed political warfare and blended conventional warfare, irregular warfare and espionage with other influencing methods, such as disinformation, diplomacy, lawfare and foreign political intervention. For all of their gains, the Ottomans still found themselves outplayed by the united coalition of otherwise disconnected opponents, but the lessons learned from that conflict deserve to be analyzed and systematized. That may explain why the hybrid warfare concept is now being seriously researched by the Ottoman general staff, with invites for cooperation being sent as far as Edo (albeit, to not interest from the Tokugawa military). One way or another, future may prove that doctrinal approach quite useful, once it moves from an ad-hoc method to a well-established area of military thought. (Technology quest progress: 25.86%, Ottoman State losses: -3.09 HC, -4.09 IC, -6.09 EC, -1.78 MC)
Greater Caucasus
Spoiler :
Stagnant, divided, and extremely multi-ethnic region, rich with natural resources.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The splintering of the Ottoman government allowed some dormant cells of Ottoman intelligence in the Caucasus region, as well as returning “foreign deputies” of Armenian origin, to activate on their own initiative, being driven by their self-perceived mission to protect their regime’s positions in this region once dominated by Constantinople. (Region Greater Caucasus: Ottoman State gains +2.16% Regional Influence, Georgia loses -0.9% Regional Influence, Caucasian Imamate loses -1.26% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -7.76 HC, -8.76 IC, -12.98 EC, -3.23 MC, Georgia losses: -3.55 HC, -5.22 IC, -8.24 EC, -0.3 MC, Caucasian Imamate losses: -4.58 HC, -6.14 IC, -11.43 EC, -0.09 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Ottoman power might have been in decline all over Transcaucasia recently, but the Midsummer Crisis only expose the necessity of private initiative in retaining some control over that region to the patriotic Ottoman businessmen. So, while the government-sponsored Ottoman Railway Company desperately tried to slow down the Russian railway expansion, some other, more local, conflicts of business interests occurred across the region, in which the steamroller of Russian economic expansion briefly was checked and humbled. (Region Greater Caucasus gains +0.51% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Ottoman State gains +0.85% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.85% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -8.87 HC, -3.65 IC, -26.49 EC, -21.92 MC, Ottoman State losses: -14.43 HC, -3.22 IC, -56.28 EC, -28.42 MC)
Pontic smugglers
The Third Group
Transcaucasian Railway
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Just like in Ukraine, Siberia, and Central Asia, railroads became the main tools of the Russian geopolitical and economic expansion in Transcaucasia. However, unlike in Ukraine, the Transcaucasian Railway was also seen by many political leaders in Edirne as a direct threat to the Ottoman influence in that vital region. With the Baku oil fields and Georgian young munitions industry already lost to the Russian industrial conglomerates of the Nobel Brothers and Putilov, various Ottoman industrialists put together a disorganized, rag-tag effort (named the Ottoman Railway Company (ORC) or Osmanli Demiryolu) to block the last offshoot of the Transcaucasian Railway, connecting the infrastructure network with the fertile Van region of Armenia. Due to an ongoing political crisis in Edirne, the Ottoman “railway war” quickly took a desperate turn for the Turks, whose industry, while fairly used to expansionist project abroad, was unprepared to protect its own home market. Outmaneuvered in all aspects of deal-making, the ORC concentrated on simply using its influence to push the municipal authorities on the Armenian side of the border to require the Russians use the Stephenson gauge. That effort also failed, although it did cost the Russian Transcaucasian Railway the precious time during summer and early fall of 1896. In the end, it simply meant that the Russian construction crews had to continue building the last branch throughout the winter months, suffering human and material losses in the mountain passes, but still completing the project in time. That largely marked the complete Russo-Armenian domination of the Transcaucasian regional economy, not without some benefits for the local states of Georgia and Caucasian Imamate. (Regional quest completed with full success, region Greater Caucasus gains +5 HC, +15 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +1.25%, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Directorial Russia gains +2.38%, Gran Paraguay loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Armenia loses -2.08% Regional Influence, Georgia loses -0.02% Regional influence, Caucasian Imamate loses -0.03% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -15.97 HC, -6.58 IC, -47.68 EC, -39.46 MC, Ottoman State losses: -7.01 HC, -1.56 IC, -27.35 EC, -13.81 MC)
Zealots and mystics of Dagestan
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The mountain region of Dagestan in the central-western coast of the Caspian Sea is a fertile land of extreme ethnic diversity. Over forty different ethnic groups live in tightly knit enclaves throughout the region, with the biggest one of them, the Avars, numbering only twenty two percent of total population. Naturally, this means that the regional power structure is incredibly complex even by the high standards of the multilingual Caucasian Imamate. Most of the local positions are given away based on clan loyalties, with sophisticated inter-tribal agreements specifying which position to give to which political leader in order to not upset the ethnic balance and peace in the region. For years, these agreements were facilitated by tariqas, schools or orders of Sufi Islam (a branch known for its tolerance and mystical lean). This, of course, is fully aligned with the decentralized, “live-and-let-live” policies of the Caucasian Imams, all of which historically belonged to the Naqshbandi order of Sufi Islam. Yet, recent events of Ottoman-backed Armenian separatism, followed by the Russian industrial and economic expansion in the region, has awakened different forces. Firstly, various pro-Basmachi Islamic progressives are starting to argue that the policy of multiculturalism should be transformed into the policy of a Quran-guided “melting pot,” in which all ethnic and even class barriers would be erased. Meanwhile, from Arabia and Khiva, a more reactionary brand of Islam, named Wahhabism, is spreading - one which does not oppose multiculturalism, but which imposes extreme religious and social conservatism. That brand of cultural assimilation is also gaining track among many Caucasian political and religious thinkers, who view it as a perfect response to the challenges thrown to the Imamate by its neighbors (challenges it has a trouble responding to). While these socio-political ideas continue to spread throughout the Imamate, nowhere are they more divisive as in the lands of Dagestan.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The splintering of the Ottoman government allowed some dormant cells of Ottoman intelligence in the Caucasus region, as well as returning “foreign deputies” of Armenian origin, to activate on their own initiative, being driven by their self-perceived mission to protect their regime’s positions in this region once dominated by Constantinople. (Region Greater Caucasus: Ottoman State gains +2.16% Regional Influence, Georgia loses -0.9% Regional Influence, Caucasian Imamate loses -1.26% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -7.76 HC, -8.76 IC, -12.98 EC, -3.23 MC, Georgia losses: -3.55 HC, -5.22 IC, -8.24 EC, -0.3 MC, Caucasian Imamate losses: -4.58 HC, -6.14 IC, -11.43 EC, -0.09 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Ottoman power might have been in decline all over Transcaucasia recently, but the Midsummer Crisis only expose the necessity of private initiative in retaining some control over that region to the patriotic Ottoman businessmen. So, while the government-sponsored Ottoman Railway Company desperately tried to slow down the Russian railway expansion, some other, more local, conflicts of business interests occurred across the region, in which the steamroller of Russian economic expansion briefly was checked and humbled. (Region Greater Caucasus gains +0.51% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Ottoman State gains +0.85% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.85% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -8.87 HC, -3.65 IC, -26.49 EC, -21.92 MC, Ottoman State losses: -14.43 HC, -3.22 IC, -56.28 EC, -28.42 MC)
Pontic smugglers
Spoiler :
1890: Abkhazian boatmen have been chased to the port of Sukhumi by a Turkish patrol gunboat. Blamed for smuggling wine to and from Crimea (perhaps, rightfully), they hoped to find a cover in the city after abandoning their boat. After ignoring all calls for restraint, the Turkish gunboat entered Georgian waters and opened fire on the moored boat, miraculously not causing any damage to the city (and the boat itself). While no physical damage was done, newspapers on both sides have raised hell over the incident.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: For reasons yet to be discovered, a diplomatic letter was sent from Moscow to Edirne, declaring Directorial Russia’s determination of protecting the waters and the shores of Black Sea nations against incursion of Ottoman patrol boats, citing a fiver-year-old incident in the harbor of Sukhumi. A few days later, the Directorial Russian Navy assigned several squadrons of the Black Sea fleet to aggressively patrolling the Romanian and Georgian (and, of course, Russian) territorial waters, as well as posturing rather defiantly in the neutral waters as well. This only seemed to embolden various smuggling operations, who felt protected from the Ottoman patrols by this clear act of gunboat diplomacy. In Russian cities of the Black Sea coast, this political move was criticized, since it did nothing to stop smuggling operations into and out of Russia. (Regional quest progress: -11.71%, Directorial Russia losses: -1.93 HC, -1.13 IC, -2.72 EC, -4.57 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: For reasons yet to be discovered, a diplomatic letter was sent from Moscow to Edirne, declaring Directorial Russia’s determination of protecting the waters and the shores of Black Sea nations against incursion of Ottoman patrol boats, citing a fiver-year-old incident in the harbor of Sukhumi. A few days later, the Directorial Russian Navy assigned several squadrons of the Black Sea fleet to aggressively patrolling the Romanian and Georgian (and, of course, Russian) territorial waters, as well as posturing rather defiantly in the neutral waters as well. This only seemed to embolden various smuggling operations, who felt protected from the Ottoman patrols by this clear act of gunboat diplomacy. In Russian cities of the Black Sea coast, this political move was criticized, since it did nothing to stop smuggling operations into and out of Russia. (Regional quest progress: -11.71%, Directorial Russia losses: -1.93 HC, -1.13 IC, -2.72 EC, -4.57 MC)
The Third Group
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: Mesame Dasi (lit. “Third Group”) is a young movement of Georgian social-democrats, whose name was coined by one Irakli Tsereteli during his speech at the funeral for the movement’s founder Egnate Ninoshvili and then printed in the newspaper Kvali. The Third Group has originated as a Georgian attempt to mimic Russian Savelievite Circles of educated factory workers that had recently spread from Putilov armament factories in the city of Tula and are now in vogue across Russia. Unlike the Savelievites, however, the Mesame Dasi members are not as cordially accepted by the Georgian authorities, since the king and the traditionalist nobility see them as a challenge to their hereditary hierarchy. Rural workers of this lavish land also are at odds with the Third Group, seeing them as ambitious and haughty upstarts that wish to be statebuilders after barely elevating themselves from the soil. Now Aleksei Putilov, the informal representative of Russian interests in Georgia, has to make an uneasy choice: to placate the traditionalists and risk criticism from Savelievite co-thinkers of the Third Group all across Russia (something that could cool his relationship with the unions), or side with Mesame Dasi instead, disappointing the king. What’s worse, no one know if the Turks are merely waiting for one or the other decision to pounce on and divide the Georgian society.
Transcaucasian Railway
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Everywhere a Russian foot steps, a railroad must be built! That unspoken motto is followed to a letter by the Russian administration that used the recent escalation of tensions around the Caucasian Imamate to build the Transcaucasian Railway, which upon its completion will be stretching from Rostov-on-Don all the way to Tbilisi and Baku, and from there to the city of Van in Armenian Anatolia. Works on this railroad started early in the year under a military premise of supporting Russian troops expected to fight the Ottomans in the Caucasus, but after the Treaty of Odessa was signed, the railway was repurposed for economic goals, connecting Russia to the rich Baku oil fields owned by the Nobel Brothers and Putilov’s young Georgian munition industry. The work is quite far from completion, mostly due to an inhospitable, mountain terrain, but the project promises to be yet another triumph of Russian soft power projection. (Regional quest progress: 46.5%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.87 HC, -0.62 IC, -8.07 EC, -6.51 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The work on the Transcaucasian Railway continued throughout the winter months of 1895-1896 at a steady pace, almost connecting Baku and Tbilisi to the south of Russia by June 1896. However, the impassable state of several mountain passes in the Armenian plateau meant that the stretch of the railway leading to Van, the capital of Armenia, remained outside of reach of construction crews until May, meaning that the completion of the Transcaucasian Railway may wait until the second half of 1896. (Regional quest progress: 93.83%, Directorial Russia losses: -3.35 HC, -0.74 IC, -9.36 EC, -7.78 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The work on the Transcaucasian Railway continued throughout the winter months of 1895-1896 at a steady pace, almost connecting Baku and Tbilisi to the south of Russia by June 1896. However, the impassable state of several mountain passes in the Armenian plateau meant that the stretch of the railway leading to Van, the capital of Armenia, remained outside of reach of construction crews until May, meaning that the completion of the Transcaucasian Railway may wait until the second half of 1896. (Regional quest progress: 93.83%, Directorial Russia losses: -3.35 HC, -0.74 IC, -9.36 EC, -7.78 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Just like in Ukraine, Siberia, and Central Asia, railroads became the main tools of the Russian geopolitical and economic expansion in Transcaucasia. However, unlike in Ukraine, the Transcaucasian Railway was also seen by many political leaders in Edirne as a direct threat to the Ottoman influence in that vital region. With the Baku oil fields and Georgian young munitions industry already lost to the Russian industrial conglomerates of the Nobel Brothers and Putilov, various Ottoman industrialists put together a disorganized, rag-tag effort (named the Ottoman Railway Company (ORC) or Osmanli Demiryolu) to block the last offshoot of the Transcaucasian Railway, connecting the infrastructure network with the fertile Van region of Armenia. Due to an ongoing political crisis in Edirne, the Ottoman “railway war” quickly took a desperate turn for the Turks, whose industry, while fairly used to expansionist project abroad, was unprepared to protect its own home market. Outmaneuvered in all aspects of deal-making, the ORC concentrated on simply using its influence to push the municipal authorities on the Armenian side of the border to require the Russians use the Stephenson gauge. That effort also failed, although it did cost the Russian Transcaucasian Railway the precious time during summer and early fall of 1896. In the end, it simply meant that the Russian construction crews had to continue building the last branch throughout the winter months, suffering human and material losses in the mountain passes, but still completing the project in time. That largely marked the complete Russo-Armenian domination of the Transcaucasian regional economy, not without some benefits for the local states of Georgia and Caucasian Imamate. (Regional quest completed with full success, region Greater Caucasus gains +5 HC, +15 EC, +5 MC, Regional Growth Fluctuation +1.25%, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Directorial Russia gains +2.38%, Gran Paraguay loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Armenia loses -2.08% Regional Influence, Georgia loses -0.02% Regional influence, Caucasian Imamate loses -0.03% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -15.97 HC, -6.58 IC, -47.68 EC, -39.46 MC, Ottoman State losses: -7.01 HC, -1.56 IC, -27.35 EC, -13.81 MC)
Zealots and mystics of Dagestan
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The mountain region of Dagestan in the central-western coast of the Caspian Sea is a fertile land of extreme ethnic diversity. Over forty different ethnic groups live in tightly knit enclaves throughout the region, with the biggest one of them, the Avars, numbering only twenty two percent of total population. Naturally, this means that the regional power structure is incredibly complex even by the high standards of the multilingual Caucasian Imamate. Most of the local positions are given away based on clan loyalties, with sophisticated inter-tribal agreements specifying which position to give to which political leader in order to not upset the ethnic balance and peace in the region. For years, these agreements were facilitated by tariqas, schools or orders of Sufi Islam (a branch known for its tolerance and mystical lean). This, of course, is fully aligned with the decentralized, “live-and-let-live” policies of the Caucasian Imams, all of which historically belonged to the Naqshbandi order of Sufi Islam. Yet, recent events of Ottoman-backed Armenian separatism, followed by the Russian industrial and economic expansion in the region, has awakened different forces. Firstly, various pro-Basmachi Islamic progressives are starting to argue that the policy of multiculturalism should be transformed into the policy of a Quran-guided “melting pot,” in which all ethnic and even class barriers would be erased. Meanwhile, from Arabia and Khiva, a more reactionary brand of Islam, named Wahhabism, is spreading - one which does not oppose multiculturalism, but which imposes extreme religious and social conservatism. That brand of cultural assimilation is also gaining track among many Caucasian political and religious thinkers, who view it as a perfect response to the challenges thrown to the Imamate by its neighbors (challenges it has a trouble responding to). While these socio-political ideas continue to spread throughout the Imamate, nowhere are they more divisive as in the lands of Dagestan.
Arabia
Spoiler :
Slowly-developing, underpopulated region with a rudimentary, primitive economy, but unexplored natural resource deposits.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Having sold Zanzibar, the Sultan of Oman and his secret agents concentrated on protecting their Arabian political superiority from attacks by agents of governors of Ottoman border vilayets, but to no avail. (Region Arabia: Ottoman State gains +0.91% Regional Influence, Oman loses -0.91% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -2.5 HC, -2.82 IC, -4.18 EC, -1.04 MC, Oman losses: -1.66 HC, -2.61 IC, -4.65 EC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Trade guilds of Muscat attempted to use the Ottoman weakness to establish some emporiums along the Red Sea coast of Hejaz, but the Ottoman businesses there responded timely and efficiently, securing their hold over the region. (Region Arabia gains +0.32% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Ottoman State gains +0.53% Regional Influence, Oman loses -0.53% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -1.46 HC, -0.32 IC, -5.68 EC, -2.87 MC, Oman losses: -3.35 HC, -0.7 IC, -7.09 EC, -4.38 MC)
The sea and the desert
False Sharifs
The New Silk Road (Arabia)
Those who don’t sit quietly in their houses
Solar steam engine
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Having sold Zanzibar, the Sultan of Oman and his secret agents concentrated on protecting their Arabian political superiority from attacks by agents of governors of Ottoman border vilayets, but to no avail. (Region Arabia: Ottoman State gains +0.91% Regional Influence, Oman loses -0.91% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -2.5 HC, -2.82 IC, -4.18 EC, -1.04 MC, Oman losses: -1.66 HC, -2.61 IC, -4.65 EC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Trade guilds of Muscat attempted to use the Ottoman weakness to establish some emporiums along the Red Sea coast of Hejaz, but the Ottoman businesses there responded timely and efficiently, securing their hold over the region. (Region Arabia gains +0.32% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Ottoman State gains +0.53% Regional Influence, Oman loses -0.53% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -1.46 HC, -0.32 IC, -5.68 EC, -2.87 MC, Oman losses: -3.35 HC, -0.7 IC, -7.09 EC, -4.38 MC)
The sea and the desert
Spoiler :
1890: The Sultanate of Oman is built on a compromise between sea-faring, urban Ibadi communities of the Indian Ocean shore and desert-roaming Bedouin nomads of the Arabian desert. The sultan’s recent attempts to modernize the nation with the help of foreign investments were well-received in the cities, but Berber tribal warlords despise the changes this brings to their lifestyle. The divide is growing, and it remains to be seen how long Oman will be able to preserve its unity.
False Sharifs
Spoiler :
1892: Recent improvement of the Hejazi infrastructure has boosted pro-Turkish sentiments in Arabia, helping to spread modernity across the region. However, as the new ways come to replace the old, a series of cultural and value splits have resurfaced, crystallized in the argument over who should claim the title of the Sharif of Mecca and Medina, the traditional steward of the Holy Cities. For centuries, the title was held by the Hashemite clan, which recently has grown decadent on Ottoman gifts and privileges (and, naturally, completely loyal to the Turks). More fundamentalist-minded Arabs propose that the traditionalist House of Saud should keep the Holy Cities under their watch, having their streets patrolled by Wahhabi religious police to eradicate even the slightest signs of vice, opulence, or western influence (these people also tend to express a quiet desire to see Hejaz and Nejd completely free of the Turkish influence. Meanwhile, some progressivists argue, that the position of the Sharif of Mecca should be completely abandoned as a tribute to a meaningless tradition, because the authorities of the Grand Divan have proven to be much better stewards of the Holy Cities than any of the formal figureheads of the Hashemites or Sauds could ever claim to be.
The New Silk Road (Arabia)
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: Hoping to create a stable land route connecting Arabian and Persian oil deposits to the heart of the Ottoman Empire, the Sublime Porte has announced plans of creating a so-called New Silk Road, which in essence will be an integrated railway line connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. While the main thrust of this infrastructure project is being made in the Near East, going through Syria, Kurdistan, and Iraq, a secondary branch is being planned to tie the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, probably via Haifa, Um al-Rashrash, Medina, and Mecca. German and Italian investors were also invited to partake in the ambitious infrastructure project, but so far little interest has been expressed by anyone except the Porte’s own construction companies. The reasons for that were obvious. Unlike Persia and India, Arabia is not known for any particular valuable resources (at least, none that are known as of now), and besides, a railroad built to support tradition haj routes has been built a few years ago, taking care of all existing cargo traffic between the Arabian peninsula and the Ottoman Empire. It remains to be seen if the Porte’s authorities will succeed at reverting that disinterest of various investors, as the Arabian branch of the New Silk Road is finishing its planning stage and starts construction. (Regional quest progress: 18.43%, Sublime Porte losses: -3.33 HC, -2.62 IC, -8.2 EC, -4.25 MC)
Q1-Q2 1894: Ottoman efforts to develop infrastructure in Arabia continued this year, despite all skepticism of the Sultan’s economic advisers. One argument that did somewhat add to the project’s value was the Sublime Porte’s recent conflict with Qajar Persia, meaning that an alternative route connecting Ottoman Red Sea ports (crucial for the Indian Ocean commerce) with the heart of empire might come in handy, after all. (Regional quest progress: 42.8%, Sublime Porte losses: -3.94 HC, -0.89 IC, -11.23 EC, -7.08 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: As the Ottoman occupation of Persia and the destruction of the Persian navy opened the Turkish access to South-Iranian oil fields, the importance of the Arabian branch of the New Silk Road dropped again. Yet, the Grand Divan continued to invest into that project, despite not seeing much future workload for it since the construction of the Hijab railway earlier. (Regional quest progress: 69.93%, Sublime Porte losses: -3.16 HC, -0.69 IC, -9.06 EC, -7.12 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Unlike the Mesopotamian branch of the New Silk Road infrastructure project, the Arabian branch was largely seen as a road leading to nowhere, given a lack of valuable deposits in the Red Sea coast of Arabia. Still, even the critics of the project agree that the railroad could indeed help to tie various Arabian warlords and sharifs to the rule of Edirne. Besides, chances still exist that some valuable deposits could be found in the Arabian Peninsula. With these thoughts in mind, the work on this railway project continued, coming very close to completion by the summer of 1896. (Regional quest progress: 91.8%, Ottoman State losses: -3.65 HC, -0.82 IC, -12.23 EC, -7.34 MC)
Q1-Q2 1894: Ottoman efforts to develop infrastructure in Arabia continued this year, despite all skepticism of the Sultan’s economic advisers. One argument that did somewhat add to the project’s value was the Sublime Porte’s recent conflict with Qajar Persia, meaning that an alternative route connecting Ottoman Red Sea ports (crucial for the Indian Ocean commerce) with the heart of empire might come in handy, after all. (Regional quest progress: 42.8%, Sublime Porte losses: -3.94 HC, -0.89 IC, -11.23 EC, -7.08 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: As the Ottoman occupation of Persia and the destruction of the Persian navy opened the Turkish access to South-Iranian oil fields, the importance of the Arabian branch of the New Silk Road dropped again. Yet, the Grand Divan continued to invest into that project, despite not seeing much future workload for it since the construction of the Hijab railway earlier. (Regional quest progress: 69.93%, Sublime Porte losses: -3.16 HC, -0.69 IC, -9.06 EC, -7.12 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Unlike the Mesopotamian branch of the New Silk Road infrastructure project, the Arabian branch was largely seen as a road leading to nowhere, given a lack of valuable deposits in the Red Sea coast of Arabia. Still, even the critics of the project agree that the railroad could indeed help to tie various Arabian warlords and sharifs to the rule of Edirne. Besides, chances still exist that some valuable deposits could be found in the Arabian Peninsula. With these thoughts in mind, the work on this railway project continued, coming very close to completion by the summer of 1896. (Regional quest progress: 91.8%, Ottoman State losses: -3.65 HC, -0.82 IC, -12.23 EC, -7.34 MC)
Those who don’t sit quietly in their houses
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The Zaydi sect of Shi’a Islam was formed in the 8th century around the conservative interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence, according to which a Muslim who commits sins without regrets cannot belong to the Ummah (or Muslim community), but also cannot be characterized as a kafir (an infidel), being ultimately cast into Limbo. Characterising themselves as “those who don’t sit quietly in their houses” (or simply don’t remain idle) in the face of greater sins, the Zaydi are very prominent among the Yemeni tribes, especially in the mountain country. Now, Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din is quickly gaining supporters in Yemen with his fiery speeches against the Ottoman and Egyptian betrayal of Islamic values and their attempts to stroke a brotherly war.
Solar steam engine
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: If there’s one resource the Arabian Desert doesn’t lack, it’s sunlight. That made it a natural testing ground for a new invention that looks to rejuvenate the steam engine technology by making it less dependent on coal and other fuels. So-called “solar steam engine” is a machine that combines a giant lense or a dish-like mirror to concentrate sunlight on an enclosed metal vessel containing the working liquid. But heating it up, it produces steam that can then be transferred into mechanical work. Limitations of this low-maintenance, renewable-fuel steam engine is that its energy production cannot be always synchronized with energy consumption, making it quite perfect for working in conjunction with the air pressure energy storage technology that allows to utilize the energy the solar steam engine has already produced at later times and in different locations. While these limitations are still being processed by the scientific community, some Japanese zaibatsus have already sent their engineers to assist the Ottomans with the how-tos of the solar steam technology, hoping to benefit from it later, given the resource scarcity of the Japanese Islands. (Technology quest progress: 60.48%, Sublime Porte losses: -3.12 HC, -0.71 IC, -8.89 EC, -5.6 MC, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -1.31 HC, -0.28 IC, -3.15 EC, -2.56 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: The war over Persian oil has diverted the most of the Sublime State’s resources elsewhere. Yet, with fossil fuels still being at times a contested resource, the development of a solar steam engine continued in Ottoman Hijab at a slow, but steady pace. (Technology quest progress: 73.67%, Sublime Porte losses: -2.88 HC, -0.65 IC, -7.94 EC, -5.42 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: The Ottoman loss of access to the Persian oil fields, of course, was not enough to deprive the Sublime State of easy access to fossil fuels (given the size of Iraqi deposits), but it was an important reminder that development of an engine working on sustainable energy source had to continue. (Technology quest progress: 86.33%, Ottoman State losses: -2.7 HC, -0.59 IC, -8.58 EC, -5.35 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: With various infrastructure projects taking the most of the attention of the Ottoman industry, the solar steam engine development remained a relatively isolated field of investors’ interest. Still, step by step, this fuel-saving technology is moving to its completion. (Technology quest progress: 91.57%, Ottoman State losses: -2.67 HC, -0.6 IC, -8.94 EC, -5.36 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: The war over Persian oil has diverted the most of the Sublime State’s resources elsewhere. Yet, with fossil fuels still being at times a contested resource, the development of a solar steam engine continued in Ottoman Hijab at a slow, but steady pace. (Technology quest progress: 73.67%, Sublime Porte losses: -2.88 HC, -0.65 IC, -7.94 EC, -5.42 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: The Ottoman loss of access to the Persian oil fields, of course, was not enough to deprive the Sublime State of easy access to fossil fuels (given the size of Iraqi deposits), but it was an important reminder that development of an engine working on sustainable energy source had to continue. (Technology quest progress: 86.33%, Ottoman State losses: -2.7 HC, -0.59 IC, -8.58 EC, -5.35 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: With various infrastructure projects taking the most of the attention of the Ottoman industry, the solar steam engine development remained a relatively isolated field of investors’ interest. Still, step by step, this fuel-saving technology is moving to its completion. (Technology quest progress: 91.57%, Ottoman State losses: -2.67 HC, -0.6 IC, -8.94 EC, -5.36 MC)
Near East
Spoiler :
Fast-developing, but extremely ethnically and religiously complex region with mediocre economy, but big symbolic value.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Ottoman political police’s attempts to ensure political and cultural loyalty of Kurdish communities on the Ottoman side of the border backfired when Kurdish own political activists took their compatriots’ side, spreading an anti-Ottoman sentiment in the process. A (Region Near East: Kurdistan gains +0.15% Regional Influence, Ottoman State loses -0.15% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -8.64 HC, -9.75 IC, -14.45 EC, -3.59 MC, Kurdistan losses: -9.26 HC, -13.32 IC, -19.8 EC, -5.06 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Kurdish oil barons controlling the Mosul region used the disorder in northern Syria to expand their businesses to that region. (Region Near East gains +0.52% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Kurdistan gains +0.87% Regional Influence, Ottoman State loses -0.87% Regional Influence, Kurdistan losses: -3.96 HC, -0.88 IC, -10.72 EC, -7.64 MC, Ottoman State losses: -2.83 HC, -0.63 IC, -11.03 EC, -5.57 MC)
Druzes and Maronites
Sons of Dedan
Servant of two lords
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Ottoman political police’s attempts to ensure political and cultural loyalty of Kurdish communities on the Ottoman side of the border backfired when Kurdish own political activists took their compatriots’ side, spreading an anti-Ottoman sentiment in the process. A (Region Near East: Kurdistan gains +0.15% Regional Influence, Ottoman State loses -0.15% Regional Influence, Ottoman State losses: -8.64 HC, -9.75 IC, -14.45 EC, -3.59 MC, Kurdistan losses: -9.26 HC, -13.32 IC, -19.8 EC, -5.06 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Kurdish oil barons controlling the Mosul region used the disorder in northern Syria to expand their businesses to that region. (Region Near East gains +0.52% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Kurdistan gains +0.87% Regional Influence, Ottoman State loses -0.87% Regional Influence, Kurdistan losses: -3.96 HC, -0.88 IC, -10.72 EC, -7.64 MC, Ottoman State losses: -2.83 HC, -0.63 IC, -11.03 EC, -5.57 MC)
Druzes and Maronites
Spoiler :
1891: Druze and Maronite (Antioch Christian) communities of Lebanon are at it again! Their intercommunal warfare of 1860 was put down not without French colonial assistance, and it seems like both of the communities are trying to settle ancient land disputes through fighting once again. Both of these ethno-religious minorities are disenfranchised in the Sublime Porte’s state apparatus and both have little influence in the province of Palestine and Lebanon. Some advisors welcome this conflict as a part of a larger “divide and conquer” strategy, but others point out that conflicts like that siphon a lot of energy from the empire, wasting it on local squabbles.
Sons of Dedan
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1894: The Assyrians are one of the most ancient ethnic groups of the Near East, tracing their origin from Abraham’s grandson, Dedan son of Jokshan. Once they ruled the first and greatest militant empire in the history of the Fertile Crescent. Even after their loss of independence to the Babylonians, Achaemenid Persians, and every other wave of conquerors that’d come to dominate the Near East, the Assyrians remained a strong, united ethnicity, often being delegated provincial rule and serving as elite front line infantry in the armies of other empires. However, Islamic dominance in the Middle East gradually led the Assyrians to a role of dhimmi (second-class citizens), and that position remained largely unchanged throughout the past few centuries. Most recent Ottoman reforms briefly gave the Assyrian Christian community some hope of re-establishing itself as the equals to their Muslim neighbors, but this glimmer of hope doesn’t seem to have lasted long. As the Kurdish population of Iran was urged to “unify” under the Ottoman “Sublime State,” the agitation backfired, because some of the fervent Kurdish nationalists in Syria and north Iraq interpreted it as a signal to solidify Kurdish rule over other non-Turkish and non-Muslim groups of people. Kurdish emirs of Hakkari and Bohtan started forcing local Assyrians out of their villages, and scenes of marauding and abuse ensued. Some communities pulled together ad-hoc militia and fought back, while others chose to leave their lands completely, but the larger Assyrian population seems to be dead-set to fight the Kurds if they have to, forcing the Sublime Porte to decide which side it’s on.
Q1-Q2 1895: The Western Withdrawal of Ottoman influence uplifted moods of many Middle-Eastern ethnic nationalists, but the Assyrian minority was one of the most enthusiastic, having reasons to not like the Kurds and the Turks (between whose borders Assyrian lands now got split) and to aspire to match fellow Armenian Christians in their newly gained independence. (Regional quest progress: -30%)
Q1-Q2 1895: The Western Withdrawal of Ottoman influence uplifted moods of many Middle-Eastern ethnic nationalists, but the Assyrian minority was one of the most enthusiastic, having reasons to not like the Kurds and the Turks (between whose borders Assyrian lands now got split) and to aspire to match fellow Armenian Christians in their newly gained independence. (Regional quest progress: -30%)
Servant of two lords
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Sheikh Mubarak bin Sabah Al-Sabah of Kuwait belongs to an old dynasty of vassals of the Ottoman Sultans. Being technically subordinate to the appointed head of the Basra Vilayet, he has long been enjoying a great sense of independence in the local matters, one of the most important of which was his informal connection with sheikhs of Nejd and Al-Hasa in Arabia. He also has rather hostile relations with the Kaabi Arabs of Persian Khuzestan, going as far as volunteering to lead Ottoman cavalry in taking over the region, for the single purpose of putting the troublemaking Kaabi to their place. However, with the Ottoman political defeat in the east, Mubarak Al-Sabah’s authority received a painful blow, which transformed into him questioning if his loyalty to the Ottoman Sultan was truly good for his dynasty. Now, he’s rumored considering a secret agreement with another major power in the region, hoping to not openly change sides, but rather become a servant of two lords (and, in essence, not truly be bound to either of them). One options he allegedly considers is the Sultan of Egypt, given the prosperity of the Al-Sabah dynasty under the Mamluk rulers of Georgian origin in the 18th century (whose rule lasted until 1831). The other good option is the Indostani Maharaja, whose de-facto takeover of Qajar Persia is only starting to materialize into a powerful factor in the Persian Gulf economy.
Central Asia
Spoiler :
Slowly-developing region suffering from drawbacks of fast-paced modernization followed by reactionary resurgence.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While Russian railroad companies continued cutting the pie of Central-Asian economy, loyalists of the traditionalist Khan of Khiva started to clash with Basmachi activists in the Ferghana valley, earning the Basmachi movement some gains. (Region Central Asia: Basmachi State gains +0.12% Regional Influence, Khiva loses -0.12% Regional Influence, Khiva losses: -0.74 HC, -1.12 IC, -1.87 EC, Basmachi State losses: -0.54 HC, -0.81 IC, -1.43 EC, -0.03 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Russian corporate behemoth continued expanding the Russian share of the market in this poor, but strategically important region (Region Central Asia gains +2.83% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +4.72% Regional Influence, Egypt loses -1% Regional Influence, Khiva loses -1.86% Regional Influence, Basmachi State loses -1.86 Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -1.18 HC, -0.48 IC, -3.52 EC, -2.91 MC)
Retreating seas
Poppy tears for the Western world
The New Method
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While Russian railroad companies continued cutting the pie of Central-Asian economy, loyalists of the traditionalist Khan of Khiva started to clash with Basmachi activists in the Ferghana valley, earning the Basmachi movement some gains. (Region Central Asia: Basmachi State gains +0.12% Regional Influence, Khiva loses -0.12% Regional Influence, Khiva losses: -0.74 HC, -1.12 IC, -1.87 EC, Basmachi State losses: -0.54 HC, -0.81 IC, -1.43 EC, -0.03 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Russian corporate behemoth continued expanding the Russian share of the market in this poor, but strategically important region (Region Central Asia gains +2.83% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +4.72% Regional Influence, Egypt loses -1% Regional Influence, Khiva loses -1.86% Regional Influence, Basmachi State loses -1.86 Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -1.18 HC, -0.48 IC, -3.52 EC, -2.91 MC)
Retreating seas
Spoiler :
1890: The Caspian and the Aral seas used to be two major sources of agricultural activity in Central Asia. However, these seas (or, rather, giant lakes) are starting to show signs of drying up. With them, local agriculture starts shrinking, and Caspian trade is seriously impacted both by the retreat of the sea from several small Khivan ports (that literally have turned into inland cities by now). To make matters worse, the population of the Caspian sturgeon has diminished, hitting hard the caviar business that’s been keeping quite a few fishing communities very rich.
Poppy tears for the Western world
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Orient has an ancient tradition of medicinal, spiritual, and even recreational use of opium plants (Lachryma papaveris), which sap, known as the “poppy tears,” was used to produce a calming, numbing drugs and smoking powder. In the West, opium is a valuable part of the pharmaceutical industry, but recently the use of morphium has also become rather common for recreation, mostly spearheaded by the veterans of the two Atlantic Wars, who developed an opioid addiction during their wound treatment. Traditionally, it was the Indian Continent and North Africa that produced the bulk of the world’s opium and similar plants. Yet, with the Trans-Aral Railway connecting Central Asia to the Russian railway system, it’s become possible for the Russian Commonwealth to become a major producer of opium - of course, given that the Russian pharmaceutical businesses, recently attempting to compete with their North-German rivals, are willing to invest heavily into the Khanate of Khiva. What makes that investment so precarious is that the very infrastructure project that has enabled the profitability of that investment, the Trans-Aral Railway, was one of the factors of the irreversible environmental decline that made it very risky for the subjects of the Khan to invest into an export monoculture. Meanwhile, the only territory of the Khivan Khanate still capable of a strong agricultural output, including opium, is the Uzbek-populated Ferghana Valley, known for its shallow loyalty to the Khan and a constant rise of pro-Basmachi sentiments.
The New Method
Spoiler :
1890: Now that the amalgam of popular rebellions led by the Basmachi movement has achieved its purpose of freeing the peoples of East Central Asia from aristocratic exploitation, it is time for them to come together and form a united state entity. So far, the only source of central authority in the state has been the Shura-i Islam (Islamic Council) composed of muftis (Islamic scholars and interpreters of the Shariah law). That, naturally, creates quite a reactionary lean to otherwise socially progressive policies of the Basmachi. However, a new faction is getting a lot of weight in this rudimentary state apparatus. Calling themselves Taraqqiparvarlar (“progressives”), they advocate usul ul-jadid (“the new method”) in the approach to state policies. In short, it may be summarized as modernization of all spheres of life akin to the reforms of the Egyptian state. However, more reactionary factions of the Islamic Council (supported by the rural underclass) view this as a betrayal of the original, Luddite nature of the movement. For now, disagreements between the proponents of the both factions have been rather civil and took place primarily in madrasa schools, but it seems like the tensions are about to escalate soon if no faction claims victory.
Q1-Q2 1894: More and more disgruntled Islamic fundamentalists and socialists choose to dissociate themselves with Westernized, reformist movements in the Ottoman Empire, Maghreb, and even Directorial Russia. While they often bring Basmachi ideas with them to their homeland, some of these people choose to travel to the land where the Islamic Council justly rules over freed and equal people of Central Asia. With them, they bring not only money, but also political expectations common in their societies. And since even a Turkish fundamentalist could often find the rural life of Tajik or Kyrgyz herders and mountain farmers rather backward, these newcomers generally contribute to the growing influence of the Taraqqiparvarlar (“progressives”) in the Shura-i Islam. Recently, Central Asia attracted little attention from more “civilized” countries, but some observers point out that the growth of the New Method movement in the Basmachi State could start attracting more and more Muslims to their ideas far abroad from this secluded region of the planet. (Regional quest progress: -30%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Having invested so heavily into planting its agents in the Tatar-native Waisi movement of Islamic socialism, Russian intelligence bureaus were highly disappointed to see their proteges and moles being outcompeted i the Basmachi State by the New Method progressives. Of course, the Russian-backed Waisi were still a good beachhead of political influence in Central Asia, but the Main Intelligence Directorate (Glavnoye Razvedovatelnoye Upravleniye, or shortly GRU) wished that beachhead to be properly expanded. As a result, the more conservative Islamic law scholars were left to their devices, while in the more progressive circles the Waisi and Taraqqiparvarlar of New Method afficilations started to clash in passionate debates and political games. The results of this struggle are still humble, but, at least, the Waisi have started to gain some recognition in the public circles of the Basmachi State, gradually reversing the pro-New Method trend in the local politics. (Regional quest progress: 0.24%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.45 HC, -4.45 IC, -6.66 EC, -1.53 MC)
Q1-Q2 1894: More and more disgruntled Islamic fundamentalists and socialists choose to dissociate themselves with Westernized, reformist movements in the Ottoman Empire, Maghreb, and even Directorial Russia. While they often bring Basmachi ideas with them to their homeland, some of these people choose to travel to the land where the Islamic Council justly rules over freed and equal people of Central Asia. With them, they bring not only money, but also political expectations common in their societies. And since even a Turkish fundamentalist could often find the rural life of Tajik or Kyrgyz herders and mountain farmers rather backward, these newcomers generally contribute to the growing influence of the Taraqqiparvarlar (“progressives”) in the Shura-i Islam. Recently, Central Asia attracted little attention from more “civilized” countries, but some observers point out that the growth of the New Method movement in the Basmachi State could start attracting more and more Muslims to their ideas far abroad from this secluded region of the planet. (Regional quest progress: -30%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Having invested so heavily into planting its agents in the Tatar-native Waisi movement of Islamic socialism, Russian intelligence bureaus were highly disappointed to see their proteges and moles being outcompeted i the Basmachi State by the New Method progressives. Of course, the Russian-backed Waisi were still a good beachhead of political influence in Central Asia, but the Main Intelligence Directorate (Glavnoye Razvedovatelnoye Upravleniye, or shortly GRU) wished that beachhead to be properly expanded. As a result, the more conservative Islamic law scholars were left to their devices, while in the more progressive circles the Waisi and Taraqqiparvarlar of New Method afficilations started to clash in passionate debates and political games. The results of this struggle are still humble, but, at least, the Waisi have started to gain some recognition in the public circles of the Basmachi State, gradually reversing the pro-New Method trend in the local politics. (Regional quest progress: 0.24%, Directorial Russia losses: -2.45 HC, -4.45 IC, -6.66 EC, -1.53 MC)
Greater Iran
Spoiler :
Slowly-developing region with ancient history, but stuck in the state of cultural and economic slumber.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Empowered by the relinquishing of the Indostani control, the Qajar regime started to slowly rebuild regional loyalties to the dynasty. (Greater Iran: Qajar Persia gains +0.33% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -0.33% Regional Influence, Qajar Persia losses: -2.87 HC, -4.27 IC, -7.1 EC)
The plight of a conqueror
Armenian Dashnaks
Under the yellow banner
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Almost the entirety of the Indostani diplomatic mission in Tehran was sacked in August of 1896, when a series of errors in translation of critically important documents led many Iranians to believe that the Qajar dynasty was made a de-facto vassal of the Sikh Maharaja by being forced to accept the Sikh Grand Vizir as the real head of the state of Persia. A swift remediation of that blunder followed shortly, and several newspapers had it that an unnamed figure in the Indostani diplomatic corps, nicknamed by the authors of the investigative material “the Great Game Master,” had to personally beg the Maharaja to spare his life. This did end up remedying the most urgent public communication problem faced by the Indostani military command and business interests in Persia, and, by extension, by the Qajar regime. Meanwhile, in the oil-rich Khuzestan, the fight against the Kaabi insurgency continued. Seeing that active counter-insurgency operations against the semi-nomadic raiders could prove too costly, the Sikh military commandant in the region decided to concentrate the military strategy on passive protection of key facilities related to oil production, delivery, and storage with even the Indostani navy participating in some littoral patrol operations. While it did buy some time for Indostani oil companies to start rebuilding the resource harvesting infrastructure left by the Ottomans, it also left the Kaabi Arabs free to resupply and gather their strength for the last and most desperate round of the insurgency. (Regional quest progress: 73.38%, Indostan losses: -4.46 HC, -1.87 IC, -4.99 EC, -4.15 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Empowered by the relinquishing of the Indostani control, the Qajar regime started to slowly rebuild regional loyalties to the dynasty. (Greater Iran: Qajar Persia gains +0.33% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -0.33% Regional Influence, Qajar Persia losses: -2.87 HC, -4.27 IC, -7.1 EC)
The plight of a conqueror
Spoiler :
1890: Khivan conquest of Persian Mazandaran was a surprisingly easy endeavor, but now it is the retaining of the region that the Khan is finding troubles with. A non-stop guerilla warfare is being launched by local Tabarians against Khivan troops in the mountains. Recently, a stray bullet took the life of the Khan’s nephew, attracting the Khanate’s focus to the issue. What’s interesting is that the Tabarian population doesn’t seem to be interested in reintegration with the Qajar dynasty either (mostly because the Persian aristocrats are being seen as weak and decadent). Instead, Mazanderani fighters struggle for complete independence.
Armenian Dashnaks
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The vast majority of leftist activists and lecturers in Dar ol Fonoon were ethnic Armenians, traditionally closely tied with the Ottoman and Caucasian Armenian diasporas and actively being supported by them. After the collapse of the leftist cause in Tehran in the first half of 1896, it came as no surprise that the vast majority of organizers of the attack on the Sikh army barracks escaped for Iranian Azerbaijan (where they started forming a left-leaning Armenian Revolutionary Federation (“Hay Heghapokhagan Tashnagtsutiun,” simply shortened as Dashnak). Despite its clear alignment to the notion of Armenian nationalism (and an Armenian reunion with the newly independent Armenian state), the Dashnaks have a more ambitious agenda of bringing a socialist revolution to the entirety of Iran and the Near East, thus establishing their clear interest in changing the nature of Iranian government instead of simply becoming yet another separatist movement. What makes the Dashnaks so prominent is that a very sizeable chunk of Persian intelligentsia, bourgeoisie and middle class are ethnic Armenians, making it hard to tell which members of the current pro-Indostani state apparatus is a dormant supporter of a socialist revolution.
Under the yellow banner
Spoiler :
Q3 1893: Bannu Ka’b is an Arab tribe originating from Nejd on the Arabian Peninsula. Throughout most of the 18th and 19th centuries, it was known for raiding across the desert into Kuwait, Mesopotamia all the way to Basra, and even Persian Khuzestan. As the raids became more and more successful in the first half of the 19th century, during the Ottoman internal turmoil, the Kaabi started settling in the lands they raided, and were so successful at that that Qajar magistrates started to refer to the region of Khuzestan as Arabistan in some papers. By now, the Iraqi border is well-guarded by the Sublime Porte’s troops, but Kaabi settlers of Khuzestan, residing primarily in the semi-independent sheikhdom of Khoramshahr and enjoying a great deal of autonomy from the Qajar throne, are there to stay. Recently, the semi-nomads riding under Bannu Ka’b’s traditional yellow banner, became a plague of Turkish oilmen, sometimes kidnapping them for ransom, damaging pipelines, and sometimes stealing expensive equipment or, more simply, any valuables belonging to the Ottoman oil companies in the area. Qajar officials claim to be powerless against the unruly Persian Arabs, simultaneously refusing to provide Ottoman troops with the right of access to Persia. They point out that the Kaabi are driven toward banditry by the growing wealth disparity in the region, with traditional Persian economy being still very backward, and Ottoman investments presenting an easy way to become rich overnight. Meanwhile, some journalists speculate that the Kaabi Arabs may be encouraged to continue their destructive activities by Turkish competitors, the Egyptians, the Maghrebi, the Sikhs, or by some fourth power.
Q3-Q4 1894: The consequences of the Turkish clandestine invasion of Persian Kurdistan, as well as the subsequent full-scale invasion of Persia, left most of the oil industry infrastructure in Persia in shambles. This only made the remaining few pipelines in the area even more vulnerable to any sort of Arabian sabotage. It seems, the Kaabi are the Sublime Porte’s problem now. (Regional quest progress: -50%)
Q1-Q2 1895: Yet another change of authority in Khuzestan did nothing to improve local security and peace. If anything, the chaos of invasion, followed by a withdrawal of the invaders and return of even weaker past masters made the Kaabi Arabs virtually independent from any authority. This opened way to casual raiding and banditry, plunging that oil-rich region into even bigger chaos. (Regional quest progress: -75%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: In Khuzestan, the Indostani army applied a radically different approach to handling local problems. Not feeling any remorse about alienating the Kaabi Arabs, largely seen as responsible for the raids against oil refineries and pipelines, the Sikh Khalsa Phauj deployed two heavily armed veteran corps (VII and XIX, the both of which had fought together in Rajasthan against the British) to punish the raiders of Khoramshahr for their attacks. The task turned out to be not an easy one, since skeleton crawlers and quick-firing field guns turned out to be more of a statement of intent (awe-inspiring as it was) rather than practical means of combating semi-nomadic insurgents. To make the matters worse, the army had no way to tell peaceful civilians from bandits in hiding, resulting in unnecessary and uncalled for losses on the both sides. Still, despite the rough and often times barbaric nature of the war Kaabi insurgency, the Sikh army has started to gradually turn the region of Khuzestan to the Qajar control (which, given the nature of the Shahanshah’s power, only meant “Indostani control” in the long run). (Regional quest progress: -17.48%, Indostan losses: -7.27 HC, -2.79 IC, -5.01 EC, -1.99 MC)
Q3-Q4 1894: The consequences of the Turkish clandestine invasion of Persian Kurdistan, as well as the subsequent full-scale invasion of Persia, left most of the oil industry infrastructure in Persia in shambles. This only made the remaining few pipelines in the area even more vulnerable to any sort of Arabian sabotage. It seems, the Kaabi are the Sublime Porte’s problem now. (Regional quest progress: -50%)
Q1-Q2 1895: Yet another change of authority in Khuzestan did nothing to improve local security and peace. If anything, the chaos of invasion, followed by a withdrawal of the invaders and return of even weaker past masters made the Kaabi Arabs virtually independent from any authority. This opened way to casual raiding and banditry, plunging that oil-rich region into even bigger chaos. (Regional quest progress: -75%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: In Khuzestan, the Indostani army applied a radically different approach to handling local problems. Not feeling any remorse about alienating the Kaabi Arabs, largely seen as responsible for the raids against oil refineries and pipelines, the Sikh Khalsa Phauj deployed two heavily armed veteran corps (VII and XIX, the both of which had fought together in Rajasthan against the British) to punish the raiders of Khoramshahr for their attacks. The task turned out to be not an easy one, since skeleton crawlers and quick-firing field guns turned out to be more of a statement of intent (awe-inspiring as it was) rather than practical means of combating semi-nomadic insurgents. To make the matters worse, the army had no way to tell peaceful civilians from bandits in hiding, resulting in unnecessary and uncalled for losses on the both sides. Still, despite the rough and often times barbaric nature of the war Kaabi insurgency, the Sikh army has started to gradually turn the region of Khuzestan to the Qajar control (which, given the nature of the Shahanshah’s power, only meant “Indostani control” in the long run). (Regional quest progress: -17.48%, Indostan losses: -7.27 HC, -2.79 IC, -5.01 EC, -1.99 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Almost the entirety of the Indostani diplomatic mission in Tehran was sacked in August of 1896, when a series of errors in translation of critically important documents led many Iranians to believe that the Qajar dynasty was made a de-facto vassal of the Sikh Maharaja by being forced to accept the Sikh Grand Vizir as the real head of the state of Persia. A swift remediation of that blunder followed shortly, and several newspapers had it that an unnamed figure in the Indostani diplomatic corps, nicknamed by the authors of the investigative material “the Great Game Master,” had to personally beg the Maharaja to spare his life. This did end up remedying the most urgent public communication problem faced by the Indostani military command and business interests in Persia, and, by extension, by the Qajar regime. Meanwhile, in the oil-rich Khuzestan, the fight against the Kaabi insurgency continued. Seeing that active counter-insurgency operations against the semi-nomadic raiders could prove too costly, the Sikh military commandant in the region decided to concentrate the military strategy on passive protection of key facilities related to oil production, delivery, and storage with even the Indostani navy participating in some littoral patrol operations. While it did buy some time for Indostani oil companies to start rebuilding the resource harvesting infrastructure left by the Ottomans, it also left the Kaabi Arabs free to resupply and gather their strength for the last and most desperate round of the insurgency. (Regional quest progress: 73.38%, Indostan losses: -4.46 HC, -1.87 IC, -4.99 EC, -4.15 MC)
Update 10: July 1, 1896 - June 30, 1897
Indus Region
Spoiler :
Fast-developing star of Indian economy and culture, dealing with extreme religious and ethnic complexity and challenges of modernization.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Sikh authorities left the call for democratic self-organization of Islamic communities largely unanswered, which gave a chance to pro-Maghrebi imams and mullahs to expand their influence among the region’s Muslim population. (Region Indus Region: Maghreb gains +1.74% Regional Influence, Indostan loses -1.74% Regional Influence, Maghreb losses: -5.09 HC, -8.37 IC, -12.98 EC, -1.73 MC)
Minority problem
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The idea of becoming yet another Tower of Babel was scary enough for Maharaja Duleep II and his Grand Vizier to throw all available resources to establishing some sort of a universal bureaucratic linguo across the vast empire. While the three Regencies were still being set up, the entire paradigm of the functioning of the imperial bureaucracy was revamped. The Regency level administration kept using the Punjabi language and script in its documentation and communication, but lower level offices were allowed to function as the connecting link between the regional languages and the Punjabi state apparatus, with the magistrates being allowed to use the both languages. To make the preparation of this linguistically diverse and decentralized administrative system easier, the Imperial Service School was created, and educational standards for imperial bureaucrats were expanded to include language training in it. The main headquarters of the Imperial Service School were created in Lahore and Jaipur, with regional branches existing in every subah (region). All in all, this system did establish the information exchange framework of the new bureaucracy, removing the danger of overextension paralyzing the state. However, several questions remained unanswered. Firstly, even without religious nepotism being formally institutionalized, the administration of the Raj remained mostly run by adherents of the Sikh religion, making many religious minorities growing in their disappointment. Secondly, the linguistic educational improvement in the ranks of civil servants couldn’t spread to the Army and the Navy in the same way, and the matter of understanding commands of the officers remains a scourge of the now expanded Khalsa forces. Last but not least, the industrial assets assigned to the program were barely used, as the administrative reform had nothing to do with preparing a new generation of business managers. In fact, the entrepreneurial class of the Raj continued to lack a universal lingua franca, leading to a growing regionalization of the industry and commerce. In a few cases, the old business elite of the east and the south attempted to use the British language (which they already knew since the times of the British rule), but that raised some security concerns and even led to a few cases of hate crime against such entrepreneurs. (Regional quest progress: 14.44%, Indostan losses: -7.63 HC, -5.90 IC, -13.22 EC, -5.21 MC)
Quetta-Kandahar-Herat Railway
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While the All-Indostani home railway network was expanding at pace never before seen in Asia (surpassing even the speed of the Transsiberian railway construction), another, more geopolitically important railroad construction project was approaching its completion in the mountains of Afghanistan. The Quenna-Kandahar-Herat railway, designed to create a land link between India and Russia through Central Asia, was completed to an enormous celebration in Lahore, signifying a new chapter in the Eurasian trade, market accessibility, and cultural exchange. The sheer amount of Indian goods that flooded the Russian markets soon upon the railway’s completion allowed Sikh merchants to become hugely influential in the markets of Povolzhye, Transural, and Turkmenistan, with a similar thing being possible to say about Russian traders in Punjab. (Regional quest completed with success, region Indus Region gains +15 HC, +10 IC, +5 EC, +20 MC, Growth Fluctuation +2%, Directorial Russia gains +2% Regional Influence, Indostan loses -2% Regional Influence, region Central Asia: Indostan gains +2% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2% Regional influence, region Transural: Indostan gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.5% Regional influence, region Volga-Don Region: Indostan gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.5% Regional influence, Indostan losses: -4.93 HC, -1.49 IC, -10.85 EC, -8.28 MC)
Bad example, good example
The eager and the lazy
Plastic surgery and radical appearance change
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Thousands of people - both soldiers and civilians - suffered debilitating wounds in the recent series of global wars. Not all such debilitating conditions came from structural damage done to the key components of the body, as many people are left crippled by social anxiety and depression due to horrible, disfiguring scars left by such injuries on their appearance. To address the needs of these invalids, a prestigious Indostani doctor Aadam Aziz proposed to create a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body, often used for rehabilitation or disguise. Unfortunately, allotransplantation techniques that could enable safe and feasible replacement of organs and tissues with living organics were still ongoing in Northern Germany, and Dr. Aziz and his medical team were forced to work with non-organic implants and masks, some of them made out of natural or artificial rubber and rubberized materials. Still, even these experimental cosmetic treatments were impressive enough to attract the attention of the Sikh Raj’s intelligence service that now wishes to see if Dr. Aziz’s methods could be used in crafting temporary or permanent appearances for its agents, potentially opening a new chapter in the mastery of disguise. (Technology quest progress: 33.67%, Indostan losses: -6.84 HC, -6.6 IC, -10.53 EC, -1.89 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Sikh authorities left the call for democratic self-organization of Islamic communities largely unanswered, which gave a chance to pro-Maghrebi imams and mullahs to expand their influence among the region’s Muslim population. (Region Indus Region: Maghreb gains +1.74% Regional Influence, Indostan loses -1.74% Regional Influence, Maghreb losses: -5.09 HC, -8.37 IC, -12.98 EC, -1.73 MC)
Minority problem
Spoiler :
1890: Naturally, the Sikhs are the most entitled religious group in the Sikh Empire, since most of the nation’s magistrates and officers, as well as the ruling aristocracy, come from among the Sikh diaspora. However, only 17% of the nation’s swelling population are Sikhs, the rest of them being predominantly Muslims, as well as Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians. The policy of religious tolerance common across the Empire goes a long way to prevent major civic confrontation, but still, the fact remains: most of the nation’s population is not contributing to the Empire as much as they could. In part, that explains why so many trade posts, commerce chambers, and factories in the Karachi region are owned by Maghrebi investors.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The territorial gains of the Sikh Empire from the Treaty of Hong Kong supercede the most optimistic prognosis about the nation’s possible expansion. Now, the Sikh Raj of Indostan stretches from Afghani mountains to the coast of Orissa, becoming a close second most populous country in the world, after the giant of the Heavenly Kingdom. However, with the huge gains, come huge problems. The biggest one of them is a continuation of the old status-quo that placed 90 percent of the nation’s political and economic influence in the hands of Sikhs, despite them being a humble minority in the vast state. In fact, their share of Indostan’s populace has dropped from 17 to less than 5 percent, with the rest of the people being Muslim, Hindu, Zoroastrian, and Jain. Another aspect of the problem has little to do with religion (something that the policy of religious tolerance can more or less mitigate), but is entirely based on the countrymen’s ability to understand each other. The core parts of Indostan speak Punjabi, and so far that language has been the only official language of the state apparatus, judicial matters, and the army. Of course, certain language barriers existed before as well, but the recent territorial expansion took the problem to a whole different level. Virtually every valley or a hill country in the newly conquered territories has its own language or a distinct dialect, with many of them belonging to entirely different linguistic groups. This division, while seemingly superficial considering the general support that Indostani authorities have in their newly gained territories, is putting a great strain on the imperial administration and even limits the nation’s economic development, as trade ties between the village and the city often reach only as far as the common language could carry them. (Regional quest progress: -75%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The territorial gains of the Sikh Empire from the Treaty of Hong Kong supercede the most optimistic prognosis about the nation’s possible expansion. Now, the Sikh Raj of Indostan stretches from Afghani mountains to the coast of Orissa, becoming a close second most populous country in the world, after the giant of the Heavenly Kingdom. However, with the huge gains, come huge problems. The biggest one of them is a continuation of the old status-quo that placed 90 percent of the nation’s political and economic influence in the hands of Sikhs, despite them being a humble minority in the vast state. In fact, their share of Indostan’s populace has dropped from 17 to less than 5 percent, with the rest of the people being Muslim, Hindu, Zoroastrian, and Jain. Another aspect of the problem has little to do with religion (something that the policy of religious tolerance can more or less mitigate), but is entirely based on the countrymen’s ability to understand each other. The core parts of Indostan speak Punjabi, and so far that language has been the only official language of the state apparatus, judicial matters, and the army. Of course, certain language barriers existed before as well, but the recent territorial expansion took the problem to a whole different level. Virtually every valley or a hill country in the newly conquered territories has its own language or a distinct dialect, with many of them belonging to entirely different linguistic groups. This division, while seemingly superficial considering the general support that Indostani authorities have in their newly gained territories, is putting a great strain on the imperial administration and even limits the nation’s economic development, as trade ties between the village and the city often reach only as far as the common language could carry them. (Regional quest progress: -75%)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The idea of becoming yet another Tower of Babel was scary enough for Maharaja Duleep II and his Grand Vizier to throw all available resources to establishing some sort of a universal bureaucratic linguo across the vast empire. While the three Regencies were still being set up, the entire paradigm of the functioning of the imperial bureaucracy was revamped. The Regency level administration kept using the Punjabi language and script in its documentation and communication, but lower level offices were allowed to function as the connecting link between the regional languages and the Punjabi state apparatus, with the magistrates being allowed to use the both languages. To make the preparation of this linguistically diverse and decentralized administrative system easier, the Imperial Service School was created, and educational standards for imperial bureaucrats were expanded to include language training in it. The main headquarters of the Imperial Service School were created in Lahore and Jaipur, with regional branches existing in every subah (region). All in all, this system did establish the information exchange framework of the new bureaucracy, removing the danger of overextension paralyzing the state. However, several questions remained unanswered. Firstly, even without religious nepotism being formally institutionalized, the administration of the Raj remained mostly run by adherents of the Sikh religion, making many religious minorities growing in their disappointment. Secondly, the linguistic educational improvement in the ranks of civil servants couldn’t spread to the Army and the Navy in the same way, and the matter of understanding commands of the officers remains a scourge of the now expanded Khalsa forces. Last but not least, the industrial assets assigned to the program were barely used, as the administrative reform had nothing to do with preparing a new generation of business managers. In fact, the entrepreneurial class of the Raj continued to lack a universal lingua franca, leading to a growing regionalization of the industry and commerce. In a few cases, the old business elite of the east and the south attempted to use the British language (which they already knew since the times of the British rule), but that raised some security concerns and even led to a few cases of hate crime against such entrepreneurs. (Regional quest progress: 14.44%, Indostan losses: -7.63 HC, -5.90 IC, -13.22 EC, -5.21 MC)
Quetta-Kandahar-Herat Railway
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The British blockade of the Arabian Sea and an unsure status of Qajar Persia meant for Indostani ministers that an alternative way had to be found to connect the warring nation to potential markets of resources and industrial goods. Following up the Treaty of Odessa, Sikh ambassadors indeed managed to secure certain agreements with their Russian partners to use their own railway network (which was going to be extended to Central Asia soon) for the transit of Indostani goods. The only missing piece of the puzzle was a railroad that would connect Russian Transaralian and Central-Asian Railways to Balochistan and, through it, to Indostan’s heartland. Once the agreement was made, the work on the Indostani part of the railway started almost immediately. Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, was chosen for the starting point, Afgan city of Kandahar for the main middle hub, and Herat for the last big stop before the juncture with the Russian project. Logistical and engineering challenges were significant, as most of the railway’s length would go through rocky deserts (which necessitated a construction of water reservoirs) or mountains of Afghanistan. Yet, with the experience of building the Transhymalayan Railway, the Indostani engineers took a good pace, and chances are high that the first cargo will start traveling along this railway line as soon as November 1895. (Regional quest progress: 72.4%, Indostan losses: -3.36 HC, -0.91 IC, -8.19 EC, -6.61 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: While in the east the Indostani government is starting a colossal task of overhauling all railway and port infrastructure of the Ganges valley and Central India all the way to Malwa and Khandesh, in the east the construction of a challenging, but potentially game-changing Quetta-Kandahar-Herat Railway continued without any major hiccups. The progress was more slow due to a shift of industrial focus, but it’s likely that this project aiming to connect Indostan to the expansive Russian railway system and, through it, to Europe, may be completed within the next six months. (Regional quest progress: 94.97%, Indostan losses: -3.36 HC, -0.91 IC, -8.19 EC, -6.61 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: While in the east the Indostani government is starting a colossal task of overhauling all railway and port infrastructure of the Ganges valley and Central India all the way to Malwa and Khandesh, in the east the construction of a challenging, but potentially game-changing Quetta-Kandahar-Herat Railway continued without any major hiccups. The progress was more slow due to a shift of industrial focus, but it’s likely that this project aiming to connect Indostan to the expansive Russian railway system and, through it, to Europe, may be completed within the next six months. (Regional quest progress: 94.97%, Indostan losses: -3.36 HC, -0.91 IC, -8.19 EC, -6.61 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While the All-Indostani home railway network was expanding at pace never before seen in Asia (surpassing even the speed of the Transsiberian railway construction), another, more geopolitically important railroad construction project was approaching its completion in the mountains of Afghanistan. The Quenna-Kandahar-Herat railway, designed to create a land link between India and Russia through Central Asia, was completed to an enormous celebration in Lahore, signifying a new chapter in the Eurasian trade, market accessibility, and cultural exchange. The sheer amount of Indian goods that flooded the Russian markets soon upon the railway’s completion allowed Sikh merchants to become hugely influential in the markets of Povolzhye, Transural, and Turkmenistan, with a similar thing being possible to say about Russian traders in Punjab. (Regional quest completed with success, region Indus Region gains +15 HC, +10 IC, +5 EC, +20 MC, Growth Fluctuation +2%, Directorial Russia gains +2% Regional Influence, Indostan loses -2% Regional Influence, region Central Asia: Indostan gains +2% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -2% Regional influence, region Transural: Indostan gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.5% Regional influence, region Volga-Don Region: Indostan gains +0.5% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia loses -0.5% Regional influence, Indostan losses: -4.93 HC, -1.49 IC, -10.85 EC, -8.28 MC)
Bad example, good example
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The recent Sarbat Khalsa of all Sikh believers in Amritsar presented an attractive example of direct democracy to many of the Maharaja’s new subjects. If the Sikhs can solve their problems by directly voting for a solution to a problem, why can’t others? This notion seems to be playing particularly well in the hands of small-town and village communities that practice an ancient Hinduist system of local self-rule, known as gram panchayat. Essentially being based on direct assembly of communal members, presided by an elected sarpanch (elder or mayor), this system allows to quickly resolve simple disputes without any need for an intervention from the centralized bureaucracy of the state. Yet, more modernist members of the Indostani administration consider gram panchayats running against the notion of a modern, centralized state. They argue that the Sikh municipal democracy should not be confused with self-rule forms that exist in an almost complete isolation from the national government apparatus. They admit that it may be extremely hard to build an infrastructure and administration system that would provide each village with government magistrates and decent ways to communicate with the regional centers, but the effort may be worth it. Meanwhile, advisers who are more familiar with the culture and traditions of the Hinduist society warn against discriminating against such forms of localized democracy after just letting a similar form of democracy to exist among the Sikh worshippers.
The eager and the lazy
Spoiler :
Q3 1893: The region of Sindh lies in the mouth of the Indus river valley and is the home of one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. However, despite hosting a booming port of Karachi, most of the region remains primarily agricultural and somewhat backward, surpassing only “savage” Pashtunistan in its economic development. Maharaja’s advisers claim that this is caused by heavy stratification of the local Buddhist and Hindu communities, leading to very primitive agricultural techniques in the countryside and weak local commerce (again, with the exception of Karachi). Recent attempts to construct irrigation canals (such as a giant Jamrao Canal) for improving local agricultural output have led to another frustrating problem. Imperial supervisors and overmen describe local laborers as both eager and lazy at the same time (a description that may be stemming both from the northerners’ biases and misunderstanding of Sindhi social customs), which has led to invitation of Punjabi labor to work on irrigation projects. With Punjabi construction workers replacing Sinhi laborers, the progress did improve, but now Sindhi villagers complain about creeping assimilation and colonization of Sindh by the nation that was supposed to provide protection from European colonialism in the first place. It is now for the Maharaja (or anyone else) to solve that puzzle.
Plastic surgery and radical appearance change
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Thousands of people - both soldiers and civilians - suffered debilitating wounds in the recent series of global wars. Not all such debilitating conditions came from structural damage done to the key components of the body, as many people are left crippled by social anxiety and depression due to horrible, disfiguring scars left by such injuries on their appearance. To address the needs of these invalids, a prestigious Indostani doctor Aadam Aziz proposed to create a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body, often used for rehabilitation or disguise. Unfortunately, allotransplantation techniques that could enable safe and feasible replacement of organs and tissues with living organics were still ongoing in Northern Germany, and Dr. Aziz and his medical team were forced to work with non-organic implants and masks, some of them made out of natural or artificial rubber and rubberized materials. Still, even these experimental cosmetic treatments were impressive enough to attract the attention of the Sikh Raj’s intelligence service that now wishes to see if Dr. Aziz’s methods could be used in crafting temporary or permanent appearances for its agents, potentially opening a new chapter in the mastery of disguise. (Technology quest progress: 33.67%, Indostan losses: -6.84 HC, -6.6 IC, -10.53 EC, -1.89 MC)
Ganges Region
Spoiler :
Slowly-developing region with big intellectual and agricultural potential, but suffering from devastation of war, colonial exploitation and disenfranchisement.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Expansion of Assamese grandees’ businesses across the Himalayan slopes continued throughout the second after-war year, with some tea plantations being established in the far north of the Indostani territories. (Region Ganges Region gains +1.79% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +2.98% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -1.5% Regional Influence, Indostan loses -1.48% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -2.13 HC, -0.52 IC, -5.89 EC, -4.14 MC)
Bengal Presidency
Tea slavery
Babysitting the Khandwala
Unity through division
Indostan 1900 Plan (Land reform)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Thanks to the success of the Indostan-wide census, the land reform supervisors had a much easier time completing their lot redistribution. Some collateral damage to the region’s agricultural productivity was still made in the process, since some provisions of the land confiscation act made it so that many landowners felt compelled to overuse their arable land in order to not have it confiscated, exhausting the soil and leading to some regional food shortages. Still, great agricultural and light industry potential of the Ganges and Narmada regencies was unleashed, and these regions are expected to develop more dynamically in the future. (Regional quest completed with success, region Ganges Region gains +20 HC, +20 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.75%, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Indostan gains +2% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -1% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire loses -1% Regional Influence, region Central India gains +20 HC, +20 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.75%, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Indostan gains +2% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -1% Regional Influence, Gran Paraguay loses -1% Regional Influence, Indostan losses: -8.99 HC, -5.59 IC, -14.03 EC, -6.53 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Expansion of Assamese grandees’ businesses across the Himalayan slopes continued throughout the second after-war year, with some tea plantations being established in the far north of the Indostani territories. (Region Ganges Region gains +1.79% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +2.98% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -1.5% Regional Influence, Indostan loses -1.48% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -2.13 HC, -0.52 IC, -5.89 EC, -4.14 MC)
Bengal Presidency
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1893: With re-integration of the Bengali people into the greater British society, proposals came to move the main office of the Indian Protectorate from Delhi to much more prosperous and pro-British cities, such as Calcutta or Dacca. That, of course, would sadden regional elites in many Indian sub-regions, but, on the other hand, it could improve the ties between the Albion and Bengal even more, while also helping the Indian Protectorate to govern from a relatively more friendly, well-developed, and self-sufficient heartland.
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The British colonial authorities may have been forced to leave Bengal, but it doesn’t mean that Bengal is any easier to control for its new Burmese masters. In fact, the entirety of its newly gained “Western Realms” for the Third Empire is a sizeable analog of the entirety of India for the British Empire. Therefore, heated arguments have started at the court of the Konbaung Emperor, as well as in the meetings of prominent luuhcu clans. Some propose establishing a Western-style “presidency” in Bengal, led by a group of bureaucrats directly responsive only to the Emperor. Others point out that, while improving centralization, this option will negatively impact the loyalty and enfranchisement of the local peoples (who are more numerous than the Burmese ruling over them), and that calls for an establishment of an integrated, vassal “princedom,” similar to princely states of Arakan, Mon, and Assam, or the monasterial domains of Thailand. The idea is that the locals would thus have some sort of a native figure acting as a middleman between the Konbaung dynasty and its non-Burmese subjects, softening possible conflicts. (Regional quest progress: -40%)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The British colonial authorities may have been forced to leave Bengal, but it doesn’t mean that Bengal is any easier to control for its new Burmese masters. In fact, the entirety of its newly gained “Western Realms” for the Third Empire is a sizeable analog of the entirety of India for the British Empire. Therefore, heated arguments have started at the court of the Konbaung Emperor, as well as in the meetings of prominent luuhcu clans. Some propose establishing a Western-style “presidency” in Bengal, led by a group of bureaucrats directly responsive only to the Emperor. Others point out that, while improving centralization, this option will negatively impact the loyalty and enfranchisement of the local peoples (who are more numerous than the Burmese ruling over them), and that calls for an establishment of an integrated, vassal “princedom,” similar to princely states of Arakan, Mon, and Assam, or the monasterial domains of Thailand. The idea is that the locals would thus have some sort of a native figure acting as a middleman between the Konbaung dynasty and its non-Burmese subjects, softening possible conflicts. (Regional quest progress: -40%)
Tea slavery
Spoiler :
1890: Tea plantations of Assam were the biggest prize for the Burmese Empire after its successful push westward during the Great Sepoy Mutiny. At first, good old serfs and cheap free laborers were being used in harvesting precious tea leaves, but recently the Empire has established very cordial relations with the Free Boer Republic and started importing even cheaper slave labor from across the ocean. On the one hand, it helps oligarcho-dynastic clans that hold all power and most of capital in the country to cut their expenses in tea production: previously, they had to lease their serf labor force from local minor nobles of Assamese origin. With slaves (primarily of African origin), however, they can get rid of the Assamese gentry as the middlemen in this profitable business. This leaves Assamese nobility very unhappy with their position, both from the political and economic perspectives.
Q1-Q2 1893: The Taboy Expedition by the Boer East Asian Spice Trading Company has led to a downfall of previously well-established Boer-Burmese relationship. However, as the stream of “human material” from Boerika is starting to dry up on the wave of diplomatic tensions and trade wars, Portobrazilian and Dutch slave traders are stepping into the old niche, keeping the problems of Assamese gentry essentially unchanged.
Q1-Q2 1893: The Taboy Expedition by the Boer East Asian Spice Trading Company has led to a downfall of previously well-established Boer-Burmese relationship. However, as the stream of “human material” from Boerika is starting to dry up on the wave of diplomatic tensions and trade wars, Portobrazilian and Dutch slave traders are stepping into the old niche, keeping the problems of Assamese gentry essentially unchanged.
Babysitting the Khandwala
Spoiler :
Q3 1893: The region of Maithila located north of the Ganges River valley and the southern slopes of the Himalaya mountains is historically ruled by the kingdom known as Raj Darbhanga, with the ancient Khandwala brahmin dynasty holding onto all levers of the semi-feudal state. The British Protectorate Ward views that region as one of the least rebellious in the entire subcontinent, but it keeps being nagged by the Khandwala rulers for economic intervention almost annually. The problems that the Maithil kings face are old ones: nepotism and sociopancy. They lead to severe mismanagement and economic blunders, which the impartial Court of Wards has to continuously fix via its intervention and wise reinvestment of funds. This keeps creating a drag on the British colonial authority and seems to be giving a bad example to other Indian rajas who increasingly view their British protectors as benevolent “babysitters,” exchanging loyalty for economic dependency.
Unity through division
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: The Royal Commonwealth and its colonial holdings continue attracting all sorts of vultures who wish to exploit the nation’s crumbling global influence. One of such diversions seems to be developing in Bengal, where an unknown power has started sponsoring underground agitation, street lectures, and illegal publications promoting anti-colonial Pan-Asianism and, to a degree, Pan-Indianism. This wave of agitation seems to have primarily concentrated on cities not closely associated with the Bengal Presidency of the Indian Colonial Ward, thus barely touching Calcutta and mostly concentrating on Dacca. Yet, for what it was worth, the propaganda campaign found lukewarm acceptance in Bengal at best, since the region stands out as one of the most pro-British regions of India, with a its upper class integrated into the British hierarchy and booming, dynamic middle class. As for the urban and rural rabble, they simply lacked political consciousness to understand any sort of pan-nationalism (or simply nationalism, for that purpose), having little to no knowledge of the world outside their own village or town. (Regional quest progress: 22.24%, ??? losses: -3.1? HC, -4.4? IC, -7.3? EC, -1.8? MC)
Q1-Q2 1894: As the War of Asian Liberation came to Bengal, the region’s civil life also underwent a significant change. Cells of Bengali nationlists started appearing in urban centers across the region (particularly the city of Dacca), clearly sponsored and armed by a foreign nation. However, their activities were too tame to really produce much of an impact on the British army’s rear or the Bengal Presidency administration, perhaps due to some long-term plans to preserve that underground network for the future. However, another anti-British campaign took place in the region in the same time, executed, it seems, by another foreign power with a much more scarce knowledge of the complex and ancient region. That campaign was not aimed at arming any rebels and mostly attempted to promote the Burmese Empire in the eyes of the local population through illegal literature and pamphlets. While the local Buddhists (a minority in this vast province) were ecstatic to see that the Konbaung Emperor was a zealous Buddhist and a paragon of a devoted ruler, followers of the other two dominant regional religions, Islam and Hindu, were much less excited to hear about Burmese Emperor-worshipping, monastic charity, and even pork-rich cuisine. The reception of the pamphlets among the Muslims and Hindu was so poor that it led to a series of religious pogroms against local Buddhist minorities, making some observers wonder if the pamphlets were a case of extreme incompetence or intentional sabotage. One way or another, the chaos is spreading through Bengal and, while it may not directly serve the Burmese cause, it’s not helping the British cause either. (Regional quest progress: -9.19%, ??? losses: -2.7? HC, -4.0? IC, -6.5? EC, -1.6? MC, ??? losses: -4.4? HC, -4.8? IC, -6.7? EC, -1.1? MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The conquest of Bengal by the Third Burmese Empire was a result of a complete collapse of British frontlines in the region, but it was not particularly supported (or, for that purpose, opposed) by the local population. If anything the Konbaung dynasty suddenly found itself in control of a vast region with population twice bigger than the rest of the multinational empire put together, and half-a-dozen times bigger than the Burmese heartland (even considering its recent demographic boom). Many advisers suggest that the Third Empire must rush to crystallize the forces it had previously tried to rally against the British and in support of pro-Buddhist Bengali nationalism, or else the region will start slipping out of its control with little to no effort. Luckily, it will most likely take quite a few years for the educated classes of Bengal, as well the neighboring Tripura and the Khasi States, to organize some sort of political movement for their liberation, giving the Third Empire some time to decide its approach moving forward. (Regional quest progress: -29.19%)
Q1-Q2 1894: As the War of Asian Liberation came to Bengal, the region’s civil life also underwent a significant change. Cells of Bengali nationlists started appearing in urban centers across the region (particularly the city of Dacca), clearly sponsored and armed by a foreign nation. However, their activities were too tame to really produce much of an impact on the British army’s rear or the Bengal Presidency administration, perhaps due to some long-term plans to preserve that underground network for the future. However, another anti-British campaign took place in the region in the same time, executed, it seems, by another foreign power with a much more scarce knowledge of the complex and ancient region. That campaign was not aimed at arming any rebels and mostly attempted to promote the Burmese Empire in the eyes of the local population through illegal literature and pamphlets. While the local Buddhists (a minority in this vast province) were ecstatic to see that the Konbaung Emperor was a zealous Buddhist and a paragon of a devoted ruler, followers of the other two dominant regional religions, Islam and Hindu, were much less excited to hear about Burmese Emperor-worshipping, monastic charity, and even pork-rich cuisine. The reception of the pamphlets among the Muslims and Hindu was so poor that it led to a series of religious pogroms against local Buddhist minorities, making some observers wonder if the pamphlets were a case of extreme incompetence or intentional sabotage. One way or another, the chaos is spreading through Bengal and, while it may not directly serve the Burmese cause, it’s not helping the British cause either. (Regional quest progress: -9.19%, ??? losses: -2.7? HC, -4.0? IC, -6.5? EC, -1.6? MC, ??? losses: -4.4? HC, -4.8? IC, -6.7? EC, -1.1? MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The conquest of Bengal by the Third Burmese Empire was a result of a complete collapse of British frontlines in the region, but it was not particularly supported (or, for that purpose, opposed) by the local population. If anything the Konbaung dynasty suddenly found itself in control of a vast region with population twice bigger than the rest of the multinational empire put together, and half-a-dozen times bigger than the Burmese heartland (even considering its recent demographic boom). Many advisers suggest that the Third Empire must rush to crystallize the forces it had previously tried to rally against the British and in support of pro-Buddhist Bengali nationalism, or else the region will start slipping out of its control with little to no effort. Luckily, it will most likely take quite a few years for the educated classes of Bengal, as well the neighboring Tripura and the Khasi States, to organize some sort of political movement for their liberation, giving the Third Empire some time to decide its approach moving forward. (Regional quest progress: -29.19%)
Indostan 1900 Plan (Land reform)
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The sweeping modernization of the Indian territories gained by the Sikh Raj of Indostan from the British required a major redistribution of land. Besides, the giant population of the region couldn’t truly contribute to the Raj’s society if the most of its members were dependent on subsistence farming for survival. The idea was that any arable land left unused by its formal holders (either due to misuse or disappearance of the said holders in the fire of the war and the exodus of British collaborators that followed) would be either redistributed or confiscated by the government if the owners don’t put it to good use. In a lot of regions still using obsolete agricultural techniques, it means that overly eager Sikh administrators forced the landlords to ruin their fields that were intentionally left to recover from a few years of exploitation, thus hurting the future harvests. However, such cases of overreach could only stain, but not tarnish the overall positive picture, as on the larger scale the land reform was well-received, given how much land previously owned by the British administration and its lackeys was indeed left unused. However, the effort remained heavily dependent on the census that was run simultaneously, causing an only humble progress in the land reform. (Regional quest progress: 12.7%, Indostan losses: -5.29 HC, -1.43 IC, -12.86 EC, -10.39 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Thanks to the success of the Indostan-wide census, the land reform supervisors had a much easier time completing their lot redistribution. Some collateral damage to the region’s agricultural productivity was still made in the process, since some provisions of the land confiscation act made it so that many landowners felt compelled to overuse their arable land in order to not have it confiscated, exhausting the soil and leading to some regional food shortages. Still, great agricultural and light industry potential of the Ganges and Narmada regencies was unleashed, and these regions are expected to develop more dynamically in the future. (Regional quest completed with success, region Ganges Region gains +20 HC, +20 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.75%, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Indostan gains +2% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -1% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire loses -1% Regional Influence, region Central India gains +20 HC, +20 EC, Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.75%, Regional Growth Trend +0.25%, Indostan gains +2% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -1% Regional Influence, Gran Paraguay loses -1% Regional Influence, Indostan losses: -8.99 HC, -5.59 IC, -14.03 EC, -6.53 MC)
Central India
Spoiler :
Slowly-developing core of British India with huge demographic and economic potential, hidden under the layers of colonial disenfranchisement.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Arakani and Pattani traders from the Burmese realm started to establish their humble, but known presence in the ports of Orissa and Karnataka. (Region Central India gains +0.52% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +0.86% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Gran Paraguay loses -0.61% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -1.22 HC, -0.3 IC, -3.37 EC, -2.36 MC)
Invisible Crowds (British India)
Invisible Crowds (Indostan)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Without any major hiccups and distractions, Indostani social workers successfully completed the full census of the newly gained territories, under a protection of some garrison troops. The results were stellar, as huge swaths of the population, especially in rural and remote region, became visible for the purposes of taxation, education, administration, and military recruitment. Besides, it also put the Indostani territories in sharp contrast with the neighboring Burmese and British territories, where many tribal groups remain effectively “invisible” to the state apparatus, especially in the swamplands and the hill country. (Regional quest completed with full success, region Ganges Region gains +20 HC, +5 IC, +10 EC, Indostan gains +5% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire loses -5% Regional Influence, region Central India: 20 HC, 5 IC, 10 EC, Indostan gains +6% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -4% Regional influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -2% Regional Influence, Indostan losses: -8.92 HC, -7.04 IC, -11.43 EC, -2.45 MC)
Indostan 1900 Plan (Infrastructure)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Mobilization of the Indostani state-owned industries in the first after-war year paid off greatly when all of the grandiose plans for a nation-wide, diverse railway network stopped being merely plans and became actual, functional railway branches. The most of the year was spent making the core of the new network function, allowing for further, more critical extensions to proceed. Eventually, the existing Surat-Katni line finished repairing, and the auxiliary Bilaspur-Mhow connection complementing the Asirgarh Pass line was completed. With these infrastructural installments done, material delivery became possible for the second, and more geopolitically critical part of the Indostan 1900 plan: namely, the establishment of a major Indostani harbor in Orissa (the port of Balasore was chosen for that purpose), along with a heavy traffic-capable railway line cutting through the Orissa highlands. Additional branches are planned to connect Rewa and Daltonganj, adding the Orissan capital of Cuttack to the Indostan-wide railway network and providing transit through the Chota Nagpur plateau. As for the western part of the Raj, works have started on an extension of the Katni-Balasore line northwest into Rajasthan, with the Marwar-Chittoor-Kota and Jodhpur-Jaisalmer-Rohri sections being key to establish a continuous, uninterrupted line between the Indostani terminus of the Russian-built Central Asian Railway at Herat and the Ganges Regency. While a good part of the colossal project remains to be finished, it appears that the Indostani industry is close to performing a miracle of public engineering that few observers considered possible at all. If anything, they might complete it long before 1900. (Regional quest progress: 74.3%, Indostan losses: -10.77 HC, -3.51 IC, -20.07 EC, -14.66 MC)
“Criminal classes” of Gondwana
Sacred cows
Ashmore Wall
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Rumors have it that for a few afterwar months, the young star of the British military Fieldmarshal Edward Bailey Ashmore was considered by the Round Table as a potential replacement for Lord-Protector Strange. Yet, the cabinet talks seemed to have led to nothing, and the hero of the Second Atlantic War was allowed to remain in India and finish his work on fortifying the British holdings from the north. (Regional quest completed with success, troops defending British Central India from Indostani Central India or Ganges Region gain +1 CR bonus, British Commonwealth losses: -6.2 HC, -1.47 IC, -3.51 EC, -2.2 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Arakani and Pattani traders from the Burmese realm started to establish their humble, but known presence in the ports of Orissa and Karnataka. (Region Central India gains +0.52% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +0.86% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -0.25% Regional Influence, Gran Paraguay loses -0.61% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -1.22 HC, -0.3 IC, -3.37 EC, -2.36 MC)
Invisible Crowds (British India)
Spoiler :
1890: The Indian sub-continent is one of the most densely populated regions on Earth, but the policy of colonial suppression adopted by the British government since the Great Sepoy Mutiny and increased after the Atlantic War is now making most of India’s central provinces highly disenfranchised. Millions of people are virtually invisible to the colonial authorities in regards to taxation, army service, statistics, economic participation, and other aspects. Most of the region lives hidden behind a veil of class, caste, tribal divisions, and religious intolerance. As a result, Central India is benefiting so little to the Royal Commonwealth.
1891: In order to get a better visibility and understanding of its huge, globally dispersed nation, the British government undertook a national census, which in most of the nation produced pretty predictable results, with some clarity improvements here and there. However, in the heart of the British Raj, the census bureau hit a predictable obstacle: the populous, largely illiterate, tribally divided society with big level of separation by caste and very little desire to cooperate with the census magistrates. In some areas, very little English was spoken by the natives, and in the slums of bigger cities mugging and pickpocketing plagued the censors. What little data that was gathered proved to be full of errors and “ghost people,” as communal elders often tried to misrepresent the number of wives or children (especially, boys) they had, hoping thus to evade bigger taxation and possibilities of army conscription of their family members. The census was not a complete failure, but it seems like years of effort (or significant mobilization of efforts) may be required to make the Indian Raj more transparent to the British officials. (Regional quest progress: 5.6%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -1.86 HC, -2.36 IC, -3.97 EC, -1.29 MC)
1892: The Protectorate wasn’t dissuaded by the last year’s challenges from attempting to get a clear picture of its subjects, especially in its most populous and least orderly region of India. Significant mobilization of efforts took place, with some censors even requesting British police guards or hiring local Gentoo mercenaries in order to enter the least welcoming of Deccani city slums and countryside areas. That has propelled the census forward and eradicated some of the old errors in the sheets, although much work still remains before the results could be evaluated. (Regional quest progress: 49.05%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.69 HC, -3.42 IC, -5.74 EC, -1.86 MC)
Q1-Q2 1893: The efforts to include the myriads of faces of India into the British census have continued this year with no major changes. Even though at this point the rest of the Commonwealth’s regions have completed their efforts, the Indian Protectorate admits that is still wishes to finish the census in the subcontinent’s Central regions even asynchronically from the rest of the nation, at least for the benefit of gaining a better insight at the region’s demographics. (Regional quest progress: 85.5%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.53 HC, -3.22 IC, -5.41 EC, -1.75 MC)
Q3 1893: The Second Atlantic War and associated reorganization of the Secret Ward took away most of resources that Great Britain was planning to use for its census effort in India. However, some token administrative presence remained engaged on this important task, grinding through immense demographic and geographical challenges it posed. (Regional quest progress: 93%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.06 HC, -2.61 IC, -4.39 EC, -1.42 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The chaos of the War of Indian Liberation (as it is known in Indostan), combined with the havoc brought by the Great Gentoo Uprising, has made a mess of the British colonial administration in India (and especially in its central parts). This, naturally, meant that a good half of the past census data was either destroyed in fighting or was no longer applicable. Meanwhile, their Indostani colleagues, who found themselves gaining the lands of Malwa and Orissa as a result of the Treaty of Hong Kong, have also inherited the same problem from their predecessors: they have very little insight from looking into the turbid waters of Central-Indian demographics. (Regional quest progress: 43%)
Still, the Protectorate Ward persisted. New census commissions were formed across the war-torn and rebellious lands, and the magistrates (those of them who survived the chaos of the past few years, anyway) went on about their business. However, this time around British India was in a much more unruly state than before, and many of the civil servants got either killed by remaining gentoo rebels while travelling from one village to another or were simply given fake information, hoping to hide the true number of villagers who went to join the gentoos in the hill country. If anything, it made the British job harder, but it’s taught them an important lesson: it’s unwise to perform a census in a war-torn country. (Regional quest progress: 40.05%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -3.31 HC, -4.2 IC, -6.82 EC, -2.04 MC)
1891: In order to get a better visibility and understanding of its huge, globally dispersed nation, the British government undertook a national census, which in most of the nation produced pretty predictable results, with some clarity improvements here and there. However, in the heart of the British Raj, the census bureau hit a predictable obstacle: the populous, largely illiterate, tribally divided society with big level of separation by caste and very little desire to cooperate with the census magistrates. In some areas, very little English was spoken by the natives, and in the slums of bigger cities mugging and pickpocketing plagued the censors. What little data that was gathered proved to be full of errors and “ghost people,” as communal elders often tried to misrepresent the number of wives or children (especially, boys) they had, hoping thus to evade bigger taxation and possibilities of army conscription of their family members. The census was not a complete failure, but it seems like years of effort (or significant mobilization of efforts) may be required to make the Indian Raj more transparent to the British officials. (Regional quest progress: 5.6%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -1.86 HC, -2.36 IC, -3.97 EC, -1.29 MC)
1892: The Protectorate wasn’t dissuaded by the last year’s challenges from attempting to get a clear picture of its subjects, especially in its most populous and least orderly region of India. Significant mobilization of efforts took place, with some censors even requesting British police guards or hiring local Gentoo mercenaries in order to enter the least welcoming of Deccani city slums and countryside areas. That has propelled the census forward and eradicated some of the old errors in the sheets, although much work still remains before the results could be evaluated. (Regional quest progress: 49.05%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.69 HC, -3.42 IC, -5.74 EC, -1.86 MC)
Q1-Q2 1893: The efforts to include the myriads of faces of India into the British census have continued this year with no major changes. Even though at this point the rest of the Commonwealth’s regions have completed their efforts, the Indian Protectorate admits that is still wishes to finish the census in the subcontinent’s Central regions even asynchronically from the rest of the nation, at least for the benefit of gaining a better insight at the region’s demographics. (Regional quest progress: 85.5%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.53 HC, -3.22 IC, -5.41 EC, -1.75 MC)
Q3 1893: The Second Atlantic War and associated reorganization of the Secret Ward took away most of resources that Great Britain was planning to use for its census effort in India. However, some token administrative presence remained engaged on this important task, grinding through immense demographic and geographical challenges it posed. (Regional quest progress: 93%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.06 HC, -2.61 IC, -4.39 EC, -1.42 MC)
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The chaos of the War of Indian Liberation (as it is known in Indostan), combined with the havoc brought by the Great Gentoo Uprising, has made a mess of the British colonial administration in India (and especially in its central parts). This, naturally, meant that a good half of the past census data was either destroyed in fighting or was no longer applicable. Meanwhile, their Indostani colleagues, who found themselves gaining the lands of Malwa and Orissa as a result of the Treaty of Hong Kong, have also inherited the same problem from their predecessors: they have very little insight from looking into the turbid waters of Central-Indian demographics. (Regional quest progress: 43%)
Still, the Protectorate Ward persisted. New census commissions were formed across the war-torn and rebellious lands, and the magistrates (those of them who survived the chaos of the past few years, anyway) went on about their business. However, this time around British India was in a much more unruly state than before, and many of the civil servants got either killed by remaining gentoo rebels while travelling from one village to another or were simply given fake information, hoping to hide the true number of villagers who went to join the gentoos in the hill country. If anything, it made the British job harder, but it’s taught them an important lesson: it’s unwise to perform a census in a war-torn country. (Regional quest progress: 40.05%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -3.31 HC, -4.2 IC, -6.82 EC, -2.04 MC)
Invisible Crowds (Indostan)
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Mirroring the British efforts to survey the population of Central and Southern India, Indostan has also started a major census in preparation for the extremely ambitious Indostan 1900 Plan that deserves its own report. The census efforts went along with a broad administrative reform that divided the country into three regencies: the Indus Regency, comprising all of Indostan before the war except Kathiawar, the Ganges Regency that included the entirety of the Doab, and the Narmada Regency, comprising Rajasthan, Gujarat, Khandesh, Malwa, and the rest of Central India southwest of the Jhansi-Katni line. As for the survey itself, it mostly had to face the same challenges as the British surveyors did, including even some rogue gentoo bandits. Luckily for the Indostani magistrates, though, some garrison forces were assigned to ensuring the security of the surveyors, granting them some protection in the war-torn country. A lot of efforts are still needed to complete the census, but, at least, Indostan has the resources and the will to do so.(Regional quest progress: 53.71%, Indostan losses: -8.11 HC, -9.6 IC, -14.26 EC, -2.54 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Without any major hiccups and distractions, Indostani social workers successfully completed the full census of the newly gained territories, under a protection of some garrison troops. The results were stellar, as huge swaths of the population, especially in rural and remote region, became visible for the purposes of taxation, education, administration, and military recruitment. Besides, it also put the Indostani territories in sharp contrast with the neighboring Burmese and British territories, where many tribal groups remain effectively “invisible” to the state apparatus, especially in the swamplands and the hill country. (Regional quest completed with full success, region Ganges Region gains +20 HC, +5 IC, +10 EC, Indostan gains +5% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire loses -5% Regional Influence, region Central India: 20 HC, 5 IC, 10 EC, Indostan gains +6% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -4% Regional influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -2% Regional Influence, Indostan losses: -8.92 HC, -7.04 IC, -11.43 EC, -2.45 MC)
Indostan 1900 Plan (Infrastructure)
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: Another, arguably, critical, part of the Indostan 1900 Plan started in the second part of 1895 was the total overhaul of the Indian infrastructure outside the core Punjabi territories. The core idea was centered on the expansion of the Surat-Katni railroad, and its extension directly to Midnapore through Jharkhand, as well as construction of support lines connecting key stations to the main lines along the Ganges. The main line was expected to be later extended east toward the Burmese territories via the Katni-Midnapore railroad, with a similar extension reinforcing the Rajasthan network and its connection to the Indus Regency across the Thar desert. The more far-reaching part of the railroad construction aimed to create regional branches, such as Rohri-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur, Jaisalmer-Bikaner, and Bahawalpur-Bikaner, as well as local connections, such as Udaipur-Igar-Ahmadnagar, Gwalior-Kotah-Chitor, Jaipur-Kotah-Ujjain, and Baroda-Bodeli-Mhow-Indore. Outside of the colossal task of building a modern and functional railway system, a key concept in the plan was to improve communications across the country and strive towards the nation’s self-sufficiency as much as feasible. Therefore, in addition to the rail expansion, at least one large port was planned to be constructed in the east coast, with four locations being scouted: at Haldia, the mouth of the Subarnarekha at Balasore, Dhamra, and Paradip. A more far-reaching goal for the harbor expansion program was to provide each of the newly formed Regencies with at least one ocean port, which alarmed some centralization proponents, who wished to see the Regencies more dependent on Amritsar. Yet, the proponents of the plan pointed out that it had an immense potential of re-energising regional development of newly gained territories and, importantly, significantly lower the cost of administering the vast empire. If only every major town in the nation could be reached from Amritsar in less than two weeks, they argued, perhaps, the idea of regionalism and separatism would start to die out naturally. If that assumption is correct, only time will show, as the infrastructure overhaul is still in its infancy. (Regional quest progress: 7.53%, Indostan losses: -6.57 HC, -1.77 IC, -15.98 EC, -12.91 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Mobilization of the Indostani state-owned industries in the first after-war year paid off greatly when all of the grandiose plans for a nation-wide, diverse railway network stopped being merely plans and became actual, functional railway branches. The most of the year was spent making the core of the new network function, allowing for further, more critical extensions to proceed. Eventually, the existing Surat-Katni line finished repairing, and the auxiliary Bilaspur-Mhow connection complementing the Asirgarh Pass line was completed. With these infrastructural installments done, material delivery became possible for the second, and more geopolitically critical part of the Indostan 1900 plan: namely, the establishment of a major Indostani harbor in Orissa (the port of Balasore was chosen for that purpose), along with a heavy traffic-capable railway line cutting through the Orissa highlands. Additional branches are planned to connect Rewa and Daltonganj, adding the Orissan capital of Cuttack to the Indostan-wide railway network and providing transit through the Chota Nagpur plateau. As for the western part of the Raj, works have started on an extension of the Katni-Balasore line northwest into Rajasthan, with the Marwar-Chittoor-Kota and Jodhpur-Jaisalmer-Rohri sections being key to establish a continuous, uninterrupted line between the Indostani terminus of the Russian-built Central Asian Railway at Herat and the Ganges Regency. While a good part of the colossal project remains to be finished, it appears that the Indostani industry is close to performing a miracle of public engineering that few observers considered possible at all. If anything, they might complete it long before 1900. (Regional quest progress: 74.3%, Indostan losses: -10.77 HC, -3.51 IC, -20.07 EC, -14.66 MC)
“Criminal classes” of Gondwana
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: The Gondi people have lived in the hillocks of the Deccan Plateau and rocky canyons of the Deccan Traps for thousands of years, rarely being organized well enough form anything but the most primitive tribal chiefdoms. However, as great empires rose and fell, every new conqueror was generally content with letting the hill people of Gondwana be, as long as they payed their scutage and sent their levies to fight as auxiliaries in the grand armies of the Indian subcontinent. Disadvantaged, economically backward, and often semi-nomadic, the Godni folk has recently been caught in crossfire of the War of Indian Liberation. Indostani-sponsored gentoo bands were essentially racketeering many Gondi tribes into providing the rebels with food, “field wives,” and haven during British reprisals. Once the gentoos were put down, it was the British turn to abuse the Gondi tribes, albeit, in a less intentional fashion. The thing is, British logging operations in Deccan have attracted the ire of many desperate hill tribes, who depend on the forest both for their subsistence hunting and gathering and for practicing their nature-based folk religion, known as Koyapunem. Predictably, after all the bloodshed of the Indostani war and Gentoo Revolt, the Protectorate Office had no patience left to analyze the intricacies of Gondi culture, and the hillmen’s action against logging operations was answered with a decree that declared them “criminal classes” of the indian society. Now, the quest is what should the British authorities do with them.
Sacred cows
Spoiler :
1890: Disbandment of the sepoy troops after the Great Sepoy Mutiny did help the British government to establish direct control over India and temporarily regain stability in that region. However, as British trust to the locals eroded, more and more troops had to be sent to India from Great Britain or its African and Asian colonies. These troops are in their majority not familiar with either Muslim or Hindu traditions, and the region is full of stories of soldiers on leave clashing with offended locals. This is making a tense social situation even worse.
Ashmore Wall
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: One war was just about to end, when the British Army of India was tasked with preparing for the next one. Fieldmarshal Ashmore was tasked with preparing a string of defenses, safeguarding British-held Deccan, Maharashtra, Orissa and Telangana from potential enemy incursions in the future. Nicknamed the “Ashmore Wall,” this massive fortification project contains a series of fortresses protecting approaches to Bombay, followed by mountain fortifications in the Satrupa Mountains, which then turn into more spread-out fortified districts farther to the east. While the project is far from being over, at least, the British engineers are not tempted by Indostani tharra smugglers into the life of debauchery (and… fun?) like they were in 1893. (Regional quest progress: 47.55%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -6.09 HC, -1.58 IC, -3.8 EC, -2.39 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Rumors have it that for a few afterwar months, the young star of the British military Fieldmarshal Edward Bailey Ashmore was considered by the Round Table as a potential replacement for Lord-Protector Strange. Yet, the cabinet talks seemed to have led to nothing, and the hero of the Second Atlantic War was allowed to remain in India and finish his work on fortifying the British holdings from the north. (Regional quest completed with success, troops defending British Central India from Indostani Central India or Ganges Region gain +1 CR bonus, British Commonwealth losses: -6.2 HC, -1.47 IC, -3.51 EC, -2.2 MC)
South India
Spoiler :
Slowly-developing hub of Indian Ocean trade with uncovered demographic and economic potential and great ethnic complexity.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Enraged by the North-German handling of the Sri-Lankan affairs, Emperor Thibaw Min of the Third Burmese Empire ordered loyal luuchu clans to dispatch their charter merchants to the Coromandel coast, where they were tasked with competing with the Europeans in the most shrewd and aggressive manner possible - ironically, bringing plenty of wealth to that region in the process. (Region South India gains +2.31% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +3.86% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.25% Regional Influence, Gran Paraguay loses -2.61% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -1.98 HC, -0.49 IC, -5.47 EC, -3.84 MC)
Princely states
Hyderabadi tehzeeb
Rama’s equal
Unwanted supervisors
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: It would be an overstatement to say that the North-German mission to Sri Lanka had been warned about how infuriating its “supervision” policy was to the Sinhalese Buddhist majority of the island’s population. Yet, for reasons unknown, the North-Germans only doubled down on their pursuit of rather arbitrary justice that threatened to set various communities against each other, simultaneously running the Federation’s standing in the eyes of the colonial British authorities and the Konbaung court. The proposal of setting up a “compromise” government that essentially robbed Theravada Buddhists of their popular majority status was quickly rejected by the rudimentary local authorities, and the North-German attempts to investigate various discrimination cases against the Hindu and Muslim minorities, as well as the “war crimes” of the Joint Opposition sent the first devastating warnings to the NGF’s mission, when the North-German army units (most of them, colonial regiments from Tsingtao and Tanganyika) started being attacked by village militias in the island’s outback. Hoping to display strength amid such disrespect for his mandate, the North-German military commander attempted to round up and arrest many suspected past members of Ekabadda Vipakshaya in the capital city of Colombo, but, to his surprise, the newly formed Sri-Lankan regiments refused to obey the North-German orders and sided with the Joint Opposition in a tense standoff that eventually erupted into a brutal mutiny when one of the North-German company commanders lost his nerve and ordered an assault of a hastily built barricade in response for a stray shot. To make matters worse, on the evening of the first day of the Colombo Mutiny the North-German foreign mission released a formal announcement demanding the arrest of a big number of suspects of war crimes which, in addition to some members of the Sri-Lankan military, included a number of British, Burmese, and Tokugawa citizens (most of them suspected foreign agents). In London and Edo these papers caused an outrage of career intelligence and army officers, who were concerned that their nations’ leadership allowed them to become persons of interest in a third-party investigation as a repayment for their service. While in the British and Japanese home islands the intelligence officers wondered if they had been betrayed and sacrificed by their own governments, in Mandalay no such doubts existed, as Emperor Thibaw Min announced that his crown would resist this “aggravating offense” in all ways possible. Soon, the North-German diplomatic mission in Mandalay was arrested, and a number of North-German nationals residing in the region disappeared. That was followed by threats and harassment against the members of the North-German mission in Sri Lanka, as well as an openly pro-Burmese propaganda campaign across the island that eroded what little progress the NGF had made in local affairs. Soon, a sternly worded message was passed to the Council of Savants by the Burmese ambassador in Frankfurt, announcing that His Imperial Majesty regretted ever trusting the North-German judgement in the Sri-Lankan affairs and demanded the NGF’s mission’s immediate withdrawal from Colombo, “lest the Germanic man is treated like the African Dutchman by the Emperor’s subjects.” (Regional quest progress: 24.07%, North German Federation losses: -27.83 HC, -39.15 IC, -50.69 EC, -13.82 MC, Sri Lanka losses: -2.87 HC, -0.41 IC, -1.41 EC, -0.33 MC, Third Burmese Empire losses: -17.64 HC, -25.28 IC, -41.6 EC, -10.58 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: Enraged by the North-German handling of the Sri-Lankan affairs, Emperor Thibaw Min of the Third Burmese Empire ordered loyal luuchu clans to dispatch their charter merchants to the Coromandel coast, where they were tasked with competing with the Europeans in the most shrewd and aggressive manner possible - ironically, bringing plenty of wealth to that region in the process. (Region South India gains +2.31% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +3.86% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.25% Regional Influence, Gran Paraguay loses -2.61% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -1.98 HC, -0.49 IC, -5.47 EC, -3.84 MC)
Princely states
Spoiler :
1890: Traditionally, the British rule over South India was based on a formal, subsidiary alliance with local princely states that enjoyed a degree of independence in terms of self-rule. However, the direct involvement in the Indian politics by the British government has turned the princely states’ autonomy into nothing but meaningless symbolism. In that political climate, Japanese, Mexican, and Paraguayan capitalists easily find their way into the local economy, presenting themselves to the disgruntled princes as investors, alternative to the despised British.
Hyderabadi tehzeeb
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: Tehzeeb (lit. “culture”) is a Hindi term meaning a peaceful fusion of Muslim and Hindu elements of the society in coexistence. It originated in the Ganga-Yamuna plain, where Nawabs of Avadh formed a harmonious multi-religious society in the 17th century. The main center of the Tehzeeb coexistence outside of the Ganges Basin is a Telangana city of Hyderabad. While ethnic, religious, and social tensions across the entire subcontinent are at their all-times high (not without help from the Thale Noi Lake Treaty members), Hyderabad remains an island of intercommunal peace, and the British authority in India is starting to look at the city as a potential model for future administration of the huge and unruly colony.
Rama’s equal
Spoiler :
Q1-Q2 1895: The Wadiyar dynasty of the Karnatakan kingdom of Mysore saw their domain prosper through the entire length of the 15-18th centuries, achieving its brief peak under a prime-minister (and de-facto regent) Tipu Sultan. However, even a moderniser like Tipu Sultan couldn’t change the flow of history, and his campaigns against the British East Indian Trade Company in the 1790s ended with Mysoran defeat and Tipu Sultan’s death in a field of battle. After several more wars, the Wadiyar rajas were deposed, and their realm absorbed into the British Raj. However, after the Great Sepoy Mutiny and defeats from the Sikh and Third Burmese empires, the Raj had to go for a number of regional compromises to keep its population more or less loyal. One of such compromises was re-introduction of Wadiyar rule in Mysore, augmented even by elements of parliamentarism. A “protectee” of the British Bengal Presidency, current king Nalvadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar has earned great fame among his subjects as a saintly King-Rajarishi (mostly thanks to his calculated philanthropy and support of arts). Having remained on the British good side, Nalvadi Krishna has now established plenty of trust among his subjects to take a more confrontational approach against the Royal Commonwealth. In fact, his kingdom is already being hailed as Ramarajya by Indostani propagandists as an ideal kingdom comparable to the one ruled by the historical hero Lord Rama.
Unwanted supervisors
Spoiler :
Q3 1895-Q2 1896: At the climax of the Hong Kong negotiations, the NGF was chosen by the Thale Noi Lake Pact to guarantee the independence and integrity of Ceylon, following Great Britain’s request that such formal, yet important task is given to a European nation, neutral in local affairs. Many were surprised by the Burmese delegation’s acceptance of that proposal, but to Mandalay that idea made a perfect sense: the North German Federation was a powerful new player in the Indian Ocean and a facilitator of lucrative trade with East African goods, and the NGF-influenced Ceylon looked like a decent way to get on the good side of the North-Germans. After all, with seventy percent of all Sinhalese people being Theravada Buddhists, what could possibly push Ceylon out of the Burmese orbit in the long run? Whatever it was, the North-German advisers puzzled with organizing the Kingdom of Ceylon did it. First warning came when the North-German delegation, soon after disembarking from a liner in Colombo, shared its vision of the future Ceylonese government with the leaders of the Joint Opposition. In their eyes, a properly balanced government had to consist of Hindu intellectuals, the few Buddhists willing to collaborate with the NGF, and Muslim “magnates.” The latter group was a source of particular frustration, since the Muslim minority on the island had been discriminated against for centuries and was thus sheltered from the Buddhists by the British during their rule as a part of an effective “divide and conquer” strategy. Needless to say, they were viewed as simply agents of the Royal Commonwealth, just like the Hindus (whose reputation among the Buddhists was better, but still fairly poor). Perhaps, the matters of the “coalitionary” government could’ve still been mitigated, but the North-Germans went on to establish a trial judging the crimes committed by the Joint Opposition against the Hindus and Muslims, as well as the crimes committed by the British against the Buddhists. This quickly drew ire both from London and Mandalay, since neither of the nations considered itself (and its agents, secret or not) being within the jurisdiction of the Federation. While London’s relations with Berlin will likely have to be normalized in the future, the Burmese Emperor chose to not wait for the scandal to escalate further and firmly take the side of his allies in Ceylon. Quickly, the North-German investigators and administrators found themselves pitted against the Ekabadda Vipakshaya activists (many of them Burmese agents), while the countryside and cities exploded (quite possibly, even without the Burmese involvement) against the North-German troops arriving to the island. To the experts familiar with the region’s specifics, this was a predictable outcome, since Theravada Buddhist hostilities against Hindus and Muslims go back centuries, and few people doubted that the trial could turn into a perfect mechanism of foreign-backed retribution (especially with a government, in which the Buddhists were not a majority). Eventually, Berlin had to acknowledge that its handling of the Ceylonese affairs turned into an international embarrassment and a huge drag on the nation’s resources. It’s anyone’s guess how the events are going to develop from the summer of 1896, but few people doubt that the North-Germans are now even less welcomed in Ceylon than the British once were, and that the Third Burmese Empire could go any length to fix its erroneous trust in the Federation’s mediation. (Regional quest progress: 48.38%, North German Federation losses: -13.16 HC, -15.51 IC, -18.73 EC, -5.7 MC, Third Burmese Empire losses: -12.06 HC, -17.29 IC, -28.44 EC, -7.24 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: It would be an overstatement to say that the North-German mission to Sri Lanka had been warned about how infuriating its “supervision” policy was to the Sinhalese Buddhist majority of the island’s population. Yet, for reasons unknown, the North-Germans only doubled down on their pursuit of rather arbitrary justice that threatened to set various communities against each other, simultaneously running the Federation’s standing in the eyes of the colonial British authorities and the Konbaung court. The proposal of setting up a “compromise” government that essentially robbed Theravada Buddhists of their popular majority status was quickly rejected by the rudimentary local authorities, and the North-German attempts to investigate various discrimination cases against the Hindu and Muslim minorities, as well as the “war crimes” of the Joint Opposition sent the first devastating warnings to the NGF’s mission, when the North-German army units (most of them, colonial regiments from Tsingtao and Tanganyika) started being attacked by village militias in the island’s outback. Hoping to display strength amid such disrespect for his mandate, the North-German military commander attempted to round up and arrest many suspected past members of Ekabadda Vipakshaya in the capital city of Colombo, but, to his surprise, the newly formed Sri-Lankan regiments refused to obey the North-German orders and sided with the Joint Opposition in a tense standoff that eventually erupted into a brutal mutiny when one of the North-German company commanders lost his nerve and ordered an assault of a hastily built barricade in response for a stray shot. To make matters worse, on the evening of the first day of the Colombo Mutiny the North-German foreign mission released a formal announcement demanding the arrest of a big number of suspects of war crimes which, in addition to some members of the Sri-Lankan military, included a number of British, Burmese, and Tokugawa citizens (most of them suspected foreign agents). In London and Edo these papers caused an outrage of career intelligence and army officers, who were concerned that their nations’ leadership allowed them to become persons of interest in a third-party investigation as a repayment for their service. While in the British and Japanese home islands the intelligence officers wondered if they had been betrayed and sacrificed by their own governments, in Mandalay no such doubts existed, as Emperor Thibaw Min announced that his crown would resist this “aggravating offense” in all ways possible. Soon, the North-German diplomatic mission in Mandalay was arrested, and a number of North-German nationals residing in the region disappeared. That was followed by threats and harassment against the members of the North-German mission in Sri Lanka, as well as an openly pro-Burmese propaganda campaign across the island that eroded what little progress the NGF had made in local affairs. Soon, a sternly worded message was passed to the Council of Savants by the Burmese ambassador in Frankfurt, announcing that His Imperial Majesty regretted ever trusting the North-German judgement in the Sri-Lankan affairs and demanded the NGF’s mission’s immediate withdrawal from Colombo, “lest the Germanic man is treated like the African Dutchman by the Emperor’s subjects.” (Regional quest progress: 24.07%, North German Federation losses: -27.83 HC, -39.15 IC, -50.69 EC, -13.82 MC, Sri Lanka losses: -2.87 HC, -0.41 IC, -1.41 EC, -0.33 MC, Third Burmese Empire losses: -17.64 HC, -25.28 IC, -41.6 EC, -10.58 MC)
South-East Asia
Spoiler :
Fast-developing, newly modernized region, equally strong in all economic, educational, and demographic aspects.
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Tokugawa Shogunate continued to attempt projecting its financial and political influence into Indochina, the Malayan peninsula, and the rest of the South-East Asia. There it had to overcome the resistance of Portobrazilian influencers and, at time, intelligence services, making efforts to not collide with the Shogunate’s Asiatic partners. Unfortunately, the Burmese and Viet empires also aimed to compete for the same feudal protectorates within the Portobrazilian domain, leading to some confusing clashes between the partners, in which the Shogunate emerged as a diplomatic victor - luckily, dodging any political grudges this time. (Region South-East Asia: Tokugawa Shogunate gains +1.29% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire loses -0.4% Regional Influence, Dai Viet loses -0.81% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -0.08% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -14.16 HC, -16.21 IC, -25.97 EC, -6.09 MC, Third Burmese Empire losses: -4.79 HC, -6.86 IC, -11.29 EC, -2.87 MC, Dai Viet losses: -3.43 HC, -5.35 IC, -8.78 EC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -10.21 HC, -10.93 IC, -16.52 EC, -3.11 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While all three nations of the region struggled with the expansion of Japanese political and financial influence, luuhcu families and mueang factory princes continued expanding their businesses across the Third Burmese Empire. (Region South-East Asia gains +0.4% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +0.67% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -0.67% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -0.91 HC, -0.22 IC, -2.52 EC, -1.77 MC)
Cast-iron stupas
One Emperor to rule them all
Foes or allies?
Pwe-kyaung and holistic warrior training
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: The Tokugawa Shogunate continued to attempt projecting its financial and political influence into Indochina, the Malayan peninsula, and the rest of the South-East Asia. There it had to overcome the resistance of Portobrazilian influencers and, at time, intelligence services, making efforts to not collide with the Shogunate’s Asiatic partners. Unfortunately, the Burmese and Viet empires also aimed to compete for the same feudal protectorates within the Portobrazilian domain, leading to some confusing clashes between the partners, in which the Shogunate emerged as a diplomatic victor - luckily, dodging any political grudges this time. (Region South-East Asia: Tokugawa Shogunate gains +1.29% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire loses -0.4% Regional Influence, Dai Viet loses -0.81% Regional Influence, Portugal-Brazil loses -0.08% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -14.16 HC, -16.21 IC, -25.97 EC, -6.09 MC, Third Burmese Empire losses: -4.79 HC, -6.86 IC, -11.29 EC, -2.87 MC, Dai Viet losses: -3.43 HC, -5.35 IC, -8.78 EC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -10.21 HC, -10.93 IC, -16.52 EC, -3.11 MC)
Q3 1896-Q2 1897: While all three nations of the region struggled with the expansion of Japanese political and financial influence, luuhcu families and mueang factory princes continued expanding their businesses across the Third Burmese Empire. (Region South-East Asia gains +0.4% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Third Burmese Empire gains +0.67% Regional Influence, Tokugawa Shogunate loses -0.67% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire losses: -0.91 HC, -0.22 IC, -2.52 EC, -1.77 MC)
Cast-iron stupas
Spoiler :
1890: As the most recent Burmese conquest, Siam is still a vast country not fully integrated into the Third Burmese Empire. However, as Burmese economic practices, combined with a strange mix of Western sciences gradually penetrate Siamese lands, one unbroken local power seems to be emerging as the biggest beneficiary of this industrialization. Spared of destruction and marauding during the Burmese invasion, Buddhist monasteries are the only organized holders of significant capital in their land, and now they seem to be transforming themselves into the main drivers of local manufacture. Red-robed monks united by the principle of sangha (or “disciplined association”) are proving to be a superior labor force, and lack of access to most modern Western technology is compensated by ingenuity and resourcefulness of these new religious entrepreneurs. However, many Burmese royal advisors are afraid that the Siamese monasteries are gaining a bit too much influence and power and may help to crystallize the dormant Siamese nationalist movement.
1891: Despite the fact that most of capital in Burma is concentrated in the hands of royal retainers and high nobles, it appears that the Emperor is in favor of a rather meritocratic approach to social dynamics in higher circles of the society. That was reflected in the decision to award Siamese Buddhist clergy with positions inside the royal administration, perhaps in recognition of their economic success. Despite a long way before complete assimilation, this effort is seen as potentially very beneficial for economic and social development of the region. (Regional quest progress: 14.64%, Third Burmese Empire losses: -0.79 HC, -1.13 IC, -1.86 EC, -0.47 HC)
1891: Despite the fact that most of capital in Burma is concentrated in the hands of royal retainers and high nobles, it appears that the Emperor is in favor of a rather meritocratic approach to social dynamics in higher circles of the society. That was reflected in the decision to award Siamese Buddhist clergy with positions inside the royal administration, perhaps in recognition of their economic success. Despite a long way before complete assimilation, this effort is seen as potentially very beneficial for economic and social development of the region. (Regional quest progress: 14.64%, Third Burmese Empire losses: -0.79 HC, -1.13 IC, -1.86 EC, -0.47 HC)
One Emperor to rule them all
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: Barely a year has passed since the informal agreement between the Third Burmese Empire and Tokugawa Shogunate was signed, establishing a state of political equilibrium between the two powers in Dai Viet. Now, however, it seems that the Konbaung dynasty is moving to replace that cautious stance with a more assertive one, promoting ideas of Trans-Indochinese solidarity and pan-nationalism across the lands of Myanmar, Shan, Siam, Cambodia, Laos, and independent Dai Viet. Capitalist clan structure of the Konbaung dynasty’s state apparatus made promotion of such egalitarian principles relatively hard, especially considering the fact that the Shan States and Siam proper are still controlled by local princes and monasteries bound to the Burmese rulers via ties of semi-feudal vassalage, making general population significantly aloof to any national identities. In Dai Viet, in addition, there was another inertia element to overcome: religion. Most of the Burmese population follow a conservative Theravada school of Buddhism, while Vietnamese population mostly adheres to the Mahayana tradition, widening the gap any pan-nationalists would have to overcome before uniting all Indochina under the banner of the Konbaung Dynasty. (Regional quest progress: 9.48%, Third Burmese Empire losses: -2.79 HC, -4.01 IC, -6.59 EC, -1.68 MC)
Foes or allies?
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: The Third Burmese Empire has a long history of rivaling the British for control over South-East Asia and Assam. In 1893, however, it briefly found itself allying the Royal Commonwealth in efforts to contain Boer Indian Ocean expansion. Now that the East-Asian Spice Trading Company is effectively ruined and the Free Boer Republic is no longer a common enemy for the two powers, the Konbaung dynasty’s ambition again yearns eastward. Royal plenipotentiaries have started negotiating with luuhcu clan patriarchs and the kingdom’s nobility, getting them all on board with yet another geopolitical realignment and anti-British stance. As for commoners, setting them against the British proved to be an easy task, although much still needs to be done to develop complete unity of geopolitical views among the state’s political and economic elites. (Regional quest progress: 25.43%, Third Burmese Empire losses: -2.14 HC, -3.06 IC, -5.04 EC, -1.28 MC)
Pwe-kyaung and holistic warrior training
Spoiler :
Q3-Q4 1894: Pwe-kyaung is a traditional Burmese system of monastica martial education, aimed at teaching individual soldiers all aspects of military know-how and turning them into self-sufficient minimal units of the army, as opposed to companies, platoons, and regiments. After decades of Westernization, the tradition was not only disregarded, but almost completely rooted out from Burma, but that trend was changed by the recent arrival of war Asia and Oceania. As Indostani and Tokugawa armies struggled to fight their enemies in some of the most merciless climates on the planet (from the Gangetic Doab to Melanesian jungles), they learned that even forces with superb logistics and equipment cannot always hope to keep their cohesion. This meant that an individual soldier sometimes had to be able to act as a self-sufficient unit, taking care of himself in all aspects that ensure his survival and fighting efficiency. It is exactly that thinking that brought the Japanese and Sikh trainers to Burma, where they hoped to assist their allies in the revival of the pwe-kyuang tradition. The Burmese originally were cordial to that idea, but some disagreements between luuhcu clans or simple misorganization led to an embarrassment. Upon their arrival to Rangoon, the both delegations were not met by the Burmese Imperial army representatives and were forced to spend the next two weeks staying in random hotels around the city. Eventually, the Imperial Army recognized its organizational blunder and compensated the allied officers’ expenses, but failed to dedicate resources to the training program nonetheless. Dismayed at such lack of cooperation, the Japanese and Indostani trainers ended up traveling Burmese countryside on their own, picking up bits and pieces of knowledge that they could incorporate in their soldiers’ training manuals, ranging from forest survival methods to primitive first aid techniques to the basics of swimming and rope knotting. (Technology quest progress: 25.28%, Tokugawa Shogunate losses: -1.12 HC, -1.55 IC, -2.39 EC, -0.56 MC, Indostan losses: -2.88 HC, -3.89 IC, -5.7 EC, -0.93 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: Stuck between modernity and tradition, it’s no wonder the Burmese Imperial army is looking to teach its soldiers to be self-reliant. Having learned on their administrative mistakes of failed cooperation with the Thale Noi Lake Pact allies, the Konbaung dynasty dedicated plenty of resources to re-educating the troops in the monastic training tradition of pwe-kyaung. (Technology quest progress: 73.2%, Third Burmese Empire losses: -3.29 HC, -4.71 IC, -7.75 EC, -1.97 MC)
Q1-Q2 1895: Stuck between modernity and tradition, it’s no wonder the Burmese Imperial army is looking to teach its soldiers to be self-reliant. Having learned on their administrative mistakes of failed cooperation with the Thale Noi Lake Pact allies, the Konbaung dynasty dedicated plenty of resources to re-educating the troops in the monastic training tradition of pwe-kyaung. (Technology quest progress: 73.2%, Third Burmese Empire losses: -3.29 HC, -4.71 IC, -7.75 EC, -1.97 MC)
