OOC: The British? Huh? Who's that?
Perhaps if I post the map, all will become clearer, but try with this chapter for now.
IC:
Prologue - January 1st, 1910.
Thus begun the Life of Kurt Weisser and the Newest History.
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The Life of Kurt Weisser.
Young Karla Weisser was quite unconscious ("Thank God for anesthesia", thought the doctor), as the doctor's trained eye studied the womb. Wrong location, he commented to himself in his thoughts, whilst his skilled hand already prepared. A combined rotation was in order, but the doctor was quite experienced. Nothing to worry about, he concentrated on fraulein Weisser. Accurately, he operated, hoping that anesthesia would not wear off too quickly ("Thank God for anesthesia, but why is the Byzantine version not yet acquired?!"), and due to his great skill he indeed succeeded, the new child, a future citizen of the Holy Roman Empire, was sucessfuly delivered. And perhaps as much as several hundrerds of millions were inadvertly doomed to death.
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The Newest History.
Why is the year 1910 considered the first year of the "Newest History"? Why? There were many other points - for example, the year 1900. Or the year 1913. Or 1908. Yet it was 1910, largely due to symbolics - it was on July 24th that the Imperial-and-Royal Company of Africa officially claimed the Mefoe Massif [OTL Tondou Massif] in the name of the so-called Anglo-French Empire. That massif was the last unclaimed area in Africa, and indeed the last land area in the world not yet claimed by a nation, excluding, ofcourse, the Arctic and the Antarctic.
So what was the big picture of the world on July 24th in the year 1910 C.E.? It seemed very stable in most regions (meaning that the status quo will be preserved indefinitely - ofcourse, that was a naive viewpoint). It was, perhaps, the peak of European and Chinese colonialism, which since 16th century put large parts of the world under the control of various European powers and in some cases their successors. It was only since the 18th century that China joined the "Great Game", finalizing the establishment of Chinese hegemony in East Asia, and expanding into Southeast Asia, Africa and Repengia [OTL Australia]. Ofcourse, not everywhere were the Europeans and the Chinese succesful: two Native Thulean [OTL American], one Native African, three Native Middle Eastern and three Native Indian nations survived to 1910, by combination of luck, leadership and the ability to balance between the colonial powers. There were no major and SURVIVING precedents for native nations that were conquered and later rose up regaining independance - there were only three longterm succesful rebellions of the kind, all of them were done by white colonists themselves, and by 1910 one of them - Australos [OTL Madagascar] was brought down. The other two were the United States of Philippia (former Anglo-French colony, gained independance in 1823) and the United Provinces de la Plata (former Iberian colony, gained independance in 1819).
In the Thuleas, there was peace for the last two and a half decades - ofcourse, the occasional border skirmishes on the Platine-Iberian borders don't count, and neither do the almost-obligatory Pueblo risings against USP and Iberia (in Mexica). Europe, a continent divided between six (or seven) Great Powers and one (or two) aspiring, rising challenger nations, was not as peaceful - if only because of the numerous rebellions. Catalonia rebelled against the Anglo-French (or, perhaps more correctly, Manche) Empire, Provence and Bohemia rebelled against the Holy Roman Empire (neither Holy nor Roman, but definitely an Empire), Wallachia rebelled against the Byzantine Empire. But that was not all there was to it - indeed, the Second Slavic-Byzantine War (1903-1906), which exposed the weakness of the Byzantine Empire and hinted at the weakness of its enemy as well, also took place, and the humiliating Treaty of Theodosiya, which stripped Crimea and Moldavia away from the Byzantines, would spur Byzantine revanchism and make the two historic allies two bitter enemies. The Kiel War (1905) resulted in the loss of the last Danish lands in Pommerania and gave Holy Roman Empire special rights in the Kiel Canal and Skaggerak zones, and caused a Scandinavist revolution which resulted in the end of the short-lived Danish Republic and in Denmark rejoining the Goteborg Union. Europe was not a quiet place, but it seemed obvious that, minor changes aside, the status quo, the balance of power, will be kept. A rather foolish presumption if one noticed the diplomatic developments of the period...
Africa, apart from the Niletean Empire, was divided between China, HRE, Iberia, Manche, Goteborg Union (or Scandinavia), Flanders, Hungary, La Plata and Byzantia. Colonial incidents did happen - in Tunisia, for example, Manche forces often clashed with Holy Roman ones. Byzantine Empire had renewed its national pride after the Slavic-Byzantine war - with what? With a large victory against a "Chinese incursion" in Philotea [OTL Kenya and Uganda region, plus parts of Tanzania]! But, again, when in 1910 the "final" borders were drawn in Africa, peace came.
And in the Middle East? Back then, not many realize the coming importance of oil. And even fewer people realized the resurgent strenght of Persia, where Shah Teqlawi ruled supreme and modernize the army with Slavic assistance. Like in the ancient days, the Byzantine territories in Syria and "the Levant" [OTL Lebanon and Palestine, and two-thirds of Jordan] were threatened by the Persians.
In India, where the various colonial companies (two Iberian, one Manche, one Flemish) long since settled in and entrenched and solved all border disputes they could with firearms, there now was peace, even though the Flemish hold on Bengal was increasingly shaky. As for the native powers, it was ofcourse the Sikh empire, Gujarat, that was predominant. The Sikhs have traditionally invited Europeans - especially Flemings and Allemanes (essentially, Holy Roman Imperial Germans) - to help modernize their army and fleet, their economy and society, mixing the ancient Indian wisdom with the new and convenient European technology.
And to the east of India, there was the Chinese Dragon, an empire which has not lost a war since late 18th century, which used its immense forced labor sources to quickly become one of the leading industrial powers. From Riben [OTL Japan] to Somali, from Sinkiang to Aozhu [OTL Northeast Australia, Queensland essentially], the Chinese were an equal, if not superior, of the European powers.
And finally, there was Repengia, divided between state-ran colonial companies of Flanders, Iberia and Manche Empire, and the gigantic Chinese province of Aozhu. Much like with India, borders there were finally established after a series of wars. Ofcourse, there was the nuisance of separatist colonists in European colonies there, but what could they do, anyway?
Most people thought that after a while, the wars in Africa will set the borders in stone like they did in India and in Repengia. Most people thought, only a few poor border regions could possibly change the borders in Europe. Most people were, like usual, wrong.
