Balance of Power (Gameplay Thread) - Epilogue and Game Over

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Despite some rumours, the Ottoman Empire is neither conducting nor attempting the remilitarization of Dardanelles. We have already proven there is no country more committed to the Treaty of Jerusalem than we are.

In case of being attacked we will close the straits for enemy ships and no one should be surprised. We have right to defense like every nation. But we're not being attacked and we do not anticipate attack.

The US Navy's Mediterranean Task Force will support the Ottoman Navy if the Sultan orders the straits closed

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

We feel the need to clarify the Chinese situation. We have in recent months been supplying arms and training to China, which is quickly becoming a strategic partner and one which we had hoped would at least logistically support us in the war against Japan, though we specifically barred them from using said arms and training against European occupiers in China unless they had been attacked first. We will attempt to collect more information on the nature of the attack while re-evaluating our relationship with the Qing Dynasty.

An addendum: Arms shipments to China are to be halted indefinitely.

[Spamage]

As a result of Russian actions which have been hostile to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, we hereby announce a state of war exists between us and the Empire of Russia. Their choices have been despicable and we urge other nations to condemn their actions. Our diplomats are to be recalled to London immediately.

We urge the people of Britain to unite in this time of war. Not just the Britons themselves, but the Arabs and the Jews, the Africans and the Indians, the Canadians and the Australians. The entire dominion is under threat and only by uniting with one another can we defeat the monster that is Russia. No longer will they subjugate the people that ought to be free; no longer will they oppress those which would call for a democracy. The time for action is now, and together with the Empire of Japan and the Empire of Germany, and perhaps many more powers, we shall take down the old and weary Russian bear just as we have did in the Crimean War.

God Save the King, and God Bless Britannia and our allies

(OOC: Looks like Lumine may have succeeded in his goal , WWI may be upon us)

[CLARENCE 2015!]

The USA has attempted to foster peace by not yet declaring war. We encouraged talks between Russia and Japan despite Russia having attacked our ally and then initially declaring war. It was then revealed that Russia was behind an attack on our British allies AND are laying the groundwork to move against our Ottoman allies. The USA will be no better friend and no worse enemy

The USA hereby declares war on Russia

The war will continue until the Russians surrender and agree to whatever terms our allies impose. I will save my military orders for a PM to Lumine

[Dr. Cynic]

--- I am outraged at our Russian allies having supplied arms shipments to Chinese rebels in order to foster attacks on our British allies. France furthermore feels that the Russians acted in a duplicitous manner in order to drag France into it's conflict with Japan as well as into conflict with her strongest ally, Britain. Therefore, we feel it necessary to declare our alliance with the Russian Empire VOID.

--- Furthermore, all French naval and army forces in the Pacific are placed on high alert and are ordered to mobilize.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Despite our efforts to resolve our issues with the great powers the intransigent warmongers in London and Washington have chosen to go to war, and so we will fight. The might of the Russian people and the Russian land shall be turned against them and they will rue the day they chose to threaten our motherland, and we will resist to our dying breath the invaders on our borders. The Russian Empire hereby declares war on the United Kingdom and the United States of America. All assets from both countries shall be seized and used to fund the war effort and arms shipments to China are to resume immediately. We now encourage the Chinese to resist British occupation and to fight to retake the land that Japan grabbed in a war of aggression eight years ago, even if the claims of a coordinated attack on Britain by Russia were utterly untrue.

OOC: Do Britain and America start in Turn 2 or Turn 3 of the war? That determines if I have to send in orders against them now or after Phase 2 ends.

[Dr. Cynic]

We are pleased to announce that a formal Treaty of Friendship and Alliance will be signed by the French Republic and the United States of America. We acknowledge and wish to rekindle our historic national friendship. France and the United States hereby declare to work together to defend and protect our mutual interests around the globe from now on.

x Prime Minister Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau

[CLARENCE 2015!]

We are pleased to announce that a formal Treaty of Friendship and Alliance will be signed by the French Republic and the United States of America. We acknowledge and wish to rekindle our historic national friendship. France and the United States hereby declare to work together to defend and protect our mutual interests around the globe from now on.

x Prime Minister Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau

The USA is delighted to be formal allies with France- a nation crucial to our independence and whose values we have shared for centuries

[Lumine]

OOC: Do Britain and America start in Turn 2 or Turn 3 of the war? That determines if I have to send in orders against them now or after Phase 2 ends.

Phase 2, but due to the limited time and logistical constraints their actions (and the results of those) will be very limited.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

OOC- As my party controls Congress I assumed war was declared

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

It grieves me, as everybody knows we have tried our best to save the peace, but we simply cannot tolerate any more Russian provocations. We will stand with our American, Japanese and British friends until the St. Petersburg's intrigues are stopped.

I hereby declare the state of war exists between the Ottoman Empire and Russia

We are therefore considering terms of free passage and Orthodox settlements as nullified. This does not affect our commitment to honor agreements with Britain and France.

-- Seize all Russian assets.

-- Put prominent Orthodox priests, that settled down in Istanbul, under arrest (but treat them well). Observe other settlers.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

The Ottoman Empire wishes to solidify their wartime alliance with Japan, Great Britain and Germany by entering a formal alliance, similar to one we enjoy with the United States.

We commend the French Republic for refusing to side with the aggressor.

The US Navy's Mediterranean Task Force will support the Ottoman Navy if the Sultan orders the straits closed

Yes, the straits are declared closed.


Propaganda:

Russian aggressors are threathing our motherland once again, but we are stronger and got powerful allies. THIS IS REVENGE TIME! We will soon reclaim our lost glory!

[Cranberry]

Germany would be more than delighted to enter a formal alliance with the Ottoman Empire, Britain and the United States. Such an alliance would be a guarantee for peace an development throughout all of Europe, as well as the whole world.

Propaganda:
Russia is an aggressor, that wants to enslave all the allied peoples who are united against the Russian aggressor. We cannot let them suffice! Germans, unite against the aggressor from the East!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

We have no intentions whatsoever of destroying or portioning Russia. We are interested in securing a solid peace and security for us and our allies against any potential aggression in future.


To: Kingdom of Armenia; Kingdom of Greece; Kingdom of Romania; Kingdom of Serbia; Principality of Montenegro
From: The Ottoman Empire

We bear absolutely no hostility toward your nations.

x Abdul Hamid II


To: Empire of Persia
From: The Ottoman Empire

We request that your country would kindly allow British and Ottoman transits through your territory, as we purse war with Russia.

x Abdul Hamid II

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

We had no intentions of hostilities with Turkey--regardless of our prior relations we no longer had goals against Turkey and saw them as a potential future partner. However, all that is out the window as, based on brazen lies about our support for Kurdish rebels, Turkey has rejected the Treaty of Jerusalem and initiated hostilities against not just Russia, but all of Orthodox Christianity. Regardless of its assurances of peace with our Orthodox allies, the suppression of our faith in the holy city of Constantinople cannot be excused. Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire, and asks our allies in the Orthodox League to do so as well as well as to begin sending troops to the front against Germany and Turkey. All Turkish assets in Russia are seized.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I hope that our firm reaction to the Russian threat will finally convince Venezuela that the patience of the united nations cannot be tested indefinitely.

President Castro, please do yourself and your country a favor.

I order the second regiment of troops, awaiting in Beirut, be dispatched to the Carribean (Italy: since we're on the same side on Venezuela and you're not warring with Russia, could we have a hand in transporting the regiment to Cuba? We're low on our own available transport.)

(US: These two regiments and our Navy Task Force is all we can committ now there.)

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Contrary to some opinions within my own court, I have no issue with the Orthodox living in Constantinopole. I am, actually, quite receptive to the city serving as a bridge between the Christiandom and the Muslim world. 

We have only took precautionary measures of detaining potential dangerous Russian agents. Detaining with all dignity, that international observers are invited to verify.
 
After victory, I plan to confirm Orthodoxy's rights, but as long as they won't hold an allegiance to a foreign power.

Russia, that has enslaved millions of Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Georgians, Azeri, Chechens, Kazakhs (among many, many others), and still conducts despicable pogroms of the Jews, has zero credibility to accuse us of any "oppression".


PROCLAMATION

His Sacred and Imperial Majesty Abdul Hamid II, Padishah, Sovereign of the House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe, Emperor of Rome etc. etc., hereby proclaims that:

-- As the Caliph of Islam, I declare Holy War against the Russian barbarians and call upon all faithful to take up their arms, and those unfit to serve to actively aid our brave troops.

-- All non-political criminals serving in our prisons, except of those deemed as too dangerous to be released, are offered an amnesty providing they will join our Armed Forces and fight for the state.


x Abdul Hamid II

[Lumine]

I believe I still need Japan, Italy and Austria-Hungary's answers. And BTW, you have broken a new record! 23 PM's in less than six hours! (honestly, I can't believe the levels of activity, xD)

[Cranberry]

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x Kaiser Wilhelm III, King of Prussia and Deutscher Kaiser

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

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x Kaiser Wilhelm III, King of Prussia and Deutscher Kaiser

x Abdul Hamid II

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I believe I still need Japan, Italy and Austria-Hungary's answers. And BTW, you have broken a new record! 23 PM's in less than six hours! (honestly, I can't believe the levels of activity, xD)

At one point I exceeded my limit per hour XD

There's nothing for me to add now, unless there's some event before next turn.

Once agaiin, wonderful job, Lumine!

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Propaganda:

• Emphasize the unity of the Orthodox League and contrast it with the repression of Eastern Christianity in the Ottoman Empire. They are by far the easiest enemy to stir hatred for.
• Portray the Germans as aggressors attempting to dominate Eastern Europe for themselves, the British as land-grabbing imperialists who are taking over the world step-by-step, and the Americans as hypocrites for decrying Russia while they impose their own imperial will in Latin America (Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico) and lynch black people at home.
• Note that the Japanese had been building their military and expanding their empire for decades before spilling Russian blood, portraying the war as a necessary step to stop them from consuming even more and avenge our dead brothers.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

-- Emphasize upon the Orthodox League that standing with Russia against five global powers is nothing short of a suicide. There's no point of shedding your blood for the Tsar's security. The Ottoman Empire does not want to declare war on these countries.

-- It was Russia who attacked us not so long ago with a clear goal to subjugate millions of the faithful under their heathen Tsar, while the British and the French displayed a lot of responsibility.

-- The Ottoman Orthodoxes will be protected. Even detained agents are to be treated well. Meanwhile the Jews, Poles, Tatars, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Lithuanians, Azers and many many others has no protection from government atrocities committed under Nicholas the Butcher.


Use graphic images extensively in propaganda (posters, newsreels). Images to emphasize are: victims of the Russian pogroms vs. the Orthodoxes protected by our own police; Russian invasion during the Second Great Turkish War; refugees that need to be avenged; Turkey, American, Japan, Germany and Britain defending the civilization together against a mad Russian dog

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Propaganda

Emphasize that Russia is alone whereas we are joined by nearly every other world power... Russia is a menace and was the aggressor in this conflict. We must stand by our allies to prove our status as a leading nation of the world. Allowing Russia to start conflict without consequence will have disastrous effects on the world economy- we must maintain peace and prosperity through strength

Feature images of the US Navy as much as possible- it is our national pride

[Cranberry]

Propaganda:

- in Germany: Russia is a threat to freedom, to the German people etc. the usual stuff

- in Poland, the Baltics and Finland (distribuited underground): Germany is an ally for all the people who want to liberate themselves from the Russians; stir rebellions and revolts against the Russians; as near to St. Petersburg as possible