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

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

OOC: How realistic is it for Austria to casually give away its most important port city?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The Russian Empire: Late 1901

1. We certainly sympathize with the plight of many of the poorest and most jaded of our toilers in the industrial cities, and to prevent a radical revolt and overthrow of our Russian system, we must placate their basic desires without caving in to the most radical demands of their leaders. I will have my court look into copying elements of what has been done in Germany--implementing reforms on our own and taking the thunder from the labor movement. The Okhrana will, as proposed, prop up moderate trade unions to divide the radical elements, while I will confer with my court on the possibility of mild social reforms such as the creation of a limited old-age pension system.

2. It is clear that China will not be colonized in the same manner that much of Asia has been by other European powers, and despite a minor territorial sacrifice in the region, we see China as a valuable economic and military partner in the future. We furthermore invite the Empress and delegations from the governments of all the occupying powers in Peking, ourselves included, as well as Empress Cixi and a Chinese delegation, to a conference to determine the future of relations between China and the great powers.

3. Naval reform is urgently needed, and better we do it now before we face a humiliating defeat in a future war while avoiding the diplomatic consequences of Germany's hasty naval buildup. We will accept Makarov's request for an audience.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Oh, sorry. :/

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The Russian Empire - Early 1902

Though we understand the concerns of Rozhestvensky and his faith in our navy as it stands, it is clear that major structural reform is needed to ensure a powerful navy worthy of the Russian Empire.

Finance Minister Sergei Witte is hereby appointed as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. He has spearheaded our massive industrialization and we believe he will continue to pursue Russia attaining her full economic potential.

I again propose a study of some of the limited social welfare programs pursued in Germany to possibly copy in Russia, such as an old age pension and very limited workplace safety laws.

To: Korean Empire
From: Russian Empire

We see Korea as a close economic and diplomatic partner in Northeast Asia and would like to pursue improved relations, including increased trade between our two states. We also unilaterally declare that Russia will protect the independence of Korea from any possible outside aggression.

Finally, we express our condolences on the death of American Vice President Theodore Roosevelt and congratulate the coronation of Alfonso XII of Spain.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

X Tsar Nicholas II

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Austrian is not a language.

We further demand that Austria immediately withdraw from all Ottoman territory which will rightfully be divided between Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and an independent Albanian Kingdom or face war with Russia. The nonaggression pact will not be considered under any circumstances unless you exit this war immediately.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

All we want is for the Serbs, Bulgars, Greeks, and Armenians to have some level of self-determination. We have a duty to protect our Orthodox brothers. Austria is attempting to dominate the Balkans just as you have. Also, our capital is in St. Petersburg.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Treaty of Jerusalem:



--France gains control and administration of Libya
--Britain gains control and administration over Hedjaz
--Britain gains control and administration over Palestine and Jordan
--Arabia is created as a British protectorate and Ottoman East Arabia is absorbed into it
--Remaining Sahara is divided evenly between British Egypt and French Libya
--Armenia is granted Independence and is in a personal Union with Russia
--Bulgaria gains land in the Balkans with the Ottomans retaining Istanbul
--Serbia gains land in the Balkans as shown
--Greece gains land in the Balkans as shown
--The Kurdish are guaranteed rights by the Ottomans
--Free Orthodox Settlement in Istanbul
--De-militarization of the Dardanelles
--Free Russian ship movement through the straight of Dardanelles
--Britain, France, and Russia shall respect the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire
--All changes agreed upon but not mentioned are shown in the map above


X-Prime Minister Salisbury

X Tsar Nicholas II

To: Kingdom of Romania, Tsardom of Bulgaria, Kingdom of Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Principality of Montenegro
From: Russian Empire

Though the war with the Turkish Empire is won and the menace is finally out of the Balkans, it is still necessary to promote cooperation between our nations. We ask you all to join us in the Orthodox League, a defensive mutual alliance and possibly in the future a league of economic cooperation.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

OOC: The Armenian kingdom also includes territories which were already part of our empire:



Otherwise I think you reflected the Treaty of Jerusalem perfectly, though Britain and France might have nitpicks too.

(turn answers will come later)

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The Russian Empire first and foremost urges Venezuela to honor its debt obligations, but also urges restraint by the intervening powers in dealing with Venezuela, including perhaps a renegotiation of its debt.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Russian Empire - Late 1902

Witte may not have the power to force through these reforms, but I do. The more conservative elements of my court will be persuaded if I get more firmly behind Witte's social welfare reforms and his moves for even greater industrialization. Related to this, I also commission that many of Makarov's proposed naval reforms be implemented as soon as possible, including increasing readiness in the Pacific.

We may want to make Armenia an independent buffer state between us and Turkey, but to prevent other ethnic minorities in Russia from trying to split off we will keep Armenia on a short leash. They are a natural ally, and we will grant them full independence as a de facto Russian client state and as a member of the Orthodox League (even if the Armenians are not technically Eastern Orthodox).

We will not go back on any of the reforms to militarily integrate Finland with Russia, but we are willing to renegotiate some of the cultural aims at integration, particularly the administrative use of Russian (which we may concede to be co-official with Finnish). On these manners we are open to negotiation with Finnish political leaders.

We are disappointed at the decisions of Greece and Bulgaria to reject the Orthodox League and urge them to reconsider, but regardless we now have a strong foothold in the Balkans and have formed a united front with our Serbian, Montenegrin, and Romanian allies.

Finally, we express our condolences to Berlin at the senseless murder of Kaiser Wilhelm II. We will take this an opportunity to improve Russo-German relations through mutual cooperation on crushing the anarchist menace and inviting the new Kaiser to visit St. Petersburg.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

OOC: Yeah you're getting overthrown.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I was going to nitpick your map, but I realize it's conditional on whether or not the Armenian nationalists accepted my deal, so I will wait.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The Russian Empire - Early 1903

-Venezuela must live up to its financial obligations to the rest of the world, and President Castro must be willing to come to the table with the great powers he is in conflict with. However, we also urge the United States, Britain, Turkey, Germany, and Italy to exercise restraint with Venezuela and be willing to renegotiate Venezuela's current debts.

-Russia considers itself a friend of the Ethiopian Empire, but in the past few years has become a closer partner to Italy as well. We urge Italy to respect the independence of Ethiopia but will not at this time renew military aid to Ethiopia.

-We will acquiesce to all current Armenian demands and hope for continued friendly relations with the Kingdom of Armenia.

-Especially with the immediate need for a greater presence in Northeast Asia and the Pacific, I am ordering a full investigation into allegations of corruption involving the Trans-Siberian railroad, as well as heightened security measures nationwide to weed out and destroy anarchist and Nihilist cells.


First of all, regardless of the specifics of the situation, Rudnev acted recklessly and will be sacked for it. We will not be a successful navy without the strictest discipline among our men. The Russian Empire has no desires of war or conquest and any attempts to portray her as an aggressor are either ignorant or outright lies. However, there is a point when one nation which seeks control of the Pacific region, which has exploded its naval capacity directly to match and challenge the existing order in the region, and which now has spilled the blood of Russians, must be stopped. Therefore, The Russian Empire hereby declares war on the Empire of Japan. Before the war thread is created, we declare a mobilization of all current forces in Siberia and our Pacific coast, including Port Arthur, to defend our coasts and territorial waters from further Japanese attack. All Japanese assets in Russia shall be seized immediately. As proof that we have no intentions of war with any of Japan's allies, we will for now not mobilize anywhere else unless Germany, Austria, or Britain mobilize against us.


We appeal first to Japan's allies in the Pacific, the United States and the British Empire, to stay out of this war. The fact that Japan has provoked us should not obligate you to send your men into a war with the largest country in the world. And despite current pacts, Japan's voracious expansion in the long run will pose a direct threat to both your interests in the Pacific unless they are capped here and now. We ask Japan's allies in Europe to remain neutral as well; given the current political situations you face and given that this crisis comes out of a rash move by the Japanese, who are on the other side of the world from you.

We also appeal to our allies to join us in the fight against Japan. We do not expect much from our allies in the Orthodox League, though a declaration of war and seizure of any Japanese assets in your countries would be appreciated (OOC: Montenegro declared war on Japan in the Russo-Japanese war in real life but did no actual fighting). More critically, we ask our French allies to assist us in this conflict, especially as we see Japan's imperial goals as a direct threat to French Polynesia and French Indochina.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

We thank our French allies for their assistance, even if they do not wish to intervene directly in our war with Japan.

We also express our condolences at the death of Lord Salisbury and wish for continued cooperation with Britain.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

To: United States of America

Russia holds absolutely no territorial ambitions or ill will towards the United States. Our declaration of war upon Japan was a necessary measure both to defend our country from further attacks and to cap further Japanese expansion which we believe poses a threat to every nation with Pacific interests.  We do not ask the United States to go to war with a nation it is allied with, but we also ask that Congress does not declare war on Russia either.

To: The United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary

We congratulate the new Prime Minister Arthur Balfour in Britain and the new Emperor Franz Ferdinand in Austria and extend our hopes for peace and cooperation with both of their countries.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Russia denies any responsibility in the attacks on the Krupp factories and harshly condemns Germany for shooting first and asking questions later. We would freely negotiate a solution and offer to cooperate in weeding out anarchists, but as Germany has ruled that out themselves and chosen to unilaterally attack us, Russia hereby declares that a state of war exists with the German Reich.

We appeal to our most important ally, France, to respond to Germany's aggression in kind.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

We are very disturbed with Russian declaration of war against Germany. Once again, we appeal for restrain to all sides involved.

The Caliph of Islam (yup, me ) calls upon all Faithful to pray for peace.

Germany declared war on us first and we have an obligation to defend our country.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

We are entirely willing to negotiate a peace deal with Japan and Germany, but so far Japan has rejected the mere idea of sitting down with us. We will gladly send a peace delegation to Rome if Japan does so as well.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

OOC: And I had worked so hard to try and burn Europe to the ground... Oh, well!

OOC: Well we've already skirted close to a Great War in 1903, so keep up hope.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

To: Kingdom of Afghanistan

Britannia is weaker than she looks. Remember that a group of ragtag rebels freed themselves from her grip a century ago, that it took decades to subdue the Boers and Zulu, and only a few months of rebellion from British occupation has seen success in drawing Britain into a quagmire. Keep fighting and we will continue to supply you to secure your independence.