Gilded Ambitions: Concert of Europe Part V (Gameplay Thread)

[KaiserDave]

Memo of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Russian Republic V. A. Maklakov


Upon review of the Report of Imperial Foreign Minister the Graf Montecuccoli, and consultation with the President and the finest legal minds in the Russian Republic, the Russian government must concur with the findings of the Imperial Foreign Ministry. Therefore, the Russian government will not levy an embargo upon the Holy Republic of Gran Colombia, but not does eliminate the possibility of future sanctions if an evidenced pattern of dishonest activity presents itself.

[DKrol]

A PROCLAMATION FROM THE COURT OF NEW ORLEANS

BY ORDER OF HIS MAJESTY KING LOUIS-PHILIPPE III

Emergency Order #5
1. As is well established in the Louisianan tradition, all men share the same inalienable rights endowed to them at the creation by God. The highest amongst these rights is life, and the right to live a meaningful life unmolested, to the extent that the Public Good is preserved.
2. It is a crime to infringe on another man's right to live a meaningful life unmolested. It is an even more serious crime to infringe on another's man right to live a meaningful life unmolested on the basis of one's skin color or national origin.
3. No man may be denied otherwise equal access to education, lodging, food service, public transportation, public spaces, or any other accommodation, or the opportunity to be hired for wage-earning labor, because of the color of his skin or his national origin.
4. Violation of this Emergency Order, or failure to enforce the intent of this Emergency Order by a public official, will be punishable by lifetime imprisonment, hard labor, or death.

[Lumine]

Although the Imperial Court is respectful - if in disagreement - of the legal reasoning presented by the Hapsburg Imperial Foreign Ministry, it wishes to state its serious concerns about its implications. An international rules-based order is only as strong as the will of individual governments not only to comply to the letter, but also the spirit, and it is our reasoning that acts of biological warfare are - and if not, ought to be - in breach of what the Treaty of Trois Rivieres pursues.

The legitimization of the biological attack at Pisco, either directly or through omission, is only likely to create an incentive for further such attacks from the actors involved or other belligerents in other conflicts, with grave implications for either ongoing or future wars. The weaknesses that have been emerging linked to the Treaty of Trois Rivieres only enforce this concern, which may yet devolve in the scenario we originally sought out to prevent.

Though we would not presume of being able to change or alter the will of nations who, through their own legitimate reasons, have decided action is not warranted, we nonetheless put it on the record that we feel this will prove to be a costly mistake for the international community as a whole.

We can only hope that time may prove us wrong.

[DKrol]

A PROCLAMATION FROM THE COURT OF NEW ORLEANS

BY ORDER OF HIS MAJESTY KING LOUIS-PHILIPPE III

Emergency Order #6
1. The disruption of commerce, via roadway, river, sea, or rail, within the Commonwealth is a crime.
2. The disruption of rail transportation, either for personal or commercial purposes, within the Commonwealth is a crime.
3. The disruption of maritime transportation, either for personal or commercial purposes and either on the riverways or on the seas, within the Commonwealth's maritime zone is a crime.
4. The disruption of the administration of law and order within the Commonwealth is a crime.
5. Violation of this Emergency Order will be punishable by lifetime imprisonment, hard labor, or death.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Given the power of music unites us, and in these dark times it can be a sign of hope, a sign of light and a sign of better time coming on, while also motivating the people in their struggles and uniting them, and with the King being a great admirer of music, the following song shall be popularized in both the battlefield and domestically via media and on the work floor.

Solidaridad Pa’ Siempre

Vid is recorded in 1960s, but the song was written in 1860s, so pretend to hear a less advanced version of this, that is simply sung

Solidaridad pa’ siempre
Solidaridad pa’ siempre
Solidaridad pa’ siempre
¡Que viva nuestra unión!
En las viñas de la ira luchan por su libertad
Todos los trabajadores quieren ya vivir en paz
Y por eso compañeros nos tenemos que juntar
Con solidaridad
Solidaridad pa’ siempre…
Vamos, vamos campesinos los derechos a pelear
Con el corazón en alto y con fe en la unidad
Que la fuerza de los pobres como las olas del mar
La injusticia va a inundar
Solidaridad pa’ siempre…

[YPestis25]

Note from the Arvfurstens palats

Following consultations with the Austrian ambassador, as well as with our own legal experts, the Scandinavian government agrees with the findings of the Ballhausplatz and shall decline to enter into an embargo against the Holy Republic of Colombia.

[DKrol]

A PROCLAMATION FROM THE COURT OF NEW ORLEANS

BY ORDER OF HIS MAJESTY KING LOUIS-PHILIPPE III

Emergency Order #7
1. Each county shall be administered by a President, appointed by the Crown, to oversee the administration of law and order, education, and social welfare.
2. All men have an inherent right to shelter, education, and food. It is in the Public Good that these rights be protected.
3. Each County President shall ensure that the unhoused are sheltered, and the hungry fed a basic but nutritionally adequate meal at least once per day.
4. Each County President shall ensure that all boys and girls by the age of 14 have received an education in the Louisianan Catholic faith, the Louisianan form of government, the history of the Commonwealth, and are able to read and write.   
5. Each County President shall establish a local jail to house petty criminals and those awaiting transfer to a Commonwealth-operated prison. People in the County Jail must be clean and fed, and segregated based on their assumed risk factor. 
6. Each County President may levy such taxes as are necessary to provide for the requirements of this Emergency Order.

[Lumine]

Québecois Propaganda

Among other pieces of propaganda amidst the war, the National Anthem will be heavily promoted all across the nation, and will be played on various sports, cultural and institutional events.

Le Chant des Québecois - National Anthem (OTL Chant des Girondins)

By the voice of the thunderous canon,
Québec calls her children to arms,
“Let's go”, says the soldier, to the battle!
Our sacred nation calls.

To die for the Fatherland,
To die for the Fatherland,
It is the most beautiful, the most desirable fate,
It is the most beautiful, the most desirable fate.

Citizens, let us march into battle,
A free continent calls for us all,
We fight for honour and glory,
And in the end, victory will be ours!

To die for the Fatherland,
To die for the Fatherland,
It is the most beautiful, the most desirable fate,
It is the most beautiful, the most desirable fate.

Brothers, for this most holy cause,
If we are martyred on the field of battle,
We will not utter a single complaint,
For the Empire will bless our names.

To die for the Fatherland,
To die for the Fatherland,
It is the most beautiful, the most desirable fate,
It is the most beautiful, the most desirable fate.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

From the Desk of the President


Statement on Forming a Government

The President laments that an initial proposal to form a government of Catholic and Liberal Republicans fell apart. However, he is confident in an emerging coalition of Conservatives, Socialists, Moderate Catholic Republicans, and Liberal Republicans, allied with some national interest group members on a procedural basis.
(Spamage: Full details are in your discord DMs)

Statement on Legislative Agenda

The following items will be a priority for the Congressional Session of 1902:

- Confirmation of Cabinet (may be assumed to be the same as OTL)
- Appointment of High Court Justices
- Embargo Legislation previously noted at: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=576956.msg9349558#msg9349558
- Approval of previously ordered loans
(next three: Full details were shared privately via discord)
- A constitutional amendment granting limited autonomy to the Galican Region
- A constitutional amendment granting limited autonomy to the Basque Region
- A constitutional amendment granting limited autonomy to the Catalan Region
- Legislation to allow Spain to host the World Cup in 1904. All previously announced participants for the cancelled Mexican tournament are automatically invited, though official reconfirmation of attendance by each country is encouraged.
- Guarantee of subsidies for shipping companies operating in warzones, in an amount equivalent to 1/3 of a company's income in 1901.
- Government recognition and enforcement of agreements between employee unions and employees. Repeal of any law preventing unionization, and companies cannot fire workers solely for forming a union, however, no employee shall be forced to pay union dues and a right to strike is NOT recognized.
- Statutory Ban on Non-Farm Child Labor before Age 16.
- Statutory Limitation of the Working Day to 10 hours. Non-Binding Resolution urging companies to work toward an eight-hour workday.
- A free, unwhipped, 'Conscience Vote' will be allowed on an unemployment insurance program lasting 90 days after one's termination.

Statement on Louisiana

The President, while not directly opining on the merits of the executive orders, continues to denounce the Commonwealth of Louisiana for engaging solely in governance by executive order. He urges the Crown to reverse all such orders and return to a society free of martial law.

Statement on Colombia

The President hereby cautions the nation of Colombia for suspicious actions committed within its territory related to horse manure. Nations should take all action to avoid even the appearance of noncompliance with the Trois-Reveries treaty. However, the President, in his capacity as the Chief Officer of State, has reviewed the conflicting inspection reports from the nations of Quebec, Austria, and Mexico, and has also considered the longstanding positive relationship between the Holy Union of Spain and Colombia. In light of all the factors, the President will not enforce the Embargo Legislation against Colombia.

Statement on Light Machine Gun Competition

The President is supportive of efforts by Naples to host a LMG competition and will be sending a team to participate.

Statement on Mexican Famine

The President is sympathetic to the famine currently going on in Mexico. The President shall raise an additional 2 divisions of the Army of Catalonia, who will assist 2 merchant ships full of food in reaching the Veracruz port. No Tax or Tariff will be imposed on this shipment by the Spanish. The 2 divisions will return to Spain upon completion of the delivery.

[Devout Centrist]

Statement from President Kang

We are heartbroken to learn of the attempted assassination of Abdul II Shah Durrani, a sovereign who has always served as a dependable and honorable ally of Republican China. We send our sympathies to his family and to all subjects of the Durrani Empire.

My office promises to do everything in its power to find the actors responsible for this despicable act against civilization. We will release a formal statement on the findings of our investigation soon.

[KaiserDave]

A WARRANT

For the arrest of suspects wanted for questioning on the Bombing of the Bolshoi Theater.

A MARIA IVANOVNA
Hair: Auburn
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5 Foot, 6 Inches
Language of Choice: Russian
An ANASTASIA ALEXANDROVNA
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5 Foot, 8 Inches
Language of Choice: Russian
A VERA ALEKSEEVNA (or IVANOVNA)
Hair: Auburn
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5 Foot, 6 Inches
Language of Choice: Russian, or Polish, or Belarusian

Last Seen in SOUTH RUSSIA and GEORGIA
A SUBSTANTIAL REWARD will be offered for information on their whereabouts

x Ivan Stepanovich Oborin, Judge of the Moscow Uezd

[KaiserDave]

Grand Kremlin Palace, Interior, October 12th, 1901


President Milyukov stands by the fireplace in his glorious study, filled with bookshelves, a large globe with complicated instruments, two large national flags flanking his desk, and portraits of President Chicherin and the thinker Timofey Granovsky. Milyukov ponders as his longtime friend, the Chief of Police, Nabokov finishes his report on the newest details of the bombing.


Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov: President of the Russian Republic
Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov: Chief of Police

V. D. Nabokov
My men found three different workers from the theater who have fled Moscow since the attack, they are gathering everything there is to know about them, and will soon have them in custody. They have already taken possession of their personal property, including the works of Chernyshevsky and their diaries where they professed their hatred for the "Republic of Landlords."

P. N. Milyukov
So you are saying they are left-wing agitators?

V. D. Nabokov
Without a doubt.

P. N. Milyukov
I have a doubt. The politics of terror, of Nechayev, of Propaganda postupka, it is long dead. It has been consigned to history. And besides, there were socialists in attendance at the opera. And they never would have put so many of the staff of the Bolshoi in danger. Why would these leftists want me dead? I'm the only thing holding back the destruction of the Republic, I've established the universal suffrage, I've even maintained the system of social goods. No, no look for the culprit among those unreconstructed reactionaries and lunatics, those who long for the return of the ancient autocracy. The monarchists.

V. D. Nabokov
Monarchists? Doddering old men, hardly capable of building a bomb, far too busy looking for Jews under their beds.

P. N. Milyukov
They are more powerful than you think, and a Romanov return is a sacred crusade for them. They would stop at nothing to destroy the Republic. Yes, look amongst their ranks.

V. D. Nabokov
There is no evidence of any involvement of monarchist organizations. We have already been in contact with our men from the special department amongst the Loyalists of the Imperial Throne, Brothers of the Martyr Peter IV, amongst the Disciples of the Holy Orthodox Cross, they are irrelevant and incapable, as they always have been. But we have a very credible lead right here.

P. N. Milyukov
Then look harder! I tell you Vladimir Dmitrievich you do not understand them like I do. They are capable of anything, and would have strong support from abroad. They wrap themselves in icons and shake themselves about muttering and praying like complete lunatics, begging for the return of their "Holy Tsar." They would not hesitate to blow up all of Moscow while chanting dogma.

V. D. Nabokov
My job is to carry out investigations and deliver you reports. I am doing my job that you assigned to me.

P. N. Milyukov
Hmmmm....I have stacks of reports on my desk from the Dezabe. They all say the same thing Volodya. There are enemies, inside our country and outside, they are determined to destroy the Republic. I didn't understand how serious it was until they tried to drown the entire government in fire. You will forgive my abruptness. I am besieged. We are defending the work of generations.

V. D. Nabokov
We will not relent in our work to apprehend everyone responsible.

P. N. Milyukov
And never allow the government of Russia to be bloodied like this again.

[Kuumo]

Official Statement from the Office of the Archbishop-President


(Source: u/S-I-B-E-R-I-A-N on r/vexillology)

On the Recent Russian Tragedy

The Holy Republic of Gran Colombia offers its condolences to President Milyukov and the people of the Russian Republic in the wake of the terrorist attack at the Bolshoi Theater. We hope and pray for the success of the Russian investigation so that the perpetrators are put to justice.

https://www.ecuadorianliterature.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Federico-Gonzalez-Suarez.jpg

Archbishop-President Federico González Suárez Gives Public Speech on the Great Patriotic War

We stand here today two years after the initial outbreak of war. Since then we have fought to defend our great nation against this perfidious onslaught against our culture, sovereignty, home, and hearth. Though the invaders predicted a quick collapse against their superior numbers, we have endured against assaults on every corner of the Fatherland.

I would like to put to rest assertions that Gran Colombia is responsible for the start of this war. We have been accused by our French and Brazilian assailants of a protracted campaign of support for rebels to destabilize the Divine Republic of Brazil and the former Sacred Union of La Plata as well as assembling a "global alliance against Brazil and France." These accusations could not be further from the truth. Before the war, we sought to resolve disputes diplomatically rather than by force, respecting the sovereignty of our South American neighbors despite our disagreements on domestic policy and taking a leading role in the passage of the Treaty of Trois-Rivières hosted by our now-belligerent. As for the latter accusation, we have the right to sign treaties as an independent nation, whether to affirm existing relationships as with Spain or to mend frayed relationships as with Mexico. Never was our intention to invade Brazil or any other country; the defensive pacts were meant only as gestures of goodwill and assurances of our commitment to the prosperity of our allies. But yet some still claim that the assailants of Gran Colombia only acted in self-defense as they refuse to withdraw from our borders and continue to spill rivers of blood upon our soil.

This war has continued not for the warmongering nature of the Gran Colombian state, but for the refusal of the other side to see reason. Had concerns or complaints over our alleged conduct in the Brazilian Andes or our territorial hegemony and trade policies in the South Pacific been clearly stated to us, it may have been possible to reach an agreement or even mutual understanding without firing a single bullet. Instead, we are faced with widespread carnage because of the intransigent belligerence of our opponents.

Our attempts at making peace have been met with derision and arrogance unbecoming of fraternal states on the international stage. The most generous deal offered demanded the surrender of all of Gran Colombia save for New Granada and Peru, despite the admission of the French emissaries that they were unsure whether we were guilty of supplying the Andean rebels before the outbreak of war. Upon our rejection of splitting our country in half for a crime we did not commit, they stated that our refusal proved our guilt and proved that we had always wanted war.

Were a bandit to kidnap and hold your son for ransom, and upon hearing you were unable to pay, kindly offer to saw him in half and return his top half to you, would you take him up on his most just and reasonable offer?

It is with heavy heart that I must conclude that the French king and his emissaries view us, the people of Gran Colombia, and perhaps our Spanish-speaking brethren, as they view our Filipino and Haitian brothers in Christ, an inferior people incapable and unworthy of self-governance.

And thus we stand in a Great Patriotic War for our existence as an independent nation. In the face of this unprecedented war of aggression against our people, we have every right to fight back. We shall fight on the open ocean, we shall fight in the streets of our cities, we shall fight in the summits of the Andes, we shall fight in the depths of the Amazon. And if against all odds, every inch of our soil falls under the rule of these bloodthirsty Huns, there will come a day when the undying spirit of Gran Colombia rises once again to overthrow tyranny, as our forefathers did under the rule of foreign monarchs and their forefathers against their Moorish conquerors. Whatever the time and costs spent, the Almighty shall see to it that the final victory of this conflict shall be our own.

[Kuumo]

Colombian Wartime Propaganda

The following songs have risen in popularity as symbols of Colombian resistance, the former adapted from a Spanish socialist song and the latter from a Quebecois patriotic song from the North American War.

Hijos del Pueblo (1902 Gran Colombian lyrics)

Son of the people, chains oppress you,
and that injustice cannot keep going;
if your existence is a world of sorrow,
death would be preferable before becoming a slave.
In the battle, the imperialist cur,
by our effort it shall succumb,
and our whole people, with the liberators,
will make freedom return.

Brother, no more humiliation,
the oppressor has to succumb.
Stand up, loyal people,
to the shout of Gran Colombia.
Strong unity of faith and action
will produce the liberation.
Our banner has to be:
only by union is there victory.

El Ejercito de los Libres

In the army of Colombia
We are marching in the van
And will do the work before us
If the bravest soldiers can
We will drive the Huns' armies
From their strongholds to the sea
And will live and die together
In the army of the free
We may rust beneath inaction
We may sink beneath disease
The summer rains may soak us
Or the winter fires may burn
But whatever may befall us
We will let the invaders see
That unconquered we will still remain
The army of the free

Then hurrah for our division
May it soon be called to go
To add its strength to those who have
Advanced to meet the foe
God bless it, for we know right well
Wherever it may be
'Twill never fail to honor our great
Army of the free
The army of the free
The army of the free
'Twill never fail to honor our great
Army of the free

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Official Statement from the Office of the Archbishop-President


(Source: u/S-I-B-E-R-I-A-N on r/vexillology)

On the Recent Russian Tragedy

The Holy Republic of Gran Colombia offers its condolences to President Milyukov and the people of the Russian Republic in the wake of the terrorist attack at the Bolshoi Theater. We hope and pray for the success of the Russian investigation so that the perpetrators are put to justice.

https://www.ecuadorianliterature.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Federico-Gonzalez-Suarez.jpg

Archbishop-President Federico González Suárez Gives Public Speech on the Great Patriotic War

We stand here today two years after the initial outbreak of war. Since then we have fought to defend our great nation against this perfidious onslaught against our culture, sovereignty, home, and hearth. Though the invaders predicted a quick collapse against their superior numbers, we have endured against assaults on every corner of the Fatherland.

I would like to put to rest assertions that Gran Colombia is responsible for the start of this war. We have been accused by our French and Brazilian assailants of a protracted campaign of support for rebels to destabilize the Divine Republic of Brazil and the former Sacred Union of La Plata as well as assembling a "global alliance against Brazil and France." These accusations could not be further from the truth. Before the war, we sought to resolve disputes diplomatically rather than by force, respecting the sovereignty of our South American neighbors despite our disagreements on domestic policy and taking a leading role in the passage of the Treaty of Trois-Rivières hosted by our now-belligerent. As for the latter accusation, we have the right to sign treaties as an independent nation, whether to affirm existing relationships as with Spain or to mend frayed relationships as with Mexico. Never was our intention to invade Brazil or any other country; the defensive pacts were meant only as gestures of goodwill and assurances of our commitment to the prosperity of our allies. But yet some still claim that the assailants of Gran Colombia only acted in self-defense as they refuse to withdraw from our borders and continue to spill rivers of blood upon our soil.

This war has continued not for the warmongering nature of the Gran Colombian state, but for the refusal of the other side to see reason. Had concerns or complaints over our alleged conduct in the Brazilian Andes or our territorial hegemony and trade policies in the South Pacific been clearly stated to us, it may have been possible to reach an agreement or even mutual understanding without firing a single bullet. Instead, we are faced with widespread carnage because of the intransigent belligerence of our opponents.

Our attempts at making peace have been met with derision and arrogance unbecoming of fraternal states on the international stage. The most generous deal offered demanded the surrender of all of Gran Colombia save for New Granada and Peru, despite the admission of the French emissaries that they were unsure whether we were guilty of supplying the Andean rebels before the outbreak of war. Upon our rejection of splitting our country in half for a crime we did not commit, they stated that our refusal proved our guilt and proved that we had always wanted war.

Were a bandit to kidnap and hold your son for ransom, and upon hearing you were unable to pay, kindly offer to saw him in half and return his top half to you, would you take him up on his most just and reasonable offer?

It is with heavy heart that I must conclude that the French king and his emissaries view us, the people of Gran Colombia, and perhaps our Spanish-speaking brethren, as they view our Filipino and Haitian brothers in Christ, an inferior people incapable and unworthy of self-governance.

And thus we stand in a Great Patriotic War for our existence as an independent nation. In the face of this unprecedented war of aggression against our people, we have every right to fight back. We shall fight on the open ocean, we shall fight in the streets of our cities, we shall fight in the summits of the Andes, we shall fight in the depths of the Amazon. And if against all odds, every inch of our soil falls under the rule of these bloodthirsty Huns, there will come a day when the undying spirit of Gran Colombia rises once again to overthrow tyranny, as our forefathers did under the rule of foreign monarchs and their forefathers against their Moorish conquerors. Whatever the time and costs spent, the Almighty shall see to it that the final victory of this conflict shall be our own.

OOC: It is very well established that explicitly OOC conversations cannot be used as in-game events.  Respectfully, you’ve played enough games to know better and I formally ask that this speech be deleted.  If you refuse to do so, I ask that Spamage refuse to acknowledge it as it is absolutely littered left and right with references to explicitly OOC conversations.

[Spamage]

1902 News of the World

Qajars Imperiled: Region Thrown into Chaos

Iranian Rebel Soldiers, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Arabian War
   The fight in the desert would continue to swing in favor of the Saudis. Armed with Turkish and Scandinavian supplies, bolstered by fervor, and possessed with superior morale they seemed to herald a new era for Arabia. Yet, the Iranians would not give up without a fight. Whatever Mozaffar’s flaws as a leader, and there were many, he still understood the significance of control over Hejaz for his government and legitimacy. The Iranian army dispatched the previous year was intent on restoring order and finally exterminating the Saudis once and for all.
   The Iranian commanders were operating with outdated and inappropriate assumptions, many having served in the Qajar-Ottoman War and the straightforward maneuvering that entailed. Matters were not helped with the purge of the military leadership. The new commanders were unprepared for the more mobile Arabic tactics.
   The Battle of Taif saw the Saudis launch a bold strike at the holy cities of Islam. They had prepared for the fight by harrying Iranian supply lines for weeks. With little respite, having to be on guard at all times for potential attack, the Qajar men were exhausted. The two sides clashed for three straight days, fighting ranging from sunrise through the evening. Yet, the Arabs continued to attack under the cover of darkness, wearing down the defenders willpower. After the third day, on July 15th, several Iranian battalions broke and fled the field. This was the turning point, the whole Qajar line collapsing in a panicked retreat, hoping to reach the safety of Mecca. Thousands either perished or surrendered in this disordered and sloppy route. Those first men that reached the holy city found themselves outflanked by the more mobile Saudi troops. Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud entered the holiest city of Islam in triumph on July 21st. Medina fell within a week, the whole of Hedjaz effectively collapsing as the remaining Iranian divisions either withdrew or dissolved.

Aborted Revolution & Qajar Civil War
   While Arabia burned and tensions simmered, Mozaffar Shah was more concerned with personal squabbles. His advisors filled his head with paranoia, whispering that his brother Kamran was plotting to topple the regime and had infected the government with loyalists. Agents convinced him that the Durrani, not the Saudis, ought to be his primary concern, given their tacit aid for the rogue prince. In preparation for a bold campaign against the wounded Abdul II, Mozaffar engaged in a wholesale purge of Iranian civil society, targeting generals, police, and local administrators deemed ‘hostile’ to his government. There were grumblings of discontent, but it would take the news from Mecca for the opposition to act.
   When news reached Tehran of the defeat at Taif, all hell broke loose. Yet again, the war in Arabia spurred developments at home in Iran. The loss of Mecca and Medina, those most holy cities of Islam, shook the regime to its core. Liberals, clerics, and the dynastic opposition made common-cause. At long last, fed up with the regime’s incompetence and finding an ally with Prince Kamran in Mashad, the people rose up. There were three goals: to force Mozaffar to adopt a constitution, relinquish nominal political authority to his younger brother as regent, and release Prince Massoud. Protests, led by many notables who had been so ignominiously dismissed by the Shah earlier in the year, exploded in Qom, Tehran, Isfahan, and other major Iranian cities. While Mozaffar’s soldiers restored order to the capitol and surrounding region, the rebels dominated in the south. Mass defections in the army and civil service have Kamran a formidable fighting force as he vowed to restore ‘the good rule of my beloved father, Naser al-Din Shah.’
   Mozaffar was not without his own backing, thousands seeing a true affront to traditional dynastic succession in the realm through Kamran’s attempt to usurp the throne. These traditionalists, loyal to the regime and old order, had little desire to acquiesce what was seen as liberal weakness. They viewed the calls for reform as counter-productive, undermining the state and the monarchy. Iran has ended the year in a state of civil war, regional power vacuum forming as Tehran looks inwards in the face of tremendous domestic upheaval.

Collapse of the Satellite Regimes
   In the absence of any central authority, the Iran descending into internecine destruction, the various satellite states and puppet regimes suddenly found themselves free to act without interference from Tehran. Feuds, held in stasis by decades of Persian hegemony, were free to continue where they had left off. The Kurdish and Armenian struggle erupted into an all-out war, the small Iranian garrison overwhelmed by the desire of the two peoples to destroy one another. Armenia, though nominally an integral part of Iranian territory, effectively returned to its position as an autonomous state, organizing its own militias. Cilicia, formed through an unequal balance of Greek, Armenian, and Alawite interests descended into anarchy as Kurdish and Armenian minorities in that realm sought to secede due to their sympathy with the national cause. While the Azeris, the ethnic backbone of the Qajar family, remained loyal to the dynasty, in the far north a Georgian minority rose up and called for union with their brethren in Tblisi.  

The Balkans: Stirring of the Giants

Bulgarian Soldiers Advance, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Greek War
    The allied attack on Greece was the last straw for Vienna and Stockholm, the forces of order at long last acting against the spreading global instability. For Scandinavia, in particular, the fight was personal. Charles XIV rallied his Viennese ally to his side the two aligning on a defense of Limassol and the existing order in the Balkans. Greece would not be left to die alone.
   While the two titans undoubtedly possessed far greater strength than either Turkey or Bulgaria, the Greek situation was perilous while its allies mobilized. The frontlines near Larissa crumbled in the wake of a Bulgarian onslaught and a Turkish push north. By the time the first Scandinavian aid arrived, the Greeks were confined to the Peloponnese, an arc of land around Agrinio, and Cyprus. Truly the government of Constantine II was on its last legs. Fighting was particularly fierce near Corinth, the allies attempting to cross the isthmus and break into the last serious outpost of Greek resistance.
   Scandinavian naval assets proved to be the first sign of their presence in the region, both the Bulgarian and Turkish fleets steering clear rather than risk annihilation by the far-better equipped vessels. Naval aid proved crucial in preventing the fall of Corinth and ensuring the survival of the Greek government in Patras. While plans for a counter-offensive across the isthmus were likewise shelved, the Bulgarian and Turkish forces having established their own defensive lines, the Scandinavian fleet cleared the Aegean of enemy vessels and restored order to the numerous occupied islands in that sea. In an attempt to show their utter mastery of the seas, their fleet also seized the Turkish ports of Bodrum and Marmaris, an effort to nab Thessalonica failing due to looming Bulgarian artillery.
   The Austrians smashed south through their Serbian puppet, the government in Belgrade cheering the forces of young Emperor Maximilian as they smashed into Bulgaria and Albania. While there were some setbacks relating to insufficient Serbian infrastructure, these were soon overcome, the borders to the enemy seeming wide open. The Albanians were certainly the least-prepared to deal with the arrival of Habsburg soldiers, their attempts at resistance beaten back in their initial surprise. While Tirana yet held in 1902, the prospect of the region falling fully into Habsburg clutches remained a very real possibility. Bulgaria benefitted from superior manpower relative to its Albanian ally, but too found itself forced back by the arrival of Austrian troops. Sofia, one of that realm’s largest cities (albeit not the capitol, which is at Burgas), found itself on the frontline as the year came to a close.
   The remainder of the year was not wholly bleak for the Turks, who captured Smyrna, the situation in that city becoming hopeless even after the allies had joined the war. The Greek garrison was ferried to the safety of Patras in good order as the Pasha’s men extinguished the last Greek military presence in Anatolia.
   The intervention of the great powers has utterly changed the stakes of the war, all eyes in the region watching developments closely. To the Bulgarians and Turks, it seemed the elites were determined to keep them down, the populace rallying around the cause. In Vienna and Stockholm, the cause is viewed as just, helped by the romantic sentiment towards Ancient Greece that emerged during the past half century. In Russia, the news from Bulgaria was utterly painful, the conservative Slavophiles in Milyukov’s coalition agonizing over news from the Balkan and going so far as to hint at leaving the coalition over the matter. The more radical elements in Russian society, goaded on by Purishkevich’s screeds, seethe over the abandonment of Slavic brethren. Romania, meanwhile, has been uncharacteristically silent, watching closely but saying little about the situation.

Russian Arrests! Assassins Apprehended!

Vera Zasulich (left) and Maria Spiridonova (right)
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

   The aftermath of the opera bombing consumed Russian politics in 1902, only overshadowed eventually by the Greek War. In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, three women were deemed to be suspect. Employees of the Bolshoi Theater, they fled Moscow rather than face interrogation by the police. Maria Ivanovna, Anastasia Alexandrovna, and Vera Alekseevna were the talk of the Russian press. Though no photos of the women were found, an intense manhunt consumed the nation's interest. Clues were sparse. The women were known to have spoken Polish or Belorussian in the company of another man, though his identity likewise remained a mystery.
   Russian police seemed always to be one step behind. The women were known to have fled to Voronezh, then onwards to Tblisi. While there was a little tension between the Georgians and the Russians in the aftermath of the annexation of Trebizond, the two police forces fully cooperated. Yet, when their train arrived in Tblisi, it was empty. Tipped off, the three suspects had exited early. Back in Russia proper, further digging had revealed the women were perhaps concealing their true identities.
   It quickly became apparent the women were radicals, inspired by Marxist teachings and Chernyshevsky's 'What is to Be Done?' a book featuring the 'perfect revolutionary.' They disdained the bourgeois republic, seeking to use assassination and the existing political polarization to accelerate the true revolution.
   The chase took authorities to the city of Gori, where they engaged in a house-by-house search. The women were not in the city, one resident tipping authorities off that they had fled into the countryside. At Uplistsikhe, an ancient rock hewn ruin south of the city, they were found, holed up with several dozen men in the cave city. A firefight ensued, 6 government men dying in relation to 8 of the women's defenders and 1 of the three women (Anastasia shooting herself when the cause was deemed to have been doomed).
   7 have been apprehended. Interrogation has revealed that Vera's full name is Vera Ivanovna Vasulich. Her counterpart was Maria Alexandrovna Spiridonova, while the slain Anastasia was Anastasia Alekseevna Bitsenko. The women, after perhaps inhumane questioning, have revealed they are part of an underground, far-left revolutionary network, dubbed the 'People's Cause'. They allege a widespread network of sympathizers throughout the republic, as well as intimating that they have received funding from a foreign benefactor, though they refuse to say whom. The flight to Gori had been arranged by one of their number, a young Ioseb Jughashvili, who had believed his hometown remote enough to serve as a viable refuge. He too sits in prison, alongside 4 of his men.
   Still unaccounted for is the man who accompanied the female assassins in Moscow, there being a growing paranoia about the identity of the man. Many pray Milyukov and the authorities will find his identity before his fanatic followers strike again. The investigation and domestic political drama seems set to continue into 1903.

Austria Bloodied in Abyssinia: The People's Revenge

Battle of Beheret, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

   The Ethiopian theater had been relatively quiet with the coming of the new century, Austrian encroachment on their territory only being met with a mild, half-hearted resistance. The Habsburgs had seized Tigray and marched on Gondar, ancient territories of the Ethiopian people falling under colonial rule. Many officials in Vienna were guilty of arrogance, believing that it was the 'primitive' and 'backwardness' of the locals that brought about their acquiesce. Yet, this was not weakness, but careful planning on the part of the locals. Rather than risking his men in a gradual, drawn out series of battles in which they would undoubtedly be defeated, the Emperor Menelik II bided his time and massed his men.
   The pivotal moment came at the Battle of Berehet. The Austrians found themselves ambushed by thousands of Ethiopians. While the assault had been expected, Vienna sending additional men in preparation, the Ethiopians enjoyed an extreme numerical advantage. The battle was a slog, waves of Ethiopian assault repelled by superior Austrian firepower. One Czech lieutenant noted that the Habsburg weaponry was overheating from extreme use and men began to run out of ammunition. Even as bodies piled up, the Ethiopians continued to come. The Emperor of the Ethiopians was himself on the field of battle, using his presence to bolster the morale of his men. Even as a horse was shot out from under him, Menelik II remained undeterred and continued to order the assault.
   Despite heavy casualties, the Austrians began to break after 8 hours of carnage. Exhausted and running out of ammunition, the panic erupted when it was relized there were yet more Ethiopian divisions joining the fray, fresh and untested. It was too much, the commanders ordering a hasty retreat lest the army dissolve. Menelik II and his men harried them the whole way, pushing the Austrians back into their concession. Scattered garrisons of Habsburg soldiers suddenly found themselves isolated without central support, being forced to either surrender or massacred outright.
   Menelik II has triumphed at the Battle of Berehet, though it has undoubtedly brought an end to the half-hearted stage of the conflict. Many now question if Vienna, occupied as it is with the events in the Balkans, will respond yet further or if he Ethiopian Emperor has won his people a respite. Still, the victory came at a heavy cost, thousands of young Ethiopian men never to return home to their families. Theirs has been a true sacrifice.

The Great War

India: The Raj Assailed

Group of Durrani Soldiers, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Loya Jirga
   With the near death of the Shah utterly stunning Durrani government, Timur sought to get to the truth. Initial findings blamed the Hui Chinese ambassador for pulling the trigger. While China was occupied with the invasion from France and Japan, there was a brief war of words between the two governments. Timur ordered the diplomat arrested and detained, calling for his execution should China not issue an apology. The gravity of the situation only increased as Abdul Shah’s condition continued to deteriorate, his western doctors diagnosing him with the relatively novel disease of encephalitis lethargica, the ruler rebounding between periods of coherence, to the edge of death.
   At the last moment, when it seemed as though there would be war between the Durrani and China, an Uzbek messenger brought forth word that numerous illegal caches of French weaponry and gold in the Khyber Pass had been uncovered. At once the situation in Kabul pivoted, the Regent Shah (as Timur had begun to style himself) releasing the Chinese ambassador with an apology and numerous gifts. To ensure security with the French threat looming, Durrani officials swept through the countryside, reportedly uncovering numerous French safehouses and hidden weaponry. Documents detailing plans to rip apart the realm were signed bearing the signature of the French Governor-General of India François Pierre Rodier. Infuriated by the news, as well as news that the pistol that had shot his brother was manufactured in France, Timur convened the Loya Jirga for an emergency session in July.
   It was here Timur went public with his findings, the news shocking and enraging the public, who rallied behind the banner of the wounded Shah Abdul II. The elders bayed for blood, calling on the Regent-Shah to carry forward his grandfather’s cause and topple colonial domination in India once and for all. “Never another Copenhagen!” was shouted by the incensed men, the diverse Durrani tribal representatives uniting behind war. With the consent of the Grand Mufti, Timur formally declared a jihad against the French Empire. He tore up the Treaty of Delhi in dramatic fashion amid thunderous approval from the civilians of Kabul.

War Returns to India
   The Durrani swept down from the mountains and across the Thar Desert. They caught the French Raj wholly unaware; Louis XX having relocated men to Europe, Burma, and the Chinese front, leaving a mere 10 divisions to sweep up the British coastal outposts. While they had been successful, securing the surrender of Bombay in July, they now found themselves facing more than 100 Durrani divisions sweeping down the Gangetic Plain and through the most populated portions of the dominion.
   The political order buckled under the pressure. France had expected aid from Kabul, not enmity. Delhi, such a momentous seizure for the Durrani in the 1870s, was now a mere afterthought as their men swept south into the sparsely-defended Raj. Unlike in the 1870s, the Durrani were joined by local rulers, the nominal French vassals of Gwalior and Awadh flipping sides in the face of such an enemy force. These remnants of Mughal rule, having acted as French clients for more than a century and a half, now saw in the Durrani a means of reasserting home rule, some observers arguing this is a major signal this fight is different. In the south, the smoking embers of insurgency in Mysore reignited, peasant militias operating out of remote regions in the countryside.
   The year has concluded with tremendous territorial gains for the Durrani, the French colonial government forced to relocate to Calcutta after the series of defeats along the massive frontline. It remains to be seen if King Louis XX and the government in far-off Versailles will be able to salvage the situation in 1903 or if the Durrani will continue their push into India, effectively creating yet another massive empire on the Indian subcontinent along the lines of the historic Delhi Sultanate or Mughal Empire.

[Spamage]

China: The Republic Survives

Franco-Japanese Forces During the Battle of Zhongdu, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

   Durrani duplicity ensured that China was well-prepared for France’s operations in 1902. Coupled with Kabul holding back its units on proposed fronts, the results have been disastrous for the French coalition on nearly every front of the war. Tens of thousands of French and allied soldiers have been either killed or forced into surrendering with the sheer preparedness of the Chinese counter-offensive, already knowing their plans as they were being implemented.

Tibet
   The situation in Tibet would be an early illustration how the campaign year would go for the French and their allies. That realm had long possessed a pro-French element, many remembering how Paris had long acted as their defender against the Chinese in past decades. Louis XX sought to exploit this and launch a civil war in the substate, the plan being that several dozen Durrani divisions would join the Tibetans when the banners of revolution were raised.
   Yet, from the start troubles mounted. China, well-aware of France’s plans (likely due to the loose lips of the Durrani government) had already sent several dozen more divisions to the region to quell any unrest. When the pro-French Tibetans declared their independence from China on June 20th, they were immediately surrounded. Chinese soldiers showed discipline and smashed the initial attempt at rising in Lhasa without mercy. Those rebel leaders that escaped the initial onslaught fled to the northwest, hoping to unite with the approaching Durrani battalions. Yet, this had been a lie on Kabul’s part and they found no support. The Tibetan rising was crushed in under two weeks, the region firmly under President Kang’s control after the aborted coup. Both the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, potentially rallying points for the opposition, were placed under Chinese ‘armed guard’ for their safety, as the regional government was purged of any pro-French elements, who were either interned or exiled.

The Wuhan Offensive
   The worst result for the French came during perhaps the most crucial operation in the theater. Louis XX had ambitiously organized the Wuhan Offensive, intended to be a joint Franco- Durrani-Japanese stab into the heartland of China and capture of the interim capital city. Indeed, the King had won somewhat of a major coup by getting Tokyo to commit to land operations, the Japanese Republic now eager to teach their Chinese neighbors a lesson. Plans called for 230 combined allied divisions to overwhelm the Chinese through a dash from Shanghai and the coast through several cities towards the capitol. Even with the failure of the Durrani divisions to materialize, Kabul having chosen treachery over their nominal agreement, commanders on the ground elected to proceed, having received word that a mere 50 Chinese divisions stood between them and President Kang.
   Initial developments were rather favorable for the 120 allied divisions. Shanghai fell deceptively easily. Skirmishes with the Chinese found the republican forces rather disorganized and prone to retreating. Confident in their impending victory, the allied army seized Suzhou, Liyang, and Wuhu. General Jacques Duchesne privately waxed poetically in his journal of his impending ‘sojourn in Wuhan’ on September 15th, 1902. That was when the Chinese sprang their trap.
   As in Tibet and the north, the Chinese government had been well-aware of France’s plans in the theater, pre-informed as they were by the Durrani. The 50 divisions had been bait, luring the force along its offensive lines for weeks on end, fooling the leadership and soldiers that the collapse of China would be deceptively easy. In the meantime, 150 extra divisions were massing to the far north and south, well-beyond French scouting lines. When the 50 division Chinese force turned to fight at the Battle of Zhonghu, the French leadership merely assumed it was a last-ditch attempt to prevent a fall of the capital. Yet, unlike in the past, the Chinese did not retreat. Within hours the pincer assault had been launched, cutting off the allied soldiers from their supplies and the ocean. They found themselves utterly surrounded. As the scale of the disaster increasingly became clear, thousands killed and the prospect of encirclement looking likely, Duchesne ordered a retreat to the sea. This was blocked, the Chinese defeating the allied forces at the Battle of Tongling.
   The Franco-Japanese force was hamstrung, forced into the city of Anqing, where the Chinese began a punishing siege. Beyond the thousands killed in the fighting, yet more now began to perish from disease and malnutrition. Thousands more, unable to reach Anqing in time, found themselves forced to surrender to the Chinese. For many of the Japanese, steeped in martial tradition, this was an exceptionally difficult pill to swallow. Still, with the prospect of rescue seeming extremely remote, those remaining Franco-Japanese divisions in central China are effectively seen as lost. Many European papers have dubbed Anqing the ‘largest open-air prison in the war’. France’s gains, meanwhile have been reduced merely to the city of Shanghai proper, where ships have docked, though this too seems at risk of falling back into Chinese hands in coming months.

Northern China: The Burning of Beijing
   France had greatly weakened its forces in Northern China, gambling on the success of the Wuhan Offensive in knocking President Kang out of the war. This proved to be a fatal mistake for the forces left in Beijing and on the Shandong Peninsula. The roughly 50 Franco-Thai divisions found themselves greatly outnumbered by 125 Chinese divisions pushing from the inland to the sea. There was chaos, the Chinese assault far larger than had been anticipated. Beijing proper was liberated, albeit not before some French hooligans had caused extensive damage to the city as revenge for its loss. When the Chinese forces arrived, they found the northern capital engulfed in flames, French soldiers torching the settlement on orders from their government. The historic capital, its palaces, and the history contained within had been utterly gutted. Relics dating back centuries perished in the flames. Enraged, the Chinese kept up their assault, battering the allied forces at Tianjin and Binzhou. Battered and in disarray, the Franco-Thai force retreated to the perceived safety of the Shandong Peninsula, resulting in the surrender of most of the gains in 1901.
   The liberation of Beijing had effects beyond China proper, reopening the land trade routes with Korea. That burgeoning republic, still remaining neutral in the face of the regional conflagration, acted as a trading partner with both sides, profiting handsomely. Still, that would not preclude awkward encounters between Chinese and French economic agents, including several outright fistfights at the docks as nationalist sentiments outweighed rationality. Korean officials would have their hands full with trying to keep the foreigners from destabilizing their own region.

The Fate of the Emperor
   Similar perhaps loosely to the fate of the Wuhan offensive, was the situation of the Renci Emperor in Xi’an. His move to restore his dynasty to power was bold, but perhaps not entirely well thought-out. Thousands of miles from any potential aid, he was rapidly encircled. Rather than send his own men to deal with the threat, which has deemed to be a sideshow by the government in Wuhan, President Kang gave broad autonomy to the Black Banner Movement in dealing with the royalists.
   Perhaps there was no one better suited. The Black Banner forces were republican to their core, viewing the emperor as a failure and the cause of Chinese woes. They felt vindicated in his alliance with the French, deeming him a traitor to the Chinese people. Thus, peasant royalists clashed with fervent nationalists in chaotic scenes all throughout the region.
   Yet, the clashes demonstrated time had moved on from the 1870s. The fervor of the emperor’s defenders was outweighed by the republicanism of the youth, especially those so zealous as to have joined in the Black Banner Movement. Xi’an itself defected, the Renci Emperor fleeing in terror from his family’s historic base of power. Somewhere in the crisis the aged man was murdered, his corpse being found in the forests near the Qin Mountains alongside several slain retainers. While he had been travelling in disguise, seeking to carry on his cause from the wilds, he had been singled out and murdered. All that was found was a piece of parchment bearing Mongolian script in the pockets of one of his attendants, though it’s not certain if the mad had simply been carrying the parchment or if this is a larger symbol?

Burma
   Burma, the site of the initial clashes in the Franco-Chinese War became something of a sideshow in 1902, overshadowed by the far larger troop movements in the north and the west. The fight see-sawed yet again, albeit with reduced numbers on both sides. The Chinese, taking advantage of their superior numbers and the length of the Franco-Thai lines, began to push south once more. While the French held off any thoughts of moving towards Bengal and India, secure as they were behind their elaborate defensive fortifications, a weak spot was identified in the Thai, who were easily repulsed. By the end of the year, most of the Chinese Shan satellite state had been liberated, republican forces once again knocking on the door of Southern Burma and Northern Siam. The French forces, meanwhile, became increasingly alarmed by news of disastrous developments in the remainder of the Raj, suddenly seeming extremely exposed.

Africa: Revenge Overdue

New Brandenburger Soldiers During the Assault on Cape Town, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

War on the Cape
   If there was any power that needed little prodding to join the fray, it was the Republic of New Brandenburg. The Prussian settlers had long resented the British assault during the Cape War and viewed their control over Cape Town as utterly unacceptable. It only took a little prodding from the French for the government of President Theodor Seitz to launch a full-on assault on the now isolated British settlement there. Coupled with a French naval blockade, the Brandenburger forces launched a surprise attack on June 10th, forcing the British garrison into the city proper. By the end of the year, the British presence is confined to the city of Cape Town proper, the whole of the countryside falling into enemy hands. With the garrison and the English colonists holed up inside, many have begun to grow weary by the end of the year that aid from London will be on the way.

Congo-Kalahari Operations and African Rebellions
   One area where the British would find great success in 1902 was in Africa. The lightly-defended settlements of their foes were completely vulnerable to the actions of a token British force headed down the coast. French Senegal fell by March, while landings in the Congo and Kalahari caught Brazilian officials off-guard. Neither London nor Sao Paolo could have foreseen what happened next.
   The collapse of Brazilian authority on the more populated coastal regions set into action a chain of events and disobedience that would rip the region apart. Long-simmering tensions among the locals, subjugated for so long by the oppressive ‘missionaries’, erupted into an orgy of violence. As word spread, that Brazil was unable to enforce its will, those in outlying regions utterly assaulted Brazilian infrastructure and equipment. The rubber plantations, petroleum refineries, and copper mines were sacked by mobs of indignant Congolese. The Catholic Church too was the target of ire, chapels all throughout the holding going up in flames. Brazilian officials in the outlying regions were massacred on sight, thousands fleeing to the coast and the relative safety of British occupied settlements. Even the Limpopo Mission-State, which remained in tact due to its presence along the Indian Ocean, suddenly found its authority over the inlands deteriorating, the motley crew of Brazilian officials huddling down to the south as their effective reach crumbled. In the Congo the Mongo, Ngala, and Luba people took up arms against the occupiers. To the south, in Limpopo and the Kalahari, it was the Herero, Nama, Karanga, and Tonga people. While they lacked modern weaponry, they possessed substantial numerical advantages over the colonizer, whose attentions were diverted elsewhere. The Cape Republic, for its own part, secured stability within its borders but feared overextending itself by trying to operate further north in Brazilian Kalahari.
   Yet, the local rebellions refused to respect the supposed colonial borders. Portugal, which had entered the fray in North America at France’s behest, likewise lost control of the inland of Africa, anti-colonial violence spreading alongside word that the European powers were distracted. Portuguese Zambeze has effectively ceased to exist, colonial officials preemptively choosing to flee rather than defend it. Lisbon was saved from total humiliation by the existing colonial garrisons they possessed, which ensured that the coastal regions if Angola and Mozambique did not become engulfed in the violence. Portuguese soldiers even helped to stabilize the tottering Limpopo government of their Brazilian ally. Still, with Africa aflame, the people seeing a means of shaking off the yoke of Brazilian despotism, there are concerns about what will become of the region. The British soldiers, for the most part, have welcomed the internal unrest, seeing themselves as nominal allies of the anti-Brazilian forces and have merely garrisoned the coastal regions while letting the local populace govern itself further inland.
   While the British divisions had then been intended to relieve the besieged divisions at Cape Town, they found themselves repelled by the French blockade of the Cape, forced to content themselves with the occupation of the Brazilian colonies.

Oceania, East Indies, and Pacific

Hollander men during the Sumatran Campaign, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

New Holland: Revenge of the Dutchmen
   It had initially seemed as though Willemstad would remain neutral in 1902, the government holding that position throughout the early months of the year. Yet, that did not stop foreign envoys from both sides from seeking to gain the aid of the United Provinces. Van Houten’s government found itself inundated with proposals to secure its intervention. France offered Sumatra and a free hand in the East Indies, certainly a tempting proposal. When the French government was politely declined, the Quebecois attempted to reach an agreement, though they too were politely refused. Both powers were undercut by the Colombians, who not only offered the French territories (Sumatra, Borneo, and Malaya), but slices of their own as well in any peace settlement. While Paris promised a weakening of French influence in the region, Bogota offered a means of breaking it entirely.
   Ultimately, the choice was never truly difficult. France was almost universally loathed among the public, many of whom were refugees from the Netherlands proper. These Hollanders had chosen to flee rather than spend their lives under Francization policies. This was coupled with distaste for reactionary socialism in the pluralistic Hollander society, latent anti-Catholicism, and a lingering affinity for Colombia dating back to their cooperation in the 1870s. Stadtholder Van Houten formally declared war on France in April 1902, launching offensive operations all throughout the East Indies. Hollander units quickly seized the formerly Colombian Malaya, nabbed Borneo, and pushed well-north into Sumatra. That island erupted into a three-way war, as it became clear to the Sultanate that the Hollanders were just as determined to conquer them as the French had been. On the seas, the Hollander navy began a blockade of Siam, shelling the city of Bangkok for good measure. Siam, already reeling from territorial losses on the Burmese front and in Northern China, finds itself on the verge of collapse, the monarchy utterly discredited, the economy in disarray, and thousands of young Thai men dead on the frontlines.

The Philippines, New Guinea, and Pacific
   Japan continued its conquest of the Philippines, determined to end the continued resistance in 1902. With dozens of divisions retained in that theater, they faced continued hostility from the local populace. Fighting continued in brutal fashion, but it seemed as though Tokyo held the upper hand. On Luzon, resistance was gradually stamped out along the coast, only the most fervent nationalists fleeing into the center of the island. Many suspect the Archbishop-President is at loose somewhere in that area, though Japanese authorities have thus far been unsuccessful in tracking him down. This northern success was coupled with the collapse of resistance on many small islands, where local garrisons found themselves outgunned by the Japanese invaders. Much of the central region likewise began to tilt in Japan’s favor at this point, it seeming as though the conquest was on the verge of completion.
   This confidence of total victory was undermined in one fell swoop by the intervention of the British in the south. 12 divisions disembarked on Mindinao, joining the Filipinos in their struggle against the Japanese invasion. Seeing themselves outmaneuvered for the time being, especially with the joint Hollander-British fleet on the water, the Japanese elected to withdraw from the south in order to maintain their gains in the north.
   On the seas the British-Hollander involvement in the theater, coupled with the existing Japanese naval strength, prevented either faction from enacting a successful blockade. Neither wished to spread its fleet out thin enough that the other could take advantage of the situation. The Japanese base at Manila, while the British dock at Davao City.
   Further to the south, Hollander intervention beat back the Japanese force in New Guinea, forcing them into a defensive position on the coast. British ships also nabbed the remaining Japanese outposts in the region, seizing New Britain and the Japanese Solomon Islands. Quebec and Japan elected a defensive stance, especially when word of New Holland’s intervention reached their capitols.

[Spamage]

North America: Rivalries, Revolutions, and Revulsion

Explosion in New York Harbor, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Operation Sunset
   The morning of August 5th, 1902 opened like any other. A Tuesday, the harbor in New York City bustled with activity, those brave souls still undertaking commerce in the Atlantic loading vessels for shipments abroad. It was truly a cosmopolitan scene, British mercantile vessels mingling with trade ships from Scandinavia, Russia, Austria, Naples, New England, and numerous other powers. It was hoped that with Gibraltar free from blockade at long last, business into the Mediterranean would be able to resume. Few took notice then, when a New Englander vessel approached the shore. Paperwork said the vessel was loaded with dry goods bound for the Caribbean, stopping in New York to load up on other items to ship to that region.
   The bustling, commercial scene soon became one of horror. Before anyone could react, the vessel exploded, a massive shockwave echoing through the city. Several hundred at the harbor were vaporized instantly, the ship having been loaded with several tons of explosives as virtually a massive bomb. Nor was the city spared, the shockwave shattering windows, collapsing buildings, and lighting fires throughout the vicinity. Buildings were leveled for a mile, more than ten thousand presumed dead from the blast and injuries sustained in its aftermath. Just minutes later a second explosion was heard further away, rocking the city near the Meatpacking district and killing perhaps ten thousand more.
   News would emerge via telegraph of several other similar incidents, similar explosions rocking Wilmington, North Carolina and Newport, Virginia. Vessels heading towards Norfolk, Baltimore, and Philadelphia seem to have detonated prematurely, killing whatever crew was onboard, a testament of the dangerousness of the act. It seems New England had loaded the ships with explosives, intending to enter the fight with a bang. This was confirmed just hours later, their divisions crossing the frontier into New York in a southern offensive. Britain, having gone out of its way to secure New Englander shipping and prevent its blockade from affecting them too strongly, was stunned.
   It would soon become apparent that one important victim had been killed. Queen Mary, in a demonstration of her support to the American realm at this dire hour, had dispatched her younger half-sister Princess Helen and Foreign Secretary Balfour to the region. Given its distance from hostilities, it had been assumed that New York would be a suitable place for the Princess and her entourage. Helen and her mother Queen Dowager Caroline had resided at the Castle Garden behind the safety of the old fortress walls, incidentally within the blast radius of the New Englander explosion. The 12-year-old Princess and heir of Mary III was killed, dying from the blast itself, utterly outraging the British, Scandinavian, Prussian, and Dutch royal families from which she was descended. Charles XIV of Scandinavia, the girl's uncle, will be forced to reckon with the aftermath of such a tragic development, especially as he has been placed back in line as Mary III's heir.
   Public opinion has been utterly shocked by Operation Sunset, newspapers in London, Stockholm, Vienna, and Moscow detailing the carnage. The portions of the city struck were not valid military targets, but centers of commerce and residential tenements. Indeed, whole blocks of the city were leveled, along with those inside. Beyond the death of young Helen and her mother, tens of thousands of civilians are dead, women and children killed alongside the men. Schools, churches, and hospitals were not spared the damage. Due to New York’s cosmopolitan nature as a center of commerce, those killed include more than a dozen nationalities (British, Spanish, Scandinavian, Russian, Prussian, New Hollander, Chilean, Austrian, Neapolitan, Louisianan, Pampeano, and Polish). The level of carnage was acknowledged by both the British officials attempting to restore order in the aftermath and their New Englander successors, who would soon seize the city.
   The act also had an unintended effect, hardening the resolve of the people in the British Empire, save perhaps Ireland. New England had blatantly abused its position as a neutral power to launch a surprise attack that had seen thousands of civilians killed. ‘Today we are all New Yorkers. Today we are mourn the loss of the beloved Princess,’ Keir Hardie, a Scottish Labour leader spoke in Parliament, giving testament to the universal revulsion felt by the whole of British society. All throughout the Empire, the public was shocked by the development. Parliament has rallied around the government, the war in America, and Queen Mary personally. Socialists and Labour leaders noted that it was workingmen and women that had been leveled by the bombings, their tenements becoming the frontline of a new war. For the time being, the Transatlantic bonds of affinity seemed strengthened by the bloodshed.

The Land Campaign & War in the Skies
   The land campaigns in North America proved to be a decidedly mixed bag for British commanders on the ground. New England assaulted immediately in the aftermath of its coastal bombing campaign, thousands of their men pouring across the border into New York. Most of Britain’s soldiers relocated elsewhere, the government could only watch as major cities such as Albany and Ithaca fell prey to their advances while the defensive forces mustered. Whatever the political troubles at home, New England achieved most of its operational goals on the ground with relatively little casualties. Only New York would be a thorn in their side. That city, remembering well its treatment by the New Englander cause in the 1870s and reeling from the attack it had just received, attempted an armed resistance. Civilians manned the barricades and prevented the occupation of the city for roughly a week in a futile act of resistance. They ultimately were defeated, outgunned with the British Army occupied elsewhere. The city fell on August 20th. From there Long Island too was swept up by the invaders. Still, they had bought American officials some time to muster men for the cause.
   Further to the west, the twin campaigns in Michigan and Wisconsin had very different trajectories. The Quebecois forces in the west were caught flat-footed as they attempted to mobilize in the face of the British advance throughout the first part of the year, further gains in Wisconsin throwing region attempts at mobilization into disarray. While the frontline would stabilize, reinforcements from both Montreal and France stemming the British advance further to the north, the result has been the loss of much of Wisconsin, the local Anglophone population welcoming the British as liberators. Louisiana demonstrated a tepid involvement in the Anglo-Quebecois war by sending men across the Mississippi in an attempt to divert British attention, though they had been forced back over the border soon enough.
   To the west, Michigan proved to be a tougher nut to crack. With the initial Quebecois forces far larger and reinforcements arriving from far closer, the British assaults proved to be in vain. As French soldiers began to pour in after an extremely long journey, Quebec would even have a taste of victory, the numbers gradually tilting in its favor throughout the year. A counteroffensive operation pushed the British wholly out of occupied territory in this region and took the war back into America proper, the frontline stretching in a long line from Toledo to Wayne and Lake Michigan.
   A further testament to changing times, the war would not solely be fought on land as well, entering a new frontline. Both sides employed new dirigible technology, though its effectiveness in either mobile warfare or as a means of bombing proved rather limited. The Quebecois tried to use their airships to slow their losses in Wisconsin, one vessel exploding to a lucky British artillery hit. The British, meanwhile, attempted to bomb Quebecois factories and industrial production at Detroit and Toronto, the bombings being notorious for poor accuracy and limited effectiveness.

Outrage in Boston
   No one was more aghast by the act than the New England assembly itself. They had neither been consulted by Chairman Fitzgerald on the plot, nor the intent to declare war on Britain. Operation Sunset was a fait accompli, forcing them into hostilities with Britain in an instant. Such an act of depravity, against an unsuspecting civilian population all while flying the flag of neutrality was too much to bear, let alone the death of Princess Helen. The mobilization of vast portions of society to capitalize on the aftermath of it was likewise distasteful. Even the most rabidly patriotic New Englanders had to reckon with the images of civilian corpses pulled from rubble in British American cities. To the Protestant, Yankee establishment it seemed Chairman Fitzgerald had fulfilled their worst fears. Just two years after the first Irish-New Englander Catholic had been elected, he had involved the Confederation in his Irish blood feud with the British. Even worse, this seemingly came with an alliance with the rabidly anti-democratic, Catholic French, news reaching Boston that French soldiers had arrived in the Americas to aid the Quebecois after the breaking of the British blockade.
   The Centralists and the Progressives, so bitterly feuding just years before, patched up their spat in an instant, agreeing to a man that there would be consequences. ‘Henry Wilson would be aghast at this act dishonor and cowardice,’ stated one Centralist delegate. George F. Hoar, the leader of the Progressives, argued, ‘We ought to rip down that statue in the harbor for such gangsterism. Does Fitzgerald think that small child was our enemy?’ While Operation Sunset probably could have been done by one of the more authoritarian powers without the world batting an eye, to see such a move by a mainstream, democratic state shocked the public. Talks of impeaching and removing Chairman Fitzgerald from office were floated, both the Centralists and Progressive Parties pledging to hold his government to account. Yet, they commanded a majority in neither house. They would need Federalist defections in order to take action.
   And defections there were. The Federalists, Fitzgerald’s own party, had long been the more Anglophilic faction in New Englander politics. While James Blaine had charted a course of clear conflict with London during the 1880s, it had been the Federalists under Benjamin Butler and his deputies who had called for closer ties to London, their government having signed the Treaty of Charleston with Britain in 1893. One man stationed on that diplomatic mission was William Lewis Douglas. He had subsequently been elected to the National Assembly in 1900 as a Federalist. Utterly shocked by Fitzgerald’s act, he led a faction of the Federalists in both houses in dubbing themselves ‘Independent Federalists.' They joined with the opposition to force the government to step down. More cynical observers argued that Douglas had plans of his own, judging by subsequent developments. He himself would frame it as an act of justice for those slain, even if they were British and not Yankee.
   Chairman Fitzgerald was formally impeached by the National Assembly on a vote of 91-59 on September 5th. After a speedy trial, supporters of Fitzgerald calling it a botched kangaroo court proceeding, he was removed from office on September 15th by a vote of 40-20, the exact number necessary for such an act. William Douglas was named as acting Chairman, with emergency elections scheduled to for the remainder of the term in early 1903.
   Yet, the interim government would have to address two things. First was the diplomatic situation. For all Douglas’ Anglophilia, it could not be argued that New English troops had fared well on the field of battle. As a result, public opinion was sharply divided on Fitzgerald’s actions. Federalist partisans argue that the removal of the Chairman had been an unpatriotic act as men were sent to the front and castigate the Independent Federalists as traitors. Their position was bolstered by extensive government propaganda in the early days of the fighting. The Centralists and Progressives meanwhile, have argued for a ‘Peace with Honor and Justice’ eager to get out of the war before fighting comes to New England’s shores, reminding the public of the depravity of Operation Sunset and the very real risk faced by the Confederation. Chairman Douglas will thus have to square New England’s military and diplomatic situation with the tragedy that got it there. Former Chairman Fitzgerald has remained defiant however, vowing to run again in the 1903 special election for his seat. It seemed the Centralists, Progressives, and Independent Federalists would align against the Federalists in the upcoming vote.

Orleanist Chaos

Peasants Armed by Luis II, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

   The home fronts of both powers descended into chaos in 1902, weakening the ability of commanders along the frontlines to operate. Men, fed up with fighting and increasingly disillusioned with their respected governments have deserted in droves. Yet, the conflict expands yet further. In addition to risings in both Louisiana and Mexico, actions of both governments have dragged in outside powers such as Britain, Quebec, and France. Many question if the Orleanist monarchies, established for more than a century, will be able to survive 1903?

The Front: Mexico Takes the West, Brazos Breaks at Last
   Louisiana at long last had the stalemate on the Brazos break in its favor, albeit at a heavy cost in lives. After three years of fighting a push across the river capitalized on Mexican confusion in the wake of alarming news from the south and initial disarray. Thousands perished on the other side of the riverbank. Yet, the offensive was not as decisive as had been hoped as the mass defections of the Columbians began in earnest. A separate operation seeking to smash through New Mexico towards Baja California was slowed by the presence of Mexican troops and growing defections.
   In California, 15 Mexican divisions marched north towards that Jewel of the Pacific, San Francisco. While they had initially expected to be unopposed, the overwhelming bulk of Louisianan forces occupied by operations to the east, Luis II’s suspicions were confirmed when Quebec sent 10 divisions south, seeking to prevent the fall of California. The two sides met at the Battle of Sacramento, the Mexicans taking the field of battle after three days of pounding and bloodshed. While the Quebecois were forced to flee north towards Redding, San Francisco stood vulnerable. With the coming of the Mexican forces the city descended into an orgy of violence. Old Californio families were massacred, deemed as collaborationist forces with the oncoming Mexicans, while thousands crowded the roads north on carriages and in mass refugee columns, refusing to live under Mexican administration. Mexico’s seizure of the city robbed New Orleans of its last major port on the Pacific, though its evident collaboration with Quebec ensured that northern dockyards in Vaudreuil would still be able to act as proxy harbors.
   Fighting entered a heretofore unseen region in 1902 as well. Taking advantage of Louisiana’s naval focus on securing victory at Tampico, and the Franco-Brazilian fleet battling the British off the coast of Venezuela, Luis II expanded the war further by smashing into the Louisianan Caribbean. Jamaica fell rapidly, the Mexican divisions merely having to arrive at Kingston before the governor deemed their numbers too large to repel. Cuba was another matter. Three Mexican forces landed at the Isla de la Juventud, Manzanillo and Cienfuegos. Cuba had been joined to Louisiana by New Orleans’ preying on the collapsing Spanish Empire, the Cubanos being somewhat indifferent to Louisianan governance. If anything, there had been a slight resentment of the domineering Francophone class who had gobbled up estates and property with their substantial wealth compared to the local populace. Still, with the arrival of Mexicans on their shores, the Cubans decided to take matters into their own hands. The nascent Cuban nationalist cause has arisen in the countryside, vowing to expel the Mexicans and Louisianans. They dream of a Cuba free from foreign domination, though such a dream still seems a long way off. Mexico has seized much of the south of the island, while the Louisianan government maintains its grip over Havana and the surrounding region. This muddled, confusing situation has caused widespread dislocation as people attempt to find respite from the conflict in the island’s limited territory.

The Heart of Mexico
   The Battle of Tampico proved to be another decisive development in the Mexican theater in August 1902. While Luis II had placed 8 divisions to defend the city, anticipating a Louisianan assault on that port, they were faced with 16 divisions by sea supported by the Army of San Luis Potosi on land. While 20 Mexican divisions were also operating in the area, battling the Augustinians to the north, they arrived on the scene too late. After heavy naval bombardment and the start of what looked to be a siege, the Mexican commanders were forced to evacuate the port. Louisiana immediately embarked on a mad dash for the capital, few Mexican forces standing in their way. Yet, as they pushed into the Valley of Mexico, the scene that greeted them was not one they had expected.
   The decision of the King to lease out Veracruz and Acapulco was greeting with widespread derision and confusion among the Mexican populace. The Catholic Republicans, spurred by Brazilian promises of success, decided it was time to end the charade once and for all and seize control of the government. They launched a coup attempt on August 11th, 1902, when news arrived of the loss of Tampico. Their propaganda framed the King as auctioning off Mexico to the highest bidder, using royal dynasticism to launch wars of vanity while his subjects in Mexico paid the price. It convinced enough people for them to act. Street fighting exploded in the city. Most of the populace was committed to the royal cause, but they had been caught off-guard and the Catholic-Republicans were well-organized. Luis II and his family were spirited away from his capitol in the crisis by the division on hand to ensure order, heading to Oaxaca and friendly territory, where he called on the National Assembly to reconvene.   
   Still, news that the capitol had fallen to rebellious led to another wave of tumult throughout the nation, the bishops of Merida, Tabasco, Ures, Monterrey, and other cities launching successful risings in their own cities as well, tossing out royal governors and attempting to assert control. Both Augustinian and Royalist land have been beset by these ideologues. San Luis Potosi was Louisianan until it had been reconquered by Luis’ men midway through the summer, then fell to a Catholic-Republican rising by the end of the year. Still, it quickly became evident that while the clergy exerted control in the cities, the countryside still backed the Red King, particularly Mexicans of indigenous descent.
   Thus, the Louisianans encountered a Mexico City held by Catholic-Republicans when they reached the capital. General Bernardo Reyes, an Augustinian given nominal command of the joint operation initially assumed that the rebels would open the city to his forces, but he underestimated their commitment to their ideological beliefs. Archbishop Próspero Alarcón y Sánchez de la Barquera formally refused the demands for surrender, calling the Augustinians traitors and demanding the Louisianans leave Mexican soil. He prepared for a siege, expelling anyone of questionable loyalty into the countryside, ensuring there would be less mouths to feed. Louisiana ended the year by commencing a siege of that city, the capturing much of the surrounding countryside. Meanwhile, Luis II operates from Oaxaca, ostensibly governing a realm falling to pieces as yet more cities and regions have fallen into rebellion. Mexico burns, Mexico bleeds. Will it be able to survive another year of this?

[Spamage]

Columbian Revolt
   Louis-Philippe had finally gone too far, his shift towards absolutist wartime rule finally spurring opposition among the Anglophone populace. Thus far, the Mexican war had been terrible for Columbian nationalism. The cause had been caught off-guard by the prohibition of the Columbian Nationalist Party and the arrest of its leadership; many shocked the Commonwealth’s government would go so far. As Louis-Philippe cemented his absolute control over the organs of government, surrounding himself with the right-wing Francophone Catholic CeC nationalists, his standing in the eyes of the Columbian public deteriorated yet further. No longer possessing democratic avenues for channeling discontent, other actions would be necessary. The day of action was at hand.
   September 15th, the “Day of Blood” came in the short term when news reached the Commonwealth that Louisianan vessels had aided in the bombing of Wilmington and soldiers had crossed into British America along the Mississippi to aid the Quebecois, seemingly expanding the war yet further. Most of the Columbians sympathized more with London than New Orleans by now, opposition to the ‘Tyrant of Freret’ reaching a boiling point. Clandestinely published newspapers argued that there was a ‘hereditary autocratic gene’ in Louis-Philippe’s blood, comparing his heavy-handed governance to Louis XX in France. During all of this, the Columbian Republican Army on hand with weapons and an organized resistance network, proving crucial in ensuring the initial success of the rising.
   Mob violence engulfed Atlanta, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Mobile. In most of the cities, the police force rapidly folded and then outright defected to the cause. Louisianan government offices were shuttered or firebombed. Operatives broke out any Columbian leaders interned in the region, as well as thousands of other convicts. Yet the crisis expanded beyond the Anglophone areas. In New Orleans, the Cathedral of Saint Louis erupted into flames, a bomb set off during mass and killing several dozen residents of the city. A series of sabotage attacks damaged rail networks and bridges over the Mississippi. The attack had clearly been a long time coming.
   The constituent assembly of Columbia, in defiance of the Crown’s Emergency Order #1, convened in Columbia, South Carolina. Many of the delegates had been sprung from prison, interned for their unceasing nationalist thought. The body declared the independence of the Republic of Columbia, dubbed Louis-Philippe an enemy of the state, and declared an end to the Commonwealth.
   Louisiana had long relied on the loyalty of Black Columbians to act as a fifth column in the region against secession. Yet, they were apathetic with the Columbian revolt. Louis-Philippe had done little to endear himself to their cause in recent years. They were just as disgusted as the white Columbians with the government’s decision to enforce a Catholic education down the throats of their children and deplored his absolutist methods. Their numerical strength had likewise been weakened in recent decades, due to emigration to either British North America or Liberia. Instead, the Black Columbians stood aside, a seemingly neutral force in the coming carnage.
   While the royal government attempted to reassert authority as the year came to a close, the situation went from bad to worse. News came of municipality after municipality throwing out royal appointees, burning images of the King and his ancestors, or slaughtering Catholic priests. The Columbians armed themselves a mob of soldiers sweeping to the west. They made it as far as Biloxi, nearing the banks of the Mississippi, by the end of the year.
   Yet, the implications of the Columbian revolt would be felt far beyond the immediate region. On the frontlines, where upwards of a third of the soldiers were of Anglophone Columbian dissent, mass desertions utterly hindered the ability of the army to operate, hampering the operations to retake Texas. Attempts to maintain order were merciless, including summary execution for deserters. Some Columbian soldiers mutinied, killing their French commanders, and fleeing back to their homeland to join the struggle. Orleans and the surrounding region found themselves inundated with these young fugitives heading east, the result being disorder and panic. Small, rural towns formed their own civil guards to protect themselves from the marauders, their onetime countrymen.

Liberian Rebellion
   No class treasured democratic rights and constitutional liberties so strongly as the Liberians. Civil rights and equality before the law had been long struggles for their leaders, as had been their autonomous government as a constituent part of the Commonwealth. They balked at Louis-Philippe’s shift to wartime absolutism just as the Columbians had, albeit for different reasons. Waiting in the wings was the Black Socialist Liberation Army. After the issuance of Emergency Order #1, they descended from the mountains, inaugurating an insurrection against Byron Gunner and the established local government, one that had been rendered inert by the crown’s resumption of all delegated powers.
   Mexico inaugurated regional hostilities by launching an offensive that secured western Colorado, a second force pushing north along the Colorado River. The BSLA spread rumors that Liberia had been abandoned to the Mexican advance, the crown deeming the realm as disposable compared to more favored regions such as Orleans and the Royal Desmesne. While most Liberians still at least nominally backed the Commonwealth at this point, little could be done as the Mexicans turned from their offensive and pushed north towards Freetown in their Salt Lake Offensive. Workers in that city erupted in revolt at that point. Governor Gunner and his loyalist political allies got on the last train headed east, abandoning their constituents in the face of regional collapse. Most Liberians, seeing no other option, welcomed the Mexican forces. George W. Woodbey formally was elected the first Chairman of the Free State of Liberia, the socialists decreeing their new government from the abandoned Liberian assembly building with the blessing of their Mexican patrons. Louisiana was cut in half.

Central American Campaign
   With Mexico electing to focus on Louisiana and developments to its north, the French Army of Panama rapidly progressed north, swiftly undoing Mexican gains over the past year. The return of Brazilian governance was greeted with groans and terror by many of those Central Americans who had just celebrated the arrival of the Mexicans just a year prior. After securing the region, the Panamanian force elected to avoid any further push into Mexico proper and returned to defensive positions near the all-important, albeit out of commission, canal.

South America: Wading Through Blood

Colombian Soldiers Advance into Venezuela, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Venezuelan Campaign
   Venezuela was once more on the frontlines in 1902 after a year of respite, the Anglo-Colombian alliance determined to seize back control of the region from the occupiers. Initial fighting occurred on the seas; the British fleet aided by the arrival of the vessels formerly blockading the Mediterranean. They faced France and Brazil, well-aware of their vulnerability in the region. A brutal sea skirmish saw the British emerge victorious, though both sides suffered heavy damage for their regional fleets. Fighting turned towards the land. 29 French divisions were charged with defending the region, based out of Caracas, while 60 British divisions attempted to land, aided by 7 Colombian divisions operating out of the Llanos. While a direct British landing near the city was repulsed, London had ordered landings in several areas, the combination of numbers and distance meaning that the French force could not be everywhere at once. Successful landings at Santa Marta and the Orinoco Delta provided valuable beachheads for the operation. As the year came to a close, the Anglo-Colombian forces liberated most of the occupied coastal regions in Venezuela, while the French maintain a strip of occupied territory around the city of Caracas. There was hope for the French cause however, as the British were unable to launch a blockade of their forces due to the damage sustained at the naval Battle of the Lesser Antilles.

Last Gasp of the Haitian Cause
   It had taken three years, and tremendous French casualties, but the conquest of Haiti tentatively seemed completed by the end of 1902, the last armed resistance surrendering at the end of the year. Yet, while this was celebrated by French officials, the Haitian government fled to exile, escorted by British ships to the Bahamas where they continued to plot the return of self-rule to the island. France is now tasked with the reconstruction of the islands and governing a people universally opposed to their colonial oppressor. Indeed, most colonial advisors have recommended keeping a sizable occupation force on the island, lest the Haitians grow to restive with France so occupied everywhere else…

Colombian War
   France sought to smash Colombia proper in 1902, formally enlisting Portugal in the war early in the year. With Lisbon sending roughly two dozen divisions to aid in the operations, along with the existing Franco-Brazilian force, it was decided that operations would bypass Bogota and focus instead on the rest of Northern Colombia. Using their beachhead at Quito, albeit after a successful Colombian assault damaged the 15 divisions initially stationed in that city, the allied force poured men into Ecuador, with the aim of smashing the Army of Peru and crippling Colombia yet further. While transport from Panama and norther Colombia was complicated by the presence and several scuffles with the Colombian navy, the allied forces did manage to disembark at Guayaquil. There was hope in the air. Colombia had sent the majority of its men for their campaign to the south against the Brazilians, leaving the region vulnerable to the oncoming onslaught. The Colombian Army attempted to hold back the offensive, taking extremely heavy casualties in the face of Franco-Brazilian aggression. Yet, they could only do so much. With the breaking of their lines, Northern Peru now fell to foreign occupation. A rapid assault south was halted by the arrival of British soldiers from across the Pacific, Portugal not being the only foreign power willing to send men to fight.
   While they were unsuccessful in liberating the Brazilian captives, those men sent to hard labor deep in the Colombian interior, the territorial gains were substantial. While Lima remained elusive, behind enemy lines, most of northern Peru had fallen into their clutches, as did the remainder of the west coast of Colombia proper, commanders establishing land corridors between their occupied zones to guarantee better supply lines. Between their past occupations of Venezuela, eastern Colombia, and now Western Colombia and Ecuador, the Holy Republic has been utterly flattened by the carnage.

War in the Andean Free State
   Colombia had lightened its defenses in the north, instead electing to launch its own offensive against the swaggering Brazilians who had entered the Andean Free State. Here they enjoyed numerical superiority and the loyalty of the local populace. La Paz fell in July, a continued push resulting in the decisive Battle of Cochabamba, where the Brazilians were decisively ejected from the region. With the victory came much-needed gains for the Colombian-Andean alliance, many in the Andean Free State formally floating the idea of joining the Holy Republic, should both sides prevail in the struggle. The defeat of the Brazilians only further added to Rio’s growing woes in 1902. Africa had collapsed, Venezuela lost to the Anglo-Colombian forces, and alarming stories were coming from Montevideo. Still, the Colombians themselves would undoubtedly be unable to capitalize further on Rio's woes, many expecting their forces in the region to turn north and prevent the total fall of Peru.

Rabid Menace
   While news from Peru induced panic, there was a sense of relief in Bogota. It seemed as though the capitol had been spared the worst of the fighting. Yet, France had not forgotten that city. Colombia’s use of manure was repaid by tenfold, at least in the eyes of the civilian populace, through extensive foreign meddling. The situation in Bogota initially went unnoticed, some portions of the city reporting an uptick in animal attacks. Within weeks in the midsummer it was clear a rabies outbreak was afoot. Animals were assaulting civilians, stray dogs mauling a few unfortunate civilians who found themselves infected with the disease and the death sentence it entailed. It took weeks to determine the cause, but several foreign agents were arrested, charged with intentionally spreading the disease among the food and water supply of many households. Natural processes did the rest. The government was orderly and methodical in its response, killing not only all stray dogs in the city, but pets as well. No doubt a good portion of the civilian populace has been traumatized by the event, an uptick in the fear of canines undoubtedly in the offing as a result of this traumatic experience.

Montevidean Spring
   The Cisplatine Republic had been hammered hard in the war against Colombia, the shelling of Montevideo in 1901 demonstrating to most locals that their nominal overlords in Rio cared little for their protection. The local government, collaborationist as it was, was likewise viewed as ineffective and hopelessly corrupt. The Spanish-speaking populace chafed in their position in the Brazilian orbit. In such an environment, especially as economic misery spread as a result of wartime disruptions to trade, the people at long last became fed up.
   A series of protests against a corrupt local Cisplatine cleric rapidly became something more in November 1901. The priest in question had evidentially been exploiting his parishioners, forcing them to give him kickbacks to keep the police off their back. While the first day of demonstrations was met with loose police responses, the protestors scattered by the use of batons and mounted cavalry, they reconvened the following morning marching on the Montevideo Cabildo, the seat of government. They easily overwhelmed police barricades, their demands growing further. Emulating the Pampas and Chile, they called for a liberal, democratic system. They also wanted to clearly delineate Cisplatine neutrality as a means of reopening trade, tiring of the Brazilian overlordship. Archbishop-President Mariano Soler appeared in the window, offering the removal of the initial cleric and calling for the mob to return home, but was shouted down. Unable to control the situation, and warned of close advisors that the public sentiment seemed to be shifting to the rebels, the man folded, unwilling to call on his men to open fire on his fellow countrymen. He greeted a deputation of protestors, promising them their demands would be met, and meekly vacating the building.
   A jubilant mood took hold in the city, the people deeming themselves free of oppression at last. Despite the worst fears of the protestors, the Cisplatine regime had crumbled without a shot. Street celebrations followed; the old flag being ripped down by the victorious liberals who convened a ‘constituent assembly’ in Montevideo with the intent of reforming the government. They have declared themselves the Uruguayan State, leaving all options for the future on the table. Some have proposed fealty to the Pampeano monarchy, others a liberal republic, and still a third faction calling for a different foreign prince.
   Yet, despite the jubilation in Uruguay, the year ended without a Brazilian response to the developments. That republic, rocked by initial signs of civil disobedience, has nevertheless endured. Likewise, as excited as they may both have been for the development, neither Chile nor the Pampas has recognized the new Uruguayan government, fearful of provoking a response from their northern neighbor. Still, it had previously been thought the fall of La Plata was an aberration, a one-off collapse of a corrupt Catholic-Republican regime that had gotten too complacent in its authority. Yet, the toppling of the Cisplatine Republic and its declaration of total, democratic independence without a shot being fired has many wondering if it could be more of a regional phenomenon. All eyes remain on Brazil proper and the Republic of the Parana (its other client state). Will the unrest and anti-Catholic-Republicanism spread yet further? Are the regimes in South America truly as strong as had been thought?

[Spamage]

Europe: Spain and Naples Enter the Fray

Neapolitan Offensive, 1902
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Second Spanish Civil War
   The Spanish political scene in 1902 was initially dominated with the attempt of President Linares to form a government with Spain’s absolutely shattered ideological order. The first attempt, seeking to bind the Catholic Republican factions to the Liberals quickly was deemed unfeasible, the hardliners refusing to work with the men they saw as having betrayed the cause of Spanish Catholicism through his opening up of society. A second ‘Republican Front’ proved more successful, the proposal consisting of a broad coalition between the Liberals, Conservative Republicans, cooperative Socialists, and the Moderate Catholic Republicans. Linares also leaned on his Catalan origins and offers of referenda for autonomy to try and succor the various national interest groups. Yet, still it seemed the government would come up short, with radical socialists refusing to work with the mainstream, while the national interest groups were riven by infighting, many deeming the offer of the President as insufficient. It took weeks of negotiations, and several rounds of voting before the government was able to achieve the absolute thinnest of majorities with the defection of less than a third of the Catalan nationalists. The negotiating was arduous, supporters of the government allegedly being forced to use blackmail and corrupt bargaining to sway some of the newly-elected MPs.
   Yet, the ink was barely dry on the coalition agreement before the situation came crumbling down. President Linares y Pomo was unaware of just how deeply foreign intervention had compromised some elements of his society, the French and their allies having succored the opposition in the Republic with promises of their own. When Spain attempted to launch a surprise offensive against France, taking advantage of Versailles’ extensive commitments elsewhere across the globe, the plot sprang into action. The scars of the First Spanish Civil War in the 1870s ripped back open into gaping wounds as war returned to the Iberian Peninsula.
   Spain had even been unable to formally cross the border before the pro-French sympathizers sought to topple the regime. Paris had haggled extensively with the Basque and Catalan nationalists, the hardline Catholic-Republicans, and the moribund monarchist cause in the region. While these groups all represented disparate ideologies, Louis XX wedded them together into a broad anti-liberal coalition through intricate negotiations. The haggling had resulted in an agreement that was acceptable to all sides.
   The linchpin of the operation was Crown Prince Henry of Spain & Chile. The eldest son of the deposed Henry V, he was an angry and bitter man. This Henry viewed his father as a weak liberal, one unwilling to take the necessary steps to reclaim his birthright. Initially his ambitions had centered on taking Quebec in the name of his wife’s claim, but these were abandoned after Wilhelmina gave birth to Prince Frederick. While Henry V and the rest of the former Spanish Royal Family contended themselves with stable rule from Santiago, Crown Prince Henry opted for a different path. With his father’s tacit blessing, the Chilean monarch naming his second son Antonio as heir to the throne of Santiago, Henry the Younger relocated to Paris and the court of Louis XX. Here he had ample connections, being a cousin of Queen Anna de Bourbon-Savoie, who took up his cause with fervor. The Spanish Crown Prince found reactionary socialism a decent fit for his frustrated political ambitions and he was entirely on-board when Louis XX invited him into his scheming regarding Spain.
   When the order to attack France was given, the Spanish forces became riven by infighting, loyal battalions being suddenly assaulted by more revolutionary compatriots. For a time, Spain dissolved into a state of chaos, any sort of offensive into France suddenly infeasible. Most of the army remained loyal to the Republic, thanks in part to President Linares’ roots within that artery of state. Still, that is not to say the rebels were without support. The Basque country tore down the new Spanish flag, hoisting the old banner from before the constitutional reform. Valencia exploded into revolution, as did much of Catalonia. When word arrived that Henry the Younger had crossed the border into Pamplona and declared himself Henry VI, many of the royalists defected, seeing the potential of restoring the crown after more than three decades to be on hand at long last. With the royalists came the far northern Castile. He assembled his ‘Cortes’ at Bilbao, taking a leading role in commanding rebel forces.
   The rebels swiftly captured Barcelona, only being halted at Zaragoza when a Republican force bravely repelled their attempt to sweep through all of Aragon. If the Spanish periphery became the home of rebellion, the core of Castile and Andalusia emerged as staunch republican territories. Likewise the navy remained in the hands of the government, efforts to infiltrate it by the enemy having been less effective. President Linares commanded the loyalist cause from reconstructed Madrid. While the arrival of the discontent imperiled the new constitutional government, it also freed Linares’ hands, the rebellious factions vacating the National Assembly and leaving his government with a near total majority.
   Spain is back in a civil war, the vendettas of the past generation carrying over into a new century. Yet, this conflict as very different from the fight of three decades ago. That fight saw two different republican factions vying for dominance over the state in the aftermath of the collapse of the monarchy. This conflict has been stoked by foreign involvement, much of the state apparatus remaining in tact in the face of internal subversive elements. Royalists, indifferent in the first conflict, are now staunchly on the side of rebellion while the moderate Catholic-Republicans, many of whom served in Nouvilas’ rebel army, are loyalists to the liberal regime. The coalitions are different, will the result be?

Neapolitan Campaign & French Invasion
   The Kingdom of Naples, long the foe of France, reentered the fray, launching a bold surprise offensive against Louis XX’s realm. The initial thrust, coinciding with Spain’s attempted invasion, did catch French forces by surprise. Without warning, the Neapolitan navy’s finest vessels appeared at Marseille and began to hammer the French Mediterranean fleet, inflicting heavy damage on the battleships and cruisers stationed at the city. While the French government had organized extensive contingency planning in the event of a Neapolitan assault, that did not mean they would know exactly when one was coming. The port was extensively damaged, though the French fleet survived in tact, eventually pushing them back. While the Neapolitans were repulsed, thereby precluding any attempt at a blockade, the initial blow had been damaging.
   There were offensives on land as well, the initial thrust led by Naples’ shock troops, steeled and elite forces that had trained for decades for this campaign. In the initial offensive they acquitted themselves well, ensuring the northern campaign remained a war of movement. The French defensive lines, manned by the existing Army of Padania, were overrun. Modena fell first, then Alessandria, then Genoa. By the end of the autumn, Naples’ soldiers had captured Turin, the capital of Padania proper, French officials fleeing, though not before setting booby traps and leaving rogue snipers in the metropolis. Nevertheless, those Italian nationalists remaining in the region came out in force, waving flags and dubbing Francis III their savior. Many French loyalists noted with shock and outrage the Austrians seemed to care little, refusing to involve themselves in the wave of the invasion of Padania.
   Yet, as Naples advanced, the French behemoth sprung into action. Louis XX called up another 100 divisions, in an impressive demonstration of France’s manpower reserves (albeit getting rather tapped at this point). Ambitious Neapolitan plans to cross the Alps into France were shelved at the end of the year, the offensive forces digging in for the suspected French onslaught. Through this mobilization, it was ensured that the depredations of war remained off of the soil of France proper for the duration of 1902. Yet, the real hammer blow of the French response would occur to the south.
   Unbeknownst to Naples, France had prepared for the eventuality of an attack. Indeed, part of the reason India had been left so vulnerable to the Durrani assault was the withdrawal of thousands of men from the subcontinent, bound for Europe. While Naples had secured the western Mediterranean, it was not prepared for a stab in the back. These forces came from the east, disembarking at Molise and in eastern Naples. As the government fell into chaos, bewildered and caught off guard by the sudden assault on the homeland, the French pushed into Foggia, Bari, and Campania. Naples proper, the ostensible capitol of the realm, fell to the French onslaught on October 11th, 1902. ‘It is as if the Normans have come again,’ one Neapolitan observer lamented, comparing this attack to the French-speaking invasion of the 1000s. Naples began a confused mobilization too late to save the capital, but enough to prevent the immediate loss of Rome. Still, the historical Neapolitan heartland (perhaps a third of the overall realm) has been nabbed by Louis XX’s men.
   When the French forces arrived in Naples, it was discovered that both the King and the National Assembly had fled, save for the reactionary socialist delegation, those turncoats willing to turn on the government. Francis III knew his power base well, bypassing Rome for a mad dash to Florence in his native Tuscany. More than any other part of the realm, the Tuscans backed the Crown, due to the King’s dynastic origins there. The fate of Naples hangs in the balance more at present than in any point except perhaps for during Pietro Verri’s invasion of the 1790s. With the reactionary socialists acting as collaborators in the south, as in Spain his position in the national assembly has been strengthened. Still, French forces ravage the south and a counteroffensive is expected into Padania.
   One small consolation for Naples amidst this terror in the south was their strength on the seas. After the assault on Marseilles, a good portion of the Neapolitan fleet had been ordered to sweep west and prepare for a French counterstrike on the water. While the landings at Molise had not been foreseen, the fleet was on hand to secure the shores. The massive French force has been left isolated in southern Italy, barring any major break to the Neapolitan blockade, their transports outgunned by the Italian battleships now patrolling the Mediterranean and Adriatic.

Battle of the Channel
   Not one to be risk-averse, Louis XX elected to take a gamble on the English Channel in 1902. The French Atlantic fleet emerged from Bordeaux, determined to at very least weaken the British blockade and control of the Channel. Both sides brought their dreadnoughts and skeletal submarine fleets. Zeppelins dotted the skies, silent observers and passive participants in the ensuing carnage. Fighting was fierce, on par with the clashes of 1901, albeit in a more organized fashion. Casualties were extensive as the blasting began. The water, inundated with oil, caught fire and burned those desperate sailors of sunken vessels alive. Allegedly, smoke from the clashes could be seen causing a haze as far as London. Indeed, the black columns made navigation for the dirigibles extremely challenging.
   The clash was not as decisive as either power could have hoped, both taking heavy losses in the fray. Each side lost more than half a dozen dreadnoughts, expensive casualties that have only served to increase the relative naval strength of the rest of the world relative to these two predominant powers. France gained on the margins, weakening the British blockade enough that Brest too would be able to operate as an open port. Still, many believe the British Isles remain secure thanks to the Royal Navy. Will Louis XX challenge history and seek to force open English ports almost nine centuries on from William the Conqueror?

[Spamage]

Gilded Ambitions: Concert of Europe Part V
Turn 4: 1903

Map of the World in 1903
(Source: Made by Me)

Cast and Characters
Kingdom of France: King-Emperor Louis XX de Bourbon (X)
Habsburg Monarchy: Archduke-Regent Louis-Henry von Habsburg-Lothringen (Dereich)
Russian Republic: President Pavel Milyukov (KaiserDave)
Kingdom of Scandinavia: King-Emperor Charles XIV of Hanover (Ypestis)
United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Americas: Queen Mary III of Hanover (S019)
Empire of Quebec: Empress Wilhelmina von Hohenzollern (Lumine)
Divine Republic of Brazil: Archbishop-President Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti (Windjammer)
Commonwealth of Louisiana: King Louis-Philippe III de Bourbon-Orleans (Dkrol)
Kingdom of Mexico: King Luis II de Bourbon-Orleans (Laki)
Chinese Republic: President Kang Youwei (HCP & DevoutCentrist)
Republic of Japan: President Tokugawa Iesato
Kingdom of Naples: Francis III de Bourbon-Naples (GoTfan)
Holy Republic of Gran Colombia: Archbishop-President Federico González Suárez (Kuumo)
Turkist Empire: Grand Vizier for Life Ahmed Muhtar Pasha (Spiral)
Spanish Republic: President Arsenio Linares y Pombo (DwarvenDragon)
Kingdom of Poland: King Sigismund IV Wettin (OBD)
Kingdom of Serbia: King Joseph I von Habsburg-Lothringen (LouisvilleThunder)
Durrani Empire: Shah-Regent Timur III Durrani (AverageFoodEnthusiast)
Republic of Korea: President Gwon Jung-hyeon (oldkyhome)

Popularity
Grand Vizier for Life Ahmed Muhtar Pasha: High, Divisive
Archduke-Regent Louis-Henry von Habsburg-Lothringen: High, Impassive
President Gwon Jung-hyeon: High, Impassive
Shah-Regent Timur III Durrani: High, Impassive
King-Emperor Louis XX de Bourbon: Moderate-High, Divisive
Queen Mary III of Hanover: Moderate-High, Impassive
President Pavel Milyukov: Moderate, Divisive
Archbishop-President Federico González Suárez: Moderate, Impassive
King-Emperor Charles XIV of Hanover: Moderate, Impassive
Empress Wilhelmina von Hohenzollern: Moderate, Divisive
King Sigismund IV Wettin: Moderate, Impassive
King Joseph I von Habsburg: Moderate, Impassive
President Kang Youwei: Moderate, Impassive
President Arsenio Linares y Pombo: Moderate, Divisive
King Francis III de Bourbon-Naples: Moderate, Divisive
Archbishop-President Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti: Moderate-Low, Divisive
King Louis-Philippe III de Bourbon-Orleans: Moderate-Low, Divisive
King Luis II de Bourbon-Orleans: Moderate-Low, Divisive

Economic Standings
Russian Republic: Strong
Habsburg Monarchy: Moderate-Strong
Turkist Empire: Moderate-Strong
Republic of Korea: Moderate-Strong
Kingdom of Poland: Moderate
Kingdom of Serbia: Moderate
Durrani Empire: Moderate-Weak
Kingdom of France: Weak
Kingdom of Naples: Weak
Kingdom of Scandinavia: Weak
Republic of Japan: Weak
Chinese Republic: Weak
United Kingdom of Britain, Ireland, and the Americas: Weak
Empire of Quebec: Very Weak
Spanish Republic: Very Weak
Commonwealth of Louisiana: Devastated
Holy Republic of Gran Colombia: Devastated
Divine Republic of Brazil: Devastated
Kingdom of Mexico: Devastated

Kingdom of France

(Source: Made by Me via Midjourney)

-King Louis, the global warfare has reached a scale unprecedented in French history. Outside of Europe your men march through the jungles of Colombia, sit besieged on the Yangtze, and scramble to defend the Deccan Plateau from the advancing Durrani hordes. Indeed, the prospect of losing India has caused many in France proper to erupt in outright panic. While more partners have joined the fray, so too have more enemies of France. New Brandenburg, Portugal, and Japan remain at your side, even as traditional allies such as Siam and Brazil seem to be showing signs of strain. Against this, New Holland has backed the wretched Colombians. Will you seek peace on any of the fronts, or should France rely on its ingenuity and superior strength in manpower to grind your foes down?

-The Neapolitan assault as well as the Spanish attempted attack prior to the civil war have caused the French public to see themselves as under siege in two defensive wars on your borders. Violence has erupted in Padania once more, yet another generation experiencing Neapolitan-French warfare. Many have been more than slightly outraged that Vienna has done little to stir itself to protect the existing balance in the region. Meanwhile, in Iberia, your cousin and friend Henry VI calls for your aid in teaching the wretched President Tristany a lesson. To the north, the British loom as a specter from their foggy islands, though some would have you strike at the heart of that wretched empire. How will the European theater be tackled in the coming year? What will you do to those that have sought to topple your hegemony in Western Europe?

-War with New Holland has led many officials to be extremely suspicious of the Dutch people in the Pay-Bas. There are calls for even more intensive suppression of any dissent in the region. More radical members of your government have floated resettlement or expulsion of those remaining Dutch loyalists in the region to end their threat to your government once and for all. While the topic is explosive, their proximity to Britain is a matter of great concern, as is the historic stubborn Dutch tendency towards nationalism. How will you handle your Dutch-speaking subjects during this time of peril?

Habsburg Monarchy

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-War has returned to Europe. While many officials have applauded themselves for Austrian intervention in the Balkan War, teaching the upstart Hohenzollerns in Burgas a lesson they ought not soon forget, the Bulgarians do not necessarily show an inclination to surrender. More alarming, and even overshadowing your own campaigns, has been the eruption of violence in Spain and Italy. There are concerns the Gibraltar patrol could be imperiled by the Spanish Civil War and the absence of the Spanish fleet, which is occupied elsewhere. In Italy, the French and Neapolitans are engaged in a blood feud on your front steps, officials in Lombardy being inundated with refugees fleeing the crisis in Padania. Your two fellow regents both seem extremely emotionally involved in the conflagration to your west. Christina of Britain seems to be tacitly lobbying for the joining the fray, outraged over the death of her niece, Princess Helen. Indeed, Helen had been floated as a potential spouse for the young Maximilian V at one point. The emperor’s grandmother Vittoria also has seemed extremely focused on the fate of Padania and Savoy. There are worries the two women could put aside their differences and force your hand, another layer of complexity in the diplomatic situation. How will you deal with all these crises on Austria’s frontiers as well as potential discord in the regency council?

-Overshadowed as it was by the global catastrophe, the Reichstag has been busy. In line with your advice, the body has named Karl Heinrich von Boetticher as the first Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, reviving a title that has been extinct for six centuries. His government has been active, achieving a working majority in a broad liberal-conservative coalition. A committee has been established for standardizing civil laws, creating a reserve Imperial currency, and even skeletal forms of social legislation (such as prohibition of child labor). Scandinavia, your partner in so many other things, seems a bit uneasy by the prospect of legislation from above. Other Imperial subjects, such as Prussia and Saxony, have a history of being a part of the Empire to fall back on, the Scandinavians generally lack this. Dealing with their reticence should be a priority, less they actively abrogate Imperial law. Beyond that, there have even been talks of forming a nominal Imperial defense force, Boetticher himself behind the idea. This too is a thorny issue, given likely French and Russian objections to the Germans arming themselves. Will you support this matter in 1903? What will be your governments aims in the civil law standardization?

-Your nose has been bloodied in Ethiopia, Menelik II demonstrating that conquest cannot solely be achieved by superior firepower. Thousands of your men were killed trying to establish your control over the region, alongside tens of thousands of native inhabitants. The remnants of your forces have been pushed well beyond the old borders with Ethiopia, now hugging the coast. How will you respond to this affront to your prestige? Given the combustible diplomatic situation, both in the Balkans and the world as a whole, some have counseled against further involvement for the time being. Other, more ambitious voices, call for vengeance and justice, lest the death of your soldiers be treated as a demonstration of Habsburg weakness.

Russian Republic

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-The global stability has faltered yet further during the crises of 1902. Russia now remains one of roughly a dozen or so states at peace. Beyond the situation in Bulgaria, numerous situations demand Russian attention. Naples, one of your closest European partners, has entered the fray with France, thousands of Louis XX’s soldiers terrorizing southern Italy and threatening Rome. Iran has collapsed into an orgy of violence, the Saudis on the cusp of taking Arabia, the Caucuses in chaos, and the dynasty ripping itself to shreds. In China, the largest land invasion in the history of the region was attempted by the French and Japanese, Tokyo clearly showing an inclination to be a major and active regional player. Further afield, the novel Russian outpost in Mexico faces hostile locals and a perilous situation as that realm falls under the sway of numerous feuding factions. How will your government tackle this plethora of diplomatic situations?

-The Balkan War threatens to destabilize your government, some whispering of a Suvorinist ending of the coalition over the matter. Indeed, Mikhail Suvorin has taken an utterly pro-Bulgarian position. There is a sentiment among many of the Slavophiles that Bulgaria was well within its rights to act as it did and that demands for peace ought to recognize their legitimate demands for the ‘Borders of 1876.’ Scandinavia and Austria have been framed as meddlesome tyrants by the press. The further right on the spectrum one goes, the more radical the calls for aid. Purischkevich has boldly noted that Scandinavia holds rightful Russian territory in Karelia and Baltic only by the grace of your government and should watch carefully on how it treats the Bulgarians. The Greeks, meanwhile, have been cast as neo-Byzantine tyrants, many highlighting the pointed references in Constantine II’s coronation to Constantinople and Anatolia. Even among the less militant factions in your government there are worries that a punishment of Bulgaria could further advance the sentiment of diplomatic impotence some have associated with your government and imperil your strength heading into the next elections. What will you do regarding the Bulgarian issue?

-The arrest of the wicked Zasulich and Spiridonova was a major success for the government in this winding plot after the Bolshoi bombing. It is fortunate several of their male counterparts were apprehended as well. Still, there are many decisions to be made. The plotters have hinted at foreign aid and refused to provide more than surface-level information on any of their suspected co-conspirators. Perhaps even harsher interrogation methods? Others, such as Purischkevich, have urged for a speedy trial and execution of these scoundrels. Beyond that, what is to be done about their male counterparts and the alleged secret network they were a part of, the People’s Cause?

Kingdom of Scandinavia

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-Emperor Charles, the Bulgarian-Turkish alliance has been slapped back by your involvement in the Balkan War. There is now doubt that without your aid, the Greeks would have collapsed and the regional balance of power would have been thrown awry. While some of your more ambitious goals went unfulfilled last year, Scandinavian involvement secured control of the seas and most of the Aegean islands. Still, with Athens in hand, many Bulgarians have seemed to retain a rather haughty attitude. The Turks, for their part, have been rather restrained in their own responses. Will you seek peace in this theater? What will you offer the belligerents to cease hostilities?

-Beyond your small war, the diplomatic situation is one of utter chaos and brutality. The death of your niece, Princess Helen, as well as some of your subjects in New York harbor has shocked the public, leading to strong anti-New English sentiment. Indeed, while the Scandinavian public has long tilted to the Anglo-Colombian alliance, never before has the preference been so apparent. There are calls for an embargo of New England and their allies. The chaos in Africa terrifies your colonial officials, who warn the violent rebellion could spread north and infect your own lands without intervention. In Asia, the prospect of anti-colonial assertiveness likewise has your diplomatic staff rather concerned. You will have to act carefully if the realm is to survive unscathed. What will you do?

-The Reichstag was not idle the past year and the bills adopted by your Habsburg ally have raised some particularly thorny issues in your territory’s relationship with that newly-strengthened realm. Under the leadership of Chancellor Karl Heinrich von Boetticher, the body has called for a unified civil law system, worked on establishing an Imperial currency, and set standards for child labor and railways gauges. Many of these have seen the German nationalists from your Hanoverian territory enthusiastically fall in line with the government. Less excited has been your own Riksdag, which has viewed the resolutions as an infringement on your own government’s sovereignty. ‘We are not subjects of Emperor Maximilian,’ one irate assemblyman exclaimed last year, ‘why ought we adopt their laws in our own land?’ Fundamentally, two issues have arisen. What happens when Scandinavian and Imperial law conflict and who is the ultimate authority of legal matters in Scandinavian Germany, you or Maximilian V? These sensitive subjects risk fraying your close ties with Vienna…

United Kingdom

(Source: Made by Me via Midjourney)

-The entire realm mourns the tragic death of your sister and brays for vengeance. Such a death cannot be merely swept under the rug. Helen, her mother (a fully-coronated British Queen Consort), and more than twenty thousand of your subjects were murdered in an unjustified attack that abused the flag of neutrality. A wave of rabid patriotism and nationalism has swept through England, Scotland, and America. Never before has the public been so enraged, the New Englanders in particular treated as utter scoundrels. Yet, their allies are deemed equally as culpable. Elsewhere, 1902 entailed both successes and defeats for the British Empire. The situation at the Cape Colony has grown perilous, while the Quebecois gains in Michigan are unnerving. These are balanced against successes in the Philippines, Wisconsin, and Venezuela. With Britain now firmly on a war footing, how will you handle the diplomatic and military situation? What will be done about upstart powers such as Louisiana and New England that unjustly attacked your realm?

-While the Empire mourns, Ireland has been the exception. The Emerald Isle seems utterly indifferent to the struggle, demonstrating little remorse over the death of Helen and many Irish people openly sympathizing with their cousins in New England such as that perfidious Fitzgerald. Mainstream Irish politicians have expressed a sense of loyal opposition regarding Britain’s involvement in the fray, but some at Westminster see this as insufficient, given the direness of the times. They would have your increase military presence on the island and crack down on any discontent for the remainder of the war by imposing martial law. Still, as demonstrated in Louisiana last year, such a move can have unintended consequences. It must be recognized that more extreme elements on the island, such as Catholic-Republicans have seen a notable upsurge in interest. A second question regarding Ireland in the coming year is whether or not they will be subject to the same draft requirements as the rest of the empire, given the need for manpower on the frontlines. How will you handle the Irish question?

-The death of Helen has raised a thorny issue, your uncle King Charles XIV of Scandinavia is technically your heir under the rules of existing succession. This was a prospect that has been dreaded by British elites for decades, ever since he had been named the heir in Stockholm. While many expect you to have an heir, this has not yet come to pass and childbirth entails risks all their own. What will you do about the prospect of your uncle inheriting Britain? Some would have you bar him and name his younger son Prince Frederick of Scandinavia as your prospective successor. Others believe that dynastic precedent ought to be respected, arguing that Britain is strong enough to remain an independent actor even if it was in union with Stockholm. There’s also the prospect of bypassing Charles’ claim entirely, willing the throne to the next in line after him, your spinster aunt Elizabeth, though this merely would delay the same issue. While it is hoped this is all academic, what choices will you make regarding the succession?

[Spamage]

Empire of Quebec

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-Wilhelmina, after a year of war, the situation in North America still hangs in the balance. The British blockade has been broken, a tremendous relief that some home heralds a new era of Quebecois naval strength. Disappointment to the west has been accompanied by a surprising degree of success on the Michigander front, especially as French soldiers have bolstered your front lines. Some in your government believe another year of operations could ring the death knell of British America. Others, more cautious, fear an angered Britain will go all-out in avenging the death of Princess Helen, an act, justly or not, you have been tarred as culpable in. Meanwhile, to your south, Louisiana has exploded into civil war and Mexico advanced into California despite your efforts to bolster the flagging Louisianan position there. Will the war be continued? How will you prosecute the conflict in 1903?

-Despite the reopening of the Atlantic, there has been great reluctance on the part of many Quebecois firms to engage in naval commerce once more, fearful as they are over British seizure of their cargo. Even in the event of peace, it is expected to remain a thorny issue. This hesitancy has resulted in tremendous, perhaps needless, economic disruption. Louisiana, your means last year for bypassing the blockade, has fallen into disarray, meaning that Quebec still faces the prospect of economic isolation in the event some sort of trading does not resume. Escort fleets between Quebec and France have been proposed, though this risks battle with the Royal Navy. Other proposals include cooperating with New England, France, and Brazil to attempt a counter-blockade against British America, given their loss of New York harbor. The prospect of commerce on the Pacific does, on the surface, seem feasible, though there too Colombian, British, and now New Hollander vessels could potentially cause complications. How will you handle commerce in 1903, given the evolving economic situation all around you?

Divine Republic of Brazil

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-1902 was extremely traumatizing to the Divine Republic. Gains in Venezuela were almost completely reversed, the Colombian-Andean force expelled your men from the Andes, and the African colonies have collapsed into anarchy with the British invasion (undermining decades of careful and harsh colonial rule). Yet, the war continues on into another year, Colombia still standing defiant. Some in Brazil call for peace at any cost, while others fear that a lack of a decisive victory after so much lost could erode the strength of the government, given the sacrifices of your population. Only you can determine what path is best for the Brazilian people. How will you deal with the military situation in the coming year?

-The events in Uruguay have terrorized many hardliners, who fear that your whole Catholic-Republican experiment risks collapse. Indeed, some would have you march your men into Montevideo and demonstrate that the ideology still has teeth through a brutal repression of your formerly allied forces. Others fear that the men would mutiny in such a situation and join the enemy. The situation in the Republic of Parana is likewise a matter of grave concern. Within your own borders the strain of war has led to strike, growing grumbles of discontent, and random acts of resistance. Reformist factions would have you preempt revolution by agreeing to broad politically liberal reforms, such as elections and a scaling back of Church authority, though the hardliners balk at the prospect. What is to be done about the fraught domestic situation?

Commonwealth of Louisiana

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-Louis-Philippe, the realm is besieged by foes from within and without. The Columbians have made their true intentions clear with their attempt to secede from the Commonwealth and rip apart your influence in North America. The Liberians have once more declared their independence with a Mexican bayonet to their back. Cuba has collapsed into anarchic violence. To the west, your counteroffensive on the Brazos has succeeded and your men encircle the Mexican capital, but are faced with desertions and flagging morale. How will you handle what is perhaps the most significant challenge faced by the House of Orleans since your great-great grandfather Louis-Philippe I came to Louisiana almost a century ago? Some have discussed cutting your losses in Columbia and continuing the struggle against Mexico. Others believe that the fight to your east is more important than the dynastic feud. Still, with hundreds of thousands of dead, any sort of loss would be a hard pill to swallow. What will you do during the coming year?

-While your shift in a more hardcore, absolutist direction alienated the Columbians and Liberians, it seems the bulk of the Francophone population in the Commonwealth accepts it as necessary given the circumstances. The CeC remain in lockstep behind your government and dutifully back the Emergency Decrees, though fractures are growing among members of the former ULP. There are questions as to how the developments of the last year will affect Louisiana’s constitutional order moving forward. Some have objected to the indefinite nature of the emergency governance, fearing you may never cede back power. Will you reassure these democrats that the old political order will be restored with peace or is such talk treasonous? Does the state of emergency herald a long-term shift in regards to the balance of domestic political power?

Kingdom of Mexico

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-The situation is dire, King Luis, though ironically your government has been saved by its absence from the capital. Catholic-Republican extremists have shown their true colors, causing a schism in the Mexican Church and launching insurrections in your territory. The Augustinians have been strengthened, the men sent to pacify the north instead having to pivot and ensure the survival of your government at Oaxaca. On the distant frontlines Mexico has experienced both success and defeats. California, Jamaica, and Liberia are yours; Cuba has fallen into chaos; while the Brazos front has slipped backwards. Much hangs in the balance and it will be up to you to navigate the perilous situation. Is it time to try for peace with Louisiana, recognizing the Catholic-Republicans can capitalize on nationalist sentiment if any agreement is deemed insufficient?

-With the defection of the Catholic Republicans, your position in the National Assembly has been greatly strengthened, though by this point the body has become mostly vacant. While war and revolution stalk the land, some have called on you to suspend the democratic reforms championed in 1900 until the situation stabilizes, along the lines of your Louisianan rival. Others believe that now, more than ever, it is important to continued democratic governance. There are also questions about what is to be done with the Mexican Church now that more than half a dozen bishops have broke with you and led an insurrection. Some would have you seize control of both the Assembly and the Church to prevent further discontent. Others fear fiddling with constitutional arrangements at such a dire time only invites more trouble. What will you do about your exiled government as you operate from Oaxaca?

Chinese Republic

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-1902 was a year of tremendous successes for the Chinese Republic. The Wuhan Offensive was predicted, countered, and has resulted in a seemingly decisive victory in Central China. To the north, while Beijing has been torched and hundreds of years of history lost, nevertheless the capital has been retaken and the Franco-Thai forces have been forced back to the Shandong Peninsula. While the continuation of the French blockade has been a nuisance, overland routes with Russia and Korea have begun to function more like normal and you have continued commerce with the Habsburg outlet at Ningbo. Still, the war is not yet won, many wary that the Japanese will pivot away from the Philippines for another Chinese offensive. Fighting also still rages in Burma. How will you lead the Chinese nation through the coming months of continued struggle?

-Many Chinese believe their ought to be consequences for the attempted coup in Tibet last year. While evidence for the culpability of either the Dalai Lama or Panchen Lama personally remains outstanding, the fact remains that a significant portion of their government was set on your expulsion. As punishment, many in Wuhan call for them to be pulled even closer into the Chinese orbit, becoming a constituent vassal state along the lines of the existing Chinese autonomous ethnic enclaves. There are some potential downsides, perhaps a lingering ethnic resistance, but given the sheer number of Chinese troops stationed in the area is expected to keep the situation stable for the time being. There’s also talks of forcing Chinese republicanism on the region or even outright and total annexation. How will you deal with Tibet in the aftermath of the attempted uprising there?

Kingdom of Naples

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-King Francis, Naples has achieved tremendous gains through its surprise assault against the French, though the sweet taste of victory has been turned bitter by the landing of so many enemy divisions in the south of the country. While the kingdom has mobilized to counter the French threat, the capital and much of the historic heartland of Naples proper has been lost. The government now operates from Florence, many in your administration not trusting the security of Rome or the loyalty of the Pope. Both you and your Spanish ally now have to operate without the element of surprise during the coming year. On the seas, your fleet has essentially trapped the French to the south, though their numbers remain rather concerning. How will you tackle the war in 1903? What must Naples do to unite Padania with the realm once and for all?

-Diplomatically, beyond your nominal partnership with Spain for this war, Naples lacks other vocal supporters. Russia, your nominal protector has said little about your involvement nor condemned the French response, consumed as it is with developments in the Balkans. Britain seems an obvious partner, should they continue the struggle against Paris. Some have even floated the idea of a rapprochement with Vienna, as unlikely as it seems, as a means of preventing French hegemony. Will you seek either public or tacit support either in military or material form in the coming year?

Holy Republic of Gran Colombia

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-The war has brought great devastation onto the Colombian nation in the past year, though it was not without its successes. With the aid of your British allies Venezuela was liberated and the Brazilians have been expelled from the Andean Free State. Yet, Ecuador is now fully occupied by the French, the arrival of their Portuguese allies helping to bolster their numbers and imperil the remainder of Peru and Northern Colombia. Colombian infrastructure has been gutted in yet more regions, your men sabotaging your own railways and telegraph lines to attempt to hamstring the invading force. The war has entered yet another level of depravity through the deployment of rabies as a weapon of war, temporarily causing panic in Bogota. With tens of thousands now dead, will you continue the struggle, or is it time to make peace? What will the coming year entail for Colombia?

-Recognizing your cooperation over the past year, and grateful for your aid in the shared struggle against Brazil, some in the Andean Free State have proposed the prospect of a formal union with Colombia. Most of your citizens are amenable, viewing your southern neighbors as close allies bonded by shared sacrifice. Indeed, your military command structures have essentially become de facto intertwined given the losses that state had faced in 1901. Still, such a move risks enflaming the ire of your foes yet further, given Brazil’s stubborn refusal to give up on their claims to Upper Peru. How will you respond to the Andean calls for union in 1903? 

Turkist Empire

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-Your swipe at Greece has provoked both Austria and Scandinavia into stirring themselves and trying to slap down your military. Indeed, their meddling was the only thing that prevented total victory in the struggle last year, needlessly prolonging the fight. To many Turks, the fall of Smyrna must herald the end of Greek presence in Anatolia, fueled as they have been by your intense nationalistic propaganda. Further afield, while both Bulgaria and Albania reel from the Austrian assault, the situation is not necessarily dire enough to force either government to immediately capitulate. How will you handle the Balkan War as it nears the one-year mark? Will you bring pressure to bear on your allies to seek peace, or should you try your hand at another year on the battlefield?

-To the east, the collapse of the Qajar dynasty into civil war has many generals salivating at the mouth. Some would have you pivot away from operations in the Balkans to solely take advantage of feasting on the corpse of Iran. Indeed, many have become wary about the prospect of the Saudis continuing north and uniting Iraq and Syria under their regime, thereby blocking potential Turkish expansion in the area. Others look enviously towards Azerbaijan, a heretofore loyal region for the Qajars also being a homeland for fellow Turkic speakers. Still, despite their collapse, the Qajar are not to be disregarded entirely. How will you navigate the diplomatic situation close to home?

Spanish Republic

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-The civil war has returned, traitorous elements in Spanish society rallying to the cause of the wretched Spanish Bourbons. As the country has collapsed into chaos, whole regions have taken up arms in favor of the rebellion. Spain is aflame, the tensions of decades exploding into public acrimony once more. Over it all looms the specter of French involvement, Versailles not having taken kindly to your attempt to catch them off-guard with intervention. How will you navigate the military situation? What steps will be taken to ensure that your newly reformed, constitutional Spain survives the horrors of the coming year?

-The absence of the traitorous opposition has given you an overwhelming majority in the national assembly, which you can effectively use to enact whatever legislation you should wish for during this dire time. In addition to numerous wartime acts, such as martial law and military requisitioning, some in your government have suggested adopting pieces of legislation that would have otherwise languished in the fractured political environment, such as a formal proscription of the Spanish Bourbons, substantial economic reforms, a bill of rights, and so forth. What will you do with your newly freed hands in the parts of Spain remaining loyal to the constitutional order?

Durrani Empire

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-Shah-Regent Timur, your invasion of India has caught the world off-guard, all eyes turning to the subcontinent as you swept through the Gangetic Basin and through some of the most populated areas of French India. Some have even remarked that it seems you are on the cusp of surpassing the Mughal Empire of old in terms of military grandeur. Yet, the time of surprise has ended and France will undoubtedly be responding in kind during the coming year. How will you prosecute the war in the coming year? What steps will be taken to guarantee your expanded control will be cemented during this highly fluid era?

-While commitments to India are extensive, the government has not been blind to developments in neighboring Iran. The Qajars have alternated from being friends to foes of the Durrani over the past century, though Mozaffar has seemed intent on treating you as a rival. The collapse of that historic dynasty into civil war poses some serious questions about Durrani strategy for the region moving forward. While many sympathize with Kamran, there are questions as to how much aid, if any, can be spared? Beyond that, there’s also what actions your government will take in terms of diplomatic recognition of the Qajar as well as the breakaway states in Arabia and the Levant? Some would have you partner with Russia in order to fashion some sort of new arrangement in the region, others believe that noninvolvement is the best path forward. What will you do about the crisis to your west?

Republic of Korea

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-President Gwon Jung-hyeon, your focus on the economy during the time of regional disruption was prescient. Korea does business while its neighbors burn, the economy showing strong resilience in the face of disruption to the global trade system. It is hoped you will be able to leverage this growing wealth into further dividends moving forward, perhaps through investment in a neighboring power. Yet, this broaches the sensitive topic of diplomacy. The East Asian situation has changed a good deal since the start of last year. The Franco-Japanese assault into Central China failed, while Beijing has been liberated by the Chinese, reopening land commerce. Further afield the New Hollanders and French battle over islands that were once Korean colonies in the East Indies. Some have called on you to throw your lot in with whoever you believe will triumph for some token prizes, though that clearly has risks.

-Your close cooperation with Russia has not gone unnoticed by the populace. Public opinion towards that power is highly complicated, colored as it is by Moscow's role in ripping down the Korean Empire. While it has undoubtedly been profitable for both sides, the frequent interactions with your northern neighbor has led to some resentment. This has manifested itself in several ways, but most publicly by a series of riots that targeted Orthodox clerics in 1903, many traditionalist Koreans hostile to their proselytizing. Indeed, the presence of these clerics in the past several years has seen a notable growth in the size of the Korean Orthodox community, it clearly surpassing Catholicism, though still smaller than Lutheranism. Radical elements even went so far as to burn down several Orthodox churches, in a demonstration of their resistance. The matter is both embarrassing, as no doubt Russia will feel insulted should it deem the matter important enough for a diplomatic response, and subversive, given some Koreans seem to tacitly challenge your rule and the constitutional order. How will you deal with these troublemakers, who counter that they were using their legitimate rights of protest?

[Spamage]

Kingdom of Poland

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-Welcome, King Sigismund IV. You govern one of the more stable realms of Europe in this time of unrest and upheaval. It seems the Polish have put their querulous past behind them, your government celebrating over 30 years of Wettin rule, the longest single continuous government since the deposition of Augustus III in the 1750s. Yet, that is not to say the people are wholly behind your government. Your personal rule has seen the Constitution of 1881, adopted when you were too young to consent, sidelined and ignored. The government has acted as a bastion of conservatism even as allies such as Austria and Scandinavia have increased democratic participation. Will you follow their example and cede some power to your subjects? Or would such a move invite mischief and chaos, returning Poland to the days of wild regime change? What will be your overarching philosophy regarding domestic affairs?

-Diplomatically, Warsaw has found itself inexorably tied to both Austria and Scandinavia during the past several decades. In addition to substantial economic ties guaranteed by membership in the Habsburg Trade Bloc and Scandinavian-led Baltic League, you also enjoy familial connections. Indeed, many Poles look back on the regency of your Louis-Henry on your behalf with fondness and wish him nothing but success as he tries to govern the Habsburg Monarchy on behalf of young Maximilian V. Yet, some question if it is not time for a more autonomous foreign policy. Rapprochement with Russia or increased ties with powers further afield such as Britain and France have also been floated. Will you take the initiative on diplomacy? What will that look like?

Kingdom of Serbia

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

-King Joseph, welcome. Serbia has had a tumultuous and difficult history, your nation only reemerging as an independent state in the 1870s as the Ottoman Empire was entering its death knell. Having to build the state up from scratch necessarily involved the monarchy taking the lead in Serbian affairs. While your reign thus far has seen limited-suffrage elections, the government still largely operates as an extension of the crown. There have been calls for further opening up of the political system, though this could also entail weakening your royal prerogatives and strengthening voices of extremism. What course will you chart for the domestic political structure? Is the status quo acceptable or should constitutional reform be the order of the day?

-The Kingdom of Serbia was initially created to represent Austrian interests in the Balkans, your family name being the whole reason your late father was offered the throne. Yet, with the passage of time, many wonder whether the diplomatic bearhug of Vienna will be sustainable for the next quarter century. There have been some Serbian nationalists who believe you ought to adopt a greater attitude of distance towards Austria, perhaps through partnerships with Russia, Naples, Scandinavia, or even France. What will be your government's foreign policy, now that you have emerged as a sizable regional power?

Army Strength:
Russian Republic
20 division Army of Mishchenko (Vladivostok)
20 division Army of Kuropatkin (Moscow)
15 division Army of Linevich (Mongolia)
15 division Army of Krodatenko (Ukraine)
10 division Army of Smirnov (Konstantingrad)
10 division Army of Ivanov (St. Petersburg)
5 division Army of Subotic (Turkestan)
5 division Army of Alekseyev (Circassia)
(100/640 divisions possible raised, 16% mobilized)

Kingdom of France
130 division Army of France
122 division Army of Naples
67 division Army of Peru
59 division Army of East Colombia-Medellin
39 division Army of Anqing (Besieged)
38 division Army of Quebec
26 divsion Army of Caracas
20 division Army of Panama
15 division Army of Haiti
15 division Army of Nicaragua
12 division Army of Aceh
7 division Army of Padania
6 division Army of India
3 division Army of Puerto Rico
(559/564 divisions possible raised, 99% mobilized)

Chinese Republic
197 division Army of Central China
116 division Army of the North
53 division Tibetan Defense Force
48 division Army of Burma
(414/511 divisions possible raised, 83% mobilized)

Habsburg Monarchy
36 division Army of the Balkans
10 division Army of Hungary
9 division Army of Lombardy
8 division Army of Ruthenia
8 division Army of Austria
7 division Army of Abyssinia
4 division Army of Bohemia
2 division Army of the Suez
2 division East Africa Reserve
1 division Army of Singapore
1 division Army of the Sahel
1 division Army of Ningbo
1 division Gibraltar Garrison
(90/497 divisions possible raised, 18% mobilized)

Great Britain, Ireland, and Americas
50 division Army of Venezuela
48 division Home Guard
35 division Army of the Alleghany
27 division Army of Wisconsin
26 division Army of Michigan
20 division Army of Guayaquil
10 division Army of Mindinao
7 division Caribbean Defense Force
7 division Army of Africa
6 division Army of the Canaries
6 division Army of Australia
5 division Army of New Britain
(257/281 divisions possible raised, 91% mobilized)

Republic of Japan
64 division Army of the Philippines
52 division Army of Anqing (Besieged)
18 division Army of New Guinea
15 division Army of Tokyo
14 division Army of Nagasaki
5 division Imperial Guard
5 division Army of the Pacific
1 division Army of Hokkaido
(174/230 divisions possible raised, 75% mobilized)

Kingdom of Scandinavia
15 division Army of the Aegean
5 division Army of Sweden
4 division Army of Hanover
7 division Army of the Persian Gulf
5 division Army of Oman
5 division Army of Egypt
2 division Army of East Africa
2 division Army of Cameroon
2 division Army of Corinth
(24/165 divisions possible raised, 10% mobilized)

Mozaffarian Iran
37 division Army of Tehran
18 division Army of Iraq
10 division Army of Kurdistan-Armenia
4 divsion Army of Aqaba
4 division Royal Guard
4 division Army of Azerbaijan
(77/77 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Kamranian Iran
35 division Army of Southern Iran
20 division Army of Mashad
(55/78 divsions possible raised, 70% mobilized

Kingdom of Naples
86 division Army of Anzio
37 division Army of Padania
10 division Army of Tuscany
3 division Army of Sicily
2 division Army of Tunisia
(138/138 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Durrani Empire
119 division Army of India
9 division Army of Baluchistan
5 division Royal Guard
4 division Army of Herat
4 division Army of the Indus
(141/141 divisions possible raised, 10% mobilized)

Holy Union of Spain
39 division Army of Madrid
22 division Army of Zaragoza
10 division Army of Andalusia
(71/87 divisions possible raised, 10% mobilized)

Spanish Rebellion
30 divison Army of Catalonia
6 division Army of Navarre
5 division Army of Valencia
(41/41 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Commonwealth of Louisiana
32 division Army of Texas
17 division Army of Mexico City
13 division Army of West Texas
15 division Army of Colorado
3 division Augustinian Volunteers at Veracruz
4 division Army of the Northern Territory
1 division Army of Cuba
(82/82 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Divine Republic of Brazil
31 division Army of the Matto Grasso
31 division Army of Guyana
20 division Brazilian Reserve Army
8 division Army of Southern Brazil
**18 division Interned by the Colombians**
(90/90 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Kingdom of Mexico
25 division Army of Texas
21 division Army of Liberia-Colorado
18 division Army of Oaxaca
11 division Army of Cuba
10 division Army of California
4 division Army of Jamaica
3 division Army of Central America
17 division volunteers (Texas)
6 division volunteers (Monclova)
5 division volunteers (Veracruz)
5 division volunteers (California)
1 division volunteers (Acapulco)
(92/92 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Empire of Quebec
31 division Army of Michigan
29 division Army of Wisconsin
10 division Army of Hawaii
10 division Army of the Caribbean
7 division Army of California
(87/90 divisions possible raised, 96% mobilized)

United Provinces of New Holland
20 division Home Guard
19 division Army of Borneo
17 division Army of Sumatra
7 division Army of Malaya
5 division Army of Batavia
3 division Army of Willemstad
(71/112 divisions possible raised, 63% mobilized)

Turkist Empire
15 division Army of the South
7 division Army of Athens
7 division Army of Ankara
6 division Army of the East
5 division Army of Cyrenaica
4 division Army of Sinope
(47/100 divisions possible raised, 45% mobilized)

Korean State
4 division Army of the Capital
4 division Army of the North
(8/87 divisions possible raised, 10% mobilized)

Holy Republic of Gran Colombia
41 division Army of Colombia Proper
19 division Army of Peru
15 division Army of Southern Peru
8 division Volunteer Force (Peru)
6 division Army of Venezuela
(81/81 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Confederation of New England
19 division Army of New York
13 division Army of Syracuse
3 division Army of Boston
(35/47 divisions possible raised, 75% mobilized)

Kingdom of Portugal
25 division Army of Colombia
10 division Army of Lisbon
2 division Army of Goa
1 division Army of Angola
(36/36 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Andean Free State
35 division Army of Peru
(35/35 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Kingdom of Bulgaria
33 division Army of Macedonia
10 division Army of Attica
(43/43 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Kingdom of Siam
27 division Army of Shandong
19 division Northern Army
10 division Home Guard
(56/56 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Columbian Rebellion
42 division Army of Columbia
(42/42 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

State of Uruguay
10 division Army of Montevideo
(10/10 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Republic of New Brandenburg
13 division Army of the Cape
(13/13 divisions possible raised, 100% mobilized)

Kingdom of Poland
5 division Army of Krakow
5 division Army of Warsaw
5 division Army of Gdansk
(15/155 divisions possible raised, 10% mobilized)

Kingdom of Serbia
5 division Army of Belgrade
(5/56 divisions possible raised, 10% mobilized)


Naval Strength*:
Naval Technology
First-Rate: This navy employs all of the latest technologies across its fleet including new tactics, equipment, and training. Truly among one of the best seafaring fleets in the world.
Innovative: New strategic ideas are planned and tested, further modifications have been made to equipment for more efficient operation.
Advanced: Ships are modernized and equipment is top of the line. Overall better organized than modernized fleets.
Modernized: Navy is at standard levels of development for time period.
Reformed: The naval equipment is near-modernized, though experience and training with new supplies is lacking.
Modified: Although still dominated by old ships and methods, efforts have been made to reform the navy, including the purchase of ships from more advanced powers.
Traditional: This navy still employs tactics, methods, and equipment from the 1870s or earlier. Limited sea capabilities and stagnant mindset.

Naval Size
Dominant: This power truly has a global naval reach. Advanced fleets at various points of the world and the ability to supply said vessels with relative ease. More than two hundred vessels in active service
Massive: Extensive naval reach, able to operate in most areas, assuming supply is secured. Around two hundred vessels.
Sizable: Naval reach includes most of surrounding seas. Roughly one hundred and fifty vessels, with the ports able to supply them.
Standard: Naval strength can be projected in the region, with further excursions when necessary. Around one hundred ships.
Limited: Several dozen ships. Extensive and long-distance operations are possible, but only on rare occasions.
Small: A dozen major ships, limited regional navy.
Nonexistent: Primarily applies to landlocked countries. No navy in existence.*

*-Not applicable for anyone right away


Navies of the World
United Kingdom of Britain, Ireland, and the Americas (First-Rate, Massive)
Kingdom of France (Innovative, Massive)
Kingdom of Scandinavia (Innovative, Massive)
Confederation of New England (Innovative, Limited)
Republic of Japan (Advanced, Sizable)
Kingdom of Naples (Advanced, Sizable)
United Provinces of New Holland (Advanced, Standard)
Holy Republic of Gran Colombia (Advanced, Limited)
Russian Republic (Modernized, Massive)
Divine Republic of Brazil (Modernized, Standard)
Commonwealth of Louisiana (Modernized, Standard)
Holy Union of Spain (Modernized, Standard)
Kingdom of Quebec (Modernized, Standard)
Kingdom of Mexico (Modernized, Standard)
Habsburg Monarchy (Modernized, Limited)
Korean State (Modernized, Small)
Kingdom of Poland(Modernized, Small)
Kingdom of Serbia (Modernized, Small)
Chinese Republic (Reformed, Standard)
Qajar Iran (Reformed, Limited)
Turkist Empire (Reformed, Small)
Durrani Empire (Reformed, Small)

[Devout Centrist]

Invocation of the Treaty of Trois-Rivières

Executive Order no. 1109
1. Pursuant to the Treaty of Trois-Rivières, a complete and total embargo on trade with the Kingdom of France is hereby implemented, effective immediately. This embargo shall be extended indefinitely.

Signing Statement from President Kang Youwei

The purposeful infection of domesticated cats, dogs, and other animals found commonly in urban environments constitutes a serious breach of this chemical and biological weapons convention. It is plain to anyone that the French knowingly targeted a civilian population with a pathogen meant to inflict death and terror on unarmed citizens of the Holy Republic of Colombia. There can be no equivocation in the face of such barbarism.

I call on all other treaty signatories to conduct their own investigation of the use of the rabies pathogen by agent provocateurs and the armed forces of the Kingdom of France. It is the opinion of the Republic of China that this deliberate act meets the threshold under the convention for total embargo.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

The dawn of a new Mexico

To distance ourselves from the atrocities perpetrated by our French-speaking neighbors and in response to the widespread discontent among the Mexican populace regarding the war crimes and brutality associated with the tainted House of Bourbon-Orléans, we have chosen to embrace a new identity. Effective immediately, the ruling house of Mexico shall be known as the House of Cuauhtémoc.

The House of Cuauhtémoc represents a break from the tainted legacy of the House of Bourbon-Orléans - a legacy marred by oppression, exploitation, and disregard for the Mexican people. We recognize the need to sever ties with these abusive powers and to forge a new path forward.

In tandem with this change, the Kingdom of Mexico shall be renamed the Empire of the Mexicans. This alteration reflects our ambition to elevate Mexico to its rightful status as a sovereign and dignified empire, free from external influence and tyranny. It also reflects that the Empire serves our people first and foremost.

Furthermore, the ruler of Mexico shall hereby be known as the Huey Tlatoani of the Mexicans. This title, derived from ancient Aztec tradition, signifies the leader's role as a protector of the people's well-being and the guardian of Mexico's cultural heritage and sovereignty.

To symbolize this moment in our nation's history, a new flag is adopted. The flag of the Empire of the Mexicans features our new dynasty crown inspired by the ancient civilizations of Mexico, paying homage to the resilience and ingenuity of our ancestors.

Let us unite behind the banner of Cuauhtémoc and the Empire of the Mexicans. May the spirit of our ancestors guide us, and may the legacy of Cuauhtémoc inspire us to greatness.

Long live the Mexicans!