Intermission
The world is a lot different than it was 60 years ago. Great powers have risen, while others lay broken on the ash heap of history. The Roman Church has irrevocably split between the Catholics, Justifiers and Adelerists. The New World has gone from a land of mystery to the playground of Europe's empires. And now to take a look at where the world stands:
The State of the World - 1580
Europe
For the past few decades the French kings have struggled with a religious war between the Catholic government, the Adelerist Huguenots, and the Justifier Mayennes. Taking advantage of the situation, the British have retaken Gascony, and have used papal authority to gain the Bourbon Corridor and the Archbishopric of Trier in order to convert the inhabitants back to the true faith.
By might of arms Naples now controls much of the Italian peninsula, and has begun encroaching on the Papal States. Rome has been occupied by Neapolitan troops twice in fifty years, leading to the King of Naples being excommunicated. It has finally run into French Milan and Austrian Friuli, with the possibility of a struggle for the Piedmont in the near future.
In northern Europe, the League of Darmstadt has united most of the Justifier kingdoms under one banner, although Denmark is the notable exception. Sweden has taken Pomerania and Wielkopolska in order to protect the Justifier communities there. Sweden and the Netherlands have begun struggling with Denmark and Muscovy for control of the Baltic trade, which has already led to one war. Elsewhere, the Baltic States have been split between Austria (Ducal Prussia), Kurland (Livonia), Muscovy (Riga, Lithuania), and Bohemia (rump of Lithuania).
After years of war, Poland has finally managed to retake its territory from the Ottomans, although not without losing its valuable Baltic coastline from Lubeck to Konigsburg. However, the hated Turks have finally run into difficulties, with their Balkan territories in open revolt. By the end of 1589, the Ottomans will only control Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Moldovia, and parts of Hungary.
To the far east, Georgia and Muscovy are dismantling the Mongol states, while Shiite Syria and Sunni Iraq have arisen from the ashes of the Timurid Empire.
North America is now firmly in European hands. In the far north, the British have founded fur-trading settlements in Cabot Bay, as well as the Ericson Penal Colony in Greenland. The Castillian and Portuguese colonies are well established and growing inland, while the tiny French city of New Orleans grows on the mid-Atlantic coast. Zapotek has grown northward, with new settlements at Fort Renesse, Droge Vallei, Frederikstad and Gouden Baai. The colony's gold mines are now supplying 10% of the United Kingdom's wealth, and helps fund continued expansion up the Pacific coast.
The biggest event in South America was the recent conquest of the Incas by British mercenaries, delivering the Peruvian silver mines to the British Crown. The Portuguese colonies have finally started growing, after a fitful start. The gold mines of Nueva Granada have been retaken from Justifier radicals, and the Castillian Inquisition has begun converting the territory back to the true faith.
A number of countries have decided to get involved in the African slave trade, in order to supply their American colonies with labor. British Gambia, Portuguese Costa do Marfim, French Carolina and the Spanish Congo have begun supplying slaves, spices and ivory to Europe and America. The Dutch Southern Cape Colony has become a major stopping point on the new Spice Route, with ships arriving from the Canarias and Java weekly. So far the other European powers haven't traveled past Monomotapa, so the Dutch spice trade is still a monopoly.
With the Dutch arrival in the 1560s, the Orient is now another theater on the world stage. The Dutch have established a colony on Java, which is their hub for trade in the markets of Malacca and Beijing. The major power is of course the Chinese Ming, but a number of smaller empires challenge their authority. Foremost among them is Orissa, which has united much of northern India and gone on to conquer Sumatra, Borneo and the Ryukyu Islands. Allied with them are the Khmer, which dominate the Indochina peninsula. Finally, the Japan-Manchu alliance has managed to erode the Ming hegemon through luck and guile.
