Imperium Offtopicum: The Peshawar Lancers

DonCossack said:

OOC: I'm going to try and make an RP post later tonight. Been swamped with things these last few days. Seems I'm not the only one.

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OOC: I've actually had time and an idea, but haven't been able to connect to the forum till now, when its almost 2 am

Received early in Khartoum to much dismay, Captain Robert Falcon Scott returned this week from his expedition's foray through the Garamba valley; the small company and its Soudanese porters were driven back, reportedly, from their course of charting the Congo by an exuberant band of apparently Arab slavers. Known to have launched frequent raids into the Congo to seize new captives, it seems exceedingly likely that Zanzibari cut-throats cut off by the chaos of The Fall gained sway over the primitive native inhabitants. The small detachment of British officers was unable to mount any meaningful defence against the large host, who met them near the cataracts which mark the end of the Lualaba and the beginning of the Congo. Settlements encountered in the rough country preceding, sparsely populated by those accounts reaching India, gave the name of Kisangani to the region; the Foreign Secretary has confirmed that Lord Baden-Powell's military legation in Cairo will mount a punitive expedition against the brigands.

Above, views of HMS Livingston as it appeared steaming from Bombay to Africa; below, the expedition's first returned sketches of the untamed Garamba valley. ​

German authorities, once thought to have held only a tenuous grip on those lands claimed by merchants encountered off the Horn, have reportedly launched several disastrous attacks on the slavers and some unidentified group of Europeans clustered around the Delta - educated conjecture suggests Portuguese missionaries. With the continued failure of the Admiralty to secure adequate coaling sites for any large-scale flotilla to reliably reach the Cape, efforts to chart the course of the inner Congo remain thoroughly critical to the cause of rescuing those British subjects lost in the south. Once pacified, Captain Falcon Scott will likely renew his quest to discover an alternative route to the Cape Colony. Prime Minister Campbell-Bannerman, speaking in Monday's session of the Commons, responded to criticism from Conservative benches that his ministry had treated the German administration in Tanganyika as "aneamic and nominal." He pledged to follow any course of action, "diplomatically or militarily," which would "see the wholeness of our great Imperial family restored."

(this takes place some time before the Imperial marriage)

"Bombs away!" Lieutenant Ahmed al-Qadir called, and the crew of HIMAS Egalite cheered. He raised his glass of Courvoisier high, then the rather impious grandson of a famous Sufi holy man downed the priceless pre-Fall brandy in a single decadent gulp.

The Egalite's Chief Bombadier smiled, and took a slower, more reverant sip from his own glass. Of all the endless banquets and celebrations he had attended in his young life, this was the first time being the guest of honor truly felt honorable. And to his suprise, Lieutenant Louis Alfonse Napoleon Bonaparte found he rather liked it.

This affair was worlds apart from the lavish banquet halls of the Casbah of Algiers or the gardens of Alhambra, where every petty milestone of the Prince Imperial's life was commemorated with dances and feasts and fawning praise. This was improvised tables made of ruined doors, simple dishes of fresh local fish, and the appalling Ginbri playing of Ajudant Sheetrit. But most of all, it was a sincere send off for a respected junior officer going on leave for his wedding- and a celebration of the airship's safe return from their long cruise to the outpost at Lyon.

The Captain had politely excused himself after the first drink, now the officers and men were starting to relax and enjoy themselves. His father's generous gift of high quality drink was not going to waste either. Many of Egalite's nominal Muslims were toasting the House of Bonaparte with sincere goodwill tonight, though that would no doubt change when the Emperor's gift would feel like a curse.

A sound caught the Prince Imperial's attention, and he turned to look behind him. He found an young army officer, a sous-lieutenant in impecalbe dress uniform from his Kepi to the heavy black boots that earned the ground troops the nickname pieds-noirs among the Air Corps. The officer was tall, lanky with youth and with a small, thin moustache that the Prince could practically hear him urging to grow in. A Sous-lieutenant then, freshly graduated from St-Cyr or some other elite academy, and too clean to have been in Marseille long. With a start, Louis realized this boy was at most five years younger than himself. Could I have ever possibly been that green?, he thought. He knew he must have been, everyone was once. Even his exalted father had been like this once.

He fixed the youth with a neutral look for a moment. He found that nothing quite unnerved the overly formal as not knowing whether their superiors were pleased or angry. After three heartbeats, the Prince Imperial took pity and addressed him.

"Have you lost your way, Sous-lieutenant? This is a private affair for the crew of the Egalite. That's that large silver cigar over there." He inclined his head slightly toward the looming shadow of the airship. The hanger had seemed the logical place to treat his crew in privacy.

"No sir. Pardon me for the intrusion, sir, but Marshal Foch requires your presence at once." The young man was green, but his discipline was strong. The hint of annoyance from an Imperial family member had been enough to send seasoned officers into spasms of submission. But this messanger hadn't flinched. He knew his duty was to deliver a message from the supreme commander on the frontier, and he would not be put off easily. Louis decided he might just like him.

"Very well. Gentlemen, duty calls." He rose, and the officers and men took their feet and saluted. Some were less than stable as they did, but none fell over by the time the Prince Imperial turned away to follow the messenger.

As they walked from the hanger towards Marshal Foch's HQ, the young Prince tried to engage the youngster in conversation.

"Do you have a name Sous-lieutenant?"

"Yes sir. de Gaulle, sir, Sous-lieutenant Charles de Gaulle."

"Quite fitting, it would seem. Welcome to Gaul, Lieutenant de Gaulle." A weak joke, but de Gaulle smiled all the same. People expect their ruling class to be humorless, and a little wit from a Prince tends to make a big impression.

"Thank you, sir. I only arrived three days ago."

"Fresh from St Cyr, then?"

"Yes sir."

"And were you born a cadet then?"

de Gaulle actually chuckled. "You might say so sir. My father fought for your grandfather at Sedan. He teaches philosophy now at ENS, but he's stayed a soldier at heart."

"Marshal Foch's staff is quite the plum assignment. You must have been near the top of your class."

"13th of 210, sir."

"Very good. Well, could you tell me what it is the good Marshall suddenly needs me for?"

"I'm sure I don't know, sir"

Good man Louis thought, annoyed. He didn't believe for a moment that de Gaulle didn't know the details of every letter that left the Marshall's desk. Messengers and junior staff officers usually did, and most were eager to feel important by sharing. But it would take more than a few polite nicities to get this de Gaulle to spill.

"Well, we'll know soon enough." And indeed they were outside the marshall's office. "I think i can find my way from here. Dismissed, Sous-lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir" de Gaulle saluted sharply. Then he knocked on the marshall's door and announced the Prince's arrival.

"Sit down, Lieutenant. I'm sorry to disturb your celebration, but I wanted to congratuate you in person."

"Thank you, Marshall. I'm looking forward to the joyfull occassion." The polite response wasn't quite a lie, but not quite the truth.

"No. Well, yes, my best wishes for your wedding, but that wasn't what I was referring to. You should read this." The marshall slid an envelope to the Prince. It was sealed with the wings of the Imperial Aeronatuic Corps, with the motto "Regimus caeli!" partly legible in the wax. Puzzled, Louis opened and began to read, skimming the standard formalities until he came to the meaningfull portion.

"You are hereby ordered to transfer to His Imperial Majesty's Airship Etonnement, Captain Paul Moreau commanding, there to relieve him and take ommand with the rank of Captain..." the rest of the letter suddenly seemed to be written in Sanskrit. The only part he could understand was that blessed fragment. My own ship.

He had a passing familiarity with l'Etonnement. A good deal smaller than Egalite, with a smaller payload capacity. She was built for range instead of power, with only one bomb bay to Egalite's three, and a single squad of marines instead of a full company. But she carried nearly the same fuel and water, and could land in almost any open space.

She wasn't a token command given to an Imperial family member. She was a true plum, built for independant cruises far from home. Commanding l'Ettonement meant exploration and adventure.

Prince Louis raised his eyes to see Marshall Foch smiling at him. "May I be the first to congratulate you, Captain Bonaparte. L'Ettonement is bound for Tunis for repairs- took something of a beating in a storm over Lac de Paris- but she should be ready to weigh anchor once you return from your honeymoon, and then it's off to Tangiers."

"Tangiers?"

"You haven't reached that part yet? The fleet is being redeployed. Pirate suppression and surveying over Portugal and the islands. They've only left me a few ships for supply runs to Lyon and Toulouse. Hate to see you go, Captain, but- ah very good." Sous-lieutenant de Gaulle returned with a priceless bottle of true, pre-Fall Champagne. "A toast, then, to your promotion. And to l'Ettonement!"

A general overview of the modern France-Outre-Mer


France in La Belle Époque

The term "La Belle Époque" (the Beautiful Era) is a loose term for the youth of the generation born in the immediate aftermath of the Fall, roughly 1890 to 1925. For these children of exiles, life was a steady improvement from dire danger and hardship toward increasing comfort. Compared to their Emigre parents, this generation was optimistic, ambitious, and energetic, qualities which become increasingly dominant in French (and to a lesser extent Italian and Spanish) art and literature starting around 1900.

Economy
The Imperial economy of La Belle Époque was dominated by industrialization in North Africa. Starting with the human and technological capital brought over in the Evacuation, the great North African cities of Algiers, Oran and Constantine rapidly became industrial hubs. The moist decade after the Fall spurred heavy investment in modernizing agriculture via irrigation projects, and the railway network grew exponentially to ship the produce to the hungry cities. As the Empire's territory expanded, so did the railways and their attendant industries. Cities were entirely rebuilt in Algeria, Morocco and West Africa. By the turn of the century the ancient city of Timbuktu had been reborn as the center of government and industry south of the Sahara, linked by rail to Senegal, and the Casablanca-St. Louis railway linked North and South Africa. The building boom grew further with the annexation of Spain and Italy, whose industrial infrastructure needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.

The Imperial Banque d'Algiers began issuing paper currency backed by gold, remonetarizing an economy that had become dependant on barter. The economy gradually became less state-dominated, as rationing was phased out between 1895 and 1905. The hated Rationing Board was abolished, but the Emperor remained a powerfull presence in the economy, with vast tracts of productive land in state hands. The Imperial Government used its influence to keep prices of staple goods like bread low, and to subsidize key industries like railways, arms, and airships.

The emergence of private airship lines was second only to industrialization in the new economy. Regular air traffic bridged the transport gap between the Empire's mediterranean possessions. Beside their economic value, airships inspired the imagination and led to stronger cultural ties between Italy, Spain and France-Outre-Mer.

Spain and Italy remained less urban and industrialized than French North Africa, but cities like Barcelona, Granada, and Palermo boomed as trade resumed. Rome was badly damaged by civil unrest, but by 1910 the Eternal City had been restored to a semblence of its former self. Waves of Italian and Spanish immigrants moved into the principal cities of Algeria, threatening to displace the local, Muslim working class.

Politics
The Constitution of 1900 introduced elections and political parties back into French life. At the national level the elected Assembly was comparatively weak. Imperial appointees in the Senate, Judiciary and Civil Service were the real policymakers. The local level was a different story entirely. The Prefects were appointed by the Emperor, but legislative power rested solely in elected councils. Elections in the Empire tended to be grass-roots affairs, with national parties comparatively weak. Some of the principal political movements were:

The Martelist League, a reactionary faction opposed to what they called the "Arabization" of the Empire. Often controversial, the Martelists were strongest in the regions where the voting population of citizens was heavily outnumbered by non-citizen Arabs or Berbers. Martelists were largely characterized by calling for natives to be excluded from living in certain places or working in certain fields, and for making life more difficult for natives who wished to become assimilated citizens. The most extreme applied the same conditions to Spaniards and Italians.

Liberal parties tended to advocate the privatization of government property and the abolition of price controls on staple goods. They were proponants of lassiez-faire economics, and often called for constitutional ammendments calling for Senators to be directly elected. Some liberals also advocated for easing citizenship requirements for colonial subjects.

Socialists came in many stripes, from hardened subversive Communards to the mainstream Constitutional Socialists. These politicians had a complicated relationship with the Emperor, simultaneously reverring the rationing era as a model for a future state-controlled utopia and condeming the ruling class of elites. Particularly popular among the urban working citizens of the industrial cities, the Socialists struggled in more rural, conservative Italy and Spain.

Religious conservative parties, often lead by surviving members of the old Aristocracy, dominated in Italy and Spain, with a strong base in Algeria's bread basket as well. The extent to which the Catholic Church controled these parties is open to dispute. Pope Benedict XV's support of the Women's Sufferage Movement did not inspire many of these Catholic politicians to change their position.

Efforts by Muslim citizens to form a political block were unsuccessfull, only achieving a few seats in the city councils of Algiers and Constantine. The vast majority of the Empire's Muslim population were non-voting subjects. Muslim rulers of the "Princely States," the nominally independant allies and dependancies of the Emperor, were represented in the Senate. But these leaders rarely used their position to advocate for those Muslims living outside their personal holdings.

Crossing all political boundaries were regionalist parties in Andalusia, Catalonia, Sicily and Rome. These advocated a variety of postions, varying from regional cooperation between local governments to full-fledged secession movements. These tended to be undermined by ideological differences and infighting among leaders. Imperial agents were often blamed for fanning these divides. Nationwide Prohibition and Women's Sufferage Movements enjoyed periodic surges in popularity, but never attracted enough support to advance their causes.

Culture and Arts
La Belle Époque saw the emergence of a distinctive youth culture among the urban middle and upper classes. Expressed through art, music, and most of all fashion, the Mécanique movement challenged traditional notions of propriety, and epitomizes the era's fascination with machinery and technology. Inspired as children by Jules Verne, Mécanique artists and authors tended to focus on inventions and adventurers, both real and fictional.

A seperate, often competing stylistic movement was Orientalism, which embraced the styles and arts of Arab and Berber societies. In ironic contrast to the conservatism of actual Muslims, Orientalism presented an image of unapologetic decadence and sensuality. Harems, genies, and antiquity were common themes in Orientalist art and literature. As a result Orientalism came to be associated- somewhat unfairly- with hedonism, sloth and the idle rich.

Aside from scandalizing their parents with fashion, young women of this generation began to see education and carreer as legitimate aspirations. Women began to break into the civil service and buisness world, though they usually remained limited to the lower tiers of their fields. The first technical schools for women were founded in this era, though most doors remained closed to female engineers. One of the few exceptions was the emerging aeronautics industry, where several women rose to fame designing airliners. Despite these strides women remained scarce at high levels in the workforce.

Among "respectable" society, Art Nouveau became the dominant style in art and architecture. Art Nouveau designs dominated the renovated city of Algiers, showcased in its elegant new opera house. The restoration of damaged public buildings in Old France provided opportunities for painters, sculptors and glassworkers. Impressionism was also nearing its peak of popularity.

Religion
The merger of France and Spain, along with the successfull liberation of Italy, led to a general resurgance in the power of the Catholic Church. The new Pope Benedict XV proved to be a more independant political player than the Emperor expected when he was elected in the French dominated Bayonet Conclave. While rarely working in direct conflict with the state, the church began rebuilding its political and economic power. This mainly took uncontroversial forms, such as charitiable projects and the restoration of Catholic educational institutions. Missionary societies attracted financial and political support from the faithful. Benedict XV was the first Pope to ably engage in mass politics, largely bypassing the formal political system and appealling directly to his flock for money and support. Laypeople raised large sums to support missions in Africa, orphanages in Italy and Spain, and later the recolonization of mainland Europe.

Unlike many clergy, the Pope embraced the newly "empowered" female Catholics as a potent weapon in his arsenal. He believed that while the most radical sufferagettes tended to be secular, if granted the vote most women would tend toward supporting traditional Catholic values. And in fact there was an undisputable overlap between membership in the Sufferage movement and activity in Catholic charities.

The most controversial move Pope Benedict XV made was his effort to restore the Knights Hospitaller. Since the loss of Malta in the days of Napoleon I, the Knights had been reduced to a prestigous charitable organization. During the post-Fall reign of St Leo XIII, many Knights became key leaders of the Church's efforts to maintain civilization in Italy. But most of these leaders perished in the violent uprising that claimed St Leo himself.

Benedict XV began the remilitarization of the Order by appealing to Catholic veterans to donate portions of their land grants to the Church. The incomes from these properties were set aside for establishing churches, hospitals, and schools on the frontier. The Knights were reinvented as a fraternal organization, principally made up of lay veterans in the military colonies, with only the higher echelons of the Order made up of celibate warrior-monks.

The Recolonization of mainland France began the formation of fortified Hospitaller communities. Brother veterans of the order were encouraged not just to donate portions of their land grants to the Church, but also to stake their claims in groups centered around the order's holdings. In the wilderness of Old France, the risk of cannibal raids made the value of having a close-knit community of seasoned fighting men self-evident. Hospitaller commanderies broke the frontier beyond the immedeate defenses of French army outposts like Marseille and Lyon, and associated charities helped send supplies and settlers from Outre-Mer, Italy, and Spain.

The restoration of the Knights proved controversial in many circles. While more than a century away from the Revolution, the potential risks of a wealthy religious institution with an armed militia were apparent to the Bonapartist government. But generally speaking, the practical aid the Knights supplied to the colonization effort proved to be too valuable for the state to curtail their growth.

OOC: Going to be doing at least one more RP in here for this turn. Hopefully enough people are still around.

OOC: Poor Theobald.

OOC: Poor me, just in general. Came back from Virginia, all of a sudden in between a rock and a hard place. Compounded by me officially having the WORST dice rolls in the history of mankind. No hyperbole.

DonCossack said:

OOC: Poor me, just in general. Came back from Virginia, all of a sudden in between a rock and a hard place. Compounded by me officially having the WORST dice rolls in the history of mankind. No hyperbole.

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OOC: My protectorate idea is looking pretty good now, huh?

After a remarkable, miraculous, and downright unprecedented thirty-three years in office, Sir Roger Tuckfield Goldsworthy passed away earlier today, on his private estate in Queen Charlotte Bay. A solemn procession in Port Stanley and Fair Wind marked this tragic day, as regiments of the Falklands Colonial Army (those few who had not gone off to the front) led a group of mourners and well-wishers throughout both cities. To many people, including us at the Telegraph, Roger Goldsworthy is the saviour of the Falklander people. He delivered us from certain starvation and death on the mighty, yet modest, Falkland Islands. And in delivering us from these evils, he uplifted us and the Falklands into a position as Hegemon of an entire continent. Millions and millions of Argies, reclassified as 'Latins' recently, are now under our loving protection, the protection of our compassionate dominion. We have weathered the greatest storm Humanity has ever faced, and in doing so, reclaimed and built upon the empire on which the sun never sets. I am sure if her majesty Queen Victoria would be in delight, pride, and gratitude at the expansion and success of her overseas colonies, as such as what we have achieved. And it was all achieved under Goldsworthy. Truly, he will be in our hearts, a true Briton like no other.

By the will of the late Governor, Herbert Asquith, the Director of Falklands Treasury, is to become the new Governor of the Dominion. A noted liberal, this move has provoked a great deal of controversy from the the growing faction of 'Tories', a group of politicians, mayors, and other men of power who first surfaced as opponents to the American Missive, not too long ago. Likewise, the 'Whigs' a group formed in support of the same Missive, are outraged at the unofficial nature of the succession. It never firmly written down or codified that Asquith would succeed Goldsworthy, only the iron will and informal guess of most of the Government. Despite the lack of an parliament, or indeed legislative body, in the Colonial Government, both the Whigs and Tories seem to be growing in power, and acting as influential lobbyists towards the person of Asquith. Asquith himself has refused to involve himself with either party, atleast for now.

Asquith has already announced several key reforms he wishes to enact. Firstly, the controversial decision to rename, reorganise, and restructure the Colonial Government. The title of Governor is to be redubbed Governor-General, so as not to confuse with provincial governors in the dominion. The Governor's Cabinet is to readopt the names used by HM's Government for the various offices and departments of state. In Asquith's case, he would have been Chancellor of the Exchequer, rather than Director. Most importantly, Asquith intends to create a full, democratic, representative legislative body, a full blown House of Commons for the Falklands. This has understandably enraged many Tories. They decry these reforms as the building blocks to Asquith attempting to declare independence, and these proposals are made even more outrageous by the fact he has no royal mandate to do anything of this; although actually acquiring some is a complete impossibility. Other reforms include the reorganisation of the provinces of the Falklands, by the creation of new counties, and the drafting of constituencies for the entire Dominion. Finally, and perhaps most beneficially, he has announced an immediate recruitment campaign in order to muster up and create several additional armies to reinforce our soldiers struggling in Brasil. Let us take into account all this current and upcoming political infighting takes places as our brave forces die in horrid, Portuguese-infested jungles to the north. Let us hope the growing strife within our government does not jeopardise our war of rightful vengeance upon Brasil, for a failure here may shatter the tenuous control of our Dominion, and ruin the last dream of the late Goldsworthy. All the best to our boys on the front, and all the best, god-willing, to Governor Asquith.


Orders:
Build 1 Army - 2 IP. 1 IP Left
This 1 Army will join the other 5 Armies in the invasion of Brasil

An interlude off Batumi​

An ancient warship floats at anchor off the coast of Batumi, Georgia. The BN Kanaris, formerly an Ottoman warship until she was overwhelmed and captured by Greek 'pirates' during The Fall, is acting as flagship for the handful of ships in the Byzantine navy. Once again Byzantine forces have crossed into Georgia, and the navy is currently shipping supplies and guns into Batumi rather than dragging them across Anatolia.

Below decks Marshal Boroević is in conference with a number army commanders and local dignitaries opposed to the Twelfth House. Sitting at the head of a large table sits a boy of 14 dressed in the finest military uniform the Hegemony has to offer. However all the efforts of the best tailors in Constantiople cannot hide the fact that the frame the uniform covers in an exceptionally lanky one. Already over 6 foot, the impression of lankiness isn't helped by the majority of the men in the room being somewhat stunted, having grown up during or shortly after The Fall, when hunger was near universal regardless of social station. The boy, Emperor Alexios I, has technically been commander of the Byzantine forces since before he could walk, however with his growing maturity the day when he assumes his duties for real is drawing closer. Quite aside from the importance of the Emperor being eased into his duties, Boroević is also finding the Emperor to be an increasingly powerful political entity in his own right. A true polyglot, on top of his father's Greek and his Mother's Russian, Alexios also commands German and Serbian and maintains a reasonable fluency in a number of the Hegemony's other languages. Being able to address his subjects in their own language, combined with a genuine desire to improve their standards of living has earned him the love of the people, and more importantly, of the army.

Thankfully, both for Marshal Boroević and for the Hegemony, Alexios in more interested in learning than in dominating. And so the conference goes on, Alexios watching proceedings with a keen eye and interrupting only to satisfy his urge to understand everything happening.

OOC: So, where are we in relation to this turn being processed? Should I start rattling my cage and demanding satisfaction yet, or no?

Private Correspondence to Generalfeldmarschall von Moltke

From the Headquarters of 1. Armee onboard SMS König Wilhelm, North Sea

Herr Generalfeldmarschall,

By the time you receive this message, the first wave of landings will have already occurred. As previously discussed, it is still my intent to march on Wilhelmshaven and secure a foothold and means of supply for further offensives towards Bremen. My staff was told recently by naval officers that sightings of encampments have been made along the shoreline and farther inland. Tall columns of smoke rise from what appear to be large collections of persons. Further information is unavailable at this time, as these reports come from scouting forays by smaller vessels.

The mood amongst the men is mixed. My senior leadership is confident and collected and my veterans will always be counted upon to perform valiantly. The younger boys though, they are wary. Wary of a place that they are being sent, of which they know very little aside what visions us old men paint in their minds. Still, they will do their part without hesitation.

I have already issued orders to my subordinates relating to 'Unternehmen Nordwind' and the expulsion of non-German entities from our area of responsibility.

As always, I will end my note with a request for reinforcements. Our numbers are limited and we are sure to encounter a sizeable foe. Press the politicians for more formations.

The seas are dreadful and so is this wait. Best to get on with it.

Signed,

General der Infanterie von Hindenburg

DonCossack said:

OOC: So, where are we in relation to this turn being processed? Should I start rattling my cage and demanding satisfaction yet, or no?

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OOC: At this point we are a week late and therefore alarm is justified.

Deaghaidh said:

OOC: At this point we are a week late and therefore alarm is justified.

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OOC: Yes. Someone PM him.

madtemplar0 said:

OOC: Yes. Someone PM him.

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OOC:Just did so.