1821-1836 - The Rest of the World
The world saw much change in the 15 years between 1821 and 1836. As Hispania faced turbulent times, other nations faced their own hardships, some coming out of it better than before while others fell to pieces. When it came to Europe, though, it was the French Succession War that determined the makeup of the continent going into the future. Just as with the Hispanian Civil War before it, the French Succession War saw major alliances broken and the balance of power shift. While the former had broken up the Quadruple Alliance with Austria's betrayal, the latter shattered the Valois bloc that had existed since the Quadruple Alliance's dissolution. But unlike the Hispanian Civil War, the French Succession War saw land change hands all across Europe, instantly creating new friends and enemies, as well as the establishment of a new nation or two. The young Emperor of France could no longer trust his family in Scandinavia and Germany, and reconciliation seemed unlikely. The decision to punish the losers, and in turn reward those that had backed the true Emperor of France, left its mark on the continent.
Scandinavia found itself eaten away at by its neighbours as France trimmed the fat from the edges to feed its hungry allies, a fitting punishment for a long-time ally that tried to turn against its greatest friend. France, in its generosity, permitted Hispania to claim Scandinavia's colonies in Africa and the Philippines. For Lithuania, an unexpected entry into the war and perhaps the deciding factor in the eastern theatre, they were returned parts of the Baltics that one belonged to them. Not all their land was returned, for regardless of the punishment Scandinavia deserved, the French Emperor was not foolish enough to strengthen a potential rival too much. Poland also received a piece of the pie as a reward for their assistance, finally receiving a coastline on the Baltic that Scandinavia had taken years ago with German assistance. In the end though, the core Scandinavian territory was left untouched, for they could not be left too weak for greedy nations to take advantage of. Hungary, Scandinavia's sole ally, was handed over to Byzantium, who had led the entire war effort against them. Showing some mercy, or perhaps some shrewdness, they permitted Hungary to maintain its independence and territory, but now as an ally of Byzantium, a valuable buffer state and one to compete with Hispania's former puppet states in the region.
Germany, however, was another matter. The French had personally felt their steel as the Germans pushed for Paris. The French capital had avoided disaster in the end, in some part due to Hispania's assistance, but the French could not forget the threat the Germans had become. Likewise, Bavaria had been greatly harmed during the conflict, a key reason for their decision to seek independence from Hispania to strengthen their own. The French could not allow the Germans off easy, even if they did their ally Scotland, who had only lost a few province near London and the rest of Ireland. Poland received its land back, payback for the many times Germany had plundered their treasury. Bavaria, who perhaps had been damaged the most by Germany, received sizable chunks of land around Silesia and Saxony. As for France itself, it was not interested in claiming too much more land and risking a German threat in their own borders. They took a few provinces near Mainz, but decided to weaken Germany through other methods. A Dutch puppet state was established in the Netherlands, one loyal to France but ultimately autonomous in its own domestic affairs. The creation of this new state weakened Germany's power in the region and placed a potentially hostile nation right near its capital. The Dutch, however, were not enemies of Germany, and indeed still viewed them in a favourable light for now. Either way, German power had been broken.
With these two belligerent powers humbled, the alliances of Europe also shifted. With the Valois bloc destroyed, nations started to look elsewhere. France leaned on Hispania, although there was talk in France that it was time the French went their own way as the two became the biggest rivals for world dominance. Poland and Lithuania, who had grown distant over the past century, found their relations rekindled as they fought side by side once again, and the alliance once between them was revived. Bavaria and Transdacia, two nations later freed from Hispanian rule, naturally drifted towards each other, forging an alliance to ward off the potential threats they shared. Germany, who had been left a shell of its former self, could only rely on the one nation that had sided with it, its bond with Scotland gaining new strength as the two struggled to make their place in the world.
As for Scandinavia, for a time they remained alone, isolated from the rest of Europe. However, the growing threat of Lithuania brought back an old friend. While Byzantium had been forced to face them during the French Succession War, the two had not fought a single battle against each other. Before that war, Scandinavia had been the only ally beside Hispania that Byzantium could depend on. Germany had abandoned them, after all. More importantly, both had an interest in containing Lithuania. An alliance could ensure Lithuania kept its focus eastwards.
Tyrone did not see a shift in relations, but a change at home. The entire island of Ireland now fell under their control, thanks to France. In celebration of their accomplishment, they announced the establishment of a new nation, one representing all the Irish people. But while they celebrated, Scotland sought a way to bounce back. With France protecting the new Ireland, they needed to look elsewhere. Norway remained isolated, and more importantly held onto the Shetlands. In a short war against a nation that had not been to war in who knows how long, Scotland took the Shetlands for their own and isolated Norway to Iceland.
Further to the east, both Lithuania and Byzantium sought new lands to conquer. The nations of Central Asia were disorganized and technologically backwards, making them an easy target. In a short war, Lithuania managed to capture most of Bukhara, reducing a nation that had once had four separate enclaves into just one. Persia, though, was a special target. It was the Greeks who struck first, securing the Caucuses and reaching the Caspian at last. Lithuania just swept in to pick up the pieces, taking what land they could and ending Persia's control of the Caspian.
As the Europeans dealt with their own matters, the great battle for China continued mostly unnoticed. Both Ming and Qing claimed the Mandate of Heaven, relying on their tributaries to assist them. Yet even as they fought for the ultimate mastery of China, both Dai Viet and Delhi nibbled away at them. During one such war between Qing and Ming, both Delhi and Dai Viet attempted to take land from Ming. While Qing succeeded in conquering Ming's enclaves in the east, only due to Ming fighting multiple enemies, Delhi and Dai Viet found themselves fended off and lost small bits of land. Ming might have been surrounded by potential enemies, but they had the manpower of China behind them and had successfully adopted western technology. Yet Qing also demanded respect. They had refused so far to accept the strength of the West, yet that had not stopped them from conquering Korea from the strongest nation in Europe. Both would not stop until only one remained as the only true China, but they would have to be careful as they had stirred the Hispanian beast who now waited patiently in their enclaves bordering the region.
The borders of Southeast Asia remained mostly unchanged over the years as they recovered from the volcanic eruption in 1821. Hispania had gained colonies in the Philippines, as well as exchanged their land in Australia for land in La Plata. Indonesia had calmed for now, a stronghold of Hispania within Asia, second only to India.
Perhaps Hispania's strongest presence though remained in Africa. In that continent, their presence had only expanded. The addition of the small Scandinavian colonies had secured even more of the coastline. That was not to mention the greater rights those in North Africa were given as they were granted the right to vote. It stood in opposition to the great tragedy of slavery, something that continued despite Hispania's dominance of Africa. While Hispania had outlawed slavery, the trade continued on, either through the tiny French colonies or Kongo.
The New World had remained relatively unscathed by war over the years, experiencing mostly peaceful expansion. The UKA, who had dropped the United in their name for simplicity, had filled the lands up to the border of French Louisiana as colonists spread westwards, eventually settling in the cold northern prairies as the only possible path left. The French, likewise, pressed further north until they met the Scandinavians. A minor border clash had occurred at one point, leaving French Columbia cut off from the sea, although neither Hispania nor Scandinavia admitted to being the culprit. Hispania's colonies had grown slowly here as competition grew. And far to the northeast, Norway made its first bit of expansion in centuries, laying claim to the lands of Greenland that had been ignored by colonial powers up until now.
It was in South America, though, where the Hispanian colonies truly shined. With French La Plata gone, Hispanian dominance of the continent was nearly complete. Only Argentina and the tiny Scottish colony remained. Nuevo Leon during the past decade indulged in a massive colonization effort, one intent on claiming as much free land as possible to deny Scotland or Argentine the possibility of expansion. Only Argentina attempted to resist, but they managed only to grab a small portion of the land available. The remaining colonial nations were free to expand unimpeded. They all pressed into the interior, with Sanchonia committed the most to its colonization efforts as it nearly doubled its land.
The world had changed over the years as the balance of power righted itself. The old alliance blocs were gone for the most part, and with them the potential for renewed peace. Too many enemies had been made and not enough friends. Despite the troubles that Hispania had faced, it still stood at the top of the world. It's military was unmatched, and it had a head start when it came to industrialization. Only France could compete, as usual, but they always seemed destined to be second place. Lithuania, though, was proving a rising star. The decades spent focused on their eastern expansion had created a strong nation, one whose power base was far from the other capitals of Europe but nevertheless a major threat. Byzantium remained strong, having been bolstered over the centuries by Hispania. Scandinavia, despite its earlier loss, still remained strong and maintained a significant colonial empire. The UKA, despite its distance from Europe, could not be ignored as a growing power for long. Germany had fallen far, but had big dreams of its return to prominence. As for Poland, their victories had given them a big boost, but some would consider that hollow. Their successes had mostly been the result of Lithuanian might and hid the true weakness beneath. It was said that Bavaria, now freed of its Hispanian shackles, was set to rise up in the world and surpass even its German counterpart. Transdacia, likewise, waited in the wings for its 15 minutes of fame. Yet even farther away, the nations of Asia squabbled with each other, but perhaps one day they would look to Europe and dispute their dominance. The Chinese had already fought back once, but who could say that was the end of it.
The world was changing, power shifting from one nation to another. The old ways had fallen aside, relics of another era. Now a new age had begun, one that would truly test humanity. As to who would claim dominance of the world or fall into irrelevancy, that was yet to be seen. The future is wide open.
((And there you have it, the world we'll have going into Vicky 2. I think I've finished most changes to the map, but I might make other adjustments if I notice anything off. Hopefully I've adequately explained any border changes, alliances, or new nations that have appeared. I do want to explain a few things though. I want to state right away that I have artificially inflated the prestige of all Western nations, adding 100 to all Europeans and 50 to their colonial nations. I've had to do this because of all the westernized Asians. My initial tests had Ming and Delhi becoming great powers within a year or two. The extra prestige is meant to delay the process to make it seem somewhat more natural, since by the time they catch up they will have likely accomplished something significant. It also keeps out colonial nations from randomly breaking free by becoming great powers early on. It's all meant as a temporary barrier though, so it can be overcome to make things interesting later on.
Also, you may notice Hispania's colour. I tried to use the EUIV one because it better represents our version of Hispania and my aversion to the Castilian yellow usually used. I had to make some adjustments though, since while it looked good zoomed out, it was very dark when zoomed in. As a result, I had to make it much more red than before. You can notice the difference on the world map. Wasn't sure if this was obvious either, but I let us keep Cheju off the coast of Korea, since I figured our navy would keep that safe.
As promised, I will now be providing the mod for the converted game. You just need to unzip it to the mod folder for Vicky 2 and you should be able to pick it from the launcher. I should mention that there may be some oddities on the country selection screen that should be ignored. For example, Qing will appear as China and Tyrone will be Ulster instead of Ireland, not to mention the random Britain in Australia. That's only because I found it easier to just create decisions the AI fires as soon as the game starts to force a tag swap or annexation instead of messing with the game files for the nation. Once you start the game, they will show up as they're supposed to. Trandacia may also be named wrong, but that's because of their ability to form Romania, so I just let that happen and changed the name for Romania. I'll also include the mod in the table of contents.
Eotm Conversion Mod))
Maybe they should be tagged NSFW.
