I think it may be time for a proper rapprochement between the Reich and China. It'd be in both their best interests to contain the growing equalist threat.
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Possibly, if China stops trying to claim Indochina and Roman Southeast Asia.
Persia becomes Iran as the Fox Empire and Kanata explode into several smaller problems. The real question, to me at least, over those new nations is who will end up winning the power struggle.
It's only a matter of time before Fox and Kanata decide to retake their cores from the new nations...
I see your medieval dragon and raise you a classical Greek dragon!
I see your Classical Greek Dragon and raise you...this...thing...I don't even know anymore.It's only a matter of time before Fox and Kanata decide to retake their cores from the new nations...
I see your medieval dragon and raise you a classical Greek dragon!
Very well... you have forced my hand. I present: Dragon, Mad Max Giant Spider Edition!
Never minded that commies will be spread in Eimerika!Chapter 281: The Revolutions of 1926, Part 1
"The die is cast. The reactionaries have fled. People of Vinland, we free you from your chains! No longer will you have to serve the evil capitalists! No longer will you have to fight and die for absent gods! Today, Ragnarok has happened! The gods are dead! The people have overthrown Asgard! And we shall be in control of our destinies and establish a workers' Valhalla here on Midgard!"
-Thorvald Erikson, leader of the Equalist Party of Vinland and first Chairman of the Union of Vinland
"The inhabitants of Isfahan are invited to keep quiet. Please don't try anything stupid, or my men will be forced to shoot you."
-General Reza Khan, during the March on Isfahan
"A few citizens go on strike in the Ruhr, and suddenly the whole world goes crazy."
-Paul von Hindenburg
There were many causes for the 1926 General Strike. The war had consumed large amounts of the Reich's coal reserves, and coal production had dropped to record lows. Coal prices went down, and interest rates went up after Angelos reintroduced the gold standard. The mine owners, though, still wanted to maintain profits, so they ignored the Augustinian Code's workers' rights clauses and reduced wages and increased working hours. Thus all of the major mine owners announced that they would be reducing the wages of their workers. This announcement was met with large protests by the workers and the largest trade unions. Hindenburg attempted to alleviate the problem by issuing a year-long subsidy to the workers to maintain their wages, while the Bureau of Economics opened an investigation into how to best resolve the issue permanently. When the Bureau, after being paid large amounts of money by the mining companies and other special interests, decided that the subsidy had to be withdrawn and all wages had to be reduced by 13.5%, the mine owners eagerly announced even more wage reductions and work hour increases, to Hindenburg's shock. He ordered the Bureau to retract its report, but it was too late. Miners in the Ruhr went on strike, demanding that the government respect their Augustinian Code rights. The government immediately opened negotiations, but Berlin's representatives were paid by the mining companies to support their interests, and as a result the talks broke down. On the 3rd of June, the trade unions called for a general strike against the Reich itself.
Miners on strike
The Schweinfurt dynatoi, who were avowed socialists, were unhappy about the proposed general strike because they were aware of the revolutionary elements within the union movement and of the damage an association with them would do to their established reputation as a faction of the Diet. During the next two days, frantic efforts were made to reach an agreement with the government and the mining industry representatives. However, these efforts failed, mainly owing to an eleventh-hour decision by printers of Die Zeiten to refuse to print an editorial ("For Kaiser and Reich") condemning the general strike. They objected to the following passage: "A general strike is not an industrial dispute. It is a revolutionary move which can only succeed by destroying the government and subverting the rights and liberties of the people". When Hindenburg heard of this, he was concerned about the unions and printers' action interfering with the freedom of the press.
He tried to the situation and create balance saying, "Try living on their wages before you judge them."
Although they had organized it in the first place, the unions feared that an all-out general strike would bring revolutionary elements to the fore and limited the participants to railwaymen, transport workers, printers, dockers, ironworkers and steelworkers, as these were regarded as pivotal in the dispute.
The government had been preparing for a strike over the last few months, creating organizations such as the Organization for the maintenance of supplies, and did whatever it could to keep the country moving. It rallied support by emphasizing the revolutionary nature of the strikers. The armed forces and volunteer workers helped maintain basic services. Angelos's Emergency Powers Law—an act to maintain essential supplies—had been passed in 1920 and now went into effect. Hindenburg, as much as he despised the man, had to thank him for enacting at least one useful piece of legislation.
On 4 June 1926, the number of strikers was about 1.5–1.75 million. The workers' reaction to the strike call was immediate and overwhelming, and surprised both the government and the unions. On this first day, there were no major initiatives and no dramatic events, except for the nation's transport being at a standstill. Soon the rest of the economy was taken down with the strikers.
On 6 June 1926, there was a change of atmosphere. The government newspaper Imperial Gazette suggested that means of transport began to improve with volunteers and blackleg workers, stating on the front page that there were '200 buses on the streets in Berlin'. These were, however, figures of propaganda as there were in fact only 86 buses running.
On 7 June 1926, the unions met with Hindenburg and worked out a set of proposals designed to end the dispute. The mining companies, though, rejected the proposals.
On 8 June 1926, there was a dramatic moment in Constantinople's Harbor District. Trucks were protected by the legions. They broke the picket line and transported food. This episode showed that the government was in greater control of the situation. It was also a measure of Hindenburg's rationalism. The soldiers were not armed.
On 11 June 1926, the Orient Express was derailed by strikers near Vienna. The Imperial Worker, alarmed at the fears of the unions that there was to be a mass drift back to work, claimed: "The number of strikers has not diminished; it is increasing. There are more workers out today than there have been at any moment since the strike began." The unions thus called for workers from the rest of the Roman economy to strike. By the 12th of June, the entire economy, except for the government-controlled and subsidized sectors, had gone on strike, and Hindenburg was forced to raise taxes to the maximum to prevent the government from going bankrupt.
View attachment 209925
The shock waves of the general strike rippled around the world. The most powerful nation in the world was now sick, potentially terminally. Radicals everywhere took the opportunity to rise up, confident that the Reich could no longer defend the status quo. The Soviet Commune funded equalist insurgencies throughout Tsarist Russia, hoping to undermine the royalist government in exile and finish the extermination of the Rurikids. Hindenburg immediately dispatched Ludendorff and a small task force to deal with the equalists. He could only send a few legions because to send more would destabilize the domestic situation even more. The situation got even more complicated when more Soviet-funded rebels rose up in Noregr, taking advantage of the grand duchy's instability, though they were quickly crushed.
As soon as word of the equalist rebellion in Noregr reached Markland, King Gnupa declared the Toronto Accords void and ordered a general mobilization, knowing that the Reich could not stop him. The Royal Army immediately launched a preemptive strike against equalist strongholds in the occupied Fox provinces, the western regions (where miners inspired by the events in the Reich had went on strike), and the native-dominated regions around the Great Lakes. Kanata's trade unions then declared a general strike, paralyzing the economy, while the equalist rebels took up arms again. The Kanatan Civil War resumed with a vengeance, only this time the equalists had the support of the people, who viewed the royal government as increasingly oppressive of the working class and corrupted by powerful corporate interests.
Meanwhile, the United Baltic State officially joined the International Olympic Committee, while King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal abolished the elected government and centralized all power under himself and a meritocratic bureaucracy, angering the Chinese government.
View attachment 209926
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The general strike weakened the Reich's abilities to project power even into Africa. Abyssinia's absolutist regime, propped up by the legions, had become highly unpopular among the people. When the legion in charge of the capital's security was suddenly withdrawn to deal with a strike in the Nile river valley, the fascist New Abyssinia Party took the opportunity to rise up against the government. The Party's blackshirts stormed the royal palace and the Parliament building, quickly seizing control over the entire capital and capturing all of the bureaucrats and the entire court. With a gun pointed at his head and the Party threatening to abolish the monarchy again, Haile Selassie agreed to a compromise. He would restore Abyssinia's suspended constitution and call for free and fair elections, in which the Party could participate. Elections several days later, after Haile Selassie issued his last declaration as an absolute monarch granting women the right to vote in the elections.
View attachment 209929
The Finnish Army's lines collapsed, and all of Suomi's eastern and southern provinces fell to the Soviets. Just as Ludendorff eliminated the last of the equalist rebels in Tsarist Russia and received orders to reinforce Suomi, Temur III capitulated, agreeing to cede all of Karelia to the Soviets. Trotsky was generous enough to accept these terms, knowing that the NKVD had already funded equalist rebels in other parts of Suomi.
In Kanata, the imperial legions assigned to train the Royal Army came under attack from Huron separatists and equalists. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the legion, supported by several Royal Army units, managed to destroy the rebel army. It would be the last time that the Royal Army cooperated with the legions, because several weeks later, over half of the army defected to the equalists and marched on Markland, tipping the scales in favor of the rebels and weakening the government significantly. As the rebels now numbered in the hundreds of thousands and had occupied over half of the country, it was clear that Kanata was lost. The General Staff ordered the legions to retreat to Harbor City and Manhattan, where the Kaiserliche Marine would evacuate them to Europe.
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View attachment 209932 View attachment 209933
In late July, a large rebel army was spotted outside Markland, and the legion in charge of the capital's defense prepared for battle. Inside the city, though, the equalist-leaning population rioted and barricaded the streets. Gnupa declared martial law and sent in the troops, but the soldiers defected to the rioters and stormed the Hogting, executing over half of the bureaucrats and representatives. The rioters then seized control of the city gates and opened them, letting the rebels outside march in. Faced with a situation they couldn't win, the General Staff ordered the legion to begin evacuating the royal family, the government, and the supporters. On the 2nd of August, after some resistance by the few troops still loyal to the monarchy, the rebels entered the city center, and King Gnupa II, his family, and his government fled the city through the Jormungadr River, heading for Noregr, where royalist control had been reasserted. The next day, the leader of the rebels, Thorvald Erikson, proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Vinland from a balcony of the former royal palace, with himself as the chairman. He quickly established an alliance and economic ties with the Soviet Commune, which recognized the new regime. Trotsky sent his congratulations to Erikson. Chairman Erikson then ordered all foreign assets seized and foreign nationals expelled from the country. A new People's Hogting, made up of representatives from the various trade unions of the country, was established, though the Politburo would make all decisions.
View attachment 209934
However, the separatist factions within the country then declared independence from Markland. Along the eastern coast, radical equalists, declaring the regime in Markland was "too moderate," established their own equalist dictatorship, the Commune of Old Vinland. The occupied Fox provinces declared their independence as the Union of Seven Republics, while the native provinces of Ojibwe, Huron, Powatomi, Mikmaq, Cree, and Assiniboine declared their independence as equalist republics. All of the newly independent states attempted to gain recognition from powers other than the Soviet Commune by signing the Geneva Convention and establishing national banks.View attachment 209935
Thousands of Norse still loyal to their king fled to Noregr, where Gnupa had set up a government in exile. The grand duchy was raised to the level of a kingdom, and its status as a satellite state of Kanata was abolished. In a speech in the capital of Hardradasborg, he vowed to return one day to Kanata and destroy the traitorous rebels who exiled him.
View attachment 209936
View attachment 209937 Inspired by the events in Kanata, equalists in Persia also launched their own coup against the Seljuks after Cyrus attempted to reopen diplomatic relations with the Reich, while ambitious generals, agents sent by Bose, and NKVD agents stormed the Indian imperial palace in Dar Es Salaam, hoping to overthrow the monarchy and install either a fascist or equalist dictatorship. Both coups ultimately failed. In Persia's case, the fascist Iranian Independence Party, led by the charismatic general Reza Khan, ordered its blackshirts and supporters in the military to fight the rebels, ultimately restoring order in Isfahan and keeping the Seljuks in power, though at the cost of most of the city's garrison and most of the country's army. Persia's military was weakened enough that Osman I of Turkestan ordered an invasion of Persia, declaring that the menace that the Seljuks posed to the Ghaznavid government had to be "contained." In Indian Africa's case, a legion arrived in Dar Es Salaam just in time to crush the rebels and keep Puradaradasa in power.View attachment 209938 View attachment 209939 View attachment 209940 The Turks called the Reich to war, and Hindenburg, eager to rally the population around a common cause and distract them from the strike, accepted the call to arms, though he could only send one legion to help out.View attachment 209941 View attachment 209942
One legion proved just enough to deal with Persia. The Ghaznavids invaded from the east, while the legion attacked from the south, easily destroying the technologically and tactically inferior Persian forces with minimal casualties.
View attachment 209943
In early September, the Athanatoi intercepted communications between Erikson and Trotsky discussing spreading the world revolution. Erikson assured Trotsky that he would attempt to spread the world revolution through the Eimericas, starting with Fox. Hindenburg immediately sent a warning to Dohumme that the NKVD and the Union of Vinland were plotting a coup against her but Dohumme refused to heed the warning, believing her troops would be enough to stop a potential uprising.
View attachment 209944
Meanwhile, General Reza Khan was not finished yet. Although he had saved the Seljuks from destruction, he viewed the constitutional government as corrupt and incompetent and now turned his attention to destroying it.
Reza Khan and his senior officers
On 12 September 1922, Khan declared before 60,000 people at the Fascist Congress in Tehran: "Our program is simple: we want to rule Persia." Meanwhile, the Persian Blackshirts, who had occupied the north of the region, took all strategic points of the country. On 13 September, former Nakhost Vazir (prime minister) Mirza Hassan warned current Nakhost Vazir Hassan Pirnia that Khan was demanding his resignation and that he was preparing to march on Isfahan. However, Pirnia did not believe Hassan and thought that Khan would not dare rise up against his shah. On September 15, 1926, Reza Khan ordered his troops to march on Isfahan.
Khan's blackshirts marching towards Isfahan, waving the Persian revolutionary tricolor (which was subsequently abandoned)
To meet the threat posed by the bands of fascist troops now gathering outside Isfahan, Pirnia ordered a state of siege for Isfahan. Having had previous conversations with the shah about the repression of fascist violence, he was sure the shah would agree. However, Cyrus refused to sign the military order. On 16 September, the Shah handed power to Khan, who was supported by the military, the business class, and right-wing politicians. The Seljuks themselves would rmain, but they wouldn't be able to exert any control over the government.
The march itself was composed of fewer than 30,000 men, but the shah in part feared a civil war which could further weaken the country since the blackshirts had already taken control of most of the country, while Fascism was no longer seen as a threat to the establishment. Khan was asked to form his cabinet on 17 September, while some 25,000 Blackshirts were parading in Isfahan. Khan thus legally reached power, in accordance with the Persian Constitution. The March on Isfahan was not the conquest of power which Fascism later celebrated but rather the precipitating force behind a transfer of power within the framework of the constitution. This transition was made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation. Many business and financial leaders believed it would be possible to manipulate Khan, whose early speeches and policies emphasized free market and laissez faire economics. This proved overly optimistic, as Khan's neo-corporatist view stressed total state power over businesses as much as over individuals, via governing industry bodies ("corporations") controlled by the Fascist party, a model in which businesses retained the responsibilities of property, but few if any of the freedoms.
Khan pretended to be willing to take a subalternate ministry in a cabinet, but he soon demanded the presidency of the Majli and the chancellery itself. Fearing a conflict with the fascists, the ruling class thus handed power to Khan, who went on to install a dictatorship under his complete control. A day later, the Rahbar, as he was referred to, instructed the Council of Nations to officially refer to his country as Iran instead of Persia.
The Rahbar, Reza Khan
View attachment 209945
Despite a regime change have occurred, the Reich continued its war with Iran. An invasion of Mesopotamia was repelled with most of the Persian Army destroyed in just one battle. Hindenburg signed an alliance with Abyssinia, planning to drag them into the war should Iran continue to resist.
However, in late September all state-run industries, which were the only industries still not shut down by the strike, finally collapsed under the immense pressure. Hindenburg ordered the subsidies expanded even more, but he could not get the industries back up and running. Public unrest continued to rise, and more and more people sided with the strikers and the trade unions.View attachment 209946View attachment 209947 View attachment 209948
On the 2nd of October, the NKVD and the Vinlandic government launched their coup against the Fox government. Equalists within the military and the trade unions seized control of the capital and Chicago, shutting down the stock exchange. Within hours they had taken control of all important government buildings. Dohumme's cabinet strongly urged her to flee the city. After more of the military defected to the equalists, Dohumme agreed and left the city on a private train, along with her government, court, and several hundred loyal civilians and soldiers. The equalists declared the establishment of the Commune of Michigan the next day, quickly forming ties with the Soviet Commune. Almost immediately the empire fell apart. The only thing holding Fox's empire together was Dohumme, who ruled over the other native states through personal unions. As the monarchy was now abolished, the nobles of every state declared independence from Michigan, claiming that the personal unions were now void. The Commune of Michigan was reduced to its core territories around the Great Lakes. Independent monarchies took root in the south and the west: the Pueblo Alliance, the Duchy of Arapaho, the Pawnee Dominion, the Sioux Confederacy, the Cheyenne Union, the Grand Duchy of Illiniwek, the Petty Kingdom of Osage, the Duchy of Lenape, the County of Creek, and the Grand Principality of Chickasaw. The entire Nahua-dominated southern regions, which used to be under the rule of the Triple Alliance, declared their independence as the Confederation of Southern Altepetls (CSA). When Dohumme's train arrived in Confederation controlled territory, the Nahua nobles elected her the Regent (but not Empress) of the CSA, as they intended to unite with the Greater Mexican Empire. The Cherokee provinces in Fox's eastern territories then declared their independence from Michigan, but they did not establish a monarchy, as the Cherokee before annexation into Fox had lived under a theocracy and only briefly under a monarchy. Instead, they established the Republic of the Cherokee, a democracy where all Cherokee (with a biased towards the nobility and the wealthiest industrialists) could elect their leaders. The CoM government vowed to destroy the "rogue states," which had all been recognized by the Reich, and spread the revolution further throughout the Eimericas.
View attachment 209949
Good news finally came in October, when Reza Khan, realizing that he could not win the war and that Turkish troops were approaching Isfahan intending to depose him, sued for peace with the Reich. Hindenburg opened negotiations with the Rahbar at once. Reza Khan agreed to pay war reparations to the Turks and accept a five-year limit on the size of the Iranian army, on the condition that he and the Iranian Independence Party remain in power. View attachment 209950 As the fascists hadn't really done much to anger the Reich and the Turks had initially intended to contain the elected government and not the fascist regime, Hindenburg agreed to these terms. Not that he could make a counter-offer, as the general strike had crippled the Reich's ability to project its power outwards.
A ceasefire went into effect in mid-October, and a formal treaty ending the war was signed on the 16th. An uneasy peace returned to Southwest Asia, but it was only a matter of time before the region descended into chaos again. View attachment 209951 Hindenburg was relieved that the Iranian problem was resolved, even if temporarily. He then turned back to dealing with the general strike. While he was confident that the government and the strikers would reach a solution and that the imperial government would remain in power, he feared for the rest of the world. With the Reich incapacitated, radicals and revolutionaries ran rampant in the far corners of the world, overthrowing monarchies and installing equalist and fascist regimes hostile to everybody's interests without any interference from the "world's policeman."
Two great powers had already fallen to the scourge of equalism and had to be booted from the Council of Nations. Kanata was a key Roman ally, diminishing the Reich's influence in the Eimericas. All of the Reich's companies and organizations in Kanata had been relocated to the UPM, but the UPM was only a regional power and could not project as much influence as Kanata did. While the fall of Fox eliminated one of the Reich's enemies, it only spawned another even more dangerous enemy. Hindenburg had to act quickly to contain the Commune of Michigan before it conquered the breakaway monarchies and reclaimed its dominance over North Eimerica. He would not tolerate the union of the CSA and the Greater Mexican Empire, as that would be reviving the Reich's oldest enemy (after Iran, of course). While Iran was weak and only a regional power at best, he had to contain it before it turned its attentions to the Roman concessions along the Persian Gulf coast. The restoration of constitutionalism in Abyssinia, while he believed it was the right thing to do, needed special attention due to the soaring popularity of the New Abyssinia Party, which was predicted to win the elections with a large majority in the Parliament. And who knew what the Rasa Party in India was planning? He had to end the strike soon, or the damage to the world order might become permanent.
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Exactly my point. Hence why the equalist takeover event has a very low chance to happen. The Hohenzollerns would simply come back eventually.
Nice try, everyone, but it's none of them. I can say that he loved to annoy Americans though.
No, I think Korea should control Japan, for maximum irony.
I'll see what I can do about that, but as it is I need the Soviets to remain intact into NWO, so I'm not just going to invade and destroy them immediately. That wouldn't make for a good plot.
There will be a problem with the Mexican generals being copies of Italian generals, because of two reasons. One is that Persia/Iran has become the fascist Italy analogue. The second reason...I'll reveal it in the next update.
Chinese dragon superior to Japanese dragon! Huangdi wansui! Huangdi wansui! Long live the Celestial Empire and the Son of Heaven!
P.S.:It`s possible,on my mind,to do all matched by my things with Russia in NWO,but with Ukrainian and Belarussian cultures from game start on their places.Well,I understand why Italian leaders wouldn`t be copy of Mexican...and would be showed as Iranian.
Rome is facing a threat not seen since the dark days of the Maximist War. Also, I'm assuming that Imperial Fascists are basically Maximists with support for the Maximist branch removed.
I also think so,but...well,we haven`t even any surprises from China,so show must go on.
That's not even a dragon anymore.
I may leave Ukrainian and Belorussian cultures in the NWO mod to save modding time by renaming them to "South Russian" and "West Russian/Lithuanian-Russian" respectively.
I wouldn't be so sure of no support for the Maximist branch just yet...
China will do some interesting things in the next or so update.
HUANGDI WANSUI!
Blame the Australians, not me, for having...different ideas about what constitutes a dragon. Or at least, that's what I assume based on the Google search that unearthed it.That's not even a dragon anymore.
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I just looked up Australian dragon; it is the most terrifying and powerful of the dragons.
Bow to the Australian Water Dragon, devourer of worlds (and flies; actually, mostly just flies)!
South Russian...you know,it like if I called German like "Asian Nigerians".If nation exist`s in our timeline,it has all rights to be represented in butterfly effect world.That's not even a dragon anymore.
I may leave Ukrainian and Belorussian cultures in the NWO mod to save modding time by renaming them to "South Russian" and "West Russian/Lithuanian-Russian" respectively.
I wouldn't be so sure of no support for the Maximist branch just yet...
China will do some interesting things in the next or so update.
HUANGDI WANSUI!
Forging Ukraine and Ukrainians from parts of Russians,Mongolians,Lithuanians,Greeks and Germans is better than never forging it.Like said Voltaire,"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him".
Also,there`s a question about Maximists:are they possible to revolt only in Reich,or Maximist Revolution may happen in that world everywhere?
P.S.:All waiting for next chapter of Iron and Blood.Keep it up!
P.P.S.:Hope that China will explode like balloon!
Chapter 282: The Revolutions of 1926, Part 2
"It has been seven hundred years since Saint Wilhelmina united all of Christendom under one church. We must remain united in these dark times, or everything that she fought for will be lost."
-Paul von Hindenburg
"The decadence of the Inca must end. It is they who stabbed the four suyu in the back. We shall avenge the humiliations brought upon us and restore the honor of the Sapa Inca!"
-Inca Roca Yupanqui, leader of the Quechua Nationalist Party
The Rahbar of Iran, Reza Khan, made good on his promise to end the constitutional government. Elections were suspended indefinitely and the constitution amended accordingly. All political parties except for Khan's Iranian Independence Party were banned from the Majli. The military was put under the control of Khan's Blackshirts, while all non-Persians and non-Zoroastrians were banned from public office. While everybody complained of the end of suffrage, the women complained much more than the men. Iran had been the first country to enact women's suffrage, and now it became the first to abolish it. The women demanded that their rights be protected, but Khan and the fascists simply told them to "get back in the kitchen" and serve the state that way. The men didn't complain much, because to complain was to be sent off to concentration camps in the deserts.
The condition of human rights in Iran wasn't that much of a concern to Hindenburg, as he and the rest of the government were busy with other things. In late October, the government made preparations for the upcoming seven-hundredth anniversary of the mending of the Great Schism. Festivities began in November, with Hindenburg giving a speech from a balcony of Brandenburg Palace (with the sixteen-year-old Kaiser Otto at his side), followed by a massive triumph down Unter den Linden and under the Brandenburg Gates. Similar triumphs took place in all major cities, and in Constantinople chariot races returned to the Hippodrome for the first time in centuries (with adequate safety precautions, of course). Ecumenical Patriarch Joseph I held a special mass in Hagia Sophia, where thousands of devout Christian citizens prayed to Saint Wilhelmina for the future of the Reich. The celebrations were to continue until the next summer, as Hindenburg intended to use them to counter the strikers' negative influences. In one of his speeches, he warned the citizens of Berlin to make the choice Saint Wilhelmina would have made. He had nothing against them asking for more respect and rights for the working class, but he asked them to do it civilly and through the right channels. He urged for peace and unity, both among the strikers and non-strikers, so that Saint Wilhelmina's legacy as a unifier would continue. If the Romans divided and turned on each other, history would repeat itself, and the empire would fall back into the chaos from which it emerged.
Meanwhile, Athanatoi agents in Mitteleimerica reported that the civil war in the former Triple Alliance had left the entire country without a functioning military. Cihuacoatl Itzcotocatl Yaquica had disbanded what remained of the jaguar warriors, intending to replace them with his Aztecs. However, the conversion of the Aztecs into a conventional fighting force took a while, and there weren't that many of them. Realizing that the government, which so emphasized strength through the military, could not defend them if the Mayans or the CSA launched an invasion, large numbers of the Mexica population turned to equalism, and soon the trade unions could field paramilitary divisions large enough to take on the Aztecs.
In early December, Temur understood why Trotsky was content with only annexing Karelia when Soviet-funded equalist rebels rose up throughout the country, playing on the common people's dissatisfaction with the government's ability to defend them. Ludendorff and his expeditionary force immediately engaged the equalist rebels.
In January, the Diet convened again. However, a few senators, sympathetic to the strikers, were noticeably absent from the Reichstag. The liberals' plurality continued to erode, while the conservative-socialist coalition's influence also weakened. It was the Angeloi who benefited from the rest of the Diet's weakness, gaining several more senators.
The Cherokee provisional government also approved a bill granting women's suffrage that day.
Tensions in Mitteleimerica kept rising as the equalists' and fascists' armies fought each other in the countryside and in the cities. Separatists took the opportunity to rise up in the Tarascan and Tlapanec regions and declare equalist republics there as well. The final straw came when Hindenburg announced in his opening speech to the Diet on January 1 that the Reich, and thus the Council of Nations, would not recognize a union between the CSA and the Mexican Empire to "maintain the balance of power in the region." Once the news reached Tenochtitlan, the fate of the Aztecatl regime was sealed. It was the walls of Tenochtitlan and the loyalty of the city's inhabitants (enforced by the Aztecs) which kept the Aztecatl regime in power. Now the people took up arms and marched through the streets, demanding an end to the fascist dictatorship for failing to deliver on its promises to restore Mexica greatness. As Tenochtitlan descended into chaos over the next day, Itzcotocatl Yaquica realized there was no way he could win. He ordered what remained of his Aztec paramilitary groups to begin evacuating himself and his family, his supporters and their families, and the government and the Acatls to the CSA, which had granted them any Nahua refugees asylum with the Council of Nations' approval. They managed to get out of the city, but Ocuil II and his sons were killed in the process; Yaquica was forced to carry out an improvised coronaiton for his brother, General Ahuitzotl Acatl, who became Ahuitzotl I. The city center, the royal palaces, and the houses of parliament fell the next day, with a rising sun flag raised over the top of the Temple of Huitzilopochtli. The leader of the equalists, Cuauhtemoc Zolin, declared the monarchy abolished and an equalist republic established, with himself as chairman. The People's Alliance of Red Altepetls (PARA) was immediately recognized by the Soviet Commune and placed under its protection.
Cuauhtemoc Zolin, first Chairman of PARA
The altepetls of Tarascan and Tlapanec declared their independence from Tenochtitlan within hours of Zolin's declaration and set up their own equalist regimes, which were also recognized by the Soviet Commune after they signed the Geneva Conventions.
Faced with the growing threat of equalism in the Eimericas, Hindenburg ordered the alliance with the Union of Vinland, by then completely ceremonial, officially terminated. All ties with the Union were severed at once. As soon as all Roman embassies and organizations were evacuated to more friendly countries, Hindenburg imposed heavy sanctions on PARA, the Commune of Michigan, and the UoV. In response, the Commune of Michigan declared war on Cheyenne, vowing to get around the sanctions by conquering what it needed and deposing the reactionaries right next to it. The Soviet Commune declined to assist the Commune of Michigan in its war.
In early February, the surviving Aztecs and the Acatls arrived in CSA territory. The CSA government granted Yaquica several cabinet positions but ran into opposition from Dohumme and her supporters when it tried to grant him the chancellorship. Dohumme argued that the head of government should be a Meskwaki, not a Nahua, and that she should be the head of state. Huehuetlatoani Ahuitzotl I demanded the position of head of state for himself. The assembled Meskwaki and Nahua politicians found themselves forced to choose between the two monarchs. Just when it seemed civil war was likely to occur, Yaquica came up with a compromise. There would be two heads of government and two heads of state. Ahuitzotl and Dohumme would be both head of state and head of government simultaneously, though Ahuitzotl would focus on the duties of a head of state and Dohumme would focus on those of a head of government. Yaquica would make sure that both monarchs worked together. Ahuitzotl and Dohumme agreed to the compromise, and the government got back on track.
The next issue for the CSA was the official capital. Dohumme wanted it to be on the Mississippi Delta, while Ahuitzotl wanted it to be in Tejas. Again, Yaquica made them accept a compromise: there would be two capitals, one in Tejas and one on the Mississippi Delta, one for each of them. All functions of government were to be evenly divided between the two capitals, and every month the CSA Parliament would move from one capital to the other. It was a costly compromise, but at least it prevented a civil war.
A few days later, Abyssinia's elections concluded, and just as expected the New Abyssinia Party utterly dominated the competition, seizing an absolute majority over the Parliament. Haile Selassie then appointed the NAP's leader, Wolde Tzaddick, to the chancellorship of Abyssinia. Wolde immediately gave a speech emphasizing the "restoration of Ethiopia" and the protection of traditional values. He declared that he and the NAP would work hard to preserve Ethiopia's traditions and to restore its strength and influence.
Hindenburg was sort of worried that fascists had now been legally elected in Ethiopia, but as Wolde Tzaddick hadn't done anything dangerous yet, he approved of the election's results and congratulated the man on his victory.
Against the Reich's wishes, that month the Council of Nations revoked Suomi's seat on the Executive Council and gave it to the CSA, highlighting the decline of the former and the rise of the latter.
A Roman scientist discovered a "theory of uncertainty" in March, while the IOC attempted to get the UBS to host the Olympics, without success. Wolde Tzaddick subsequently submitted a bid to host the Olympics, which was approved by the IOC. Hosting the 1928 Olympics could help further the New Abyssinia Party's agenda by showing the world the superiority of the Ethiopian people.
Meanwhile, liberal revolutionaries seized control over the Lenape capital of Shackamaxon and forced the local duke to sign a constitution, establishing a constitutional monarchy in the duchy.
The expansion of the Commune of Michigan worried the Roman government, which quickly sent ambassadors to Tejas and the Mississippi Delta to negotiate an alliance with the CSA. In addition, Hindenburg instructed the government of the United Baltic State to establish a military-industrial complex so that it could reliably defend itself against a Soviet invasion.
In June, the Athanatoi reported that Tawantinsuyu had also descended into civil war when the fascist Quechua Nationalist Party ordered its paramilitary divisions to rise up against the "corrupt and decadent" government in Cusco. The fascist rebels, led by the QNP leaders Inca Roca Yupanqui and Manco Capac Huachuri, quickly took control of the northern and southern suyu, which were harder to defend. Thousands of fascists rampaged up and down the Andes, evading the weakened government troops sent to destroy them. The government maintained control over the regions immediately surrounding Cusco, but it could not push out the rebels from the north or the south. The civil war broke down into a stalemate, one that looked like it would last for years.
Hindenburg didn't feel like intervening in the Tawantinsuyuan Civil War. The Reich wasn't on friendly terms with the government in Cusco, but it didn't like the fascists either, because a fascist victory could boost the Angeloi's influence in Europe. And he simply did not have the time or resources for a costly intervention in South Eimerica that would get hundreds of soldiers killed without a clear chance of victory. Despite the celebrations occurring throughout the Reich, the strike continued without even losing momentum. He had to deal with them soon and get the economy back up and running, or else the government-funded industries would also fail, and the Reich would implode on itself.
---
Brandenburg Palace, Berlin - 14 June 1927
Hindenburg paced back and forth across the conference room, thinking. He ran through all possible scenarios in his head. The simplest thing to do was to declare martial law and mobilize the legions. But he remembered what had happened to Kanata when Gnupa tried that. If Kanata underwent an equalist revolution, a similar event in Europe would destabilize the entire world. But he was a soldier, unlike Gnupa. He knew how to lead the troops. He knew how to command their loyalty. He made sure the legions were completely loyal to him. He knew the troops were loyal to him. But Gnupa had thought that too...
"Paul," said Erich Ludendorf, sitting in a chair watching him pace around, "How long are you going to do that? You've been at it for a whole hour now!"
"Patience, my friend," said Hindenburg, "I'm thinking."
"You've been thinking for the last hour."
"Have you ever thought that maybe there was another way to deal with the strikers other than sending in the troops?"
"Well, we could always do nothing."
"And risk complete economic collapse?"
Hindenburg sighed. "I'm a general, not an economist. Go ask the Bureau of Economics."
Ludendorff stood up. "Paul, you're a leader. You're not a fighter anymore - you haven't been on the front lines since you were a young man, excluding that one publicity stunt in Vilnius. What you need to do is talk to them. Come up with a reasonable agreement."
Hindenburg stopped. "What are you suggesting, Erich? Negotiations?"
"Yes."
"Tell me, Erich," Hindenburg said, "If you were in my place, what would you do? Negotiate? And be forced to accept humiliating terms like Gnupa did at Toronto in 1920? Negotiate a compromise that might not work out?"
"But still, it's worth a chance," said Ludendorff, "A military crackdown would only worsen the tensions and incite the people to revolt. That's what happened in Kanata. We can't let it happen here. We shouldn't follow their path."
"Kanata was an Eimerican country. We are an Eurasian empire, far larger and more powerful. Things are done differently over there."
"And what was a simple equalist revolution over there has now engulfed half of North Eimerica," said Ludendorff, "Think of what would happen if the entire Reich went equalist."
Hindenburg sat down. "I know, I know, we can't risk that. But the strikers won't listen to me. I symbolize the establishment, the capitalists, the miltiary elite, the government. I represent everything they are protesting against. Why don't you go do the negotiations, Erich? You're the one who negotiated the Gentleman's Peace and ended the war."
"Paul, you know very well that I am as representative of the establishment as you are," replied Ludendorff, "The papers might say we're both very popular among the people, but the strikers don't really care about polls. And if we make one wrong move and show that we're either weak or oppressing the people, even if we're not, then that will play right into the strikers' hands."
"Then who ought to open negotiations?" said Hindenburg. "Angelos, that madman? Lettow-Vorbeck, Petain, Foch? Papen? Either they would screw up the negotiations or the strikers would also see them as representatives of the establishment and wouldn't listen to them."
"It seems everybody in the government or the military is a representative of the establishment," remarked Ludendorff.
"Isn't that the whole point of the establishment--wait, everybody?" replied Hindenburg.
"What are you implying?" said Ludendorff.
"There's one person in the government who's not a member of the establishment, according to them," explained Hindenburg, "There's one person in the government they still respect."
Ludendorff stared at him. "The Kaiser? Isn't he the embodiment of the establishment, even more so than ourselves? And isn't he just a kid?"
"Look, Erich," said Hindenburg, "It sounds crazy, but it might just work. They still respect Otto, and they know that because he's still underage he can't represent the establishment. So as long as he does everything correctly the strikers might agree to terms favorable to us."
"As Co-Regent, my job is to protect the Kaiser," said Ludendorff, "I am not going to send a sixteen-year-old kid, much less the Kaiser himself, to negotiate a settlement to a general strike with powerful trade unions that if done wrong could destroy the entire Reich!"
"And as Co-Regent, my job is to protect the Reich," replied Hindenburg, "That's what I'm doing. The strikers won't listen to either of us unless we make a lot of concessions to them. They will listen to Otto, though, and they might not make too many demands of him. It's worth a try."
Ludendorff laughed. "Since when were you the one in favor of negotiations?"
"Since right now," replied Hindenburg.
---
It's just called a dragon, it's not actually one. It's obviously just a simple reptile...I just looked up Australian dragon; it is the most terrifying and powerful of the dragons.
Bow to the Australian Water Dragon, devourer of worlds (and flies; actually, mostly just flies)!
I know, it's kind of unrealistic, but what I'm trying to do is use the ukrainian culture variable that is already present in base NWO to represent a whole new culture. This is to save time and effort, so I don't have to mod in the entire culture and just have to change some localization. South Russian in this mod does not equal real life Ukrainian. I apologize if you were offended by it.
Maybe I will create a puppet Ukraine, or maybe it will spawn if the Soviets follow their real life counterparts and fall apart in the 1990s. I just need to work out a way to include it in the plot.
The Maximist rebels were exclusive to the Reich only, just as Carlist rebels could only spawn in Spain. Right now they have been disabled from spawning, but that doesn't mean they'll stay down forever...
Oh, and for those of you wondering who the leader of the Aztecs was, he's Pancho Villa.
It seems soon most of the world's powers will be equalist or fascist. That should make an HOI conversion all the more interesting.
Let's hope the 16-year-old Kaiser is wise beyond his years.
Let's hope the 16-year-old Kaiser is wise beyond his years.
I wonder if PARA will bring back some of the Triple Alliance's former glory. It certainly has the opportunity, considering its neighbors breaking into smaller nations.
Good luck to Otto! Hopefully he isn't assassinated or kidnapped.
Good luck to Otto! Hopefully he isn't assassinated or kidnapped.