The State of the World 1836
Part 1: Europe
Its time to get the Third (and Possbibly Final) part of the AAR started. We'll have having a look at the state of the world in the next 4 Updates, Part 1 Being Europe - The HRE, Part 2 Being America, Part 3 Asia/Afrika and Part 4 being The Holy Roman Empire and her colonial holdings.
Europe itself is dominated by the Holy League, an Alliance of the Celtic, Holy Roman and Russian Empires that has been relatively intact since the 1400's. Thought to be nigh invincible until napoleon had fought the combined Franco-Imperial forces to a standstill at Milan and Venezia and kicked off the Napoleonic Wars. Eventually Defeated Napoleon had forced the the French and Russians in the following eight years have been growing tired and strained under the Holy Roman Enforced peace.
Starting with Scandinvia we have the Rump state of Norway (Iceland) Who still has cores on the whole of their De Jure territory from Ck2. There is also the Kingdom of Sweden, the Rising star of the north as it were and the Kingdom of Denmark, the so called Sick man of Europe. The Danish Republic conquered large amounts of Scandinavia during the past but have since been unable to form Scandinavia and bring the Swedish and Norwegians to heel. Now overthrown by dictator-turned Monarch turned Constitutional Monarch the unrest in Denmark has never been higher, paving the way for Sweden to perhaps unite Scandinavia, or the Saxons of Norway to finally return.
The Lands in Grey are inhabited Primarily by Saxons, yes Saxons. In the Medieval Era the Saxons of northern Germany fled to Scandinavia from the franks, and eventually settled in Finland and Norway, wiping out the native Norwegians and finish of these regions. The land was eventually lost to the Danish but the saxons were never run out of these Areas. The Purple are Danlanders, A Saxon-Nordic-Germanic Hybrid Race born out of the Medieval republic of Sealand. The Blue of course is Swedish, which is the Majority culture in Scandinavia and White is Finnish. Sweden of course is a minor power and likely will be pushing hard to reclaim its cores (Which it has on the entire Scandinavian peninsula) Likely to start a Crisis in the ailing Danlander Kingdom.
The Celtic Empire, One of the Eight Great Powers of the world, Founded by the United crowns of Albion (England) Britanny, Scotland, France, Wales and Ireland. A Force to be Reckoned with the Bretons were the favored Kingdom of the west during the Roman Reconquests of the region and served as faithful vassals until the Empire had begun to collapse. The Bretons were the ones who emerged as the Triumphant French Successor State, claiming the Crown of France and Putting down the Scottish to anoint themselves the only True Celtic state left in the world. The Celtic Union is an absolute Monarchy currently ruled over by King-Emperor Arthur III.
The Celts Control the Entirety of Britain and Northern France, as well as splitting southern France with the HRE. They also control the Rhine River, a major source of conflict between the Celtic and German States. The Bretons are currently have attempted to wrestle the remainder of the Lowlands away from the Duchy of Flanders, a Primarily Wallonian state with claims on the entirety of their surroundings, including the Duchy of Normandy. Should the Walloons fall out of Favor with the Celtic government or an ambitious power be looking to weaken the Celtic Empire, the Flemish are an Ideal method of doing so.
As Seen Breton and French cultures have Mixed into a singular French Culture which spreads over most of England, France and large parts of Alsace Lorraine. The Welsh, and Scottish and Anglo-Saxons are troublesome Minorities in the North. The Walloons and Occitans make up significant accepted Populations of the Celtic Government.
Next up is the Reborn Kingdoms of Spain. The Basque Kingdom of Spain is the dominant power on the Peninsula. Originally the most successful out of the Umayyad Successor States the Spanish have suffered without a colonial Empire such as those the Portuguese and Cordobans possess. The Spanish have been limited to Meager holdings overseas in America and have otherwise restricted to Europe, where they have fallen from great power status to become a plaything for the Celts since its liberation from Napoleon, who now use the Spanish as a way to threaten the Cordobans and Portuguese.
The powers that be in Spain are the Kingdom of Portugal, currently ruled by Umayyad, The Kingdom of Cordoba and the Basque Union of Spain. Of the three Spain has remained the dominant Military power, Portugal the dominant Naval power and Cordoba the dominant colonial power. Cordoba of the three is the only state to retain a significant colonial empire, as the Cordobans control a large percentage of China. Though at the cost of their african colonies, making holding the valuable colony of Cathay an expensive and possibly impossible task. The portuguese are even weaker than they are in OTL with only minor colonial Islands scattered throughout the world.
The Cultures of Spain are the strangest things about it. The Catalan and Basques make up the Majority of Central and Northern Spain respectively, with neither having too much influence in the Spanish government to offset the other. The Visigoths under Spanish rule also welcome it wholesale, as do the Castilians who have been slowly dying out in the spanish Interior. The Andalusians of Portugal however stand independent of the Spanish and have retained much of their proud culture and traditions for hundreds of years, a unitary block, compared to Multicultural spain. The Cordobans however are a mess, with Visigothic being the primary and only accepted culture within the Kingdom. The Various berber, german and Andalusian minorities straining under their rule, and of course the Chinese abroad which are not far from open revolt against their colonial overlords, should the opportunity present itself.
Next we will meet Russia, The mighty Empire of the West. Russia was originally ruled by House Bejovic, an Ancient and powerful Dynasty that now only survives in Saxon controlled Norway. House Bejovic united all the Slavic lands, from Poland and Pomerania to Rus, Perm and Ruthenia under a single unitary banner, before breaking up via succession law into the Kingdoms of Ruthenia, Poland, Lithuania and Pommerania. Pomerania and Poland eventually died out, Lithuania lost large amounts of land to the ambitious danish and the final, Ruthenia struggled for nearly a hundred years under a personal union with Germany. Finally winning Independence with Austrian Aid, Ruthenia joined the Holy League as a permanent member and would later received Austria's blessing in declaring themselves the Eastern Roman Empire, a Rightful Catholic successor state to the actual Orthodox Eastern Roman Empire to the south.
Russia since has been playing a dangerous game for power in the East, having fought against and with the Holy Romans on multiple occasions. During the Napoleonic Wars, Russia was for the most part Neutral until the interregnum and following decembrist revolt led to the Liberals led by Vasily Rurikovich seizing power and crowning the Westphalian, Princess Victoria as the rightful Czarina of Russia. With Victoria still in a regency under vasily Rurikovich, Russia has liberalized, forming a proper Duma, and changing their flag from the Eagle Standard of old to a Liberal Tricolor of Black, Gold and White, one that would later Inspire flags for other countries.
The Russian Empire is primarily Russian, with small greek, tatar, mongol and European minorities in the border regions. The Kingdom of Lithuania is the only threat to Russia's Eastern block, having rightful claims to almost all the Dejure territory of Lithuania and thus Russia's Baltic Coastline. The Swedes of course now control the Duchy of Estonia, which had led some to believe Russia should finally move it's provision capital away from St Petersburg, and back to Kiev, or to a safer Location in Moscow.
The other Empire of the East if the Powerful and Ancient Byzantine Empire. Byzantium has had a long and storied history, with one common trait. The Byzantines are Survivors, through as through. The Byzantines have held onto their crown for nearly fifteen hundred years (whereas the Austrians can only claim to have held the crown fo Western Rome for around 900). With the Loss of Anatolia and the levant to the Muslim hordes during the medieval ages, things looked grim, but Byzantine ingenuity prevailed and the Empire expanded instead north into the empty steppeland and built a powerful economic and military backbone, safe from the Muslims via the mountains of Georgia. When Holy Roman Crusades finally broke the back of Eastern Islam the Byzantines finally had the peace they required to repair, and rebuild. Though it would not last.
The Powerful Muhammad Caliphate never stayed defeated for long and stopped any and all attempts of Byzantine reconquest of Anatolia, until such a time when the Holy Roman Empire returned and forcibly removed the Heathen, allowing the Greeks to strike at and seize Georgia and Armenia. In the centuries following the Muhammad Caliphate continued to weaken allowing the greeks to reclaim the remainder of Anatolia, run out the Knight's Hospitaller and Crusader Kingdoms of Jerusalem and finally conquer Mesopotamia and reclaim Egypt for the might of the Basileus.
Byzantium had originally adopted an elected monarchy in the Medieval ages, which quickly resulted in the old line of Emperors to die out, as the Themes of Byzantium quickly became more and more prominent in elections. The Empire had fallen into the grips of a Military Junta, that while effective at defeating the Muslims was no true successor of rome. This Changed when House Anniona-Bretagne seized the throne via a fluke election and reformed the government into the first ever Parliamentary Monarchy in Europe as a means to maintain the Throne. The Byzantine Model would later be the model upon which all future republican systems would be based, with a three branch system of the Executive (Usually the Monarch) Legislative (Elected officials) and Judiciary Branch (Appointed by either Executive or Legislative depending on country)
The Greeks, like the Austrians and Russians are extremely powerful. Byzantium has almost complete control of the Black Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean challenged only by Austria's large naval advantage. The Muhamadiid Caliphate of the East has been all but destroyed, the remains of which have reorganized in Afghanistan. The Greeks now control an Empire as large and powerful as Alexander's of old, though it is not complete as the Indian Raj of Kosala has spread his hands over the middle east and Persia and threatened Byzantine Hemogeny of the region. Though the Catholic powers of Europe insist otherwise, the Greeks have proven themselves as the true Heirs to the Eastern Roman Crown. To Call the Byzantime Empire Byzantine would be false, as it is the true, Eastern Roman Empire.
However, the signs of the old days still show, whenever one looks at the demographics of the new Empire. The Greek empire is not in fact predominantly greek. The the Muslim unification of much of the Middle east has left marked, ingrained in the very people of Anatolia and the levant. Bedouin populations make up nearly 40% of the Byzantine Empire's population, and with the recent reunification of the Middle east under the Greek crown, the Greeks fear they will be eclipsed by the rising Bedouin, Egyptian Crusader populations much as they did to the romans, centuries before.
Tune in next time, were we will find out What those Crazy Templars and Revolutionaries have been up too.
