1854-1855 – Breakdown
January of 1854 saw a delegation headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Maria Emilio Agustín de León and Emperor Ferran VI de Trastámara travel to Scotland to arrange a colonial exchange. Hispania was to trade its colony in Western New Guinea for Scotland’s in Sonora, which in turn would be given to Nova Hispania. A sum of $300k was granted to Scotland to compensate them for the difficulties that would result from the loss of ports on the Pacific, and they would be granted privileged access to Hispania ports in the Americas. The Scottish were quite happy to sign the treaty, bringing the two powers closer together.
The Emperor was the only one to not go home happy, and not because of the treaty. The trip had left him in a state of melancholy, but worse yet, left him with a nasty cold, later diagnosed as a minor case of pneumonia. The Emperor spent the whole trip back barely able to breath, coughing constantly. The wet and cold environment of Scotland had not favoured him.
At home, Hispania was continuously focused on improving representation for various subjects within its Empire. Several colonies as far as Hawaii to the Philippines were granted representation in Parliament, enfranchising thousands of non-Europeans. This raised many questions and concerns. The European electorate felt threatened, as to be expected, and likely would make their voices heard during the next election about the weakening of their own vote. Others still within the colonies simply wished to understand the seemingly arbitrary granting of statehood. Why had the southern half of Borneo been granted statehood, but not the north? Why could people in the Philippines vote, while the Indians, who a large number now served in the army, could not? The argument by government officials was that the necessary bureaucracy had not been established in the other colonies to allow an acceptable representative government to form there yet. That sentiment meant little to those who could not yet vote.
As older colonies became states, new colonies were established in various places. The last bit of Australia was tamed as a Hispanian colony was established in the interior. The recent Siberian expeditions received additional funding, moving further into the interior and along the coast, with additional outposts established in the far northeast. South America was almost entirely dominated by Hispania, with one last patch left in the Amazon that was missed by the initial expeditions. This last bit of colonization had certainly earned the attention of Hispania’s colonial nations, for they were all eagerly waiting to see who would receive the land. Sanchonia was the most vocal of the group, for it had been promised the Amazon after the last colonial acquisition favoured Nueva Granada.
No nation could resist Hispanian influence for long, although there were always attempts to stop Hispanian dominance. The French, after the failed negotiations over Columbia, refused to let go of Mali so easily, convincing the Africans to ban Hispania’s ambassadors. At least they were not concerned about Sibir or Afghanistan, who were on friendly terms with Hispania. Kaffa, though, was the greatest success. Despite clashes in the past, the African nation accepted that the only way it would prosper was under Hispania’s guidance, falling firmly into Hispania’s sphere.
While the French managed to maintain their hold on Mali, they were not so fortunate elsewhere. The Irish had slowly drifted towards Hispania after the previous government snatched the title of Ireland’s foremost trading partner from France. This created a rift between the Irish and the French. As pressure mounted, the Irish decided to make a break. They ended their alliance with France and formally offered one to Hispania, a favourable outcome now that Ireland was in Hispania’s sphere. The French surely would not be pleased with the Irish after this.
Relations went both ways. Hispania sought to extend its reach abroad, while many nations in turn looked to Hispania in a positive light. Norway, Sunda, and Mali all sent multiple diplomatic envoys to improve relations. Even Malwa sent a couple, although they were mostly dismissed at first with war in the works.
The Ministry of Education was mostly focused on improving the artillery in Hispania’s army, a task only completed right before the expected declaration of war against Ming. The new iron muzzle-loaded artillery was shipped out as quickly as possible to put it to use against Malwa. The vulcanization of rubber was equally as important, easily doubling the production of industrial rubber.
The government, as well as the civil service, was seeing a conflict between old and new. Often in the past, it was the habit of the rich and powerful to buy positions or give them to their family. Increasing regulations and improved education opened the administration to a much larger portion of the population. There was also the concept that a man should be promoted based on merit rather than birth, something the aristocracy were not so eager to see put into practice.
Social change was as equally, if not more so, a problem in the UKA. Slavery continued to be an issue. A constitutional amendment was passed to prevent any amendments being proposed that banned or interfered with slavery. It would likely only delay the inevitable, but it would buy time to find some sort of solution.
A much more volatile situation existed in Scandinavia. King Gustav VII’s position on the throne remained shaky at best, for he had achieved it solely with German arms, and the Germans were not that all pleased with him. The Scandinavian nobility were even less pleased with him, and likely would not tolerate his reign forever, but it was the French that decided to act. The risk of a German-dominated Scandinavia was too great. Using the immense resources at their disposal, the French orchestrated a coup against Gustav. The pretender king had made a fatal mistake: he had chosen not to execute his older brother. Despite the conflict between the two, neither wanted the other dead. All it took was breaking Håkon II out of prison and rallying the nobility behind him. Gustav attempted to flee, but was captured by the French before he could cross the border.
Rather than hand him over to his brother and the angry nobles to see him executed once and for all, the French decided that the best solution was to remove Gustav from Scandinavia entirely. They had come to the realization that Håkon might never produce an heir. They needed Gustav for that. Matters were complicated by his marriage to the German King’s daughter, but a Frenchman on the papal throne ensured a speedy annulment. Gustav was remarried to Princess Marie, who was only 11 now. Matters were complicated later when it was revealed after the fact that his former wife was pregnant. The French claimed it was not Gustav’s, but few believed that. When Princess Sophie gave birth to a son, the matter of Scandinavian succession grew even more murky.
The last of the European wars came to an end, seeing Transdacia defeated at the hands of Poland-Lithuania. The former Polish lands of Cherson were reclaimed, and Transdacia was further reduced to a mere shell of its former self.
Despite all that was happening in the world, it was the proposed war with Ming that most preoccupied the government. This would pit Hispania against possibly the largest army in the world. Things had to be done right. To ensure enough funds were available to purchase the necessary supplies, taxes were raised on the middle class, rising as high as 20% before a surplus was achieved. It was only a temporary measure, one that was reduced after the war, dropping back down to 5%.
When it came to military preparations, things went along speedily. A sizeable number of troops were already in India, and the navy was poised to establish a blockade. Near the end of February, 170 Hispanian ships sailed towards the coast of China, with more hovering near India. Once in place, a declaration of war was sent. On March 2, war was declared on Ming to reclaim Quangdong (referred to as Canton in Hispania), with Shaozhou included as well. A day later, Malwa joined their ally. The Hispanian army marched into action, 20 Corps heading north into Malwa. Both Ming and Malwa mobilized their reserves, but it was yet to be seen if that would make a difference.
It did not take long to engage the Malwans in combat. Lieutenant General Carlos Maria Emilio Agustín de León engaged the first army in Indore, and with the assistance of Lieutenant General Manuel Alejandro D'Garcia managed to force the Malwans on the retreat with three-quarters of their force lost. A little farther north, Field Marshal Francisco de Garcia e Silva fought an army alone and managed to rout them entirely in a week. León and D’Garcia pushed north to open the way to the capital, encountering an army twice as large as the last one. It was becoming clear though that the Malwan army was not yet prepared and lacked significant artillery or cavalry. Just like the last, this army was nearly crushed, a pittance of an army left to flee. Hispania had learned from its previous mistakes and was fully prepared for this war.
Indeed, battles continued to fall in Hispania’s favour. Captain General Stefano von Politz led two corps against an army half his size and forced them to capitulate. Likewise, Field Marshal Bernardo de Alicante led a force in the east to an astonishing victory. Even those armies lacking adequate leadership, a major trial seeing as there were so many corps operating in India, still managed to best Malwa in battle. This was a complete change from the last war.
Jubbulpore proved a particular nuisance, not due to any difficulty but rather Malwa’s unwillingness to relinquish the province. A tiny force of little more than two thousand men tried to stop Lieutenant General Antione Villanova from occupying the province, but ultimately failed, even when a few thousand more showed up. A second army of only six thousand tried to drive out the general and were crushed. A third army shortly followed, forcing Villanova to fight off nine thousand men. He emerged victoriously just as easily. Jubbulpore would fall.
Another nuisance involved a Malwan army that had managed to sneak behind the lines. A spare corps was dispatched to remove the threat, driving the Malwans back north.
As armies moved to capture the coastline, the Malwan navy was forced from port. A tiny fleet of 11 ships faced off against the might of an entire Hispanian armada. It was no contest. The entire Malwan fleet was sunk, securing Hispania its first naval victory.
By early May, Malwa was suffering and knew defeat was certain. A white peace was sent and summarily rejected. Only absolute victory would be acceptable.
When it came to the navy, it was not its performance in India that mattered, but its presence off the Chinese coast. The blockade was absolute, and not a single Ming fleet, trade ship, or fishing boat was able to leave the coast. Any supplies or goods usually imported could not reach China, and the valuable export trade was at a standstill. This was all made worse by the fact that Ming had no way to reach Hispania by land. They had occupied Macau and Hong Kong, but those cities had been abandoned knowing they would fall. Ming was surrounded by neutral yet disagreeable powers. Qing, Delhi, Bengal, and Dai Nam either hated Ming or were on too good of terms with Hispania to consider granting military access to Ming. Their army could only garrison their own lands and wait.
Time favoured Hispania. The longer the blockade lasted, the more Ming suffered. Hispania was content to crush Malwa and leave Ming to slowly deteriorate, wasting money on an army it could not use while no income came in from trade. By May 14, a seemingly short period of little over two months, Ming caved. A peace offer was sent offering to return the land Hispania once owned in China. This was not enough though. There were designs in motion to tame Malwa once and for all, ensuring that all the riches of India went through Hispania. Only once that was achieved could the war end.
To tame Malwa, it first had to be utterly crushed. Field Marshal Silva led a force against an army gathering in Jaipur. Later reinforcements assured his victory. Meanwhile, Field Marshal Alicante pressed right up to Dehli’s border in the east. Lieutenant General Leon led the final push west, defeating the last of Malwa’s significant armies.
Every few weeks, Ming meekly sent the same peace offer, hoping that Hispania would deign to accept and end the blockade. That was never going to happen until Hispania got what it wanted, and it wanted the wealth of Malwa. To ensure its dominance of India, the people had to be won over. A recruitment drive was used to bolster support for the war and any aggressive actions against Malwa. Effective propaganda, especially playing up Ming’s pathetic state, greatly bolstered support for the war. Forcing Malwa to open their borders to trade and accept Hispanian dominance did not seem like too much then, especially when it was announced that Malwa was completely under Hispanian occupation. ((I admit that I triggered the jingoism event using the console. I find it a nuisance when silly game mechanics get in the way of roleplay. Note that this won’t be a common occurrence. I only did it here because we had established well ahead of time that sphering Malwa was a goal and waiting for jingoism to rise high enough despite Malwa being completely at our mercy seemed dumb to me.))
Ming soon got the hint and realized the only way to save itself from the blockade and prevent a full-scale invasion was to sell out their only ally. On August 18, a peace offer was received offering up both Guangdong and Shaozhou, as well as recognizing Hispania’s influence over Malwa and all of India. Finally, an offer that Hispania could accept. After only five months, Hispania managed to reclaim its land in China and dominate Malwa, all without fighting a single land battle against Ming. The so-called second greatest power in the world had been shown just how weak it truly was.
After the unfortunate events that had led to the loss of Canton, Hispania once more had reclaimed its land in China. Ming’s loss was a humiliating affair for the Chinese, made even worse by Hispania’s actions immediately following the war. The blockade had been conducted almost entirely with excess ships that had been mistakenly kept following some alterations to the navy. Minister of the Navy Alfonso de Alejandría had been in the process of replacing old ships. The excess ships were to be scrapped, except for ten man’o’wars and ten frigates for reserves. There was a mix-up, with ten of each from every fleet kept for reserves instead. This worked out in the end, for they could be used for the blockade. When the war ended, however, there was no need to keep the ships. Rather than sending them all the way back to Europe to be dismantled, Alejandría decided to send a message to the Ming. All 120 out-dated ships were scuttled right off the coast of China, the flames easily visible from land. It was a message, one as clear as the flames consuming the Hispanian ships. Hispania had beat Ming with a fleet of ships it considered worthless. If Ming trifled with Hispania again, they would face a much greater force.
Scuttling of the Hispanian Blockade Fleet
With victory against Ming achieved, it seemed that Hispania could enjoy a period of peace and prosperity. That was not to last. Less than a month after the conclusion of the war, a crisis erupted yet again in Bengal. The people of Bihar were clamouring for freedom, seeking independence for the nation of Jharkhand. As an ally of Hispania, it was only natural that Hispania come to Bengal’s aid. At the direction of Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Maria Emilio Agustín de León, full backing was given to Bengal.
A few days after announcing support, Ming declared that they were backing Jharkhand. Immediately after that, they promptly sent an offer of white peace. It is believed that when they had announced their support, they had not known of Hispania’s support of Bengal. Perhaps they had hoped that Hispania would not desire to dabble further in Asia. They were wrong. Not wanting to risk another conflict so soon after the last, Ming backed out, leaving Bengal intact.
That crisis died down, only for another event to occur. Louisiana, France’s prize colony, was bankrupt. Corruption and poor governing had destroyed the colony’s finances. They had resorted to borrow, with Hispania included amongst the lenders. Eventually they could not keep up with the payments. Louisiana owed Hispania money it could not pay. The fact Louisiana was a colony of France made extracting it by force a difficult problem. Hispania might well have to let this one go or risk war with France over an insignificant sum.
The recent war had ruined Ming’s reputation. To then have to back down to Hispania again during a diplomatic crisis was too much. Something had to be down to restore the Ming’s prestige and make them appear strong on the international field. An imperialist venture was in order. Less than two months after losing against Hispania, Ming declared war on Qing. This also pitted them against Bengal, giving them a chance at some small semblance of revenge for the earlier crisis. Ming was determined to grab more of their lost ancestral lands. While Hispania was a tough opponent, Qing was the exact opposite. By January of 1855, Qing had surrendered, giving up two states to Ming.
Ming was not the only one that needed an imperialist adventure. In April of 1855, Zazzau threw out the Hispanian ambassador and laid siege to the Hispanian embassy. To lose its position in Zazzau, an insignificant African power, would make Hispania look weak. This incident was not entirely unexpected. There had been whispers years ago that Zazzau was considering such a possibility. When it finally happened, the old war plan was pulled out of the mothballs, by order of the Emperor. No one was certain why he took an interest in Zazzau, but it was a welcome respite from his despondent state.
War was declared on Zazzau, with the intention to force them back into Hispania’s sphere. The world needed to be shown that no nation could throw off Hispanian influence by force without retaliation. The nearest corps, stations in Tunis, set out at once for Zazzau. It would likely not arrive until the summer. By then the election would be in full swing.
Zazzau proved but one problem of many. Near the end of May, a rebellion broke out in Shaozhou. El Moviment Realista, a reactionary movement that had all but vanished over the past decade, had resurfaced in the strangest of places. It seemed that they believed they could manipulate the subjugated Chinese to their cause. They managed to rally 6k men, and rose in rebellion. This was a foolish mistake. Due to the delicate position of Canton and the surrounding provinces, four corps had been left to defend the territory. A single corps marched on the rebel army and crushed it with ease. ((I seem to have forgotten the screenshot of the battle results.))
This whole debacle brought attention to the delicate situation in China. While Hispania did have claim to some of the land they had taken, other parts had merely been added to make the territory more defensible. It was estimated that there was already a liberation being led by the Min. The Ministry of Justice had no tolerance for separatist movements and worked to supress it. This crushed part of the movement, but in turn stirred up outrage amongst the average Chinese citizen in the new territories. Ming, ever watchful, took advantage of this and spread stories of the oppression of the people in Shaozhou. The accusations were not appreciated, and the Hispanian government refused to let any other nation intervene in events in Shaozhou. International attention was being drawn to the region regardless of what Hispania wanted.
The Shaozhou incident was the spark for a much greater catastrophe. Combined with the sudden imperialist war against Zazzau, the actions taken against the people of Shaozhou was damaging Hispania’s image, especially in the eyes of Hispania’s Asian allies. Without giving any explicit reason, both Bengal and Malacca broke their alliances with Hispania. Meek explanations were given about not wanting to be drawn into one of Hispania’s many wars or simply wanting to go their own way, but it was still a major blow to Hispanian prestige. To appease Hispania a bit, they both expressed the possibility of re-establishing their alliance if Hispania was to return to a state of peace.
Bengal and Malacca had set a precedent. Two days later, the Persian ambassador informed the government that the alliance with Hispania was to be ended. Unlike the last two, Persia gave a more concrete answer. They stated that due to their shared border and close economic ties, they believed it best to increase ties with Byzantium, and that alliances with two Great Powers was too taxing on them.
If this had been it, perhaps Hispania could have brushed it off and worked to reclaim their old position in Asia after losing three separate alliances in under a week. Instead Hispania was doomed to lose their most important alliance of all.
In early June, Basileus Michael X Palaiologos set off for a state visit to Valencia aboard a Hispanian steamer, with his second son, Isaakios, and his daughter-in-law, Maria de Trastámara, along with the couple’s ten-year-old daughter Constantina. The trip proved a short one. A few hours out of Constantinople, something went wrong with the boiler. An explosion tore through the ship, sinking it within minutes. There were no survivors.
The sudden loss of the Basileus and one of his sons sent a ripple through Byzantium, but Maria’s death was felt much more keenly in Hispania. The Emperor had lost his only daughter. The loss hid him deeply, and he became inconsolable, refusing to see anyone except his wife, who could share in his grief. He could not accept that his daughter was taken from him simply by accident. Something wasn’t right
With the Basileus’s death, the throne passed to his eldest son, Adrianos. The man was known to be quite unstable, but also obsessed with his quest for an heir. He had divorced his first wife after a decade when she produced only daughters. His second wife had passed away mysteriously five years into their marriage, which had been childless up until that point, dying of a sudden heart attack at the age of 24. This behaviour could seem unrelated to the recent incident, if it had not been for the fact that Adrianos had insisted that Isaakios’s two sons remain behind in Constantinople. It was reported that the two boys had been both ill, a fact corroborated by the family doctor, although the servants had not noticed any evidence of illness with either boy. This was suspicious enough to draw attention.
The Emperor, wracked by grief, requested that Byzantium formally investigate the boiler explosion to search for any evidence of foul play. The Byzantine government did so, but failed to produce anything of note to satisfy the Emperor. The official government statement was that it was an accident, and they seemed unwilling to delve further. The Emperor demanded answers that Adrianos II could not, or was unwilling to, provide. Pressure mounted, both parties unwilling to back down. Ferran wanted answers. Adrianos wanted to move on and cement his reign, something made more difficult by lingering on the late Basileus’s death.
After many back-and-forth jabs, Adrianos took it a step too far, suggesting that since it had been a Hispanian steamer, perhaps Hispania was to blame for the unfortunate accident. This sent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs into a flurry, for it could not afford another scandal. Being accused of orchestrating the death of a head of state would destroy Hispania’s reputation during a time where it was falling already.
The Emperor, though, was more concerned about his daughter’s death, and that caused him to lose all sight of decorum. In a far too open setting, he publicly accused Basileus Adrianos II of orchestrating the murder of his daughter Maria and granddaughter Constantina. Such a statement could not be taken back. Spurred on by the Basileus, the Byzantine government formally cut ties with Hispania, announcing an end to the alliance. The Byzantine Foreign Minister, less stirred up by recent events as the Basileus, expressed a willingness to re-establish ties when matters had settled down. This could only be taken at face value though, for rumours circulated that France had rejected an alliance offer from Byzantium a week later. It did not help that Adrianos went on to declare that Ferran and Hispania were no longer needed to protect the Greek people; they were more than capable of doing it themselves.
In the span of a month, Hispania had lost four allies, their fellow Great Power ally among them. The victory against Ming seemed distant after the recent diplomatic debacles. Hispania now found itself at war to assert its dominance over a minor sphereling, hounded by the international community over its subjugation of Shaozhou, and with a deteriorating reputation. The Emperor seemed ambivalent to anything but his daughter’s death and his feud with Adrianos. The sudden tailspin was completely unexpected, and many Hispanians were in shock. How had this all happened?
As July set in, election season began. Hispania had many fresh issues to debate over the coming six months. The successful war against Ming had bolstered the government’s position, only the have the rug swept out from under them by the events of the past month. Solutions would need to be found to keep Hispania’s sphere intact and maintain confidence in its allies. More importantly, Hispania would have to decide whether it would go alone or seek out a fellow Great Power ally. Could relations be mended with Byzantium or was it time to look elsewhere? Hispanians could only hope that one of the political parties would have all the answers.
((Well that was one unexpected and wild ride. Having Ming capitulate without fighting a single land battle was nice, but outshone by all the craziness that followed. That Zazzau event had some weird timing, firing constantly years back and then waiting who knows how long to randomly show up again. I have absolutely no idea why those four allies broke their alliances with us, although Persia makes some sense since most nations like to be allied to their sphere lord, as you can see by Ireland’s decision to ally with us over France. The loss of Byzantium was a shocker. Our infamy isn’t exactly high, so it remains a mystery to me. At least it provided some good writing material and some fun stuff for you all to consider going into the election.
You may have noticed that I did not post a factory screenshot. I find that one takes far too much time and slows down the update, especially since I have to record all factories so I know who owns what. I’m going to now do them after the update and just post it to the front page. The same goes to any updates to AP. You’ll have to wait an hour or two after each update before that gets updated.
Now on to business. Ministers have until
Monday at 12PM PST to post their plans, and players may propose laws in that time period too. I request that all minister repost their old plans and any changes in full. I’ve reached the point where I have like 4-5 links for each plan and it’s getting annoying having to swap between them constantly during playthroughs. A single post for each plan will make things a lot easier for me and speed up the playthrough. After the election, I will be enforcing the one post rule, with the exception of any war plans, so make sure you keep everything in one post or I may misplace your old plan.
Seeing as there is an election now, players may start campaigning for VP bonuses. This might also be a good time to buy some election VP using AP. Players should also get their parties and coalitions figured out before the above deadline so I know which parties to include in the election vote.))
