Chapter 4: Peace in our Time (1934-1939)
While the rest of the world was gripped by the Great Depression and the Second Weltkrieg (which continued in Europe), China prospered.
On January 12, Germany reestablished diplomatic relations with Austria-Hungary, ostensibly to help prop up the imploding Habsburg state.
On February 4, the British Raj was dissolved, and all power was handed over to the Republic of India, which was still dominated by a British and Canadian upper class (primary culture: British; accepted cultures: Canadian).
Within weeks, India was partitioned into four nations: Burma, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
A year after the Second Weltkrieg, the Empire officially recognized the Soviet Union as a legitimate state.
In June of 1935, Pakistan and India went to war over Kashmir, with the Empire supporting India. Puyi ordered the newly restructured Imperial Army to march into the Punjab and Bangladesh. After several stunning victories over the Pakistani forces, Pakistan agreed to cede Kashmir to India and join the Imperial tributary system, which Burma joined a little bit later.
In other news, there was a diplomatic crisis in India when a certain American archaeologist turned adventurer broke into the presidential palace after escaping from a museum in Shanghai.
On August 2, 1936, Spain descended into a civil war between the Nationalists, led by Francisco Franco and supported by the Germans, and the loyalist forces, supported by the Soviets.
On January 1, 1938, the Kaiser declared that the people under the puppet government of Kaiserliche Deutschen Ukraine had been thorougly Germanized, and thus the puppet government had fulfilled its purpose.
In other news, Spitfire fighters were developed in the UK.
But Puyi and Chiang knew that Japan remained a threat to China's existence. Noticing that Japan had dismissed the British embassy and broke all ties with London, on New Year's Day 1939 Puyi ordered the Imperial Army to get ready for war the second the truce expired.
"The Celestial Empire will get its long-desired revenge against the Japanese menace!"