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The World in 1900
Europe
As you can tell from the photo, Italy has already formed, and is currently fighting the A-H empire into getting Venice. Germany has not yet formed, and still remains the North German Federation, which does not include Mecklenburg and Lubek. Austria Hungary is also under attack by Serbia and Romania, who both have significantly expanded their territory deep into A-H territory. Serbia and Greece are also taking chunks out of the Ottoman Empire. Ireland has declared independence from the UK (Ironically, they currently have a socialist government as well). The Netherlands at this point had conquered all of Belgium.
Middle East
The Ottoman Empire is still going strong in the Middle East, conquering Hedjaz and Egyptian Levant. Nejd is still independent, as well as the other Arab powers. Britain controls the Suez.
North-Central Africa
UBP central Africa still stronk. France has taken over Algeria. The rest of this pic is basically a Britain vs France scenario, with the Baltic expanding right between, and the Germans expanding into Somalia. Austria Hungary has taken over parts of Ethiopia as well. Netherlands own small pockets in Nigeria, alongside another A-H colony.
South Africa
Britain and France are fighting over Kongo, Portugal still has Angola and Mozambique. An odd situation has occurred in Botswana, since the country was released as a UK dominion before South Africa was. The Boer states still exist as well, along with a small Zimbabwe state. Germany is also expanding down into Kenya and Tanzania.
Asia
Qing stronk. Japan has westernized and has conquered all of Korea and Taiwan. If you look hard enough you can see European owned ports pop up throughout China. Britain is slowly releasing each Indian nation into its own dominion. Dai Nam is expanding into Laos and Cambodia.
Southeast Asia
Baltic Malaysia and Philippines stronk. The greedy Dutch have conquered most of the area, Brunei being conquered by the British.
Oceania
Not much, except both Australia and New Zealand and dominions. Aussie Aussie Aussie.
South America
Paraguay is basically dead, and Bolivia can into coast! Argentina and Chile are expanding down the South American coast.
Latin America and Caribbean
Cuba and Puerto Rico are independent. Texas and most of Mexican North America was won by the United States. USCA split apart very early on in the game.
North America
America has achieved its modern borders, and Canada is a thing now. Nothing else much.
Is Britain having problems if they've had to let Ireland go and are releasing Indian nations?
So any plans for future expansion into Africa? It looks like you could cut off both France and Britain from both sides and claim all of central Africa.
Looks like Japan is getting a head start on their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
So any plans for future expansion into Africa? It looks like you could cut off both France and Britain from both sides and claim all of central Africa.
Looks like Japan is getting a head start on their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Blats (1899-1903) Pt.1: Domestic Affairs
((The events of this term are so many that I cant put them all into one update, so I decided to make two updates, enjoy))
Poland is something that will be expanded upon in the next part, but before we get to that fellow readers, lets look at internal affairs inside the United Baltic Provinces during the second term of President Blats. The first major issue domestically has to relate to the women's rights movement, growing ever so slowly in the UBP. One such movement to counter this came from conservatives passing a bill that went against hunger strikes. The idea of this "Cat and Mouse" bill came from women starving themselves in prison to further the cause of women's rights. The bill stated that prisoners could be removed from prison to receive medical care, but once recovered will be thrown right back in prison. It was a very controversial bill that receive a presidential veto when the conservatives narrowly passed it.
Another form of counter to the movement came when conservatives targeted the "Baltic School", a society of women that studied philosophy, economics, and politics, and how they effected women. It was a large movement that saw many women take a part in. Conservatives rallied to see the School shut down. Blats protected the school by vetoing bills that came across him that ordered the School to shut down. These two instances showed that Blats did not want to enroach on the freedoms of the individual. His progressive policies of promoting the individual and making the government more responsive to the people will begin in his second term.
Three referendums will be issued during the second term. The first was the issue of trade unions. This issue would be brought to the people and it would determine the legality of unions. The referendum was supported by socialists and communists but opposed by conservatives and capitalists. The referendum would eventually come back as a "Yes for legality". With this initiative, the UBP passed the "Union Act", legalizing the status of unions as organizations. Union leaders celebrated this milestone in legislation. The second referendum came about which called into question the non-secrecy of the polls. The polls had always been observed by party bosses, and would often pressure individuals to vote for certain parties, mostly the ones in power. The referendum opposed this, and brought it to the attention of the people. The people responded with a "No" to the non-secrecy of the ballot. The "Poll Act" saw the introduction of the Australian Ballot, otherwise known as the Secret Ballot. Last, and most importantly, Blats passed a referendum on the issue of the weighted election. The rich vote was worth more then the common man's vote. This was something that had been in place for almost half a century. Blats decided to challenge that. The referendum came back with a majority responding "Down with the weight" in the poll. The "Election Amendment", a constitutional amendment, dropped the weighted election system. Now, for the first time in centuries, each vote was counted equally, with no benefit to those of wealth. These three legislative pieces would forever change the UBP for the better, and push it to become a true republic.
However, politically, things would rock up in the conservative party. A man was caught accepting bribes in an Estonian local legislature. The man said that this bribe was from a conservative. An investigation came together and sorted through the trail of corruption that seemed to emerge. The trail led to the arrest of many prominent conservatives, and the investigation even questioned Chancellor Allik himself, whom denied everything and no evidence was found to say he was guilty. Eventually the trail would lead straight to conservative foreman Anton Contravarius, grandson of the Contravarius member killed before an election. Contravarius would be found guilty of conspiracy to corrupt, and heavily fined. While Contravarius got off easy legally, Villem Allik had a bone to pick with Contravarius. Both men had been at odds for a very long time. Contravarius was a more militaristic and nationalist conservative, traits of a radical conservative. He wanted a return to a religiously led state, and opposed the democratic process calling it "flawed". Now, this scandal gave Allik all the proof he needed to expel Contravarius from the conservative party.
(Anton Contravarius)
Anton would leave the UBP and travel to Norway. There, he would come across a group of men who also shared extreme nationalistic and militaristic views. Extreme socialists would also be present. The group would eventually go on to found what is called the "Third Way". Contravarius would become the leader of the Baltic sect of this group. That group's name sends shivers down the spines of historians...
Fascism.
Colonially, things were working out very well. The Baltic had already begun to settle the areas of Northern Chad, the Korono region, and an area called Dafur. The Baltic would succeed in these endeavors, and the final borders of UBP Central Africa were finally formed.
Things were however looking up on a foreign scale. This would come about in the form of the Olympic Games. The first Olympics was a rousing success in Athens and across the globe. The Olympic Committee would seek to start a second games in the year 1900. The games would have a summer aspect to their events. Athens however was not appropriate for summer games. They needed somewhere warm yet not blisteringly hot. The Committee would then proceed to announce that the Second Olympic Games would be held in Vilnius.
The torch would be lit in Vilnius in April of 1900. For the next 5 months, Olympic hysteria would devour the Baltic. This was a huge chance for the UBP to be noticed on the world state.
1000 people would compete in these games. 30 of these men were Baltic (Compared to the over 650 sent by France). However, just because the number of contestants was small does not mean the Baltic went home empty handed. One such example would be in Golf. Ivan Kairys, a Lithuanian aristocrat with family in Scotland, would win the Gold medal after nine holes. However, due to the mishaps in organization, Ivan would not know for ten years that his victory was an Olympic victory.
(Kairys (Pictured Right))
A known Olympic gold medalist, or in this case medalistS, was the Estonian Rowing team. The rowing team would win the Coxed Four and the Eight rowing competitions, bringing home two more gold medals to the UBP.
(Pictures of the Estonian Rowing Team)
In all, three gold medals, three silver, and six bronze would got to UBP athletes. Almost half of the UBP Olympic team would earn a medal. This would be a glorious year for the sporting sector of the UBP.
However, everything that has happened, everything good that has happened to the UBP over this second term, would be eclipsed by the horror and growing chaos in the recently puppet state of Poland. War was coming to the UBP once more...
I wonder if the fascists will be as successful as the socialists in the UBP.
Hosting the Olympics and expanding your colonies are a great triumph for the UBP. I hope they don't end up being eclipsed by whatever nightmare is going on in Poland.
Hosting the Olympics and expanding your colonies are a great triumph for the UBP. I hope they don't end up being eclipsed by whatever nightmare is going on in Poland.
Blats (1899-1903) Pt.2: The Polish Crisis
Poland was never really peaceful since the war ended a few years prior. The Poles were happy with the return of the Congress and with the death of absolutism, but they were frustrated over the fact that the Polish government sold themselves to the Baltic in exchange for control. To the Poles, this was nothing short of a power grab by the Baltic. The situation was only made worse when the Baltic Assembly constantly blocked legislation by the Polish Congress. Such an example was when the Poles tried to make an alliance with the Turks. The Baltic Assembly blocked this bill by twisting the arm of the Polish Prime Minister, who at the time was Jan Kanty Steczkowski, into forcing his government to shut down the alliance proposal. Many Poles began to rebel against this.
The first shots of rebellion occurred in the opening months of 1899. Polish nationalists, angered at the abandonment of Polish sovereignty by the Congress, rebelled. Thousands of Polish rebels took to the streets, arming themselves to make Poland totally free. The rebels demanded that the Polish government refuse to coordinate with the Baltic state, and to shut off all ties with the UBP. The rebels quickly overran the Polish army, weak and rebuilding from the recent conflict. Soon, they were occupying Warsaw, forcing the Polish Congress to flee. The world watched to see how the UBP would respond.
President Blats's response came when Baltic troops engaged with 15,000 rebels in the small Polish city of Lomza. The President with Assembly approval had ordered the Baltic army to intervene in the rebellion to restore order in Poland. President Blats ordered the rebels to stand down. The rebels did not. Lomza was the first major engagement of the intervention, and it would show who had the advantage in the conflict. All 15,000 rebels were captured, killed, wounded, or went missing following the engagement. The UBP army suffered only 825 casualties.
The leader of the UBP expedition into Poland was General Ramunas Almenas. Almenas was a veteran of the Polish-UBP war, and was charged with bringing order to Poland. His next task was to engage a large enemy force of over 32,000 rebels in the city of Plock. Almenas employed a strategy to surround Plock, destroy the artillery, and to swarm the disorganized rebel force. His plan was successful, and all 32,000 rebels were either killed, wounded, captured, or went missing. The UBP army suffered 2000 casualties.
At the Polish town of Skierniewice, 48,000 rebels awaited the Baltic Army. However, the bold leader, confident in the number of his forces, charged the Baltic line. What awaited his men was a hail-fire of artillery shells, machine gun fire, and relentless rifle fire. The rebels were mowed down, and once again, all 48,000 rebels were lost. The Baltic Army suffered only 4500 casualties
(Baltic Soldiers firing upon advancing rebels)
Kalisz was the final target before the Baltic Army could attack Warsaw. At Kalisz, poor military planning on part by the rebels led to a massacre of rebel forces. All 21,000 rebels were lost in the ensuing battle as the UBP army relentlessly pushed on towards Warsaw.
Warsaw though was a tough nut to crack. 62,000 rebel soldiers were laying siege to Warsaw by the time the Baltic Army arrived. The army was in for one hell of a show. However, with the rebels focused on taking Warsaw, the Baltic Army swept in and surprised the rebel forces. The result was a bloodbath. All 62,000 rebel forces were killed, wounded, captured, or marked missing. The Baltic Army suffered only 5600 casualties. Warsaw had fallen into the hands of the Congress once more, and whatever was left of the Polish Rebellion began to crack and disintegrate.
The rebels suffered 200000 casualties in the course of the uprising, while the Baltic suffered about 10,000 casualties. However, the time for celebration was not to be lived for long. By the time the Polish Nationalist uprising was suppressed, a new rebellion began to flare up. This rebellion though was sparked by the desire of reactionary aristocrats. The aristocratic population of Poland suffered greatly with the rise of the Congress, and with the King, lost many of its powers. The aristocrats wanted to return to a society in which the nobles and the King ruled with absolute power. Their faction was called the Whites, due to the purity of their mission. Aristocrats played on the minds of conservatives and reactionaries, as well as supporters of King George, and for those who wanted a Polish nation not governed by outside forces. The rebellion would launch in late 1900, and would be a bit smaller though then the nationalist uprising.
The Baltic Army was once again sent in to quell the uprising. They did engage in a battle with rebel forces at Suwalki. 18,000 rebels were lost at Suwalki, with only 1000 casualties from the Baltic Army.
However, by the time the Baltic Army began pressing on towards Warsaw, reports came in that the city had fallen to absolutist forces. King George, who had supported the rebel movement, was given absolute power. All those in the Congress including the Prime Minister were hanged. 300 bodies strewn the streets of Warsaw following the takeover in what was seen as a barbaric move by the absolutists. Poland was now an absolute monarchy and its first decision was to remove the Baltic from the equation.
President Blats declared the new government illegitimate, bloody, and tyrannical. He called for King George to step down from power, and threatened to do so by force should the King resist. King George ignored the demands of the Baltic, and proceeded to wipe out all traces of Baltic presence in the country. Baltic traders were arrested, Baltic diplomats denied access to leave, etc. Blats would respond soon after this, and with the approval of the Baltic Assembly, would declare war on Poland. The Second Polish-Baltic War had begun.
The strategy of the first war was to secure the northern provinces of Poland before pushing into the capital regions. The plan this time was to push directly into Warsaw with all the forces. With Warsaw captured, the King would have no were to run, and would be forced to surrender. Warsaw fell with relative ease, and soon, Baltic forces were marching through the streets of Warsaw for the third time in a decade.
(Baltic Soldiers marching through Warsaw)
However, that was when it all hit the Baltic Army. The army found itself surrounded by over 40,000 Polish reserve forces and mobilized civilians. The Polish forces had the city encircled and began a relentless bombardment of the city. The Baltic Army was shelled day in and day out, with no stop in the firing. The Baltic Army could not call for reinforcements, and was forced to suffer the relentless assault of Polish artillery and Polish charges. The Baltic was suffering massive casualties every day the fighting went on. It seemed that the Baltic Army would be crushed in Warsaw, and destroyed along with the whole city. Baltic leadership resulted to try and charge and find a way out of the city. The poor souls sent to find a way out were mowed down by Polish machine gun fire. One soldier recounts that "The sound of a dying man could be heard on every street in the city. Collapsed buildings, fires, shells, sniper fire, it was tearing holes through the line. One day, I had 100 men backing me up, the next, only 40 were left alive. If hell is like this, then we all will be ready for it."
(Polish Artillery Pounding Warsaw)
A Miracle did come through, but it was a miracle that had to be taken with a grain of salt. Russia, the owners of Poland prior to the release of Poland, still had claims on the country. In summer of 1901, Russian forces poured into Poland to try and make Poland a Russian province once more. This caused many Polish forces to pull out of Warsaw to fight the Russians. Soon, Baltic troops broke out of Warsaw and began inflicting heavy casualties back on the Poles. However, the Poles chose to abandon Warsaw rather then fight to keep it, and did not suffer as many casualties as the Baltic. While the Third Battle of Warsaw was a Baltic victory, it came at a cost. 30,000 Baltic soldiers were killed or wounded in the battle, while Poland only suffered 8,000 casualties.
The survivors were praised for keeping the city, but popular opinion about the war teetered. "This is victory fellow citizens, thousands lying dead on the streets with women and children!" was the cry of a fascist newspaper. It became even more unpopular when it was heard that Baltic forces were torturing Polish aristocrats into revealing information about their fellow rebels. The information did prove useful, for the Baltic forces were able to track down and capture King George. By decree of a Baltic court, the King was to be executed by a firing squad. He would die later that year. Poles were outraged that the Baltic would take justice into their own hands rather then letting the subjects of the King decide his fate. His son, Johann Georg, would succeed as the next King of Poland. Rather then face his country being annexed completely by Russia, he signed peace with the UBP.
(King Johann with wife)
With the Polish crisis finally over, the UBP can turn its head towards the election of 1903. Blats cannot run, but the socialist party does have some tricks up their sleeve in securing the presidency once more.
Well that was an eventful update. You finally quash that massive rebellion, and then another one starts and takes the capital. Good thing you were able to rein in the rebellious Poland before Russia moved in.
Yea I got worried. Russia was EXTREMELY close to getting 100% warscore. Luckily I puppeted before that happened.
Election of 1903 + Darius (1904-1908)
((Yinz are in for a treat. Since there is literally nothing to talk about regarding the election of 1903 (little events), I have decided for this update to combine the election with the first term of the elected president. I may continue this process of combining elections and the following term to speed up the AAR and to get rid of updates that only cover one event. Expect either longer updates or shorter days of wait between updates.))
Socialism had been dominating the presidency for the last eight years. With Blats gone though, many politicians in the Liberal Party and Conservative Party saw this as their chance to strike out and take the presidency back from the reds. The election would see three candidates rise up to challenge socialist hegemony. Yet, socialism would not back down from a fight. They had a taste for the presidency, and now they were going to hold onto it for as long as possible.
The conservatives, with Villem Allik in the chancellory, had to debate on who would become the conservative candidate. The candidate they did pick would be Erikas Jasaitis, a Lithuanian conservative. Jasaitis would run his campaign promoting annexation as his solution to the big issue of Poland. "We already control their government and their king, is that not control of their land and people as well?" This "Annexation" approach was applauded by the growing fascist movement as well as by conservatives and reactionaries. Capitalists hopping to expand their businesses into Poland applauded this as well.
(Jasaitis)
The liberals once again selected Rihards Bolemanis. Many liberals thought that Bolemanis was establishing a dynasty for himself in the Liberal Party. It was known that Bolemanis got whatever he wanted out of his party. Soon, many people began calling the Liberal Party "Bolemanis's Faction", based upon the extent of his control. Bolemanis's approach to the situation of Poland was to "Let them go. We do not need to hold on to them. The age of feudal union has been long gone, and nationalist pride runs rampant through both regions. We should not shackle them like the Russians did." He was applauded by pacifists and isolationists, who wanted the United Baltic Provinces to return to managing their own business.
Last, their were the socialists. After the success of the progressive Blats, the socialists decided to find a man who was more attune to socialism then progressiveness. The man they selected would be Jonas Darius. Darius already had an extensive history, being the first Minister of the newly founded Minister of Labor, earning him support from trade unions. His policy on Poland was to "Keep them on a leash. We do what we do to protect the Poles from tyranny and oppression from foreign powers. Without our backing they would go back to being a Russian province." The idea of "Puppet Poland" was popular among groups on both sides of the situation, annexation and liberation. Moderates of both listened to Darius, and began to side with him.
(Darius)
Of course, if you had read the title, you know that Darius wins. The election results came as followed; Darius got 39% of the vote, Bolemanis got 31%, and Jasaitis got 30%. This is also a trend of recently, with many candidates failing to receive half of the vote. Political scientists see this as a divide among partisan grounds in the UBP.
The rebellion would see the military called in to secure order. A battle would occur in Parnu, and would be a resounding victory for the UBP. Seeing themselves outnumbered 1-100, the rebels surrendered. All 3000 rebels were rounded up, with the UBP army taking only 25 wounded.
Things were not over yet in Estonia. After a local election, it was revealed that the election was tampered and led to allegations of fraud. The national government had to step in to determine the winner of the election. A committee was established to look into this fraud. The conservative candidate clearly won, but many wondered if the committee would let the liberals win. However, with the militancy in Estonia, the committee gave the conservative candidate his well-earned victory, pleasing many Estonians who still had connections to the conservative movement.
One last rebellion would rise out of this area. A small Jacobin rebellion would erupt in the region of Reval. It would be swiftly put down by militia, and the UBP would once again dominate over all rebel groups.
Women's rights would once again take the stage with what is called the Vilnius Convention. It was a two day event for men and women to attend to promote the idea of women's rights. This would mimic that of the Seneca Falls Convention in the United States in the 1850s. The members would discuss laws and political tactics to further advance the idea of women's rights. The government allowed the meeting to assemble. A resolution was created with ten points to further advance women's rights.
However, the movement would be thrown back a step when women rights advocates were arrested on charges of assaulting police officers in Riga. This would mean the government would keep a closer eye on the movement to make sure they do not promote violence and dissent across the country.
A tragic event did occur in the Assembly though. Villem Allik suffered a light heart-attack one night. While he would recover, his duty as chancellor was handed over to a "placeholder" member. That man would be the shortest ruling chancellor, only in the position for less then 24 hours. When Allik was deemed fit to come back, he was put back in charge. The placeholder gladly stepped aside for Allik.
The Olympic Committee would once again approach the UBP with the chance to host the Third Olympic Games in 1904. Back to back Olympic events drove the government wild. This would be a huge prestige boost to the country. The games were set to be held in Riga, and would be a summer event. The UBP would send 50 competitors this time around.
At the end of the events, the UBP would earn five gold medals, eight silver, and ten bronze medals. It would serve as a massive prestige boost to the UBP and make it stand out among the rest of the world.
In foreign affairs, three big events occurred. The first was the unification of Germany, finally owning all the German states, and establishing the Second Reich. The second was the union of Norway, Denmark, and Iceland into Scandinavia. Sweden would decline joining, preserving its independence from the union. Last, the Panama Canal would be opened by the United States. The Panama Canal would be the most time-reducing canal out of all major canals up to this point. The world was at relative peace.
The peace would be shattered in 1906. A colonial crisis would erupt between the British and the French. Peace was not an option, as the British would declare war on France for control of key colonies. The French called upon their allies, Brazil, the Netherlands, The Republic of Venice, and Sweden, while the British would call upon their allies, including the UBP. The UBP joined the war, and soon was apart of the biggest war in the history of human kind.
The biggest problem for the Baltic came due to its close proximity with their neighbor, Sweden. Swedish forces would launch an attack into the UBP from Gotland, and invade Latvia in the early stages of the war. The Swedes would come under murderous attack from the defending Baltic Army. The Swedes also only sent 8,000 men into the Baltic. They would be fighting against almost 45,000 Baltic troops. The result was a massacre. The UBP forces pounded the Swedish invasion into oblivion, making the Swedes suffer 8,000 casualties, while the Baltic only suffered about 900.
(Baltic Guns pounding Swedish Forces)
The Republic of Venice, a relatively new nation under close watch by Italy, would try its luck next. The Venetians would invade Latvia like the Swedes. They too came under murderous fire from the far more superior Baltic Army. The Venetians would try to hold out at Palanga, and they were sorta successful. They managed to hold off the Baltic Army long enough to retreat up north. The Baltic Army suffered about 1,500 casualties. The remaining 5,000 Venetians would march north, and proceed to initiate total war. They burned, looted, and marauded throughout Latvia. The "Venetian Rape" would be an infamous moment in Italian history.
(Venetians marching up north)
The men responsible would be hunted down, and engaged at the battle of Ventspils. Angered Latvian troops would execute all 5,000 men responsible for the burning throughout Latvia. Ventspils would be a blood bath in the course of the war.
At home, two sides emerged. The first side was the jingoist faction, led by Anton Contravarius. His "Contravarius Faction" was the first fascist political organization in the UBP. The fascists would seek to exterminate those who have led violent wars against the Baltic, especially the Swedes and the Venetians. This faction was for the war, and wanted to see it continue on for as long as possible. The faction would receive supported from jingoists, and military personal.
The other side was the anti-war movement, who argued that this was not the UBP's fight, and that Britain forced the UBP into this war. They claimed too many have died for the British, and that not a single Brit died for the UBP. They argued "Money for Bread, not guns", and organized anti-war protest across the country. In order to starve off the militancy, President Darius would pass the "Common School Act", an act that would establish tax-payer private schools, and give kids more education options. This legislation helped formalize the growth of literacy and education.
Darius though could not focus much on these events. 1908 rolled around, and 1908 was an election year. Darius would have to try hard to get reelected again, and so far, the war was working against him.
I edited the name of the Fascist Party. Originally, PDM has the fascist party as the "National Socialist Party", but I decided that was lame and revamped it.
How did Germany form without Alsace-Lorraine? I thought it was a requirement, although I could well be wrong.
The British have really pulled you into a big war now, but at least you're holding your own quite well.
The British have really pulled you into a big war now, but at least you're holding your own quite well.
I believe there are events for last-minute unification, if it waits too long. I've seen it happen, when the prussians don't take schleswig-holstein.
I also forgot about the option to accept the crown from the gutter. It's not something you usually see the AI do, but it's possible.
To the best of my knowledge, it's a completely different event since crown from the gutter was removed. Don't listen to me, I'm wrong.