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We fought with valor in the majority of our wars, and even when we were not justified in our attacks, we took care not to unduly change the balance of power in the places outside of Europe we did conquer. We were the saviors of this world.
Kenneth Kelley, The Modern History of the World, 1904
At the beginning of young Edgar Francis I's reign, her longtime ally, Sweden, who was already the ruler of much of what used to be part of the maritime and African segments of the Omanian Empire, got into a border dispute with the Ottoman Empire. At first, the diplomats were handling this dispute, but things began to heat up, and war seemed to be inevitable.
When war did come in early 1808, the Knoxist-Lutheran League pledged all it had to the fight in the Near East. On the Ottoman side of the equation, they had a loose affiliation with Algiers, which also declared war against the Knoxist-Lutheran League. Scottish forces, still occupying Southern France, were the first to arrive in North Africa, and quickly subdued the capital. But, they arrived with insufficient infantry forces to capture any other province safely, so they waited for reinforcements to arrive. Meanwhile, back in Scotland, the king ordered that thousands of men must be conscripted to defeat their Muslim foes.
After a few months, Scottish ships, loaded with manpower and artillery landed in Thrace, Acre, Tripoli and Rumelia and seized the areas with little to no bloodshed. By the end of 1809, most of Ottoman Southern Europe was in Scottish hands and many of the provinces on the Turkish mainland were under Swedish and Dutch rule, while Norway held the strategic provinces in the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Scottish forces, meeting minimal resistance from the natives and maximum resistance from the environment, seized all of Algiers and concluded a hasty peace, taking all their territories except the capital. Edgar Francis then decreed that Tripolitania and Tunisia were to be given sovereignty to buffer Scottish possessions from the Mamelukes. Scotland then made peace with the Ottoman Turks on May 7, 1809 for cash, cash that was funneled directly into their new puppet states to help them draft an army and improve their infrastructure.
With their most powerful ally leaving the war, the other members of the League quickly left the war for small gains in land. Norway was the final power to settle the matter on August 8, 1813 with the net gain of two colonies on the West African coast.
But Edgar Francis knew that his war in Algeria was far from over. In the interwar period, he positioned Scottish interests into the minds of all the other friendly European governments, so that when war came again, the Scottish point of view would be considered right, and for the most part, this strategy worked. Austria knowing that they also had some interests in the area was reluctant to allow unfettered Scottish conquest of North Africa, despite the Scottish claim that all they wished for was a few ports in the Mediterranean to protect their own interests in the area.
Austria saw this as a direct threat to their empire, as it would allow Scottish forces to wage war easily from three fronts, the North from their possessions along the Baltic and through their allies, from the West through the conquered French Empire and now from the South through a full naval assault from the Algerian coast. To ease Austrian fears, Scotland signed a non-aggression pact in 1814, ensuring that unless Austria directly attacked either Scotland and her allies, or one of her vassals, each party would only attack nations that were neutral or enemies of the other for a decade. This opened the door for the Second Scottish-Algerian War(1817-1819), which would have been a much shorter if the Ottoman Empire had not also joined.
The first phase of the war involved the seizure of the Algerian capital, and annexation of the country. Edgar Francis then reformed Algiers as an inland country with a single port. The Scottish forces from these battles then sailed to the east to fight in the Holy Land, seizing province after province with their superior numbers of artillery pieces and the relatively low level of fortification of the defending garrisons. Soon, Scotland had conquered most of the Mediterranean provinces of the Turks, but land was not their interest, merely the fatigue of an enemy, so that they would stand weakened in an area where their enemies would overrun and destroy them. After numerous battles, where tens of thousands of Turks, equipped with technically inferior armaments, were slaughtered, the Scots pulled back to Acre and demanded that the Holy Land be given to the League, an offer the Sultan could not refuse.
By Christmas 1819, Acre was a Scottish outpost, surrounded by a sea of Swedish and Dutch-held territories. The future looked very promising for the Scottish Empire.
M
Kenneth Kelley, The Modern History of the World, 1904
At the beginning of young Edgar Francis I's reign, her longtime ally, Sweden, who was already the ruler of much of what used to be part of the maritime and African segments of the Omanian Empire, got into a border dispute with the Ottoman Empire. At first, the diplomats were handling this dispute, but things began to heat up, and war seemed to be inevitable.
When war did come in early 1808, the Knoxist-Lutheran League pledged all it had to the fight in the Near East. On the Ottoman side of the equation, they had a loose affiliation with Algiers, which also declared war against the Knoxist-Lutheran League. Scottish forces, still occupying Southern France, were the first to arrive in North Africa, and quickly subdued the capital. But, they arrived with insufficient infantry forces to capture any other province safely, so they waited for reinforcements to arrive. Meanwhile, back in Scotland, the king ordered that thousands of men must be conscripted to defeat their Muslim foes.
After a few months, Scottish ships, loaded with manpower and artillery landed in Thrace, Acre, Tripoli and Rumelia and seized the areas with little to no bloodshed. By the end of 1809, most of Ottoman Southern Europe was in Scottish hands and many of the provinces on the Turkish mainland were under Swedish and Dutch rule, while Norway held the strategic provinces in the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Scottish forces, meeting minimal resistance from the natives and maximum resistance from the environment, seized all of Algiers and concluded a hasty peace, taking all their territories except the capital. Edgar Francis then decreed that Tripolitania and Tunisia were to be given sovereignty to buffer Scottish possessions from the Mamelukes. Scotland then made peace with the Ottoman Turks on May 7, 1809 for cash, cash that was funneled directly into their new puppet states to help them draft an army and improve their infrastructure.
With their most powerful ally leaving the war, the other members of the League quickly left the war for small gains in land. Norway was the final power to settle the matter on August 8, 1813 with the net gain of two colonies on the West African coast.
But Edgar Francis knew that his war in Algeria was far from over. In the interwar period, he positioned Scottish interests into the minds of all the other friendly European governments, so that when war came again, the Scottish point of view would be considered right, and for the most part, this strategy worked. Austria knowing that they also had some interests in the area was reluctant to allow unfettered Scottish conquest of North Africa, despite the Scottish claim that all they wished for was a few ports in the Mediterranean to protect their own interests in the area.
Austria saw this as a direct threat to their empire, as it would allow Scottish forces to wage war easily from three fronts, the North from their possessions along the Baltic and through their allies, from the West through the conquered French Empire and now from the South through a full naval assault from the Algerian coast. To ease Austrian fears, Scotland signed a non-aggression pact in 1814, ensuring that unless Austria directly attacked either Scotland and her allies, or one of her vassals, each party would only attack nations that were neutral or enemies of the other for a decade. This opened the door for the Second Scottish-Algerian War(1817-1819), which would have been a much shorter if the Ottoman Empire had not also joined.
The first phase of the war involved the seizure of the Algerian capital, and annexation of the country. Edgar Francis then reformed Algiers as an inland country with a single port. The Scottish forces from these battles then sailed to the east to fight in the Holy Land, seizing province after province with their superior numbers of artillery pieces and the relatively low level of fortification of the defending garrisons. Soon, Scotland had conquered most of the Mediterranean provinces of the Turks, but land was not their interest, merely the fatigue of an enemy, so that they would stand weakened in an area where their enemies would overrun and destroy them. After numerous battles, where tens of thousands of Turks, equipped with technically inferior armaments, were slaughtered, the Scots pulled back to Acre and demanded that the Holy Land be given to the League, an offer the Sultan could not refuse.
By Christmas 1819, Acre was a Scottish outpost, surrounded by a sea of Swedish and Dutch-held territories. The future looked very promising for the Scottish Empire.
M
Next chapter? You've only got four days left. What? Do you wage the incredible Three-Day War? 
Most impressive Bismark. I guess I'll just have to imagine what the map looks like with the majority of the southern Med coast in royal blue looks like. I bet it's nice. How much of the Holy Land did you add? Lebanon, Samaria and Judea?
Most impressive Bismark. I guess I'll just have to imagine what the map looks like with the majority of the southern Med coast in royal blue looks like. I bet it's nice. How much of the Holy Land did you add? Lebanon, Samaria and Judea?
Well, there is certainly more lighter blue and slightly orange than full deep dark st. Andrews blue.
The next chapter concerns the 50 years following the end of the game, so some major stuff happens then too...
Stay tuned.
M
The next chapter concerns the 50 years following the end of the game, so some major stuff happens then too...
Stay tuned.
M
Interesting AAR
So that is how you play through 400 years and still have friends in the world; wars of liberation. Interesting concept.
*hm*
*nah*
I'll stick to my powermad campaigns for now
My compliments on a well crafted campaign, which has been a joy to read so far.
So that is how you play through 400 years and still have friends in the world; wars of liberation. Interesting concept.
*hm*
*nah*
I'll stick to my powermad campaigns for now
My compliments on a well crafted campaign, which has been a joy to read so far.
The World 1820-70... a short recap
I foresee a day when all the empires of the world shall be destroyed from within, by the hands of the peoples thought to be without battle in their blood. It is an assumption which will be costly in the end.
Oswald Spengler, The Patterns of Empire: Waxing and Waning 1926
Scottish forces held onto the soil of France for a full two decades until it finally seemed time to set them free. On May 18, 1832, Scotland convened The Congress of Tours, to discuss the end of French vassalization and the restructuring of Western Europe to prevent French aggression towards the north of the continent.
To regain its sovereignty, France was forced to concede its overseas colonies to the victors of the previous war, grant the independence of Cologne, Helvetia and Alsace-Lorraine and allow for the annexation of Kleves and Pfalz by the Dutch, conditions which were harsh, but deemed fair by the international community. In exchange for these concessions, Scotland renounced its claims on Berri and gave it back to the French.
Of course, Austria, sensing this new weakness in its neighbor to the West, attack within months of the independence of the now stripped French nation, and was greeted by the not only a well-trained and armed French army, but two divisions of Scottish reserves, who were to be the last Scottish troops on French soil and were scheduled to leave just a month after the first attack in this new war. This fully-committed Scottish forces, and as an act of good faith, gave the French claim over any lands that they won in battle. Weeks became years, and soon the French had created a wide corridor of land to Munich, and demanded peace at the cost of a few border provinces, terms which Austria and her allies had no choice but to give into on September 15, 1837.
The German principalities, particularly Prussia and Saxony, were growing ever closer as a defense against Austrian encroachment, made their alliances more codified in law with the creation of the monarchy of Prussia-Saxony. With the heavy tactical and geopolitical losses Austria had suffered the decade before, the time seemed right for the Northern German states to feed upon their divided and weakened Southern neighbor.
In the War of Confederation(1838-42), Prussia-Saxony, with their combined forces numbering over half a million, drove southward towards Vienna, and in a few battles, were close to achieving their goal, but the tired and almost broken Austrian army fought their superior armies to a draw first near Prague and then pushed them back in the second battle two miles west of their original battle. Buoyed by this sudden success, they chased their enemies into their own lands, and began an short offensive in early January 1839, but the winter got the better of them, forcing a retreat and leading to a virtual standstill in the war for two years. Finally, with the addition of Poland to their alliance and an agreement with the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire was partitioned a battle at a time until German and Turkish troops met outside of Vienna, and forced new lines on the map to be drawn. For Prussia-Saxony, they claimed all the land north of the Danube, and west of Salzburg, Poland claimed Carpathia, Moravia, and Maros, while the Ottomans claimed Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Pest. Austria, devoured by her enemies, nonetheless still possessed a good deal of land, stretching south into the Italian pennisula.
Spain during this time period was finally able to absorb both Portugal and Aragon, making for the first time, a united Iberian pennisula a reality. However, it was still not powerful enough to keep its bloated colonial empire, and as decades passed, it gradually had to release its colonial provinces to vassalage and outright freedom from their monarchy. Lithuania also had a resurgence in its own power and began expanding its territories around the world, in particular, picking up a few colonies in the Caribbean and Central Africa. It also "took back" territories which it had held centuries before from Poland, with Scottish support.
Scotland had its own problems with its colonies. In North America, its interior colonies were routinely subjected to attacks by a far more organized set of tribal bands than when their first settlers arrived centuries before. The leaders of this new revolution were the Catholic Spanish-educated Creeks, who became the dominant tribe in the Americas. Through able leadership, they were first able to stop the inward progression of European settlers and then push them out of areas they had previously settled. By 1870, most of the tribes of Western North America were in some way or another part of this movement by the Creeks to reclaim the continent that was once wholly theirs. The Spanish, who were the Europeans that had lived closest to them were the first to be pushed off the continent.
The Far East also saw their scattered nations becoming stronger supranational entities. A Grand Alliance of smaller nations, from Malacca to Dai Viet banded together to fight Western and Chinese encroachment in their sphere of influence, and both Scotland and later, the Netherlands and France agreed to stop all new colonial activities in the region for unfettered access to their major markets. Austria, Spain and Russia continued their colonial attempts in the area, and sparked a massive uprising throughout the region. China was also wary about interfering in the policies of the region and instead turned its attentions towards Korea and Japan, taking both early in the 1860's.
The Moslem World, with the ever-strengthening Ottoman Empire to the West and the waning Sultanates of Oman to the South and Delhi to the East toyed with the Pan-Islamic movement beginning in the 1840's and stretching into the early 20th century. However, the debate was always who should be the leader of such an amalgamation, so little came of this movement except dischord and a few minor inter-dynastic wars. However, there was a strengthening bond between the small island sultanates of the Far East and the Ottomans, which lead to a quasi-alliance to unite their correligionists against their infidel neighbors.
These changes would lead to some of the bloodiest conflicts in the history of the world but it would take decades for the outcome of each of these individual acts to come to fruition.
M
I foresee a day when all the empires of the world shall be destroyed from within, by the hands of the peoples thought to be without battle in their blood. It is an assumption which will be costly in the end.
Oswald Spengler, The Patterns of Empire: Waxing and Waning 1926
Scottish forces held onto the soil of France for a full two decades until it finally seemed time to set them free. On May 18, 1832, Scotland convened The Congress of Tours, to discuss the end of French vassalization and the restructuring of Western Europe to prevent French aggression towards the north of the continent.
To regain its sovereignty, France was forced to concede its overseas colonies to the victors of the previous war, grant the independence of Cologne, Helvetia and Alsace-Lorraine and allow for the annexation of Kleves and Pfalz by the Dutch, conditions which were harsh, but deemed fair by the international community. In exchange for these concessions, Scotland renounced its claims on Berri and gave it back to the French.
Of course, Austria, sensing this new weakness in its neighbor to the West, attack within months of the independence of the now stripped French nation, and was greeted by the not only a well-trained and armed French army, but two divisions of Scottish reserves, who were to be the last Scottish troops on French soil and were scheduled to leave just a month after the first attack in this new war. This fully-committed Scottish forces, and as an act of good faith, gave the French claim over any lands that they won in battle. Weeks became years, and soon the French had created a wide corridor of land to Munich, and demanded peace at the cost of a few border provinces, terms which Austria and her allies had no choice but to give into on September 15, 1837.
The German principalities, particularly Prussia and Saxony, were growing ever closer as a defense against Austrian encroachment, made their alliances more codified in law with the creation of the monarchy of Prussia-Saxony. With the heavy tactical and geopolitical losses Austria had suffered the decade before, the time seemed right for the Northern German states to feed upon their divided and weakened Southern neighbor.
In the War of Confederation(1838-42), Prussia-Saxony, with their combined forces numbering over half a million, drove southward towards Vienna, and in a few battles, were close to achieving their goal, but the tired and almost broken Austrian army fought their superior armies to a draw first near Prague and then pushed them back in the second battle two miles west of their original battle. Buoyed by this sudden success, they chased their enemies into their own lands, and began an short offensive in early January 1839, but the winter got the better of them, forcing a retreat and leading to a virtual standstill in the war for two years. Finally, with the addition of Poland to their alliance and an agreement with the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire was partitioned a battle at a time until German and Turkish troops met outside of Vienna, and forced new lines on the map to be drawn. For Prussia-Saxony, they claimed all the land north of the Danube, and west of Salzburg, Poland claimed Carpathia, Moravia, and Maros, while the Ottomans claimed Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Pest. Austria, devoured by her enemies, nonetheless still possessed a good deal of land, stretching south into the Italian pennisula.
Spain during this time period was finally able to absorb both Portugal and Aragon, making for the first time, a united Iberian pennisula a reality. However, it was still not powerful enough to keep its bloated colonial empire, and as decades passed, it gradually had to release its colonial provinces to vassalage and outright freedom from their monarchy. Lithuania also had a resurgence in its own power and began expanding its territories around the world, in particular, picking up a few colonies in the Caribbean and Central Africa. It also "took back" territories which it had held centuries before from Poland, with Scottish support.
Scotland had its own problems with its colonies. In North America, its interior colonies were routinely subjected to attacks by a far more organized set of tribal bands than when their first settlers arrived centuries before. The leaders of this new revolution were the Catholic Spanish-educated Creeks, who became the dominant tribe in the Americas. Through able leadership, they were first able to stop the inward progression of European settlers and then push them out of areas they had previously settled. By 1870, most of the tribes of Western North America were in some way or another part of this movement by the Creeks to reclaim the continent that was once wholly theirs. The Spanish, who were the Europeans that had lived closest to them were the first to be pushed off the continent.
The Far East also saw their scattered nations becoming stronger supranational entities. A Grand Alliance of smaller nations, from Malacca to Dai Viet banded together to fight Western and Chinese encroachment in their sphere of influence, and both Scotland and later, the Netherlands and France agreed to stop all new colonial activities in the region for unfettered access to their major markets. Austria, Spain and Russia continued their colonial attempts in the area, and sparked a massive uprising throughout the region. China was also wary about interfering in the policies of the region and instead turned its attentions towards Korea and Japan, taking both early in the 1860's.
The Moslem World, with the ever-strengthening Ottoman Empire to the West and the waning Sultanates of Oman to the South and Delhi to the East toyed with the Pan-Islamic movement beginning in the 1840's and stretching into the early 20th century. However, the debate was always who should be the leader of such an amalgamation, so little came of this movement except dischord and a few minor inter-dynastic wars. However, there was a strengthening bond between the small island sultanates of the Far East and the Ottomans, which lead to a quasi-alliance to unite their correligionists against their infidel neighbors.
These changes would lead to some of the bloodiest conflicts in the history of the world but it would take decades for the outcome of each of these individual acts to come to fruition.
M
aewsome AAR
This is my 1st actual comment on an AAR and I do say that this has been very impressive....I have been considering, for a while, to write my own AAR. About how long do you play at a given time? Do you take notes as you play or just remember them. Again your AAR was very impressive and I hope that when I begin mine that people will respond in a positive way.
This is my 1st actual comment on an AAR and I do say that this has been very impressive....I have been considering, for a while, to write my own AAR. About how long do you play at a given time? Do you take notes as you play or just remember them. Again your AAR was very impressive and I hope that when I begin mine that people will respond in a positive way.
Hittman,
I do things a little differently from the average player. I don't take notes at all. I copy and paste my history events from the save game file and then I can search it to find the relevant information.
I usually play about 5-10 of game time in a sitting... and I USED to play a 1 minute a month, but I've gotten with the program and I am playing 1:2 months now.
I wish you luck in your own AAR.
M
I do things a little differently from the average player. I don't take notes at all. I copy and paste my history events from the save game file and then I can search it to find the relevant information.
I usually play about 5-10 of game time in a sitting... and I USED to play a 1 minute a month, but I've gotten with the program and I am playing 1:2 months now.
I wish you luck in your own AAR.
M
We must destroy the monarchy, for it is the monarchy which is keeping us from achieving our full potential as living beings. Man is by his very nature, intrisically free, and the imposition of ruler between himself and God is unnatural.
Martin Heidegger, The Liberated Man, 1925
The decades between 1870 and 1890 saw an ever-increasing tension between the Christian West and Muslim middle east... most of which centred on Scottish, Dutch, Russian and Swedish holdings in the region.
The Muslim-Christian tensions came to a head with the massacre of Swedish settlements in the Holy Land and subsequent counter attack by Swedish and Russian forces in 1889. Rather than see one of their brother countries be destroyed by its more advanced foes, many of the other Muslim nations in the region gave aid to the Ottoman Empire, and other countries, sensing that there was a potential for great gains, decided that they too should join the war. Massive China, knowing that the island sultanates would be almost exhausted of troops with their involvement declared war on all of them. This war, The Fourteen Years War(1889-1903)
France, Scotland, Prussia-Saxony, Spain and Poland all contributed troops to protect Europe from the second coming of the Ottoman/Muslim invasion. In the European battles, primarily in Polish-held lands, the Ottomans were able to push back their divided foes, who could not agree on a unified military strategy, and were decimated one at a time. It was about this time that Austria signed a pact of non-aggression with the Muslim armies in exchange for the return of the possessions the Turks had taken from her in the War of Confederation. Austria still allowed Ottoman and other allied troops to cross her territories, for she felt it was better if they were on her soil to protect her from any reprisals from the other nations of Europe.
However, these early successes were shortlived, as the alliance between the nations of Europe finally were able to put their differences aside and fight a unified war. Soon, the Ottoman Turks were fighting for their survival on their own soil... so a different strategy was needed.
In a brilliant maneover, Muslim troops suddenly attacked the Iberian Pennisula, drawing Spanish and some French forces away from the Middle Eastern front. This gave the Empire some breathing room and permitted readvancement into European territories. But, not wasting their chance the way they had the first time, they sought to take out their most pressing enemy first, that of Russia. With her superior fleets, the Muslims sailed to Crimea and pushed northward at incredible speed on her unprepared foe, reaching Moscow in virtually unmolested in mid-summer and forced their surrender from the war. They then pushed southwest into Poland, and defeated a combined Polish-French army at Smolensk. For years, the two alliances fought throughout Southern Europe and the Middle East, but neither party could achieve decisive victory.
This war also saw a great number of technical innovations in military weaponry, whether it was the first uses of practical chemical weapons, and the development of early powered flight, to some small mechanical units deployed in a few areas to protect the movement of troops from far off gunfire. When each successive invention was introduced, it would change the tide of the war until countermeasures were implemented.
The War also helped protect a lot of new colonial nations who declared independence from their governments and formed protection leagues, unions of geographically close states which would fight together against the mother country and outside invaders. The most powerful of these newly-liberated countries were the Republics of East New Scotland and Mexico, both of which were able to maintain their armies loyalty to their birth place and not to the distant governments in Edinburgh and Madrid. These republics also gave aid to the Turks in their war with supplies. This disintegration of empire was what ultimately brought the war to an end, with the Muslim nations holding significant land gains over what they had held prior to the war.
With all the help the Sultanates gave the Turks, they were happy to return the favor. Their now heavily-experienced troops and commanders freed their allies from the claws of their oppressors, in a matter of months, and for good measure, dealt China a few blows to her own economy by claiming Southern Japan for herself.
In the 14 years of war, millions of lives had been lost, mostly Muslim, and the fatigue from such an massive effort made it all seem all the more futile. Yes, there were a lot more lands under their administration now, but in the end, to the people, these lands were bloodied and in the end they knew that it would cause disunity through the Empire and be a detriment to the pan-Islamic movement.
The European powers, tired from war were also forced to concede their liberated imperial holdings and give up on the ideas of expansion. Old rivalries began to re-emerge and Europe was again divided as it was before the war. The borders of the Western European nations remained pretty much fixed along these lines for two decades, until one man, believing that monarchy was against the will of god, wrote a book which changed the European system forever and produced the system we all know today. The year was 1925, the book was The Liberated Man, and its author was Heidegger.
M
Martin Heidegger, The Liberated Man, 1925
The decades between 1870 and 1890 saw an ever-increasing tension between the Christian West and Muslim middle east... most of which centred on Scottish, Dutch, Russian and Swedish holdings in the region.
The Muslim-Christian tensions came to a head with the massacre of Swedish settlements in the Holy Land and subsequent counter attack by Swedish and Russian forces in 1889. Rather than see one of their brother countries be destroyed by its more advanced foes, many of the other Muslim nations in the region gave aid to the Ottoman Empire, and other countries, sensing that there was a potential for great gains, decided that they too should join the war. Massive China, knowing that the island sultanates would be almost exhausted of troops with their involvement declared war on all of them. This war, The Fourteen Years War(1889-1903)
France, Scotland, Prussia-Saxony, Spain and Poland all contributed troops to protect Europe from the second coming of the Ottoman/Muslim invasion. In the European battles, primarily in Polish-held lands, the Ottomans were able to push back their divided foes, who could not agree on a unified military strategy, and were decimated one at a time. It was about this time that Austria signed a pact of non-aggression with the Muslim armies in exchange for the return of the possessions the Turks had taken from her in the War of Confederation. Austria still allowed Ottoman and other allied troops to cross her territories, for she felt it was better if they were on her soil to protect her from any reprisals from the other nations of Europe.
However, these early successes were shortlived, as the alliance between the nations of Europe finally were able to put their differences aside and fight a unified war. Soon, the Ottoman Turks were fighting for their survival on their own soil... so a different strategy was needed.
In a brilliant maneover, Muslim troops suddenly attacked the Iberian Pennisula, drawing Spanish and some French forces away from the Middle Eastern front. This gave the Empire some breathing room and permitted readvancement into European territories. But, not wasting their chance the way they had the first time, they sought to take out their most pressing enemy first, that of Russia. With her superior fleets, the Muslims sailed to Crimea and pushed northward at incredible speed on her unprepared foe, reaching Moscow in virtually unmolested in mid-summer and forced their surrender from the war. They then pushed southwest into Poland, and defeated a combined Polish-French army at Smolensk. For years, the two alliances fought throughout Southern Europe and the Middle East, but neither party could achieve decisive victory.
This war also saw a great number of technical innovations in military weaponry, whether it was the first uses of practical chemical weapons, and the development of early powered flight, to some small mechanical units deployed in a few areas to protect the movement of troops from far off gunfire. When each successive invention was introduced, it would change the tide of the war until countermeasures were implemented.
The War also helped protect a lot of new colonial nations who declared independence from their governments and formed protection leagues, unions of geographically close states which would fight together against the mother country and outside invaders. The most powerful of these newly-liberated countries were the Republics of East New Scotland and Mexico, both of which were able to maintain their armies loyalty to their birth place and not to the distant governments in Edinburgh and Madrid. These republics also gave aid to the Turks in their war with supplies. This disintegration of empire was what ultimately brought the war to an end, with the Muslim nations holding significant land gains over what they had held prior to the war.
With all the help the Sultanates gave the Turks, they were happy to return the favor. Their now heavily-experienced troops and commanders freed their allies from the claws of their oppressors, in a matter of months, and for good measure, dealt China a few blows to her own economy by claiming Southern Japan for herself.
In the 14 years of war, millions of lives had been lost, mostly Muslim, and the fatigue from such an massive effort made it all seem all the more futile. Yes, there were a lot more lands under their administration now, but in the end, to the people, these lands were bloodied and in the end they knew that it would cause disunity through the Empire and be a detriment to the pan-Islamic movement.
The European powers, tired from war were also forced to concede their liberated imperial holdings and give up on the ideas of expansion. Old rivalries began to re-emerge and Europe was again divided as it was before the war. The borders of the Western European nations remained pretty much fixed along these lines for two decades, until one man, believing that monarchy was against the will of god, wrote a book which changed the European system forever and produced the system we all know today. The year was 1925, the book was The Liberated Man, and its author was Heidegger.
M
You do like alternate history, don't you? Well, me too, especially this one. Great work, Bismarck!
Great work, Bismarck!
This is fantastic! I especially like all the detailed maps included-- it indeed helps to get a sense of the expanse of your empire.
For those interested in Scottish colonialism, check out The Rising Sun by Douglas Galbraith-- a book of historical fiction about the dreams of Scotland for colonial expansion in 1698. Very good stuff.
For those interested in Scottish colonialism, check out The Rising Sun by Douglas Galbraith-- a book of historical fiction about the dreams of Scotland for colonial expansion in 1698. Very good stuff.
The final chapter
Perhaps we are the unwitting victims of circumstance, being shepharded by those who we share distant blood with, like a terminal wardship from a formerly unknown uncle.
James Joyce, Magog, 1942
Within three years of the publication of The Liberated Man Eastern Europe and Russia were all in the midst of revolutions for democracy. As the monarchies fell, the old aristocracies schemed for positions in these new governments. Internal civil wars boiled throughout the region, much to the delight of the Ottoman Turks and Western Europe, who saw the remaining monarchies as threats to their own democratic traditions, as future claims to the abandoned thrones of the West could still be made from the progeny of the Eastern rulers. If these families were deposed, then the threat would be effectively minimized.
In Russia, a two-house system was adopted in 1934, in Prussia, a single large chamber was enacted in 1938, and in Austria, a compromise was reached, with the formation of a constitutional monarchy in 1941. These new regimes were eagerly supported by the governments of the West, and aid was given to repair the damages caused by the revolutionary movement, as well as food and medical supplies to replenish those lost because of battle.
The Ottoman Turks, under the Sultanate of Ahmed Ali Mohammed, broke from their traditional allies in the Muslim world and began a series of programs to isolate itself from the rest of the world. With its most vocal and powerful member state effectively disappearing, the Pan-Islamic movement faded away. It may yet resurface, but it seems highly unlikely if it is to arise again, it will have the same power or scope it once had.
The West was not entirely without its own battles, as there were a myriad of minor wars throughout the world against their former colonies, the majority of which were largely unsuccessful. The most notable exception was the Scottish victory and reannexation of the La Plata colonies and its surroundings in 1953. This provided Scotland with its needed supplies of sugar and other plants that are only available in the tropics. In the 1970's, plants from this region are going to be found to have antibiotic properties, and these lands become very profitable for Scotland and her burgeoning medical research industries.
The other colonial nations, positions strengthened from their victories, begin to compete with their mother nations in commerce and technology, rapidly developing more sophisticated weaponry the naval and aeronomic fields and selling their new technologies amongst themselves. This two world system is what we live in today. There are small alliances throughout the world of course, but the basic paradigm is that of the rich and powerful new nations versus the old and traditionally stable nation-states of Europe. Will we ever see an end to this division. Only time will tell.
FIN
M
Perhaps we are the unwitting victims of circumstance, being shepharded by those who we share distant blood with, like a terminal wardship from a formerly unknown uncle.
James Joyce, Magog, 1942
Within three years of the publication of The Liberated Man Eastern Europe and Russia were all in the midst of revolutions for democracy. As the monarchies fell, the old aristocracies schemed for positions in these new governments. Internal civil wars boiled throughout the region, much to the delight of the Ottoman Turks and Western Europe, who saw the remaining monarchies as threats to their own democratic traditions, as future claims to the abandoned thrones of the West could still be made from the progeny of the Eastern rulers. If these families were deposed, then the threat would be effectively minimized.
In Russia, a two-house system was adopted in 1934, in Prussia, a single large chamber was enacted in 1938, and in Austria, a compromise was reached, with the formation of a constitutional monarchy in 1941. These new regimes were eagerly supported by the governments of the West, and aid was given to repair the damages caused by the revolutionary movement, as well as food and medical supplies to replenish those lost because of battle.
The Ottoman Turks, under the Sultanate of Ahmed Ali Mohammed, broke from their traditional allies in the Muslim world and began a series of programs to isolate itself from the rest of the world. With its most vocal and powerful member state effectively disappearing, the Pan-Islamic movement faded away. It may yet resurface, but it seems highly unlikely if it is to arise again, it will have the same power or scope it once had.
The West was not entirely without its own battles, as there were a myriad of minor wars throughout the world against their former colonies, the majority of which were largely unsuccessful. The most notable exception was the Scottish victory and reannexation of the La Plata colonies and its surroundings in 1953. This provided Scotland with its needed supplies of sugar and other plants that are only available in the tropics. In the 1970's, plants from this region are going to be found to have antibiotic properties, and these lands become very profitable for Scotland and her burgeoning medical research industries.
The other colonial nations, positions strengthened from their victories, begin to compete with their mother nations in commerce and technology, rapidly developing more sophisticated weaponry the naval and aeronomic fields and selling their new technologies amongst themselves. This two world system is what we live in today. There are small alliances throughout the world of course, but the basic paradigm is that of the rich and powerful new nations versus the old and traditionally stable nation-states of Europe. Will we ever see an end to this division. Only time will tell.
FIN
M
Good god my man as an astute student of history.....I must say...I felt like I was readin an alternative world throughout this AAR.......the quotes were bliss.....I especially LOVED the Gibbon quote about Rome and what not....pure ecstasy.....I spent 3-4 hours of my night....comparing your tale to actual history and loved every minute.....good show, can't wait for your next AAR, and you have inspired me to do one of my one. though I doubt I can compare in quality
And to think... I just started with the quote thing, because I thought it was fun to do so... I think the quotation I am the most proud of is the faux Walter Scott... but the Gibbons one is pretty good too(I don't even remember writing it, it was that long ago)
I think I have set standards which I can't live up to on my next AAR though... because my next AAR is going to be.... Cyprus... a region I have no background in, so I am going to have to wing it. But I'll figure something out... I usually do.
I'm looking forward to reading your own AAR... do you have a country in mind?
M
hmm...a country...
hehe...cyprus oughta be tough...
I was acutally thinking about what would be a good country..don't want to do a major major power...too easy, nothing novel about it...
But I wanna stay in Europe, because that's where my knowledge base is, would be a better story I s'pose...any ideas?
hehe...cyprus oughta be tough...
I was acutally thinking about what would be a good country..don't want to do a major major power...too easy, nothing novel about it...
But I wanna stay in Europe, because that's where my knowledge base is, would be a better story I s'pose...any ideas?
Well, part of the fun is thinking of novel ways of playing countries sometimes.... like taking a major in a direction that it didn't traditionally go in.
You just need to play around with a few countries, and it will come to you which one you are comfortable playing as. Is there any countries you had an interest in historically?
The reason I picked Cyprus was because it had some CB shields so I had justified reasons to go to war with a few nations.
M
You just need to play around with a few countries, and it will come to you which one you are comfortable playing as. Is there any countries you had an interest in historically?
The reason I picked Cyprus was because it had some CB shields so I had justified reasons to go to war with a few nations.
M