I really liked your storytelling in the last two chapters. It added a lot to the events happening. And whoa, Estonia Magna is unstoppable beast of a country.
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December 1905 - May 1906 AD
The Treaty of Orleans - The Rebirth of France
The Great War broke out on October 29, 1901 after attempts to negotiate with Germany and Andalusia over French sovereignty proved fruitless. The Monarchist Compact nations began the war with rapid aggression, mounting swift efforts to invade the Guelder Republic, eastern Estonia, Italy, and Arabian Africa. Casualties mounted quickly on both sides, and the Great War became the deadliest war in human history as most of the world's largest powers sent wave after wave of men into combat. Both sides held the advantage at different points in the war, but by the time Estonian troops had finished suppressing the Red Summer uprisings, the tide had turned decisively in favor of the Democratic Entente. Germany and Andalusia were utterly broken and under Entente occupation, Persia was beginning to lose territory on both ends of its border, and the Inca were uninterested in deploying troops outside of the Americas to aid their allies. It had become clear that the Monarchist Compact was defeated -- now, the leaders of the Entente would have to undertake the task of formulating their peace terms.
On March 4 of 1906, the heads of state of the Entente nations arrived in the Estonian capital of Saaremaa to convene at the presidential palace to discuss their proposals for the war's settlement. This would prove challenging at times; while all of the participating nations were united around certain common goals, many of their leaders had very specific and often conflicting personal interests for their nation in particular. An internal debate lasted over a week before a first draft of the peace terms was put together, with several nations contesting various provisions and arguing their cases, often to the benefit of their own borders. But the debate eventually cooled, and the time came to determine the fates of the Compact nations in the aftermath of the war.
The first issue was one of the easiest and most universally agreed upon among the Entente states: the creation of a French state. This was the issue that sparked the Great War in the first place, and it was first among the priorities of the Entente when it came to resolving the war. On May 7, Kaiser Albrecht, Emperor Deaglan, and King Felipe traveled with their entourages to the city of Orleans to discuss the terms of recreating the French state -- its borders, its structure, and its relationship to the Compact powers.
France reached its territorial apex in the early 16th century, controlling the traditional realm of East Francia along with the Breton Peninsula, several German provinces in the east, and portions of the Catalonian coast in eastern Iberia. Not long thereafter, conflicts with Rome led to the excommunication of multiple monarchs, the French Protestant Reformation, and the ultimate conquest of Protestant France by its Catholic neighbors. Initially, the Entente powers used this 16th century map as the basis for creating the borders of the newly restored France, but several regions proved problematic during negotiations, both within the Entente and with the Compact nations.
The first of these regions was Brittany. The Breton Peninsula had remained independent for most of the medieval period, ruled by various local counts and dukes until France finally conquered it shortly before its dissolution. As France fell, Brittany was annexed into the Celtic Empire, and had been a part of the empire for over 200 years by the end of the Great War. Emperor Deaglan argued that France had no proper claim to Brittany over the Celtic Empire, insisting that ethnic groups should not be disrupted in order to replicate "outdated maps from an outdated time." Additionally, Brittany had remained one of the least culturally diverse regions in Europe, with over 95% of its population claiming Breton heritage. As such, the people of the peninsula felt a much stronger affinity toward the Celts than the French, a problem recognized even by the French delegates to the treaty. While driving the Celtic Empire off of the European mainland was desirable to the French and most of the Entente, the French delegates recognized that attempting to control a fiercely Celtic population under the French flag would be exceedingly difficult and could lead to further conflict with the empire down the line. Accordingly, it was agreed that the Celtic Empire would surrender its occupied lands in Normandy and western France, but would retain Brittany.
In like fashion, Catalonia was excluded from the reformed France in the interest of ethnic organization and ease of governance. Only a small French minority was present in the region, and its governance would likely prove to be more trouble than it was worth for the new French government. A more difficult concern, though, was Alsace-Lorraine. That region had heavy populations of both French and German descent, and feelings were mixed as to where it should belong. Where the French delegation had been perfectly willing to surrender Brittany and Catalonia, they drew a firmer line on Alsace-Lorraine and insisted that it be incorporated into their new state. Kaiser Albrecht protested vehemently, using the same argument that Deaglan had used in defending Celtic rule over Brittany. In the end, it was agreed that the citizens of Alsace-Lorraine could vote to determine their allegiance in the aftermath of the treaty signing. Ultimately, the German majority won out, and the final borders of modern France were drawn.
The France that was born from the Treaty of Orleans was not as territorially expansive as its predecessor kingdom, but did claim more than enough land to immediately become a central player in European politics. The Treaty also provided for the creation of a small sovereign state in Belgium, born of the local Flemish and Wallonian residents' desires to be separate both from their German conquerors as well as the new French state. The treaty was formally signed on May 9 after two days of debate, and the new 20th century state of France was reborn.
The Treaty of Kuressaare - Ending the War With Germany and Andalusia
With the conclusion of the Treaty of Orleans, the creation of a French state from its occupied territories was completed. That treaty, however, only handled the issue of French sovereignty; it did not formally end the war, and made no mention of any further land concessions or economic reparations for the war. Those matters would be discussed separately, in a meeting held several weeks after the Treaty of Orleans was signed. This time, the delegations met in Kuressaare, on the island of Saaremaa which was home to the Estonian capital.
The negotiation over the Treaty of Orleans had been largely cordial, but the talks that would lead to the Treaty of Kuressaare carried a very different tone from the beginning. President Ojakaar made it clear that he viewed Germany as the single greatest threat to world peace, and that he intended to use the peace settlement as an opportunity to permanently neuter the threat of German aggression in Europe. For Ojakaar, the Treaty of Kuressaare was a chance to shine on the world stage and be hailed as the champion of peace who ushered in a new age for the 20th century. In his mind, he would be the single greatest hero of the war; but his desires frequently clashed with his fellow Entente states during the negotiation.
Countries like the Guelder Republic and Italy, who had suffered heavily under German invasion, wanted to see harsh penalties leveled against the Germans and significant concessions to exact retribution for their suffering. President Konrad Lichtmann of the Guelder Republic offered his eponymous "Lichtmann Plan" which called for the total dissolution of the German Empire, with all of its ethnic German territory divided between the Guelder and Elbe Republics along a determined border. Italian President Ruggiero lobbied for Italy to take possession of all of Dalmatia and the Balkans, and Arabia eyed a massive expansion in Africa.
Ojakaar took an unpopular position among his peers. He supported small territorial gains for the Guelder and Elbe Republics in northern Germany and Italian expansion further into Greece, but he pushed for the primary focus to be placed on creating new nation-states centered around the largest ethnic groups living in imperial conquered territory. He had given multiple speeches at home in Estonia promising to help create the "New Europe" -- based on the creation of multiple new states to help create a new balance of power. With that in mind, Ojakaar's primary focus was on stripping away German territory to create new independent states, beginning with a reorganization of the Balkans.
The German Empire had spent centuries expanding eastward, stretching far beyond Germany proper and all the way to Constantinople and the Black Sea. Working with the premise that the age of imperial conquest had passed, Ojakaar's demands called for the creation of five new nations out of Germany's conquered European territories: Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Each nation was centered around the dominant ethnic group populating the area, with the largest state, Czechoslovakia, forming a buffer between Estonia and Germany. The example of the French revolt had inspired the people of the Balkans, and nationalist sentiments grew as the Great War dragged on. By the time the proposals for the creation of the new Balkan states was brought forward, popular support in the regions was overwhelming.
The primary opposition came from Italy and Arabia; both countries had expected far larger territorial gains from the war. In the final treaty, Italy was granted the island of Malta and parts of northern Greece, and also gained control of Bosnia and Croatia in exchange for agreeing so sell its Serbian-majority territory to their newly-created nation-state. Arabia reclaimed the great city of Constantinople, the center of Eastern Christendom, and parts of Greece, but Ojakaar worked to deny the Arabians the chance to occupy Bulgaria. In order to help secure his vision of a new Baltic, Ojakaar included expanded territorial gains in Africa to appease President al Ayad.
The Treaty of Kuressaare also addressed German & Andalusian colonies together, and sought to strip away both nations' influence overseas as part of their punishment for instigating the war.
Andalusia's African colonies were completely stripped away and broken up into four self-governing African states: Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Libya. Part of Germany's colonial territory was formed into the new state of Nigeria, with the remainder being handed over to Arabia as part of the agreement to secure the establishment of Bulgaria in the Balkans. Small strips of Celtic land along the coast were allowed to remain under their current ownership; the Celts were seen as secondary participants in the war in spite of their heavy presence in the mainland, and there was less motivation among the Entente powers to penalize them from a territorial perspective. Germany was also denied a colonial presence in southeast Asia and the Pacific, with its colonies there likewise partitioned between Italy and Arabia.
Finally, the treaty demanded that the losing Compact nations substantially reduce the size of their militaries, refrain from raising new military forces for a period of five years, and pay substantial cash reparations to the victorious Entente nations. The demands of the treaty were aggressive, so much so that many of the Entente delegates feared they would stir up renewed zeal in the Compact nations and lead to more fighting. Kaiser Albrecht famously gave a fiery speech to the delegation, criticizing the Entente for acting as an empire just as much as they accused him of. "In your effort to strip away every vestige of land and prosperity from the German people," he famously shouted at the Entente assembly, "You have proven yourselves to be the very same kind of conqueror which you accuse me of being; your nation-building is different from empire-building in name only."
Ultimately, Kaiser Albrecht and King Felipe had no choice but to accept the terms of surrender. Their realms were militarily defeated, suffering from poor morale and poorer economies, devastated by years of Entente invasion and vicious battles, and on the verge of absolute collapse. Reluctantly, both men signed the Treaty of Kuressaare and ended the war between Germany and Andalusia and the Entente, sending both men back to their homes as defeated men. The shame of the treaty was so severe that Kaiser Albrecht, upon returning home, delivered a speech to the German people in which he admitted his defeat at the hands of Estonia and its allies, declaring himself a failure of an emperor. He abdicated the throne that day in favor of his son, and sequestered himself in a self-imposed exile in the family estate, where he remained until he passed later that year.
The Treaty of Orleans had established peace with the Celtic Empire, and now the Treaty of Kuressaare had forged a peace with Germany and Andalusia. Only the minor aggressors of Inca and Persia remained, and they would likewise soon sign their own treaties not long afterward.
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At last, the Great War is over. All things considered, I think this treaty went well despite the slaughter it took to reach it, France is liberated and the compact nations are throughly weakened. I wonder how HOI4 is gonna go with Germany utterly balkainzied, perhaps the Celts and China could still become Estonia’s main rivals there? We shall see.
There's still thirty years for ideologies to shift. The diplomatic world may look completely different by HoI4.
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Fair point, anything could happen in that period of time. Let’s hope it’s nothing as serious as yet another World War before HOI4. From what I see, the AI does get rather aggressive with wars and crisises in the late game.
Very much agreed. Considering how weak Germany and Andalusia in particular will be with their inability to raise an army for a few years, and I'm sure one of them will go Commie or Fascist, if not both. I definitely think this will set up and interesting HoI4, for sure.
To note -- I did 'cheat' in arranging the way the peace deal worked out. The in-game mechanics didn't allow for the sort of treaty situation I wanted, so I did a bit of a homebrew job.
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The GW is finally over! And a mostly just peace deal was made. I resented a bit Italy and Arabia's gains though because they contributed next to nothing to the war effort easily getting overrun and needing rescue.
I would've added AL to Belgium, it's an artificial buffer country that's mixed ethnicity anyway, a 1/1/1 French/Dutch/German would've worked maybe even better than the original
The GW is finally over! And a mostly just peace deal was made. I resented a bit Italy and Arabia's gains though because they contributed next to nothing to the war effort easily getting overrun and needing rescue.
I would've added AL to Belgium, it's an artificial buffer country that's mixed ethnicity anyway, a 1/1/1 French/Dutch/German would've worked maybe even better than the original
I was worried that giving it to France or another country would risk making Germany TOO weak -- I wanted to try and keep them roughly of similar size to the other two German Republics, so there could be some kind of competition/balance of power. Otherwise Germany would end up being a tiny little minor and probably fade out of relevance.
Well, the (First) Great War is finally over.
Germany and Andalusia are likely to go Communist/Fascist. The Celts probably won’t, though - they got off really easily, and they might side with Estonia in WW2.
Also, do you know what V2 should have? A way for some peace treaties to be broken by rebels after WW1 a la Sevrés.
Germany and Andalusia are likely to go Communist/Fascist. The Celts probably won’t, though - they got off really easily, and they might side with Estonia in WW2.
Also, do you know what V2 should have? A way for some peace treaties to be broken by rebels after WW1 a la Sevrés.
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With their military gone and no chance of raising new divisions for five years, the revolutions are in the horizon for the losing powers.
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Victory at last. That dismantled Germany is a satisfying sight to behold.
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Germany looks to have been eviscerated. And the Balkans setup as a powder keg. Perhaps West Africa as well.
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A brutal peace that turned an ugly European map into ...I can't really decided if the treaty map is any less ugly, but it is at least more diverse. Going to be very interesting to see what the next thirty years gave in store.
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I hope for Estonia vs. USA ww2. They seem like the only two matched powers.
I'm looking forward to the next update!
I'm looking forward to the next update!
I can see a few scenarios playing out... the USA and Inca have potential for big presences from the western hemisphere... China is still slumbering and could probably take on a world war largely by itself... And once fascism and communism start popping up more around Europe, there will be the groundwork for an interesting HoI scenario, for sure!
Little backed up on real life stuff but hopefully there will be the second and final half of the treaty post at some point over the weekend.
May 1906 AD
The Treaty of Kerch - The Other Powers Concede
After the Treaty of Orleans brought about the recreation of France and the Treaty of Kuressaare established the terms of peace for Germany and Andalusia, only one issue remained: the negotiation of peace with the remaining belligerent powers that had lined up behind Germany's banner in the war. This would be handled in the final treaty of the war: the Treaty of Kerch, signed in late May of 1906 between the Entente nations and the Inca and Persian empires.
The United States was rewarded for its assistance in the war with the acquisition of all territory in Mexico that had been previously held by the Inca Empire. The settlement meant that the Inca lost all of their presence outside of South America, and the small Navajo state was almost completely surrounded on every side by the massive United States.
Persia was punished for its assistance of Germany as well, but not nearly as harshly as the other Compact nations. A few regions along the border were taken in by Estonia, and Persia lost access to the Black Sea, with all of its coastal provinces coming under Estonian control. This was the most significant part of the peace settlement with Persia -- as a result, Estonia and Arabia controlled the entire coastline of the Black Sea, save for a small stretch held by Bulgaria, which was well within Estonia's sphere of influence thanks to its role in that state's creation. This would lead to efforts by Estonia to focus on fortifying the Black Sea and using it as a major artery for commerce between Estonia and Arabia.
The conclusion of the Treaty of Kerch meant the ultimate end of the Great War. For the first time in half a decade, there was a state of global peace. However, the absence of war did not mean the absence of conflict; Estonia had alienated much of the world, even its own allies, by taking such a heavy-handed approach to the treaty negotiations, and many states were now clamoring to become major dominant world powers to fill the sudden vacuum left by the collapse of Germany. This, coupled with the ongoing struggle for France's identity in its infancy, would lead to a wave of political conflict across Europe in the latter portions of the 1900's.
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Just a quickie here to shore up the last of the peace arrangements -- there's a lot to write about in the postwar world, so I wanted to save that for a separate post later on. Time to play the "who becomes a Communist" game!
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