This Tianxia update deals with Eastern Europe. It covers the nations of the Timurid and Onggirat Khanates, Russia, and Lithuania. I know it has Dacia in the image but I am going to do that when I do the Balkans update. Also I know some of the nations might change color between this update and the Middle East and Central Asia update and that is because I am trying to find out what their final colors will be in the world map.
Tianxia-Legacy of the Great War:
Eastern Europe
Onggirat/Mongolia = Greyish Brown
Timurids/Khazaria = Red
Russia = Green
Lithuania = Dark Red
Timurids/Khazaria and Onggirat/Mongolia
The origins of Khazaria and Mongolia began with the previous Yavdi Empire. The Yavdi Empire was born from the uniting of the Finnish people after they were driven from their homes in Scandinavia by the Norse and their Empire. The one who would unite the Finns was a peasant named Yavdi who created the Yavdi Empire on November 7, 1114. However Yavdi was conquered by the Mongols in 1248. Yavdi would become a puppet state which would last until 1252 in which Yavdi, the Ghaznavid Empire, and Russia would declare their independence. The Onggirats are believed to have come into the story with the Mongol Invasion and remained independent until at least the 1830’s making them one of the longest lasting steppe hordes. The Timurids came in later in the 1300’s who were led by a Mongol Zunist named Timur. Timur wanted to create a Zunist nation and “free the holy Temples of the Sun from both Slavs and Zoroastrians.” The Timurids were able to overrun Persia by 1400 but by the 1600’s The Timurids were conquered by their neighbors such as Persia, and India, with India getting the lion's share. The years between 1600-1900 saw mumerus changes. Such as the Toghorilid reforms a series of reforms initiated by the Toghorilid dynasty who ruled during the Roman Renaissance which saw the monarchy try and create a more centralized state. They did this by forcing the ancient clans to reform and become more like Roman and Russian noble houses. Any noble who resisted would be sent into Siberia to lead " “colonization missions,” but these efforts were dashed by the Ming who sized control of the region in the China Wars. Yavdi was able to retake some land in the Imperial Century in what many historians refer to as "Weltkrieg 0." thanks in part to the efforts of Nikephoros von Hohenzollern but Chinese sponsored separatist movements become increasingly bold in their tactics. Yavdi would enter the Great War on the side of the Central Powers and both Yavdi and China entered a stalemate with little gains. In order to tip the balance in China's favor the Jinyiwei had supported an armed insurrection in southern Yavdi. The insurrection saw the local separatist movements rebel against their Finnish overlords. This saw the trade and supply routes between India and the Reich to be cut. The two states named Khazaria and Mongolia would quickly adopt the Chinese style of constitutional monarchies. After the war the two states remained Chinese allies despite having lost some of Yavdi’s western territory to Russia. By 1936 it remains to be seen as to whether or not the two states will drift further into China’s orbit, be taken over by a resurgent Russia, or go out on their own.
Russia
The Russian Republic began its rise after the decline of rival Rurikid principalities and other regional powers like Scandinavia, the Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth, and the Saray Empire. However it is under Isiaslav I Rurikovich which many Russian Nationalist say is the start of their country. For it was under Isiaslav who saw the country converted back to the Slavic Pantheon. This would earn Isiaslav many enemies and when he died on March 7, 1068 many doubted that it was due to natural causes and even today many scholars believe that he was the target of a conspiracy by the last remaining Christian Nobles in the country. Over the next few years many successor Rurikid’s would reign for a short amount of time with the longest reigning for only 26 years before dying from either assassination or stress and it wasn't until Sbyslava “the Sword of Jarilo,” came of age in 1109 with her cementing her power by being the first Russian empress on January 5, 1118. Over the course of a decade Sbyslava would rule Russia until her untimely death. The country was taken over by the Mongols on September 5, 1247 and would endure a Mongol occupation before eventually freeing itself. The following years would see Russia become involved in numerous conflicts with the Scandinavians and Lithuanians known as the Commonwealth Wars in were Russia would take most of the Baltics, including parts of Lithuania proper.
Russia's entry into the Great War in 1914 on the side of the Reich would at first be met with great enthusiasm. However after a string of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Chinese that optimism would quickly vanish. To make matters worse Russian Tsar Vladimir II who took power in 1915 vowed to continue his fathers centralisation reforms. This would anger many presents who would turn to someone to lead them in their protest. That man was Vladimir Lenin, a man from a wealthy middle-class family who over time would become the head of the Russian Equalist Movement. The anti-Tsar protest would reach a head on when Yavdi would capitulate and leave the war leading to Chinese forces to be redeployed to the Russian border. This would cause many Russians to see the Tsar as corrupt and incompatent and would lead to a popular revolution with the Tsar being forced to abdicate with Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov forming a weak provisional government that would see Russia withdraw from the war. However Lenin and his Equalist would challenge Lvov for power. However Chinese forces in the region would intervene on the side of the provisional government. However the country would be left devastated both socially, economically, and politically. During the first peacetime elections in 1922 a new government would be formed between the Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets) and Equalist which would rule Russia for a decade. However during that decade Russia's economy would freefall and would see Russia enter into a treaty with the Chinese called the Chinese–Russian Trade and Credit Agreement, also known as the Kiev Agreement would see massive Chinese investment into Russia. Despite this Boris Savinkov, a war hero and rising member of the Equalist movement, broke away and formed his own party known as the Society for the Defense of the Motherland and Freedom or SZRS for short, due to him feeling that the agreement was a betrayal. In 1927 Russia attempted to take the Onggirat Eastern Railway in what was expected to be a short Champaign. However fierce guerrilla resistance by Onggirat forces and intervention by regional powers like the Timurid Khanate, and the Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth and the poor command of General Konstantin Sakharov ended the war in a year. This would benefit the Equalist and the SZRS, who saw it as proof of the Republic’s incompetence. In the aftermath General Vasily Boldyrev would launch a putsch in 1929 to “restore order” but falling and being forced into exile. There was also a Peasant Rebellion in 1932 in response to the poor land reforms but that was brutally suppressed. By 1934 the SZRS were swept into power following a wave of anger at the corruption and bankruptcy of the old government. The new government would see a level of popularity that has been until now unheard of in Russia. For now the democratic opposition in the Upper House led by Viktor Chernov has made it to where President Sakharov cannot act unilaterally in passing laws. Other opposition forces in the government and military also hinder Sakharov’s plans, however they are divided with many still harboring sympathy for socialism and even the monarchy. Will Savinkov be able to reform Russia in his vision, or will the forces in opposition be able to stop his plans? Only time will tell.
The Commonwealth (Lithuania)
The Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth otherwise simply known as The Commonwealth is a nation that was created by the Lithuanians. The Lithuanians are the last independent people of the Baltic. The Lithuanians were united by Vingoldas in the 1230s in which he became the first King of the new Kingdom of Lithuania, which was created in the 1300s. For most of its history The Commonwealth would be sandwiched between The Reich and The Tsardom of Russia for much of its history but by the 1640s when Russia was weak and the Reich dealing with the Fifty Years’ War Lithuania would take the region of Ruthenia and for the modern Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth. During the Commonwealth Wars from 1663 to 1791 Lithuania's territory and economy was devastated by the combined Roman and Russian forces with an estimated 60% of the country's population dying in the war. During the early 17th century the Commonwealth would enter a Golden Age in were its armies were even able to take the Russian city off Kiev but were driven back after the Fifty Years’ War ended. The Commonwealth would start to experience a sharp decline in its power in the following decades. Starting with a major rebellion's of Russians in the southeastern portion of the country that were crushed by the Lithuanian army. Further wars with Russia made Lithuania lose even more land and prestige. By the 18th century the country was in a state of Civil War between the King and the nobility in 1715 and only Russian mediation was able to bring an end to the conflict. By the dawn of the Imperial Century, Lithuania had become a rump state surrounded by the Reich and Russia and backed up by Scandinavian berserkers. During the 1840s with Revolutions appearing across the world Lithuania remained untouched. At the beginning of the 20th Century Lithuania’s nobility sought a return to the countries past Golden Age, an age in were The Commonwealth was able to bring both the Reich and Russia to their knees, a day when they were relevant. They soon got their wish.
At exactly 12 o'clock on 28 June 1914 a Lithuanian assassin killed Roman Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand. The assassin was a part of the Black Hand, a Lithuanian Nationalist terror group. It is debated even today if the Lithuanian government had any role in the assassination. However later with the Reich's Lithuanian citizens rioting after the trial of the assassin Gediminas Principas and due to attacks by other Romans on Lithuanians despite their Roman citizenship had caused Lithuanian King August to condemn the attacks on Lithuanians every ware. The Reich was left with a dilemma: on one hand they could not attack Lithuania without dragging its ally China into the war but the Roman people still demanded that their government do something. The Roman government decided to send an Ultimatum to Lithuania with ten demands that they were required to follow or risk war. Lithuania, confident in China's support, rejected the Ultimatum and so on October 1, 1914 The Great War or Weltkrieg had begun. In the early stages of the war the Lithuanian Army made a valiant effort in resisting the Roman onslaught however the combined might of the Reich and Russia caused the Lithuanians to fall back. It was only through the Russians withdrawing from the war and Chinese troops marching from the east that Lithuania was able to hold out. In the resulting peace Lithuania was given the whole of Ruthenia along with the Baltics from Russia. The Roman Civil War in the 1920s would see Lithuania taking the Roman Province of Taurica and the southern part of the Province of Poland nearly doubling Lithuania's size. Lithuania would have trouble managing these newly acquired territories however with the rest of the 1920’s being spent suppressing revolts. By the 1930’s Lithuania with Chinese and Scandinavian support had managed to weather the storm and by 1936 things seemed to be improving.
