it hasn’t been updated since February 2023… you can even see it in the history…
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
So… with that in mind, how will Victoria the book enter into the Reich. I would guess that instead it will be renamed to “Jerusalem”, which is made by Elias and there would be a scene where the Reich tries to sell Berlin to Scandinavia but Scandi refuses. There are 2 versions of it, one parody which was created by Thierry for the memes and one created by Elias, the “canon” version of it. The meme version starts in the 1990’s and the “canon” one starts in the 2030’s.
Victoria is a book about a Christian theocracy taking over America and it’s presented as a good thing. The scene I am talking about is inspired by the scene in Victoria where The Christian Marines takes over New York City and then tries to sell it to Puerto Rico. The funniest part about it? It’s all taken seriously !
Yeah no, I don’t think it even exists here. Don’t want to deal with that rabbit hole.
Xanatos Gambit: China peacing out The Reich. Either Way, China "wins" in the end. If the Reich officially wins the war against China, they would be crippled by sectarian differences that the Reich has to deal with. If China kept fighting, The Reich will tear itself apart in another civil war which could lead to China taking care of the Pieces. China also keeps their territorial gains they made in the war if they peace out.
Zerg Rush: This type of style has been a part of this playthrough being used by almost all nations, including The Reich, and is commonly known as Human Wave Tactics
Zerg Rush: This type of style has been a part of this playthrough being used by almost all nations, including The Reich, and is commonly known as Human Wave Tactics
- Jerusalem uses this tactic most sufficiently, Justified, as they have the most population. They condition their soldiers to accept it, and at one point generals have the soldiers get impaled by spikes, and then having other soldiers walk over the soldiers that died as a result of what happened after the spikes have been covered by bodies of dead Jerusalemites that came before them!
Banned in China: Anything that is a threat to Han's regime, even traditional Chinese stuff that could possibly be used to hurt Han's image is Banned in China.
Black and White Insanity: This is the problem with Populists TTL. They tend to believe that the world is conspiring against their nation and only them and their inner circle are the good guys. The other people are either Evil or at the very least, Stupid. For Example...
Black and White Insanity: This is the problem with Populists TTL. They tend to believe that the world is conspiring against their nation and only them and their inner circle are the good guys. The other people are either Evil or at the very least, Stupid. For Example...
- Jerusalem believes that they are the good guys, and everyone that goes against them are evil. While there are some groups like the worm cult that they are fighting against who are actually evil, most groups are actually more or less good and they are trying to live their lives and Jerusalem is trying to destroy their lives. Jerusalemites live in a contradictory regime, so it's inhabitants simotaneously believe this and Gray-and-Gray Insanity
- Populist Perisa believes that all who don't back the Populist Regent are merely evil bastards trying to prop up Jerusalem, instead of seeing that there are people trying to stop him who are not propping up Jerusalem in any way, even if these guys mistakenly see the Populist Regent is a tyrant.
- For the people that are trying to stop the Populist Regent, no, the regent isn't a tyrant. That's what they believe, while they are pure good guys saving Persia, but that isn't the case. The Regent ain't a tyrant and most of the acts are done independently and not acts condoned by the Regent proper.
- The most famous example of this phenomenon is the Berlin Wall, which was in large part erected to prevent skilled people from leaving East Germany. Just like In Real Life
- Brain Drain was an issue with many Equalist nations of the Eastern Bloc, and measures were taken by the Soviet Commune and its puppet states to keep people from emigrating to the West. Mostly they did this by making it hard and prolonging the immigration process considerably. On the occasions when permits were given, it was usually for some corrupt reason.
- On a much smaller scale, businesses who treat workers badly, like Tesla Dynamics under Jerusalem tend to have high turnover. Or a business might have financial problems, causing the talented workers to leave for greener pastures. Like the above example, it makes it difficult for the business to recover.
- Brain Drain is a minor but chronic problem in the Roman university system. The demand for mid-level instructors constantly outstrips the supply, because in most white-collar fields, private sector employment is far more attractive (in terms of financial compensation and career advancement) than working for a university. Universities often make up their shortfall with foreign graduate students, but this causes a follow-on Brain Drain problem in their native countries.
- A double-shock of Brain Drain affected Russia and former Soviet Bloc countries in the mid 1980s. After the collapse of the Soviet Commune, skilled laborers, educated tradesmen, and the intelligentsia saw the opportunities offered by the West (mostly The Roman Reich) and flocked to work/immigrate in these countries (but mostly The Roman Reich). This is part of what spurred a mid-80s immigration wave into the West and removed a considerable amount of institutional knowledge from the former Soviet Bloc. This left Russia in particular short on extremely valuable trained personnel such as chemical engineers and pharmaceutical developers.
- A second, similar wave happened in 2039 as a response to the Jerusalemite invasion of Russia; not wishing to be called up to fight and risk a very real chance of dying, as well as wishing to continue to work while not being crushed under crippling debt and sanctions THEY CREATED, or really just being opposed to war period, many skilled Russians such as engineers have relocated to unsanctioned nations to continue their trade and make more money than they did in their native Russia.
- When Mexico was under Roman jurisdiction, this was noted to be a problem for the army. The Roman Reich attempted to rebuild the army to be modern (meaning, along Roman lines), and that included the formation of a "special forces" unit, the National Army Commando Corps, based on the Roman Army Rangers. The problem was, they accomplished this by promoting competent and loyal troops from the existing army, meaning that the divisions they used to occupy had lost their best members, and competent troops in the Mexican National Army were in short supply. Essentially, they got one halfway-decent armed force at the price of the rest of the army being near-useless, and while the Commando Corps performed better than any other against Af-Quezoquatl, they couldn't win the war on their own when every other division was folding like paper. This is one of the major reasons why the Mexicanists easily took the country in 2016 when the Reich pulled out some soldiers on Mexico for once.
- The Roman Reich experienced this when it fell under the rule of the Christendom Front, and The Holy Roman Empire of Jerusalem. Women were driven out of the workforce and forced to depend on husbands and male relatives (or else driven to begging or prostitution in order to survive - the latter of which was punishable by death). This particularly impacted healthcare; the male doctors that were left were overworked, many relief workers had left the country, and women were often forbidden from (or at least uncomfortable with) being treated by a male doctor.
- Token Evil Teammate: Populist Fusang plays this trope to the rest of the Eimerican Federation. Populist Fusang is unmeritocratically bad to minorioties while not being as Meritocratic as their Eimerican counterparts. Populist Fusang is also under the Influence of Nationalist China, while the rest of the Federation isn't under it's influence.
- Token Good Teammate: Downplayed Trope with Jerusalem's ally, Pengali. Pengali's leader, Zhao is just like the villains, but is more honorable and nicer than they are. It's not by much, but he doesn't immediately go for killing minorities the second he sees one, and that's an improvement compared to Pallauist Nepal, Pallauist Japan, and Jerusalem itself.
Blue and Orange Morality: The Mexica Empire practiced human sacrifice. They did so in a larger frequency than any empire that came before them. However, they did it because they believed it was necessary to keep the sun up.
Ambadassador:
- Part 5, Jerusalem is destroying the world and killing billions, but Jerusalem genuinely believes that they are cleansing the world for Christ and genuinely believe that they are saving the environment. Their Blue and Orange morality is best exemplified by a simultaneous belief in Gray and Gray insanity and Black and white insanity simultaneously at the same time. Princess Willhelma said it best. She said that Jerusalem follows a different set of morals from the rest of the world.
Ambadassador:
- Often Truth in Television in TTL, ambassadors are often retired military, making them Retired Badasses. And, sometimes, they're even chief diplomats.
- This is certainly the case with Olga Kirova who became. a diplomat of the UN when Jerusalem came in and threatened the balance.
Abusive Precursors: The Jotun, Humanity's allies in Ancient Humanity times attempted at one point to kill and enslave humanity using sentinel and syndicate. Even as they failed and abandoned the place, Sentinel and Syndicate was left behind, and they created their own evil plots.
As Long as There Is Evil: A variant, Before Anders died, he claimed that as long as Evil exists, that authoritarianism will always be a thing, conflating Authoritarianism with Evil. Played With, as it seems like something that was rashly said, to say some cool thing against Committee rule, and The Reich was authoritarian before totalitarian despots took power. Zen himself said that it is not necessarily meant to be this trope.
As Long as There Is Evil: A variant, Before Anders died, he claimed that as long as Evil exists, that authoritarianism will always be a thing, conflating Authoritarianism with Evil. Played With, as it seems like something that was rashly said, to say some cool thing against Committee rule, and The Reich was authoritarian before totalitarian despots took power. Zen himself said that it is not necessarily meant to be this trope.
- Another variant to this is Jerusalem cleansing all of the "evil" in the world, the "evil" being anything opposing their rule.
- Elias Anhorn claims that as long as the Hohenzollern's exist, he will try to hunt them down as long as he can, blaming them for his squadron's death.
- To put it another way, as the old Net saying has it, the Internet is total anarchy composed of millions of equalist and/or fascist dictatorships.
- Enforced Trope, Zen compared The Reich to America, and created it parallelelling America as much as historically possible.
- If you ever get involved in a lengthy Internet flame war, expect at least one person to defend their actions with, "It's a free country!". Bonus points if the nationalities of each person involved in the fight have not been established.
Last edited:
Back from vacation. Expect the next chapter to be posted sometime Monday.
- 2
I see…
In the meantime…
the-true-tropes.fandom.com
In the meantime…
The Hohenzollern Empire
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears! For centuries, two great empires and two great peoples have both claimed that they are the rightful heirs of the ancient. The Germans were crowned by The Pope as Kaisers of Rome, and the Greeks have their own reasons. For centuries, both empires...
Last edited:
Check, Part 2
“So what you’re saying is we need to get out now?” Alex said.
“Yes,” Julian said, “The cops will be on their way to arrest you, and after that, they will likely move Thea to a government facility like with the royals. Angelica’s on her way to take you to the airport. She should be there in half an hour.”
“They’re really making their move now?”
“My contacts in the police department say they’re about to head out. They’ll be fully deployed by the afternoon.”
“Damnit.” Alex looked at Thea. She was awake now but still bedridden. “What the frak are we supposed to do?”
“Get in Angelica’s car,” Julian said, “Go to the airport. We’ve set up a safe zone there. Exiles from all over the region are going there. They won’t be able to arrest you there without arresting many more of us, and that would cause a scene. Mozaffar would rather not do that.”
There was a chatter on the other end. Julian was talking to Tania. Then he turned back to his phone. “Okay, there’s been a negative development. They’re setting up roadblocks and military checkpoints. Mozaffar’s declaring a state of emergency.”
“A state of emergency?!” Alex said. “Ridiculous.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve planned for this scenario,” Julian said, “Angelica should have diplomatic passes from the Roman government in exile. That government might be dissolved, but there’s a grace period before the network updates to reflect that. Plus, Angelica should be able to bluff her way through.”
“So we just need to get to the airport?”
“It shouldn’t be that difficult,” Julian said, “The situation is fluid, which only benefits us. The rank and file grunts will move much slower than Mozaffar and his cronies at the top. Now get ready. Angelica’s on her way.”
“Got it.”
“Good luck, Alex and Thea.” Julian hung up.
Thea sat up, wincing as she pulled on her broken arm and ribs. “So it’s really happening…we’re leaving, once again.”
“Unfortunately,” Alex said.
“You know, I wanted to stay here forever,” Thea said, “This was a great place to live. I loved the food.”
“I know Alexandra and Magnus would like to stay too.”
“Five years ago, they welcomed us with open arms. We were fleeing a country bent on murdering us, and they took us into their homes, treated us like their own. Now they hate us too. I wonder who’ll take us in next.”
“I’m not sure if there’s anybody else,” Alex said, “If we want a new home, we’ll have to make it ourselves. Hospitality is great to have, but I don’t want to rely on someone who could always take it back.”
“Making our own home…” Thea mused on that. “I have to admit, that sounds romantic.”
“We were going to get our own home in Isfahan eventually, weren’t we?” Alex said. “Same thing, but somewhere else.”
“We’ll have to build it from scratch, though.”
Alex said. “A bunch of engineers like us? I’m sure we’ll have no problem.”
Alex spent the remaining time preparing Thea for transit. Her condition was stable enough that she didn’t need an IV drip or constant monitoring from the sensors. With August’s guidance, he disconnected all of the remaining wires and tubes connected to her and then put splints on her broken arms and legs. They lifted her off the bed and onto a mobile stretcher, then wheeled her out of the room and down to the lobby. At the curb, an ambulance pulled up to the front door. Angelica rolled down the window.
“Boujouo, mesdames et messieurs! This is la navette de Alençon, with direct service to Isfahan International Airport. I’m your driver today, Angelica Haus! Allons y!”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s get going,” Alex said.
“You’re no fun! I was working on that greeting the whole time I was driving here!”
“Save it for when we’re at the airport.” August opened the back doors and set up a ramp. He and Alex rolled Thea up the ramp and into the back of the ambulance, where they secured the stretch to the floor and walls. Hopefully, it wouldn’t jostle her around too much during the drive.
“I feel so useless,” Thea muttered, “I wish I could do more. Why did they have to break my arm?”
Airport
The drive through downtown Isfahan went just as Julian had said it would. The diplomatic passes got them through most of the checkpoints. Some of the guards were more suspicious, but Angelica managed to bluff her way past them. Soon, they were at the airport, but there was one last obstacle in their path. Just as the airport’s control tower appeared in the distance, Angelica slammed on the brakes and cursed. “Merde.”
“What’s the matter?” Alex said.
Angelica pointed at the last checkpoint ahead of them. “That’s not a police checkpoint. It’s military.”
“Military? Like the Artesh?”
“It is Artesh. Look at those uniforms. Artesh military police. They will be held to a stricter level of security.” She shifted into reverse and drove back around the corner. “Going to put us out of view to avoid suspicion.”
Alex looked at his diplomatic pass. “So these won’t cut it?”
“The military database was most likely updated first, of all of the government databases,” Angelica said, “They’ll flag our passes as fraudulent and arrest us.”
“Can’t we say we’re delivering an injured Roman?” August said.
“Injured or not, they’ll flag the passes and stop us,” Angelica said, “What’s more suspicious than a Roman man and his injured wife trying to escape to the safe zone? They are on the lookout for anybody who fits the profile you and Thea set.”
“Frak,” Thea said, “So what do we do?”
Alex sat up. “I have an idea. But I don’t think you’ll like it.”
“I’m all ears,” Angelica said.
“You’re saying the profile they’re looking for is based on me and Thea, right?” Alex said.
“Yes, they will be assuming you’re traveling…” Angelica realized what he was saying. “…Together.”
Alex nodded. “So if they see me and an injured woman in the back, and we both speak Persian with a Roman accent, and they flag our fraudulent passes, they’ll arrest us all. But if I’m not here, Thea just has to stay quiet and you guys can bluff your way through with the doctor card.”
“Alex, what the hell are you saying?” Thea said.
“I’m saying I have to stay behind,” Alex said, “You can’t. As long as I’m here, they won’t let you through.”
“No, you can’t be serious,” Thea said, “This whole plan hinges on both of us getting out.”
“If we go together, neither of us will get out,” Alex said, “This way, I can at least know you’ll make it out.”
“Alex…” Thea said. “We made a promise to stay together. This—I can’t let you stay behind.”
“We both know you can’t stay here,” Alex said, “I don’t want Mozaffar to make you into another Wilhelmina and Gunduz. I want you to be free. So just let me go. I’ll meet you at our destination eventually. I promise.”
“Damnit, Alex, you can’t do this!” Thea said. “I don’t want to do this alone. We were supposed to build our new house together.”
Alex bowed his head. “Well, you’ve got one good arm. I’m sure you can draw up some ideas by the time I join you. And I will join you.” He took Thea’s good hand. “Thea, we’ll always find each other in the end. No matter what happens or how screwed up this world is, we’ll find a way back to each other after it’s all said and done. This I swear.”
Tears ran down Thea’s cheeks. “You know, I feel really useless right now.”
“Mozaffar’s going to throw whatever he has at me, but he’ll never break me. Because I know you’re safe. That you’re out of his clutches. You’ll give me strength, Thea. You’re not going to be useless.”
“Promise me one thing, then,” Thea said.
“Anything,” Alex said.
“Don’t take too long.”
Alex nodded. “I’m sure Julian will figure something out.”
He kissed her one more time. “I love you, Thea.”
“Love you too, Alex.”
Alex climbed out of the ambulance. Angelica drove around the corner and approached the checkpoint. Alex watched from a distance as the vehicle halted and Angelica and August explained their situation to the military police. After what seemed like an incredibly long minute, the ambulance drove past and entered the airport. Alex sighed with relief. They’d made it, and that was what mattered. They hadn’t seen him yet, so perhaps he could sneak off somewhere. He’d have to get in touch with Julian about shelter. Surely that boy had safe houses lined up for these kinds of situations—
“There he is!” Alex heard the clicking of guns and the whirring of drone rotors. A second later, a squad of military police and their drone escorts surrounded him. “Don’t move!”
Alex sighed. Guess I was pushing my luck. The drone patrols surely recognized my face and alerted the military. There’s a chance they could trace it back to the ambulance, but by now they should have entered the safe zone. They won’t get their hands on Thea.
“Alexander Humboldt-Frank!” A soldier jabbed his gun in his face. “You are under arrest for murder!”
Alex calmly raised his hands. “Alright, alright. You got me.”
Huh, now they remember my full name.
- 3
Sadly the right play all in all. Thankfully I'm sure there will be no issues with the trial. Totally above board, fair and just.
Surely that’s the honorable thing to do, and Persian culture emphasizes honor, right? Right?
Well that's unfortunate. Here's to hoping that Mozaffar will slate the Persian people's bloodlust and either let Alex go or give him a fair trail.
Since the Roman government is dissolved, that means Persia is no longer fighting to restore the proper Roman government, so I wonder what their casus belli for fighting this war is, since they longer have a government to replace the Committee with if they manage to defeat Jerusalem. At this point, I'm pretty sure this is just an imperialistic war of aggression to annex Roman territory rather than a war to depose Jerusalem, as something tells me that the Persians would stop carrying about the war the moment the borders of the old Achaemenid empire is conquered.
Like I said, Persia and its corrupt meritocracy is giving me similar vibes to LOGH's FPA and Fallout New Vegas' New California Republic , as those are two examples of flawed democracies. At least here, the autocracy Persia is fighting is just as incompetent as they are.
Since you want to come up with a more historically plausible explanation and more gradual process for the conversion of Russia and Persia from Abrahamic faiths to Paganism and Zoroastrianism, I wonder if you have thought about the conversion of Ethiopia from Christianity to Judaism, especially especially since the existence of the Gideons and their kingdom seems to be debatable and most likely fictitious from what I find?
Since the Roman government is dissolved, that means Persia is no longer fighting to restore the proper Roman government, so I wonder what their casus belli for fighting this war is, since they longer have a government to replace the Committee with if they manage to defeat Jerusalem. At this point, I'm pretty sure this is just an imperialistic war of aggression to annex Roman territory rather than a war to depose Jerusalem, as something tells me that the Persians would stop carrying about the war the moment the borders of the old Achaemenid empire is conquered.
Like I said, Persia and its corrupt meritocracy is giving me similar vibes to LOGH's FPA and Fallout New Vegas' New California Republic , as those are two examples of flawed democracies. At least here, the autocracy Persia is fighting is just as incompetent as they are.
Since you want to come up with a more historically plausible explanation and more gradual process for the conversion of Russia and Persia from Abrahamic faiths to Paganism and Zoroastrianism, I wonder if you have thought about the conversion of Ethiopia from Christianity to Judaism, especially especially since the existence of the Gideons and their kingdom seems to be debatable and most likely fictitious from what I find?
The Persian government still wants to depose Jerusalem for everything it's done to Persia and the rest of the world, but they'll probably change their postwar plans to no longer involve the old Roman government. Perhaps they'll support a new government they can easier bend to their whims while taking as much Mesopotamian territory as they can. There were certain Roman regions on the border with significant Persian minorities before 2030. That border has historically moved around a lot, so Persia could press old claims.
Definitely a lot of FPA inspiration in Persia right now.
I have a few ideas in my notes right now, namely that the in game "Judaism" is actually still Christianity but with heavier Jewish influences. I feel like I should retcon the Gideons into being Solomonids all along, but I'm not sure about that right now. I'll probably stop mentioning the ruling Abyssinian dynasty's name in future chapters until I figure it out.
- 2
I see. That would still be imperialistic since the postwar government would effectively be a Persian puppet, and I doubt they would treat Roman citizens in occupied/annexed territory well.
The idea of Abyssinia's faith being basically Christianity with Jewish traditions is interesting. Perhaps their faith would syncretize Beta Israel customs with Abyssinian Christianity during the 11th century, with further Jewish influences coming from the Roman middle east.
Also, looking into the history of the Varangian Guard, I found it was founded after Vladimir the Great converted the Kyivan Rus to Christianity and the Rus were some of the earliest members of the guard along with the Norse and Anglo Saxons, so I wonder how many Russians are serving as Varangians at this point. During the cold war, I could see there being an equal distribution of Russian and Norse Varangians due to the existence of the Tsarist government in exile, as well as lot of Russian Varangians guarding Wilhelmina during her time in Russia.
My notes specifically mentioned Abyssinians should have adopted a form of Judaism that accepts Christ as the messiah, but I couldn't figure out how that would still be Judaism and not just another branch of Christianity. It probably makes more sense to have them remain Christian but with heavy Jewish influences, since in the 11th century there were still significant Jewish populations in Ethiopia and the Solomonids weren't as powerful yet, so they could have reached out to the Jews for some sort of alliance. Also, at this point the distinctions between Ethiopian Jews and Christians weren't as clear as they would become later on (specifically after the rise of the Solomonids and many Jews aligning with invading Islamic rulers), so there's a lot of room for syncretism.
In the medieval era, I think Russian Varangians would be quite common. Although the Reich and Russia constantly fought over in that era, the same could be said about the Norse, so I guess Scandinavians and Russians would evenly split the guard. The balance would shift in the early modern era as Scandinavia aligns with Lithuania and Russia with the Reich during the Commonwealth Wars, meaning more Russians would join the guard while the remaining Norse would come from Andalusia instead of Scandinavia proper. When the guard gets formalized and modernized in the 19th century, it would continue drawing on Andalusian Norse and Roman Russian populations, with a handful of Russians from Russia still joining up. Not as many though because of increased bureaucracy and security measures due to the guard shifting to a modern Secret Service-like institution. Lots more Russian exiles would join up during the Cold War. However, I think in June 2039 the Varangian Guard is effectively defunct. Most died during the takeover or getting Wilhelmina and her family out, like Justin. The rest most likely died fighting on the front lines in the war. It would explain why most of Wilhelmina's security detail right now consists of regular military personnel from the countries she's in, and why she didn't have any security with her after the bunker assault.
- 2
Hmm, I did found earlier parts of this AAR used "Gideon-Solomonid" as the name for Abyssinia's ruling dynasty, so perhaps that name could stick to represent the alliance between Abyssinian Christains and Jews, with "Gideon" or "Solomonid" being interchangeable depending on context. Maybe a Jewish noble family that married into the Solomonid family claimed legitimacy from the legend of the Kingdom of Simien and took up the name for the purposes of prestige.
I also remember one anecdote about Anglo Saxon Varangians fighting in the Battle of Dyrrhachium against Robert Guiscard to get revenge for the Norman conquest of England, but since the Norse conquered England instead of the Normans, I wonder if that would still happen, since I imagine they would hate the Norse instead of the Normans?
I completely forgot about that. Probably will just be called Solomonid as that's the official name, but some Jews might give them the name Gideon for whatever reason.
I imagine Anglo-Saxons would still fight on Friedrich's side, but it's more that they like him and what he stands for rather than hating Guiscard.