NationStates Jolt Archive

Emperor Guozu relaxed in his throne, sipping a cup of China's famous green tea. Suddenly a messenger came running up, and bowed quickly to the Emperor. The messenger proffered a scroll, and departed just as quickly as the Emperor took the scroll. He opened the scroll and his eyes began scanning the contents of the scroll, a smile growing across his lips.

"Chinese Imperial Guard mobilization underway along the Siamese and Vietnamese borders. It will take several more months before the troops will be able to be fully mobilized. Troop concentrations are also amassing around Shanghai and throughout northeast China. Several more months before they are all in place for any further orders. A third troop concentration is being formed in western China, as recruits are being trained and sent there.

Approximately half of the required Austrian weapons for the first and second troop concentrations have already been delivered. It will take four more months for the remainder of the troops to be fully outfitted with the Austrian weapons being manufactured in China's new factories.

Within the end of the year, these troop deployments will be fully ready for your instructions."

Did I say the M1 Garand? I must have been sleeping.

I think it's as good a bolt-action rifle as any, except for the SMLE.

OCC: Hehe, that happens to me alot.

And I must say, the M1895 is a fine rifle, as good as any wielded by other European Armies. However, it does have it's flaws and with Steyr being perhaps one of the greatest Arms manufacturers in the world (I greatly admire the AUG and Glock Series of weapons), the disadvantages I have stated above could easily be corrected.

By the way while were talking about the Garand, I'm sure it could be possible in the future to develop a Semi-Automatic Version of the M1895. Of course, the time this could be developed soley depends on how often our nations clash in war. If we maintain a strong peace throughout most of the decade and beyond, I doubt such an invention would be pondered upon until the Early to Mid 30's (Garand was first adopted by the US Army in 1936). However, if we decide to blow each other up quite frequently, I'm sure research for a semi-automatic rifle could ensue as early as the Mid 1920's.

ooc. Go damn my PC! I wrote a long reply and the computer crashed! :headbang: I seriously shortened this one as I don't want to experience that again and don't want to write it all over.

The meeting between the father and son Fukuoka was a great succes. Lieutanent General Fukuoka was honored to become the head of all Airforces of Japan. From now on he has the rank of Airmarshall and effectively leads all training, squadrons, airdefence, development etc. They also discussed the plans for Siam and Indochina A plan was made in case of war with France. About 20000 men will land near Nha Tring, at the smallest part of Indochina. Forces from Siam will link up with these forces and then concentrate on the Northern part while the South will be occupied more slowly, at least untill the North is secure. Then in a quick advance, the last French forces will be driven in the sea. Fukuoka jr. also added his thoughts about China.

Fukuoka jr.:"China is strong but also weak at the same time. If they want to move forces from one point to the other side of the country it will take weeks, even with railroads. China doesn't have that many resources, only mineral rich. It's army is pathetic, especially their navy. But China has a massive population, a great hunger for knowledge and is also nationalistic. I advice that we first seek resources elsewhere. The Dutch East Indies for example are pretty resource rich with rubber, oil, minerals etc. We could expand our influence there before we attack China."
Fukuoka sr.:"Interesting. I'll ask our planners to make some reports and plans for the Dutch East Indies. And about China...you're right, but I'd like to add that at the moment they are our allies. For now at least...

Fukuoka ordered the Formosa fleet to go to sea and twenty thousand men, one division, to board transports and armed merchant vessels. All other fleets went to Code Two, one stage from war and also the armies were alerted. Later that day the regents, the Emperor to be and the new Airmarshall in his new uniform visited the shrine of Hachiman, the god of war. Japan would probably need the War God in the comming years...

From Bangkok HQ to garrisons Phuket/Bangkok
Prepare to transfer a brigade (5000 men) each-stop-Bangkok:to Anyphraphet Sector[SP?]-stop-Phuket:to UR Sector (ooc. Ubon Ratchachat)-stop-depart ASAP, at least in 4 hours

Gen. Yabu

"So, the Reichstag is gone, you are crowned Kaiser of Germany and König of Prussia, what are you going to do now?" asked Scharnhorst.
"First I'm going to announce this castle the new seat of the German governement. This wll probably not cause too much of a problem, as I will claim that recent terrorist acts force me to live in a more secure place." answered Richthofen.
"And then?"
"Then I am going to summon all freiherrs, dukes, counts and other nobles to my castle to reform the army. I think we will soon have need for this.""I, Kaiser and König Mannfred von Richthofen I, would like to invite you to a grand ball in my castle that will be held the first next month. After the main feast we are to discuss matters that concern the future of the German Empire and I would appreciate if you for this reason did not bring your wives."Munich, Bavaria"Don't go," said Gisela to her husband, Prince Leopold. "I am concerned. There are rumours about what happened in Berlin, at the Reichstag..."

"I don't want to hear what subversives have to say, and you shouldn't be listening to such gossip!" snapped Prince Leopold. "I will go to Castle von Richthofen, and so will my brother!"

Later that evening, Gisela visited her sister in law.

"Is your husband planning on making the journey to Schweidnitz?" she asked the Archduchess Maria Theresa.

"Yes," she said, "As is my son, Rupert."

"And does this worry you?" asked Archduchess Gisela.

"Yes," said her ageing sister-in-law, dropping her voice. "With everything that is happening these days, I am very concerned."

"Keep your grandson Albert close, then," whispered Gisela.

Schwerin, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin"Will you go?" asked the Duchess Cecilie of her husband, the former Crown Prince Wilhelm.

"I don't know if I am even welcome. When Manfred von Richhofen took my family's lands, he left me without title or honours. Technically, I am now a commoner," replied Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern.

"If you do not," said Cecilie, "Richthofen may see that as a sign that you intend to challenge his claim to the throne."

"Yes, but if I do, he may see that as a challenge as well. As I am no longer Crown Prince - Lothar, Manfred von Richthofen's brother, now bears that title - I have no legal right to be there."

"Why not ask him yourself?" offered his wife.

"I will," replied Wilhelm.To Manfred I, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia,

I, your faithful servant and subject Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor August
Ernst Hohenzollern, wish to enquire as to whether I should be in
attendance at Castle von Richthofen in Schweidnitz, per your summons.
Since by your acts I am now a mere commoner, without land, title, or
honours, I do not wish to presume a place in this gathering of my
betters. Therefore, I humbly ask of your Imperial Highness, what is
your bidding?

Signed, Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor August Ernst Hohenzollern
OOC: You didn't tell me whether my mole learned if: Wilhelm II was murdered.


Wilhelm's alleged will was a fraud.

President Marshal Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca's administration was elected into office following his victory in the 1 March 1910 elections, at that time the political scene was dominated by the combination of "café com leite" (Coffee with milk) where two major groups , representing the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais dominated the scene -Coffee growers and dairy prodcers but mostly Coffee growers were more dominant, and his election marked the lack of agreement between the two groups. When Marshal Hermes and vice president Venceslau Brás assumed their offices in November 1910, political instability continued to plague the country. Soon after his inauguration, Marshal Hermes faced a rebellion in the Navy caused by severe physical punishments applied to the sailors. And now...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

President Fonseca was alarmed when he recieved confirmation that a rebellion of messianic character was spreading in the country and had called an emergency of the cabinet.

Rio de Janiero

In a short while, the cabinet had gathered and all fell silent to listen as the president spoke:

"Gentlemen, reports have been arriving from the area of Paraná and Santa Catarina that confirm that a rebellion has indeed broken out, many of the members are of the clergy and their supporters and it appears that they are led by the monk Jose' Maria. It is clear that we must act, that is why I have called a meeting today."

The chief of millitary, Vespasiano Silva, speaks: "Sr. Presidente, The exército (army) is fully capable of handling with these "rebels" even as we speak the Exército De Sao Paolo and the Exército De Rio Grande Do Sul are ready to intervene in the area and restore order and security to the region, all we need is your approval."

President Formosa agrees as well, "And you will have my approval, as always the millitary has proven to be an important institute in maintaining the security of our nation. However, it is clear to me now that we must attempt to stablise the current political situation, the naval rebellion and the Jose' Maria rebellion and current increase in labor movements show need for some kind of action"

The interior minister, Uladislau Gumarães, " Sr. Presidente, the rebellions will be handled by the millitary however the labor movement is much more of direct priority. On one hand the strikes may just fade away as the strikers realize that they won't gain anything from it, however on the other hand if the strikes continue for a long time it may seriously effect business. A way to limit this negative effect to try to limit the number of forign workers striking by passing a law that expels any foreign workers involved in the strikes. Of course we may meet with the leaders of the strikes and attempt to negotiate a comprimise."

The finance minister, Rivadavia Correa, "your exellency, meeting with the leaders may lead to even more strikes as they make even more outrageous demands that our current economy can't handle, perhaps if we issue promises that we will seek improvement of worker rights in the future on a gradual bases then some of them will return to their senses. But mostly I believe we must take a firm stance against these leftiest agitators."

The president, "Agreed, but how firm a stance?"

Interior Minister, "It depends on your decision, Sr. presidente, I normally would recomend putting security forces on alert in major areas announce a statement showing our stance and pass the law I suggested earlier. A more extreme approach is to arrest the leaders of the strikes and "bust" the stirkes although the consequences are not visible; it may lead to either the ending of the strikes or a violent response making things even worse."

President, "Hmm, everything or nothing? I'd rather be safe than sorry. Here is what we are going to do:
A-Let the military intervene in the Jose' Maria Rebellion.
B-Attempt to pass legistlation to expel any foreign workers involved in strikes.
C-Put security police on alert in all major areas.
D-Issue statement (staement one) on our firm stance against labor movements
E-Issue statement (Statement two) promising improvement of worker conditions in the future along with setting a program for this with the interior minister as the head."

With the agreement of all who is present. The meeting ends and the cabinet begins to implement points from A to E.

The millitary had a fairly easy time with the rebels when fighting directly, However, they prove to be an elusive bunch and the rebellion, althogh a small one, it seems will take longer than expected to extinguish (historically till 1916).

Over the following week, legistlation is proposed, negotiated about, argued about, attains a majority (strikes aren't good for the coffee business) and is passed much to annoyance of the forign community in Brazil espicially those who were imprudent and found themselves on a long boatride.

The statements (one and two) had mixed effects; they gave hope, they gave despair, they inspired trust, the caused suspicion (anyone read tale of two cities? )... anyway, those who got hope stopped striking but those who remained became more motivated to strike, so basicly not much was achieved.

And I must say, the M1895 is a fine rifle, as good as any wielded by other European Armies. However, it does have it's flaws and with Steyr being perhaps one of the greatest Arms manufacturers in the world (I greatly admire the AUG and Glock Series of weapons), the disadvantages I have stated above could easily be corrected.Yeah, if I survive past 1919, it will be fun speculating on what Steyr could have built had they not been banned from the arms business for almost 20 years (as part of the peace terms of WW I).

Of course, I have to survive that long, which right now is in considerable doubt!

Yeah, if I survive past 1919, it will be fun speculating on what Steyr could have built had they not been banned from the arms business for almost 20 years (as part of the peace terms of WW I).

Of course, I have to survive that long, which right now is in considerable doubt!

OOC:

China will do its utmost to keep Austria-Hungary alive. After all, China doesn't forget its friends, especially that Austria-Hungary was the first one to treat China as an equal, not as a colony or backwaters nation. Actions does speak louder than words. :)



That aside, my Chinese troops will be fully mobilized along the Siam and Vietnamese borders by tonight or tomorrow (even though I may not be able to RP tomorrow because of my surgery). It'll be interesting to see a "power rush" between Japan and China to grab French holdings. :p

That aside, my Chinese troops will be fully mobilized along the Siam and Vietnamese borders by tonight or tomorrow (even though I may not be able to RP tomorrow because of my surgery). It'll be interesting to see a "power rush" between Japan and China to grab French holdings. :p

ooc. I won't RP anything concerning Indochina tomorrow. I would be unfair to occupy Indochina while you are unable to react.

It would indeed become interesting. But remeber what NO said, which is indeed true. Japanese forces were experts in nightwarfare and warfare in terrible weather. A few hours could make all the difference in the world...

map of the future battlefield :D
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/indochina_rel85.jpg

ooc. I won't RP anything concerning Indochina tomorrow. I would be unfair to occupy Indochina while you are unable to react.

It would indeed become interesting. But remeber what NO said, which is indeed true. Japanese forces were experts in nightwarfare and warfare in terrible weather. A few hours could make all the difference in the world...

map of the future battlefield :D
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/indochina_rel85.jpg

I appreciate it, friend. :)

Besides, wouldn't it be interesting to have Chinese and Japanese troops accidentaly fight each other at night-time? That'd be a nice political mess to RP out. :p

I appreciate it, friend. :)

Besides, wouldn't it be interesting to have Chinese and Japanese troops accidentaly fight each other at night-time? That'd be a nice political mess to RP out. :p

No problem. It would be great if the surgery succeeded.

Indeed. Like Japanese forces stumbling across a Chinese camp or something. Maybe because of nighttime and friendly fire both Bejing and Tokyo think it's a major battle (but only 200-500 troops used). Could be hilarious. As result a few border skirmishes etc. near Liaoning and Korea...very interesting. :D

[/INDENT]Schwerin, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin"Will you go?" asked the Duchess Cecilie of her husband, the former Crown Prince Wilhelm.

"I don't know if I am even welcome. When Manfred von Richhofen took my family's lands, he left me without title or honours. Technically, I am now a commoner," replied Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern.

"If you do not," said Cecilie, "Richthofen may see that as a sign that you intend to challenge his claim to the throne."

"Yes, but if I do, he may see that as a challenge as well. As I am no longer Crown Prince - Lothar, Manfred von Richthofen's brother, now bears that title - I have no legal right to be there."

"Why not ask him yourself?" offered his wife.

"I will," replied Wilhelm.To Manfred I, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia,

I, your faithful servant and subject Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor August
Ernst Hohenzollern, wish to enquire as to whether I should be in
attendance at Castle von Richthofen in Schweidnitz, per your summons.
Since by your acts I am now a mere commoner, without land, title, or
honours, I do not wish to presume a place in this gathering of my
betters. Therefore, I humbly ask of your Imperial Highness, what is
your bidding?

Signed, Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor August Ernst Hohenzollern
OOC: You didn't tell me whether my mole learned if: Wilhelm II was murdered.


Wilhelm's alleged will was a fraud.
''Do you really think it would be wise not allow him to come? The commoners are not at all pleased with the situation and this man might lead them in a rebellion if he is treated unjustly'' said Scharnhorst.
''Ha! What would he do then, face the German Army with nothing but peasants? And in at least two years armoured cars will be patrolling the major roads and even some streets in Berlin, that will quench any rebellious thoughts.''
''But what if...''
''No buts, Scharnhorst! You are forgetting your place.''

''Dear Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern, while you until recently were one of the highest members of the German aristocracy you are now, because of your father's will, without lands or titles. It would be unfair, even an insult, to your father were I to disrespect his wishes and allow you to come. Therefore I must sadly tell you that you are not welcome at this meeting, though not because I harbour any feelings of hatred or do not trust your loyalty, but because your father ordered so.''

OOC:
He wouldn't know the Kaiser was murdered but there are rumours.
Likewise, he wouldn't know for certain that the will was a fraud.

Defuniak: If you're bribing someone, please rp it.
Do state other people's casualties, that is called godmodding.

OCC: Defuniak, although I do admire your creativity when it come's to RPing, I must say that your assassination of German Figureheads was a blantant Godmod .

However, I do mean no offense to you and I would be delighted if you kept on playing, but until this assassination has been properly agreed upon by both participating bodies and properly RPed, I shall offically ignore it's exsistance.

ICC:

Stockholm Daily Newswire

Wilhelm Strikes again with reforms

STOCKHOLM--- Sweden's Finance Minister Johaanes Kruger on Monday opened a four-day meeting of the government's Economic Advisory Board to draw up drastic economic reforms.

The reform package will be unveiled by King Wilhelm I next month, Finance Ministry officials said. During the meeting, inputs from various Economists and Financial Advisors help add finishing touches to the final economic reform package, which includes the Privatization of all Government owned indutries, Disbandment of Government price regulations, the adoption of a Private-Public Partnership program in the areas of Welfare and Healthcare, A new tax system and the adoption of a Gold based currency.

"These reforms are truly what Sweden needs." claims Hans Blitzer, leader of the United Swedish Business Group in a speech to supporters in Parliment. "For years we have been brooding in economic inactivity, while our competitors in England and Germany push ahead. Now with these new reforms, hopefully Sweden can begin to catch up."

Most Economists and Financial Advisors from around Sweden have also reinforced the new package, claiming that it will "make Sweden a more habital business climate for foriegn and domestic investors alike."

However, Liberal activists again have protested Government changes, claim that they have "ruined the economic stability of Sweden" and that citizens will be forced into poverty. Yet due to the astounding political victory of the Swedish Centrist Party in last weeks elections, Liberals have been unable to stop Wilhelm and his supporters in the Riksdag and public polls are showing that the once Liberal controlled populace is veering towards the center and right.

In other news, Swedish Bonds showed a slight downturn as...

OOC: Whoa, whoa, whoa!

France assasinating Emperor Wilhelm and the German Minister of Defense? The German player, Relative Liberty, should be allowed to mount a defense aganist such an attempt (or RP whether his guys died or not). Then France went ahead and invades Germany?

What the hell is going on here? I know everybody is itching to go to war to gain new lands, but no cheating like what Defuniak did, please. How would he like it if, say, China decides to send ninja assasins to kill Defuniak's entire French leadership, then annexes Indonesia and Vietnam in two weeks? :rolleyes:

I apologize if I sounded brash, but this is getting a little out of hand. First Defuniak RP'ed "functional" jets and such, then tries to come out on top with best guns, troops, etc. This is not how we RP. We RP for the fun of it, and to create a good story, not a "I must win!" game.

A lookout at a French outpost mumbled " So it is done, Radio the President. Tell him that The Head has been cut off the snake" an obviously inferior trooper replied, "yessir". The Calm but delighted President Radioed the Minister of Defence. "Execute Operation Yellow". An Affirmitave grunt came from the minister as he radioed a field commander.Oh, come now. You've taken absolutely no action to set up an assassination of the Kaiser. If you want to "cut the head off the snake," you're going to have to plan it out, giving lots of clues as to what you're doing, not just execute some bolt out of the blue.

I concur with Lachenburg; you're a creative player, but you have to ease into these things. Yes, that means tipping your hand. Yes, that might mean that your adversary thwarts you. But that's how the game must be played.I apologize if I sounded brash, but this is getting a little out of hand. First Defuniak RP'ed "functional" jets and such, then tries to come out on top with best guns, troops, etc. This is not how we RP. We RP for the fun of it, and to create a good story, not a "I must win!" game.I agree. France has many assets: a large, powerful fleet, a decent army with great artillery, and a large colonial empire. Why not research France's assets and play upon them? That would make for far better RP and a much better game.

Oh, and that should be "telegraphed a field commander"; radio wasn't used for that sort of thing yet."Dear Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern, while you until recently were one of the highest members of the German aristocracy you are now, because of your father's will, without lands or titles. It would be unfair, even an insult, to your father were I to disrespect his wishes and allow you to come. Therefore I must sadly tell you that you are not welcome at this meeting, though not because I harbour any feelings of hatred or do not trust your loyalty, but because your father ordered so."OOC: You know, I had no way of guessing which way you'd go on that decision, so I just had to throw it up there and see what you'd do. Anything else would be godmodding (Defuniak, take note).

The next move here is yours, mein Kaiser. What will transpire in Scweidnitz?He wouldn't know the Kaiser was murdered but there are rumours.
Likewise, he wouldn't know for certain that the will was a fraud.Yeah, but does the Dual Monarchy know the truth?!? Did my mole get close enough to the plot?

How would he like it if, say, China decides to send ninja assasins to kill Defuniak's entire French leadership, then annexes Indonesia and Vietnam in two weeks? :rolleyes:

Japanese Ninja's would assasinate the Chinese leaders and annex China, Indochina and Indonesia (you really have something with Indonesia... ;) ).

Japanese Ninja's would assasinate the Chinese leaders and annex China, Indochina and Indonesia (you really have something with Indonesia... ;) ).
The Romanian governement would then grant political refugee status to the Shaolin monks and employ them to assasinate all the world's leaders, leaving Romania as the sole superpower in the world. :D

''Verdamt noch einmal! Schweinepriester! That damned inbred bastard, his mother was ahamster and his father smelt of elderberries!'' Fortunately the rest of this would-be famous speech was lost.
Herr Hohenzollern was not at all pleased, to say the least. In fact he was quite mad, and a mad nobleman who is popular with the masses is not a good thing for an unpopular Kaiser.

OOC: I apologize to any Germans if I have unintentionally butchered their language with bad spelling or strange and/or wrong usage of words, I blame this guy. (http://home.unilang.org/main/wiki2/index.php/German_impoliteness#Religious_cuss_words_and_insults)

NO: They would know it, but they wouldn't have any real evidence (hearsay is not evidence).

The Romanian governement would then grant political refugee status to the Shaolin monks and employ them to assasinate all the world's leaders, leaving Romania as the sole superpower in the world. :D

ooc. But then evil mutated aliens from outerspace would invade Rumania, capture all Shaolin monks and destroy the world with a OMFGZZZ ZUP3R LAZOR! :D

Now serious. Defuniak, I as mod (and a lot of other players) would appreciate it if you...plan your assasinations.

The Romanian governement would then grant political refugee status to the Shaolin monks and employ them to assasinate all the world's leaders, leaving Romania as the sole superpower in the world. :DHah!!! I have you all trumped!

Now that I have lured Tesla back to Vienna, we would turn on the World System and OMG!!! z6p j00 6ll b6k in2 t3h st0n 6j!!! (how can n00bs write this garbage? It's harder than English!).

Enough of that...

They would know it, but they wouldn't have any real evidence (hearsay is not evidence)."Then get evidence," said Count Berchtold. "Dig until you have it."

OOC: BTW, I've promoted Berchtold and Conrad to the rank of Count, because I mistranslated "Graf" as "Baron" earlier. :p

OOC: In 1910, Aurel Vlaicu flew his Vlaicu 1, an aeroplane designed and built by himself. It was the first flight on Romanian teritory of a plane designed and built by a Romanian. The next year, he built another aeroplane, Vlaicu 2.
In the summer of 1912, at the international air show from Aspern-Viena, he gained first place for hitting with a projectile a designated target and second place for accurate landing, after French pilot Roland Garros. In 1913, he began designing Vlaicu 3, planned to be made entirely from metal, a radical idea for that time.

Vlaicu's greatest ambition was to be the first to fly over the Carpathians (he was born in Transilvania, but after 1909 he moved to Romania - I wonder why, NO :p; for those who don't know: the Crpathians separate Transilvania from the rest of Romania). While working at Vlaicu 3, he heard that another pilot wanted to attempt a similar flight. On the 13th of September 1913, he took off. Later that day, he crashed and died (that's what you get for trying to set a record on the 13th :p ).

His last and unfinished design was contracted by a British company. 100 pieces were to be built in a UK factory.

In my RP, Aurel Vlaicu take off on the 14th. He still crashes, but survives. By 1914, Vlaicu 3 is ready for production and the Romanian governement offer Vlaicu a contract for 50 V3 airplanes. In real life, on 1 January 1914, Romania had:
- 12 Bleriot
- 10 Bristol-Coanda
- 6 Farman
- 1 Vlaicu

The Bristol-Coanda airplanes are those built by Henri Coand in RL, while working for a British company.

If Britain still wants to order the 100 Vlaicu 3 airplanes, they are welcomed to do so.

I REALLY gotta go now.

Schloss Leutstetten (http://www.jacobite.ca/gazetteer/Bavaria/images/leutstettenschloss.jpg), Bavaria
The two women sat alone in the sprawling rose garden: Gisela, Archduchess of Austria and Maria Theresa Henrietta Dorothea von Habsburg-Lothringen, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Modena. Gisela was near the point of tears, but Maria Theresa sat calmly, a rock in a storm.

Ten minutes earlier, Gisela had burst from the manor house and rushed into the Rose Garden, almost hysterical. It had taken a few minutes for her sister-in-law to calm her, and then to get her to surrender the letter she had received by courier from her father, Franz Josef I. Maria-Theresa had read it, absorbed its import, and now sat thoughtfully with Gisela under the shade tree.
My beloved Gisela,

I tell you this in the greatest confidence, for I am concerned for your
safety and that of your family. Wilhelm II, your late Kaiser, was, I
believe, murdered by poison, administered by the foul hand of the peasant
who now usurps his throne.

Would that I could right this wrong! But, sadly, I can not. I must think
of the safety and health of my people, as must any sovereign, and it would
not be for their betterment to lead them into a war against our only ally.
I fear I must stomach this outrage, as bitter as it is, and keep my peace.
Our two nations must remain allies.

But a thief who has stolen the crown jewels once may do so again. I fear
that other German nobles may have their lands usurped to enrich this vile
monster's henchmen. Keep a close eye on those around you; trust no one.
It would break my heart if anything were to happen to you or your beloved
family, my dearest daughter.

Love, Papa"What will we do? Our husbands are in that ... that ..." stuttered Gisela.

"Hush," said Maria Theresa firmly. "You must not wear your heart on your sleeve." She sat a moment longer, and then raised her hand in a gesture her servants knew well.

A women hustled up, "Your Majesty?"

"Have Gabrielle fetch my pen and stationery, and a small table. I wish to compose a letter," said the older woman, with an air of command.

In that moment, Gisela thought she was looking at a different woman. Maybe I am, she reflected. They had talked for many long hours in the past about the duties of nobility, about the why of monarchy. The pieces began to fall into place.

Maria Theresa, a dozen years her senior, was form another era in spite of the closeness of their ages. Gisela, at 56, had been just fifteen when Germany had been united under the Hohenzollerns. She had always been a member of the German aristocracy, and had always thought of herself in those terms.

But Maria Theresa, at 68, was the product of an older age. She had married Ludwig Leopold Joseph Maria Aloys Alfred when he had been the son of the Prince Regent of an independent kingdom. Maria Theresa spoke, not of aristocracy, but nobility. Much like her father, she was the product of an age where the right of a king to rule was innate.

"Not all nobles rise to their station," Maria Theresa had once said, "But knowing that the responsibility of government may fall upon one's shoulders at any time often does create a kind of person who is better fit to rule than others."

She had not thought much of those words until now, but as she looked at her sister-in-law, she realised that the command she was seeing was the mark, not just of nobility, but of royalty. For Maria Theresa Henrietta Dorothea von Habsburg-Lothringen, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Modena was not only the wife of the Crown Prince of Bavaria, the man next in line to be King of Bavaria, but was also - through the 225-year old Jacobite inheritance and her, claimant to the thrones of France, England, Scotland, and Ireland. In another world, that would have made her the single most powerful person on Earth.

With a shock, she realised that it anything happened to their husbands and sons while at Schweidnitz, this woman would wear not four crowns, but five. The letter that had driven Gisela to tears of anguish at the thought of the loss of her husband and son had brought out in this woman the grim determination of an ancient monarch, born of a long line of monarchs. Gisela could see why monarchy still held a mystical attraction for many. There was a sureness, a certainty in it that was beyond description.

Gabrielle, Maria Theresa's servant, had arrived with her liege's pen and stationery, and a manservant had brought up a writing table. Swiftly, Maria Theresa penned a letter, sealed it, and then asked her sister-in-law: "Who among your servants do you trust the most?"

"Rudolf, my driver," she said.

"He is to take this," she said, handing Gisela a letter, "And a note with sufficient money to hire a private rail car for the return trip, and go to Schwerin. He must tell no one who he is going to see, and must be utterly discreet about both who he serves and who he assists. Can he be trusted to do this?" Maria Theresa asked.

"Yes," replied Gisela.

"Good," said the older woman. "Now you are to write a letter to your father, on my behalf. You will tell him that you shared his letter with me, beg his forgiveness, and then ask on my behalf that he send me every piece of evidence he has on this matter, by courier, at the soonest opportunity."
Schwerin, Mecklenberg-Schwerin
To by dearest Wilhelm,

I would dearly love to have you and your family visit me in Leutstetten
while my husband and son are attending the meeting at Schloss Richthofen
in Schweidnitz. My sister-in-law's driver, Rudolf, will make all needed
arrangements so that you may travel in suitable fashion.

Once you are here, there are a number of private matters that I would like
to discuss with you. All I can say for now is that an opportunity exists
for you to improve your situation, one that demands your immediate atten-
tion.

Yours, Maria Theresa Henrietta Dorothea von Habsburg-LothringenWilhelm lowered the letter and looked at the man who had brought it.

"Do you know what this is about?" he asked.

"No, your Highness ... er, mein herr," offered Rudolf, a little abashed at having committed the same error three times, twice after being corrected by his guest. "I have only been told to bring you this missive and make travel arrangements for you."

Wilhelm pondered the meaning of this. An opportunity exists for you to improve your situation, he thought. What could that be? The offer of a title? Marriage for one of his children? An honour or remittance?

Life had been hard in the wake of the loss of all privilege, titles, honours, land, and stipends. Indeed, he and his siblings, as well as their children, had been forced to live on their in-laws' largess. His younger brother Joachim had begun brooding, to the point where Wilhelm feared he might take his own life. And yet he - and they - wanted no handouts. An "opportunity" would be welcome, but what kind of "opportunity" was being offered?

"Sir," said the driver, breaking Wilhelm's reverie. "What is your bidding?"

He took a deep breath.

"We will come," he replied.

In 1913, he began designing Vlaicu 3, planned to be made entirely from metal, a radical idea for that time.OOC: Good work, Bogmihia. This is exactly how one should RP a technological breakthrough.

BTW, I'm still trying to figure out whether a thermojet would outperfom or underperform an equivalent piston-powered design... For game purposes, it would be best it it were better in some ways but worse in others (makes life more interesting).

Der Ballplatz, Vienna
To: The Russian Empire
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

As you well know, in the 1878 Treaty of Berlin (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1878berlin.html), The Sublime Porte
agreed to undertake needed political reforms in its European terri-
tories in order to protect the rights of its Christian subjects.

It is our conclusion that, after 34 years, the Porte has no intention
of honouring such obligations under the terms of this Treaty.

Four years ago, with the rise of the current government, we though
that there might be hope that at last the Porte would live up to its
promises, Sadly, the last four years have been even worse for its
Christian subjects, such that now we can see no reasonable way to
resolve the problem short of removing these subjects from the Porte's
jurisdiction.

Thus, the Dual Monarchy will henceforth consider the Sublime Porte to
have abrogated the terms of the Treaty of Berlin, rendering said agree-
ment null and void. We will no longer stand behind this Treaty nor
attempt to enforce it. We have asked that the nations most affected
by the Porte's behavior, Greece and Bulgaria, make one last attempt
at reaching a negotiated settlement with the Sublime Porte. We do not,
however, endorse any settlement that does not result in the transfer
of the Porte's European territories to Greece and Turkey, save for
those territories which are primarily Albanian and should therefore
be combined to create a new Albanian nation.

As you are intimately concerned with the affairs of the region and
are a signatory to this Treaty, we thought it appropriate to inform
you of this change in our position.

OOC: Good work, Bogmihia. This is exactly how one should RP a technological breakthrough.

Thank you. I used your advice and googled for "romanian army 1913". The first find was an english-language forum about the Romanian army, containing a section about the aviation, where Aurel Vlaicu was mentioned. I continued googling and I came up with this info.

BTW, I'm still trying to figure out whether a thermojet would outperfom or underperform an equivalent piston-powered design... For game purposes, it would be best it it were better in some ways but worse in others (makes life more interesting).

Wikipedia says the Campini-Camproni airplane (a thermojet) was slower than an airplane with a similar design using a propeller. That's bad for me.

On the other hand, I have to tell you I'm a student. I don't know exactly the English name of my specialty, but my job will be to drill for oil. Here comes the interesting part. My Drilling professor used to tell us stories about the history of drilling. The Russians, he told us, were the only ones to use turbines when drilling for oil. It was, in a way, their "national" drilling technique, emphasized to set them apart from the rest of the world.

Romania is Russia's neighbour and has oil, too. Maybe I can arrange for Coanda to see a Russian drill in action and he will get inspired, but this is not a thing for the near future. I believe this sistem of drilling was invented in the 1920's. The bad part is I didn't take notes of what my professor said about the history of drilling(it was not required for the exam). :headbang: Who would have thought I'll ever need that info? :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

Wikipedia says the Campini-Camproni airplane (a thermojet) was slower than an airplane with a similar design using a propeller. That's bad for me.Wikipedia is not the last word on matters; it's a good first place to start. I saw differences of opinion on the matter.

The important point is that it's not an überweapon; it's a viable alternative to propellor engines and may give you a future edge in turbojet development (especially if you do that thing with Russian-style turbine drilling). We should figure out whether it has any advantages and then document its disadvantages to match. Then it will be a cool thing.

BTW, did you know that the k.u.k. Reichsmarine actually built a hydrofoil in 1916!?!?!

Further comments in the OOC thread!

<PAMPA>

I don't see whats wrong with the assasination, and a haven't made any troops movements, allowing the German player to respond... By the way, i have an excuse....


I'm 11 Years Old!

(All this OOC by the way)

I don't see whats wrong with the assasination, and a haven't made any troops movements, allowing the German player to respondWhat's wrong with the assassination is simply this: you need to work your way up to it. If you wanted to assassinate the Kaiser, you should have done something like this: Roleplay an investigation of the Kaiser's staff, to ID a likely traitor.


Roleplay an approach. Find out whether the traitor can be won by bribery, blackmail, extortion, or whatever.


Roleplay the planning of the plot.


Roleplay the execution, stopping at key points to see what your adversary does.Between each of these posts, you let the other player respond. The golden rule is this: if it's the other fellow's asset, he tells you what it is or does.

This way what happens is the result of an interplay between you and the other player. Do you get it now?

To The Dual Monarchy
From The Kingdom of Italy

Italy will support its allies in the event of French aggression.

[OOC:I had a nice long IC typed up too...then the power went out...]

Today the Regents had announced in a secret memo a new round fo draft and naval build up. A small number of 220000 men will be drafted. Of those men 20000 will receive extended training (total now 18 months!) and will form two Elite Imperial Divisions. The rest will receive normal, 9 month training.

The admiralty has ordered the construction of the following:
-2 Dreadnought Battleships
-5 Battlecruisers
-20 Destroyers
-25 Submarines (10 will be build with excisting technology and models, the others will be build with extended range etc.)
-4 Seaplane carriers, with 15 seaplanes
-5 ships which will hold at the most 20 Motortorpedoboats. (you could call them motortorpedoboat carriers. They transport the boats so that they can operate further from their bases. I don't know if they existed RL, but I'm looking for that.)

The estimated completion time is three years.

As other members of cabinet resume their attempts at resolving the interior problems of the country, the secretary of state, Lauro Müller, was more concerned in recent developments in the political aspect; It has now been confirmed that a new ruler had arisen in Germany following the unfortunate death of Kaiser Wilhelm respects must be paid to the new kaiser. High tensions in europe show a possibillity that imorts may become more expensive in event of a conflict. However there will be increased demand on raw materials especially rubber due to armament. and a deal could be worked out with for a good offer, more forign aid needs to be secured so speed up industrillisation of Brazil, and finally the president asks that more millitary aid is secured for the modernisation of the army...

A deep sigh comes from the secretary, so much to do! he'd better start right away, his agenda went as follows:

1-Meet representitives of major raw material industries to secure perlimanery amounts for negotiations.

2-Make travel arrangements to europe and the United States.

3-Brief Nilo Peçanha (temporary replacement till return).

4-Congratulate Kaiser Richtofen on his asscention to the throne of Germany bring two large bags of the finest coffee as gesture of goodwill and see if there are any changes in german-brazillian forign policy (notably if we can still send officers for 2-year assignments in Germany).

5-Meet with German officials for the possibillity of increased aid for brazil.

6-Meet with French, Britsh and American officials to negotiate more civil and millitary aid from them and try to negotiate trade deals for Brazillian raw matrials.

Telegrams have been sent:

To Germany:
To: The Esteemed German Forign Minister
From: Lauro Müller, secretary of state of Brazil

Cumprimentos,
First, we would like to extend our congratulations to his highness
Kaiser Richtofen on his asscention to the throne and would like to
wish Germany greatness and prosperity under his reign.

I would like arrange a meeting with you or a representative of the reich
to confirm our diplomatic relationship and perhaps work out some
other arrangements, as I will be travelling in europe for
business in the near future I hope you will be able
to recieve me at that time.

com consideração,
Lauro Müller, secretary of state of Brazil

To France:
To: President Armand Fallières (OoC:?) of the 3rd french Republic
From:Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Federated Republic of the
United States of Brazil

Cumprimentos,
President Fonseca also sends his best regard to our friend and hopes for
continued warm relations between our two countries.

I will be travelling Europe and will visit Germany in
the near future afterwhich I wold ike to meet with you or
a representitive about the possibillity of increasing amount of
aid to help the development of my country, I hope you
will be able to recieve me then.

com consideração,
Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Federated Republic of the
United States of Brazil

To Great Britain:
To: Prime Minister Herbert Asquith of Great Britain
From:Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Federated Republic of the
United States of Brazil

Cumprimentos,
President Fonseca also sends his best regard to our friend and hopes for
continued warm relations between our two countries.

I will be travelling Europe and will visit Germany and France in
the near future afterwhich I wold ike to meet with you or
a representitive about the possibillity of increasing amount of
aid to help the development of my country, I hope you
will be able to recieve me then.

com consideração,
Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Federated Republic of the
United States of Brazil

To Germany:
To: The Esteemed German Forign Minister
From: Lauro Müller, forign minister of Brazil

Cumprimentos,
First, we would like to extend our congratulations to his highness
Kaiser Richtofen on his asscention to the throne and would like to
wish Germany greatness and prosperity under his reign.

I would like arrange a meeting with you or a representative of the reich
to confirm our diplomatic relationship and perhaps work out some
other arrangements, as I will be travelling in europe for
business in the near future I hope you will be able
to recieve me at that time.

com consideração,
Lauro Müller, forign minister of Brazil
''We are happy to hear your words, my friend.
We would also like to discuss different matters with you, including an increase in foreign aid to your country and we would appreciate if you would visit my castle in a few months so that we have time to prepare for your arrival.''

The castle:
After the grand feast was over, Kaiser Mannfred rose and spoke:
''Friends, Germans and fellow noblemen! I have gathered you here not only to enjoy your company, but to discuss matters of importance with you, matters which concerns the entire Reich. As you know France has positioned troops along the borders of the Benelux countries and we would be forced to interveneif they crossed the border. However the commoners in our own country are unhappy and we might go to war with France only to return and find our Empire in the hands of communists. Therefore we must make sure to keep a small percentage of our forces at home while still keep enough manpower on the front to beat the French, our current army is unable to accomplish this and that is the first matter I want do discuss with you. As Kaiser of the German Empire and König of Prussia I ask you to assemble small armies of your most trusted underlings, a few hundred hould be enough, and have them commanded by a captain whose loyalty is beyond doubt. These small armies would stay behind and maintain peace in Germany while we are fighting at the front.
The second matter is the creation of a special department to collect info on any persons that might be a threat to the Empire, such as communists, socialists, Frenchmen, fascists, liberals and others. It would be called Abwehr and be onknown to the commoners though you gentlemen would of course have full knowledge of it. This will require immense funding, something that we cannot afford without your help, as well as means to place agents all over Germany, which will also require your help.
That brings us to my question, do I have your help?''
Of course they all agreed, they were after all at his castle and armed guards can be pretty persuasive even if they are not in the dining room itself. The noblemen would almost certainly agree anyway, they did have personal interest in keeping communists and their kind at bay.

OOC: Before someone starts yelling at me about the Abwehr being military intelligence I would like to point out that the word abwehren means ''to ward off''. The agency was named Abwehr during the 20's because the Allied only allowed Germany to maintain intelligence of defensive nature, and the name Abwehr would imply that counterespionage was the main objective.

Ohhhhhhhhh! I get it now! (P.S., I'm going to delete that post.)

I'm Going to need someone to RP Portugal!

First:

Ultimatum to Portugese Government:

Surrender to the French Republic, and become a great Protectorate of the French Republic, in which all your current citizens will receive French Citizen Status. You will remain with your own current government, except the President of France will be superior to The President of Portugal. Accept or be destroyed. We await your reply.


(P.S. First reply first recognition!)

OOC: hey! i was going to do that... :(

<Whacks France across the back of the head>

<Whacks Spain across the back of the head>

All you would-be Napoleons need to go take a cold shower...

If I can find out what Portugal had, I'll RP them...

But anyone else (like Great Britain <hint, hint>) who wants to step in before I do is welcome. I have my hands full trying to sort out the mess in the Balkans.

Vienna, Austria

March 3rd, 1912

The War Ministry announced that it would hold large-scale military manoeuvres in Bosnia and Hercegovina in two weeks time. These manoeuvres, to last two weeks, will be based around the largest peacetime mobilisation of the k.u.k. Army in its history. Approximately one half of the army will be called to the colours in a test of the nations readiness for war.

Officials at the War Ministry indicated that the mobilisation would be conducted to test recent improvements in transport and readiness that can not be verified by any means other than a full dress rehearsal. To allay concerns by foreign powers that the manoeuvres might have aggressive intent, observers from other countries were invited to be present through the exercise. The Ministry indicated that it especially hoped that Russian officers would avail themselves of the opportunity to watch the k.u.k Army on manoeuvres, as a symbol of improving relations and greater goodwill between the two governments.To: The Russian Empire
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

We are conducting large-scale manoevers in the Bosnia and Hercegivina and
would be honoured to have observers from your nation in attendance during
these operations. Perhaps Grand Duke Nicholas himself would be willing
to observe from our General Staff Headquarters in Budapest. I believe
that such a move would help strengthen ties between our two countries.

Sincerely,
Graf Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf,
Army Chief of StaffOOC: Manuevers will begin on March 17th, 1912 and last through March 31st, 1912. Field Armies mobilised will be the 2nd, 5th, and 6th; deployments will be in Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia and Slovenia, Hungary, and Bucovnia (none in Galicia).

I'm Going to need someone to RP Portugal!

First:

Ultimatum to Portugese Government:

Surrender to the French Republic, and become a great Protectorate of the French Republic, in which all your current citizens will receive French Citizen Status. You will remain with your own current government, except the President of France will be superior to The President of Portugal. Accept or be destroyed. We await your reply.


(P.S. First reply first recognition!)Lisbon, Portugal

To: The Republic of France
From: The Republic of Portugal

We would rather fight to the death than surrender our freedom to you, and
call upon the other nations of Europe to aid us in the defence of our nation.

President Manoel de Arriaga
To: The United Kingdom of Great Britain, the United States of America,
and the United States of Brasil
From: The Republic of Portugal

We face the threat of French aggression; to answer that threat, we call upon
your three great nations to come to our assistance in our hour of need.

President Manoel de Arriaga
Portugal places her navy on alert and begins calling up reservists to fill out the ranks of her army.

Sundsvall, Sweden

As dawn approached on the low, cloudy horizion, A young Oskar Konieg scurred across the winding streets of Sundsvall, his khaki denim coat swriling around his figure as a slight breeze whisked it's way around the old Medieval City. In his hands, several pieces of machined parts battered into each other, letting loose a loud metallic 'Clank' each time they met.

In truth, Oskar had no idea what the parts were or what they were. After all, it was just another one of his Uncle's crazy errands that for some odd reason, he had no time to do for himself. I mean, it wasn't like he had a job or anything, as he had been retired from the Army for years and besides his occasional tinkerings with various gizmos, he lived a rather mudane and uneventful life. However, over the past few months, ever since his 'visit' to Stockhom during the Civil War, the old man had suddenly regained a profound interest in a new 'project' he called it. For weeks on end, it had been the only thing on his mind and he constantly toiled away, drawing various diagrams and dismantling old Mausers he had aquired from friends in the service.

This is so stupid, why, out of all the people he could have chosen, did he give me the job of running around town? I swear, if this keeps up, I'm going to kill that old bastard! Oskar thought to himself, his mind raging in anger and annoyance.

After all, Oskar had his obligations. For nearly 5 years, he had made his living in a small manufacturing plant nearby, machining various Engine Parts from blocks of slid steel for those newfangled automobiles that were now a hit on the streets. Now, because of his stupid Uncle, he was on the verge of losing his job and losing his livelyhood.

No more! he once again shouted in his mind No more will I answer these stupid pleas. From now on, I will live my life without this interruption!

Finally, after several minutes of running, Oskar had reached his Uncle's home, an old brick shop, wedged in between the town bakery and a small General goods store. The building itself was crafted of old dark, red bricks and 4 thick-paned, Victorian-style windows that faced the cobblestone street and gleamed in the oncoming light. Above, a lone chimney stuck above the brown shingled roof, exhauling large clouds of grey smoke.

There he goes again. Thought Oskar. After all, the only time the chimney bellowed with smoke, was when his old Uncle was hard at work.

Walking up to the solid green door that glared at him from afar, Oskar pulled it's faded bronze knob and stepped inside. Upon his entrance, he was surprised to see his Uncle and another man of shorter proportions clad in a Officer's Navy Blue uniform. From the sounds of their voices, Oscar could tell the an arguement had emerged and he slowly crept towards the entry way for a listen:

"...I'm telling you Kjall, this could work! Already, I have proven that with the application of a Gas-Operated Blowback Mechanism and parts from M-94s, that this weapon will perform flawlessly. Once I work out some of the final kinks, it will be complete. I just need your support, and we can herald in a new age of firearms technology."

"How do we know this will be perfect, Karl? After all, you haven't even figured out what round to chamer the weapon in. We already know that the standard 7.62mm of standard rifles would create too much recoil for the average soldier, but pistol ammunition will not give your weapon the accuracy and knockdown power of a rifle."

"Oh, but I have, Kjall." Karl replied triumphantly. "I have heard that the Japanese use a smaller cartridge for thier rifles, a 6.5mm. With this cartridge, we could provide our soldiers with adequate power and manageable recoil. Think of it, induvidual soldiers will be able to let loose hundreads of rounds of ammunition per minute instead of a meager 10 or 12. We could rule the battlefield with this kind of technology. You know that."

"I know, Karl, but I don't think that the High Command will go for it. After all, they show barely any interest in the Heavier Machine-guns. What makes you think that they will accept your new little contraption?"

"Dont worry about the High Command, Kjall. I have my ways with dealing with them."

At that moment, Karl noticed his young nephew, now listening intently from the enrty hall.

"Oskar, it's about time you showed up. I would like you to meet a friend of mine. This Colonel Kjall Peterson, an old aquitence of mine. Kjall, this is my nephew, Oskar."

Setting down the metal parts on the workbench near his old Uncle, Oskar firmly shook hands with the Colonel, before scurrying back to the kitchen to think things over, not to mention quell his now grumbling stomach with some food.

I can't believe that old hag is making guns. Does he want to get himself killed?Oskar thought. Yet, the more Oskar dwelled on the thought of his Uncle dying, the more he enjoyed it. After all, without him, Oskar could go back about his daily routine and not have to worry about his future.

Examining the metal parts Oskar had dropped on the workbench, Kjall became rather interested in their purpose. Each one appear to be the same as the other, a long, slender, black rectangular box with a machined opening at the top.

"What's this for?" Kjall asked, perplexed.

"Those, my firend, are the magazines for my new rifle." Karl replied with glee. "Each one will hold 20 rounds of ammuntion and will attach directly into the chamber from the bottom of the weapon. Hopefully, if my old manuals were correct, these will hold the 6.5mm ammuntion I was talking to you about."

"Hmmm, interesting. By the way, how are you going to comeby this 6.5mm ammunition?"

"By ordering some boxes from the Japanese government, Of course!" Karl replied. "As a matter of fact, I was just about to mail my request to them just as you stopped by."

Karl then stepped over a small wooden desk perched in the corner of his parlor. On tope of the desk itself, lay a lone white piece of paper that read:



To: The Ministry of War; Tokyo, Japan
From: 39 Straße; Sundsvall, Sweden

Dear Sirs:

I write to you today to request approximately 10 boxes of 6.5mm Rifle Ammuntion from your Armories. The intended purpose of this ammuntion is soley for the development of a new rifle, intended to be solicited to the Swedish Government for adpotion.

I would greatly appriceate it if you cooperated in this matter, as a large potential profit could be made as a result of the adaptation of of this rifle in question.

Thank you for your time.

Signed,

Karl Strusserbach



Taking up the small note, Karl stuffed it into a simple white envelope and closed it shut. In a matter of hours, it would be on it's way to Japan.

OCC: Yes, for those of you wondering, Karl's new invention is going to be an early Assault Rifle, based off the prinicples of John Browning's Gas Blowback design.

Of course, you may think that this is a little too far early for an Assault rifle, yet I must point out that the first true assault rifle was invented by Russian Colonel, Vladimir Federov in 1916 and used the same Japanese 6.5mm 'Arisaka' cartridge. However, the the rifle itself was unreliable in tough conditions and being that Federov was not on good terms with the new Soviet Regime, it slowly dissapeared into obscurity.

To: The Republic of Portugal, President Manoel de Arriaga
From: The President of The United States of America

I, speaking on behalf of the American people are shocked at the sudden nationalism, and aggression of the French. That being said, I regret to inform you that we cannot come to the aid of your country. It's not that America is without heart, and wishes to see the end to your nation, it's more the fact that America has played the isolationist it's whole life, exluding the Swedish incident (that was a speacial scenario). America cannot come to the rescue of the Portuguese people, although we wish you the best of luck in fighting off the French. We urge you to plead help to the Spanish, English, Germans, and Austrians. They are the most involved in keeping the peace in Europe.

God be with you Portugal, and good luck,
Theodore Roosevelt, President of The United States of America

Paris, France
The argument in front of the sidewalk café grew so loud that passers-by began to turn and stare.

A Portuguese student was arguing angrily with his French friends. "How can you permit this? In the past two years France has threatened," he said, ticking the nations off on his fingers, "Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, and now Portugal! Your leaders are would-be Napoleons! How can you tolerate this kind of behaviour of them?"

"They believe in a strong France," offered one of the French students.

"At everybody else's expense?!?" said the Portuguese student incredulously. "Strength comes from within, not from conquest. What, are the brains of Frenchmen besotted with visions of gloiré?"

"Many are," offered another student. "Many yearn for the days when France spoke and the rest of Europe listened."

"And so what are you doing to disabuse them of these pipe dreams?" demanded the Portuguese student. "You call yourselves 'Socialists', committed to the international brotherhood of workers. Yet you do nothing for the workers of these nations that your beloved France threatens!"

"What would you have us do, Sergio?" asked the first Frenchman. "Overthrow our government?"

"Non. You don't have to. You are a Republic, and there are Deputies in the Chamber who call themselves Socialists too, friends of the working men who will have to shed their blood if war breaks out. Urge them to oppose the Government! Vote down war credits, and if that's enough then send this government down with a vote of 'no confidence'!"

"They will not refuse the Government's wish for war credits," said the second student. "They are sure that the people support the Government."

"Then show them that the people do not!" cried Sergio. "Get your party leaders to call for protests, industrial actions - even a General Strike! Get the workers out in the street and you will find that you have lots of support! You must show this Government that the people want peace, not Empire!"

"Sergio, if we do that the Government may crack down..." said the first Frenchmen.

"Then - if they do that - then you should take to the barricades," spat the foreign student. "If you call yourselves free men, then you will revolt before you let your right to protest be taken away!"

Sundsvall, SwedenOf course, you may think that this is a little too far early for an Assault rifle, yet I must point out that the first true assault rifle was invented by Russian Colonel, Vladimir Federov in 1916 and used the same Japanese 6.5mm 'Arisaka' cartridge. However, the the rifle itself was unreliable in tough conditions and being that Federov was not on good terms with the new Soviet Regime, it slowly dissapeared into obscurity.OOC: Have you looked at the French Chauchat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauchat)? That was the predecessor to the B.A.R. (the Americans used Chauchat's in the Great War; the B.A.R. was designed as a replacement).

To: Portugal
From: The Kingdom of Spain

Spain will protect it neighbor Portugal from any attack from France, hopefully they will not think of fighting both our great nations, and if they do they will be forced into a war on two fronts.



To: The Third Republic of France
From: The Kingdom of Spain

Any aggression against Portugal will lead to war with Spain, Stand down before any lives are lost on either side.



To: The Duel Monarchy
From: The Kingdom of Spain

It is my wish that the Duel monarchy honor its alliance with Spain in the event that France attacks Portugal or Spain, we wish that the Duel Monarchy sends troops to Spain to help protect from an attack, or if need be counterattack France.


In Spain construction on warships is increased the armada is sent to high alert, troops and artillery are moved to the French border and construction of Trenches has begun.


OOC: what year is it?

OOC: what year is it?Good question. In the Balkans it's 1912, but I think we're still in a time warp and it's 1913-14 in Western Europe. :p

To Portugal
From The Kingdom of Italy

The Kingdom of Italy will stand by Portugal in the case of French aggression. We must stand united for it may be Portugal today, but tomorrow it could be any of us.

To The Third Republic of France
From The Kingdom of Italy

The Kingdom will no longer stand by an watch your attempts at empire-building. We demand you cease your aggression with Portugal and within Europe as a whole or you will face war with the Italians.


The 24 Italian Alpini battalions have been outfitted with the most up to date weapons the Kingdom has to offer and have been relocated to the alpine border between France and Italy. Fortifications are being formed including trenches. Additional Alpini forces are being trained along the Swiss and Austrian alpine borders.

Lauro Müller let's out a deep sigh, it seems France is ,yet again, going to attack another neutral country, even though it may be Portugal, international opinion goes against France's belligerence. So -after talking it over with the president- the following telegram was sent to the Third Republic:

To:The respectable French government
From:Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Republic of the
United States of Brazil

We are very concerned at the repetitive warmongering actions of
the third republic and protest France's recent actions against Portugal and
other neutral countries.

As a result we won't be meeting in the near future, the french
millitary mission in Brazil is to be returned to their homeland
and tarrifs be placed on french imports.

Please note that this will continue untill the situation
changes and the voices of peace are heard.

com respeito,
Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Republic of the
United States of Brazil


hopefully deals can be made with Germany, Great Britain and the united states to recompensate what Brazil loses from this. Next day Lauro Müller departs for Germany leaving instructions to Nilo Peçanha to contact US officials and attempt to deal with them.

From: Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Republic of
the United States of Brazil
To:Philander C. Knox (OoC:Taft is president, right?), secretary of state
of the United States of America

Cumprimentos mornos from Brazil and President Fonseca,
we hope for a good and prosperous future to both our
great nations.

As you may have already known we have enforced some
regulations against France due to their warmongering actions,
this have led us to seek trade deals and increased aid with
other countries such as your great nation. We would like to meet
with you to negotiate this, my colleague Nilo Peçanha will travel to
meet with you or your representitive in the nearest convenient time
for you. We wish for closer relationship with the United States.

Com respeito o mais profundo,
Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Republic of
the United States of Brazil

To: The Ministry of War; Tokyo, Japan
From: 39 Straße; Sundsvall, Sweden

Dear Sirs:

I write to you today to request approximately 10 boxes of 6.5mm Rifle Ammuntion from your Armories. The intended purpose of this ammuntion is soley for the development of a new rifle, intended to be solicited to the Swedish Government for adpotion.

I would greatly appriceate it if you cooperated in this matter, as a large potential profit could be made as a result of the adaptation of of this rifle in question.

Thank you for your time.

Signed,

Karl Strusserbach

To; 39 Strasse, Sundsvall, Sweden
From; The Imperial Arms Commision/Ministery of War

Dear Karl Strusserbach

We will send immediately 15 boxes of 6.5mm rifle bullets. We are very
interested in the possible new rifle, we would gladly want to hear more
details. If the rifle is of a good design, we may be interested. If you need
money, more parts and ammunition or anything else, contact the ambassador
in Stockholm. He will pass it on immediately to Tokyo.

Sincerly,
General Todjo

ooc. Is the war thing public already? I just want to give a reaction, for further actions I'll wait till Sharina is able to reply. Defuniak, I propose a freeze of all actions in Indochina, including reinforcements etc. untill Sharina is back in action again. I hope you can understand.

From: Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Republic of
the United States of Brazil
To:Philander C. Knox (OoC:Taft is president, right?), secretary of state
of the United States of America

Cumprimentos mornos from Brazil and President Fonseca,
we hope for a good and prosperous future to both our
great nations.

As you may have already known we have enforced some
regulations against France due to their warmongering actions,
this have led us to seek trade deals and increased aid with
other countries such as your great nation. We would like to meet
with you to negotiate this, my colleague Nilo Peçanha will travel to
meet with you or your representitive in the nearest convenient time
for you. We wish for closer relationship with the United States.

Com respeito o mais profundo,
Lauro Müller, secretary of state of the Republic of
the United States of Brazil

OOC: Ha, actually I decided to have Teddy run for a thrid term so hes in office right now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Lauro Muller, secertary of state of the Republic of United States of Brazil
From: Theodore Roosevelt, President of The United States of America

My Secretary of state has just informed be of a telegram from Brazil, and tells me it holds great opportunity for the both of our countries. Who am I to turn down my seceraty. We would welcome any representitive of Brazil to visit the United States and shall ready accomadations for your arrival at your desired time.

All the best,
Theodore Roosevelt, President of The United States

SIC:
At a military facility outside Peenemünde:
On the field stood a couple a Daimler car clad in armour and mounting a machine gun, a hundred yards stood a platoon soldiers with rifles and a group of scientists dressed in white robes and carrying pencils and notebooks.
The officer commanding the soldiers cried:
''Ready! Aim! Fire!''
The soldiers fired their rifles, two shots each, at the armoured car, then the scientists walked down the firing range to examine the results. The armour was pierced in several places, mostly at the joints where the armour sheets had been simply bolted together.
''It seems as if we must reinforce the armour.'' said Karl.
''Impossible, the car can barely manage ten kilometres an hour as it is.'' replied Hanz.
''What if we used a tractor?''
''The Kaiser wouldn't allow it, he want this ready as soon as possible.''
''We could try to bolt straps of armour over the most exposed joints.'' said the third scientist, Fritz.
''Could work, we'll try that for now.''

Telegram to the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg:
As we have noted French aggressions both at your borders and in the Iberian peninsula, we request that German armed forces are allowed to travel through your land to assure a quick route to Paris, to make sure that a war would be short and spare us all much suffering.

Dr. Soikyu was writing in the development logbook.

5 December, 1914-1325 hours.

The thirtieth test with the machinegun mounted upfront was again a failure. Each time the blades get blasted to pieces by the bullets from the machinegun. One time it seemed to work but the synchronizing system failed. Sofar four people have been killed by blade shrapnel, including one of the testpilots, Kanichi Osuboku. I will return to the testing range once more at 1345 hours. Dr. Yero has improved the synchronizing system, or so he says. I'm anxious and curious at the same time. War is brewing in Indochina, maybe if this works, we have a major advantage over the French and we could strafe any Chinese troop concentration later on. That would be great!

Pvt. Kiku:"Hello doc. Ready for another tests?"
Dr. Soikyu:"Ahh yes, I hope this one works. I could use some positive news now."
Pvt. Kiku:"Certainly!"
Pilot Officer:"Ok, starting engine! *engine roars to life and crew including scientists ran for the armoured shields* Commence firing!"

ret-tet-tet-tet-tet-tet-tet-tet

Pilot Officer:"Yeah! Switching off engine! It worked!"
Dr. Soikyu:" I see! Yero, how did you do it?"
Dr. Yero:"Very simple. I just slowed down the rate of fire of the machinegun. It now fires about 240 rounds per minute, or four per second. It gives the blades enough time to pass before the next bullet is fired. Simple."
Pilot Officer:"Yes, but the rate of fire is slow, compared to an ordinary machinegun."
Dr. Yero:"I think it is enough. The main task of this type of plane will be strafing groundtroops and maybe even ships, fairly large targets which don't move that fast."
Pilot Officer:"And other planes?"
Dr. yero:"Groundfire can take out those."
Pilot Officer:" I doubt it. But it is at least a start. TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!!! "
Rest:"BANZAI!!!"

ooc. I hope it's al right. The plane has a fairly slow rate of fire, as was in RL life. The germans resolved that by placing more machineguns up front.

Stockholm,Sweden

"Blasted French! First, they threaten the Low Countries with war and now they wish to jump on Portugal? Fools, I tell you. Pure fools!" Wilhelm shouted, greatly angered by the past weeks' international newswires.

To his side, newly appointed Prime Minister Hjalmar Hammarskjöld sat quietly in one of Wilhelm's newly appolstered silk chairs. In his hand, a large brown cigar burned, releasing a plume of gray smoke into the air around him.

"It seems as if these Frenchmen wish to repeat the mistakes of their famous Napolean." Hjalmar calmly replied. "After all, France has not been at it's pinnacle for years. Maybe this is just a desperate attempt for them to attain more influence in Europe."

"Possibly, yet they know that if they do follow up on their threats, the entire civilized world would be compelled to act upon their belligerance and declare war. It just doesn't make sense." The King replied, his voice still filled with annoyance and rage.

"Of course, when have the French ever made sense?" Hjalmar joked, as he took another puff of his cigar.

"Yes, that is very true, Hjalmar. But nonetheless, we must act before their actions lead Europe down a path to war."

"My suggestion, place an embargo against the Third Republic until they abandon their threats and apologize to the governments they have threatened." the Prime Minister said. "After all, as a leading world economy, France relies heavily on the imports and investments of the trade partners around her. If we cut that off, it will not be long until the French start feeling the pains of economic isolation."

At that comment, Wilhelm stopped pacing and faced the relaxed Prime Minister, still louging on the seat before him.

"That is a very intriguing idea, as it would allow us to put an immense amount of pressure against the French without sacrificing the lives of our servicemen. I suggest we contact fellow Heads of State and present to them this idea of an economic embargo."

"Then I'll get right to it, your Excellency."

"Thank you, Hjalmar."

The old Prime Minister slowly pushed himself up, dousing the flames of his cigar in the ash tray near him. Putting on his coat, he stepped through the threshhold of his home and out into the Spring afternoon.



To: London, Great Britian; Berlin, Deutschland; Vienna, KUK; Washington DC, United States of America; Rome, Italia; Madrid, Espana
From: Stockholm, Sweden

Dear fellow Heads of Government and State:

As you all certainly know, France has recently unleashed it's aggression towards many states within Europe bringing us near the brink of open war and unless we act wisely and decisevely, I fear that these beligerant actions will bring us over that very thin threshhold and destroy the immensely rich fabric of European society and culture.

Thus, based on the conclusions of both myself and His Excellency, King Wilhelm I of Sweden, we wish to present to each and every one of you, a simple and cohesive plan to contian French aggression and defuse the growing tensions between ourselves.

Are intentions are to place a full Economic Embargo against the Thrid Republic of France until it staisfies the following requirements below:

- Abandonment of all deemed threats and/or beligerant actions

- An offical apology to all nations effected by French beligerance

- The resignation of those responsible for the initiation of these hostile actions

We solemly believe, that through this course of action, we can successfully keep the world at peace. However, without your support, this plan will never work. Thus, I highly suggest that you seriously consider this course of action for the betterment of society as a whole.

Signed,

Hjalmar Hammarskjöld
Prime Minister of the Swedish Riskdag
The Kingdom of Sweden

Response to Sweden:
''While we dislike France's aggresive actions, we do not want to place an embargo against them as this might provoke French military actions and start the very war we sought to prevent.''

Der Ballplatz, Vienna
An intriguing idea, thought Count Berchtold.

To Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, Prime Minister of the Swedish Riskdag

I support your idea on an embargo and will ask both the Chancellor of
Austria and the Premier of Hungary to place a such a bill before their
respective legislatures at the soonest possible date. I believe that such
measures will enjoy the support of an overwhelming majority of the
members of these two bodies.

Graf Leopold Berchtold von und zu Ungarschütz, Frättling, und Püllütz
Imperial Foreign Minister
The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the
Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen
OOC: The two legislative bodies will indeed vote to support such an embargo.

Paris, France
The mood in the National Assembly was tense; the debate over war credits for the invasion of Portugal had been raging for hours.

M. Claudiér, an Assemblyman from Paris, rose to speak:

"The behaviour of the present Government is nothing short of shameful!" he proclaimed. The galleries erupted in both applause and catcalls. He pressed on over the tumult.

"Yes, shameful! Two years ago, our Government recieved from the German Kaiser the concession of our two lost provinces, Alsace and Lorraine. We were welcomed into a Grand Alliance of European powers, and for the first time in decades, France had no enemies! None!" he shouted over the din.

"But today," he continued, "Today we are opposed by all of Europe! We have, in just two years, threatened Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and now Portugal! We are seen as a menace to the rest of Europe, and for what? For what, I ask you?"

"Because our President and his Premier want to be just like Napoléon Bonaparte!" he thundered, to an even louder sea of voices. "They are not content to be the head of a Republic! They want to be in command of an Empire!" The noise reached deafening levels.

"I ask all those in this Chamber who want peace to join me in voting against these credits, and more!" he continued. At these last two words, the roar subsided just a bit, as though the Chamber caught its collective breath at the enormity of the words that it knew were coming.

"I demand that this vote be considered a vote of confidence in the Government!" he finished.

The National Assembly erupted into shouts of outrage and defiance as the rival parties, Government and opposition, warred verbally over their respective positions.
OOC: The French Government was hopelessly corrupt in 1912 (http://www.jrbooksonline.com/HTML-docs/Trianon_ch5.htm). The war party could probably buy the Chamber, but other governments could almost certainly have made counter-bribes (in the cite above, Russian bribery is documented), so with that, the Dual Monarchy will seek to bribe Deputies into voting to depose the current Premier and force new elections. Let the bidding commence!

''Sire, apparently there are rumbles in France'' said Scharnhorst to the Kaiser, mindful of Mannfred's lesson about ''knowing one's place''.
''Too much onion soup.'' answered Mannfred with a faint smile, Scharnhorst was not amused.
''A vote of confidence is being held, and the French government is famous for being corrupt. With the right money in the right pockets we could avoid the war!''
Mannfred forced himself to smile.
''Very well, I shall send a telegram to the Kaiser und König in Austria-Hungary. Good thinking by the way, Scharnhorst.''
''Thank you sire.''

Telegram to Austria-Hungary:
''We have noted that the French are holding a vote for confidence, and this provides us with an excellent opportunity. If we could bribe the members of the congress we would be able to avoid this war that now seems inevitable. But there is a catch; we must not let it be known that foreign governments interfere with this. Therefore we propose that a courir carrying the money will be sent to your country where it can smuggled into Switzerland, since the German tourists most surely are double checked when crossing the French border. From Switzerland it can be taken to across the border to France and at last Paris.''

Message from the Ministery of Foreign Affairs to the embassy in
Paris, to be relaid to the Parliament and the Gouvernment, to be openly
publicised in Japanese newspapers and spread to other agencies around the
world.

Hail!

We strongly oppose every aggresive action taken by France. If you continue
with threatening your (weaker) neighbours actions by the Empire of Japan
may follow. We propose to you that you give up all aggresive policies, disarm
and downsize your armies. In is for the good of the world that we put such a
pressure on you. If you agree to abandon your aggresive policy, we will invite
all nations to Tokyo, or any other place, to discuss matters and prevent a
future escalation.

Greetings,

The Regents representing the Emperor to be, Hirohito

''We have noted that the French are holding a vote for confidence, and this provides us with an excellent opportunity. If we could bribe the members of the congress we would be able to avoid this war that now seems inevitable. But there is a catch; we must not let it be known that foreign governments interfere with this. Therefore we propose that a courir carrying the money will be sent to your country where it can smuggled into Switzerland, since the German tourists most surely are double checked when crossing the French border. From Switzerland it can be taken to across the border to France and at last Paris.''Done.

''Karl.'' said Mannfred, handing him a large suitcase and ID papers. karl was an officer of the newly formed Abwehr and had his quarters in the Richthofen castle.
''Take this suitcase to Paris where I have reserved a room for you in a hotel. These ID papers identify you as Hans Fuchs, an ambassadour on his way to Paris. In the suitcase you will find a large sum of money, use this to bribe the French pro-war deputies.''
''Jawohl mein Kaiser!''
One and a half hour later Hans was seated in a train bound for Paris.

After a very long journey, Lauro Müller finally arrives in Berlin quite exhausted, after relaxing from the fatigue of his journey, he proceeds on his official business, he meets with his German counterpart and after exchanging formalities, offers congratulations on the asscention of his highness kaiser Manfred I and gives the gifts which he has brought with him (2 Large bags of the finest coffee grown) he moves on into more pressing business:

...which are of the finest grown in all of Brazil, and I gladly enclose directions on brewing them, I hope his majesty accepts this humble gesture."

" now I would like to speak with you about more pressing issues, as you know the republic of France has been acting very aggressively threatning many of its otherwise neutral neighbors lately and this is not acceptable neither to the world or to the president and we have imposed several procedures against them, unfortunately one these procedures was to return the french millitary mission in Brazil which has been assisting us in training our troops for a very long time. This is most unfortunate as it will hamper the modernisation of our army and its development.

We would like, therfore to negotiate with Germany the possibility of a German millitary mission to replace the french one, we would be grateful if this can be worked out."

After a very long journey, Lauro Müller finally arrives in Berlin quite exhausted, after relaxing from the fatigue of his journey, he proceeds on his official business, he meets with his German counterpart and after exchanging formalities, offers congratulations on the asscention of his highness kaiser Manfred I and gives the gifts which he has brought with him (2 Large bags of the finest coffee grown) he moves on into more pressing business:

...which are of the finest grown in all of Brazil, and I gladly enclose directions on brewing them, I hope his majesty accepts this humble gesture."

" now I would like to speak with you about more pressing issues, as you know the republic of France has been acting very aggressively threatning many of its otherwise neutral neighbors lately and this is not acceptable neither to the world or to the president and we have imposed several procedures against them, unfortunately one these procedures was to return the french millitary mission in Brazil which has been assisting us in training our troops for a very long time. This is most unfortunate as it will hamper the modernisation of our army and its development.

We would like, therfore to negotiate with Germany the possibility of a German millitary mission to replace the french one, we would be grateful if this can be worked out."
''Yes, thank you. The kaiser is very fond of coffee you see.

We could send elements of the First army, but tell me - how mnay men do you need We are very close to war with France after all, and we cannot spare too many troops.''

At Mannfred's castle, now renamed the Imperial palace:
Mannfred was in his chamber, writing a lettre adressed to all noblemen in Germany.
''Dear fellow noblemen, it has come to my attention that the commoners' main reason for this widespread unhappines is that they expected an end to the line of emperors that have ruled them for so long. There is also an almost racistic struggle within our borders as people are more fond of their local villages and regions than of the whole Empire. Therefore gentlemen, I shall no longer be Kaiser of Germany and König of Prussia but instead have only one title, Führer of the Grand German Empire. We are no longer Prussians, Bavarians and Holsteiners, we are Germans!

On another note, I plan to form a branch of elite soldiers to serve as guards for the nobility as well as to symbolice my presence on the battlefield and carrying the German standar, acting as a praetorian guard. As they will act as guards I propose we call them Schutzstaffel and the military bracnhes being known as Waffen-SS. they are to be recruited amongst the Prussian aristocracy as they are most suited for warfare. I propose to you the immediate creation of the first four Waffen-SS units; 1st W-SS Wiking, 2nd W-SS Barbarossa, 3rd W-SS Das Reich and 4th W-SS Liebstandarte Mannfred Richthofen. They are to be elite cavalry units numbering 64 each and only the best of the best are accepted.

Since we should not use the national budget to create this body guard, because it would greatly upset the commoners and we may face a communist rebellion, I ask you to finance this project.''

OOC: Goodness me, you guys have gone through soooo many posts since I left!! Ive filled up nearly an A4 page noting responses I have to make!! Sorry to any that I miss out, inform me via TG or on the OOC thread and I will make the necessary additions.

*Rubs head after nearly 2 hours of reading the OOC and IC threads.*

IC:


Word reached the Admiralty in Whitehall of the presence of Austrian warships anchored in Crete. It was reasonably worrying to them, and so with the consent of the Foreign Office, elements of the Mediterranean Fleet based at Malta were ordered to leave port and head East towards the Island, to show that the Royal Navy was still interested in this part of the world. The Force was lead by the BattleCruiser HMS Implacable and consisted of four Armoured Cruisers, two Light Cruiser and a Squadron (10) of Destroyers along with a pair of Colliers and a Single Supply Ship of the Royal Navy Auxiliary Fleet.



Response to the President of the United States over the Japanese Question

This is certainly an interesting proposal. However British relations with Russia are friendly and we would not advocate an attack upon her or any other nation that may lead to Russian involvement and possible damage to her. Perhaps if the Japanese and the Chinese engaged in a destructive war it would keep both nations from challenging Anglo-American power in the world.

The British Foreign Secretary.



Government response to the new German Kaiser.

The Government of Great Britain notes with disappointment the untimely death of Kaiser Wilhelm II, himself a relative of our own royal family. The British Empire notes the new German Government and would extend a hand of friendship to them to further stabilise British relations with Continental Europe.

The British Foreign Secretary.



Reply to the Government of the United States of Brazil


The British Empire is pleased to see a nation such as yours emerging more throughally onto the International Scene. However you must understand that before offering any such assistance we must have some kind of assurance that a stronger Brazil will not interfere with British Interests in the region. Until such an assurance is given to us our response is severely limited. When such an assurance is given, we are sure that some kind of negotiations can begin between our two nations concerning future growth in Brazil.

The British Foreign Office.



Open Communique to the Government of France over the Portugal Incident.


The British Empire warns the leadership of France to cease any hostile actions that they have planned against the Independent nation of Portugal as well as against the Low Countries of North Western Europe. Any attack into these nations will be viewed most unfavourably by London and the British Empire as a whole, and would most likely lead to France falling out of favour with the majority of the British people, including the current Government.

We would therefore call for France to stand down with its possible aggression towards these nations, and perhaps turn its attention towards Internal Defence rather than an aggressive world policy.

Prime Minister Asquith.

The cabinet again authorized an increase in the naval budget today, as many leading figures warn of the threats now posed by the increasingly hostile contintental Europe towards British interests both at home and its many holdings abroad.

Also information has been released indicating that the British Army will shortly be expanding, however exact numbers have not been made known. To coincide with this it is known that the Government have approached the Colt Firearms Company with the intent of aquiring the license to manufacture the Colt 1911A1 Handgun in Britain to supplement existing revolvers.


In unrelated news, the Secretary for India has announced that a further two Battalions of British Regular's are to be sent to the colony to ensure its security against "increasingly threatening" asian powers. The units involved are thought to be the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards and the 5th Battalion, Kings Shropshire Light Infantry.

There is also thought to be another Battalion heading for the Middle Eastern Colony of Oman to ensure its secruity.

"Oh a basic number of instructers and such would be enough, at least in the begining, the French it seems are under much pressure, I think, to back down, I hear there is a vote of no confidence going on there, hopefully the situation will subside soon. Afterwhich, if you are still willing of course, then we would negotiate more."

"Oh a basic number of instructers and such would be enough, at least in the begining, the French it seems are under much pressure, I think, to back down, I hear there is a vote of no confidence going on there, hopefully the situation will subside soon. Afterwhich, if you are still willing of course, then we would negotiate more."
''Then we will happily assist you with the modernization of your armed forces, an adequate amount of instructers and trainers will be sent by boat, escorted by elements of the High Seas fleet.''


Response to the British telegram:
''It is indeed a sad time for the Grand German Empire as our beloved Kaiser Wilhelm von Hohenzollern II died. But from this sad day a more glourious time has sprung under the leadership of the great Führer Mannfred von Richthofen. It is his wish that British-German relations remain stable and in the future become closer.''

Schweidnitz, Silesia
"Dear fellow noblemen, it has come to my attention that the commoners' main reason for this widespread unhappines is that they expected an end to the line of emperors that have ruled them for so long. There is also an almost racistic struggle within our borders as people are more fond of their local villages and regions than of the whole Empire. Therefore gentlemen, I shall no longer be Kaiser of Germany and König of Prussia but instead have only one title, Führer of the Grand German Empire. We are no longer Prussians, Bavarians and Holsteiners, we are Germans!""Mein ... Führer", Prince Leopold said, having some difficulty getting accustomed to the new title, "I have heard some among the nobility say that, even though it was the explicit wish of the late Kaiser Wilhelm that you inherit his lands, titles, and honours, some ... arrangement ... should have been made for his family, especially since he said that it was not for want of love for them that he did this, but rather out of his greater love for Germany."

Speaking carefully, so as to not offend his master, Leopold continued. "Yet, while we must respect his wishes, you must be aware of the fact that their demotion to common rank has been very hard on a family that, when you take the long view, has served Germany long and well for many, many years. I have heard that young Joachim, in particular, is being watched out of fear that he will take his own life, and the despair felt by the rest of his children, while not quite so poignant, is equally heartbreaking."

He paused, steeled his nerves, and continued. "Perhaps ... perhaps now that you have renounced the throne of Prussia, you could see it in your heart to make the oldest of the late Kaiser's children - Wilhelm - King of Prussia. This would at least return to the Hohenzollerns their ancient domain, allowing them to be proud of their history and heritage, one that has produced many fine Kings for centuries. You could of course subtract from Prussia those lands that you feel should be governed directly by your ... Imperial Highness...?"

Here the Bavarian Prince faltered, but only for a moment. "Forgive me, your ... mein Führer ... this is all so new that I realised that I no longer know how you wish to be addressed in the second person. My humblest apologies ..." he pleaded, "But as I was saying, you could take from Prussia such territories as Silesia, where we are now, and maybe some of the others that you feel appropriate to keep as your own, while still leaving Wilhelm a considerable bequest."

"And Wilhelm Hohenzollern is not a bad man," finished Leopold, "Nor is his family deserving of their fate. Raised back to the rank of nobility, he - and his siblings - could serve you well. That is my humble advice, mein Führer, offered freely if you wish it." He bowed his head.

Word reached the Admiralty in Whitehall of the presence of Austrian warships anchored in Crete. It was reasonably worrying to them, and so with the consent of the Foreign Office, elements of the Mediterranean Fleet based at Malta were ordered to leave port and head East towards the Island, to reinforce the point over who currently ruled the Island. The Force was lead by the BattleCruiser HMS Implacable and consisted of four Armoured Cruisers, two Light Cruiser and a Squadron (10) of Destroyers along with a pair of Colliers and a Single Supply Ship of the Royal Navy Auxiliary Fleet.OOC: Bit of an overreaction, don't you think? But we'll gladly invite you over to the SMS Radetsky for Viennese coffee (you may drink tea if you please). :)

But you might wish to keep an eye on the Balkan Wars thread, as we'll likely be reinforcing those two warships soon...

(As for whose island it is, well the answer to that is obvious: it belongs to Greece.)

OOC: Bit of an overreaction, don't you think? But we'll gladly invite you over to the SMS Radetsky for Viennese coffee (you may drink tea if you please). :)

But you might wish to keep an eye on the Balkan Wars thread, as we'll likely be reinforcing those two warships soon...

(As for whose island it is, well the answer to that is obvious: it belongs to Greece.)

OOC: Dammit, getting Cyprus and Crete mixed up....GRRRRRRR.

Berlin, Germany
"My dear Baron Scharnhorst!" exclaimed Freiherr Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza, walking up to the harried man as he ate lunch in a Berlin restaurant. "They told me I could find you here. I'm in Berlin for just a couple of days, so I thought I would socialise a bit. Do you mind?"

"No, although I haven't much time," offered Scharnhorst. "So much to do..."

"Yes, yes, yes, of course. But that is the way of Germany these days, yes? This moving at a faster pace?"

Scharnhorst nodded, not sure what to say. But the loquacious Hungarian spared him the need.

"Yes, isn't it ironic? The officers' movement that attracted the late Kaiser's eye and led him to take that first great step that begat," he gestured toward the rest of the room, "All of this, that movement was really just interested in keeping things the same as they had always been. And yet, now, nothing is the same, is it?" He sipped the glass of rosé the ober had just brought him. "No, nothing is the same."

"There are are many ... necessary changes," began Scharnhorst.

"Oh, I agree. Many, many necessary changes. Including a new Imperial title!" laughed Kövessháza. "Führer, is it now? Not that I wish to say anything that might be taken the wrong way, but it almost sounds like you're all been driven somewhere. Nach osten, perhaps?"

"It means 'Leader'," said Scharnhorst, with obvious annoyance.

"Of course it does!" the Hungarian offered with a huge smile. "Obviously it doesn't mean 'chaffeur', right? But it is," continued the Freiherr, more quietly now, even perhaps with the faintest hint of a conspiratorial air, "Rather ... different. It's almost as though Richthofen - oh, I'm sorry, I should be formal - der Führer wants a clean break with the past. Thank heavens Germany is still a Reich."

Scharnhorst grimaced. Is he deliberately trying to get on my nerves?

"Only even that is odd, because it's not the German Empire, it's the 'Grand German Empire' - das Großdeutsches Reich. Yes," he said, softly, reflectively. "Greater Germany ... I suppose that will have to mean 'bigger' at some point, only when? And which way?"

"I couldn't say," said Scharnhorst sharply, "And it is pointless to speculate!"

"Ah, but there are other things that we could speculate about. So many other things..." crooned Kövessháza. "Have you seen the new Schutzstaffel badge? Just two letters: 'SS', but drawn like a pair of lightning bolts. Very pagan. I even hear that the flag may be getting an overhaul. Less white and more red, or so they say."

Scharnhorst clearly looked annoyed. "Is that all you can do? Sit there and natter?"

The Hungarian looked hurt. "Natter? I'm just making small talk. Small talk to keep from asking the troubling questions that are really on my mind," he let slip. "On everybody's minds, I think."

"And those would be?" snapped Scharnhorst.

"Why, whether this means the end of the monarchy. The end of aristocracy. The advent of socialism, just in a different form, like in Russia, of course," said Kövessháza quietly.

"That is nonsense!" snorted Scharnhorst, although there was an edge in his voice that the Hungarian detected immediately, as though the man was trying more than anything else to convince himself.

"Is it?" offered the Hungarian Feldmarschall quietly. "To me - and to a lot of us in the Dual Monarchy - it looks exactly that way. Otherwise, why all this talk of 'der Volk?' 'Der Volk' this and 'der Volk' that! You know that 'der Volk' is not a great distance from 'die Leute' (OOC: Lit. 'The People')," he continued wistfully.

"Any why choose a title that has so much ancient resonance? Why the dabbling with symbolism drawn straight from Germanic mythology? It's almost as though an effort is being made to promote a new state religion, or at least some kind of quasi-religion. The aristocracy depends on Christianity for its existence, you know. Disestablishmentarianism always accompanies social levelling."

Scharnhorst snorted, but Kövessháza caught his sleeve. "A ruler who chooses a title that suggests he is some ancient mystical avatar of des Volkswillens (OOC: Lit. 'The Will of the Nation'), indeed almost a God himself - and who wraps all of that in mythological symbolism - such a man has no need for aristocracy. After all, the fundamental principle of aristocracy is that of right by birth. But right by birth is incompatible with right by virtue of des Volkswillens - or, more to the point - des Führerswillens (OOC: Lit. 'The Will of the Leader')."

"The power of the Leader," continued the Hungarian, fixing Scharnhorst in a gaze that cut right into his soul, "Can not be limited by ancient rights of inheritance; he must be free to give, and to take, so that all good things come from his Hand, and from his Hand alone."

Scharnhorst looked at Kövessháza as though he had been struck by lighting. But before he could say anything, the Freiherr leaned back and said, "But of course, there is a danger in spending too much time interpreting symbols. I ends up being a parlour game, or a farce like a Gypsy reading tea leaves."

Then Kövessháza looked at his watch. "My, how time flies! I must be off. Say hello to your charming wife and children for me."

And with that, he left a very troubled Scharnhorst to brood.

The Chinese Emperor sat in his private chambers, away from all prying eyes and un-wanted attention. He was poring over several scrolls with the Imperial Seal, signifying high priority messages enclosed within. One particular scroll caught his attention with two Chinese symbols scrawled across it in pressed wax.

"Indochina Situation"

Emperor Guozu arched an eyebow and broke the seal somewhat hurriedly, as he had a keen interest in events occurring in Indochina. His eyes began skimming over the dozens upon dozens of symbols written in the scroll.

"Indochina Situation Report:

Chinese troop deployments have been completed along the Vietnamese, Laos, and Burma borders with China. The troops have been finally outfitted with the latest Austrian weapons and equipment. The supply depots have been constructed, along with two railroad lines, enabling supplies to reach the borders more quickly and efficiently. Within a week, the final preparations should be completed, and the troops should be ready for your instructions."

The Emperor smiled, but his smile began to fade away as he noticed another scroll with Chinese symbols on it.

"European Affairs"

Emperor Guozu sighed resignedly as he opened the European scroll. He read through the scroll and groaned inwardly.

"European Affairs Report:

War appears imminent in Europe. France has shown signs of aggression aganist Germany, and several nations have threatened action in the Balkans. The British and the Americans have been oddly quiet, but may intervene if they are pressed. Our ally, Austria-Hungary seems to be in a difficult position between Russia and Germany, along with the flurry of activity in the Balkans."

The Emperor revealed a small smile.

This may be the best chance for China to kick out the Europeans from Asia, starting with France. With France pre-occupied in mainland Europe, China will be able to focus on taking over French holdings in Asia. Thus, China will gain more resources, consolidate its power, and begin the long process of unification of Asia.

This is the first true test that China must face, and it must prevail.

The Emperor continued his musings, as he read several progress reports, wrote several communiques, and undertook affairs of the state well into the night. However, the Emperor took extra care in writing a telegram of support to Austria-Hungary, as it was apparently the only true ally China had in these troubling times.

The answer to the question "Who invented spread spectrum broadcast communications", back in 1940 (the basis for modern cell phone technology)?... is film noir bombshell Hedy Lamarr! :D

Schweidnitz, Silesia
"Mein ... Führer", Prince Leopold said, having some difficulty getting accustomed to the new title, "I have heard some among the nobility say that, even though it was the explicit wish of the late Kaiser Wilhelm that you inherit his lands, titles, and honours, some ... arrangement ... should have been made for his family, especially since he said that it was not for want of love for them that he did this, but rather out of his greater love for Germany."

Speaking carefully, so as to not offend his master, Leopold continued. "Yet, while we must respect his wishes, you must be aware of the fact that their demotion to common rank has been very hard on a family that, when you take the long view, has served Germany long and well for many, many years. I have heard that young Joachim, in particular, is being watched out of fear that he will take his own life, and the despair felt by the rest of his children, while not quite so poignant, is equally heartbreaking."

He paused, steeled his nerves, and continued. "Perhaps ... perhaps now that you have renounced the throne of Prussia, you could see it in your heart to make the oldest of the late Kaiser's children - Wilhelm - King of Prussia. This would at least return to the Hohenzollerns their ancient domain, allowing them to be proud of their history and heritage, one that has produced many fine Kings for centuries. You could of course subtract from Prussia those lands that you feel should be governed directly by your ... Imperial Highness...?"

Here the Bavarian Prince faltered, but only for a moment. "Forgive me, your ... mein Führer ... this is all so new that I realised that I no longer know how you wish to be addressed in the second person. My humblest apologies ..." he pleaded, "But as I was saying, you could take from Prussia such territories as Silesia, where we are now, and maybe some of the others that you feel appropriate to keep as your own, while still leaving Wilhelm a considerable bequest."

"And Wilhelm Hohenzollern is not a bad man," finished Leopold, "Nor is his family deserving of their fate. Raised back to the rank of nobility, he - and his siblings - could serve you well. That is my humble advice, mein Führer, offered freely if you wish it." He bowed his head.
''I have of course not meant to show any disrespect or to, God forbid, drive yuor family to begging for food in the streets. Your father's will granted me all the titles and land previously held by the Hohenzollern dynasty, and I have been much troubled that nothing was left for you except your glorious name, still I couldn't give the titles back, that would be an insult to the late Kaiser. This is a question which I finally have the answer for; I will make Wilhelm von Hohenzollern my satrap, if such a pagan word may be used for a true christian, in Prussia. Further, you and your brothers will be made officers of the Waffen-Shutzstaffel , a most prestigious title mind you.''

Posters were spiked to the walls in Berlin and other major cities in Germany by the Abwehr.
''Friends, Germans, noblemen! We stand on the brink of war today, France has threatened Portugal, Switzerland and the Benelux countries, nations that share close relations with the Grand German Empire. We will not stand idly by when our friends and neighbours are being threatened, and I hope that you will support me in the noble task to preserve peace as any good and faithful christian would. It is in these hard times that we must stand united as one, ein Reich, ein Volke, ein Fürher!''

OOC: Stop poisoning the people with your race's inferior thoughts :p
But I have to pooint out that
1. I have merely strengthened the German nobility, now they are allowed to field armies.
2. SS is, at this moment, written simply with standard S.
3. Grand German Empire means just that it is a glourious empire, it would have been a different thing if I had written Great German Empire.
4. Note my fetisch for qouting or paraphrasing famous people.

I have merely strengthened the German nobility, now they are allowed to field armies.OOC: This may come as a shock, but they already had that.

Right now the nobility in Germany have to be very, very scared.Grand German Empire means just that it is a glourious empire, it would have been a different thing if I had written Great German Empire.It's like Russian, where Kruschev's famous quote about burying the West could have simply meant that they would be our pallbearers. "Grand" and "great" are the same word auf Deutsch, if I'm not mistaken.Note my fetisch for qouting or paraphrasing famous people.You didn't catch that reference to Germany "moving at a faster pace?" :DStop poisoning the people with your race's inferior thoughts :pWho are you calling "inferior", you bunch of Plattdeutschers and Junkers? Bah! Minderwertig, in der Tat!

Since you don't want to be Kaiser of all the Germanies any more, maybe Franz Josef should claim the title, hmmm? ;)

OOC: This may come as a shock, but they already had that.

Right now the nobility in Germany have to be very, very scared.

It's like Russian, where Kruschev's famous quote about burying the West could have simply meant that they would be our pallbearers. "Grand" and "great" are the same word auf Deutsch, if I'm not mistaken.
OOC: If I'm not mistaken they were to serve as normal soldiers on the battlefield.

Yes, but there is a significant difference in English where Great can refer to both size and glory while Grand refers to glory but not size (as far as I know).

Sundsvall, Sweden

"Oskar, hurry with those parts, damnit!"

For the past three months, ever since the conversation with with his old friends in Army Brass, Oskar's old uncle Karl had working feverishly day and night to finish his machine. After some brief letters of correspondance between himself and a American by the name of John Browning, Karl's machine had taken on a life of it's own, constantly growing from just the few miss matched parts scattered on a small workbench into, as Karl said, a work of art.

In truth, Oskar couldn't stand the constant running back and forth, from the machine shop near the outskirts of town to his Uncle's old residence situated on the other side. Of course, it had given him an excellent exercise routine, but nonetheless, he couldn't wait until the thing was finally finished.

As Oskar rushed through the door, parts in hand, he simply ignored his Uncle's badgering and went to set the parts back down in their usual spot on the workbench.

The parts themselves were not that large, maybe a couple of inches at most and were widely varied in size and shape. One piece was of a circular shape with a large hole, along with several other small holes, etched in the center and around the sides. In the center hole, a series of grooves ran around in a pattern, leading Oskar to believe that this piece was simply screwed on to the weapon. The other piece was several inches long and rectangular, with a circular piece running through the center of it. On each edge, small black markings had been machined in at certain incriments.

Suddenly, just as Oskar was to go about placing them down, his Uncle's once again rang through the house:

"Just take the parts out to me, boy. Don't waste your time puttin' them in the usual spot."

Looking around, Oskar wasn't really quite sure where his uncle was. After all, he never usually went out of the house, yet none of the rooms were occupied by his old figure.

"Uhhh, where are you, Uncle?" Oskar asked, as he continued searching.

"Outside by the tree, you blockhead! Now get out here!"

His young relative quickly changed direction and quickly walked down the hall. Making a left, he entered the kitchen, where the small white door situated at the back of the room hung open. Outside, his Uncle stood idle, his machine grasped in his right hand. Walking out, Oskar quickly gave him the parts and turned to enter the house.

"Wait a minute, my boy. You must see my machine in action. I'm telling you it will me great!"

Turning to face his uncle, Oskar let out a long sigh. Everytime he uncle made something, he had to watch it work and every time it usually broke while performing it's action, or didn't work in the first place. He failed to see how this would be any different.

"Alright, let's do this quickly. I have a job to get to you know."

"Hahaha, that's my boy. Now watch and be amazed!"

On the other side of the yard, three rectangular wooden targets had been set up to about the shoulder hieght of an average man. On each of them, a bulls-eye was painted in bright red paint, along with the term 'Frenchie' above it. Taking one of Oskar's parts, Karl gently snapped it into position on top of the upper reciever of the weapon. Finally, after some slight configurations with the little piece, he raised it to his shoulder, flicked a switch on the side of the reciver and pulled the trigger below:

Pop-Pop-Pop-Pop!

Several shells flew downrange and blinding speed and smashed into one of the targets ahead, knocking it over on it's side. 300 feet away, the recoil from the weapon had knocked over the old man and left his younger nephew in awe.

Pushing himself up, Karl brushed himself off, laughing in joy.

"By God, it works like a charm! Now if I can just lessen the recoil on the little bastard, she'll be perfect."

Oskar still stood in utter shock. Never before had he seen anything of his Uncle's creation work. Now, it seemed as if the man knew what he was talking about all along.

Commission of the Fast Battleship HMS Barham


Captain A.W. Craig stood on the bridge of his brand new warship HMS Barham the pride of the Royal Navy. The battleship had just finished her commissioning trials and was now moored alongside the pier at the Portsmouth Naval Base along side a pair of battlecruisers recently returned from exercises in the Channel.

During the commissioning trials the battleship had made a speed of 24 knots and maintained it for fifteen minutes. The brand new oil fired boilers onboard the ship propelling her forward faster than any other battleship on the high seas, including all those in the Royal Navy. They were also amongst the biggest ships on the seas, dwarfing their predecessors and all others produced by other nations weighing in at just over 33,000tons when fully loaded. The 8 15inch guns mounted on her had been tested and dropped shells in very tight groups at a range of 20,000yards, and new and improved shells were in the testing phase that would make those groups even tighter. The secondary armament of 14 6inch guns had fared similarly, dropping shells consistently accurately during the commissioning runs. This battleship put the Royal Navy firmly in command of the seas, and the success of her trial had caused the Admiralty to order a further four ships of the class, whilst research continued to produce an even better ship.


The next of the class that would be launched was HMS Malaya and she was undergoing her armament fitting now, whilst HMS Queen Elizabeth was due for launch later that month, with completion coming at the beginning of 1915.



Meanwhile more research was being undertaken, both independently in the country and at the two military testing facilities on the North Yorkshire Moors. With news leaking from across the world that many nations were starting to use Aircraft as a revolutionary new artillery spotting device meant that the British Army could not be left behind. The Royal Artillery had sent two batteries of guns to one of the sites as well as five biplanes of the Royal Flying Corps to attempt to co-ordinate successfully between the two. The aircraft being used were Sopwith Tabloid, several of which had been bought by the RFC from the growing aircraft manufacturer at the start of the year after one won the Schneider Trophy. They were pioneering British research into the possibility of mouting a wireless radio system with the observer who would then make alterations to the artillery battery below by informing them of where there shells were landing in relation to their target. With the evolution of longer range artillery throughout the world, it would no doubt become an even more useful method than many were saying.

Aircraft were also playing a larger role in the Royal Navy, with three Seaplane tenders being officially commissioned to allow aerial reconnaissance from the battle groups of the Grand Fleet well beyond visual range.

OOC: If I'm not mistaken they were to serve as normal soldiers on the battlefield.

Yes, but there is a significant difference in English where Great can refer to both size and glory while Grand refers to glory but not size (as far as I know).OOC: Yes, there is. And Frieherr Kövessháza knew that. But he was having too much fun "poisoning the people with ... 'inferior' thoughts". Remember, the kultur of the Dual Monarchy is high culture, where wit is prized (and decadence is enjoyed, but we won't go there...). The puns and quips he used to unsettle Scharnhorst were just the sort of thing you'd fine in Göthe (whose writings I love, BTW).

If I'm not mistaken they were to serve as normal soldiers on the battlefield.OOC: Not all of them. Some were actually responsible for raising and funding parts of that 42 corps beast you call an army...

And those parts of the army were actually loyal to the nobles who raised them, too - many of whom led those troops into battle in WW I. Remember, Germany has been a united country for less that 45 years - and in coming together, it was not so much conquered as woven together by bonds of fealty to the Kaiser. The Middle Ages were'nt that long ago... :D

Originally Posted by Independent Hitmen:
The British Empire is pleased to see a nation such as yours emerging more throughally onto the International Scene. However you must understand that before offering any such assistance we must have some kind of assurance that a stronger Brazil will not interfere with British Interests in the region. Until such an assurance is given to us our response is severely limited. When such an assurance is given, we are sure that some kind of negotiations can begin between our two nations concerning future growth in Brazil.

The British Foreign Office.

After exchanging cheerful conversation, Lauro Muller bids farewell to his host, visits a few distant relatives in Germany and telegrams the following to the British government (after telegraming the president and recieving permission of course):

To:Prime Minister Asquith of the Great British Empire.
From:Lauro Muller, secretary of state of the Republic of the
United States of Brazil

Of course such assurances can be made, the President has
given me his authorisation to express these assurances in the
form of a non-aggression treaty. If you have no objections I will be
travelling to London in the near future to work out the precise
details of such a treaty.

Com consideração,
Lauro Muller, Secretary of state of Brazil

SIC:
The progress on the armoured cars were not proceeding according to scedule as the armour straps bolted to the standard sheets of armour proved too heavy and actually weakened the armour, adding insult to injury they also had a nasty tendancy to break or bend when the engine was turned on. Furthermore they had problems with the machine gun turret, it was difficult to turn and the extra weight was far beyond what the engine was capable of. So what now?
Karl watched as some workers unloaded new rolls of thin armour sheets, since they were delived as rolls they were quite cumbersome and thick, even on the peripheries it was still thick.
''Thick,'' he thought., ''Thick.'' He jolted up from his seat, shouting ''Heureka!''
He quickly drew some sketches and showed his co-workers the idea: by sloping the armour the same amount of protection could be achieved with a lower amount of armour. The others were sceptical but they agreed to test the idea in a few months when the new car had arrived, it would then be spring 1915.

OOC: Sloped armour was first used on the French Schneider tank in spring 1915. Adding the time it would take to perfect this new idea and then begin producing the vehicles on a small scale, I guess the first ones would be ready 1917-1918, if the project isn't cancelled for wasting money.

Narodna Odbrana: OK, but the Abwehr at least strenghtens the noblemen as it provides them with an easy way to spy on suspicious people and letting them ''disappear'' without all the fuss about a trial that usually would be needed.
I haven't read any Goethe, I prefer Marx and Nietzsche.

March 27th, 1912An ultimatum has been presented to the Porte. (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9457165&postcount=67)

Diplomatic comments to follow.SIC: Britain, you have been discreetly informed of our intentions (as has Italy). Russia, I'm still waiting for the Tsar to meet with the Archduke upon his return from the Orient, and we'll RP that encounter out in more detail, but suffice it to say that you will also have been informed in advance (I'm assuming that we met [the meeting to come, that is] in February, 1912 at the latest).

OOC: I haven't read any Goethe, I prefer Marx and Nietzsche.Oh, how ... pedestrian. ;)

(I enjoy RP'ing the Viennese...)

ooc. I'll be away and won't be able to RP untill sunday. I'll take my laptop with me but I'm not sure if I have internet connection. I'll RP something before I leave.

General Fukuoka was pacing through his study. News from Europe was positive sofar, news from Asia was no good. According to reports China was industrializing at a high rate. Well, that was old news, but the construction of large naval shipyards was worrying indeed. If China would start building a navy, or even worse, a large navy...not even japan itself would be safe! He was wondering about what to do. Japan would go to war with China, no doubt. The only question is when...

Japan could do two things:
1. Forget about China, work together and divide Asia.
2. Atack China. Or even better (to get Russia at our side) provoke an action. Insults by Japanese border troops, angry Chinese reactions, more insults, shots fired, more shots, artillery cmes in, HQ warned, war breaks out...Ahhhh, I see the headlines.

China attacks Japan!

That would solve a lot of problems...

Nilo Peçanha finally was on his way to meet with the American Secretary, after a pleasent cruise he arrives and meets with his counterpart, after exchanging formalities, they begin to talk business:

"Brazil as you know is in a state of constant development and although there are many who believe that the coffee industry should recieve the most of the development as it is the largest industry in Brazil, the president has decided to invest in other sectors, this will bring many benefits domesticly and forignly. unfortunately this requires funds and aid hence my visit, we are willing of course to offer favourable contracts (of Rubber, Iron and Coal) in exchange for contracts of industrial development, allow me also to remark that if an efficent economy was established then these "favorable" contracts may persist a while longer and further partnership between our two nations may perhaps lead to the development of heavier industries capable of supplying the surrounding region."

To: The Brazillian Government
From: His Majesties Government, London


Of course any representative of yours will be welcome in London and we hope that we can negotiate a deal that is beneficial to both of our great nations and will bring increased security and wealth to them.

The Foreign Office

OOC:

Warta, I can wait until you come back on Sunday to start our Indochina stuff. That cool with ya? :)

Bump.

What does "bump" mean?

OOC: its a way of geting the post up, to either get someone to see it and post or to get others to see it and join the rp

The Balkan Wars RP Thread (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=434313&page=1&pp=15)

The following events have occurred (more or less around the end of March, 1912): The Porte (Turkey) has ceded Salonika, Crete, and the Dodecanese to Greece. Greece already held Crete, but wasn't able to formally annex it in the face of Turkish opposition. Now they will.

Military forces of the Dual Monarchy have occupied Rhodes and the Dodecanese to secure it for Greece (this required no fighting), and Turkish troops are pulling back from Salonika into Edirne (Adrianople) to defend the Turkish capitol from Bulgarian attacks.

In response to these concessions, Greece has decided not to go to war with Turkey at this time.


Bulgaria has crossed the border in two places in an effort to clear the Porte from European soil. Fighting is now raging outside Adrianople itself. The Bulgarians are giving a good account of themselves, especially their French-made 75mm field artillery. The Turks are fighting very poorly.


Roumania has fully mobilised its not-insubstantial army and has begun massing troops along the border with Bulgaria. They have offered the Bulgarians a field army in support of their offencive in Eastern Thrace.


Great Britain is concerned about the possibility that Constantinople will fall into Bulgarian hands and is sending a fleet to anchor off the city. Greece has objected to this movement, claiming "sovereignty" over the Aegean.


The Porte has agreed to reorganise the four western vilayets (provinces) of its empire - Ishkodra, Kosova, Monastir, and Yanya - into a new Albanian state. To this end, it has opened its doors to the occupation of these lands by k.u.k. (Habsburg) military forces and handed control of its forces in these territories - the 2nd Macedonian Army under Ali Risa Pasha, of 12 divisions and about 175,000 men - to a k.u.k. general officer who is en route to assume command.

k.u.k troops have therefore entered the Sanjak of Novibazar, a spit of land between Serbia and Montenegro, and are making their way south as fast as possible to reinforce Turkish positions around Prishtina and Skopje. The Habsburgs have also been given the right to organise the new Albanian government and train an Albanian army to replace Turkish forces in the area, after which the Turks can go home.


Albania is currently entering a state of revolt, which has begun with a Habsburg-based insurrection in the mountains of northern Albania near Ishkodra (Scutari), led by the largely Catholic Malissori, or "mountaineers" of that region. With promises of independence in hand, k.u.k. military officials have entered the area through a beachhead at Shëngjin (St. John) near the mouth of the Drin River and are now attempting to stem the revolt and transform the nationalist energies it has released into an effort to organise a provisional government and army.


And - most importantly of all (because the Italo-Turkish war never happended) - the Habsburgs have hired a small band of Italian pilots to drop leaflets into the hills of Albania (as part of their effort to recruit the Albanian populace). Historically, the first aerial leaflet drop occured in 1911, when Italy invaded the Porte's North African possessions. Since that didn't happen, the Habsburgs are picking up the slack and presenting the world with this milestone in military aviation history.

The leaflet drop will be within the next few days (early April, 1912).

With the armour problem being solved the scientists now worked on getting a functioning turret for their armoured car, or AC-14 as it was called by the Oberkommando. The original design had been a tall cylindrical turret with the machine gun suspended by leather straps hanging from the ceiling, this however proved too heavy to turn easily and gave the enemy a nice target. They currently worked on a semi-cylindrical turret, mounting the machine gun on a tripod. Dr Hanz explained this to his collegues when dr Fritz suddenly asked how they were going to rotate the turret as it clearly would be too heavy for the gunners to do it fast enough.
The silence was deafening.
''I... didn't think of that.'' was the faint reply.
The meeting was suspended until Monday morning 13:00.

Monday, 13:04
''I have thought about the weight problems that has haunted this project from the very beginning.'' began Fritz.
''I beleive that in order to keep the weight down we should reduce the thickness of the armour on the sides of the turret and remove the back completely. The shape of the turret would be semi-cylindrical, although shorter than the previous design, with a T-shaped opening in the front. The machine gun itself will be mounted on a tripod as suggested by my collegue Dr Hanz, but it will have a shorter barrel so that it can be replaced more easily.''
''But what about grenades Fritz? What if the enemy throw a grenade into the turret, that would make the whole vehicle kaput, the infantry wouldn't even be able to use the machine gun.''
''That can be avoided by bolting a wire mesh at a forty-five degress angle on top of the turret, the grenades would then bounce of and land in front of the car and thus only immoblize it.''
''And what about the gun? The shorter barrel will reduce accuracy and range.''
''That can be solved by increasing the calibre. If there are no further questions I suggest we start working.''

Lauro Muller arrives in London, is aghast by the cold weather and begins his negotiations with the British:

" A treaty of non-aggression should include that our two nations vow to not undertake any act of aggression against the other and respect each other's territory and colonial posessitions, unless the other nation has forfited the treaty or the treaty itself has been declared null or expired.

However I would like a few matters to be cleared up:
1-In the event one nation (or its ally) performs an act of aggression on the other nation's ally, and vice versa.
2-Neutral shipping between one nation and the enemy of the other.
3-Neutral contracts of economic and millitiristic development between one nation and the enemy of the other.
4-The leangth of the treaty. (Prefrably renewable every year)

March 29, 1912Der BallplatzTo the Kingdoms of Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Roumania

By decree of the Sublime Porte, the former Osmanli vilayets of Ishkodra, Kosova, Monastir, and Yanya have been declared to now be a single administrative entity, to organised as an independent nation called Albania. The Porte has extended an invitation to the Dual Monarchy to enter these lands and take charge of them, as well as all military forces of the Porte still remaining within them, and to protect them as they realise this lofty goal.

The Dual Monarchy has gladly accepted this responsibility, and has troops both within these lands and en route to them at this very moment.

In accordance with the wishes of the Sublime Porte, we will soon organise a local government of Albanians to rule these lands in their entirety. The Albanian people and the Albanian people alone will decide what kind of government they wish, and this government will be implemented in accordance with these wishes.

Some neighbouring nations have expressed concern over ethnic minorities living within this new nation, and have advanced territorial claims against it. By agreement of both the Sublime Porte and the Dual Monarchy, these claims will be resolved after the new Albanian government is seated through negotiations to be hosted by the Dual Monarchy, in Vienna. These negotiations will proceed for no more than one year; after that, if no agreement has been reached between the Albanian government and any or all of its neighbours, each party will submit a full description of its claims to the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, along with any desired proofs. The Emperor and King will then act as an arbiter of these disputes, and his decisions will be both final and irrevocable.

Military forces of the Porte will remain in these territories until a local Albanian army has been trained for service or for a period of one year, whichever is less. After that, forces of the Dual Monarchy will remain in place within Albania for at least five and at most ten years. Such forces as are maintained by either the Porte or the Dual Monarchy on Albanian soil shall be used solely for the defence of Albania against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Should any nation with claims to Albanian soil refuse to participate in this process, its claims shall be declared null and void. Likewise, should any nation with claims against Albania strike at Albanian soil, or at any military forces deployed on Albanian soil for the sake of that nation's defence, all of its claims shall be similarly discarded, and it shall also be considered at war with the Dual Monarchy, as well as any other member of the Grand Alliance who cares to heed our call for assistance.

The rationalisation of the Sublime Porte's European claims has brought to a close a difficult chapter in the history of the Balkans. It is hoped that the region can now move forward in peace and prosperity.

The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. StephenOOC: Yes, it's a new nation! I really do mean to make it independent, too.

And you all probably though I was trying to pull off a land grab... :)

The Foreign Ministry, London. The site of the Anglo-Brazillian talks

"Of course such a non-agression treaty is favourable to both our nations, and we agree to the principle that you have laid out although we agree we must work together to finish the proposals." said the Foreign Minister before continuing. " We agree that the treaty should be renewable every year, although perhaps every 18 months would be a more fitting period due to travel restraints and the distances involved between us, unless Ambassadors were given clearence to sign such treaties."

"Also we feel that it should be left up to the particular government to decide whether or not to continue normal trade with a power being aggressive towards the other nations ally, however that weapons trade should be stopped if the conflict may turn violent, or if it indeed is violent."

"We also believe that neutral shipping and trade should be allowed, unless a particular further agreement is reached between our two governments."


"We also have one further request, that our Naval Attache's and your's can begin to work together to produce plans for mutual support should any form of war start which we are bound my treaty obligations to aid each other in."

OOC:

Warta, I can wait until you come back on Sunday to start our Indochina stuff. That cool with ya? :)

Thanks! But I believe Defuniak is...gone. Is he on holiday or something?

The training of the 200000 recruits had finished some months ago. They had been stationed in Japan untill they received orders. It was a long and boring wait, filled with more training, forced marches, reading military manuals etc. But finally the orders came.

4 small armies will be formed, each 42500 infantry, 7500 cavalry and the standard 85 artillery pieces (ranging from small 45mm to big 100mm guns).

The 18th Army, 42500 infantry, 7500 cavalry will be stationed in Siam, as replacement of the units of the 15th Army.
The 19th Army, 42500 infantry, 7500 cavalry will be stationed in Formosa.
The 20th Army, 42500 infantry, 7500 cavalry will be stationed in Korea
The 21st Army, 42500 infantry, 7500 cavalry will be stationed in Kyushu, to replace the 16th Army wich will reinforce the Siam Expedition Force.

The Airforce has at the moment 250 planes, of which 25 are equiped with a mounted machinegun, the so called "fighterplanes". Of these 35 planes (5 fighters) will be stationed in Siam.

Twelve Torpedoboats and one old destroyer have been given to Siam as a gift. Naval Shipyards have further accepted (my own navy program has priority ofcourse ;) ) an order for two destroyers and twenty motortorpedoboats (Is that what you mean, NO? :D ) for the Siamese navy. The Siamese airforce, interwined with the Japanese one, has Fifty planes, none with the new machinegun.

ooc. Beh, blurry post. Waiting for Defuniak to reply.

"... Ah but your last request extends a usual treaty of non-aggression to include a treaty of ..err.. "mutual naval naval support" which might effect our neutrality in world affairs

This neutrality is very essential in helping us advance our comunity, not mention our economy, millitary and navy. Of course if we should recieve some precious aid from ..ahem.. "someone" then we would be willing to be more inclined to support that "someone"...

Thanks! But I believe Defuniak is...gone. Is he on holiday or something?

To be honest, I don't place much faith in Defuniak to RP properly. He'll probably say France has tanks in Indochina or similiar semi-godmods, like with his working jet prototype.

=========================================================

Emperor Guozu read the latest report from the Indochina border and smiled.



Chinese Imperial Land Guard Units:

50,000 Infantry troops, equipped with the latest Austria-Hungary weapons.
100,000 Militia troops, equipped with the leftovers or old weapons.
100 Artillery Cannons

Mobility level: 100%

The troops are ready for your instructions.

OOC:

Apologies for the crappy post, as I cannot remember exactly what I have for my military. All I know is that I've been supplied with weapons from Austria-Hungary, as well as from Chinese factories. I'm not sure if I have any warships (either bought or built) or any aircraft.

Besides, I suck at stats and such. However, I do have some grasp of military strategy and tactics.

I'll wait until either Defuniak posts or another French player is found.

TOP SECRET-To Handle With Great Care

Operation Flower Blossom

This plan must remain secret, untill a few days before the execution. To make this Operation succesfull we must strike hard and fast, capturing the main goals in a matter of weeks. Our soldiers must march and fight at a high rate. Speed is essential!

The final goal of this Operation is the extermination of China as an (possible) enemy.

Forces Used And Their Tasks

The following armies will be used in the Operation:
-3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 20th armies (taskforce one)-405000 men for a assault from Korea on Manchuria and the Tsientin-Bejing area. The 5th and 6th armies will attack and occupy Tsientin, including it's harbour. The cavalry will then move forward and in a forced march atack Bejing.

A force of 65000 men, units from every army will remain behind as defence of Korea and Liaoning. This force will rulate, exhausted units from the front will be taken back for guard duty in Korea and they will be replaced by units from Korea.

-2nd, 15th and 19th Army (taskforce two)- will cross Formosa strait and attack Foochow. A force of 30000 men and 5000 cavalry from the 15th Army will invade Hainan and hold it untill reinforcements arrive.

The 1st Army will remain in Formosa as defence of the Island. Again as in Korea, force will rulate when they're exhausted. In this case this will be difficult as transport must be done over sea.

The 11th Army will act as overal reserve.

As a diversion the 1st Imperial Division and the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Imperial Division (total 15000 men) will land in Shanghai, destroy all industrial facilities, kill workers and scientists and retreat.

Phase One-Preperation

The forces used will train in making marches of thirty, thirty five miles a day (ooc. read Guns of August and check the distance marched by German soldiers in August 1914. At first I thought it was a printing error...) get extra firing practise, attacking fortified positions and extra training in night operations. They will also learn to coöperate closely with other infatry unts, as well with cavalry, artillery and the newly formed Nipponese Airforce.

On the diplomatic field possible allies will be contacted. Nations which will almost certain approve of an attack on China are the USA and Britain. They will sigh with relieve if we are fighting in China, not being able to threaten their position. Also Germany and Russia will be approached and asked for their support. We could offer Russia Mongolia and Western China. Our embassador thinks the Russians don't really appreciate the alliance with China.

Phase Two-The Invasion

At the chosen date, after preperations are finished the attack will commence. In Korea Artillery will start firing on enemy positions at 1155, continueing untill 0230 hours. The Infantry and Cavalry will cross the border and move at the highest speed possible.

The forces from Formosa will land under cover of naval bombardments at 0445 hours. Move inland, capture objectives for the first day and pitch camp at 0930.

The Imperial Division forces will land at 0000 hours, and must clear Shanghai at dawn. It is more important to get out of Shanghai before dawn than to sabotage their shipyards.

Operations will be executed at night, in dark. Only when necessary will forces fight in full light. This to increase confusion and have a slight advantage of surprise over enemy troops.

If we have territories in Indochina, also from there will forces attack China. If that happens, detailed plans will come later.

Updates and new situations may cause the plans to change or perhaps to be scrapped entirely.

General Fukuoka

ooc. God, detailed planning. I got tired so I stopped working out things more detailed. More will come later!

Stockhom, Sweden

King Wilhelm I sat quietly among the countless shelves of books piled within the Royal Library. For countless hours he had made his time here, constantly divulging in the amazing volumes of books and various from ages ago.

Hmmm...so quiet and tranquil. It truly wonders me why my father didn't spend so much time within this place, Wilhelm thought to himself. But the thought of his father, a now well-known bi-sexual, made him cringe. It was his foolish actions, along with his brother's worthless ramblings, that had destroyed the honor of the Bernodette family, a family that reigned as one of the greatest in Europe. Now, it's honor lay in tatters and Wilhelm fumming with anger.

To quell his thoughts from evolving into physical rage, the young King pushed himself to his feet and walked steadily to one of the many bookshelves around him. Suddenly, as he went to browse for yet another book, one of his many servants quietly pushed the solid wooden enterace to the library open and stepped inside.

"Your Excellency, your appointment for 1 o'clock has just arrived and is currently waiting in the back gardens."

"Thank you, Bjorn" Wilhelm quietly replied as he placed his recently chosen book back into it's spot on the shelf. "I shall see to him immedeately. You are dismissed."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wilhelm took no time in leaving the room, giving his servant a slight push as he exited through the wooden door. This appointment was the highlight of the day, as Wilhelm always enjoyed new inventions he was presented. Supposedly, from the reports of those in the General Staff, this was to be a new rifle for the Swedish Army, an automatic rifle. Although his collegues had claimed that this invention was 'foolish' and a 'waste of time', Wilhelm didn't mind. Just as long as this new toy kept him away from his usual boring meetings and mountianous stacks of papers, he was perfectly content.

After several minutes of winding through his estate's many corridors and passages, he reached one of the many doors leading to the gardens in the back, if you could call them gardens that is. Opening the door, Wilhelm set his sights upon several figures now gathered around a series of wooden targets now scattered near the more open expanses of the yard.

As he stepped closer, Wilhelm took notice of the object in one of the man's hands. It was rather short with a box-like middle accented with several switches and knobs. Sticking out of the middle was a rather compact barrel set in the typical wooden grip. In truth, it was quite an eye-sore, but Wilhelm was more worried about whether it would work or not.

When Wilhelm was within speaking distance, several men, clad in an officer's uniforms and caps stood to attention and saluted their king. Wehn the salute was promptly returned, one of the older men in the group greeted him:

"I'm glad you could join us, Your Excellency, to view this new weapon."

"My pleasure."

Pushing his way through the crowd of assorted officers, Wilhelm went to greet the gentleman now idly holding the machine within his grasp.

"You, sir. Are you the creator of this rifle?" he asked.

"Y--Yes, sir. In my workshop, I made it out of parts from an M-94." the man replied with glee.

"Hmm, interesting. How does it work?"

"Well sir, It is based on what I call a 'delayed gas blowback system'. You see, whenever a bullet fires, it releases an immense amount of gasses that allow it to travel down range and into it's target. However, these gasses, if applied in the proper manner can be used to work the bolt of a weapon and bring a new cartridge up to fire very rapidly."

"So, it's essintally the same as a Maxim Machinegun?" Wilhelm asked.

"Not neccisarily. You see, Maxim designed on a recoil driven system, in which the recoil or 'kick' of the weapon cycles the bolt back. This system is based of the power generated from gases from the cartridge itself."

"So is this system better?"

"In truth, both systems work equally well. However, the gas system is capable of firing rounds at a faster rate."

"Intriguing, would you mind if I tried myself?"

"Of course not, sir."

The man immedeately Handed the weapon, along with one of the box magazines shoved into his coat pocket, up to Wilhelm who looked at it and the magazine quite curiously.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Wilhelm asked, while gazing at the small box presented to him.

"That, sir, is the magazine that holds the cartridges, 20 in all. You simply take the magazine itself and place it up into the reciever like so."

Taking both of the objects back, the man simply slammed the box up into the reciever, which let out a distinct 'Click'. Pulling the bolt back to an open position, he handed it back to the perplexed King.

"Now, if you see the lever on the right side of the reciver, press it down once. That will engage a single-shot mode."

Following the man's intructions, Wilhelm pressed down the lever with relative ease and hefted the weapon to his shoulder. Aiming down the sights of the weapon, Wilhelm chose one of the several targets positioned in the area around him and pulled the trigger.

Pop!

One of the cartridges flew from the weapon down range, 500 feet, and slammed into the target with a 'Clang'. Satisfied with his first shot, Wilhelm aimed again and squeezed off another round.

Pop!

Again, the round smashed into the small wooden target ahead.

"My, my, that gives off a pretty strong kick." Wilhelm said, a smile now plastered on his face.

"Indeed it does, but it should be quite manageable for the average soldier. Now, if you don't mind, try pushing the lever down to the section switch. That is the fully-automatic mode."

Wilhelm immedeatley pushed the lever down and set yet another target within his sights. A moment later, he again squeezed the trigger.

Pop-Pop-Pop

A rapid succession of three shots cascaded down range and into their target, inches away from each other. Caught in a state of excitement, Wilhelm pulled down on the trigger and let the remaining 15 rounds fly from the barrel.

After the firing had stopped, Wilhelm set the gun down, amazed. Although he had seen a few Machine Guns in the battle of Stockholm, theywere far larger and far more immobile, requiring a crew of three to position them. Now, with this little machine, an average soldier could wield the same arsenal but be far more mobile.

"This is truly amazing." Wilhelm laughed while handing the weapon back to it's inventor. "Gentleman, your thoughts?"

One of the officers immedeately made his comment:

"Although I am truly impressed with the quality and performance of this weapon, what do we know of it's reliability? And, why would we even need a contraption of this sort when we already have perfectly fine Machine Guns in the field?"

At that, the inventor smirked. "Well, you are right to question the weapon's reliability, as I have yet to test it under battlefield conditions. However, I can assure you that this weapon would give our soldiers a considerable advantage in firepower. Think of it, most soldiers today carry weapons that fire at around 10 rounds a minute. With this, the average soldier fire nearly 30 times that ammount in one minute."

"But what about accuracy and range?" another officer asked. "Yes, it's fine and dandy if the thing can fire off 300 rounds a minute, but how far can it accurately fire?"

"At the moment, with 6.5mm ammunition imported from Japan, this weapon can accurately fire up to 700 meters. With a longer barrel, this weapon could easily raise that to 900 meters. Yes, that it not as far as the average rifle, but most soldiers do not even consider firing at their target until around 400 yards."

After a moment of silence, Wilhelm once again chimed in:

"Then I suggest this. We develop several dozen copies of these weapons and distribute them among several Infantry units around the country and have them conduct tests on the weapons. If the weapons are given praise, then we shall begin limited production, along with the ammuntion too. Have 2 men in each company carry the weapon and every one else carry rifles."

"But what of the High Command, sir. They are no paticularly keen on this new weapon and I'm sure your suggestion will be promptly ig---"

"You let me worry about the High Command." Wilhelm barked.

By the end of the day, the weapon and it's ammunition had been sent to the Royal Armory outside of Stockholm. In a matter of days, specifacations would be placed onto paper and sent to Arms companies around the country, where the first 10 copies woud be produced and a revolution in firearms woud begin.

OCC: For those of you curious, this is an image of my new little weapon:

http://world.guns.ru/assault/fedorov_sm.jpg

Secret Semi-OOC

The Grandmaster of Narodna Odbrana called for his gnomes, faithful servants who would find out anything he wished to know.

"Hmmmm," he said. "Warta Endor wants his Japanese soldiers to march 30-35 miles a day. What could go wrong with that plan?'

Silently, he nodded at one of his gnomes, who scurried off into the dark recesses of Narodna Odbrana's vast libraries.

He picked up another post. "Ah, here Lachenberg wants to develop a fully automatic weapon in 1914. What could go wrong with that scheme?"

Again, he nodded and a gnome scurried forth.

Soon, he had their answers in hand.

He began to laugh, an evil, booming laugh that echoed for miles around his palatial estate.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ;)

He picked up another post. "Ah, here Lachenberg wants to develop a fully automatic weapon in 1914. What could go wrong with that scheme?"

Fully-Automatic Weapons have been around since 1885. I've just made them more portable and easier to handle :cool: .

OOC:

Nice post, Warta Endor.

However, I must warn you. Franz Ferdinard of Austria-Hungary has already warned my Chinese Emperor that Japan may betray the alliance IC'ly, so the element of surprise is lessened considerably. Also, towards this end, the Chinese military has grown a little wary of China's coastline. It may be a little more difficult to sneak in ships into Shanghai.

Just giving you a fair warning, but I am looking forward to seeing how you'll pull this off. :D Funny, actually. We're gonna end up fighting each other here, but fighting together in Earth V. :p

Secret Semi-OOC

The Grandmaster of Narodna Odbrana called for his gnomes, faithful servants who would find out anything he wished to know.

"Hmmmm," he said. "Warta Endor wants his Japanese soldiers to march 30-35 miles a day. What could go wrong with that plan?'

Silently, he nodded at one of his gnomes, who scurried off into the dark recesses of Narodna Odbrana's vast libraries.

He picked up another post. "Ah, here Lachenberg wants to develop a fully automatic weapon in 1914. What could go wrong with that scheme?"

Again, he nodded and a gnome scurried forth.

Soon, he had their answers in hand.

Be began to laugh, an evil, booming laugh that echoed for miles around his palatial estate.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ;)

Heh, totally exhausted troops :D
At the first battle of the Marne the Germans were exhausted. The only thing that kept them going was the thought of a victory parade in Paris.

I know, but not IC. China's coastline is huge, but I think Shanghai is an obvious target. Could be fun actually, overarrogant but well equipped and trained Japanese Forces atacking an enormous Chinese army...

Heh, top be honest, I'm spoiling for a fight in EarthV. it's now just becomming a bit crappy with me going everywhere :cool:

The first prototype of the armoured cars had been produced and was about to be tested. It was rather crude, only the bonnet and the sides were armoured but there was a small sheet of armour on hinges that could be used to protect the driver from shrapnel. The back seat had been exchanged for a platform where the machine gun had been mounted on a gun carriage that allowed the operators to redirect their fire without moving the machine gun around. The whole thing was operated by a lever, requiring a third man. The gun and the crew were protected by a semi-cylindrical armour plate with a cross shaped hole cut in it to allow the gunner to see his target.
The gun carriage had forced the team to reduce the armour but the car still managed a bullet thanks to the sloped armour. Unfortunately the engine was prone to overheat because of the armour plates and they had been forced to drill holes in the armour, this meant that dust and mud could come in and completely ruin the car's engine.

OOC: I don't want to appear as an arse, but there's a perfectly fine thread for posts that are purely OOC. All of this OOC in the RP thread makes in hard to follow sometimes.

Liberty, check the OOC thread.

Heh, totally exhausted troops :D
At the first battle of the Marne the Germans were exhausted. The only thing that kept them going was the thought of a victory parade in Paris.

I know, but not IC. China's coastline is huge, but I think Shanghai is an obvious target. Could be fun actually, overarrogant but well equipped and trained Japanese Forces atacking an enormous Chinese army...

Heh, top be honest, I'm spoiling for a fight in EarthV. it's now just becomming a bit crappy with me going everywhere :cool:

OOC:

Looking forward to seeing what your Japanese can do. :)

Let me know when you're ready to attack China, and we can start from there, as it'd be your move at first (you're the invader).

ooc. continue stuff in the ooc thread Sharina. Got some things to do first before I invade.

Paris, FrancePoincare Government Toppled!
In a stunning reversal of fortune, the Government of Premier Raymond Poincare failed a vote of no confidence in the Chamber of Deputies.

The vote came at the end of a tumultuous week that saw the socialist-led labour movement declare a series of crippling strikes that led to clashes between strikers and police. Emboldened by the wide outpouring of opposition to France's recent aggressive foreign policy, Socialist Deputies called for a vote of no confidence on the issue of war credits for an invasion of Portugal.

The Government was believed to have enough votes in its pocket to fend off the challenge and secure the credits, but in the final minutes leading up to the vote key defections sealed its fate.

At the request of the Premier, President Armand Fallières has called for new elections. In spite of the setback, Poincare could still emerge triumphant if his conservative coalition bests the General Front being assembled by the parties of the left. But, at the very least, rival governments all across Europe, and especially those in Madrid, Rome, Vienna, and Berlin are breathing a sigh of relief that the gathering war clouds have, if perhaps only temporarily, dispersed.OOC: This sets the stage for the next French player to choose his party and platform, depending on whether he wants to continue an aggressive, imperialistic foreign policy (by having Poincare's coalition win), pursue a more cooperative policy (by having the General Front, led by Georges Clemenceau, win), or by setting himself up for civil unrest and a possible revolution or coup d'etat by having a divided government and possibly increasing tension between leftists and militarists.

In the meantime, Bogie (Bogmihia) will run the caretaker government... ;)

Stay tuned for Part II, to be set in Petrograd. A real cliffhanger!

OOC: I guess I'm France, then.

Armand Fallieres was president betwen 18/02/1906 and 18/02/1913. Poincare was prime-minister only between January 1912 and January 1913 and became president on 18/02/1913. This means NO has placed the events in 1912.

IC: Posting as France

Histoire de France, manual pour le Lycee

1912 can be justly regarded as the most eventfull year of the entire 3rd republic. Considering the failed adventures against Switzerland, Belgium and Portugal, the demise of the Poincare governement was only a formality. After losing a vote of no confidence in the Parliament and with little prospects of winning the elections, Poincare's political career seemed doomed. Right at that time, however, fate interveved. The failed assasination attempt of a Portuguese student changed everything. In the October elections, Poincare's coalition won the elections in a landslide and, only a few months later, he was elected president by the reunited chambers of Parliament.

Comments on Cliffhanger Part I in OOC.

Petrograd, RussiaArchduke Franz Ferdinand yawned, and then waved for the porter to bring him a pot of coffee. He looked at his pocket watch. It was 9:17 P.M.

He would be in Petrograd in less than 35 minutes.

He called for the chef to prepare some sweets and asked for a bottle of wine and two glasses. By then the coffee had arrived. He took a sip, leaned back, and began to focus his attention on the task ahead.

This might well be the single most important meeting of his life. Thus far, anyway.

He felt a slight lurch as the train began to brake; up front, in the darkness, the BMZ Serial "B" locomotive began to slowly decelerate. He ignored the motion and continued sipping his coffee, thinking of the day's events.

In a fifteen minute stopover in Moscow, a diplomatic courier had brought a pouch with important papers. He'd reread them just to make sure he fully appreciated their contents.

He wanted to make sure that he summarised those contents accurately for Tsar Nicholas II. Very little of the news that he brought was welcome, so delivery would be everything, because Franz Ferdinand needed to come away from this meeting as the Tsar's friend.

He finished the coffee as the train's lurching became more noticeable, as its insistent whistle warned the inhabitants of Petrograd of its impending arrival. His wife Sophie came to speak a few words with him; she already understood that she would play an important role supervising the party's detrainment. He called the colonel in charge of his bodyguard and made sure that he understood that no one was to come within earshot of the parlour car where he and Nicholas would meet.

Then they were at the station, slowing, rolling up to the platform, where the Imperial entourage was waiting. "Ask the Tsar to come see me in this car," he informed an aide. "Tell him there is an urgent matter I wish to discuss at once, and beg his indulgence."

A few more minutes passed, probably consumed by Sophie's greeting of the Tsar and his hangers-on. Then at last the door open and Nicholas was shown in. Franz Ferdinand rose.

"My good Nicholas," he said, and they embraced. "Come and sit. Do you wish wine, or just tea?"

"Tea," replied the Tsar. "I don't drink wine so soon before bed. That's a German penchant."

Franz Ferdinand laughed. "Yes, it is, and so if you don't mind..." he motioned to the table.

The Tsar made a polite but half-hearted attempt at a single finger cake. Franz Ferdinand answered it. They wouldn't touch the rest of the plate; it was a gesture of respect and hospitality, and had therefore served its purpose. Franz Ferdinand moved straight to the matter at hand, not to try his host's patience.

"First," he began, "You no doubt know that I am coming back from Beijing. I wished to tell you that the Emperor of China and I both believe that Japan is plotting war against the Middle Kingdom, probably with American connivance if not assistance."

Tsar Nicholas II was shocked. "It has only been two years since we made our alliance!"

"Events have left us all behind, my dear brother," offered the Archduke. "France's belligerence - which has gratefully been thrown off track by Poincare's failure of confidence - has set many things in motion. China had planned to invade French Indochina in the event of a war between France and the Grand Alliance, as much to show solidarity with the rest of Europe as anything else. But Japan also has designs on the region, as evidenced by their buildup in Siam."

"Evidently Japan has decided that China is too much of a rival to be tolerated. Rather than fight the Chinese for Indochina, the Japanese have decided to go straight for the jugular."

"But the Americans? Why do you say they support this?" asked Nicholas.

"I saw General Fukuoka talking with the American Vice-President, Aaron Rosen, at the late Emperor's funeral," offered the Hapsburg heir. "I would have thought nothing of it, but the following evening Sophie and I had Mr. Rosen over to our suite for dinner. He asked a very curious question of me: What would the Dual Monarchy do in the event that someone invaded China?"

"That doesn't indicate support," said the Tsar. "They could simply have intelligence."

Franz Ferdinand shook his head. "It was delivered as a trial balloon. Yet America lacks the power to conduct such an invasion themselves, so I believe the question was asked for other reasons. I believe that America has made a deal with Japan and wishes to get an idea of how the division of spoils will work out."

"What kind of deal?" asked Nicholas II.

"The Americans love tropical islands where they can grow sugar, fruit, and coffee beans. I think they wanted to divert Japan onto the Asian mainland to clear the way for their own adventures in the Pacific Basin," replied the Archduke.

Tsar Nicholas II reflected for a moment, sipping his tea. "Was this why you wanted to see me?"

"No, it was just something I thought I should offer before it got lost in the main business," said Franz Ferdinand with a slight air of weariness.

And then he pulled out the envelope the attaché had given him in Moscow. "First, you need to read this."

Petrograd, RussiaAfter quite a long while, the Tsar looked up at Franz Ferdinand.

"How certain are you of this?" he asked.

"Very certain - or as certain as we can be without actual physical proof," replied the Archduke.

"Who else knows?" Nicholas asked.

"It is rumoured everywhere, but we have been digging longer and harder than anybody else," said the Hapsburg heir. "As far as the file you now see - and rest assured, my dear Nicholas, out of respect for you my uncle ordered that nothing be left out - it has passed only to three or four other people."

"Who might those be?" asked the Tsar.

"Gisela, my uncle's daughter. She showed it to Queen Maria Theresa, her sister-in-law. I do not yet know if the Queen has shown it to their husbands, the King and Crown Prince of Bavaria, but that would only be a matter of time. Most importantly, I am told that the Queen has either shown it to your late cousin's son, or will very shortly," finished Franz Ferdinand.

"Wilhelm knows?" said the Russian monarch, incredulously. "And yet does nothing?"

"His situation is delicate," offered the Archduke. "And his resources modest. But Wilhelm is but a piece in the puzzle. I am as concerned with Herr Führer von Richthofen. His position is in many ways just as precarious, which may lead him to seek to bolster his throne in unusual ways."

Franz Ferdinand leaned forward to continue. "A usurper needs to make himself legitimate if he is to survive. This one is playing with nationalist forces, the same ones at work in the Balkans. His new 'Grand German Empire' - in German, that comes off as Großartiges Deutschland in some renderings, Großdeutschland in others. Either way, it has the exact same meaning as the 'Great Ideas' of the Balkans peoples - an empire in which all lands inhabited by one's people, however far flung - even where they are a minority - should be incorporated into the realm. There are Germans living in the Ukraine, my dear Tsar. Russia should be deeply concerned if der Drang nach Osten (OOC: "Eastward Expansion") becomes Berlin's policy, because Rußland liegt nach Osten (OOC: "Russia lies to the East")," he finished.

"Of course, it's not just you. We would be as likely to be swallowed up by such a push as well," continued the Archduke. "The same people who think the Ukraine should be German would insist that there be a single unified German state, and that it encompass our lands. An expansionist Germany is everyone's nightmare," he concluded.

"But von Richthofen himself, he hasn't advocated this," objected Nicholas.

"Not yet," said the Archduke. "Nonetheless he is exactly like Napoleon Bonaparte - he has taken power in a coup d'etat, crowned himself by his own hand - even with his own title, "Führer" - and now he must find some excuse to wield power. Napoleon relied on nationalist zeal; von Richthofen doesn't have any other options. Without nationalism, he is just a usurper."OOC: Almost to the conclusion... ;)

Petrograd, Russia"I will admit," said Franz Ferdinand, "That my coming here in this way was the last thing that I would have expected. Every since your nation's entente with France and our falling out over the annexation of Bosnia in 1908, I have viewed our nations and rivals. Not by choice, mind you, but by simple politics."

"But now, everything is changed," he continued. "Even if France, Russia, and the Dual Monarchy were to stand together against Germany, the outcome would be very much in doubt. And yet we need Germany as a foil to France, which is why we remain their staunch ally. Then, too, who wants war? Peace is always better," said the Archduke. "The problem is in making sure that the nations who want peace outnumber the ones who want war, and that is become more difficult by by the hour."

"So you want an alliance," said Nicholas II. "Yet what is in this for Russia? And what about the Serbs? Your aggressive policies toward Beograd don't sit well with me."

"What you see in the Balkans is proactive defence," said the Hapsburg heir calmly, knowing that this was a sore spot between them. "Serbia simply refuses to renounce its designs on those of our lands they deem to be 'Serbian'. How can we permit Serbia to grow when it will simply use whatever additional resources it gets to wage war on us, through anarchist bombings and propaganda if not on the field of battle?"

"You can't be seriously tell me that you're afraid of Serbia - it's a tenth of your size," scoffed the Tsar.

"Ten divisions here, twenty there, and soon you have real numbers," replied the Archduke. "Serbia, Montenegro, and Roumania are working together to advance each others claims. Think once more in terms of a confrontation in Central Europe and ask yourself if you'd like to see thirty less Austrian or Hungarian combat divisions available for the main event, where they could make a real difference, instead of a sideshow in the Balkans. It's attrition by sheer numbers - and the economic damage that Serbia could do to us by closing the Adriatic to our shipping if they ever got a naval base there is staggering."

"Besides, is it really in your interests to forsake an alliance with us for the sake of the friendship of a slew of Balkan principalities? We could be a far better ally - and one that could help you far more decisively - than all of them put together," offered Franz Ferdinand.

"You ask us to abandon traditional friendships," glowered Nicholas.

"In favour of traditional goals. Yes, I've read Dostoevsky. But I also know that Russia has her own 'Urge to the East'," said the Archduke. "What if we were willing to support your aims in the Middle East and South Asia?" he asked. "All of your aims in those regions," he continued. "What if we were willing to help you in 'The Great Game', as Kipling puts it - from Afghanistan to the Caucasus."

"Isn't that worth more than support for the Serbs?" he asked.

Tsar Nicholas II sat for a minute. "It is still quite a lot you ask. What do you intend for Serbia?" he asked point-blank. "Annexation?"

Franz Ferdinand shook his head. "Containment, and eventually a restoration of the state of affairs that predated the coup of 1903 - a protectorate over Serbia. They would remain independent - indeed, we would guarantee it, against all the other Balkan states who have their own 'Great Ideas'." He looked the Tsar in the eye. "Your not really abandoning Serbia at all, then - just 'Greater Serbia'. And in return," he finished, "You get a much greater Russia."OOC: And now...

Petrograd, Russia"I will think on it," said the Tsar. "Now it is late," he continued. It had been about a hour. "Our beds await at the Winter Palace."

Franz Ferdinand caught his sleeve. "Even if you can't set aside our differences in the Balkans, we must try to work together. We have a common ally - China - facing danger. We may face danger ourselves in Germany. We must support the Middle Kingdom, keep the peace in Central Europe, and beyond that you have your interest to the South, among the Turks of Central Asia, in Armenia, in Persia, and beyond. If we do not stand beside each other," he concluded, "Then separately, our enemies will pick us apart."

"As I said," repeated Nicholas, "I will think on it."

"Fair enough," replied the Hapsburg heir. He had never believed that this would be easy.

Five minutes later they were stepping off the train, down onto the cold platform. His bodyguards pressed close, as did members of the Tsar's entourage. Then Franz Ferdinand, wife Sophie at his side, noticed a body of soldiers to one side. They do not look like they belong there.

It happened so fast.

Almost as though on signal, the men levelled their weapons to fire. Franz Ferdinand felt hands on his body, his guards moving to press him down. The colonel in charge of his detail was drawing his Steyr M1912, smoothly flicking the safety off. There were shots, screams, men falling all over the platform, both assailants and guards.

And then Franz Ferdinand saw that one of the assailants had a grenade.

He threw it.

It went off.

OOC: How dramatic! Who are the assassins? Russian soldiers, yes. Traitors, yes. But for who? The Russian aristocracy? The Mensheviks? The Bolsheviks? The Serbs? The Germans? The French? The Japanese?

And who is their target? The Tsar? The Archduke? Both?

Who lives? Who dies?

How exciting! ;)

See the OOC thread for further details.

OOC: I suggested to Sharina that he form a corps of mounted scouts/police, similar to the RCMP. This assumes that he is at least toying with the idea and has organised trial units.

Harbin, ManchuriaHauptmann Karl Ritter sat surrounded by his students, the Mannlicher-Schönauer hunting rifle lying across his lap. He had just finished describing one of the rifle's two major weaknesses to his charges - its relatively low muzzle velocity and consequent short range. This disadvantage was, he had said, primarily a function of the weapons principal advantages - its light weight, short length, low recoil, and tremendous accuracy. For men who would mainly use their rifles for hunting and police work, he argued, this was an acceptable trade-off.

Now he was about to describe what he thought was a more serious drawback of the rifle's design.

"As far as hunting rifles go, this weapon certainly has enough stopping power to easily take down most game and small predators: deer, wild pigs, wolves, and the like are light work for this weapon," he began. "Even very large herbivores - like bison or elephants - can be dropped with a head shot by this rifle. Nor is that head shot hard to make, given such animals' behaviour and the weapon's accuracy."

"But large predators," Ritter said, "Are another matter. If you catch them unawares, you can take them down with a head shot as well. There's a fellow who is famous for bagging scores of polar bears with this rifle."

"The problem," he continued, "Comes should you ever have to face a charging predator - like a tiger - in a rage. Then the animal's fury is such that it will simply shrug off most hits, at least until it's quite done killing you, after which it will collapse in exhaustion and die. Of course, that won't do you much good. I've heard of quite a few African game hunters who got killed by lions because their Mannlicher-Schönauers could knock the lion down flat, which is what you need to do to save yourself in that kind of situation."

"Yet you will be patrolling territory where tigers roam, and as we all know sometimes tigers become a problem. It would be nice if you could send for a different rifle, but you may not have that option. Nor can you always guarantee being able to engage the big cats on your terms," said Ritter. "So I will show you a trick that I learnt from a big-game hunter who has faced lions with this rifle - up close - and lived to tell about it."

He handed two melons to one of the Chinese scouts. "Stand these up over there as targets," he ordered. When the man returned, he explained. "Melons approximate flesh quite well."

He aimed and squeezed off a shot. The melon broke into pieces, but quite cleanly.

"A clean shot is not what you need. You don't have time to wait for a charging tiger to bleed to death," he said. He then chambered an other round and fired at the second melon.

It exploded into flying fragments. A couple of the men started.

"What was different about the second bullet?" he asked rhetorically. "Come close and I'll show you."

As the gathered around, he extracted a file and went to work on the head of a 6.5 x 54 mm M-S cartridge, cutting a series of incisions into its head, each about 2mm across and 4-5mm deep.

"Now," he said, "Upon impact this bullet will break up and impart all of its kinetic energy into the big cat. The result will be a huge wound that stops the tiger dead in its tracks."

"The drawback of doing this is that you lose range and accuracy," Ritter continued. "But at point-blank range against a charging tiger, that scarcely matters."

"Can this be done with the Steyr rifles issued to our army?" asked one of the students.

Ritter hesitated. "Yes," he said. "But I need to make sure that you understand that that using bullets like these against humans in war violates Article 23 of the the 1907 Hague Convention. That is why we don't just make a bullet like this - you have to make one yourself. I recommend practising until you get it right, and then preparing two or three for an emergency. Stash them in your bandoleer where you can easily find them, because they may well save your life," he finished.

But the Chinese student persisted. "Has China signed this Convention?"

"No," said the captain slowly, "And neither has Japan."

"Then the Japanese could use them on us," said another, and the other men looked alarmed.

Ritter smiled. "They could, but they won't. The Japanese use Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk.1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Enfield) rifles as well as their Arisaka Type 38 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_38_Rifle). Both weapons use a sharply pointed bullet, one that relies on a sharply pointed bullet fired at a higher velocity for both accuracy and striking power. Filing or cutting the end of the British .303 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.303_British) or the Type 38's 6.5 x 50SR will reduce the efficiency of these bullets far more than would be the case with the heavier M1895's 8 x 50R round. Then, too, our bullets already have rounded tips, so a little filing isn't going to disturb the aerodynamic properties of the projectile all that much," he finished.

The men looked at each other and nodded. I think they got my message, thought the captain. God help the Japanese.OOC: This was an actual trick used by the Greek Army in the 1912 war with Turkey.

The naval program was about to be finished and so was the extended training of the Imperial Guards. The Two Imperial Guards Divisions were station in Pusan. Rumours were spreading throughout the armed forces. Why this massive mobilization and training? Would they finally attack China? Was Indochina the target? Or were the American and British Possesions in the Pacific the real target? Nobody new and a thousand rumours, some closer to the truth than others, spread throughout the Army. Meanwhile Hirohito was nearing his official age of ascension of the Chrysantemum Throne.

Coded Message to the President of the Third Republic

The Empire of Japan congratulates you on your victory and reinstatement
as head of the government. We hope that in name of peace you will take a
different course of actions this time.

We would also like to ask if our Supreme Regent General Fukuoka and aides
could visit France on it's tour of Europe.

Greetings, the Council of Regents and the Emperor-to-Be Hirohito

Another set of message was also send to the Governments of Italy, Austria Hungary, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden and Russia.

To; The gouvernment of (Insert Name)
From; The Empire of Japan

would it be possible for the Supreme Regent, General Fukuoka, to traval to
your country while touring Europe? Please give the reply to the embassy
located in your capital.

Greetings,
Council of Regents adn the Emperor-to-Be Hirohito

Posting as France

Reply to the Japanese Empire

The French governement would be delighted to have you as our guest. Just comunicate us the date of your arrival and we'll make all the necesary preparations to welcome you and your aides. We hope this visit will help strengthening the ties and friendship between our two nations.

OOC:Poincare is now president, not prime-minister. The president was elected by the MP's, not directly by the people (I intend to change this, together with other aspects I'm not happy about).

To; The gouvernment of the Grand GermanEmpire, der Führer Mannfred von Richthofen and staff
From; The Empire of Japan

would it be possible for the Supreme Regent, General Fukuoka, to traval to
your country while touring Europe? Please give the reply to the embassy
located in your capital.

Greetings,
Council of Regents adn the Emperor-to-Be Hirohito
We would be honoured to have general Fukuoka as our guest here in Berlin, bu we would like to know the estimated tiem of his arrival so that we can properly prepare for his arrival.

To: Tokyo, Japan
From: Stockholm, Sweden

Dear Sir(s):

The Kingdom of Sweden, along with His Majesty, King Wilhelm I, would be greatly honored to have General Fukuoka visit our nation during his tour of Europe.

Accomidations for his stay shall be made at once. We thank you for this oppurtunity.

Signed,

Karl F. Kreager
Foriegn Minister
The Kingdom of Sweden

To: The Empire of Japan
From: The Kingdom of Italy

It would be an honor to have your General visit our nation. Please give us the date of your visit and we will have everything prepared for you.

King Victor Emmanuel
The Kingdom of Italy


I have got to get rid of this guy...I seriously hate typing his name up. Plus King Victor looks so much like my dad that it scares me.

I have got to get rid of this guy...I seriously hate typing his name up. Plus King Victor looks so much like my dad that it scares me.
Vienna, Austria"This Italian Prime Minister, he certainly sounds like he has serious Oedipal issues to me," said noted psychologist Sigmund Freud. "Now we simply need to discover if he loves his mother..." ;)To: The Empire of Japan
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the
Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

General Fukuoka would be welcome to visit the Emperor and King Franz Josef
I at Schloß Schönbrunn (http://www.kaisergruft.at/kaisergruft/images/schoenbrunn3.jpg). Let us know the expected dates of your visit and we
will plan accordingly.

If the General would like, we could also arrange a hunting trip, either
with rifle or falcon. Alternately or in addition, a guided tour through the
Imperial and Royal museums or a demonstration of dressage by the Lipizzaner
stallions of the Spanish Riding School (http://particle.phys.uvic.ca/~inugent/PersonalSite/Year2005Photos/Stallions/thumbs/IMG_0042.JPG) might also be arranged.

OOC: I added this because of a running debate in the Balkan Wars OOC thread about nations having to make ethnic "sense" (here's my last post in the thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9528361&postcount=191)).

1910: Number of Chinese immigrants living in Vienna: 0
1915: Number of Chinese immigrants living in Vienna: < 2,000 (est.)
1920: Number of Chinese immigrants living in Vienna: > 50,000 (est.)

Source: Imperial & Royal Interior MinistryOOC: I thought I would give young Herr Hitler something to gripe about besides the Jews...

For detailed planning for my trip I need a Russian answer first. My schedule is probably going to be Russia (via Trans Siberia)-Sweden-Germany-KUK-Italy-France-England-back home via Russia.

Posting as France
The French governement would be delighted to have you as our guest. Just comunicate us the date of your arrival and we'll make all the necesary preparations to welcome you and your aides. We hope this visit will help strengthening the ties and friendship between our two nations.
QUOTE]

We will arrive approximatly the 15th of March in Paris, coming from Italy. Arrival time may change due to diffirent factors etc. but we aim for the 15th. I look forward to see you then.

Gen. Fukuoka

[QUOTE]We would be honoured to have general Fukuoka as our guest here in Berlin, bu we would like to know the estimated tiem of his arrival so that we can properly prepare for his arrival.

We will arive approximatly around the 20th of februari in Berlin, coming from Sweden. Arrival dates may change because of different factors. I look forward to see you then.

Gen. Fukuoka

To: Tokyo, Japan
From: Stockholm, Sweden

Dear Sir(s):

The Kingdom of Sweden, along with His Majesty, King Wilhelm I, would be greatly honored to have General Fukuoka visit our nation during his tour of Europe.

Accomidations for his stay shall be made at once. We thank you for this oppurtunity.

Signed,

Karl F. Kreager
Foriegn Minister
The Kingdom of Sweden

We are pleased that you are honored by our visit, we arrive around the 5th of februari in Stockholm comming from Russia. We also have some trade proposals and diplomatic proposals to offer. I look forward to seeing you then.

Gen. Fukuoka

To: The Empire of Japan
From: The Kingdom of Italy

It would be an honor to have your General visit our nation. Please give us the date of your visit and we will have everything prepared for you.

King Victor Emmanuel
The Kingdom of Italy

The delagation will arrive around the fifth of march in Milan (Rome is also possible) comming from Austria-Hungary, but it may change because of all kinds of trouble etc. I look forward to seeing you there.

Gen. Fukuoka

To: The Empire of Japan
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the
Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

General Fukuoka would be welcome to visit the Emperor and King Franz Josef
I at Schloß Schönbrunn. Let us know the expected dates of your visit and we
will plan accordingly.

If the General would like, we could also arrange a hunting trip, either
with rifle or falcon. Alternately or in addition, a guided tour through the
Imperial and Royal museums or a demonstration of dressage by the Lipizzaner
stallions of the Spanish Riding School might also be arranged.

The delagation will arrive around the 25th of februari comming from Germany in Vienna. We are delighted about your proposals for all kinds of activities, and are especially exhalted by the visit to the Spanish Riding School. As for the hunting trip, I assume we can bring our own rifles/falcons with us? We truelly look forward to meeting the Emperor/King of the Austrian Hungarian Empire.

Gen. Fukuoka

ooc. I have a suprise guest comming with me BTW.

I assume we can bring our own rifles/falcons with us? Of course!

OOC: Should we advertise in II for French and Russian players? If so, we could also mention that a Mexican player, a Chilean player, and a Bulgarian player might be nice (although Lachenburg is certainly having fun as Bulgaria...).

The Czar was bleeding badly, shrapnel from the grenade had penetrated the clothes and hit him in the side. The royal guards readied, aimed and fired their guns at the assailants before drawing their swords to close in. A medic was fortunately available on the train and he began see to Nicolaus' wounds at once, having carried inside and laid on a table. Outside the battle was raging, the numbers were almost equal but the guards' salvo before the cahrge had served it's purpose. After a few minutes the assassins were fleeing, leaving their comrades dying on the cold ground. The pursuing guardsmen soon lost track of their enemy but managed to catch one one as he tripped and fell.

OOC: Sorry 'bout the short post but I'm not feeling well.

Petrograd, RussiaDoctors were hastily summoned to the Petrograd train station as the alarum rang out across the capitol.

All three royals had survived. Franz Ferdinand's left ankle was broken when a dead soldier fell hard on him after the Archduke had been hurled to the platform; worse, his leg had taken a bullet in the crossfire, and although the wound was clean it bled quite a lot before being staunched. Countess Sophie had been the luckiest: a bullet had creased her hand and as it covered her face, and a second had blown apart the head of the guard who had seized her and forced her to the ground; had he been a heartbeat slower, the bullet would have struck her square in the face. She had fainted dead away, and was covered with gore, so that the soldiers who had dug her out of the pile of bodies and the doctors who treated her afterwards had feared that she was mortally wounded. Only after some minutes did they realise that the blood she wore was someone else's.

Three of the royal couple's bodyguards were dead, including the colonel of in charge, who had interposed himself between the royal party and their attackers just as the attack began. The big Hungarian had snapped off four shots with his automatic pistol, killing two of the attackers and wounding a third before almost having his head torn off by the grenade blast; he was dead before he hit the platform. Yet his body still took three more bullets on the way down, bullets that might otherwise have struck his charges. For this, he was posthumously awarded the der Königlich Ungarischer St. Stephans-Orden (the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen) and der Österreichisch-Kaiserlische Leopolds-Orden (the Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold). He was by no means the only person posthumously decorated that day, by either Imperial Russia, Imperial Austria, or the Kingdom of Hungary.

Among the Russians, the casualties were far worse. Close to a dozen bodyguards and soldiers had died in the attack or been mortally wounded. When the new of the carnage got out, the people of Petrograd - indeed the people of both Russia and the Dual Monarchy - were shocked.

Yet still, the question remained: who was responsible for this dastardly attack?

ooc. Good idea about the advertizing. One more question to you Narodna Odbrana, when will the assination attempt become public?

Get well soon Relative Liberty. I don't feel very good myself too :(

Unless Russia does something to suppress the news of it, I would think immediately.

The shrapnel had penetrated the clothing, entered the body and hit the spine in the lumbar area. Most of it had stayed there, slowed down as they were by the tissue and clothing, but a single shard had ricoshetted upwards and got stuck between the left lung and the pulmonary artery, luckily without hitting the heart. The Czar's chief doctor had been summoned and he had been given the task to save the life of Czar Nicholaus II. Rasputin was there too, at the request of the Czaritsa, chanting prayers and burning incense to further aid in the Czar's recovery.
The operation lasted for several hours, as it was hard to remove the shrapnel without further hurting His Majesty. But thanks to the skill of the doctor, or the intervention of some holy ghosts as Rasputin explained it, the Czar survived, though he was weakened. A week after the operation he was permitted to have visitors with him in the train, for he still hadn't been moved as his condition was such that he would surely perish if anyone attempted, and thus he summoned the Archduke to him.
''This attempt on our lives mustn't be known to the people,'' he said faintly, almost unhearable. The Archduke leaned closer and the Czar continued.
''If this were to be common knowledge, our enemies would use the situation to their advantage, possibly ruining any opportunity for peace in the Balkans. Let us instead carry out our investigations in secret, so to preserve our power.''
''I do not think the assassins could know what we would be discussing in the train that day, instead their motif must be hatred for one of our nations, or even both. It is possible that this attempt was made by one of the Balkan states who are angry because *cough* they feel we have betrayed them, or even some of the central European powers who might be looking to increase their *cough* own might, such as France or Germany. But now you must leave me, for I am still *cough* recovering.''

April 15th, 1912The North Atlantic, 531km Southeast of Newfoundland

TITANIC SINKS FOUR HOURS AFTER HITTING ICEBERG;
866 RESCUED BY CARPATHIA, PROBABLY 1250 PERISH;
ISMAY SAFE, MRS. ASTOR MAYBE, NOTED NAMES MISSING (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/nytstore/images/products/other/posters/NSPD17_large.jpg)
OOC: Hey, I had to do it...

May 17th, 1912Die Ringstraße, ViennaThe assembled officers filled the amphitheatre. Occasionally the room would fill with noise as an argument would burst out among a group of them, at least until the Generalmajor presiding would bang the gavel he’d been given and call them back to order.

“The bicycle companies were worthless. They’ve been worthless for years. They should be converted to cavalry,” argued a cavalry Major.

“On good roads, a bicyclist can travel over 100km a day! It was only the bad roads and the weather that prevented them from being used to advantage in the Sanjak,” said another Major.

“That’s the norm in the Balkans!” snapped the first. “Yes, with good roads and good weather, bicyclists can certainly make an excellent vanguard. But we have to face the fact that we’re never going to enjoy those conditions.”

“In Italy and Southern France, we would,” replied the second.

“Then they should be confined to those theatres as a regional unit,” snapped the first. “Assigning a company to each cavalry division is pointless when most divisions will never be able to use them.”

“What about replacing bicycles with Daimler’s new motorbike?” asked a Hauptmann, who had been listening carefully until now. “In the east and southeast, where broken and muddy roads are the norm, troops with these could advance swiftly.”

“The noise would give them away!” shot back the first Major. “Horses are simply the best and most flexible option for rapid advance.”

“I agree that the noise would be a factor, although not with electric motors, nor perhaps with proper muffling. It is a problem Austro-Daimler could work on,” answered the Hauptmann. “And the speed might make up for that disadvantage anyway.”

“Fuel,” chipped in the second Major. “Fuel would need to be brought forward for these units. Bicyclists and horsemen need neither.”

“Actually,” said a fourth man, a k.u.k. Linienschiffsleutnant “You have raised another issue. The aviators that we employed in Albania were hampered by the fact that their support personnel had to travel by waggon. It took over a week to move the unit from Shëngjin to Prizren, and another week and a half to bring in to Monastir, all because the men and equipment needed to prepare a Flugplatz had to travel by horse. Some of Škoda’s trucks and Austro-Daimler's automobiles would make it possible to move these units over 100km a day.”

“We will likely never use aviators again,” said an Oberst who had been listening to the conversation.

“I am not at all convinced of that,” replied the Linienschiffsleutnant. “I have had conversations with some of our Italian allies, and they believe the aviator will be as valuable as the cavalry scout in future wars.”

“Aviators can’t see what cavalrymen on the ground can see,” replied the second Major.

“No,” conceded the Linienschiffsleutnant. “Then are not a substitute for the cavalry. But they can cover more ground.”

The presiding Generalmajor rapped his gavel. “Let’s move on. I would like each of you to summarise your positions in a brief essay, entitling this ‘Observations on the use of Motor Vehicles in Land War,’” he said. “We will than pull those of you whose opinions are of interest into a working group for further consideration of any ideas you may have.”OOC: The result of this will be the formation of an experimental motorbike reconnaissance unit and the reorganisation of bicycle reconnaissance forces into a small number of depot companies, mostly in Austria, from with a few squadrons of bicyclists will be raised and then split up for use with the cavalry. Bicycles will be used only in areas where the ground and roads support them (meaning Central and Western Europe); motorbikes will eventually be used everywhere and become a standard part of each cavalry formation (except in mountain deployments), in place of the current bicycle company.

As far as military aviation goes, it will be a while before you see a k.u.k. Air Service, but the effect of this discussion is that when k.u.k. air units are finally organised, their organic transport will be entirely motorised.

OOC: See the OOC thread for new information on armoured cars. Apparently most major nations had them or had at least seen them by 1902-1905.

My apologies to Relative Liberty.

:confused: What does crow eating means?

:confused: What does crow eating means?It means admitting that you were wrong, with some embarassment.

O.K. Thanks. That's certainly an interesting expression. :)

The first complete prototype had been produced and would be displayed for the Führer himself Thursday afternoon. The demonstration took place in a hastily constructed town made out of wood, although with real streets.

The crew manned the car and three men placed practice targets at the end of the street, behind windows and on the roofs. The machine gun roared as it spat fire at the first three targets on the ground. The crewman charged with turning the turret pulled the lever until the target on the roof came within range, and the gunners fired again. The barrel overheated but was replaced in no time at all, since it was much smaller and thus less cumbersome than normal barrels. With the first four targets dispatched the time had come for the ''sniper'' in the curch tower. That target had been placed far away, and after an unsuccesful burst of fire the crew started the engine to move towards the town center and closer to the target. From there the sniper was easily taken care of, and the infantry could safely secure the rest of the town.

''You see mein Führer, that the project have been successful. The car was able to eliminate the snipers so that the following infantry could secure the town.''
''But what about targets that returns fire? Being good against practice targets is one thing. Good against the living, that's something else.''
''I can assure you that the car has sufficient armour plating to withstand bullets, mein Führer.''
''And grenades?''
''We have covered the turret with wire mesh, grenades would most likely roll off and land in front of the car. It will immobilize it, but the crew and the gun can be saved.''
''Very well, I shall give th eorder to commence production of the first vehicles.''

A total of one hundred cars were to be completed within eleven months, they were to be distributed to infantry regiments to serve in urban warfare.

ooc. I'm a bit confused now, if we follow the timescale we decided to use in the beginning it's around 1920, but the Titanic has just sunk?

Fukuoka was on his way from his office to the chambers of the Emperor-to-Be. The day Hirohito would ascend to the throne was near now. In some plans Fukuoka made for the trip to Europe Hirohito would travel with him as an "unknown officer". But the risk was to great, if for example Russia turned hostile the way back was cut of. It was bad enough if that happened to Fukuoka and his party but if the Emperor was captured...he shivered at the thought. Moral would drop to zero or worse, general unrest would break out...

Fukuoka: "Oh exhalted son of heaven, may I speak to you?"
Hirohito: "Old general, feel free to speak. I'm ready to leave for Europe!"
Fukuoka: "That...that is what I want to speak about. The regents think it is better if you stay here in Japan. It has to do with statesecurity, if something would happen to you..."
Hirohito:"I understand it...I...eventhough I don't like it, I understand it. The war with China, neh? I must stay here."
Fukuoka:"The day before the war starts, you will ascend to the throne of the Japanese Empire! Your first great speach will be the one in which you announce to the people the outbreak of conflict."
Hirohito:"I agree with you old man. What you say is wise. Any news from Korea etc.?"
Fukuoka:"I've ordered fortifications to be build along the border with China and Russia. The Russian defences will be a bit more sophisticated, with reinforced bunkers and more gun/machinegun nests. The council also thinks it is wise to further expand our forces in Korea. For that purpose we propose a draft of 650000 me..."
Hirohito:"What! 650000 men! What for? That's more than we hjave there now!"
Fukuoka:"Indeed it is, but China is large and we need to have enough forces for...occupation duties."
Hirohito:"Ah well, do what you want. I'm tired, all this statematters are tiring."
Fukuoka:"Well, you need to get used to them. I wish you a pleasent sleep."

With that Fukuoka walked out and went back to his office. Reports had been negative and not very pleasent. It seemed Chinese forces were much stronger and numerous than thought...Damned Chinese! For over a thousand years we fight and still no end!

ooc. I'm a bit confused now, if we follow the timescale we decided to use in the beginning it's around 1920, but the Titanic has just sunk?OOC: When would you like it to be?

We're just finishing up the Balkan Wars, and I forgot to post it earlier. Then, too, maybe your copy of the NYT just took a long time to get delivered to Tokyo. ;)

The Czar had recovered enough to once again rule the Russian Empire, although only from his bedroom.
''Whom do suspect was behind the attack, my lord?'' asked a general.
''I do not know, Illyanich, but I intend to find out. It could have been socialists, as they hate me for executing those communists villains. Or maybe Serbia, feeling that they have been betrayed because I did not intervene in the Balkan crisis. It could also have been the Japanese, wanting revenge for the recent war or maybe even trying to get ri of a potential enemy should they invade China.''
''I think, my lord, that Japan is by far the most likely of the suspects.''
''Perhaps, though must not act without evidece. We could send out assassains of our own to each of the suspects capitols, with orders to assassinate the head of state. Of course they will be instructed to just barely miss their target, so that we do not cause all too much chaos.''
''What good would that do? We would merely upset the other nations and possibly face a war on multiple fronts!''
''We are not going to tell them we sent the assassins Illyanich. The guilty nation will know who sent them on their mission and will act accordingly, hopefully by declaring war but maybe also by sending more of their lackeys to finish the job.''
''So which country would we try first, my lord?''
''Japan.''

Petrograd, Russia

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Hurt in Fall

It was reported today that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand broke his ankle after stumbling on an icy train platform in Petrograd, during his recent visit with Tsar Nicholas II following his return to Europe after a tour of the Far East.

Doctors reported that his ankle will heal normally, but he has been instructed to use a cane to assist himself in walking for the next several weeks.Franz Ferdinand looked at the k.u.k. Ambassador to Russia.

"So you're telling me that this fellow they captured has admitted to nothing?"

"That's exactly the case," offered the Ambassador. "Which is one reason why I, for one, doubt the present rumours of Japanses complicity. He would have been bribed into it by the Japanese - there could be no other reason for his turning on the Tsar."

The Archduke nodded. "And a bribed man would not be so loyal to his employer as to retain his silence," he said. "This jibes well with my suspicions: that the Japanese would have been unlikely to seek to have the Tsar killed, if only because of the high risk of being caught. If discovered, they would bring on themselves the one thing they want least - a Russian alliance with China."

"So who could it be, then?" asked Countess Sophie. She wore white gloves to conceal the crease wound on her left hand, which was still healing.

"I believe there are only three or four realistic possibilities: Germany, Russian Socialists, Serbian nationalists - possibly working with that governments support, or possibly working alone, and ..." here he paused before continuning, "Someone within our own nobility."

"Or," he added after a moment, "More than one of these working in unison."

''Are you certain the Japanese are behind this my lord?''
''Not at all, Menchikov. That's why we have to test them by sending assassins of our own.''
''But if they discover the hitman's is Russian they will declare war even if they are innocent. May I propose that we at least use a foreigner for this, my lord?''
''Good thinking. Did you have someone special on your mind?''
''It can't be Chinese, the Japanese might believe he was on a mission for the Chinese government. It has to be someone neutral, an Englishman perhaps.''
''Perhaps, will you make sure to search the.. less law-abiding inhabitants of the British Isles for someone suitable?''
''I think my lord, that that will prove extremly difficult. It would be better if Your Majesty himself wrote a lettre to the British government and asked them to produce someone with the skills we seek.''

''We, His Majesty Nicholaus II by the grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, of Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauric Khersones, Tsar of Grusia, Lord of Pskov, and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podolia, and Finland, Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semigalia, Samogitia, Bielostok, Korelia, Tver, Jugra, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgaria, and other territories; Lord and Grand Duke of Nizhni Novgorod, Chernigov; Ruler of Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Jaroslavl, Bielozero, Udoria, Obdoria, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav, and all northern territories ; Ruler of Iveria, Kartalinia, and the Kabardinian lands and Armenian territories - hereditary Ruler and Lord of the Cherkess and Mountain Princes and others; Lord of Turkestan, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsch, Oldenburg, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth, would like to ask the honourable Imperial Government of a favour. In response to certain events, it has come to our attention that both our nations need men to fight insurgents in our vast empires. We would therefore askthat you produce an individual of the required skill and proficiencies so that he may undergo further training in Russia. It is our firm belief that we both may prosper from this agreement, and as a sign of good will we wish to offer you a secret aid pact; nobody except our two nations may know of this, in return Great Britain will be granted limited insight in Russian covert operations as well as limited access to the archives in Moscow, the same rights will be granted by His Majestys Govenrement to the Czar, insight in British covert operations and limited access to secret archives containing information about a foreign nation.''

Krakow, GaliciaThey had just switched trains at the frontier and were now passing through the countryside, into the Carpathian Alps. Franz Ferdinand rested his injured leg on an Ottoman and sipped coffee as he looked out the window at the snow-capped peaks.

But the scenery escaped him. His mind was elsewhere, on three big, fat spiders.

He had no doubt that the Japanese were innocent of any complicity in the assassination. In truth, he wasn’t even certain that the Tsar had been the intended target, although he had to concede that this was probably the case.

But maybe not the only target.

Only one nation would have a clear motive in killing either the Tsar or himself – if not both – and that was Germany. But assassination was not the exclusive province of nations, and so he couldn’t confine himself to them.

There were three people who could have done this. Three spiders at the centre of their vast webs of conspiracy, and he intended to trap all three.

One he would simply neutralise, a second he would drive to its death. The third, that was the one he wasn’t sure how to deal with.

But first things first.Belvedere Palace ( http://www2.freefoto.com//images_d/02/07/02_07_3_web.jpg?&k=Belvedere+Palace%2C+Vienna%2C+Austria), ViennaHe finished reading the file on the so-called Bolshevik wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and its leader, N. K. Krupskaya. Certainly she and her group were capable of making an attempt on the life of the Tsar, and she herself had the best motive known to man: personal vengeance.

But somehow, he doubted that she was actually responsible.

Indeed, at the very moment that he had been travelling back from the Orient to Petrograd, she and her comrades had been organising a secret conference in Prague. Its purpose had been organisational, and yet – in the constant infighting between right, left, and centre Socialist movements, it was seen as of pivotal importance.

It would have been a poor time indeed for “the Fish” to divide her attention.

Of course, the Austrian police could always haul in the émigrés, search their apartments, open their mail, question them and everybody around them, and in general shake the tree as hard as they could. But likely the would get nothing, and then the exiles would simply pack their bags and move to Geneva or Brussels or London and be impossible to track.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, he thought.

He drew out a piece of writing paper and began a letter.

Dearest Klaus,

Please make an appointment with my personal secretary to discuss a
matter of considerable importance. Familiarise yourself with the Socialist
exile communities here, as well as in other European capitals, and the
methods they use to recruit new members. This information will be of
use to us when we meet.

Archduke Franz FerdinandHe sealed the letter and gave it to his secretary for delivery to the head of the Imperial police.

He would infiltrate them. These Socialists were eager to recruit anyone who seemed likely to accept their ideology; he would find someone – a Russian, a Pole, someone – to be his mole and burrow into their organisation. Probably several someones, as a matter of fact. If these would-be revolutionaries were behind the assassination attempt, he would find out; and even if they weren’t, he would be able to keep tabs on them, quietly working to thwart them if they ever got too dangerous, either to him or to other European governments.

Would he ever wipe them out altogether? Probably not. It was better to keep them close and under observation than risk driving them too far underground.

Franz Ferdinand smiled. The first spider had been snared in its own web.

Der Führer was in his chamber, as usual. He hadn't spent many hours sleeping since he assumed the title of Führer, there was much to do and no time to do it.
Apparently the Archduke of Austria had been in Petrograd, this was disturbing news indeed. Russia would be a prime target during the exapnsion eastwards to liberate the Germans living on the other side of the border, and the Kaiserlich und Königlich government could not be allowed to inttervene.

To the Kaiser und König of Austria and Hungary and other provinces:
I, der Führer Richthofen of Germany, on behalf of the German people would like to further strengthen the bonds that tie our two mighty empires together. With French aggression being neutralized the tension that caused the Grand alliance to be formed has ended. This has rendered the Alliance virtually obsolete, though there is still much chaos in the world. As a sign of friendship and trust we would therefore like you to sign a non-aggression pact for the next ten years, this display of unity and trust might even invoke the same feelings in our neighbours.

Der Ballplatz, ViennaTo the Kaiser und König of Austria and Hungary and other provinces:
I, der Führer Richthofen of Germany, on behalf of the German people would like to further strengthen the bonds that tie our two mighty empires together. With French aggression being neutralized the tension that caused the Grand alliance to be formed has ended. This has rendered the Alliance virtually obsolete, though there is still much chaos in the world. As a sign of friendship and trust we would therefore like you to sign a non-aggression pact for the next ten years, this display of unity and trust might even invoke the same feelings in our neighbours.Count Leopold von Berchtold held the note in his hands.

It felt like a slab of lead.

A non-aggression pact?!? We are allies! he thought. No, he corrected himself. We were allies. Now Berlin sees us as just another potential enemy to be mollified, until the hammer falls.

Until it is our turn, he mused.

“Take a dictation,” the Foreign Minister said.

To: The Grand German Empire
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

We see no reason why France’s behaviour should invalidate the great
alliance between our peoples.

We remain committed to our allies – to Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal,
Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and Sweden. An attack on any of these
states remains, in our eyes, and attack on all.

As for our relations with das Großartiges Deutches Reich, we were your
ally before we became an ally with anybody else in our current Pact, and
we will remain your ally long after all others have abandoned you.Count Berchtold sighed.

He hoped he wouldn't have to eat those words.

Posting as France

Despite the fact that he was fully recovered, president Poincare's left hand was still wrapped in bandages, trying to create a better impression among the senators. His apparition has been carefully prepared. The wave of popularity which had followed the assasination attempt was still going strong, so it was the ideal moment to announce the changes he intended to make.

"My fellow countrymen", he began his speech, "in the last years, our country's prestige has declined. We stand alone on the international stage. In moments like these, we must all stand together. In unity lies strength."

He was interrupted by cheers coming from the crowd, since the meeting of the parliament was open to the public. The upper floor of the large chamber was packed full with people gathered by the president's partisans to support him. After a few moments, Poincare continued:

"That's why I propose a radical change in our constitution, especially in the articles regarding the president and his responsabilities."

"According to our present constitution, the president is elected by the parliament. Therefore, his authority is weak. To end the political instability which gave us several dosen governements in only forty years, I propose a sistem in which the president will be elected directly by the people."

He was again interrupted - but not take by surprise - by cheers coming from the crowd. Every little detail has been carefully orchestrated. Preparing himself for the final round of applauds, Poincare continued:

"With increased authority must come increased responsabilies. What responsabilities, you may ask. For this, you have but to look across the Atlantic at the American republic, born, I'm proud to say, with the help of our ancestors. According to the American model, the president will take over the prime-minister's role and will be the chief of governement."

A new wave of applauds shook the building as Poincare stepped down from the podium. Now he had to wait and see if the vote went his way.

OOC 1: The parliament will vote in favor of the proposal.

OOC 2: I really belive the system I'm proposing makes more sense than the one they had before. I especially fail to see what's the use in having both a president and a prime-minister (although I live in such a state :) ). I think it's just a remnant from the period when we had monarchs who were nominally the heads of the state, and prime-ministers who did all the work while the monarch was having fun hunting or whatever. When republics replaced monarchies, the system with a head of state (now called a president) and a prime-minister was continued through some type of institutional inertia. I think the Americans organised things better (except for their electoral system - it's horrible).

Belvedere Palace, ViennaThe second spider would be more troublesome.

Dragutin Dimitrijević and his allies – men like Voja Tankosić – had been the real power behind the Serbian throne for a very long time. Dimitrijević has been one of the leaders of the bloody June 11th, 1903 coup that led to the brutal murder of King Aleksandar Obrenović and Queen Draga Mašin. Indeed, the then-captain had hacked at Queen Draga’s legs with a sabre to keep her from fleeing before his comrades descended upon her with hatchets and hacked her to pieces.

It was one reason why Franz Ferdinand had once called Serbia “a nation of murderers and horse-thieves”.

Major Dimitrijević had exorbitant power in Beograd because, simply put, like any good secret police chief, he knew where the bodies were buried. If anyone gave him trouble, out would come the skeletons.

Getting rid of Dimitrijević would not be easy, but the Archduke had a plan.

He looked at Leon von Bilinski ( http://www.geocities.com/veldes1/bilinski.jpg ), the Imperial Finance Minister. Among the Finance Minister’s duties was that of acting as Civil Governor of Bosnia, and in this capacity, it was he who was charged with command of the Bosnian police.

“I want you to position informants within the various Serbian revolutionary groups within Bosnia. Get as much information about their plans and especially their targets before they strike. We need to be able to catch them in the act and trace the guilt back to Beograd,” said the Archduke. “Back to Major Dimitrijević, in particular.”

“Make sure,” finished Franz Ferdinand, “That your evidence is good. False accusations will only hurt us. If we lay the blame for these attacks at Dimitrijević’s feet, then the world must be able to see that we accuse him justly. Untile we can do that, we must hold our tongues.”

Bilinski shifted uneasily. “You are looking, I take it, for causus belli?”

“No,” said the Archduke. “I intend to get what I want without firing a shot.”

Everyone check the OOC thread; I'd like to resolve the calendar issue.

May 25, 1912

King Nikola sat in a room in one of the frontier towns along the Serbo-Bulgarian border. It is a shame, albeit quite fortunate, that Peter succumbed to a moderate heart attack due to stress. It makes things much easier though, it will take him several weeks to recover as he lies in a hospital bed. As far as anyone is concerned, all legislative powers that Peter had were conferred upon to myself. I will do all the damage control I can before things get too out of hand. Nikola was reading various state documents concerning information about all known radical groups based out of Serbia, the one that caught his eye being Black Hand. Not much was known about it, except that it was growing larger and larger, advocated a Greater Serbia, and was becoming more popular as the Habsburg government maintianed its oppressive policies against the Serbo-Croat coalition in the Zagreb Parliament and Southern Slavs in Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Croatia-Slavonia. The majority of its members are Serbian junior army officers and it is led by someone under the alias Apis.

Nikola was waiting for Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pasic. While he was waiting, King Nikola decided to have a cup of Turkish coffee and read through the Serbian newspaper, Pijemont Belgade. There was an interesting interview of the Professor of Tactics at the Military Academy of Belgrade. We do not say that this war is declared yet, but we believe that it is inevitable. If Serbia wants to live in honour, she can do so only by this war. This war is determined by our obligation to our traditions and the world of culture. This war derives from the duty of our race which will not permit itself to be assimilated. This war must bring about the eternal freedom of Serbia, of the South Slavs, of the Balkan peoples. Our whole race must stand together to halt the onslaught of these aliens from the north. Interesting. A pro Greater Serbia man. I can feel trouble eminating from him. Never did trust any pro-Greater Serb people, far too radical and dangerous. All they care about is Serbia Serbia Serbia. Serbia this, Serbia that. Well Serbs aren't the only ones of the Southern Slavs. I'm a Serb and I realize that. He is advocating war. I do not like this one bit.

King Nikola then heard a polite knock on the door, it was Prime Minister Nikola Pasic. "Welcome Prime Minister! Please, take a seat. Would you like some coffee?"

"Thank you excelleny." Pasic took a seat, poured himself a cup of Turkish coffee and noticed what King Nikola was reading. "Interesting read, the Black Hand."

"Indeed. They are giving me a cause for concern. They are a radical group whose goal appears to be a Greater Serbia by means of vilolence and revolution. We are NOT ready for war with the Dual Monarchy. Nor will we be, given our difference in manpower. We stand a much better chance of achieving our goals through peace and other...methods. We need to keep a close eye on these radical groups. If they are operating within Serbia or Montenegro, it could give another nation reason to war on us should anyhting unfortunate happen to any foreign leaders."

Thank God this monarch sees that. "That is true, excellency. King Peter had opposed keeping a close eye on these groups, but I had decided that it would be necessary to befriend influencal men in the upper echelons of said groups and make them realize extremism will not achieve their goals. For Black Hand, I have in the past week found such a man. Major Voja Tankosic. He is a supporter of the main objectives of Black Hand, but fears the methods that the group is willing to use will result in a war Serbia might not win. We are making every effort to get information from him, such as who this Apis person is. We still do not know what position this Major has."

"Very good, then. Consider the Black Hand top priority. I want to be informed of everything that occurs. I don't want them to be able to so much as fart without your knowing it."

"Yes excellency, we will do what we can to befriend this Major."

What neither of them knew was that Major Voja Tankosic was one of the founding members of Black Hand. Nor did they know as of yet that with the failed assassination attempt of Franz Joseph in 1911, Black Hand turned its attention to Archduke Franz Ferdinand and was patiently awaiting an opportunity to end what they considered the biggest threat to Serbia. It did not matter if it happened next week or next year, but it would happen. Assuming of course, that their intentions could be kept secret from the unknowing Serbian government.

"I must go within the next half hour for Sofia. I thank you for meeting me here Prime Minister. you may head back to Belgrade to implement the measures we spoke about last night. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, excellency."

Der Ballplatz, ViennaTo: The Kingdom of Greece
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

In light of the sudden end of hostilities in the Balkans, it is time for
suitable security arrangements to be reached to stabilise the Balkans.

To that end, the Dual Monarchy invites Greece to become a member of
the Grand Alliance, comprised of Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Dual Monarchy,
Germany, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and Sweden. These nations are
pledged to defend each other in the event of an attack on any of their
number. We believe that Greek membership would be most welcome.

Schloß Leutstetten, BavariaWilhelm Hohenzollern lowered the papers in front of him. His hands shook with righteous fury.

He looked at Maria Theresa Henrietta Dorothea von Habsburg-Lothringen, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Modena, Queen of Bavaria.

"Murdered," he said. "Murdered."

"I do not advise," said the Queen, "That you go shouting this from the rooftops. You must not goad Herr Führer von Richthofen into action. Not just now, anyway."

"My husband," she continued, "Tested him. I did not think he would do so, but he did." Wilhelm looked at her quizzically as he continued. "When von Richtofen forswore the titles of Kaiser and König to become 'Führer', Ludwig asked him to return to you the title of King of Prussia."

Wilhelm's eyebrows flew up sharply, but the Jacobite heiress continued. "It was a test because as soon as 'der Führer' surrendered the Crown of Prussia, he was under an obligation to give it to somebody else; after all, what is a Kingdom without a King? My husband had hoped that it would be you, but Herr von Richthofen did not do this. The real surprise was that he also did nit name one of his cronies to the throne. Instead he left it empty."

She paused, and then continued. "Essentially, our 'beloved Führer' has abolished the monarchy in Prussia - in a quarter of all of Germany. In its place, he has left nothing - nothing save a de facto military dictatorship."

"It is only a matter of time before he does this everywhere. He clearly means to abolish nobility altogether, to replace it with a personal coterie loyal only to himself. A godless, Bonapartist dictatorship," she finished.

"Can he be that bold?" asked Wilhelm.

"Yes," she said. "Look at the title he offered you: 'satrap', as though he Germans were a bunch of pagan savages. A 'satrap' is an Oriental military governor, a man who rules by the sword, not by the grace of God, and one who owes his position solely to a potentate as that man's ..." she mouthed the word with obvious disgust, "... creature. Not a lesser noble sworn to a greater, through great and ancient vows of fealty. He means to finish Napoleon's work," she spat. "He is the Anti-Christ incarnate!"

"That is why you are important, my dear Crown Prince," she continued softly. "You are the rightful King of Prussia and, more importantly, the only thing keeping your native Prussia a civilised nation, governed under God's ordinance by an anointed monarch, rather than a vile police state." She looked at him carefully. "You must go into exile, and then claim your throne."

"As Kaiser and König?" he said, hopefully.

She shook her head sadly, "Only as König. That title you may claim, for von Richthofen has renounced it, and you are therefore entitled to claim it. But 'Führer' is still too much like Kaiser for you to take that title from your father's murderer. Take the one you can take without question, and we will see where things go from there."

He nodded his assent. They discussed matters further, and made arrangements for his departure.

Once he had left, she sat and felt remorse.

I wish I did not have to led him on. As King of Prussia, my husband and I will support him, in hopes of saving Germany. But as Emperor, she mused, no, we will never support him for that.

Previously...TO: Wien, KUK; Belgrado, Serbia; Bucharest, Romania; Athens, Greece
FROM: Sofia, Bulgaria

Current leaders of nation and state:

We write to you in search of aid from your respective forces, whether
political or military-based. As of late, our Blessed King, Ferdinand I,
has lost his mind and continues to babble on about a great Bulgarian
victory. As we all know this is an impossible goal and will only lead
Bulgaria to ruin.

Thus, as citizens and military officers alike, concerned with the direction
our dear nation is heading towards, we appeal to each of you to aid us
in stopping this mess from happening. Although our standing within
Bulgarian Political and Military circles is small and insignificant, we are
sure that with your support, we can overcome these challenges and
make a newer, better government that will support a peaceful Balkan
Peninsula.

We sincerly hope you consider this request.

Signed,

Col. Vicktor Kurchanev
United Bulgarian People's Socialist Workers Party
"General, due to the Bulgarians lack of a reply, it is time to force their hand. All of 2nd Army has been ready for the past 30 hours to wage war in any conditions. I would like to personally visit King Ferdinand. I would like the palace immeadiately secured for my arrival. There is one division in various parts of Sofia within one kilometre of the palace. The other 2 divisions are along the outskirts of Sofia. I would like 2nd Army as my honour guard. Immeadiately march upon the palace from all sides.To clarify just in case, 2nd Army in Sofia is not to fire a shot doing what it's gonna do. Just basically have all major streets to the palace, and the palace itself lined with Serb soldiers.OOC: Let the Serb player scream bloody murder. History is made of mistaken perceptions, especially where trust is already lacking.

Sofia, BulgariaOutside the embassy, the Ambassador saw the Serbian troops lining up to surround the Tsar’s palace.

“Send an encoded cable, priority!” he snapped.

Serbian forces have entered Sofia and are surrounding the Palace. A coup
d’état may be in progress.Der Ballplatz, Vienna“It would appear that our Serbian friends have decided to support the Communists,” said Count Berchtold’s secretary, handing the Foreign Minister the cable.

Leopold von Berchtold pondered this development. Why would they do this? he wondered. Then it dawned in him.

They know that a Communist regime will be anathema to the world. If they depose the Bulgarian Tsar and replace him with these Socialist colonels, then the world will turn a blind eye to the destruction of Bulgaria, and any nation that seeks to assist the people of Bulgaria in their struggle to survive will become a pariah.

Including us.

It was, he reflected, a truly fiendish strategy.

“Send a priority cable to Conrad at OKH,” he said.

The Bulgarian monarchy is in danger. Dispatch the two German
SS cavalry divisions over the border to serve as a personal bodyguard
for Tsar Alexander. He must be protected from arrest or assassination
at all costs; if he is arrested, the Germans are to take whatever measures
may be needed to free him from captivity and place him back on the
Bulgarian throne.

Provide the SS units with additional limbered machine guns if needed for
added firepower. They must not fail in their mission to save the Tsar.
“Now three messages – one to Berlin, one to Petrograd, and one to Washington,” he said. “All encrypted to the highest degree.”

To: The Grand German Empire
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

A Socialist threat has developed within the Kingdom of Bulgaria. With
Serbian complicity, it appears that Communists elements within the
government and military are preparing to depose the Tsar. As we speak,
the Serbs are occupying the capitol.

We have dispatched your two SS cavalry divisions over the border from
Albania with orders to protect the Tsar from harm or, should he be taken
before they can arrive, to free him from the Communists. This is a noble
mission befitting their elite status, and we feel that they will bring honour
and glory to Germany in its discharge.

In the meantime, we would like to consult with your government on how
best to deal with this issue. War is probably not a viable option, but
other measures are available.To: The Russian Empire
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

At last the Serbians have gone too far. We have information suggesting
that they are attempting to place a Socialist government in power in
Sofia. Your majesty will recall that it was, in all likelihood Socialist
elements within Russia who made the recent attempt on your life and
that of the heir to our thrones. This strongly suggests that Serbia may
have been complicit in that crime.

We need to consult with you immediately with regards to the growing
Bulgarian crisis. With Roumania assisting the Serbs and Turkey threatening
to close the Straits to Russian shipping, a new threat is emerging in the
region that must be answered with our united strength.To: The United States of America
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

In conversations with the heir to our thrones, Vice-President Rosen made
it clear that America would consider any nation that supports Socialist
revolutionaries in their effort to achieve power an enemy.

We have discovered an attempt by the Kingdom of Serbia to depose the
rightful King of Bulgaria and replace him with officers of an organisation
calling itself the “United Bulgarian People's Socialist Workers Party”.
Communism must not be allowed to gain a foothold anywhere in Europe,
particularly not in the Balkans.

We urge you to join us in concerted action. Any show of force, however
modest, will assure the world that we will not tolerate the establishment
of such regimes.OOC: Relative Liberty, these are your troops. Have at 'em.

Sorry it took so long for me to find something for them to kill.

FYI: From Skopje to Sofia is 136 miles (218km); the first 62 miles (99km), to Kriva Palanka, is in friendly territory. The last 74 miles (119km) or so is across the frontier and then on into Bulgarian territory. Assume you have some Bulgarian guides (from the VMRO). Here's a map (http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr/dyn/controller/ItiWGPerformPage?E_wg=210505246hS60524521340898375ITIWG4v10173gbr004j102x101h10111b10141107102533400 08U2tvcGpl0000100911421gf1001317101111100u110710253340007U29maWE00001300010010010072005245039.004-1.00150001001001001001001003gbr011&stat=ambiguous_iti&pim=true&dtmDeparture=02%2F09%2F2005&strDestAddress=&strDestCP=&strDestCity=Sofia&strDestCityCountry=1025340&x=24&y=17).

I'm going on vacation until 9/12/2005. See the OOC thread for my orders/instructions while I'm gone.

Just posting that if Saudi Arabia doesn't give back Mecca to the Sublime Porte, they will be PWNED completly, to the ground. More specifically, by 7 divisions of my battle-hardened expeditionary force currently in Baghdad armed with machine guns and Mauser rifles, in a nutshell, you'll get pwned if you retaliate.

You have a week to respond....

Just posting that if Saudi Arabia doesn't give back Mecca to the Sublime Porte, they will be PWNED completly, to the ground. More specifically, by 7 divisions of my battle-hardened expeditionary force currently in Baghdad armed with machine guns and Mauser rifles, in a nutshell, you'll get pwned if you retaliate.

You have a week to respond....
Maybe I missed the whole thing, but... when did you lose Mecca?

Bucharest, RoumaniaThe two men were shouting at each other.

“Why are you supporting the establishment of a Communist government in Bulgaria?” roared the k.u.k. Ambassador to Roumania.

“We’re not!” snapped the Romanian Prime Minister. “Why are you lying and saying that we are?”

“Your Serb allies are in Sofia right now, and the city is in complete rebellion!” shouted the Ambassador. “We know that you and the Serbs were both approached by these Socialist scum – just as we were. We turned them down. Obviously you did not.”

“What do you mean?” shot back the Romanian Prime Minister. “We didn’t support them either.”

“Well, your Serb allies did!” replied the k.u.k. diplomat heatedly. “Are you telling me you knew nothing about this?”

A secretary barged into the room. There was an awkward moment, as he looked at the k.u.k. Ambassador before turning to the Prime Minister. “The cable you requested,” he said. Then he turned and slipped out as fast as he could.

The Prime Minister looked at the note in his hand.

Sofia is in chaos. Serb troops have surrounded the palace.
Leftists have seized all communications and government buildings.
No sign of the Bulgarian authorities.He folded the note quietly.

“I do not appreciate being accused of supporting Communism,” Bogmih said.

“You support an ally who supports Communism,” replied the Ambassador testily.

“I can not speak for the Serbs. I can’t even tell you what they’re doing.” The Prime Minister said.

“They’ve called for the destruction of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. You know that, right?” said the k.u.k. diplomat. “Why would they do that, if they weren’t trying to help the Communists seize power? The Church is the strongest bulwark we have against the Marxists, and they're tearing it down.”

Bogmih paused. “That was their demand. I know nothing about it.”

“So does Roumania wish to let itself be used in this way?” asked the Ambassador.

“No one uses Roumania!” hissed the Prime Minister.

“Then you had best make sure you’re on the right side,” said the k.u.k. Ambassador. “If Tsar Alexander will agree to piece, you must agree to help him remain on the throne. If he doesn't, then you may fight him, but when it is over either he or his heir must be King of Bulgaria. And if that means that Roumania has to overthrow this new government to re-establish a proper monarchy, then that is what it means.” He looked at the Romanian Prime Minister for a very long time. “Moreover, there can be no thought or getting rid of the Bulgarian Exarchate, regardless of Serbia’s wishes. The Bulgarians must have a national church that performs the liturgy in Bulgarian and a national clergy that speaks Bulgarian. How are we supposed to stop atheism if the people can’t even talk to their priests in their own native tongue?”

“We will see,” said the Prime Minister of Roumania.

“We are holding you accountable, since your ultimatum is what set these events in motion,” said the Ambassador acidly. “You made this mess, you clean it up.”OOC: We’re expecting Roumania to do whatever it takes to crush the Communist uprising and preserve the monarchy. We will provide arms and ammo if you need it, although we doubt you will.

Maybe I missed the whole thing, but... when did you lose Mecca?OOC: Skibereen attacked in in 1911, and The Andromedan never responded. Remember the Saudis buying 500 Lee Enfields from Britain?

"They’ve called for the destruction of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. You know that, right?” said the k.u.k. diplomat. “Why would they do that, if they weren’t trying to help the Communists seize power? The Church is the strongest bulwark we have against the Marxists, and their tearing it down.”
This is what SL has posted:

We insist that the Bulgarian government disband the Exarchate entirely and hand over all Church and educational affairs in Macedonia to the Kingdoms of Montenegro and Serbia. This is to happen immeadiately under direct Montenegren supervision.
OOC: He's demanding the disbanding of the Exarchate, but I think he's only talking about the Bulgarian church in Macedonia (maybe he thinks the Exarchate means only the Orthodox Church outside Bulgaria). I will ensure the Bulgarians still have an Othodox Church in Bulgaria, but Macedonia is not under my authority. Anyway, since you want to create a Macedonian state, the natural outcome would be the apparition of a Macedonian church, which would make the disputes between the Serbs and Bulgarians to die out. Btw, how would you feel about an Aromanian Church in Albania, Northern Greece and Macedonia?

OOC: We’re expecting Roumania to do whatever it takes to crush the Communist uprising and preserve the monarchy. We will provide arms and ammo if you need it, although we doubt you will.
OOC: I don't like the Communists and I won't turn Bulgaria into a republic. That's all I can say for now.

OOC: He's demanding the disbanding of the Exarchate, but I think he's only talking about the Bulgarian church in Macedonia (maybe he thinks the Exarchate means only the Orthodox Church outside Bulgaria).OOC: I agree that he’s confused, but a demand is a demand, and as things stand right now he is demanding that Bulgarians everywhere be denied the right to hear and speak the liturgy in Bulgarian and instead be forced to hear and say it in Serbian. If the word had been invented, I'd be calling it genocide, and I intend to hang him by the ears for it.

The Rhodope Mountains, BulgariaThe komitadjis sat listening to the priest as he spoke with fervour.

“The Serbs want more than to destroy our language and our culture! They aim to send our children to Hell! Not only do they demand that we no longer speak the liturgy in Bulgarian, that our Holy Orthodox Church be banned, that our beloved Tsar Alexander be deposed, but now,” he cried, “Now they hand our nation over to these atheists, these Communists ...” he spat out the word, like it was dirt on his tongue. “... Who steal our land and our property, who close our churches altogether, and who proclaim that there is no God...”

Howls of outrage met the priest’s words, but as loud as they were, his voice rose higher, rolling over them.

“... Who will teach our children that there is no God, barring them forever from the Kingdom of Heaven. Yes, even Heaven itself, these damned Serbs want to annex and make part of their ‘Yugoslavia’!”

The komitadjis were shaking their guns in the air and yelling.

“The are worse than the Turks, who raped our grandmothers! Worse! For the Turks may have taken some of our children and raised them as infidels, but the Serbs would deny us all Holy Communion and Holy Unction, and send every last Bulgarian to Hell for Satan to feast on his bones!” he shouted.

“To arms, brothers! To arms! For Bulgaria! For Tsar! For Holy Orthodox Church! Drive the Serbs from our sacred soil! Kill them! Kill every last one of them! Don’t stop until we’ve reached Bosnia!”

In the deeply religious hills and mountains of southwestern Bulgaria, where monks in remote mountain monasteries had fought for centuries to preserve Bulgarian culture, language, and heritage from both Turkish conqueror and Greek clergyman, an ages old cry went out – and, across those hallowed hills … was heard.

The inevitable counter-revolution had begun. The Furor Bulgaricus had been unleashed.Skopje, Macedonia“Give them everything they need to win,” said Generalmajor Joseph Pomiankowski to his aide.

“You mean everything short of artillery,” corrected the Hauptmann.

“No, artillery too,” said Pomiankowski to the startled officer. “Pack-capable quick-firing 75’s, standard mountain issue, and enough ammunition to make a go of it. Defeat is not an option.”

Then Pomiankowski paused.

“Where are those Italian flyers?” he asked. “I want a leaflet drop.”OOC: Ah, yes. The Balkans. You’ve gotta love ‘em...

Maybe I missed the whole thing, but... when did you lose Mecca?

Yeah, it was on some thread and Narodna Odbrana told me what happened (cuz I had never seen it before, I wasn't informed) and told me if I wanted Mecca back, I had to fight for it. I took his word for it, being a Bosnian Muslim, I know how important Mecca is to all Muslim Society.

The ambassadors in Russia, France, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and the United States made their way to the Foreign Departments with the hope of speaking to a minister or a higher person. It was 9pm in Tokyo, two hours before the war would start. They all had documents in which an order was written down to ask the following questions:

1. In case of war between the Japanese Empire and China, what will the reaction of your country be?
2a (If the reaction would be negative) Would you intervene on the Chinese side against the Japanese Empire?
2b (If the reaction would be positive) And what would your reaction be if a foreign nation intervened at China's side?
3a (If 2a is answered "positively") In that case I must inform you that Japan will severe ties with your nations. I hope this affair won't take long.
3b (If 2b is answered positively) Would you give your countries support to Japan, if not via arms, men or sanctions against China or any other hostile nation via diplomatic support?
4a (Ending conversation after question 3a) Goodbye.
4b (If 3b is answered positively either way) In name of the Emperor and the Regents, I thank you. Japan will not forget this.

The ambassador in Petrograd also had a document, signed by General Fukuoka. It contained a proposal in which Russia would give active support to Japan in return they will "get" Outer Mongolia and Xinjiang. The document was to be given after the "regular" questions were answered positively. He prayed that the Russians at least wouldn't act hostile, something he thought was very possible.

OOC: I have an exam tomorrow, so I'll be very brief. France will remain neutral in the coming conflict. We will help neither side. We hope not to be involved unwillingly in this conflict.

Btw, what year is it, after all? If another war begins, we all need to know if it took place before this one or not, as the wars may have an influence on one another.

ooc. Good luck with you exam! As for the time issue, I have no idea.

IC:
"Tell your emperor that Italy has no interest in joining a war halfway across the world unless there is something in it for Italy. We would be interested in the sale of arms to either or both sides of the conflict, but that is as far as we are ready to go." Said King Victor before he rushed the ambassador from his office.
~~~
To: Italian North African Military Leaders
From: King Victor Emmanuel
I am sending you the 12 dozen Armored cars and 100 of the Machine-Guns bought from the Duel Monarchy for field testing. Use them in any conflict you can and report back to me. If they prove successful I will put them into a larger production.
~~~
To: Alpini Military Leaders
From: King Victor Emmanuel
I am sending you 1,900 of the Machine Guns ordered from the Duel Monarchy. Put them into use with the forces fortifying the Alpine borders. If they prove successful I will put them into a larger production.

Der Ballplatz, ViennaTo: The Kingdom of Greece
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

In light of the sudden end of hostilities in the Balkans, it is time for
suitable security arrangements to be reached to stabilise the Balkans.

To that end, the Dual Monarchy invites Greece to become a member of
the Grand Alliance, comprised of Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Dual Monarchy,
Germany, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and Sweden. These nations are
pledged to defend each other in the event of an attack on any of their
number. We believe that Greek membership would be most welcome.


Athens, Greece

To: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen
From: The Kingdom of Greece

Greece would be delighted to become a part of the Grand Alliance and graciously
accepts your invitation to do so.

Inform all present alliance members that they may now consider all greek ports
as homeports.

Kindest Regards,
Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece

The ambassadors in Russia, France, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and the United States made their way to the Foreign Departments with the hope of speaking to a minister or a higher person. It was 9pm in Tokyo, two hours before the war would start. They all had documents in which an order was written down to ask the following questions:

1. In case of war between the Japanese Empire and China, what will the reaction of your country be?
2a (If the reaction would be negative) Would you intervene on the Chinese side against the Japanese Empire?
2b (If the reaction would be positive) And what would your reaction be if a foreign nation intervened at China's side?
3a (If 2a is answered "positively") In that case I must inform you that Japan will severe ties with your nations. I hope this affair won't take long.
3b (If 2b is answered positively) Would you give your countries support to Japan, if not via arms, men or sanctions against China or any other hostile nation via diplomatic support?
4a (Ending conversation after question 3a) Goodbye.
4b (If 3b is answered positively either way) In name of the Emperor and the Regents, I thank you. Japan will not forget this.

The ambassador in Petrograd also had a document, signed by General Fukuoka. It contained a proposal in which Russia would give active support to Japan in return they will "get" Outer Mongolia and Xinjiang. The document was to be given after the "regular" questions were answered positively. He prayed that the Russians at least wouldn't act hostile, something he thought was very possible.Gosh, you didn't ask me. Not that you have to. You know my answers.

Japanese shipping will need to stay clear of the Mediterranean. That means that it will be a very long trip around the Cape of Good Hope.

ooc. Good luck with you exam!
Victory!!! :D

OOC: Here I've been writing a long reply and were just going to post it. ''Of course that cannot be allowed'', though the goddess of misfortune and my computer crashed. So, here's a much shorter reply.

IC:
The men of the Waffen-Shutzstaffeln units Wiking and Das Reich had set out on their mission to rescue the Bulgarian monarch. They had managed to get to Kriva Palanka on the second day, but from there on they were inside enemy territory and had to advance at a slower rate, lest they be discovered.

''The Grand German Empire view these communist usurpers with utmost hostility and we ask the Serbian government to immediately cease their hostile activities and surrender the communists to us. Failure to comply will result in grave reprecursions, something we both want to avoid.''

''Hanz, take this lettre to the Serbian embassy, and get me the Oberkommando. I fear we might soon have use of their skill.''
''Jawohl mein Führer!''
Mannfred had gotten the telegram from the K.u.K half an hour ago and had just finished writing the lettre to the Serbian embassy, asking them to cease all hostilities. He would also have to send his brother Lothar to Vienna to meet with the Kaiser und König.

In Japan, the German ambassadour had, like all the other, answered the questions and returned the paper.
1, Our reaction would be negative to say the least.
2(a), Yes.
3(a), Neither do we.

OOC: I hope Lachenburg doesn't mind I'm RP-ing the Bulgarian Communists, but I armed them, after all. I also presume the Tsar is in Sofia.

Todor Petrov whispered in the dark room:

"Okay, tonight we strike. Our comrades will rise in the other Bulgarian cities, but we have the honor of striking against the tsar. The Serbians don't care if anything happens to him; they'll be even happy if we manage to kill him. They have promissed not to intervene, under the excuse that they don't want to interfere with the internal matters of Bulgaria."

"Can we trust them?" asked a fellow with deep set eyes and a face that never seemed to smile.

"Probably. They know we don't care about religion and the Exarchate. They'd rather negociate with us than with Tsar Alexander." answered the Communist leader.

"And after the Serbians evacuate our country, we'll finally be able to strike against the Romanians. They think they can buy our loyalty by giving us weapons, but they're wrong! Those land thieves will be the first to fall after the Bulgarian Communist Republic is formed!"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The palace, for the first time in days, was no longer surrounded by Serbian troops. As the tsar looked through the window with a puzzled look on his face, a shot was heard and he fell, no longer offering a target to the assasins. The first shot had been the signal and now, from all directions came into view armed men running towards the tsar's palace, all of them shouting "freedom!" and "revolution!" and, most of them, "death to the tsar!".

OOC: The tsar may be injured or may be dead. His "health" depends on Lachenburg's wishes. If he's only injured, then Relative Liberty should be the only one who can save him, with his SS troops. The SS, however, must already be in the palace, or the tsar is dead anyway. The revolutionaries wouldn't spare him.

Actually, even if the Tsar is dead, if RL wants, he can use his SS troops to recuperate his body. This way, at least his soldiers would get a little practice.

''The Grand German Empire view these communist usurpers with utmost hostility and we ask the Serbian government to immediately cease their hostile activities and surrender the communists to us. Failure to comply will result in grave reprecursions, something we both want to avoid.''
The Serbians don't control the communists. The most they could do is to retreat from Bulgaria, but they can't give you the communists.

SIC:

Salonika, Macedonia
To: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen
From: The Kingdom of Greece

We are utterly appalled by the recent attack against the standing presence
of the Orthodox christians in Bulgaria and we cannot remain idle while this
persecution continues.

It is true that there are some differences of opinion between the Greek and
Bulgarian exarchates however, I have discussed the matter with the
archbishop of the Greek Orthodox church and we are both in agreeance that
good, honest Orthodox christians do not deserve to be denied their rights to
worship by socialists just because their church is Bulgarian rather than Greek.

As such the Thessaly army is preparing to move north into Bulgaria in an
attempt to rally the southern Bulgarian military divisions against the
communist uprising. We wish to inform you of this action as it is hoped that
the k.u.k can help us in stamping down on this danger by cutting off possible
serbian support and supply lines between Serbia and Sofia.

Greece doesn't need nor want another unstable oppressive regime in the
Balkans.

Regards,
Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece

New Dracora, your Thessaly army can, of course, enter Bulgaria. I just want to clarify which Bulgarian units you can rally against the Communists. Lachenburg ordered the 3rd, 4th and 5th armies stationed in South-Western Bulgaria to attack my armies around Varna and Ruse. You can link with the 1st and 2nd armies who had fought in Adrianople. They had been ordered to defend Sofia.

Before making more moves, I suggest we wait to see the outcome of this 'revolution'. Your intervention would be pointless if it fails. So we should wait for Lachenburg's and RL's moves.

The Serbians don't control the communists. The most they could do is to retreat from Bulgaria, but they can't give you the communists.
OOC: He could use the military forces he already have in Bulgaria to round them up and send them to me.

IC:
The men of the Waffen-SS pushed forward, although slower as they now had entered enemy territory. They were also forced to take a long detour to avoid the town of Kjustendil, the townsfolk might remeber 128 German soldiers marching through the town and report them to the local authoroties. By the end of the day they had only managed to get a quarter of the distnace from Kjustendil to Pernik.

the townsfolk might remeber 128 German soldiers marching through the town and report them to the local authoroties
You're trying to help Bulgaria, right? Then why are you afraid of the authorities?

You're trying to help Bulgaria, right? Then why are you afraid of the authorities?
OOC: With the Tsar shot, the local authorities would be the Serbs or the guerrila.

Emperor Agustin II sat on his throne contemplating the newest set of information his foreign minister was telling him. He had the frame and build of a young athlete, and being young his eyes were filled with energy. Europe was in uproar over the Balkan States. Agustin was quietly happy to be the ruler of Mexico, like the United States he was able to have the peace of mind knowing that the problems of Europe were 3,000 miles away.

“I think my Emperor that we should send observers to see over the coming conflict, as that is how I see it,” Franz Hernandez said. He’d been the Foreign Affairs Minister for Agustin’s adopted father and was quite able to know how to react to a world situation. And with how things were in the world at the moment, a sharp mind was needed.

“I care nothing for what those fools in Europe do, Mexico need not become involved.” He turned to his left where General Micheal de Aqui stood at attention. “General Aqui, I would like to know your thoughts on the situation that Minister Hernandez has brought before me.” The old soldier shifted slightly, but kept his eyes forward.

“I believe that you are correct you’re Highness, Mexico need not become involved in a European matter,” he answered in a toneless voice. He was a military man through and through, meaning that whatever came from the mouth of the Emperor was what he believed.

“Very well, thank you Minister, that will conclude matters for the moment,” Agustin said, he waved his hand in dismissal. Minister Hernandez bowed and left the wide throne room. General Aqui stayed at attention. Agustin looked at the general. “When is the Council of Dons set to convene?” he asked the General. Aqui was mostly the one who kept track of what the feudal leftovers of Mexico did.

“They are set to convene in 18 days time my Emperor,” he answered back after a moments thought.

“And my plan has progressed?”

“Yes my Emperor, the Consul has his orders, and the Guardia Imperial will be ready within 6 days.”

“Good, good. Now, please send Minister Martin in, I wish to speak with him,” Agustin said. The General saluted then marched from the room. A few moments later the Minister of Embassies was walking through the doors. Minister Martin walked forward and bowed before the throne which sat on a raised dais.

“You called for me my Emperor?” he asked in sonorous tones of voice. The man was taller than the average Mexican and had lighter skin. Martin was the son of a rich immigrant of Italy.

“Yes I did Minister. I would like you to send messages by the quickest routes to the countries America, England, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. I would like to extend a formal invitation to talk over treaties and other formalities of trade with them. I want to expand upon my industry programme,” said the young Emperor.

Minister Martin nodded. “I will your Majesty. For what date shall I have them plan to arrive?” he asked.

“Have them arrive in 19 days,” the Emperor answered with a smile.



To the United States Government

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

To His Majesty the Kaiser of Germany

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

To the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

To the French Government

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

To His Majesty the Tzar of Russia

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

To His Royal Majesty of Britain

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

To the French Government

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

From: La 3eme republique
To: The Empire of Mexico

The French governement will be represented at the meeting by the prime-minister
Aristide Briand. (http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1926/briand-bio.html) He will arrive in Mexico on November 12, abord the liner
France (http://www.greatoceanliners.net/france2.html). We hope this meeting will bring a new age of developement and
cooperation between our two nations.

Don Carlos de Montero walked in through the tall oak doors of the Peoples Palace. The tall limestone building dominated the eastern block of Mexico City, with the royal palace in the far center of the city dominated the evening sky. He straitened his black silk suit slightly as he crossed the thresh hold of the Council Room. There a large round table sat in a center of a round room, tapestries hung from the walls at intervals, each depicting heroic moments in Mexico’s history. The 22 other Dons were already assembled.

“Ah, Don Montero! You finally managed to make it!” called on of the men, he was rather large and had to have a large red sash to try and hold in his stomach. Montero nodded to him and sat in an empty seat. The raised golden chair reserved for the Emperor was empty.

“What do you think it could be that the Emperor wants, since for sure he wants something to call this meeting,” said the fat Don again.

“Most likely wishing for us to give up more of our hard earned fortunes to fund some crazy idea of his, like he did when we spent most of last years military budget on two new Dreadnought things,” said another Don.

“Yes I agree, the young Emperor seems to be rather rash,” said Don Montero. The others looked to him. Montero went on. “I was going over some Imperial documents as we as Dons are allowed; he has ordered the increase of the army by 100,000 men.” Some of the Dons frowned, others stood up, and others still shouted in outrage.

“From what right does he-?”

“I have the right as Emperor of Mexico.” All 23 of the assembled men looked to the doorway. There stood Emperor Agustin with two Imperial Guards at his shoulders, as well as General Aqui behind him. “I wish for my Empire to be strong, and in that I require a strong and modern army. That is the reason for why I ordered an increase in the army, as well as for the constructing of new more modern production factories.” Agustin walked forward, and around the table to his seat. Taking his place, the guards stood next to the wall behind the Emperor; General Aqui stood right behind his left shoulder.

Don Montero stood. “How can you when the agreement set down by your father made sure that we as the major land holders and men of wealth of Mexico could have a word in all political and military aspects of the government!?” Some of the other Don voiced their approval and some beat the table in agreement.

“I can gentlemen because I am installing a new program for the Empire of Mexico. The dawn of a new era for the Empire of Mexico,” Agustin said. The Emperor stood. “And beginning with that new era is this.” He turned to General Aqui who handed him a large scroll of paper. Agustin opened it and laid it before Montero.

Montero cautiously opened the document and read. His face turned red, then purple, then red again. “What is the meaning of this outrage!? You cannot do this!” The other Dons gathered around Montero and read the document.

“Give up all our lands!?”

“All of our money!?”

“All for the ‘advancement of the Empire of Mexico,’ that’s what you want us to give up all our possessions for?!”

The men yelled and stamped with outrage. Agustin simply smiled. “You can see clearly where you sign your name. Do so now please.” After he said please the door opened again, and several of the tapestries moved aside; several dozen armed black uniformed Imperial Guardsmen rushed in, aiming their rifles at the Dons.

“What is the meaning of this Agustin?!” yelled Don Montero.

“You will all sign this document, giving me and of course the Empire of Mexico, all your lands, wealth, and refrain from remaining within the domains of Mexico,” said Agustin.

“You mean…exile,” asked on of the Dons? Agustin nodded, “And if you do not, then there are other alternatives.” Agustin motioned toward the Guard soldiers, their rifles still aimed steady at the Dons.

One of the Dons stood up and started to shout at Agustin; without hesitation a Guardsman shot him in the chest. The Don slumped to the floor dead. That cowed the other Dons. One at a time they all walked forward and signed their names at the bottom of the contract. Montero was forced to sign the name of the dead Don.

Within the week all the people of Mexico were told how the Dons were so impressed with the Emperor and his desire to bring Mexico to greatness that they gave their lands and wealth to the Emperor so he could indeed make Mexico great. The people were of Mexico City and all of Mexico celebrated, not only the beginning of a new Mexico, but also of the down fall of the Dons.

From that day forward, Emperor Agustin II had complete control of all Mexico.


To: La 3eme republique
From: Emperor Agustin II, Emperor of all Mexico

I will indeed enjoy greeting the prime-minister and look forward to his docking. I sincerely look forward to the relations between our two countries.

To His Majesty the Tzar of Russia

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico


Russia's response:
To His Majesty the Emperor of Mexico

The Tsar sends his warmest greetings, and is happy at your offer. Russia's position in the world calls for friends-a-plenty, and so an envoy will be dispatched. The Tsar would also like to inquire into the Mexican navy, and if any large, militarily obsolete vessels are available for sale.

Regards,
Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pyotr Stolypin
Russian Empire

OOC: I will also add this, as a seperate RP.

IC:The Tsar, while weakened from the assassination attempt, had been strengthened in a way. Like any man who encounters death and lives, he had begun to think of his legacy.
The reforms Pyotr Stolypin had begun had not reached far enough. While the Russian people were free from serfdom, their lot had not improved.
The same day that the letter to Mexico left, the Tsar met with Pyotr Stolypin, in the Nicholas's chambers.
"Pyotr, you attended that rally in Kiev several days ago. What did you see?" The Tsar's voice was anything but weak, but had a hint of weariness.
"My Tsar, the people are....confused. Communists lies have spread far, and we must regain ground. The reforms I argued for several years ago need to be implemented, without the voice of the people, for now. When the Duma was allowed to vote, Socialists shot my ideas. They know that tranquility among our people will cause Socialism to flounder in Russia."
The Tsar coughed a little, and looked back at Stolypin. "So, what do you propose?"
"While not sweeping, some reforms would be significant. They would also nullify Socialist agitators, as the government would look caring again. Remember, in the 1905 Revolution the cry of the people was 'Down with the government! Long live the Tsar'. They want a change of heart, not government."
So Tsar Nicholas and Pyotr Stolypin discussed the reforms, and after several days of discussion with his State Council, decisions were reached. Afterward, he met with some of the leading noblemen of Russia. While some of the ideas appalled them, they quickly agreed when he informed them of his real plan.
The next day, the reforms were printed. The night before the release of the paper, the people all over Russia were informed that the next day would be a holiday, with no work.

In the national newspapers, the front page listed the new reforms:
A banking system for the lower class will be instituted.
The Tsar will begin distributing virgin lands in Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia to peasants who desire it.
The government will begin spreading the system of zemstva(provided local government councils) to the southwestern provinces of Russia.
Equality to be restored in the Duma, with the Duma receiving the power to make laws and bills, but allowing the Tsar the right to veto them.
changed. The State Council will now make up the executive council to the Tsar. The Duma will now have two bodies: the Assembly of Nobility(upper house) and the Assembly of Commons(lower house). The Nobility will be chosen by the nobility and landowners. The Commons will be freely elected by the common people.
Equality before the law for all, including government ministers.

But the more sweeping were what caught the eyes of the people:

I. Wages: 1. Increase in wages. 2. clarification of piece rates. 3. Overtime pay. 4. pay supplements for long-time service. 5. Extra pay for voluntary work on national or religious holidays.
II. Medical Aid: 1. medical assistance for workers families. 2. providing of medicine prescribed by private doctors.
III: An increase in sanitary and living conditions, including bath houses.
IV: Food: 1. food supplies not paid by deduction from worker's wages. 2. Food price and quality and factory food stores modified to increase fairness.
V: Conditions in Everyday life: 1. women undergoing childbirth allowed time off without forfieting job. 2. Day nurseries for worker's children.
VI: Worker's rights. 1. Abolition of body searches. 2. end to delays in wage disbursments. 3. Worker participation, with government supervision, in setting wages. 4. end to worker abuse by foremen, managers, and other supervisors.
VII: Providing for workers and families if they become disabled, infirm, conscripted, or too old to work.
VIII: Educational institutions for workers.

Back in the Winter Palace, the Tsar read the paper with his breakfast. The printing of the proposed changes had gone well, although the reaction by the people was still to be heard. He knew one thing: the communists had lost their last leg to stand on. Without a cruel government, people would be less willing to listen to them.
Nicholas did regard the tragic death of Rasputin in the night with remorse. Rasputin had slipped on a patch of ice, and met his fate with a broken neck. The Tsarina at Church, praying for the man who had helped guide the Romanovs.(If he's already dead, disregard this)
Oh well, he thought, the man was strange. I cannot help but feel it is better this way.
The news from Alexei's doctors was better. While they didn't know if he'd every be completely healthy, he was getting better.
As he turned back to his caviar, he heard a rising sound from outside. The door to his chambers was opened, and Pyotr entered.
"My lord, I am sorry for this intrusion, but you must look outside." Pyotr seemed at a loss for words.
He opened the balcony door, and stepped onto it. In front of the Winter Palace were thousands of people, and the number were growing. They were chanting,"Long Live the Tsar! God bless the Tsar!"
Many carried newspapers, and many more waved flags. Not Red flags.
"My lord, the people have read the papers. Now they know the path Russia takes. Our industry will grow, without the fears of Red intervention."
"I know, Pyotr. I only hope it works out. We have long road to follow, if we're to catch up with Britain and Germany. But now we're moving forward." Nicholas knew he felt too hopeful, something a monarch never should do.
That same day, security for all the government increased. And in the midst of the joy of the reforms, Imperial secret police rounded up hundreds of Communists and Socialists.

OOC: Maybe the new guys don't know it yet, but I control Romania. I'm RPing France only until somebody decides to take it. So...

Posting as Romania

The government will begin spreading the system of zemstva(provided local government councils) to the southwestern provinces of Russia.
To his majesty the Tsar of Russia

We see with great pleasure that the light of reason is starting to prevail in Russia. Your majesty undoubtedly knows the dire situation of our fellow Romanians who live in your province of Bessarabia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessarabia) We hereby express our hope that the newly announced system of zemstvas will also be applied in that province, as it will allow the preservation of the Romanian national consciousness and the continuation of the good relations between our two nations.

Signed,
Bogmih, prime-minister of Romania

To His Majesty the Emperor of Mexico

The Tsar sends his warmest greetings, and is happy at your offer. Russia's position in the world calls for friends-a-plenty, and so an envoy will be dispatched. The Tsar would also like to inquire into the Mexican navy, and if any large, militarily obsolete vessels are available for sale.

Regards,
Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pyotr Stolypin
Russian Empire

To His Majesty the Tzar of Russia

The Emperor is thankful that you will be sending a represenative for his summit meeting. Our navy currently is outfitted with only a few newer model of ships, other than that our navy is made largely of some old age vessels. Once our naval building program has increased the Emperor will see to it that you are informed on the selling of old vessels.

To Health,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

The ambassadors in Russia, France, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and the United States made their way to the Foreign Departments with the hope of speaking to a minister or a higher person. It was 9pm in Tokyo, two hours before the war would start. They all had documents in which an order was written down to ask the following questions:

1. In case of war between the Japanese Empire and China, what will the reaction of your country be?
2a (If the reaction would be negative) Would you intervene on the Chinese side against the Japanese Empire?
2b (If the reaction would be positive) And what would your reaction be if a foreign nation intervened at China's side?
3a (If 2a is answered "positively") In that case I must inform you that Japan will severe ties with your nations. I hope this affair won't take long.
3b (If 2b is answered positively) Would you give your countries support to Japan, if not via arms, men or sanctions against China or any other hostile nation via diplomatic support?
4a (Ending conversation after question 3a) Goodbye.
4b (If 3b is answered positively either way) In name of the Emperor and the Regents, I thank you. Japan will not forget this.

The ambassador in Petrograd also had a document, signed by General Fukuoka. It contained a proposal in which Russia would give active support to Japan in return they will "get" Outer Mongolia and Xinjiang. The document was to be given after the "regular" questions were answered positively. He prayed that the Russians at least wouldn't act hostile, something he thought was very possible.

The Russian diplomat reading the message frowned. The Japanese were fools if they thought that Europe would sit back and let them snatch pieces of China. France, Britain, and Germany were making a fortune through trade with China, and a Japanese invasion would upset that trade.
But more importantly, it would upset the balance of power in the Far East. After the dastardly Japanese surprise attack on the Russian Far East Fleet, no one trusted the Japanese.
Their Emperor must not be pulling the strings, if their government thinks they can waltz into China without the world protesting or moving to stop them. I wonder....does a military junta truly rule that nation? he thought.
Well, it didn't matter. The Tsar had sent him explicite(sp?) instructions.
He picked up a pen and another piece of paper and wrote:
Most Honorable Leader of the Japanese

Russia's aid to your nation must be rewarded with something more than land. Several years ago, in the war, Japan launched what many thought to be a cowardly assault on the Russian fleet. Japan's integrity in the eyes of the world was damaged.
But the Tsar can see past this, in Japan will help heal the scars of the war. Japan currently possesses 8 Russian Pre-Dreadnoughts, taken during the war. This memory still insults the Russian people. But if Japan were to return the vessels, and the half of Sakhalin island stolen, the Tsar would agree to, if not completely assist, at least refuse aid to the Chinese.
You must remember, the Russian people distrust Japanese, and so overt aid would cause unrest. Please consider this proposal.

Best Regards,
Ambassador Ivan Gornov

OOC: Now to a different issue:
Bogmihia, does your message refer to In-game events, or RL events. I want to know if, at this point, there are major events going on in that part of land.
I haven't read the whole RP thread.

My proposal is simply a reaction to your announcement about the zemstvas. We do have a Balkan War right now (in a separate thread), but I think it's already in the 'past' for the main thread. The time issue is a bit unclear for now.

This time difference has the potential to be quite a problem in the future, especially in the event of a large-scale European war. Boundries of countries could change due to actions in the Balkan wars and this would create a problem when invading in the main battle. Not to mention that large numbers of a countries soldiers or armaments could be lost durring the Balkan Wars and still be used in another war in the main topic that takes place 2 years later.

I think we should either move the time period of the Balkan War thread up to the main topic's timeline, or we should lower the time of the main topic down the the time of the Balkan Wars.

There is also the incredible possibilty that we might actually finish the wars and then 'jump' to the main thread period; I say incredible because, since NO left, I'm the only Balkan player still around. I don't know what are Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece or Turkey doing.

I'm not forgeting you, Voxio, but you're not directly involved. We could manage without you. Without Bulgaria or Greece, however... We're stuck. Damn!!!

OOC: I'm still out until Sunday, but I expect the Bulgarian revolution to fail swiftly, and that will be the end of the Balkan Wars. The only questions left right now are: How much of Bulgaria will Roumania end up with?


Will the new Bulgarian government be monarchist or communist?Other than that, what's left to fight over?

July, 1912Schloß Schönbrunn, ViennaThere was shocked silence in the room.

Finally, Archduke Franz Ferdinand spoke. “You are certain of these conclusions?” he asked quietly.

Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf nodded glumly. “We have checked and rechecked our calculations. These findings are ... indisputable.”

What Conrad had just presented was a report revealing a devastating fact: that while the Dual Monarchy, like most major European powers, would require just over two weeks to mobilise its army for battle, Roumania, a neighbouring nation that had already made territorial demands against the Hapsburg Empire, could mass its army in just four days.

It was true that at full strength, the Hapsburgs had over 2,500,000 men against only 850,000 Romanians. It was also true that in twelve days a fully mobilised, battle-ready army could annihilate a much larger host who, not having had time to assemble, fall into formation, gather all needed supplies, and organise themselves for war, could scarcely be called an army at all.

In 1870, the smaller Prussian Army, together with its German allies, had attacked a larger, better trained, and better equipped French Army under Louis Napoleon III. But the French, led by their Empereur were massing in the leisurely fashion of Napoleonic armies; the Prussian army, under Prussian Chief of Staff von Scharnhost, had used the speed of the Prussian Reserve System and Germany's railroads to assemble on the French frontier in a fortnight, cross the French border to the east of the gathering French army at Metz, roll back its right flank of at Nancy, and conduct a single envelopment, surrounding it and crushing it in a titanic battle at Sedan.

The French had even possessed superior arms: an infantry rifle of superior range - the Chassepot - and an early machine gun - the Mitrailleuse. It had all been for nought: the French Army had been crushed, L’Empereur captured. One great empire had been destroyed, and another created in its place.

It was a military victory for the ages, one that had done more to create the contemporary world than any other single event, and one studied in every military academy around the world, a classic victory as famous as Hannibal’s triumph at Cannae. The lesson of Sedan, of course, was not to let your enemy mobilise faster than you.

Not all nations could do this. Russia - forced by its vast size to accept a mobilisation schedule of four to six weeks - compensated by mobilising its armies well back from the frontier, trading space for time. But the Dual Monarchy could never hope to do such a thing. It had insufficient depth to accept a deep Romanian advance as if it were nothing, and worse, the security of the Hapsburg Empire was to no small extent based upon the natural strength of its frontiers, which were - contrary to the claims of its enemies - not at all capricious or arbitrary, but rather Europe's best system of strategic body armour.

Along every frontier, the Hapsburgs had a major obstacle or barrier which served as an asset in defence of the realm. The Dolomite Alps to its west, the Carpathian Alps to its north, the Transylvanian Alps to the southeast, and the broad Danube and Dinaric Alps to its south. Even the Adriatic coast was dotted with islands and inlands perfect for the operation of torpedo boats and submarines. In every direction, an attacker would find himself forced to breach or traverse a difficult obstacle, and that obstacle could therefore be used to secure the realm from attack, or even multiple simultaneous onslaughts from several different directions. While the be-all and end-all of German war planning had been the avoidance of a two-front war, Hapsburg military planning never assumed war on less than two fronts, and often expected simultaneous defence on three or four. Rather than securing itself with plans for a lightning offencive against each of its enemies in quick succession - Germany's strategy since the days of the elder von Moltke - the Hapsburgs relied on diplomacy to prevent attack by all of its neighbours at once. But even there, it had contingency plans that it could dust off and use in the event of such a nightmare scenario, plans to defend itself if attacked from every direction at once.

But a Romanian assault that broke the line of the Transylvanian Alps in a matter of days invalidated all of these plans. If a large enemy host could crack its body armour and get to its vitals - the great plains of Pannonia, the Hungarian heartland - then, possessing interior lines and occupying the realm's breadbasket, it could easily smash all of the other frontier armies, as well as any reserves the Hapsburgs might have assembled, after which - in possession of the country's food supply - it could starve the remaining Hapsburg lands into submission. And if all this happened before the k.u.k. military had a chance to mobilise...

No, a lightning Romanian attack on the Dual Monarchy, especially with Serbian and Montenegrin assistance, stood a good chance of destroying the Hapsburg Empire before it could even get its army into the field. This was the greatest threat to the realm in decades.

“Why are we only learning this now?” asked Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.

“Because it became evident only with this last mobilisation. The Romanians allotted ten days for mobilisation, but they actually accomplished the entire operation in four days. They are now drawing up new plans,” replied Conrad.

“How do you propose that we address this problem?” asked Franz Ferdinand.

“Appeasement is not possible,” the Chief of Staff replied. “Romania has demanded that we surrender half of our Hungarian lands and make Romanian the language of legal and commercial intercourse in all lands anywhere within the Dual Monarchy where Romanians live. Since there are Romanians living even here in Vienna, that demand essentially means the forcible Romanisation of the entire realm. Beyond that, movement of the Romanian frontier to the edge of the Pannonian Plain would leave us forever at Roumania's mercy. We would be their puppets, forced to do their bidding in all matters, lest they invade and conquer the rest of our country - which eventually they would do anyway, on a basis of the claim of liberating ‘Romanians’, meaning the rest of our citizens, now forced to speak their language and therefore - by the usual twisted Balkan logic - now people of their nationality. Obviously this is unacceptable.”

“Therefore, I propose that – to start - we increase the size of the standing Hungarian Army by 50%, that we build several new fortresses along the Transylvanian frontier – similar to, or even more extensive than – the ones we have begun constructing in the Sanjak,” offered Conrad.

“Where will we get the men for a larger Hungarian Army?” asked Franz Josef.

“By lengthening the term of service for the Hungarian Landwehr from two to three years,” the Chief of Staff replied.

“That will not be welcome in Budapest,” mused Franz Ferdinand. “Not only will it mean a longer period of conscription for Hungarian men, but it will also require an increase in military spending.”

Franz Josef scowled. “Beyond that, we can’t lengthen period of service for Hungarian men without lengthening it for everyone else as well.”

“Agreed,” said Franz Conrad. “But with the need to keep troops in Albania, maybe that would not be such a bad idea.”

“There’s still the money,” repeated the Archduke. “It has been hard getting either legislature to vote a regular budget for anything, let alone military spending.”

“More money will need to be raised regardless,” answered the Conrad, “Fortifications are not cheap.”

“But how long will that take?” asked Franz Josef. “Large-scale fortresses take years to build. It is not unusual for an extensive fortress zone to be require a full decade for completion. Do we have that long?”

Leopold von Berchtold, who had been quiet through the course of this discussion, now stepped in. “Our current non-aggression pact is good through 1915. I believe that the Romanians will not break that treaty. But getting them to renew it is another matter.”

“So we have three years,” said Franz Josef bitterly.

“There is another option,” said Franz Conrad. “Not one that I advise in place of the other things I have mentioned, but in addition to these measures.” And with that, he handed several copies of a fresh report to the others.

He waited for the inevitable explosion.

He did not have to wait long.

The Foreign Minister was first. “My God, man!” he cried is shock. “You can’t be serious!”

“I am,” Conrad said, with a cold ferocity in his voice, “As serious as Death itself.”

August, 1912Predil Pass, SloveniaGeneralmajor Klaus Theismann strode toward the concrete fort, a small band of staff officers in tow. Waiting for him was a somewhat nervous Oberst of artillery with a pair of his own staff officers standing next to him, presumably so that he would not have to go through the expected dressing-down all alone.

The Oberst snapped a quick salute, waited until he received an answering one from the Generalmajor, and then bowed his head slightly.

“Report,” said the Generalmajor.

“Firing commenced at 1400 hours, as ordered. We continued through the night, firing at the maximum possible rate, until about 0835,” he began. “We then ... we were then forced to cease firing and evacuate the fort.”

“What forced you to do this?” asked the Generalmajor Theismann.

“The air within the fort became unbreathable,” said the Oberst.

The Generalmajor considered this for a moment. “You realise that in the event this had been real combat and not an exercise, this would have meant the loss of your command in surrender?”

“Yes, mein Generalmajor,” said the Oberst.

At least he’s not flinching from his duty, thought Theismann. “Did you open the fort up to air out, Herr Oberst?” he asked.

“No, mein Generalmajor,” he said. “We closed it up completely. I thought you would want to judge for yourself.”

Theismann let his eyebrow rise just a trace. “Then let’s see what it’s like in there, before it gets any better, no?”

Theismann reached into his jacket and withdrew a handkerchief. His staff did the same. He noticed that one of the Oberst’s staff officers turned white and looked like he was going to faint dead. The other simply looked green.

Looking at the Generalmajor, the Oberst told his staff officers to remain where they were. Theismann nodded. He didn’t think this was an act for his benefit.

They approached the fortress doors. The Oberst opened them, and a thick vapour began pouring out. Without hesitation Theismann strode into the fort.

The air was noxious, thick with cordite. It stung the eyes and was almost impossible to breath. He heard a couple members of his staff cough. He motioned for them to leave, while doing everything he could to maintain his composure. The Oberst, too, was straining with all his might to hold himself. He took less than two minutes to poke around before waving the Oberst out ahead of him.

Outside, the Generalmajor motioned his driver over and asked the man for his canteen. He poured water on one corner of his handkerchief, dabbed his eyes with the wet cloth, and then offered the canteen to the others for the same purpose.

“How long did it take before it began to get bad?” asked Theismann.

“Almost immediately,” replied the Oberst. “We tried to improve ventilation as much as possible, but doing so just made things worse, due to the smoke rounds being fired at us as part of this exercise. We modified the ventilation further until we at least managed to reduce the progression of the problem, but we could not stop it from getting worse with each passing hour.”

“And at 0835, when you quit firing?” Generalmajor Theismann asked. “How was it then, compared to the way it is now?” It was now about 10:45 A.M., just over two hours after the fort's evacuation.

“Worse, though not too much worse,” replied the Oberst. “This is about the way it was shortly after dawn.”

The Generalmajor nodded. “I am surprised that you managed to keep going almost to mid-morning. You were right to quit the fort when you did.” After a moment, he continued, “I must speak to the engineers about the design of the fort. One more thing, though – were your men wearing their cloth masks?”

“Yes, mein Generalmajor,” said the Oberst. “They helped, but only a little.”

Riding his staff car back to headquarters, Theismann reflected on the situation. Sixteen and a half hours, he thought. OKH ia expecting these forts to hold out for several days under continous attack, and we can't even get one to keep firing for a full day!
To: Chief of Staff Graf Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf
From: Generalmajor Klaus Theismann

The need for breathing apparatus on the part of fortress troops is confirmed,
as are improvements in fortress ventilation. See the attached report...September, 1912Die Ringstraße, ViennaTo: Chief of Staff Graf Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf
From: Minister of War Alexander von Krobatin

Funding for the requested ventilation improvements, the development of
appropriate breathing gear for fortress troops, and for the purchase of
100,000 sets of this equipment along with 500,000 replacement filters
for use therewith, has been approved.OOC: Accounts of the capture of the Belgian forts surrounding Liege and Namur indicate that, with all but two or three exceptions, the forts were not taken by German assault troops or reduced by German heavy artillery, but captured because the air within them became unbreathable, partly from weapons discharge and partly from human waste (since their latrine design was faulty), forcing their surrender.

BTW, no particular importance should be attached to the fact that these tests were conducted in the Slovenia. The forts in the Tirol and Slovenia were among the Dual Monarchy's newest in 1912; the new structures ordered in the Sanjak, Albania, and in Transylvania would still exist only as blueprints at this time (and indeed, even unfinished blueprints until close to the end of the year), and could thus not be used fro a live-fire test. This leaves the fortifications along the Italian frontier as the next best place for the ventilation systems of concrete forts to be stress-tested.

The Tsar monitored the mobilization via telegrams, sparse telephone messages, and couriers.
General Samuel Sadick glanced at the large map in the Palace's new war room.
"Sir." A courier handed the General a new message, saluted, and marched off.
Sadick smiled as he read it. "My Tsar, it appears 3rd Army has finished mobilizing ahead of schedule, and their supply of new machineguns has also reached them. They are moving to the designated rally point."
"Good." the Tsar turned back to the large map of western Russia, tacked onto a wall. The map was extremely large, and very detailed. A number of junior officers placed paper markers on new locations, just as the messages came in.
This mobilization was more than a response to the communist threat. Nicholas wanted to see how fast his army could move. How long it would take to respond. What it needed. What should be changed.
Popov, his faithful clerk, waited to take what he said. He'd found that helped him keep thoughts.
"Popov, recommend to the Stavka to increase officer numbers among regiments, to increase speed an flexibility."
The clerk silently took down the remark.
Nicholas had already determined reforms for the Russian Army. The most important was an increase in road and railway contruction. Second to that was equipment. Such a large army needed a lot to run, and more weapons were needed.
His economic plans were still in the process of being carried out. The Lee-Enfield rifles purchased from the British did a good job of ensuring every Russian had a rifle, but they still needed more artillery, mortars, mines, sidearms for officers, and machine guns. Popov had already sent a message to the Arsenals to begin a redesign of the PM1910 heavy machine gun.
Additions to the trans-siberian railroad were also underway. Improvements and additional branches of tracks were going to be contructed.
The army in the Far East had mobilized faster than anticipated, due to lingering distrust of the Japanese. But with the request made to the Japanese regarding the return of Russian ships, Nicholas was sure they could leave their troubles in the past.
He wasn't concerned with China anyway....
"My lord." General Sadick said.
"Yes, General?"
"We've recieved a report from the Tula Arsenal. They report that a redesign of the PM1910 is possible, and may be less expensive to produce. But they say proper designs will still take several months, if they're to be done correctly."
"Very well. Tell them to procede. And General, I will be returning to my office. I have meeting with some gentlemen."
"Yes, sir." Sadick returned to monitoring the mobilization.
The Tsar walked back to his main office, followed by Popov. When he entered, he saw Stolypin with a group of officers.

OOC: I'll continue this in a bit.

OOC: I'm still out until Sunday, but I expect the Bulgarian revolution to fail swiftly, and that will be the end of the Balkan Wars. The only questions left right now are: How much of Bulgaria will Roumania end up with?


Will the new Bulgarian government be monarchist or communist?Other than that, what's left to fight over?
All your questions will be answered as soon as Lachenburg posts here to let us know what's happeneing in Bulgaria. I know I'm repeating myself, but damn!!!

ooc: im not in this rp but i have been reading it, and i am not sure Blackledge knows Japan, China, and Russia are "allies" even though Russia knows Japan will invade China sometime. also itsn't the curent Japanese emperor like 5 years old. thanks to the great rping of WE

ooc. Actually the Emperor is...in his teens, but he has an independant mind of a five year old :D

Message to the Russian Ambassador Ivan Gornov

Your points have a bit of a truth in them. Japan cannot return the ships to
you, and we will not give up the half of Sakhalin. We are however willing to
pay a compensation for the ships, an amount of 25 million pounds (this is
much higher than the cost of a ship, check this site:
http://www.gwpda.org/naval/wcosts.htm )
and for Sakhalin we will pay an amount of 85 million pounds. The offer of
Xinjiang and Outer Mongolia in return for your joining of the war at our side
still stands. I hope to hear a reply soon.

Gen. Fukuoka, Supreme Regent in name of Emperor-to-Be Hirohito

IC:
“What is it that you have for me that is so important?” King Victor asks a balding man in an officer’s uniform.
“Your majesty, I have been conducting tests for several weapon possibilities” he pauses for a moment, then continues “The most promising is the chemical Mustard Gas. While it isn’t highly fatal, if spread over a large area it could cause people to become sick for days.”
“Continue.”
“It would, however, be a very horrible weapon. Causing blisters, buring, horrible sickness and in some cases a slow death. It would also prevent entry into some locations for several days lest our soldiers become sick. Before we begin production wan wanted your full approval.”
“How will it be spread?”
“We have been working with the idea of outfitting our bombers with special bombs containing the gas sealed within it. When the bomb explodes the gas would be spread into the surrounding area.”
“Very well, begin production.”
“Yes sir.”

OOC: This post looks nice to me now, but just wait till morning when this medicine wears off and I’ve had some sleep.

The two Waffen-SS units could see the city of Sofia appearing over the horizon. The commander, one Unteroffizier von Recihenau, ordered his men to dismount when they reached the outskirts of the city. Horses would do them no good in the streets, and from there they proceeded by foot to save the Czar.




To His Majesty the Kaiser of Germany

Greetings from his Majesty, Emperor Agustin II, ruler of all Mexico. His Majesty has formally invited your government to attend a trade and treaties summit in Mexico City in some 19 days time on the date of November 14. His Majesty hopes that a represenative of your government may be able to attend.

Sincerely,
Minister of Embassies Martin Pomperoy
Empire of Mexico

''Der Führer will gladly send one of his representatives to meet with Your Majesty's government and discuss whatever matters you wish.''

To the President of France,
Russia would like to purchase the muzzle-brake technology of the famous French 75. As allies, we believe we must both be strong, and share our knowledge.
Regards,
Tsar Nicholas II
OOC: Because of the rash actions of the previous player, France and Russia are not allied in this RP. I would share that technology, however, in exchange for an alliance.

Todays geopolitical lesson: There is a 'Grand Alliance between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, Britain, Italy, China, Japan and a few other countries. Lately, however, the situation is not so clear anymore: Japan wants to attack China and Germany has shown signs that it wants to attack you (but you don't know about it).

As far as I know, France and Russia have no competing interests in any region of the world, so an alliance between thse two countries would be less likely to shatter. This being said...

Posting as France

From: La 3eme republique Francaise
To: L'empire de Russie

We are glad that your country has such good feelings towards our country.
As much as we would like to give you the muzzle-brake technology, we can't
sell such an important secret to a country which is not our ally. We would
certainly reconsider our position in case you accepted our offer for an
alliance.

Signed
Raymond Poincare, president du France

OOC: I'll post this on both threads.

OOC: Ok, I thought I had some ties with the Japanese and Chinese, but couldn't find them in that slew of pages.
BTW, Voxio, shouldn't you start with Phosgene or Chlorine gas? They were easier to make than mustard, so would be developed first.

IC: To France:
To the President of France,
Your offer of an alliance is accepted. In return for the field guns, we shall send you one of our Ilya Muromec heavy bombers. We are the only nation in the world to posses such planes.
With threats to both our nations, we must be vigilant togethe. I propose our alliance be of mutual defense, increased trade, and technological exchanges.
Best Regards,
Tsar Nicholas II


To Japan:
To Gen. Fukuoka, Supreme Regent in name of Emperor-to-Be Hirohito,
In the interest of prevailing peace and friendship, I would accept quickly. But I ask that you at least return two of the warships, the Poltava and the Orel. Compensation for the rest, and the island, is acceptable. But my people would consider the returning of these two ships as the wax that seals the agreement.
The ships are needed for Russia, and are important to all Russians. Although many look at your nation with hate, or distrust, that can easily be swept aside. For as we both know, warships are great symbols, and can alter the opinions of any who see them.
Do consider my request, as a friend of your Emperor.
Best Regards,
Tsar Nicholas II, Tsar of all Russias, Grand Duke of Poland,etc.(OOC: forgot the rest ;) )


The Tsar dispatched the message, and returned to the conversation with Stolypin and the other officers.
"So, Major, you have been to Palestine?"
"Yes, my Tsar, I have. I have met with Jewish Zionists, and they are eager for help. They've already established proper unloading points."
Stolypin handed the Tsar a sheet of paper. "Here are the requisitions they want."
The Tsar read through it. It was an impressive list, no doubt about it. The Jewish Zionist leader knew to ask for more than he needed, that way he'd get what he wanted.
152mm M-1886 Howitzers, M-1910 122mm Field Guns, PM1910 Hvy machineguns, rifles, grenades, pistols, etc, etc.
"They will make good use of it, sir. I'll be there to make sure." Major Sadick sounded willing enough to pilot the first ship laden with the goods.
"I have the entire Russian army to take care of, but I see your point, Major." He signed the paper and handed it back to Sadick. "Get what you need."
Sadick did smart salute the strictest Prussian would have approved of, and marched out.
"Stolypin, are the other shipments ready?" The Tsar was more concerned with this.
"Yes, my lord. 200,000 Jews have been moved, and are en route to Palestine. I was notified that most went willingly. Our officers, the Jewish ones, have been instilling them with a Zionist fervor. When they reach Palestine, they'll cause trouble." Stolypin couldn't hide his glee.
The Tsar also smiled. Fore generations, Tsars had oppressed or killed Jews. He'd found a better solution: move them into the homeland of his enemy. While the Ottomans were crushing a Jewish uprising, they couldn't harm Russia.
The only difficult part was moving the weapons and Jews in. But it was being done. Zionist fishing boats carried the cargo in from the many transport ships.
The Ottomans were going to have a surprise.

OOC: France agrees. I have to go now, but I'll post the full answer in one or two hours.

EDIT:

From: La 3eme Republique Francaise
To: L'empire de Russie

We are happy to hear that Russia has joined France in a defensive alliance.
We agree to increase the trading opportunities between our two nations and
to collaborate in the developement of new technologies, as well as sharing
the technologies developped independently. To show our good intentions, we
agree to give you the plans for the muzzle brake technology. We request,
however, that French companies should take part in the production of
weapons including this technology.

Signed,
Raymond Poincare, president du France

OOC: The Ilya Muromec bomber was produced in October 1913. Since the time issue is still unclear, I don't know wether we are before or after that date. If our alliance is signed before that date, I guess you'll give me the plane as soon as it is invented, so the date shouldn't change anything.

To Gen. Fukuoka, Supreme Regent in name of Emperor-to-Be Hirohito,
In the interest of prevailing peace and friendship, I would accept quickly. But I ask that you at least return two of the warships, the Poltava and the Orel. Compensation for the rest, and the island, is acceptable. But my people would consider the returning of these two ships as the wax that seals the agreement.
The ships are needed for Russia, and are important to all Russians. Although many look at your nation with hate, or distrust, that can easily be swept aside. For as we both know, warships are great symbols, and can alter the opinions of any who see them.
Do consider my request, as a friend of your Emperor.
Best Regards,
Tsar Nicholas II, Tsar of all Russias, Grand Duke of Poland,etc.(OOC: forgot the rest)

To; the Tsar of all Russians, Grand Duke of Poland etc.
From; Emperor to be Hirohito

After a hefty debate I convinced General Fukuoka and Admiral Yuchimoto
to return the ships to Russia. I hope this will seal the deal and strengthen our
tie. As a further gift we will give you priority and a 35% discount if you order
any ships at our naval shipyards.

I am also very pleased to hear that you have recovered fro the treacherous
assasination attempt. I know from a personal experience (ooc. the old
Emperor Mutsuhito and Crown Prince Yutsuhito had been assassinated by a
Japanese Nationalist) that assassinations can have disastrous effects on a
country. If you need any help whatsoever Japan will gladly give it.

Greetings and Well Wishes from all of Japan,

Emperor-to-Be Hirohito

ooc. So...you'll join in with the war against China?

And Sharina, I'll send you my (more detailed) plans so that you'll know what will happen.

Judah Ben Abraham sat in his offcie in Tel-Aviv. He is the Zionists govenor of the area that the Zionists controlled in Palistine. He was preparing for offenseives agaisnt the Ottomans. All ready raids were happening daily, and sometimes they were suceesful, sometimes not. They were using the few Russian mande suppiles that had reached them at that point. He poured over maps and lists of where troops were, and was writing orders. This is what was going on: 10,000 Jewish fighters were headed on a major raid of a Ottoman troops and supply depot, along with Arabs living around there. Just then a aide came in to tell him someting.
'David, what is it?"
"Sir, the Russians are sending us 200,000 Russian Jews along with arms!"
Judah stood up, and tohught. A victory over the Ottomans combinded with the Russians, and maybe even more of their Jews would be sent here. Right now the population stood at 350,000 Arabs and about 80,000 Jews. The arriving Jews would help balnce thing s out. Getting mostr of the 5 million Russians Jews here would geive us a huge majority.
In the mean time, he sent ambassadors to Ausria-Hungary, Germany, Poland, the UK, Romania and the rest of Europe (they was one in Russia) asking for arms and helping deport Jews to Palistane. Also an ambassador went to the US. All those countries had about 12.5 million Jews living in their boarders.

How will Russia send 200 000 people to Palestine? More specifically, how will they hide the men from the Turks when passing through the straits (I don't think the Turks will let them pass if they know what they transport)? Multiple passes should be needed by a fleet carrying the colonists, since a ship can't carry more than a few hundred people. If we admit a capacity of 200 people per ship, a very large fleet of 100 ships would still need 10 trips to Palestine and back for transporting 200 000 Jews.

"Yes, my lord. 200,000 Jews have been moved, and are en route to Palestine. I was notified that most went willingly. Our officers, the Jewish ones, have been instilling them with a Zionist fervor. When they reach Palestine, they'll cause trouble."OOC: Don't. I am in the process of forming an alliance with the Mufti of Jerusalem and the Sharrif of Mecca and I have warships af Haifa and a battalion of Bosnian Muslim volunteers there.

Your emigrants will not be allowed to land.

You'd better start negotiating before you begin making moves like this, Blackledge.

ooc. Never mind the logistical problems. If you wanna get more jews in you could repeat the trick they did RL in the late 1940's when Britain blocaded Palestine:

One ship at a time, a freigther or something with a few jews. Don't expect large numbers comming in, but it is at least more secret with a greater chance of succes.

OOC: Voxio, check your TG box frequently. Same for you, The Andromedan.

How will Russia send 200 000 people to Palestine? More specifically, how will they hide the men from the Turks when passing through the straits (I don't think the Turks will let them pass if they know what they transport)? Multiple passes should be needed by a fleet carrying the colonists, since a ship can't carry more than a few hundred people. If we admit a capacity of 200 people per ship, a very large fleet of 100 ships would still need 10 trips to Palestine and back for transporting 200 000 Jews.
OOC: I probably should of written clearer. I lost my original post that was more detailed, so you know.
They are being moved in small numbers. Large ships bring many Jews and arms to certain points at sea, where smaller, local boats bring the Jews and arms to Palestine. Its an effective, if somewhat slow, system.
My the way, NO, unless you plan on sinking Russian transports in international waters, or sinking boats from Palestine, I suggest you know that this is being done in Secret.
Everyone, to remind you, the transportation is being done in secret.

IC: To Japan:
Emperor to be Hirohito,
I must thank you for your act of kindness. It will be remembered. While my personal feelings toward the Japanese were bias even before the Russo-Japanese War, due to an attempt by a Japanese man to kill me, I believe the wounds between our nations are healing.
The two warships will be sent to Vladivostok, and await orders to assist your fleets.
The money you pay to compensate for the other ships and the island will also greatly assist the industry and people of Russia.
Truly a great future awaits our two nations.
While events in Europe leave me unwilling to divide my army to drive into China, once matters are settled, you have my word we will begin planning.
Best Regards,
Tsar Nicholas II

"What is so important about this gunsmith, Stolypin?" The Tsar's recent investment in the design of lighter machine guns had brought an inventor to his attention.
"Well, my Tsar, he has written plans for a very efficient light machine gun. He needs money and workers to further the design."
"Stolypin, I have many designers coming to you, with plans for trains, planes, and other vehicles. It is expensive to make so many things."
"But this prototype he is working on is guarunteed to interest you." Stolypin sounded eager.
Nicholas sighed. "Very well, Stolypin, give him enough to begin production of a prototype. What ammunition is he basing it on?"
"He suggest 6.5mm, though I can persuade him to use 7.62, Russia's common ammo type."
"Yes, I know. Once the money from Japan flows in, we can begin a reform of the army, its equipment, and everything needed to provide for them. Especially roads and railroads, and the factories that provide for those. We're finally getting what we need." The Tsar adjusted his jacket. His wounds from the assasination attempt still bothered him, though he was in no danger.
"Buy the war, Stoypin, you can have more of my golden carriages taken apart and smelted. I won't be needing them all. I'm enjoying my Rolls Royce just fine."
"Yes, my Tsar."

To Franz Josef,
Your intervention on behalf of the Albanians, and at the expense of the Serbians and people of Montenegro, is insulting to Russia. As the leading influence in the Balkans, we must now take it upon ourselves to mediate conflict in those nations.
Russia will not allow another strong, Muslim force in the Balkans. For a nation that calls itself Christian, you do other Christian nations a great disservice.
Now Russia will see to it that Albania remains small. The vilayets of Novipazar, Peja, Prishtina, Prizren, and Skopje will be folded into Serbia.
If a Russian army is required to do this depends on whether Austria ceases its activities in the Balkans, and ends its collaboration with the Ottomans, sworn enemies to all Europeans.
While I understand these words sound harsh, you must understand that Russia has not fought the Turks for so many years only to see them supplanted by another Muslim nation. Europe shall remain Christian, and ruled Christians. And the land of the Balkans is predominantly, and therefore shall be ruled by, Slavs.
If you have an offer or request to make, please do so, as I would prefer that over a war.
Best Regards,
Tsar Nicholas IIDer Ballplatz, Vienna“What, did that grenade fragment strike Nicholas in the head?!?” exclaimed Count von Berchtold.
To: The Russian Empire
From: The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and
the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen

The situation in Western Rumelia has already been peacefully resolved.
All parties have accepted mediation and have agreed not to use force
to resolve any disputes among them over the division of Balkan territory.

In accordance with the terms of the Second Hague Convention of 1907
- a convention which your majesty fought long and hard for, we might
add, and one to which your nation is a signatory - mediation of inter-
national disputes is preferred over war. For Russia to be demanding at
this hour that mediation be set aside in favor of the imposition of
Serbia's will over all other nations is not only extremely disruptive
of the progress of the nations of the Balkans towards peace but also
- if Russia is intent on backing its demands up by force - an outright
violation of international law. In such a war, Russia would be the clear
aggressor, and thus be shunned by the community of nations.

Any attack on the Dual Monarchy by Russia would also be an attack on
Germany, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Spain,
and Portugal, not to mention China, the Porte, and Albania. Neither
France, Britain, nor Japan would be likely to help you in this fight, and
given Serbia's support for Communism in Bulgaria, it is likely that even
the United States would join us in the effort to stop such aggression.

Russia would be well advised to let the current negotiations go forward
as planned and not violate international law or make itself an aggressor
by acting against the Dual Monarchy.

On that note, we urge Russia not to mobilise its forces in Poland. Such
an effort would be seen as a prelude to war.

Calm commitment to negotiation has always been the best path to peace.The following note is secret and confidential:
Our Dear Nicholas,

Have you forgotten so quickly our conversation at the Petrograd station,
just minutes before the three of us - you, my beloved wife Sophie, and I
- were wounded by unknown assassins?

You do not even know who attempted to kill you! From the information
that we have, it might well have been the very Serbs you seek to defend
- the very Serbs who are responsible for the Communist government now
sitting in Sofia! But in any event, the assassins remain at large, and
are no less eager to kill you today than they were a few weeks ago.
Would it not be best to deal with them first?

Why do you care so much for Serbia's territorial desires? We can be a
far better ally to Russia than a tiny nation of just 4 millions. The
dangers that face us are great and mutual, and yet you would throw
away our frienship for the sake of a puny ally that is bent on war with us.
Do you not realise that this forces us to ally with von Richthofen, the man
who murdered your cousin? Do family ties of blood and marriage mean so
little to you?

What of Bulgaria? Why do you care so little for the Slavs of that country,
and so much for the ill-behaved Serbs? Our actions have been aimed at
strengthening Bulgaria - a nation you sought to establish as a strong ally
in 1877, the last time you fought the Turks. Today, it seems as though
you don't care a jot about Bulgaria's future, only for the mad dream of a
Greater Serbia.

Serbia, as you must know, has made impossible demands against the Dual
Monarchy. How are we to understand these demands, except as a threat
to our existence? Serbia would rob us of our access to the sea, lay our
nation open to irredentist threats by others (such as Roumania), and
thereby virtually guarantee the destruction of our realm. You ask us to
make concessions to Serbia that will ultimately be our death. Can you
really expect us to meet those demands?

We beg you, look to your interests. Do you really want us to ally our-
selves irrevocably with your enemies? There are far, far better ways to
proceed.

Your Brother,
Franz FerdninandOOC: I guess that Blackledge can do anything he wants as Russia, but he’s acting as though none of the past RP ever happened. This completely screws those of us who have any past RP history, but I guess that’s just par for the course.

Blackledge, did you actually read any of the past RP thread? Or are you just acting as Russia would act in 1914, ignoring the fact that there are events in this history that never happened in RL, and vice versa?

OOC: I guess that Blackledge can do anything he wants as Russia, but he’s acting as though none of the past RP ever happened. This completely screws those of us who have any past RP history, but I guess that’s just par for the course.

Blackledge, did you actually read any of the past RP thread? Or are you just acting as Russia would act in 1914, ignoring the fact that there are events in this history that never happened in RL, and vice versa?

OOC:

This has been bothering me as well. Yderia was RP'ing Russia well, then this new Russia is like a 180 degree spin in the opposite direction. Yderia's Russia was interested in peace, and not an invasion of Europe or China, and had an interesting character RP developing with Tsar Nicolas.

Now everything is skewed, and the developing RP between the Tsar, Rasuptin, and Alexandra is either forgotten or screwed over. I'd like Blackledge to read everything Yderia RP'ed here as Russia, and then continue Russia on that course (at least for a few more years, then maybe by 1920, the Tsar dies and Blackledge can go his way with Russia) just for the sake of continuity.

OOC: Sadly, given that Blackledge has been wailing about having to read 40 pages of thread, I don't expect that - which means the interesting rivalry/intrigue between Germany and the Dual Monarchy is about to go right down the drain. His aggressive support for Serbia will force me to ally myself with Germany like nobody's business (especially with Germany opposing Japan's invasion of China), and then we'll have to obliterate him.

Too bad, really; the alternatives were much more interesting. :(

OOC: hmmm i see a war coming

Japan attacks China, Russia suports Japan
Germany and k.u.k attack Russia
France attacks Germany and k.u.k
Spain and Italy(?) being allies to the k.u.k attack France...

My the way, NO, unless you plan on sinking Russian transports in international waters, or sinking boats from Palestine, I suggest you know that this is being done in Secret.
Everyone, to remind you, the transportation is being done in secret.OOC: See the OOC thread for comments on Zionist emigration to Palestine.

OOC: hmmm i see a war coming

Japan attacks China, Russia suports Japan
Germany and k.u.k attack Russia
France attacks Germany and k.u.k
Spain and Italy(?) being allies to the k.u.k attack France...OOC: Yes, Vizeführer Lothar von Richthofen should bring his maps and military attachés with him when he visits Vienna...

OOC: Sadly, given that Blackledge has been wailing about having to read 40 pages of thread, I don't expect that - which means the interesting rivalry/intrigue between Germany and the Dual Monarchy is about to go right down the drain. His aggressive support for Serbia will force me to ally myself with Germany like nobody's business (especially with Germany opposing Japan's invasion of China), and then we'll have to obliterate him.

Too bad, really; the alternatives were much more interesting. :(

OOC:

This is gonna be insane.

China has excellent natural barriers to invasion- the Mongolian mountains and the Gobi Desert. This should redirect any Russian attack to Manchuria, a small area that China can focus on defending. Once Japan and Russia get bogged in Manchuria and probably the Shanghai area, this will buy Germany and k.u.k. time to steamroll over Russia's western front. This will force Russia to abandon its efforts aganist China, or risk losing Moscow. Russia withdraws from China, leaving Japan all alone.

China fights Japan to a standstill, then slowly turns the tides of war through sheer numbers, ironically like the Russians during our real life WW 2. Then China will be able to counter-invade Russia in the East.

Russia will end up fighting a 2-front war.

Now onto Europe... France will try to attack Germany and k.u.k. but then have to deal with Spain and Italy. Spain and Italy will keep France tied down, as France tries to attack Germany and k.u.k., but the amount of rivers and the Alps mountains will slow down the French onslaught somewhat.

Thus, I predict the world war 1 in this timeline will be much worse than our RL world war, because of involvement of a modernized China, as well as Russia being crushed from two directions.

See what I'm getting at?

OOC: Sharina, check your TG's.

Thus, I predict the world war 1 in this timeline will be much worse than our RL world war, because of involvement of a modernized China, as well as Russia being crushed from two directions.

See what I'm getting at?
OOC:
Wow, that'd be one big-ass war.

~~~

IC
Within a circular room King Victor Emmanuel was surrounded by the experts in several war related fields.

“My friends, it has been many years since the creation of Italy and we’ve made many great leaps in that time. However, if Italy is to become a global power like the great British or French Empires we must build up our military power. Which is why I brought you all here, you are the greatest in your fields.” The King pauses to hand out a paper to each person before him “This paper contains a list of what I will need done within the next year, we will go over these now to prevent confusion.”

I.] “First and foremost we will require a large standing force. I propose a mobilization of at least 400,000 men. These recruits will undergo a 10 Month training process at which point they will be distributed throughout our territory where they are needed most. I am turning to you, my generals, to distribute flyers to the public throughout the Italian mainland and colonies, if I do not recruit enough soldiers through this method I will impose a draft. Be sure that the flyers inform the public that those who join will be paid more than those who are drafted. 50,000 of these troops must be trained into the Alpini forces.“

II} “From the Belluomini-Luce company I would like to have 500,000 Carcano Mod. '91 rifles produced. In addition to this I would like 450,000 Lugar sidearms and 3,000 of the Schwarzlose M07/12 machine-guns produced as well as much ammo for these weapons as possible.”

III] “Mr. Capra, you have been given the rights to build aircraft of the Italian military. I want you to create a squadrons of 50 Caproni Ca.1 bombers within the next year.”

ooc. Comments in Ooc Thread.

OOC:

Here are my Navy and Airforce (still a work-in-progress)

Chinese Navy

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/2928/chinapatrolboat9lc.png

Patrol Boat: (Yangtze Class)

Displacement: 500 tons
Speed: 35kt
Complement: 40

Armament:

1. Two 3 inch guns in single.
2. Two 2 inch anti-aircraft guns in single.
3. Two 2pdr anti-aircraft guns in single.
4. Four 0.5 inch machine guns in pairs.
5. Two 21 inch torpedo tubes in single.

----------------------------------------

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2717/chinadestroyer3lp.png

Destroyer: (Xiang Class)

Displacement: 5,500 tons
Speed: 32kt
Complement: 400

Armament:

1. Eight 5 inch guns in pairs.
2. Four 4 inch anti-aircraft guns in pairs.
3. Four 2pdr anti-aircraft guns in pairs.
4. Eight 0.5 inch machine guns in fours.
5. Six 21 inch torpedo tubes in threes.

----------------------------------------

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/5876/chinacruiser1dx.png

Cruiser: (Hong class)

Displacement: 9,800 tons
Speed: 30kt
Complement: 650

Armament:

1. Eight 8 inch guns in pairs.
2. Eight 4 inch anti-aircraft guns in pairs.
3. Eight 2pdr anti-aircraft guns in pairs.
4. Eight 0.5 machine guns in pairs.
5. Sixteen 21 inch torpedo tubes.

----------------------------------------

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7769/chinaheavycruiser0ws.png

Heavy Cruiser: (Sun class)

Displacement: 16,000 tons
Speed: 28kt
Complement: 850

Armament:

1. Twelve 8 inch guns in threes.
2. Twelve 4 inch anti-aircraft guns in pairs.
3. Twelve 2pdr anti-aircraft guns in pairs
4. Twelve 0.5 machine guns in pairs.
5. Twenty 21 inch torpedo tubes.

----------------------------------------

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/7950/chinabattleship6nc.png

Battleship: (Zhuge class)

Displacement: 35,000 tons
Speed: 25kt
Complement: 1,750

Armament:

1. Eight 16 inch guns in pairs.
2. Sixteen 5 inch secondary guns in pairs.
3. Twenty 4 inch anti-aircraft guns in pairs.
4. Twenty 2pdr anti-aircraft guns in pairs.
5. Twenty 0.5 machine guns in pairs.
6. Twenty 21 inch torpedo tubes.

----------------------------------------

Chinese-Built Airship

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/9862/oldplane25ql.png

C-9 Yang

General Dimensions:

Wingspan: 52 ft
Length: 27 ft
Weight: 3,600 lbs fully loaded

Engine: 350-hp six-cylinder engine
Top Speed: 100 mph
Ceiling: 5,000 ft.

Weapons:

1. Two synchronized, forward-firing machine guns

2. One machine gun in the rear cockpit to engage rear targets

3. Light bomb racks under the fuselage and wings for bombs weighing between 10 - 50 pounds each.[/QUOTE]

-----------------------------------------
OOC:

Keep in mind I suck royally at designing military hardware and equipment, so please bear with me. These things should be available between 1916 - 1920 at least, I think.

OOC: If Greece doesn’t like these terms, New Dracora should respond OOC and I’ll rewrite this post accordingly.

December, 1912Der Ballplatz, ViennaThe clink of champagne glasses – a special unfermented “sparkling” white grape juice having been prepared for the Muslim delegates – and the buzz of pleasant conversation filled the ballroom as the three diplomatic delegations – Greek, Albanian, and Hapsburg – celebrated the conclusion of their successful negotiations over a final Greco-Albanian frontier.

To give anyone among the affected populations ample chance to move if they did not like their final national status, both sides had finally agreed to May 1st, 1913 as the date for the final establishment of the agreed-upon frontier. Each side would permit resettlement of persons within the affected territories to the nation of their choice for another year after that, and no changes would be made in such things as secondary school curricula until September, 1913. Negotiations would begin next month on the use of Albanian in northwest Greece and the use of Greek in southern Albania, and religious tolerance for all faiths within both countries would be guaranteed.

And, of course, Greece agreed to recognise the new State of Albania.

Better than two-thirds of the former Osmanli vilayet of Yanya ended up in Greek hands, as did about one-third of neighbouring Monastir. Together with the acquisition of the former vilayet of Salonika, these acquisitions more than doubled the size of the Hellenic Kingdom. Yet there were benefits for Albania as well: the formal recognition of its existence and borders by a powerful neighbour greatly increased its security.OOC: I'll supply the exact border within a week. But it's basically north of the current one. Greece did well.

February, 1913Predil Pass, Slovenia“What do you mean, it’s too cold?” snapped the officer.

“Just what I said,” replied the technician. “We can’t conduct the test under conditions like this.”

“Wars are fought at temperatures well below freezing!” barked the Oberst. “If we can’t do this when the weather is cold, then what you’ve prepared for us is worthless!”

“But in warmer weather...” began the technician.

“It needs to be able to work in any weather. If it does not, then changes must be made,” replied the Oberst icily.

And with that, the Oberst filed a report describing the test as a failure.

OOC: :eek: China going for big guns on the battleships!(at the time the British had like 14 inch guns) and lots of weapons on smaller ships! hope they are countered by low armor...

OOC: A lot of those look like WWII or higher vintage warships...its the year 1914 right? So...why does china have all these nice toys? The aircraft is fine...but the ships are questionable.

OOC: :eek: China going for big guns on the battleships!(at the time the British had like 14 inch guns) and lots of weapons on smaller ships! hope they are countered by low armor...

OOC:

China is attempting to be the first to the "Big Guns" or so to speak. China believes that if it masses enough firepower on its ships, it would be sufficient to sink any enemy warship in one or two volleys.

The Chinese Navy has decided to sacrifice some armor- they believe that if you have extreme offensive power, you can knock out the enemy before it gets a chance to do any serious damage to you. Consquently, each ship class has the armor level of the class below it.

Example:

China Battleship armor = British / USA / German Heavy Cruiser armor

China Heavy Cruiser armor = British / USA / German Cruiser armor

China Cruiser armor = British / USA / Germany Destroyer armor

And so on.

OOC: A lot of those look like WWII or higher vintage warships...its the year 1914 right? So...why does china have all these nice toys? The aircraft is fine...but the ships are questionable.

Actually, these pictures were the only ones that I could find that matches my warship layout, especially the turrets. What you see in the pictures don't necessarily mean that my ships are *exactly* like that. Its a common misconception in NS, even with MT stuff.

The year is still in dispute- the Balkan Wars is 1912 - 1913, but the world is somewhere between 1915 - 1920 (I don't know exactly- still trying to figure that one out).

I have stated that China will have these things *after* 1916 at the earliest.

OOC: Yes, Vizeführer Lothar von Richthofen should bring his maps and military attachés with him when he visits Vienna...OOC: BTW, Relative Liberty, when Lothar visits, he should bring his charming wife. If he has no charming wife, well, you should mention that...

OOC:

China is attempting to be the first to the "Big Guns" or so to speak. China believes that if it masses enough firepower on its ships, it would be sufficient to sink any enemy warship in one or two volleys.

The Chinese Navy has decided to sacrifice some armor- they believe that if you have extreme offensive power, you can knock out the enemy before it gets a chance to do any serious damage to you. Consquently, each ship class has the armor level of the class below it.

Example:

China Battleship armor = British / USA / German Heavy Cruiser armor

China Heavy Cruiser armor = British / USA / German Cruiser armor

China Cruiser armor = British / USA / Germany Destroyer armor

And so on.Your military advisors from the Dual Monarchy recommend that you reconsider. Smaller guns are faster, and if you don't have the armour to hold them back, they will sweep your decks in a heartbeat. This is exactly what Japanese ships did to their Chinese counterparts in the 1890 conflict!

Your military advisors from the Dual Monarchy recommend that you reconsider. Smaller guns are faster, and if you don't have the armour to hold them back, they will sweep your decks in a heartbeat. This is exactly what Japanese ships did to their Chinese counterparts in the 1890 conflict!

What do you recommend then?

OOC: As a courtesy to the other players, here's a link to Post #157 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9543254&postcount=157) in the Balkan Wars RP thread (the relevant section is the last, announcing the arrival of k.u.k. troops in Haifa, Palestine.

Note the date.

Lothar von Richthofen, brother of der Führer, Vizeführer of the Grand German Empire, secret chief of project Luftwaffe and secret chief of the SS, had arrived in Vienna. He had been sent to see the kaiser und könig of the Hapsburg empire, and Mannfred had just barely briefed him before he left for the train. Communist rebels in Bulgaria are trying to overthrow the Czar. They are supported by the Serbs, and the Dual Monarchy wishes to discuss a common course of action.
''Vizeführer Lothar von Richthofen is here to see you my lord.'' said the servant, opening the door and letting Lothar in on the kaiser und könig's signal.

I'm not going to be able to do this anymore....School just occupys WAY too much time to allow for this. Sorry guess, but as America is pretty isolated from the conflicts going down right now, I'm sure it wont be such a big deal to replace me with someone else for America. Again, sorry.

I'm not going to be able to do this anymore....School just occupys WAY too much time to allow for this. Sorry guess, but as America is pretty isolated from the conflicts going down right now, I'm sure it wont be such a big deal to replace me with someone else for America. Again, sorry.

But, but...Japan needs you ;)

Ahhh, no problem. I got the same issue with school occupying a lot of time.

Great Britain, see Balkan Wars Post #301 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=9627741#post9627741).

Schloß Schönbrunn, ViennaSince Vizeführer Lothar von Richthofen’s arrival was late in the day, he was taken to a state dinner immediately after greeting Franz Josef I. The Vizeführer couldn’t help but notice the old man’s cold manner, but this was more than made up for by the good cheer of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the Countess Sophie – although Lothar thought he could see a hint of sadness in Sophie’s face behind her warmth.

Well before the evening was through, the Kaiser und König excused himself, leaving Franz Ferdinand to take over. Lothar reminded himself that the Archduke was heavily involved in military matters; in truth he would have been the principal k.u.k. contact with regards to planning anyway.

Late in the evening, the Hapsburg heir invited his German counterpart upstairs for cognac and cigars. Then things began to get serious.

“Events in the Balkans may or may not be under control, depending on Russia. Our latest intelligence tells us that Roumania is moving against the Communists. Of course, once these murderers are put down, Roumania will likely want to stay. We are hearing rumours that Carol I intends to name himself King of Bulgaria, and we will oppose this. But we have a non-aggression pact with Roumania, and we will keep this pact for now,” began Franz Ferdinand.

“So you foresee no war with Roumania over the Bulgarian throne?” asked the Vizeführer.

“No,” replied the Archduke. “Digesting Bulgaria will take them quite some time. Longer, if we have anything to say about it. It is Russia that is the loose cannon now.”

“You’re thinking of Brusilov’s 3rd Army?” asked Lothar von Richthofen.

“Yes, although we are not worried about it doing actual harm once it reaches Albania. If Brusilov attacks, he will be humiliated. Pomiankowski has more than enough force in the area to repel both the Russians and the Serbs, and once we mobilise, Serbia will be eradicated.”

“So you don’t need our assistance?” asked von Richthofen. Why had he been summoned here?

“Not in the Balkans. Romanian neutrality guarantees us supremacy in the region, especially once we call upon our Greek and Italian allies. No,” Franz Ferdinand said, “I am concerned about Poland.”

Lothar was still for a minute. He knew what was coming, and his brother wouldn’t like it.

“What do you wish for us to do in Poland?” he asked.

Franz Ferdinand pulled out a map.

“Is Germany still planning on taking France out with a vicious right hook at the start of the next war?” asked the Hapsburg heir bluntly.

“Yes,” said the Vizeführer.

“Don’t,” offered the Archduke. “Italy, Spain, and possibly Portugal will join the war on our side if France attacks you, and to gain a wide enough frontage to launch an effective offencive, France must invade Belgium or even the Netherlands, which will turn England against them.” He pointed to the map. “We believe that three of Germany’s eight field armies – about nine army corps, plus five or six corps of reserves and one of Landwehr, would be enough to hold the line of the Meuse from Antwerp to Sedan. That would leave five full field armies – over fifty divisions, plus cavalry – to fall upon Poland.”

“But Russia will simply withdraw!” objected Lothar. “They will do what they did to Napoleon.”

“Then we will not make the same mistake as Napoleon,” replied the Archduke. “We will not try to win the war in a single season. We will devour Russia a bite at a time, and in doing so force them to fight - on our terms”

Lothar looked at Franz Ferdinand. He began to get the impression that the Austrians and Hungarians had been planning this for a long time.

“First, Sweden is our ally. Call upon the Swedes to invade the Baltic States. Promise them Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and an independent but pro-Swedish Finland. The Balts and Finns will assist you if you offer them their freedom – even under Swedish ‘guidance’,” said the Archduke.

“Poland is yours. Five armies – two in Prussia, one in Pomerania, one in Silesia, and one moved by rail to Galicia, operating out of our fortress of Lemberg, and supported by our two armies – should be more than enough to overwhelm the five field armies Russia can mass to defend Poland from attack,” he continued.

“For our part, we will drive the Serbs from the war, crush Brusilov’s army in the Balkans, and then transfer two more armies to Galicia for the following year’s offencive,” he finished.

“But … that means a war of more than one year,” said the Vizeführer.

“Yes, but not much more than a year,” offered the Archduke. “France attacks Belgium, delivering another army into your hands. You hold your position, while Spain and Italy divest France of her African colonies. Once the Balkans are secure, we send an army to help Italy assault the Riviera. France is now fighting on five fronts.”

“Five?” said Lothar, puzzled.

“The Meuse and the Rhine, the Alps, the Ardennes, Africa and the Mediterranean, and Indochina. Have you forgotten the Chinese and Japanese?” said Franz Ferdinand with a smile.

“I imagine that France will swiftly sue for peace – or maybe stay out altogether,” he continued. “That leaves us – meaning the Dual Monarchy, Germany, Sweden, and probably some Finns and Balts as well - fighting the Russians,” he said.

“In the second year,” he continued, “We beat the Russians to a bloody pulp. You and the Swedes take Petrograd – a terrible blow to Russian morale. We cover your flank and prepare for the third year’s fighting – an invasion of the Ukraine. We of course offer the Ukrainians their independence.”

“In addition, we offer the Turks of Central Asia their independence, too, invite China and Japan to feast on Siberia, and agitate among the Russian nobility for a coup that will elevate the Duma to a position of power over the Tsar and put the Romanovs on a leash. I don’t think we’ll have to go that far, though,” he finished.

Lothar was silent. Before he could speak, Franz Ferdinand raised a finger. “Oh, and one more thing. We blockade Russia. Nothing gets in or out. No grain exports, no imports of finished goods. I give them eighteen months to collapse.” Franz Ferdinand then sipped his cognac. “Now, if France is still in the war by then, we simply send everything West and demand their capitulation. They can not hold against so many enemies.”

“What do you think? Do you still want to try your luck in a grand battle in front of Paris, with the Russians advancing on Berlin unimpeded?” asked the Archduke.OOC: All of this is conditioned upon Russia actually starting a war in the Balkans by attacking Albania. If they don't, well, that would probably be for the best. ;)

BTW, in December 1912, Albania adopts the Gregorian calendar.

Romanian history, manual for the 8th grade

Important dates in the Second Balkan War

June 21, 1912 - Sofia is liberated

June 26, 1912 - Alexander Stambolisky is named prime-minister by the
Romanian Administration of Bulgaria, consisting of the generals of the 1st,
2nd and 3rd armies

July 9, 1912 - Plovdiv is captured from the communists; all of Bulgaria except
for the Rhodopes is pacified

July 14, 1912 - a hastily organized National Assembly proclaims
Prince Carol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_II_of_Romania) as King of Bulgaria

___________________________________

July 14, 1912
Sofia, Bulgaria

A large crowd was gathered outside the Parliament building. Some of them were agitators working for the Romanians, but the majority were honest citizens expressing their indignation. The MP's assembled inside could hear the people shouting "We don't want no Spanish king!", "Cripple stay home!" or "No tainted blood in Bulgaria!".

Amid this racket, prime-minister Stambolisky started his speech:

"My fellow Bulgarians, our country todays is faced with a difficult yet important choice - we must elect our new monarch. The internal and international situation, as well as pressures from outside limit the choices we can make to only two."

"The first possibility is the four year old Infante Don Jaime de Borbón y Battenberg, the second surviving son of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg and King Alfonso XIII of Spain. He is descended from our late tsar Alexander through his maternal line, but he was also cursed by God with double mastoiditis (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001034.htm) and he seems to have remained deaf. His family is also plagued by death and ilness: his younger brother was stillborn, while his elder brother suffers from hemophilia."

"The other possibility is Prince Carol of Romania, also a relative of Tsar Alexander, a vigourous young man of eighteen. Whom do you elect as King of Bulgaria?"

Stambolisky left the podium and the voting began. Half an hour later, Prince Carol, who had awaited the end of the vote in a different room of the Parliament buliding, was presented to the cheering crowd as the new tsar.

OOC: Prince Carol is the first born son of the future Queen Maria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Marie_of_Romania) of Romania, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and of Alexander II of Russia. Her grandmother, Alexander II's wife, was Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Alexandrovna_of_Hesse) , aunt of Tsar Alexander of Bulgaria.

Victoria's grandkids, and recognition of the line named by the Tsar. Can you beat that, Bogie, or do I win the pot?
If we follow the Spanish line - Victoria Eugénie’s heirs, as you proposed, you have Queen Victoria's great grandchildren, the eldest of whom is four years old. The eighteen years old Prince Carol of Romania, however, is the great grandson of both Queen Victoria and Tsar Alexander II of Russia. I think there's no competition between a vigourous eighteen year old descended from the royal house of Britain and Russia, and an ailing four year old descended 'only' from the royal house of Britain.

Note: Prince Carol is not the same with King Carol; Prince Carol will eventually become Romania's Carol II.

I'll post this on both threads, because it concerns the future of Bulgaria as a 'selectable' country (and also to bring a little life to the Age of Imperialism thread).

Communique to Russia, Germany, Italy, K.u.K., France and Britain

My dear frieds, a small Balkan state is now in danger. While I'm righting this
letter, Serbian and Greek armies roam and pillage the lands of my dear
country. Only the fear of the brave Romanians stop them from making
outright teritorial demands. In such a dire situation, my country needs a
powerfull monarch, a vigourous monarch, somebody able to protect her
interests.

I urge you not to let my country's destiny in the hands of Don Jaime de
Borbón y Battenberg, a sickly four year old. Prince Carol of Romania, whom we
have recently elected as tsar, is the only one who can save our country from
disaster. Please, let the words of someone deeply concerned for his country
reach your hearts.

Signed
Alexander Stambolisky, prime-minister of Bulgaria

Communique to Spain

To be delivered to Queen Victoria Eugenie

My dear cousin, after the death of Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria and the
dissapearance of his family, you have been approached by certain individuals
saying that your children are the rightfull heirs of that country. My letter is
not intended to argue these points, but to appeal to your love for your
family. Bulgaria is a very dangerous place to be these days. As the recent
events have shown, not even the tsar can be safe from attacks on his life.
Do you honestly want to send your four year old child, Jaime, into the lion's
den? How long do you think he could survive, without his beloved mother,
surrounded by strangers who don't speak his language and, even worse,
whose language he can't learn (OOC: he's deaf). Please, think about your
child's happiness before sending him to a place where he'll never feel like
home, a dangerous place that could even cost him his life.

Signed
Princess Maria of Romania

The Dual Monarchy orders General Mobilisation on July 16th, 1912. See Balkan Wars RP Post #226 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9631551&postcount=226).

OOC: Twice in one year ... This is getting old.

ooc: You know you love it. ;)

July 17th, 1912
Southern Bulgaria

To: The respected leaders of the Grand Alliance
From: The Kingdom of Greece

To my esteemed allies,

On the 15th of July 1912, our field armies in southern Bulgaria received the
following message from Tsar Carol of Romania:

"All of Bulgaria wishes to thank the brave Greek soldiers for helping us to
get rid of the communist scum. Now, however, the danger is over and the
Greek armies have no reason to stay. We request that the Greek army
retreats from Bulgaria. The withdrawl must begin one week after the
publication of this decree at the latest and must end one month after its
beginning. Ignoring our request would be considered an act of aggresion
against Bulgaria and we reserve the right to react to such an aggresion as
we see fit. The same terms are offered to the two Serbian armies still on the
outskirts of Sofia. We hope reason will triumph.

Signed
Tsar Carol of Bulgaria, today the 15th of July, 1912"

Now as you are all aware, Tsar Carol was recently given the Bulgaria crown
by a puppet government that he himself had installed. Now he wants us to
leave and take control of a nation that has full right to remain independant.

Greece has no intention of leaving. Despite what you may have heard, Greek
troops and members of the Bulgarian 1st and 2nd armies under the command
of General Vasil Kutinchev of the Bulgarian army are the only thing keeping
southern Bulgaria from falling into the hands of marxist rebels still running
rife in the area, especially in the Rhodope mountains. If we leave it will be
many weeks before Romania can turn from it's scheming long enough to put
down any chaos that will surely rise in our absence.

As such, we have sent you this message so that you may have an
understanding of what is truely developing here and to get your opinion on
the matter. It looks like the balkans are headed for war again, Greece would
appreciate any help you may give us, even if it is only your advice on the
matter.

Kind Regards,
Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece

“What do you think? Do you still want to try your luck in a grand battle in front of Paris, with the Russians advancing on Berlin unimpeded?” asked the Archduke.[/INDENT]
''I will make sure my brother is informed of this, your majesty. In the meantime however, I have been given the authority to agree on this plan of yours. Though I must ask how you are going to solve the Balkan crisis? As you know, we have two Waffen-SS divisions in the area. They could harass Roumanian supply lines and prolong the Roumanian take-over. Of course, this would give them a casus belli against us, but we could make try to convince them that our troops were merely confused and mistook the Roumanians for communists.''

“At the end of the day,” Franz Ferdinand told Lothar von Richthofen, “I believe that Roumania will back down. For now you should keep your Waffen SS troopers available for special missions on behalf of our ally, Greece.”

“The hour for diplomacy is still not yet past.”

“At the end of the day,” Franz Ferdinand told Lothar von Richthofen, “I believe that Roumania will back down. For now you should keep your Waffen SS troopers available for special missions on behalf of our ally, Greece.”

“The hour for diplomacy is still not yet past.”
''Oh, we are always open for negotiations. I just think it would be wise to assure we have the better bargaining position. I shall however, follow your advice.''

From: The Kingdom of Bulgaria
To: all the countries receiving a letter from Greece :p

Your Royal Highenesses, one month ago, the Serbs demanded in an ultimatum
that we abolish the Bulgarian Exarchate (OOC: the Bulgarian Church) and
relinquish its control to the Serbian Church. The Greek Churce's relations with
our Exarchate are also poor. They didn't even recognise it when it was
formed almost 40 years ago. The presence of their armies on our soil will
make it possible for them to enforce on us an unjust settlement. The church
is part of a people's national consciousness and without it, its survival
becomes problematic. We will not relinquish it without a fight.

Signed
Alexander Stambolisky, prime-minister of Bulgaria

Madrid, Spain Communique to Spain

To be delivered to Queen Victoria Eugenie

My dear cousin, after the death of Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria and the
dissapearance of his family, you have been approached by certain individuals
saying that your children are the rightfull heirs of that country. My letter is
not intended to argue these points, but to appeal to your love for your
family. Bulgaria is a very dangerous place to be these days. As the recent
events have shown, not even the tsar can be safe from attacks on his life.
Do you honestly want to send your four year old child, Jaime, into the lion's
den? How long do you think he could survive, without his beloved mother,
surrounded by strangers who don't speak his language and, even worse,
whose language he can't learn (OOC: he's deaf). Please, think about your
child's happiness before sending him to a place where he'll never feel like
home, a dangerous place that could even cost him his life.

Signed
Princess Maria of Romania“I’m sure that it wasn’t meant that way,” said the k.u.k. Ambassador to Spain in an offhand way, “But it almost sounds like a death threat.”

“In any event, the lad would govern Bulgaria under a Regent, who would in turn appoint a Governor. Any of the loyalist Bulgarian generals could be that Governor, and both the King and Queen of Spain could be named as Co-Regents,” he continued. “No one would need to travel to Sofia, except perhaps for show.”

“Beyond that, this is simply more Romanian propaganda,” he finished. “Any King fit for Spain would be more that fit to rule Bulgaria as well. Would Spain be willing to contribute arms and men to the enterprise of placing a Battenberg heir on the throne?”

“We have not yet heard if the British Battenbergs have passed on the crown,” replied Juan Navarro Reverter, Spanish Minister of State.

“No matter,” replied the k.u.k. Ambassador. “The British claim is as good as the Spanish one, given that none of Henry Maurice’s sons are yet married. If they all pass on without issue, then the throne belongs to Princess Ena’s children. Defend their claim, and you defend your own.”

“In any event, the lad would govern Bulgaria under a Regent, who would in turn appoint a Governor. Any of the loyalist Bulgarian generals could be that Governor, and both the King and Queen of Spain could be named as Co-Regents,” he continued. “No one would need to travel to Sofia, except perhaps for show.”
The next morning, all the newspapers had articles about the new k.u.k. plans and Stambolisky's comment:

"An absent monarch is worse than a four year old one. Bulgaria would turn into a dictatorship led by the Governor and the Parliament would come to mean nothing. Under Tsar Carol, we can be sure democracy will be respected. I ask all those who support freedom to rally behind our current monarch."

OOC: I don't know the appeal this will have abroad, but in Bulgaria, the educated classes will be positively influenced.

OOC: Backtracking a bit to pick up an earlier story...

April 25th, 1912Jaffa, Palestine
“A land without a people for a people without a land.”

- Israel ZangwillThe two cars traversed the dusty road from along the Mediterranean coast, from Haifa to Jaffa, and then turned inland toward Jerusalem. On the way, it passed a small settlement that looked different from the others. A man in the back, a civilian, tapped the driver on the shoulder and urged him to pull over.

He bade the officer in the front seat to hand him his binoculars. After a moment, he passed them around, pointing to the settlement.

“What do you notice about that village?” he asked them.

After a minute, the officer in the front seat – a Hauptmann - spoke. “They’re wearing European garb.”

“Yes, said Dr. Alois Musil, the civilian. “They’re not natives. They’re Zionists – Jewish immigrants intent on restoring the Biblical Kingdom of Israel - or, rather, a modern socialist equivalent thereof.”

“Socialist?” asked the officer, somewhat surprised.

“Yes, socialist,” answered the Czech ethnologist. “Most Zionists are Jews only in the sense of identifying themselves as Abraham’s descendants. As far as religious practice goes, many are not observant of their own faith. For them, Jewishness is a matter of nationalism, not religion.”

“The settlement isn’t very old,” replied the Hauptmann.

“No, it was founded in 1909 (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/Telaviv_founding_1909.jpg). Over the last dozen years or so, there has been an upturn in Jewish immigration to Palestine, and it is a cause for some concern among the natives.”

“You mean the Arabs?” asked the k.u.k. officer.

“Not all natives are Arabs – there are many Christians here as well,” offered Dr. Musil. “As a matter of fact, our Emperor and King – among his many titles – holds that of ‘King of Jerusalem’. In that capacity he is ultimately the political representative for Christians in Palestine. Of course, most of the Christians here are Orthodox, not Catholic. Their ecclesiastical government is that of the Greek Patriarchate, in Constantinople.”

“How many Jews are there in Palestine?” asked the Hauptmann.

“They number about 60,000,” the professor answered. “Out of a total population of around 800,000. There are 81,000 Christians, and 657,000 Muslims – at least that was what the last census showed. The Jews have probably gained in strength since then, and with the excesses of the Young Turks, the Christian population is likely somewhat smaller.”

He motioned to the driver to resume. Once on their way, the officer turned back to him. “Why did you point them out to us?”

“Because they are important. Several European nations see Jewish immigration to Palestine as a way of both eliminating what they see as the ‘problem’ of having a domestic population of Jews and a way of gaining a foothold in the region,” Dr. Musil replied.

“One of our jobs,” he continued, “Is to make sure they fail and preserve for the natives the land that is rightfully theirs.”OOC: The settlement is Tel Aviv, a Jewish “bedroom community” outside Jaffa.

July 21st, 1912Der Ballplatz, ViennaTo Acting Prime Minister Alexander Stambolisky,

Be aware of a number of things before you decide to take irrevocable
action: The Dual Monarchy does not recognise Crown Prince Carol as King of
Bulgaria.




Consequently, the Dual Monarchy does not recognise any kind of
union as existing between Roumania and Bulgaria.




Therefore, our non-aggression pact with Roumania does not prohibit
us from going to war with Bulgaria.




Greece is a member of the Grand Alliance, as is Germany.




If Greece or Germany are attacked – and this includes Greek
or German military forces in Bulgaria – then we will consider
this to be tantamount to an attack on our allies and will be
compelled by our treaty obligations to come to the assistance
of these two nations.




In the event of the foregoing, we will call upon our
other allies to send assistance to Greece and Germany in the
defence of their troops and soil, and in accordance with the
terms of the Grand Alliance, they will be compelled to assist us.Our recommendation is that Bulgaria inform its Romanian allies that it will
negotiate a settlement with its neighbours rather than taking precipitous
action against them, and recommend that they do the same.

Foreign Minister Baron Leopold Berchtold von und zu Ungarschütz, Frättling,
und Püllütz

“Not all natives are Arabs – there are many Christians here as well,” offered Dr. Musil. “As a matter of fact, our Emperor and King – among his many titles – holds that of ‘King of Jerusalem’. In that capacity he is ultimately the political representative for Christians in Palestine.
OOC: I thought Russia was the official protector of all the Christians in European Turkey and France the protector of all the Christians in the Asiatic part of Turkey.

OOC 2: I've already posted my proposal to Greece. Now I'll have to wait for their answer.

OOC: I thought Russia was the official protector of all the Christians in European Turkey and France the protector of all the Christians in the Asiatic part of Turkey.

OOC 2: I've already posted my proposal to Greece. Now I'll have to wait for their answer.Not in Palestine, I believe. It's that "King of Jerusalem" thing.

"But my Emperor, are you sure we have the resources for such an action?" asked General Aqui. The General stood before Emperor Agustin II who sat in his throne.

"Yes old friend, thanks to the 'gift' of resources and money that the late Dons 'gave' us we are able to do so. Within six months I will be adding 200,000 more troops to the standing army of Mexico."

"Sir, what of the Don's old private armies?" asked the General. He had been awaitng for the order when he would have to destroy them.

"I have already had them folded into the military. Thanks to them we now have an extra 3,000 already trained men added." The doors to the audiance room opened and another man entered. He was short by most standards, seemly just below 5 feet tall.

Agustin smiled as the small man entered. "Ah! My dear Miguel, how goes the operation I set you to Minister of Internal Affairs?" asked the emperor.

The small man smiled. "Beyond both our dreams my Emperor. Much beyond. Thanks to my extensive searching and mining operations we are six months ahead of schedual. The first shipment will arrive at the deposit within' he looked down at his watch,' seven hours."

"Good, good...that is very good. How many tonnes?" The Emperor asked. He seemed to ignore General Aqui who knew nothing of what they were speaking about.

"15 tonnes by the train your Majesty! 15! Thanks to these new railroads we are able to transport more and heavier loads. By this time next year the Santi Malo sight will be fully emptied and we will be able to move onto the Saint Domingo sight, which is twice the size of Santi Malo."

"I give you credit Miguel , our coffers will soon, if not already be overflowing," said the Emperor. Agustin seemed to notice the blank look on Aqui's face.

"Ah yes, I forgot that you do not know about this General...few do. You see, three years ago I sent Miguel out on a secret mission...to mine every single last gram of gold from Mexico he could. Already we have added some 20 tonnes in secret to my hidden deposit."

The General's eyes widened. "Sir...with that much wealth...we could..."

"Yes I know. As of right now I will be using the gold to build a dozen more arms factories accross Mexico, as well as increasing our nations currency with it as well. And what gold we have has come from but one dig sight General...and the next one we found is even bigger. I thank God that he has given Mexico such a rich reasource for it's betterment." The Emperor smiled.

"Yes...this is an important day. Within the next few years Mexico will finally be a world power. Now Minister Miguel, I wish to discuss the new ship building programme you mentioned in our Gulf ports, please tell me the details."

"Well your majesty, so far the five ports...." General Aqui dismissed himself and left the audiance chamber and left the royal palace. In the distance the three large arms factories in eastern Mexico City spewed out a black smog as the steel was melted and used in the creation of rifles, ammunition, grenades, and even now ships.

He looked over the vast city and breathed in the air while closing his eyes. "Mexico...is on the rise," he said to himself. With that he walked out of the central Imperial Palace area and went back to his barrakcs HQ.

Spain has today introduced new designs for their main Rifle and Aircraft

You will also see what Spain has in its new navy witch started construction in 1911 and has been the main concentration of the Spanish military sense then.



http://www.airmuseumsuk.org/airshow/2003/Shut030907/800/images/179%20Bristol%20F.2b%20Fighter.jpg
Avión F.1
Length: 24ft 11in
Height: 10ft
Wingspan: 35ft
Speed: 90mhp
Crew: 2
Weapons: 2 7.7mm machine guns, 50lb bombs
Ceiling: 13,000 ft
Range: 150 miles

http://www.gzg.fn.bw.schule.de/bilder/zeppelin/126-2694_IMG.JPG
Zepelín Z.1
Length: 500ft
Diameter: 60ft
Speed: 55mph
Weapons: 1000lb bombs
Crew: 3(?)

http://www.strategyplanet.com/panzergeneral/ww2/Weapons/towed_artillery/usa/pictures/75mm_pack_how_M1/75mm_pack_how_M1_001.jpg
Rápido artillería 75mm
Armament: 75mm gun
Weight: 1143kg

http://www.diggerhistory.info/images/weapons-ww1-enemy/maxim-no-cool.jpg
Rápido arma de fuego M1
Caliber: .30-06
Action: Recoil with gas boost
Length: 1125mm
Weight: 45lb (90 with tripod)
Magazine: 300-canvas belt
Rate of Fire: 400 rpm

http://one-six-one.fifthinfantrydivision.com/lewis.jpg
Ametrallar M1912
Caliber: .30-06
Action: Gas operation
Length: 1250mm
Weight: 30lb
Magazine: 50 or 100 Drum
Rate of Fire: 500 rpm

http://oldrifles.com/luger-r_70.jpg
Pistola M1912
Caliber: 9mm
Action: Single
Length: 120mm
Weight: 20oz
Magazine: 7 Semi-auto

http://images.gunsamerica.com/upload/976300798-1.jpg
Fusil M1912
Caliber: .30-06
Action: Bolt
Overall Length: 1101mm
Barrel Length: 610mm
Weight: 4kg (in lb?)
Magazine: 6 Single

http://digilander.libero.it/shinano/USA/Langley/UScv01_Langley_1937_seaplane_carrier.jpg
Madrid class Aircraft carrier
Length: 380ft
Max Speed: 12 knots
Crew: 250
Weapons: 4-7in Guns, 2-18in Torpedo Tubes, 4 aircraft

http://uboat.net/allies/warships/photos/br/hms_adventure1.jpg
Bloquedor class minelayer
Length: 300ft
Max speed: 20 knots
Crew: 150
Weapons: 2-5in guns, 180 mines

http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t628/T628975A.jpg
Provocador class Submarine
Length: 140ft
Max speed: 11 knots surfaced 6 knots submerged
Crew: 15
Weapons: 1-4in gun, 4-18in torpedo tubes

http://www.gwpda.org/photos/bin06/imag0556.jpg
Devestador class Torpedo Boat
Length: 130ft
Max speed: 27 knots
Crew: 63
Weapons: 3-18in torpedo tubes

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/images/hmsferret.jpg
Depredodor class Torpedo boat-destroyer
Length: 245ft
Max speed: 27 knots
Crew: 203
Weapons: 4-4in guns, 3-18in torpedo tubes

http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/light-cruiser/carlisle.jpg
Intrépido class cruiser
Length: 390ft
Max speed: 25 knots
Crew: 320
Weapons: 10-6in guns, 2-18in torpedo tubes

http://www.warship.get.net.pl/WBrytania/Cruisers/ACR_1906_Duke_of_Edinburgh_class/Warrior_03.jpg
Soberano class armored cruiser
Length: 490ft
Max speed: 23 knots
Crew: 719
Weapons: 6-9in guns, 4-7in guns, 3-18in torpedo tubes

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/images/hmsindomitable8.jpg
Desafiador class Battlecruiser
Length: 540ft
Max speed: 24 knots
Crew: 800
Weapons: 8-12in guns, 12-5in guns, 4-18in torpedo tubes

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/images/hmsdreadnought6.jpg
Dominador class Battleship
Length: 580ft
Max speed: 21 knots
Crew: 950
Weapons: 8-14in guns, 16-6in guns, 2-21in torpedo tubes

IC:
Prime minister Giolitti sat behind a pile of papers on a large ebony desk quickly scribbling out documents. A knock on the door to his office starteled him and he jumped to his feet, but quickly composed himself. As he opened the door Giulio Moro pushed his way through the door and quickly shook Giolliti’s hand.
“Prime Minister Giolliti, You wanted to see me? I arived as quickly as I could.”

“Ah good, Mr. Giulio, yes I needed to speak with you. The King has ordered me towrap up a few things before he ends the parliament. And one of those things involves you. King Victor Emmanuel intends to create a strong Italian Naval fleet and as our largest Naval industry, that burden will fall largely on you. You’ll need to ave the following ships built for us within 12 months.” Giolitti says as he hands him a paper that reads:


2 – Dreadnaught Class ships.
4 - S Class Submarines.
2 - Pilo Class Destroyers

“I’m not sure my factory can manage this by the end of the year.”

“Then sell the contracts off to other companies.”

“But…”

“We’re done, contact me when you have this task completed.”

~ ~ ~

Telegrams
To: The Commander of Italy’s Alpini forces
From: King Victor

I am worried of a conflict involving Italy in the near future. I want you to begin fortifying your position in the Alps bordering France. Begin digging trenches and bunkers. Each trench should have a small concrete structure to house our machine-guns and protect their uses. I’m also giving you the right to conscript up to 20,000 citizens from the Alpine regions to serve in the Alpini forces…male or female.

Begin training them to defend from an invasion.



To: The Commander of Italy’s forces in east Africa.
From: King Victor

It is time to prepare for war, begin building a system of trenches along the Abyssinian-Italian colonial border.


Monarchy returns!

Today in a surprise move King Victor Emmanuel has declared that the Parliament will no longer hold actual power in Italy. They will serve as nothing more than to advise the King.

“Since I created the Parliament it has done nothing but create a hostile enviroment between those who support the different political groups. With the threat of war on the horizon we must unify ourselves and I do not believe this can happen with the parliament in place.”

This came as a complete shock to the Italian people as King Victor Emmanuel has been a strong supporter of the Democratic system.

OOC:
I need to get better at RPing...it's been so long I've gotten rusty.