NationStates Jolt Archive


Fashoda Earth (PT open) (OOC/sign in)

Zekresh
01-03-2007, 12:02
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8628/world1898empirescolonielc5.png

Alternate Earth - the Fashoda Incident



Yes, another Earth. But not just like all the others. This one has some big differences I hope you will find interesting.

I have watched the threads for the various Earths on here and they look interesting, but I have not played any because they do not seem satisfactory to me. This is because all of them have at least one of these problems:

(1) Countries with absurd names. That just ruins it for me.
(2) No coherent history to explain how an alternate Earth became so different from the one we know. Some individual countries have a good explanation, but their histories don't mesh with the histories other nations.
(3) No objective method for determining combat outcomes and no referee to appeal to.
(4) Even with those problems solved, the alternate Earths still seem boring to me. I want something more, something strange. The best alternate Earths I've seen were redoing World War I or something like that, but to me that would get old fast. If we're going to redo history, let's see a very different history, but a plausible one.

And so I propose Alternate Earth - the Fashoda Incident. ("Fashoda Earth" for short)

For those of you who don't know about the Fashoda Incident, Fashoda was an obscure, but strategically important town in Africa that both Britain and France claimed and sent troops to occupy. The confrontation between those two small groups of soldiers at Fashoda in 1898 was an international incident that nearly caused a major war that would have massively altered the course of world history.

In real life, that war didn't ever happen. Not a single shot was fired.

Fashoda Earth is the world where shots were fired at Fashoda that day. The players will control what happens next. It is still possible they will have peace, but I doubt it.

This is an alternate reality, but except for a few details, it is indistinguishable from the Earth of our own history until the Fashoda Incident begins on September 18, 1898 at which point it will probably begin to diverge radically from our history.

In addition to actions by players, there will also be another radical diversion from real history that was inspired by some or all of the works of fiction that had recently been published in 1898 such as:


1894 - New Sherlock Holmes stories begin being published after author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle reverses a previous decision to stop writing them.

1894 - The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells is published

1895 - The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is published

1897 - Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published.

These books helped pioneer three new genres of fiction, detective stories, science fiction and horror.

The game starts on September 25, 1898, exactly one week after the Fashoda Incident begins. Europe has just received news of events in Fashoda.








Alliances and the Balance of Power



1891 - 1897 Europe was divided into two hostile alliances. But these were different alliances than the ones in effect in World War I. Essentially France and Russia were on one side and nearly all of Europe was against them. That's right, Britain was allied with Germany against France, just sixteen years before World War I. This system of alliances was already falling apart by the time the game starts, but it is important to know what it was because it shaped strategic thinking at the time and the situation in 1898 was unclear and rapidly changing.

The two alliances of 1891-1897 were:

(1) The Franco - Russian Alliance. (Includes France, Russia, Montenegro)

(2) The Triple Alliance. (The Triple Alliance was between Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy. Other powers allied with the Triple Alliance included Britain, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Sweden and Bulgaria. The Ottoman Empire was also aligned with them somewhat because it always opposes Russia.)

Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg were neutral and there were no other European countries in those days except tiny ones like Lichtenstein, Andorra and San Marino. (East Roumelia also existed in 1891 but became part of Bulgaria by 1897.) Ireland was part of Britain, Finland was part of Russia, Norway was part of Sweden, pieces of Poland were part of three other countries, etc.

In 1897, the European alliances that had held relatively firm for seven years began to unravel. Germany decided they would not support Austro-Hungary against Russia in the Balkans. Austro-Hungary made a deal with Russia and Britain decided they would not support the Turks after the Turks had committed massacres of Christian Armenians. Portugal remained allied with Britain, but the balance of power was gone and the diplomatic allegiances of the Great Powers were up for grabs again. Or, with a little effort, the previous alliances might have been put back together.

As the game begins, the Franco-Russian Alliance still exists unchanged. The Triple Alliance also still exists, but it is not clear if the members would really support each other in a war, especially not if the enemy is Russia or the Franco-Russian Alliance. Britain and Portugal have stopped supporting the Triple alliance. Britain now has no allies except Portugal. Spain has become neutral. The weak and unstable Ottoman Empire is still officially neutral, but that has recently changed from fiction to fact since the Ottoman's affinity for the Triple Alliance was due to the opposition of the Triple Alliance to Russia. Now that the Triple Alliance is unwilling to oppose Russia and Austro-Hungary has even arranged a rapproachment with Russia, the Ottomans no longer have much in common with the Triple Alliance.





Recent Events

In real life and in the game, here are a few major things that were happening just prior to the Fashoda Incident:


Here are some key recent events from earlier this year:


* February 15 - The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba which is a colony of Spain. 266 American sailors die. The US blames Spain and on April 22, declares war on Spain.

* June 12 - Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain, but this does not change the fact that Spanish colonial authorities are still in control there.

* July 7 - The United States annexes the Hawaiian Islands. The government of the islands was the "Republic of Hawaii" which was established four years ago in 1894 by Sanford Dole and other Americans in a coup-de-etat that overthrew the ancient Kingdom of Hawai'i. The Republic of Hawaii has been trying to get the US to annex Hawaii ever since. They finally succeeded.
* May 1 - US navy launches a surprise attack on Spanish naval forces at the Spanish colony of the Philippine Islands and seizes the islands.
* June 21 - US forces seize the Spanish colony of Guam
* July - US forces invade the Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico.
* August 12 - Hostilities end between American and Spanish forces in Cuba, but there is no peace treaty yet. The US and Spain are still officially at war. Both sides are considering their next move. The American public is terrified by rumors that the Spanish Navy will soon begin bombarding American coastal cities which are mostly defenseless against such an attack.

* September 2 - Battle of Omdurman - British and Egyptian troops led by Horatio Kitchener defeat Sudanese Islamists led by Khalifa Abdullah al-Taashi, thus establishing British dominance in the Sudan.
* September 10 - Luigi Lucheni assassinates Empress Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary
* September 18 - The Fashoda Incident


Some other key events this year that are not associated with any specific date:



The Dreyfuss Affair.

A huge scandal continues to make newspaper headlines as the famous French writer Emile Zola accuses the French Army of anti-semitism, injustice and lies for its treatment of a Jewish French Army officer named Alfred Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss was charged with being a spy for Germany and sentenced to life in prison. The French writer Emile Zola is then convicted of libel for complaining about it and he, too, is sent to prison.



German Naval Construction

Germany has embarked upon a new construction programme to build up their navy. If it continues, it could start a naval arms race with France, Britain, Russia or all three. But the buildup has only just begun this year and the German Navy is still weak.

The most powerful navies in the world are the British, French and Russian navies, in that order. The U.S. Navy has been built up considerably in recent years and is now one of the world's major navies for the first time in history. This has just been demonstrated in the war with Spain in which U.S. Navy forces played a crucial role in the Caribbean and the Far East.













The Fashoda Incident







Background

During the late 19th century, Africa was rapidly being occupied by European colonial powers. This period in African history is usually called the Scramble for Africa. The two great powers most involved in this scramble were the United Kingdom and France.

It came to pass that the French thrust into the African interior was mainly from West Africa (modern day Senegal) eastward, through the Sahel along the southern border of the Sahara, a territory covering modern day Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Chad. Their ultimate aim was to have an uninterrupted link between the Niger River and the Nile, hence controlling all trade to and from the Sahel region, by virtue of their existing control over the Caravan routes through the Sahara.

The British, on the other hand, wanted to link their possessions in Southern Africa (modern South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia), with their territories in East Africa (modern Kenya), and these two areas with the Nile basin. Sudan (which in those days included modern day Uganda) was obviously the key to the fulfillment of these ambitions, especially since Egypt was already under British control (though officially part of the Ottoman Empire). This 'red line' (i.e. a proposed railway, the Cape-Cairo railway) through Africa is made most famous by Englishman and South African Political force Cecil Rhodes, who wanted Africa 'painted [British] Red'.

When one draws a line from Cape Town to Cairo (Rhodes' dream), and one from Dakar to the Horn (the French ambition), these two lines intersect somewhere in eastern Sudan near Fashoda (present-day Kodok), explaining its strategic importance. In short, the United Kingdom had sought to extend its East African empire contiguously from Cairo to the Cape of Good Hope, while France had sought to extend its own holdings from Dakar to the Sudan, which would enable its empire to span the entire continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

Fashoda was also bound up in the Egyptian Question — a long running dispute between the United Kingdom and France over the legality of the British occupation of Egypt.

British and French influence in the weak and faltering Ottoman Empire was so great in the early 1880s that a revolt broke out in Egypt (the Urabi Revolt) partly motivated by opposition to the influence of Christian European nations in this Moslem country. The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was not willing to send his own Turkish troops to suppress the revolt because it would make him appear to be siding with Christian Europeans against Moslems and the Sultan's main claim to power was his claim that he was the "Caliph" or supreme religious ruler of the Moslem world.

Therefore the British proposed that British and French troops go to Egypt to suppress the revolt. The Ottoman Sultan would not prevent it, but France would not agree to send troops. British troops went in anyway and restored to power the previous Egyptian government led by the "Khedive" of Egypt whose name was Tawfik. Tawfik was nominally loyal to the Ottoman Sultan, but after being overthrown by Urabi's rebels and being restored to power by the British Army, Tawfik tended to bow to British desires. Sir Evelyn Baring, the senior British official in Egypt, became more powerful than the Egyptian Khedive.

By 1885, a revolt had broken out against Ottoman political and religious authority in the Sudan which was an Egyptian territory. Britain was then under a Liberal government led by Prime Minister Gladstone who decided the Sudanese had a right to independence if they wanted it and sent a British official named Charles Gordon to organize the evacuation of British personnel from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

The rebels were led by a man named Muhammad Ahmad who claimed to be the "Mahdi", an Islamic messiah. Charles Gordon disagreed with Gladstone and organized defenses of Khartoum instead of evacuating. Khartoum was beseiged, then overrun by 50,000 Mahdist troops and Charles Gordon was killed.

The Mahdi himself died, but his successor, Abdullah al-Taashi, continued to rule Sudan. By the end of the 1890's, as the Scramble for Africa grew more intense, both the French and the British sought to take control of Sudan from the Mahdists.

Since 1882 many French politicians, particularly those of the parti colonial, had come to regret France’s decision not to join with Britain in occupying the country. They hoped to force Britain to leave, and thought that a colonial outpost on the Upper Nile could serve as a base for French gunboats. These in turn were expected to make the British abandon Egypt. Another proposed scheme involved a massive dam, cutting off the Nile’s water supply and forcing the British out. These ideas were highly impractical, but they succeeded in frightening many British officials, who sought to protect Egypt by securing the Nile.

Despite a British warning against French intervention, a French force of 150 tirailleurs (native troops) set out from Brazzaville under Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand on May 1, 1897 with orders to secure a French protectorate in southern Sudan. Marchand led his men on an epic 14-month trek across the heart of Africa crossing over 2,000 mi (3,200 km) of almost unexplored wilderness. They arrived in Fashoda on 10 July, 1898.

Marchand's men were then attacked by Mahdists, but drove them off. Marchand stopped at Fashoda to await an expected Franco-Ethiopian expedition from the east.

Meanwhile, a joint British-Egyptian army had moved into northern Sudan under the command of Lord Kitchener who was British, but also held the rank of "Sirdar" in the Egyptian Army for legal reasons.

Lord Kitchener's force advanced on Khartoum and the nearby town of Omdurman which was the capital of the Mahdist state. On September 2, 1898, at the Battle of Omdurman, 8,200 British soldiers plus 17,600 Egyptian and Sudanese soldiers under Lord Kitchener fought about 52,000 Mahdists. Lord Kitchener's forces used artillery and a relatively new invention, the "Maxim Gun", also called the machine gun, to inflict a devastating defeat on the Mahdists. Kitchener lost only 48 dead and 434 wounded while the Mahdists lost 9,700 killed, 13,000 wounded and 5,000 captured. The Mahdist leader, Abdullah al-Taashi, was killed in the battle.

Thousands of Mahdist warriors survived the battle and retreated to continue to battle the British and Egyptian forces later, but Lord Kitchener was now in control of Omdurman and Khartoum and soon moved to take control of most of the rest of Sudan. During all this, Lord Kitchener had learned of the French presence at Fashoda. Lord Kitchener went up the White Nile River with a flotilla of gunboats carrying troops. The British troops were under the command of Colonel Horace Smith-Dorrien. Smith-Dorien had an impressive military record already in 1898, being one of only 50 British survivors of the Battle of Isandlwana against the Zulus, but he is most famous for his later role commanding the II Corps of the British Expeditionary Force in World War I.

On September 18, 1898, just over two weeks after the victory at Omdurman, Lord Kitchener confronted Major Marchand and his 150 tirailleurs (native troops) at the fort at Fashoda. Both sides were polite, but both insisted on their right to Fashoda and all of Sudan. The following day, September 19, 1898, Lord Kitchener claimed the town of Fashoda for Egypt, despite the presence of Marchand and his men.

News of the meeting was relayed to Paris and London, where it inflamed the imperial pride of both nations. Widespread popular outrage followed, each side accusing the other of naked expansionism and aggression. The crisis continued throughout September and October, and both nations began to mobilise their fleets in preparation for war.

In naval terms, the situation was heavily in the United Kingdom’s favour, a fact that French deputies were to acknowledge in the aftermath of the crisis. The French fleet was badly built and poorly organised, while the British held an advantage both in numbers and technology. The French army, however was far larger than the British army, but there was little it would have been able to do against Britain without efficient naval support

This fact was undoubtedly an important one to Theophile Delcassé, the newly appointed French foreign minister. He was keen to gain Britain’s friendship in a future conflict with Germany, and saw no advantage in a colonial war with them. He therefore pressed hard for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. At the same time, people increasingly began to question the wisdom of war for the sake of such a remote part of Africa. In France, the reopening of the Dreyfus Affair did much to distract public opinion from events in the Sudan. The French government quietly ordered its soldiers to withdraw on 3 November, 1898.

In March, 1899, France yielded its claim to the upper Nile region and accepted part of the Sahara as compensation. The French and British agreed that the source of the Nile and the Congo rivers should mark the frontier between their spheres of influence.

Some historians consider that the resolution of this incident and the increase in strength of Germany were the precursors of the Entente Cordiale. In any case, it was the last serious colonial dispute between Britain and France.






Alternate History of the Fashoda Incident




The "Fashoda Incident" is a footnote in some history books that seems out of place now. It is so contrary to the world we live in that the British actually changed the name of the town of Fashoda to "Kodok" so that it would no longer be a reminder of what almost happened.

In real life, just sixteen years after the Fashoda Incident, Britain, France and Russia were allies in a desperate war against Germany and its allies. In the 21st century, after two world wars of British-French alliance against Germany and the NATO partnership that continues and the European Union that draws Britain and France ever closer, it is hard to remember that until the mid-nineteenth century, Britain and France were bitter enemies and had been for century after century.

While it is true that they were on the same side in the Crimean War in the 1850's supporting the Ottoman Turks against the Russians, it was not clear whether that was a temporary alliance as had happened before, or whether it was really the end of centuries of hostility. By the late 1800's, France and Britain were again bitter rivals as they both took part in the "Scramble for Africa" establishing colonies and taking over large chunks of that continent.






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Real timeline of Fashoda Incident:
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1898 July 10, Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand arrives at Fashoda with 150 tirailleurs (native troops)

1898 September 2, Lord Horatio Kitchener, with 8,000 men defeats a Mahdist force of 50,000 at Omdurman, the Mahdist capital, on the outskirts of Khartoum.

1898 September 18, a powerful flotilla of British gunboats arrived at the isolated fort at Fashoda, led by Lord Kitchener and including Colonel Horace Smith-Dorrien. As the commander of the Anglo-Egyptian army that had just defeated the forces of the Mahdi at the Battle of Omdurman, Lord Kitchener was in the process of reconquering the Sudan in the name of the Egyptian Khedive. Both sides were polite but insisted on their right to Fashoda.

1898 September 19, Lord Kitchener claims Fashoda for Egypt despite the French presence there.

News of the meeting was relayed to Paris and London, where it inflamed the imperial pride of both nations. Widespread popular outrage followed, each side accusing the other of naked expansionism and aggression. The crisis continued throughout September and October, and both nations began to mobilise their fleets in preparation for war.

1898 September - October France and Britain prepare for war over Fashoda

1898 November 3, French withdraw from Fashoda
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Alternate History (factual until September 18, 1898)
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1898 July 10, Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand arrives at Fashoda with 150 tirailleurs (native troops)

1898 September 2, Lord Horatio Kitchener, with 8,000 men defeats a Mahdist force of 50,000 at Omdurman, the Mahdist capital, on the outskirts of Khartoum.

1898 September 18, a powerful flotilla of British gunboats arrived at the isolated fort at Fashoda, led by Lord Kitchener and including Colonel Horace Smith-Dorrien. As the commander of the Anglo-Egyptian army that had just defeated the forces of the Mahdi at the Battle of Omdurman, Lord Kitchener was in the process of reconquering the Sudan in the name of the Egyptian Khedive.

As the British approach the fort, African tirailleurs take aim at the British, prepared to return fire if the British fire first. Major Marchand gives them orders not to fire, but during the first tense moments, a tirailleur realizes he has a British officer in his sights. Major Marchand shouts out an order in the distance and in his excitement, the tirailleur thinks it is an order to open fire. He fires one shot and hits the British officer, who is in fact, Colonel Horace Smith-Dorrien.

Major Marchand and Lord Kitchener both order their troops to hold their fire and all do so, but Colonel Smith-Dorrien is badly wounded and soon dies. Smith-Dorrien was a personal friend of Lord Kitchener for many years from their prior service together in Egypt and Lord Kitchener is outraged. When Lord Kitchener finally speaks to Major Marchand, it is not a polite exchange at all, but an argument about the shooting of Smith-Dorrien. By the time Major Marchand suggests that both sides contact their superiors for further instructions, Lord Kitchener has already given him an ultimatum to abandon the fort within 24 hours and start marching out of the Sudan or face bombardment by the cannons of the gunboats. Major Marchand urges Lord Kitchener to reconsider, but Kitchener refuses.

1898 September 19. Lord Kitchener claims Fashoda for Egypt despite the French presence there.
Major Marchand continues to refuse to surrender his fort at Fashoda. Lord Kitchener's gunboats open fire on the fort with cannons. Major Marchand is killed in the bombardment and his surviving men surrender to the British.

News of the fight was relayed to Paris and London, where it inflamed the imperial pride of both nations. Widespread popular outrage followed, each side accusing the other of murder, naked expansionism and aggression. The crisis began to escalate as both governments demanded an apology and the territory of Fashoda. Both nations began to mobilise their fleets in preparation for war.

1898 September 25. The game starts.













The Reaction


When news of the standoff reached Britain and France, the British government demanded that the French withdraw their troops. The French public was stirred to great displays of patriotism and the mood was to hold Fashoda and not back down in the face of British intimidation. France made it clear that they would call Britain's bluff.

Upon reviewing this situation at the highest levels, the British government considered the importance of Fashoda and the consequences of a major war with France and its ally, Russia and concluded that the only reasonable course of action was... to go to war against France.

The reason why the British Empire was prepared to fight a major war over Fashoda was because British strategy in Africa had been to link British territories in South Africa with British East Africa and, ultimately, with Egypt, at the other end of the continent.

Egypt was nominally territory of the Ottoman Empire, but since 1882, British troops had occupied the country, ostensibly to help the Ottomans suppress a revolt. Since then, British control in Egypt had only increased and now Britain had just fought a war in Sudan on behalf of Egypt for the purpose of pushing British control further south to link up with British East Africa (later called Kenya). This was another step towards making the dream come true of a continuous North-South strip of British territories across the whole continent. This would allow the construction of a transcontinental railway that could bring riches from the interior and gold and other valuables from South Africa all the way up to the port of Alexandria in Egypt. The proposed railway was called the Cape to Cairo Railway.

Britain had lost many good men trying to achieve this, some of them quite recently in the fighting in Sudan. Now the French would claim the reward the British had paid for in blood? Now the chain of British territories marching across Africa would have a missing link at the little town of Fashoda? Now the British could not build their transcontinental railway without asking the French for permission to cross Fashoda? Now the trains would have to stop for French customs and pay French tariffs if the French chose to ask for them? Never. Britain would go to war instead.

This was not the Britain that had ever fought a world war at the side of France. This was not the France that had ever been liberated by British and American troops. This was the Britain and France who still struggled against each other for colonies around the world. This was the France that still celebrated Napoleon and feared and hated Britain as much or more than Germany even after the Franco-Prussian War a generation earlier. This was a Britain that despised the French and was perfectly willing to ally with Germany against France. After all, what was wrong with Germany? The German Kaiser was a close relative of the Queen of England. So was the Tsar of Russia, by the way.

The British Navy was ordered to prepare for battle. The army was to begin mustering troops. Preparations for war began. The French Navy began to put ships to sea. There was no turning back, Britain would not give in under any circumstances. But in Paris, the top leadership reconsidered. The public was all for war, but this war was really not worth it to France. The French Foreign Minister argued vehemently that the war should be avoided. But how could the government completely defy public opinion?

The first news anyone in Europe received was not of a standoff, but a battle. The gallant Major Marchand, after having endured much and risked all in an epic 14 month trek across the Dark Continent for the glory of France was shot down despite every effort to convince the British that the initial shooting was not authorized and that both sides should seek guidance from their governments before taking rash action. It did not matter then, that officials at the highest levels of the French government realized that a war against Britain was unwise. Public opinion was outraged, hysterical, bloodthirsty for revenge. Even if France had been willing to back down, Britain was equally outraged. Marchand's men had entered territory the British considered to be rightfully under their control attempted to take it and murdered a British Colonel without provocation. There were those, especially the French Foreign Minister, who attempted to find a diplomatic solution.











Rules:

(1) You play a person, not a country. You can be the leader of a country, but you must be a specific person. You may specify who your character is. If you don't, it will be assumed that your character is the current head of state, Prime Minister or whoever the top leader is in the country you chose. OTHER PLAYERS MAY PLAY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS IN YOUR SAME COUNTRY. That should make the internal politics interesting.


(2) Country names: There should eventually be ample opportunity for many new nations with new names if the colonial empires of the Great Powers fall apart as they did in real life. This gave rise to real nations with names like Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso and Myanmar. With events taking a different course, there will be wide latitude for names of former colonies. However, the same is not true of the nations that already exist at the outset of the game. You can play as a rebel or separatist and try to start a new country, but if you play an existing country, it should have the same name it had in real life unless there is a very good reason for changing it (such as the revolution that led to the creation of the Soviet Union). New names, even with a revolution or for a colony gaining independence, must be reasonable. Also, the culture of the nation can change, but not overnight. You can't just claim some territory and have the people there be whatever you want them to be. They will be the sort of people who really lived there or still live there.

(3) Do not invent any history: This game will create a coherent alternate history starting with the Fashoda Incident happening differently than in real life. There should be no discernable difference between the world of Fashoda Earth and the real Earth prior to the Fashoda Incident.

(4) The sponsor of this RP will also be the first referee who will be empowered to reject player actions or determine the outcome of combat for the purpose of maintaining realism and minimizing disputes between players. The first referee may appoint one or more other referees to assist. The referees may also determine the actions of all non-player characters.

(5) The referee of the RP will also provide some story line postings to add a very unusual twist connected with time travel and sci-fi just to make the game different and not just a strange rehash of World War One a few years ahead of its time.

(6) The map I have posted shows the borders of the world in 1898. If you are not sure which country is which, just ask. Do not attempt to claim more than one country. Of course, colonial powers rule other countries and if you play the leader of a colonial power you of course have control over all its territories.
Zekresh
01-03-2007, 20:50
The British Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, is reserved. All other positions in the British government and all other governments at this point are still open.
Zekresh
01-03-2007, 20:52
Also, the French Foreign Minister, Theophile, Delcasse, needs to be a non-player character at least at first in order to develop the storyline.
Zekresh
01-03-2007, 22:53
List of state leaders in 1898

URL of this with links to info on each leader:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_leaders_in_1898

(This is not all the leaders, of course, but it's a good start.)

Africa

* Ashanti Confederacy - Opoku Mensa, Chair of the Committee of Administration (1896-1900)
* Burundi - Mwezi IV Gisabo, King of Burundi (1852-1908)
* Liberia - William D. Coleman, President of Liberia (1896-1900)
* Zanzibar - Sayyid Hamud bin Muhammed Al-Busaid, Sultan of Zanzibar (1896-1902)

Asia

* Afghanistan - Abdur Rahman Khan, King of Afghanistan (1880-1901)
* China (Qing Dynasty)
o Emperor - Guangxu, Emperor of China (1875-1908)
o De facto ruler - Empress Dowager Cixi (1898-1908)
* Japan
o Monarch - Meiji Emperor, Emperor of Japan (1867-1912)
o Prime Minister -
1. Matsukata Masayoshi, Prime Minister of Japan (1896-1898)
2. Ito Hirobumi, Prime Minister of Japan (1898)
3. Okuma Shigenobu, Prime Minister of Japan (1898)
4. Yamagata Aritomo, Prime Minister of Japan (1898-1900)
* Korea (Korean Empire) - Gojong, Emperor of Korea (1864-1907, King before 1897)
* Oman - Faisal bin Turki, Sultan of Oman (1888-1913)

Australia and Oceania

* New Zealand
o Monarch - Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837-1901)
o Governor-General - The Earl of Ranfurly, Governor-General of New Zealand (1897 - 1904)
o Prime Minister - Richard Seddon, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1893 - 1906)
* Tonga
o Monarch - George Tupou II, King of Tonga (1893 - 1918)
o Prime Minister - Siosateki Veikune, Prime Minister of Tonga, (1893 - 1904)

Europe

* Austria-Hungary - Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (1848-1916)
o Minister-President of Austria -
1. Baron Paul Gautsch von Frankenthurn, Minister-President of Austria (1897-1898)
2. Count Franz von Thun und Hohenstein, Minister-President of Austria (1898-1899)
o Minister-President of Hungary - Baron Dezso" Bánffy, Minister-President of Hungary (1895-1899)
o Bohemia - Franz Joseph I, King of Bohemia (1848-1916)
* Belgium
o Monarch - Léopold II, King of the Belgians (1865-1909)
o Cabinet Chief - Paul de Smet de Naeyer, Cabinet Chief of Belgium (1896-1899, 1899-1907)
* Bulgaria
o Monarch - Ferdinand of Bulgaria, King of Bulgaria (1886-1918)
o Prime Minister - Konstantin Stoilov (1894-1899)
* Denmark
o Monarch - Christian IX, King of Denmark (1863-1906)
o Prime Minister - Hugo Egmont Hørring, Prime Minister of Denmark (1897-1900)
* France -
o President - Félix Faure, President of France (1895-1899)
o Prime Minister -
1. Jules Méline, President of the Council (1896-1898)
2. Henri Brisson, President of the Council (1898)
3. Charles Dupuy, President of the Council (1898-1899)
* German Empire -
o Monarch - Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1888-1918)
o Chancellor - Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Chancellor of Germany (1894-1900)
o Prussia -
+ Monarch - Wilhelm II, King of Prussia (1888-1918)
+ Prime Minister - Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Minister-President of Prussia (1894-1900)
o Bavaria - Otto, King of Bavaria (1886-1913)
o Saxony - Albert, King of Saxony (1873-1902)
o Württemberg - William II, King of Württemberg (1891-1918)
* Italy
o Monarch - Umberto I, King of Italy (1878-1900)
o Prime Minister -
1. Marchese di Rudinì, Prime Minister of Italy (1896-1898)
2. Luigi Pelloux, Prime Minister of Italy (1898-1900)
* Luxembourg
o Monarch - Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1890-1905)
o Prime Minister - Paul Eyschen, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (1888-1915)
* Moresnet
o Monarchs -
+ Léopold II, King of the Belgians (1865-1909)
+ Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1888-1918)
o Mayor - Hubert Schmetz, Mayor of Moresnet (1885-1915)
* Netherlands
o Monarch - Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands (1890-1948)
o Regent - Emma, Regent (1890-1898)
o Prime Minister - Nicolaas Pierson, Chairman of the Dutch council of ministers (1897-1901)
* Ottoman Empire
o Monarch - Abdul Hamid II, Sultan (1876-1909)
* Portugal - Carlos, King of Portugal (1889-1908)
* Russia - Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia (1894-1917)
* Spain -
o Monarch - Alfonso XIII, King of Spain (1886-1931)
o Prime Minister - Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, Prime Minister of Spain (1897-1899)
* Sweden -
o Monarch - Oscar II, King of Sweden (1872-1907)
o Prime Minister - Erik Gustaf Boström, Prime Minister of Sweden (1891-1900)
* United Kingdom -
o Monarch - Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837-1901)
o Prime Minister - Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895-1902)

North America and the Caribbean

* Costa Rica - Rafael Yglesias Castro, President of Costa Rica (1894-1902)
* United States - William McKinley, President of the United States (1897-1901)
* México - Porfirio Díaz , President of México (1884-1911)

South America

* Brazil -
1. Prudente José de Morais Barros, President of Brazil (1894-1898)
2. Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales , President of Brazil (1898-1902)




Colonial Governors 1898:

France

* French Somaliland - Léonce Lagarde, Governor of French Somaliland (1888-1899)
* Guinea -
1. Noël-Eugène Ballay, Lieutenant-Governor of Guinea (1896-1898)
2. Paul Jean François Cousturier, Lieutenant-Governor of Guinea (1898-1900)

[edit] Japan

* Taiwan -
1. Nogi Maresuke, Governor-General of Taiwan (14 October 1896-January 1898)
2. Kodama Gentaro-, Governor-General of Taiwan (26 February 1898-April 1906)

[edit] Portugal

* Angola - António Duarte Ramada Curto, Governor-General of Angola (1897-1900)

[edit] United Kingdom

* North-Eastern Rhodesia
1. Henry Lawrence Daly, acting Administrator of North-Eastern Rhodesia (1897-1898)
2. Robert Edward Codrington, Administrator of North-Eastern Rhodesia (1898-1907)
* North-Western Rhodesia - Robert Thorne Coryndon, Administrator of North-Western Rhodesia (1897-1907)
Zekresh
01-03-2007, 22:58
Lord Salisbury's Third Government, June 1895–July 1902

* Lord Salisbury – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Lords
* Arthur James Balfour – First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons
* Lord Halsbury – Lord Chancellor
* The Duke of Devonshire – Lord President of the Council
* Lord Cross – Lord Privy Seal
* Sir Matthew White Ridley – Secretary of State for the Home Department
* Joseph Chamberlain – Secretary of State for the Colonies
* Lord Lansdowne – Secretary of State for War
* Lord George Hamilton – Secretary of State for India
* George Joachim Goschen – First Lord of the Admiralty
* Sir Michael Hicks Beach – Chancellor of the Exchequer
* Charles Thomson Ritchie – President of the Board of Trade
* Henry Chaplin – President of the Local Government Board
* Lord James of Hereford – Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
* Aretas Akers-Douglas – First Commissioner of Works
* Lord Cadogan – Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
* Lord Ashbourne – Lord Chancellor of Ireland
* Lord Balfour of Burleigh – Secretary for Scotland
* Walter Hume Long – President of the Board of Agriculture
Zekresh
15-03-2007, 10:17
Looks like there's a lack of interest in this one.
Zekresh
15-03-2007, 10:23
I would be willing to consider running this after all if we had at least three players, preferably more.
Zekresh
15-03-2007, 10:29
Oh, I'm probably not going to check this thread for responses any more unless I hear that someone is interested. If anyone is interested, send me a telegram.