The Man in the Sand Castle
http://i.imgur.com/kOwtmIt.png
"Man is by nature a political animal."
-Aristotle
http://i.imgur.com/kOwtmIt.png
"Man is by nature a political animal."
-Aristotle
Credit to Zepplien for general idea, and Granadeseret for the format.
1958, New Berlin, The German Reich
The sun rises over the great dome of the World Capital Germania; the crowning achievement of the decade-long project to completely rebuild the German capital in the wake of her astonishing success in the Second-Franco Prussia War and the Great Crusade against Communism. It is a city full of good, pure people and solid allies, of flowing commerce and grand buildings of all assortments. However, underneath all the glitz and glamour lie the stains of blood that built and maintain the German Empire, as well as he allies.
After her defeat in The Great War, Germany had been left in ruins, a agrarian republic swimming in debt to France and Great Britain. Out of the chaos, however, rose the great Fuhrer; Adolf Hitler, who's National Socialist system lead to a great economic miracle and cleansing of all weakness from the nation: be it economic, political or ethnic, replaced with unity and strength. When the rest of the world denied Germany's rightful claims to Danzing in 1939, Germany launched a swift, revolutionary attack on their eastern European rival, revealing the new tactic of "Blitzkrieg" and mobility warfare against the out-dated, Great War militaries of his opponents, re-uniting ethnic Germans with their Fatherland in a splendid little war of only 3 weeks. However, his plans had not yet been complete, as the world was ripe with opportunities to reclaim the borders of Greater Germany to gain allies; in the south, civil wars instigated by the Iron Guard movement in Romania and conservative Muslims in Turkey mirrored the chaos that filled Spain during their own civil war, and in previous years , with support from Germany's roaring industry, the Iron Guard and Ottomanist factions gained control over their nations, mirroring the German program of state-supported industry and ultra-nationalism and reaping the same results. In the Netherlands, a far right movement was elected into office, openly supporting Germany in an effort to reclaim territory that had been there's once and "stolen" by British actions, managing to bargain for Flanders in a effort by Britain to secure peace in Europe. Even Scandinavia, after Germany's invasion of Denmark, were pushed into the Axis sphere, dominated by German-leaning Sweden and German-allied Finland to form a Scandinavian federation. Britain and France remained the only forces in Europe capable of resisting German aggression, the Soviets in a tact alliance with their neighbor.
Following an Ottoman-Italian invasion of Greece, a spectacular and short flanking war into France by Germany and the Netherlands, and a joint Axis attack on Yugoslavia after that nation's fall, the Pact of Steel (The European Section of the Axis Powers), had almost completely free reign over Europe, the Soviets continually renewing peace in an effort to fix her broken, purged army and Britain herself only surviving thanks to the weakness of the Kreigsmarine against the Royal Navy. In 1941, however, all of that changed, as the Axis launched a most surprising a tactical genius campaign. With the international order and the powers-that-be agreeing to their expansion, Berlin notified Moscow that their alliance would unfortunately have to be dissolved, the very next day rubbing salt in the wound and instigating the largest military campaign since the Mongol invasions: Operation Barbarossa. With Turkish support in the Caucuses, Romanian support in Ukraine, and his Scandinavian allies placing heavy pressure on Leningrad, the Soviet Lines were forced to stretch too thin, Turkish supported revolt in Central Asia and Azerbaijan throwing the nation's logistic system into disarray. By November, German troops were pressing hard against the gates of Moscow and Stalingrad, the Transcaucasia was gone, and thanks to rousing early successes, the Germans were able to convince their Japanese ally, with dependable oil imports from the Dutch East Indies and Ottoman Arabia, to enter the war against Britain and the Soviets, a spectacular air and naval bombing run on Vladivostok slicing the Soviet's lifeline to American foodstuffs. As the winter set it the Russians were reduced to eating shoe leather and corpses, slowly starving to death due to lack of calories and the lack of oil and raw materials making the construction of enough tanks and bullets for an effective counter-attack all but impossible . This was made even worse by the German capture of Moscow; which, while not as industrially significant as Stalingrad where Russian forces were slowly being ground down or Leningrad, where the Scandinavian and German army groups used its port facilities to ease logistics for the Moscow attack, it was the nerve center of Russian communications. Without its telephone hubs, individual Russian armies could not co-ordinate, nor could orders be sent out from where ever Stalin had fled to, order breaking down rapidly as Soviet military forces fell piecemeal to Axis arms, unable to make a coherent line or supply system.
In the end, despite attrition, by 1944 the Soviet military was a non-entity, having broken up into individual bandit groups raiding one another for gasoline, food, and ammunition just as often as they did the Germans. What passed for the remaining Soviet government, squeezed by Japanese, Turkomen, and German forces from all sides, signed an unconditional surrender in 1944, known as The Treaty of Novosibirsk, surrendering all its territory to the victorious Axis Powers, as well as White Russian forces the Japanese had liberated from their Siberian gulags, who fought hard and, as a reward, were granted a rump buffer state in Siberia. Without American intervention, and with the full attention of Axis forces and industry turning against Britain, the Empire found herself severely overstretched; German and Dutch Wolf Packs preyed on supply ships from across the Empire and Ottoman Islamic forces slammed the Suez canal shut. By the time September of 1944 rolled around, German, Scandinavian, and Dutch air forces were converging on the Channel, a Second Battle of Britain ending decisively in the Axis favor, swinging the door to the home islands wide open. Despite the best efforts of the British Home Guard, who fought in the streets and beaches and hills as promised, German bombing campaigns and starvation were slowly starting to take their tole, particularly after the defection and surrender of the "country" of Scotland in December, cutting off the rest of the island's supply of coal. Hungry, dieing, and frozen, their empire being picked to peaces by the Japanese, Italians, Germans, and Ottomans, the Kingdom found itself dissolving, the young Queen Elizabeth's handlers spiriting her out of the country and to Canada, who itself was coming under the hungry eyes of the rebuilding French government, eager to reunited with their co-linguists in Quebec.
Finally, with Parliament collapsing in a vote of no-confidence and the country too torn up to form new elections, Great Britain surrendered to the Axis in June of 1947, the last of the Allied powers falling as he empire was partitioned out among various local groups and Axis claims, the surviving London regime holding but the faintest shadow of her former power: the Home Islands were put under German Rule, with the SS administering the area's with probaganda, but resistance their is still heavy against the German puppet regime, all of britians colonies either taken or given back to the locals. Even Canada was to be given away, despite never being touched military and being a technically sovereign state. However, the mention of Canada, so close to the US borders, finally caught the attention of Washington, who convened with the fearful governments of the Canadian provinces and extended a chance for Statehood to them. The Canadians, fairly in agreement with the Americans and preferring union as their economic ties grew stronger, agreed, snatching out that prized domain from under Germany and her allies' noses. Though there were some spats, the Axis knew fighting America would be impossible; they already had crippling manpower shortages and industrial output had already been earmarked for years to help rebuilding their new territories, and the roaring American giant, fueled by refugees who'd fled during war, was a force to be reckoned with. Eventually, a grand bargain was reached, in which the Axis would drop claims to American territories and not make any efforts to gain influence in the Americas if the US respected their Eurasian gains. In 1948, the war officially came to a close, as the Axis powers finally found themselves at peace, dominating Europe from sea to shining sea.
Yet, despite the official end to the "Second World War", may problems remain for the victorious Axis. Though all the lands of Eurasia are under the control of the Axis or their influenced states, holding onto them has been a costly and bloody affair, as rebel groups remain strong and powerful. Several puppet nations, particularly in China and Russia, a dubiously loyal at best, and despite lip service to their conquers many of their leaders plot to regain their lost lands. And, despite dictatorial dominance in Europe, the Americas remain a bastion of democracy, protected by the rapidly-expanding U.S.A, who's intervention into the civil wars of and inclusion as states of Cuba and Mexico fuel both her economic and military power and racial tensions and diversity... her mighty arsenal of Democracy feeding many different rebel groups. Even the Axis itself is starting to crack, as rivalries between Italy and Vichy France, Iron Guard Romania and the Ottoman Empire, and Japan and The Netherlands simmer under the surface, held together by the iron fist and leadership of Germany. With Portugal controlling the Northern Part of India as gains, openly flaunts her power and independence, the Axis powers ill-suited for fighting such a populace nation as it plays one faction off against another, seeking more power and influence for herself. It remains to be see if this castle of the Reich truly sits upon a high hill, or is merely built on pillars of sand...
The Rules
Rule 1: No Godmodding
Self-explanatory. Be it the spirits of Japanese Shinto, the Nordic forces of German Paganism, or good old fashioned Christian miracles, if there are any gods they don't do anything. Only mortal hands with normal mortal restrictions apply.
Rule 2: Remember your limitations
Afghanistan isn't going to be building its own nuclear weapons at any point, and even America can't rebuild a sunken aircraft carrier overnight. This goes for cultural changes too; Germany isn't going to be "Let's hug all the jew/gypsies/homosexuals/ect. just because you say so. This rule is especially important for civil wars: these are, by nature, nasty, brutish, and divided affairs that will take months if not years to sort out, and will not result in complete government and social change over night. Even if you can win military, there is the question of people accepting you...
Rule 3: Logistics
Wars aren't won by having the most and best tanks, ships, and planes; they're won by being able to use the most and best tanks, ships, and planes. As such, military campaigns require planning and reason to work out. You'll need your troops to hold ground, but marching them anywhere can take weeks, and mechanizing all your troops is cost-prohibitive, especially without endlessly flowing oil. You get the soldiers you send, and if you want more you have to take them from somewhere else. There is also political logistics; German "advisors" trying to stage a pro-Facist coupe in a nation are going to be less politically damming then an all-out invasion to instill an obvious puppet. The bigger the invasion, the more time it takes to prepare.
Rule 4: No Custom Nations
I'm going to be really picky here, because some of you might want to say "Hey, let's take all of South America and turn it into a giant Brazilian Empire that's on par with the other great powers". The answer is no. If its not already custom-fit, your nation has the same borders it had IRL, no exceptions.
Rule 5: Post Requirements!
All post will at least need to be two paragraphs long, with 8 sentences per paragraph minimum. If you do not meet this standard, do not apply. Here is some examples of post we like: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=293610&p=19831873#p19831873 which as you will see, it can be really long or the way the Afghanistan post is, either way both are accepted.
Roster:
Application:
Nation Apps:
- Code: Select all
[b]NS Name:[/b]
[b]Nation Name:[/b] (You are encouraged to include both its formal name and its informal name)
[b]Head of State:[/b]
[b]Head of Government:[/b]
[b]Government Form:[/b]
[b]Ideology:[/b] (Political, not economic)
[b]Foreign Policy:[/b] (How does your nation see the world? What is its stance or position on issues outside its country?)
[b]Domestic Policy:[/b] (How does your nation internally operate?)
[b]Civil Freedoms /10:[/b]
[b]Political Freedoms /10:[/b]
[b]Economic Freedoms /10:[/b]
[b]Military Size:[/b]
[b]Military Description:[/b] (ie, quality of equipment, doctrine, etc.)
[b]Strengths and Weaknesses:[/b] (What is your military good at, and what is it bad at?)
[b]Description of Your Nation's Economy:[/b]
[b]Description of Your Nation's Government:[/b]
[b]Short History of the last 10 years:[/b]
[b]Population of entire empire:[/b]
Rebel Organizations App:
- Code: Select all
[box][b]Organization Name:[/b]
[b]Areas of Operation:[/b] (Must be actual nation(s))
[u][b]Governmental Information[/b][/u]
[b]Group Ideology:[/b]
[b]Leader:[/b] (If multiple leaders then please list all)
[b][u]Group Information[/u][/b]
[b]Membership Size:[/b] (How many members do you have?)
[b]Nationality:[/b]
[b]Resources:[/b] (Does your group have access to any equipment?)
[b]Militia:[/b] (If multiple militia forces, please separate into different groups)
[b]Other information:[/b][/box]
.jpg)
