Age of Steam and Steel OOC- OPEN

[Tracian Empire]

That could be an interesting way to avoid a pointless war.

Austria was already planning to propose the strengthening of the German Confederation's army and naval forces as a response to outside threats against the German nations.

We will have to work it out in detail, but I think tying our economies together, having free and open borders, encouraging interstate trade, military cooperation, and so forth is definitely agreeable. Possibly we could form something like a council of the various German heads of state where influential states such as Austria and Brandenburg work with the smaller states(just to make them feel like they have any choice in the matter)
EDIT: the only problem is that most of Europe would probably be unhappy with a unified/confederated german state. But I think all of us together would be a force to be reckoned with.

Well, we already have the Zollverein/German Customs Union. The treaties in real life were signed in 1833, and since the reasons for why Austria was excluded do not exist in this world, in the previous iteration I made it so that the Zollverein exists and all German states are a part of it, including Austria (and potentially Bohemia, although I don't remember). The Zollverein could certainly be strengthened though, and encouraging military cooperation and common defense are both things that Austria has been supporting from its position as the head of the presiding power of the Confederation.

And yeah, a lot other nations wouldn't like a stronger Germany, and that's why Austria has been encouraging German cooperation - as a reaction to those who would be hostile to the Germans.

[Senkaku]

míngtiān shì wǒde :^))))

YOUR TIME IS UP, OUR TIME IS NOW. Fake-Chinas better be watching, cause we're here now.

I think this app is ready for review/acceptance.

Generic Info
Nation Name: Empire of the Great Tai | The Celestial Empire | Empire of China | commonly referred to in the rest of Asia simply as the Dual Throne or the "Kaifeng Regime"
Symbols: Flag, Anthem
Location: 62
Population: We have absolutely no idea.
Capital City: Kaifeng. Hangzhou and Chang'an are officially regarded as 'Imperial Residences'.

Government Info
Government Type: Technically an absolute monarchy, in practice its more akin to a consociational federal clusterfuck.
Brief Explanation of Government:
Spanning 11 time zones and both hemispheres, the sun never sets on the Chinese Empire.

It is not possible, unfortunately, for only two people to govern such a large entity, so enjoy reading all this:

At the head are the imperial couple, Emperor Yongan (Zhao Chang) and Empress Cixi, who preside over the Imperial Cabinet, comprised of the ministers of each ministry or ministry-level formation (and some organizations that are technically sub-ministry level, such as the Mobilization Directorate), the Chancellor and Grand Secretary (unofficially, one is to be Qian and the other Wu) and their deputies, the First Councillor, the governor of Kaifeng (or the governors of Hangzhou and Chang'an, if the Cabinet is meeting in either city), the viceroys for each region (though they are not always present), and the chiefs of staff of Imperial Supreme Command. Each major ministry has two co-ministers, one Qian (known as the "Western Minister" or "Western President") and one Wu (known as the "Eastern Minister/President"). The two Empresses Dowager also technically have seats on the Cabinet, but in practice only the Dowager Empress Xianghua, the Emperor's mother, regularly attends, due to animosity between the Empress and her mother.

The Chancellor oversees the Chancellery, which disseminates imperial directives down to the bureaucracy, oversees the running of the palace and the capital, and formulates or proposes policy. The Chancellery also, critically, screens all documents submitted to the throne and the Cabinet, and runs Cabinet meetings. The chiefs of staff of the Supreme Command also report to the Chancellor on military matters, meaning the Chancellor is one of the principal advisers to the throne and most senior government officials.

The First Councillor is elected by the members of the Grand Council, a body formed after the consolidation of the Wu Assembly of Notables and the various ad hoc Qian kurultais over the years- essentially, a large body of aristocrats, oligarchs, elder statesmen, and other luminaries and influential persons. This body holds no formal authority, but provides advice and counsel to the Cabinet and the monarchs.

The Grand Secretary oversees the Grand Secretariat, essentially serving as head of the civil service (including, perhaps most importantly for the office's power, the imperial secret police and spies, as well as diplomats, ambassadors, and envoys). They are heavily involved in the day-to-day operation of all ministries and departments both in the capital and around the country, and work closely with the Chancellor and the Chancellery as well as the viceroys, governors, and ministers. All ministers report to the Grand Secretary, who acts as a filter between them and the Chancellor much as the Chancellor acts as a filter between the Emperor and Empress and all others.

The ministries and ministry-level or Cabinet-level formations are as follows: the War Ministry (also containing Cabinet-level Mobilization Directorate, Shipyards Directorate, Armaments Directorate, and Planning Directorate), the Foreign Ministry, the Trade Ministry (with the Inspection Directorate as a Cabinet-level department), the Public Works Ministry (with the Reservoirs Directorate as a Cabinet-level subdivision), the Commerce Ministry (with the Industry, Labor, Finance, and Customs Directorates as Cabinet-level units), the Post Ministry (with the Roads, Pigeonry, Telegraph, and Packet Directorates as Cabinet-level units), the Culture Ministry (along with the Weights and Measures, Museums, and Library Directorates), the Education Ministry (with the Examination Directorate and the Discipline Directorate), the Railways Ministry, and the Security Directorate (an independent office which reports to the Grand Secretary). Because there is are both "western" and "eastern" ministers for each ministry (as well as two vice-ministers per Cabinet-level directorate), the Cabinet, when fully convened, is of somewhat untenable size (with 58 ministers or vice-ministers alone). This has led the monarchs to form a smaller Standing Committee [CUE MEMES], consisting of the Chancellor, the Grand Secretary, the War, Foreign, Works, and Commerce ministers, chiefs of staff of the Army and Navy, and the Vice-Minister for Security.

The country is divided into a number of provinces, which are overseen by governors. Several provinces and governors are then overseen by the viceroys, who report directly to the capital and the Cabinet. There are seven viceroys- the East Sea Viceroy, based in Tamaki (RL Auckland, overseeing the Pacific colonies), the Yangtze River Viceroy, based in Hangzhou (overseeing the old State of Wu), the Hongze Lake Viceroy (based in Huai'an, overseeing the old State of Ming), the Western Regions Viceroy, based in Kashgar (overseeing Xinjiang, Tibet, and Central Asia), the Northern Regions Viceroy, based in Karakorum (overseeing Mongolia and Tuva), the Yellow River Viceroy, based in Tianjin (overseeing the old states of Yan and Qi), and the Central Viceroy (based in Chang'an, overseeing the old Qian Chinese provinces). This viceroys report to the Cabinet on issues in their regions and keep tabs on problems in various provinces (as well as monitoring governors or local rulers and making sure they stay in line), and in some cases (especially the far west, but even moreso in the eastern sea thanks to a lack [thus far] of transoceanic telegraph cables) have significant autonomy or leeway to enforce imperial rule and formulate policy on their own.

Formally, the former State of Ming is an autonomous region, known as the Eastern Feudatory, ruled by the same line of Ming emperors (now demoted to the rank of "king" and pledging fealty to and recognizing the authority of the imperial throne). Its ruler officially has a place on the Cabinet of equivalent importance to the Chancellor, but in practice, since the Cabinet never meets in Ming cities, this is rarely relevant unless he makes the trip to Kaifeng, Hangzhou, or Chang'an. Additionally, a great deal of administrative authority over regional governance has passed from the King of Ming to the Hongze Lake Viceroy, who wields tremendous power at the Ming court and is usually more influential than the king (operating much as a British resident might have in an Indian princely state in the late 1800s IRL- as the de facto ruler). Ming technically retains its own ministries, but custom now dictates that the Ming king appoints the Hongze Lake Viceroy as Grand Secretary.

TL;DR- there's 85 people on the Cabinet, an advisory Duma/Estates General type thing, a parallel de jure/ceremonial autonomous administration in Ming, and that's BEFORE we even get into all the important/powerful members of the imperial family or important palace officials.

Ideology: Three Alls :^)
Leader/s:

• His Radiance/Imperial Majesty, Emperor Yongan (Zhao Chang) of China, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years, Khagan of the Mongol Empire, Sublime Patriarch of the House of Zhao, Sovereign of the Great Eastern Sea, Emir of Samarqand, King of Kings, Khan of Khans, Supreme Lord of All Under the Blue Sky
• Her Radiance/Imperial Majesty, Empress Cixi (Dañ-Xayaa Khertek [sinicized: Hanrde Haiya]) of China, Daughter of Heaven, Lady of Ten Thousand Years, Khatun of the Mongol Empire, The Black Dragon, Sovereign of the Great Eastern Sea, Emira of Samarqand, Queen of Queens, Khatun of Khatuns, Supreme Lady of All Under the Blue Sky
• Chancellor Nidali
• Vice-Chancellor Ping Pong
• Grand Secretary Song Biming
• Empress Dowager Xianghua

Relations: Tension with Yue, Min, Shu, and Joseon, (especially Yue, Shu, and Joseon, since those are the great power rivals- Min is kind of second-rate in comparison). Mostly ambivalent towards Russia, Persia, and the Mughals (slightly predatory instincts towards the latter), tendency to view Europeans as possible allies/balances to Asian rivals. Generally positive relations with Fusang. Native African states do not exist, only free real estate.

Population Info
Brief Description of your people: Like, Asian-ish or whatever?
Religion: No religion is held above the rest by the state, but one can find worshipers of Buddhism, Tengriism, Mohism, the doctrines of Confucianism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, various Polynesian Religions and Native American Animistic Beliefs.
Ethnicity: 'Chinese' or bust.
Main/Accepted Culture(s): Han Chinese (Northern and Eastern, mainly), Mongol/Tuvan/steppe cultures, Uyghur/Turkic western desert cultures, maybe Maori/Polynesian/Ryukyuan island cultures [not Melanesians or New Guineans, though], probably some Salish-y/Han-y Fusang-originating people
(All broadly considered “Chinese” now or people of the empire)
Other Cultures:
Koreans/Manchurians, Hakka/Min/Cantonese (various Southern Chinese), Shu (Szechuanese), Japanese, Afghans, Indians, various SE Asians, Melanesians/New Guineans/Andaman Islanders, Africans, Arabs, et cetera

Military Info
Army: The Chinese Army is organised into several distinct structures, though it is coordinated by a large central military command structure. It can be said to still function with at least two distinct armies, reminiscent of when there were two states. However, successes in the wars of expansion against the remaining states in Northern China have fostered a camaraderie of sorts amongst the rank and file of the soldiery. Never again will Qian's cavalry run down the artillerists of Wu, nor will Wu's infantry gun down the stragglers of said cavalry charge.

Qian's Side: The army is organised into three distinct fields; the infantry, the cavalry and the artillery. It is referred to as the "Army of the Northern Dragon" (北龍軍/Bei Long Jun), and stands at approximately 620,000 soldiers, broken into approximately 370,000 infantrymen, 250,000 cavalrymen and the nonexact figures featuring the nation's artillerists. A meritocratic army maintains the quality and prestige of the officer corps and the notions of extensive militarism make the Qian army a truly powerful force to be reckoned with. All segments of its army are trained quite well, drilled well, and armed with the latest military technology from the foundries and weapons factories of Hangzhou. The cavalry is armed with rifles or pistols and elements of the elite Uyghur Islamic Cavalry find themselves in a position of honour as the most 'elite' irregulars of Qian's section of the military.

Wu's Side:
The Wu army is a large, efficient professional fighting force that stands at 325,000 men in peacetime, equipped with the latest and greatest military technology. In particular, the Wu army's artillerymen are notably skilled, and the army has a large artillery park equipped with some of the finest weapons in the world, routinely implementing innovations in cannon and rocket designs. highly effective personal firearms are also universal in the Wu army, which was an early adopter of breech-loading rifles, revolver pistols, and rifled steel cannons. The artillery corps has recently begun to implement innovations in balloon technology to improve observation and targeting on the battlefield.

Soldiery is regarded as an honorable profession, and for those who show merit, becoming an officer and rising through the ranks can also be a path to political power (though many are divided on whether some high-ranking officers owe their rank more to their fortune and patronage than their ability).

Ming:
Let's say around 250,000 soldiers or something? They're knockoff Wu, basically. Technically autonomous, since they have their own chiefs of staff under the king who liaise with Supreme Command through their liaison representative (who's the actual one who sits on the Cabinet), but really the liaison guy and the Hongze Lake Viceroy hold all the power, not the king or the Ming chief commanders, and they listen to Supreme Command over the Ming king. Sometimes their equipment also isn't quite as good as the stuff that Wu and Qian troops have.

Others:
Probably a bit less than Ming, and worse, and also fully subsumed into the militaries of Wu and Qian and without any representation in the command structure or autonomy whatsoever?

Joint: The former Wu Mobilization Directorate's structure has been expanded across the empire. In addition to the professional forces, who form the backbone of the army, men between 18 and 60 are given a year's training in the military's reserve force when they turn 18, followed by semi-annual or annual training periods of a few weeks, and there is an entire government agency, the Mobilization Directorate (now a department of the War Ministry), responsible for coordinating the call-ups of reserve units and the maintenance of the armories that supply them. Reserve units are usually only called up in wartime or periods of national emergency, but occasionally individual units will be mobilized for a few weeks or months during normal conditions if the army requires it. They are generally led by retired soldiers or police, and are not as well equipped or well trained as regular units.

The Qian and Wu Imperial Guards have also been integrated, comprising a large elite unit of the Army stationed primarily in Kaifeng, Hangzhou, and Chang'an, and have one Wu and one Qian chief commander, both of whom sit on the Cabinet.

The Imperial Army's leadership, both Wu and Qian generals, along with the Navy's (which is led almost exclusively by Wu and a few Ming admirals), is all coordinated through the body of Imperial Supreme Command. Structurally similar to its predecessor, the Wu Imperial General Staff, it is responsible for coordinating action between the Army and Navy, but now also for coordinating the actions of ethnically and organizationally different segments of the military. The Army has two overall supreme commanders, one Wu and one Qian, and a third Ming commander who formally is of the same rank but is not designated as supreme commander, whose responsibility is to liaise and coordinate action between technically autonomous Ming forces and the rest of the Army (in practice, they coordinate closely and follow orders). These three generals represent the Army in the Imperial Cabinet.


Navy: While the Wu army is probably the best in China, the Wu navy is not as powerful, advanced, or capable as that of Yue or Min. The bulk of the navy's personnel are actually marines, who help man its many coastal and riverine craft on the mainland. These are generally small craft, often powered by paddle-wheels, and vary in construction. Some are heavily armored monitors and carry a few super-heavy cannons, intended to protect the coast from enemy warships. Many others are unarmored or only lightly armored, and either lightly armed, unarmed, or armed with larger numbers of rockets and light guns, like breech-loading swivel guns, intended to transport troops, support landings, and suppress, kill, or capture lightly armed pirates and smugglers in littoral or riverine environments.

The navy's marines/naval infantry have become a more capable and somewhat independent fighting force in the wake of their participation in a number of amphibious assaults in the Yan and first and second Qi campaigns (notably the amphibious assaults that won the Battle of Weihai in the first Qi campaign and the Battle of the Taku Forts in the Yan campaign), as well as being deployed more in recent years to tighten imperial control over the East Sea.

The oceangoing elements of the fleet are mainly focused on long-range patrol squadrons. These patrol the East China Sea and the Pacific to fend off pirates, keeping shipping lanes safe and occasionally escort military convoys or helping to transport troops. These vessels typically have relatively light armament, comparable to anything from heavy frigates or sloops in the European navies and primarily intended to deal with pirates or privateers/commerce raiders. Wu's heavy oceangoing capital ships are number 63, with a few of those being stationed at various points across the Pacific (typically Okinawa, Pearl Harbor, Tamaki [RL Auckland], and Tahiti). The remainder are based in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Weihai, and Tianjin.

The navy has been quite eager to pursue new innovations in steam engine technology, which have been helpful in assisting both its riverine and littoral missions and in its long-range oceanic operations. Most capital ships and many other smaller craft have been outfitted with screws or paddle wheels in addition to normal sails. Wu's history of artillery advancements has also led the navy to be equipped with the latest in cannon and rocket technology.

The Imperial Navy's (which is led almost exclusively by Wu and a few Ming admirals), along with the Army's leadership, both Wu and Qian (and some Ming) generals, is all coordinated through the body of Imperial Supreme Command. Structurally similar to its predecessor, the Wu Imperial General Staff, it is responsible for coordinating action between the Navy and the Army, but now also for coordinating the actions of ethnically and organizationally different segments of the military (though this is more of an Army issue than a Navy one, as few Qian serve in the imperial fleet outside of occasional river patrol craft along the Yellow River or rarely as marines). A Wu admiral always serves as the Imperial Navy's supreme commander, along with a Ming deputy, and these two represent the Navy on the Cabinet (though the Wu admiral gets an extra vote, so that the Navy has equal sway to the Army in Cabinet votes). The Ming navy is not considered formally autonomous in the same fashion as the Ming army and its ships and officers have been integrated into the rest of the combined fleet.


Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: Much of the economy remains agrarian, centered on the many small farming villages across the North China Plain, and many areas across the country are still recovering from damage inflicted by years of warfare (particularly Qi, and to a lesser degree Yan and Zhou). However, in the Wu and Ming regions around the lower Yangtze, and to some degree around major industrial cities in the north and west such as Chang'an, Tianjin, Qingdao, Baoding, a different society and economy emerges, driven by urban industrialism and international trade. This has led to significant migration out of the areas worst hit by the unification conflicts or with the poorest economies into the empire's fast-growing industrial cities.

Goals: Establish a presence in Africa and perhaps India, defeat regional rivals (breaking Yue sea control over the SCS and the routes to Australia and Africa and India in particular, but also challenging Min dominance in the First Island Chain, Joseon presence in Japan, and generally knocking Shu and Joseon down to size), expand influence in the Americas, improve internal integration

TOTO'S AFRICA | GANGNAM STYLE | LAND DOWN UNDER
History: Liec and Sen are typing...

Following the Partition of Zhou and the imperial marriage between Wu and Qian to secure a peace deal, most observers expected little to meaningfully change in the two states' relations- their respective aristocracies would never tolerate a high degree of integration, and given both monarchs' sexual proclivities (and rumors that the Anfu Emperor was infertile due to venereal disease he had contracted), no one expected them to produce an heir that could throw up questions of the succession to both states' thrones. Some even speculated it could end in a divorce- after all, each were fiercely independent and seemingly lived diametrically opposed lives. Qian and Wu would, for all intents and purposes, remain separate states (some doubted that they would even live together in the official capital in Kaifeng, as the emperor preferred the comforts of Hangzhou while the empress was happiest on the steppe or the campaign trail, or occasionally in Chang'an).

However, to the shock and horror of both courts, they both relocated to Kaifeng and within a year of the match, the Black Dragon was pregnant, and produced a robustly healthy baby boy. Nor did the imperial couple seem to have the kind of strife many had predicted- trips to Mongolia and Okinawa and exposure to one another's lives seemed to have moderated both and made them into a powerful (if not necessarily terribly romantically loving) couple. Wu aristocrats were quite opposed to a half-barbarian boy suddenly becoming first in line to the throne, rather than one of the emperor's daughters or his children, and Qian leaders were almost equally appalled at the prospect of a half-Chinese boy ascending to the Tuvan throne. However, the imperial couple successfully crushed opposition in a series of purges, aided by their respective loyalist allies, and initiated a program of reform and integration to enmesh the two imperial bureaucracies and center them firmly in Kaifeng (as well as producing healthy twins, a boy and a girl).

With Qi descending into civil strife and conflict in the wake of the Partition of Zhou, Wu and Qian launched an intervention, primarily spearheaded by Wu forces along with some help by their Ming allies. This happened roughly contemporaneously with a rebellion and palace coup in Yan, leading to the installation of a much more bellicose regime in Yanjing, which the new dual empire responded to with a successful invasion, mainly spearheaded by Qian cavalry. While Qi only had a puppet emperor installed to keep the peace and lost some of its territory to Ming (as well as granting Wu the port of Weihai), the invasion and annexation of Yan (which was led by the Black Dragon herself) provoked fears of a wider war across East Asia, as Joseon was alarmed by the display of aggression. However, the Koreans were unwilling to enter a war without Yue naval support, and Yue, secure behind a screen of buffer states and consumed with internal upheavals and colonial rebellions at the time, declined to join the fray, defusing the situation. A few years later, after a botched palace coup to install a new Qi emperor and remove the Wu puppet regime led once again to civil war, a joint invasion also led to annexation and a war scare.

At this point, the Ming court, feeling Ming could be next despite its long alignment with Wu, became divided over whether to try and pursue a possibly hopeless war to preserve its independence, or to maneuver diplomatically to try and peacefully join the emerging North Chinese super-state in a favored position. With some nudging and subtle interference from Kaifeng, the latter faction ultimately won out, with young Ming princesses being promised to both of the imperial couple's sons and the Ming military and bureaucracy receiving certain rights and privileges and a small degree of autonomy in their integration, while the Ming emperor recognized the authority of Kaifeng and was given a fair degree of autonomy in the continued governance of the region. This provoked a third war scare, but once again, Korea was unwilling to fight without Yue backing.

As integration continued, a decision was also made to invade Tibet, resulting in the near-encirclement of Shu. However, Shu leadership, still recovering from the state's crushing defeat at the Black Dragon's hands in their last conflict, did not resist this land grab.


RP Sample: KOW-TOW TO THE WU-QIAN CLAN, BITCHES

429 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Intermountain States]

I thought Min was a greater power than Shu

[Lan Khao Xang Hom Krung Tai]

Generic Info
Nation Name: Grand Republic of Fusang | Vusaon Koh (扶桑國)
Symbols: Hibiscus Flower, Tree of Life, Mulberry Tree
Location: 69
Population: 28 million
Capital City: Cincin (金京)

Government Info
Government Type: Oligarchic Meritocracy
Brief Explanation of Government: The government follows a model similar to the 3 Departments, 6 Ministries, with changes to suit Fusang. In government, there are 6 departments; the Department of the Secretariat, the Department of the Chancellery, Department of State Affairs, the Department of Examination, the Department of Justice and Punishment, and the Department of Control. The Ministries are all located under the Department of State Affairs. The Department of the Secretariat is responsible for civil administration. The Department of the Chancellery oversees legislative affairs. The Department of Examination oversees the civil exams and position appointments. The Department of Justice and Punishment oversees judicial reviews and punishments. The Department of Control monitors the actions of the branches.
Ideology: Neo-Confucianism
Leader/s: Grand Chancellor Lian Wefaon (梁偉芳)
Relations Tries to keep amicable relations with the mainland nations. With its immediate American neighbors, its biggest rivals could be the American Commonwealth and Mexico, while eyes are on Texas.

Population Info
Brief Description of your people: The dominant population descend from the Wu group, though there are rising populations from within the Northern and Southern Chinese groups.
Religion: Taoist, Buddhist, and Mainland religions
Ethnicity: Wu Chinese, primarily, but expanding more from the mainland cultures.
Main/Accepted Culture(s): Wu, other mainland Chinese cultures, Sinic cultures
Other Cultures: Natives, small amounts of European cultures

Military Info
Army: 200k. The army is given higher priority than the navy, given their lengthy expanse of land. Armed with modern weapons and aims to train to a standard the be the strongest in the region. The army trains heavily to make use of the terrain to make up for any disadvantages. The infantry arm is mostly drawn from all Sinospheric ethnic groups, along with some natives. The cavalry arm, owing up to an older tradition, is still predominantly led by Mongol or Jurchen descendants.

The common Fusangese infantry uniform is of a mulberry red cross-collared, waist length, hanfu tunic. It was worn with matching trousers and an iron hat shaped helmet with a large brim around the circumference, on which a brass hibiscus flower is worn. For footwear the infantry make use of cloth shoes and leg wraps.

For the cavalry, following cultural heritage, their uniforms retain their northern qualities. A long robe worn under a mulberry red, single-breasted tunic fastened with frogs, and a standing collar. Trousers and helmet are similar to the infantry. Cavalry footwear consists of black boots ending below the knees.

Great coats take after the northern style, modeled after changpao and heightened collars.

Navy: In between the time of the late 1840s, Fusang has heavily improved it's navy and naval size. Armed with modern ships and aims to train to Yue naval standards. It's navy sits at:

10 Ships of the line
10 Frigates
20 Sloops of war
3 Brigs
3 Stores
6 Stores and Receivers
7 Screw Frigates
6 Screw First Class Steam Sloops
7 Side Wheel First Class Steam Sloops
8 Screw Second Class Steam Sloops
1 Side Wheel Second Class Steam Sloops
5 Screw Third Class Steam Sloops
4 Side Wheel Third Class Steam Sloops
2 Steam Tenders
12 Two Deck Junk Frigates
8 Single Deck Junk Frigates
18 Rigged Sloop Junks
2 Steam Paddle Corvettes.

Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: In a word, difficult. While with large sectors, such as coastal industrialization in the West and large agricultural sectors in the East, with some mining in between, a lot of it is spread out across the nation. In the east, trade control is one of the largest sectors, controlling the Mississippi river. Iron works, logging, and just about most of the economy, along with the population, is centered on the Western coastal areas.
Goals: Protect Fusang and expand the realm to bring about the great society and spread its influence.
History: Fusang traces its history to the early settlements of Wu, the first which was settled in 1531 around the Tsonuae (中灣) area. Further settlements were founded through the years along the Cihlie (级联) coast, with furs and timbers building a wealthy foundation for Wu to draw from.

This source of revenue was quickly overshadowed in 1599, with the discovery of large deposits of precious metals in the Cinsae (金山) region.
A gold rush ensued, with vast quantities of immigrants seeking easy riches with which to build a thriving home away from war torn Tsonkoh (中國). Fusang's population skyrocketed, and its prosperity soon decorated the palaces of Wu. Through the 1600s Fusang built upon its early infrastructure, and increasingly it operated independently of Wu.

As local legislatures took prominence over a court an ocean away, politicians in Fusang began to feel alienated from their colonial overlord.
This sentiment came to a head with the outbreak of the South Sea Wars between Wu and Yue, which saw vast quantities of resources stripped from Fusang to support the failing war effort. With the withdrawal of the Wu armies to fight the bloody South Sea Wars, the leaders of Fusang declared their separation from Wu as an independent entity. Though resistance from the Empire was expected, the few local forces that remained to secure the colony were no match for Fusang militias, and Wu, already drained from the wars with its arch-rival Yue, instead opted to pursue amiable relations with its breakaway colony. The Treaty of Grace and Prosperity was signed in late 1776, formally recognizing Fusang's independence and establishing favorable trade relations with Wu.

When Fusang had become independent of the Wu, previous aristocratic families took hold of regions in which their name was prominent. The central government, poised to reel in the rebels, set off to combat them in the north, where they held strongest. For the next decade, they clashed again and again before Fusang had been completely unified.

After having dealt with the rival families, attention was put towards the East. Early in the campaigns to the north, problems had risen with their combat effectiveness. Combined with a need to keep a strong navy to defend their independence, Fusang leaders were determined to create the strongest military force on the continent. To build up their forces, they sent their promising academics back to China, to the new dominant power, Yue, to learn from the strategies of their victories. A look into the indigenous industry was sought to be expanded upon to support military growth, observing the properties of the industries of the dominant Chinese state and other nations that had dominated their own regional scenes.

After the Napoleonic Wars, Fusang purchased the large swath of territory, the Louisiana Territory, from Spain, increasing the reach of the nation exponentially. With this new access to land and resources, it was their time to exploit it. With populations sent of east, they sought to consolidate their newly gained territory and its wealth to benefit the nation greatly. With the new access of the Atlantic, works have begun on extended rail connections from the capital, all the way to the Mississippi River.

RP Sample: Sample
429 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[The Industrial States of Columbia]

Roster should be updated, there will be some chaos in the Andes and the East decently soon, so stay tuned.

[Jaslandia]

Reservation:
Location: 16
Nation Name: Kingdom of Bohemia
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Lan Khao Xang Hom Krung Tai]

Yoted peeps

[Fedel]

Tag.

[Age of Steam and Steel OPs]

So the map and roster has been updated, the situation in China has changed greatly, and there now be glorious Chaos in the Andes Feel free to inquire about the lore there abouts.

Columbia

[Greater Redosia]

Generic Info
Nation Name: American Commonwealth
Symbols:

Location: 71
Population: 8,741,350
Capital City: Charleston

Government Info
Government Type: Federal Constitutional Presidential Republic
Brief Explanation of Government: The Federal Government of the Commonwealth is generally weaker and most power lies within the individual states that made up the Commonwealth as a whole. But due to the Fusang encroachment from the west, the states agreed that safety was necessary to safeguard liberty. Allowing the Federal Government further control of the military, trade, and the ability to carry out laws throughout the Commonwealth. The Government being split in three to balance powers, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

Unlike most Governments the President of the Commonwealth is voted by a congress of electoral voters, whom are voted by the people. Thus, whilst the President and his ticket campaigns voters are also campaigning as well. It is to ensure full fairness in elections and to ensure all states are given equal opportunities to elect the President of their choosing through the electoral voters they choose.

The Congress of the Commonwealth are made up of equal amounts, giving 2 senators per state and 10 representatives per state. The Congress creates the laws that are sent to the President to be approved, or if given a 2/3rds majority of congress to forcibly push the law through. These are elected directly by the people to represent their state on the congress, for the state is the priority of the commonwealth.

The Judicial branch reviews the laws in place to see if it in accordance to the Commonwealth Constitution, the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth being superior to any other court and any decision by them must be followed. The justices are chosen by the President and are approved by the Commonwealth Congress. There are nine Justices and the President must place a Justice if a spot is vacant, if not Congress will place a Justice in the President's place.
Ideology: Conservatism, Nativism, Republicanism. Other than those simple ideologies, the mix political sphere of the Commonwealth centers around slavery. Between those that promote it and those that support abolitionism. Where slavery is heavily accepted in the rural farmland and abolitionism in the cities.
Leader/s: President Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President Judah P. Benjamin, Secretary of State Robert Toombs, Secretary of War LeRoy Pope Walker
Relations
Great Britain: Despite having revolted against the rule of London the American Commonwealth still feels deep ties with their once colonial overlords. Finding cultural similarities but due to slavery legalized in the nation it has left a strain on the relationship that can never be fixed unless dealt with.
Grand Republic of Fusang: The Grand Republic is the main rival to the American Commonwealth, seeing the rising western nation as a threat to the sovereignty and freedoms the Commonwealth enjoys. There is plans for a defensive war against them which the hopes they will never be enacted.
Sweden: The American Commonwealth dislikes the current status of New Sweden to their north and wishes to incorporate it into the commonwealth, either through a peaceful purchase of the territory and even with war if need be.
United Provinces of Kolumbia: The United Provinces are a mixed feelings for the American Commonwealth, they desire their territory as they feel superior to owning the land east of the Mississippi. But also wishes to desire their friendship due to the approaching Fusang horde.
Netherlands: New Netherlands is another territory in the same position as New Sweden, territory the Commonwealth seeks to gain through peaceful or violent means.

Population Info
Brief Description of your people: There are generally three different types of people in the American Commonwealth. The rich planters whom own large plantations and many slaves, being the main dominant force of the Commonwealth politics and some of the richest. Heavy supporters of slavery they mostly are part of the Democratic Faction in Congress. There are also the general poor, farmers, laborers, and other jobs in between that do not have much influence. They generally do not support slavery for the fact of them taking away their jobs and their profits that they could obtain. Though many do believe in the equality of the people. Finally, there are the businessmen who own factories in the cities. They dislike any and all forms of slavery and see its removal as the only way to move the nation forward, though they are few in number they are strong in political power.
Religion: The American Commonwealth is mostly protestant with the Evangelical church being the largest with the American Anglican Church being the second largest.
Ethnicity: Anglo-Saxon, African-American, Native American
Main/Accepted Culture(s): American, Protestant Europeans which generally include British and many Germans
Other Cultures: African-American, Native Americans, Fusang Chinese, other Chinese, Catholic Europeans mostly around the Irish and French

Military Info
Army:
Army of the American Commonwealth: The Army of the American Commonwealth is the largest branch between the three forces, with 70,000 regulars who are active within the ten states of the Commonwealth. Each state providing 7,000 men for the united army. There are an additional 80,000 volunteer reserve who have pledged themselves ready to be mobilized at any moment by order of the President, training once a month annually along with volunteering support for their states they live. They receive decent armaments made domestically produced factories, the active forces receive excellent training while the reserves retrieve average training. Given specified training when mobilized.

Uniforms of the American Commonwealth
Uniforms of the American Commonwealth part two

Navy:
Navy of the American Commonwealth: The Navy of the American Commonwealth is the smaller of the three main branches of the Commonwealth Republican Forces. The quality of the navy is rather poor due to the need to focus on land concerns that that at sea, where it is only kept to shape for small scale blockading. Focusing mostly at countering any sort of Fusang expedition out of their ports in the gulf of mexico. The sailors themselves are of average skill, not anywhere near European or Asian standards. Though many are looking forward to the insights of the ironclad.
4,000 sailors, officers, and other maintenance crew
8 frigates
6 ship of the lines
15 sloops of war
3 screw frigates
12 screw sloops
5 paddle sloops

Commonwealth Marine Corps: The Commonwealth Marine Corps is the highly disciplined branch of the Commonwealth Armed Forces, based on naval invasions and more difficult tasks that the navy or army cannot entirely handle. Their training is more lengthy and brutal than that of the other branches, but has forced to keep the size small to keep quality at its peak. Focusing on amphibious and expeditionary warfare.

Size: 25 Officers 975 Marines

Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: The economy of the American Commonwealth is mostly of an agrarian economy with large cotton plantations, along with some tobacco. Slaves are used to effectively plant and harvest the crops while the cotton gin has revolutionize the effectiveness of the plantations. The cities are where most industrial centers of the Commonwealth are located, with textile industries dominating most of them. However, several weapon manufactures and naval shipbuilding also exist in good amounts. Supporting the rather agrarian nation.
Goals: Ensure dominance east of the Mississippi, ensure that Fusang is stopped at the river and expands no further east, industrialize and break away from the agrarian dominated economic society, find a way to remove slavery without tearing the nation apart.
History:
The American Commonwealth independence rose from the revolution of 1776 where they broke free of the British control, giving the rise of a Government of the people, by the people, for the people. But it wasn't without its hardships, due to many loyalists leaving the territory while the Constitutional Assembly declared their possessions and slaves nulled due to their support against the revolutionary Government. Many would be caught and their property taken, many Assembly members would attempt to stop the Government from doing so, but their voices were not heard from the louder voices against the loyalists.

The American Commonwealth would attempt to form their states into a Commonwealth of states loosely held together by the Articles of the Commonwealth, but this would lead to corrupt state Governments and a weak Federal Government unable to protect the people. Which would lead to the rise of the Constitutional Convention in Charleston the year 1790, creating the Constitution of the American Commonwealth. Guaranteeing freedoms that are natural, some being obvious freedom of speech, right to bear arms along with a right to a free and fair trial. The wishes to enforce no right for troops to be stationed in housing was also proposed, but due to the situation the Commonwealth was in at the time it was overlooked and was a necessary evil to ensure the other freedoms of the Commonwealth. But it was acknowledged they may not take lodging in housing, but are allowed to rest upon privately owned lands.

The American Commonwealth would continue to grow their agricultural exports up until the Napoleonic Wars where they found themselves neutral to the conflict, but finding industrial goods hard to come by. With Government initiative to select people, they would begin to build the first modern factories in important cities such as Charleston, Richmond and Atlanta which would become main industrial centers for the Commonwealth with textile factories and the first domestic firearms. This led to the divide within the political climate between city folk that quickly flooded the cities from the rural areas with the rise of jobs and housing, along with the rich plantation owners who owned hundreds of slaves and several hundreds of hundreds of acres of land who would dominate the countryside politics.

Again, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars and close encounters with foreign nations in regards to trade that could of dragged the Commonwealth into a war, they would reach the beginning of another period of peace. Revolutions would explode in Europe but it was more subtle in the Americas, though with the revolutions would bring discontented immigrants westward, but it would also grow Fusang to the west which was on the minds of all members of the Government of the Commonwealth. Along with the rise of more liberal ideals which would reach abolitionists inside the cities, industrial owners rallying behind the urban populations and workers against the conservative plantation owners further. Dividing the nation politically and geographically, as more internal nation away from the border became more weary of the nations along the coast which found themselves more liberal. But also found those states alone in the cities when dominated by countryside around them.

When the elections finished in 1860, bringing President Stephens to the White House. A moderate with a outlying Constitutional Commonwealth Party which barely took majority against the Liberal Union Party and the Conservative Party, both sides weary of his policies and what he wishes to do with slavery. Many have heard he wishes to ensure the right of landowners to own slaves, others say he might abolish it. But the close members to his Government say he hopes to find a compromise that will satisfy both sides, preserving the Commonwealth when it should be united against Fusang and other forces outside the Western Hemisphere.

There is a shaky future for the Commonwealth, with many outcomes. Will slavery continue without stop or will it end? Tearing the country in two, or will a compromise come from the heavens to save the divided nation. Can they stop the advance of Fusang? Or will they fall against the western horde from across the river.
RP Sample: I doth not require one, do I Columbia~
429 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Finland SSR]

Reservation:
Location: 8
Nation Name: Duchy of Pomerania (name in the roster. I'll be changing it though)
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[The Industrial States of Columbia]

Reservation:
Location: 8
Nation Name: Duchy of Pomerania (name in the roster. I'll be changing it though)
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

Heyo, and noted

[Krugmar]

Reservation:
Location: 33
Nation Name: Turkey | Turkish Sultanate | The Exalted Ottoman State | دولت عليه عثمانیه‎, Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Finland SSR]

Generic Info
Nation Name: (Positivist) Republic of Pomerania / Republik Pommern
Symbols: Flag, Coat of arms.
Motto - Altruism, Order, Progress! (Altruismus, Ordnung, Fortschritt!)
Location: 8
Population: 1,970,400 (according to Populstat)
Capital City: Stettin

Government Info
Government Type: Interim emergency government in control of a, officially, constitutional unitary republic.
Brief Explanation of Government: The Republic of Pomerania is a follower of the ideals and ambitions of the liberal revolutions of 1789 and 1848, although with its unique, Positivist slant. The constitutional structure of the state has yet to be defined, as the revolutionary events of 1859 have left the country in a state of flux and the Stettin Parliament has yet to define and pass the constitution of the country. The prevailing idea, however, is that the Republic shall be organized as a hybrid between a liberal, democratic republic with universal suffrage and human rights enshrined on one end, and a Positivist, corporatist state with a hostile approach towards religion and partisan politics, instead seeking to further the idea of Organische Arbeit ("Organic Work", i.e. "common work for the betterment of society") on the other. While the Stettin Parliament is deciding upon the structure of the state, whether it should become the world's first Positivist nation or a simple liberal democracy, the day-to-day affairs of the country are organized by Reichskanzler Albrecht Rothmann, a revolutionary philosopher and one of the leaders of the 1859 Revolution.
Ideology: The most prominent ideology in power is an ideological, revolutionary adaptation of the philosophy of Positivism, first formulated by the French philosopher Auguste Comte and furthered by his Pomeranian follower Albrecht Rothmann. The tenets of Rothmann's Positivist ideology, borrowed from Comte, are three-fold: "Altruism" (Altruismus), calling for the cosmopolitan unity of the nation, compassion towards their fellows instead of economic and social exploitation, and organic work for the betterment of society; "Order" (Ordnung), calling for the creation of a new, peaceful and orderly society upon the ashes of the reactionary regimes of the past; and "Progress" (Fortschritt), calling for the abandonment of false idols and backwards traditions, including religion, and instead of looking towards the metaphysical for help, spending the time for the betterment of one's society through organic work. In practice, this lends to Positivism being a revolutionary, anti-clerical, republican and often cosmopolitan anti-nationalist ideology which tries to present itself as "not an ideology" at all, and instead a movement seeking to turn the nation in question into a self-sustaining, organically working structure which can ensure the well-being and camaraderie of its citizens.
Aside from Positivism, other prominent ideologies represented in the incumbent government, in decreasing order of importance, are:

• Liberalism - Encompassing a variety of Jacobin, republican, and constitutional monarchist movements originating from the revolution of 1789, liberalism has remained a powerful ideology among the urban Pomeranian population since the Napoleonic Wars. In short, the liberal members of the Revolution serve as the moderating force to the radical Positivists, believing that societal reconstruction and redistribution should wait and the primary concern of the Republic should be enshrining a democratic structure and making amends with the German Confederation.
• Pomeranian nationalism - A growing current among the Pomeranian population who see themselves as a people distinct from the overarching German nationality and are thus opposed to any attempts to integrate the German Confederation into one entity, instead demanding the Republican government to announce the independence of Pomerania from all foreign entities and alliances. To them, a Positivist regime would be preferable, as it would mean Pomerania enshrining itself as distinct from the rest of Germany.
• Pan-Germanism - The idea of unifying all of Germany to a single, preferably liberal and democratic state. It is an idea highly tied to liberalism and constitutional monarchism, and many liberals in Pomerania are Pan-Germanist themselves, wishing to see a federal, democratic German state as the final result of the Revolution - in contrast to their Pomeranian nationalist peers.

Leader/s:

Relations

• Member state of the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund) and the German Customs Union (Zollverein), at least for now. It's not unlikely that their membership gets suspended sometime soon.
• Highly negative relations towards Saxony-Brandenburg, especially after the Revolution of 1859. Pomerania has always been the state separating Brandenburg from the ever so sought Baltic Sea, and if the two were to come to blows with no other nation involved, it's fairly obvious who would be the victor. While common membership in the German Confederation ensures that the Republic is in no immediate threat of invasion, Pomerania is, obviously, always on edge when regarding relations with their southern neighbour.
• Negative relations towards Denmark-Norway due to their continued ownership of the island of Rugen and the surrounding territory, which Pomerania, both the monarchy of the past and the current Positivist republic, see as an integral part of their territory. However, because of geopolitical concerns, this territorial claim may be temporarily overlooked if it means Denmark doesn't stomp them/offers to help them in war.
• Negative relations towards the Commonwealth, but they're not Pomerania's primary concern for now, as the German Confederation protects them from Polish invasion and they don't seem to have much interest in Pomerania anyway. If the current troubles in the Commonwealth result in a Positivist revolution, that would be a dream come true, but as of now, it seems impossible to achieve.
• Opinion on the prospect of a united Germany - supportive in principle, but opposed in its current state. As Pomerania sees it, both of the prospective candidates for leading the process of German unification are reactionary and monarchist, and if that continues to be the case for the future, then they will have no choice but to abandon the Confederation and go on their own way. However, a republican, and possibly even Positivist Germany is perfectly a-okay - after all, Germany has given the world Gutenberg, Luther and Kant, so if there is one nation which should lead the world to an era of progress, it should be a united Germany. There is, however, a growing current of Pomeranian nationalists who wish to see Pomerania go on the path of independence no matter what.

Population Info
Brief Description of your people: For centuries, Pomerania has existed on the complete edge of the German cultural sphere, squished in between foreign nations such as the Scandinavian state and Poland, and generally isolationist in the political affairs of the Holy Roman Empire, and all of this has developed the Pomeranian people into a society which, despite still superficially German, is also unquestionably developing into something different. The Pomeranian dialect is barely comprehensible to a visitor from South Germany, such as Austria, much in the way of the Dutch, and Pomeranian culture and traditions see strong Polish and Scandinavian influence, many of the recent words in their vocabulary adopted from their northern neighbours during the centuries of trade and knowledge sharing which cannot be found anywhere else in Germany. It is not difficult to tell that Pomerania is swiftly splitting off from the overarching German cultural sphere and its people know that - many of them do not even define themselves as Germans anymore, instead seeing themselves as a part of a separate "Pomeranian" nationality. The Revolution of 1859 has significantly strengthened those feelings - Pomeranian nationalists were some of the main supporters of the uprising against the Duke, and the siege mentality of the new Positivist Republic has lent to the citizens of the country, for the first time in many years, seeing themselves as something "separate" from the rest of Germany.

In the Confederation, the Pomeranians are generally stereotyped as backwards and distant, speaking an accent which would give them weird looks at any academic institution, but nevertheless good-natured - and these stereotypes, much like many others, stem from reality.
Religion: Lutheran Protestant Christianity is followed by the absolute majority of the population, while the Polish minority is Catholic and the Jews are, obviously, Jewish. The Republic is officially a secular state and professes no state religion, however.
Ethnicity: Germanic
Main/Accepted Culture(s): Pomeranian/North German
Other Cultures: Polish, Jewish

Military Info
Army: The volunteer-based Army of the Republic of Pomerania (Armee der Republik Pommern) is still in a state of flux, many of its former officers having resigned or fled due to their loyalties being to the former Duchy and replaced with enthusiastic freshmen, and the Republic itself having not yet decided on what the role of the military should be in the world's first Positivist state - whether it should be no different from any normal military, be integrated into the population as a civil guard composed of all of its citizens, or abolished entirely as a threat to peace. What it lacks in organization, however, it makes up for with a strong patriotic morale among its soldiers and the spirit of the Revolution, as well as support from the general population, many of whom are ready to fight for their newly won freedom in the case of foreign invasion.

Order of battle:

• 1st Pomeranian Infantry Division (I. Pommerschen Infanterie-Division) (15 000 soldiers)
  
  • 1st Infantry Regiment
  • 2nd Infantry Regiment
  • 3rd Infantry Regiment
  • 4th Infantry Regiment
  • 1st Artillery Battalion
  • 2nd Artillery Battalion
  • 1st Infantry Engineer Corps
• 2nd Pomeranian Infantry Division (II. Pommerschen Infanterie-Division) (15 000 soldiers)
  
  • 5th Infantry Regiment
  • 6th Infantry Regiment
  • 7th Infantry Regiment
  • 8th Infantry Regiment
  • 3rd Artillery Battalion
  • 4th Artillery Battalion
  • 2nd Infantry Engineer Corps
• Pomeranian Cavalry Force (Pommerschen Kavallerie-Truppe) (10 000 soldiers)
  
  • 1st Dragoon Regiment
  • 2nd Dragoon Regiment
  • 1st Hussar Regiment
  • 2nd Hussar Regiment

Navy: Much of the Fleet of the Republic of Pomerania (Flotte der Republik Pommern), opposed to the Revolution of 1859, mutinied and left the country to surrender themselves to the Danish, leaving the Republic with merely a small navy able to patrol the nation's shores. The same difficulties and strengths as the Army apply here.

The Fleet is composed of 11 coastal gun barges, 4 sixth-rate frigates and 1 fourth-rate frigate, as well as a few smaller ships, and anything which may be requisitioned from the merchant fleet.

Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: The Pomeranian economy, lacking notable natural resources, is built upon several distinct pillars - agriculture, forestry, fishing, trade routes from southern Germany to the Baltic Sea, shipbuilding, sugar refining (from sugar beets, a staple in cash crop production in the region). Tourism is also becoming a notable source of income thanks to numerous seaside resorts built along the Pomeranian coast, though it's obviously not all that available right now.
Goals:

1. Survive.
2. Find a way to regain Rugen.
3. Enshrine Pomeranian independence.
4. Spread Positivism, try turning it to this world's Marxism, except influential a lot earlier.
5. Einheit der Menschheit!

History: The modern history of the region of Pomerania starts with the end of the Napoleonic Wars, when the Duchy of Pomerania, having existed in the northern fringes of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries prior before the tide of the French conqueror set down upon the region, was reestablished as a member of the German Confederation, its legitimate House of Greifen restored to power as semi-constitutional monarchs in Stettin. The chaos of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, however, left an indistinguishable mark over Pomerania as well as the rest of Germany. The Napoleonic Code, enshrining basic human rights for all the region's inhabitants and abolishing serfdom, was not forgotten despite being disestablished, and the growing tide of liberal and revolutionary movements forced the House of Greifen to make amends with their subjects, establishing a limited appointed legislature from the upper and middle classes to listen to the concerns of the people and enshrine the legitimate monarchy in power.

The Revolutions of 1848 reached Pomerania much like the rest of Europe, and the German Confederation specifically. Riots and protests across Stettin and other cities of the Duchy broke out in unison with similar pan-nationalist and liberal rebellions, and Duke Francis VII of Pomerania was forced to hole up in his palace of Franzburg while a revolutionary government was temporarily established in the capital, electing representatives to the Frankfurt Parliament later the year to negotiate for the formation of a united Germany. However, disagreements soon broke out both among the Pomeranian revolutionaries and the Parliament of Frankfurt. Some wanted to see a German constitutional monarchy with all constituent duchies and principalities abolished, others wanted a republic with significant autonomy to all of its federal constituents, some others shook their head at all that and demanded the declaration of an independent Republic of Pomerania. This disagreement and delay was all which the Duke and the loyalist forces under his command needed to move into Stettin and begin suppressing the First Stettin Revolution by force. Several weeks of battles at the barricades took place before the Duchy was put back in order - and seeing that compromise to the liberals was no longer an option, as the Parliament of Pomerania ended up endorsing the revolution in the moment of crisis, Duke Francis VII championed a return to brute, iron-fisted absolutism in Pomerania, dissolving the Parliament and ruling by decree for the next twelve years.

The revolutionary movement in Pomerania, however, did not fade, instead moving to the underground, where it started to evolve. One of the members of the First Stettin Revolution and a representative of Pomerania in the Frankfurt Parliament was a 30 year old former university professor and philosopher Albrecht Rothmann, who, during the following years, became acquainted with the works of Auguste Comte and his Religion of Humanity. Though not as radically into anti-clericalism that he advocated the formation of an entirely new secular religion, Rothmann became swayed by the Positivist doctrine, and combining it with the ideas of historical progress from the works of Georg Hegel and later Karl Marx, the Pomeranian philosopher developed his own, revolutionary interpretation of Positivism, which he detailed in his treatises such as the Altruistic Revolution - banned in Pomerania and many other countries for its radicalism, but immensely popular in his home country, where it soon became the primary stream of the local liberal republican movement.

1859 was the year of the turning point. Building up tensions between the absolutist Duke Francis VII and the increasingly impoverished and distraught population culminated in protests, riots and demonstrations in Stettin in September, which soon, when the first police and military units sent to quell the unrest ended up standing down, evolved into the Second Stettin Revolution, a revolution which soon engulfed all of Pomerania for several months. The Pomeranian Positivist movement was soon joined by their liberal, constitutional monarchist, Pomeranian nationalist and German pan-nationalist peers in a wide popular front against the hated monarchy. Seeing that he has lost the support of the people and that his palace in Franzburg is under threat of siege by mutinous units, Duke Francis VII, his wife and two children fled their home through a secret path and crossed the border to Denmark-Norway ten kilometers away, before finally making their way to southern Germany and settling in Vienna. On the other side of the coin, Albrecht Rothmann was invited to return from exile to lead the revolutionary republic in its moment of need - Rothmann himself, however, has an another goal in mind, and that is to turn Pomerania into an experiment in putting his ideas into practice.

As 1860 rolls ahead, the republic government in Pomerania is still young, and its future is still uncertain. How the German Confederation respond to the revolution, will it allow the Republic last? Rothmann's hope is that Pomerania shall set the spark for the liberal revolutionary movements across Europe to rise up and throw away their shackles, in an even more successful Spring of Nations, but is this a certainty or merely a fleeting dream? What does the instability in Hungary and the Commonwealth hold, and if both of these Eastern goliaths fall, can allies to the Pomeranian Revolution be found there?

And finally, will Positivism enshrine itself as the zeitgeist of the decades which follow, or will it fade to obscurity as a failed experiment crushed by overwhelming forces?
RP Sample: Most recent RP post I've made on this site. I don't even remember when was the last time I did a nation RP, at least four years ago at this point, so I'm pretty sure that experience is barely even relevant at this point.
429 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Granluras]

Alright, seems interesting. I’ll leave a reservation.

Reservation:
Location: 32
Nation Name: Kingdom of Hellas
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Krugmar]

Generic Info
Nation Name: Turkey | Turkish Sultanate | The Exalted Ottoman State | دولت عليه عثمانیه‎, Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye
Symbols: Star and Crescent
Location: 33
Population: ~10 million
Capital City: Bursa

Government Info
Government Type: Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Brief Explanation of Government: The Ottoman State is undergoing a great deal of political change and upheaval, due to recent and historic defeats. At the present the Sultan is bound by the constitution, and his powers are largely vested in the Prime Minister, who is usually the leader of the largest party in parliament.
Ideology: Mixed, some adhere to reactionary or constitutional monarchism, others to conservative or liberal republicanism
Leader/s: Sultan Murad V
Prime Minister Turhan Pasha
Relations

Interests
• Britain - The United Kingdom is viewed as a moderating force in Europe, and though a former enemy and current holder of rightful Turkish lands, it can quickly become an ally.
  
• Hungary - Hungary is a powder keg waiting to explode, but also one of the strongest countries in Eastern Europe. A natural ally against the Greeks and Commonwealth, despite our poor history.
• Persia - Centuries of warfare cannot be easily put aside, but they must be. They profited from our collapse, but now they must see that they are the target of European and Commonwealth ambitions. Old enmities must be put aside if the House of Islam is to survive.
• Austria - An old enemy; a new ally. Austria may one day be the leader of Germany, and is today a leading state within it. The Austrians must be concerned about the growing power of France, and so should be relied upon as a possible partner.
Threats
• The Commonwealth - The Commonwealth threatens all the nations of Europe and Asia. It is a behemoth which must be stopped, though thankfully many think the same way we do. Our eastern territories must be recovered, by diplomacy or force.
• France - France was among those who carved up our territories. Many of our former citizens and subjects now reside as French slaves; war must come to them.
• Kingdom of Hellas - Upstart Greeks who reject their Roman heritage in favour of a paganistic 'Hellenic' ethnicity. Anatolia and Rumelia must be united, lest they fall divided.

Population Info
Brief Description of your people: While on the surface the Ottoman State is Turkish, it is a melting pot of cultures. The Turks take their heritage from their Turkic and Byzantine ancestors, as well as the traditions of Persia and Arab customs from Islam. There is also a significant Greek minority, largely on the western coastline, and small minorities of Balkan, Kurdish, and Caucasian peoples spread throughout Anatolia.
Religion: The majority of the populace is Sunni Muslim, with a small minority (~10%) of Orthodox Greeks, Bulgarians, Turks etc., and smaller populations of Catholics, Protestants, Syriacs, Apostolics and Shi'ites.
Ethnicity: See cultures
Main/Accepted Culture(s): Turks, Greek (Rûm/Rhomaioi), Circassian, Albanian, Bulgarian
Other Cultures: Greek (Hellene), Armenian, Arab

Military Info
Army: The Ottoman Army, the Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye, is restricted to 80,000 personnel by the Treaty of Geneva. In secret the Ottoman government has been planning to eventually disband the Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye in favour of a new military force which, technically, would not be bound by the terms of the treaty. This force, currently in training and organisation, would number around 310,000 in peacetime. For this force the Ottomans look to the Germans, Hungarians and British as models and sources for equipment and training.
Navy: The Ottoman Navy, once among the largest and greatest in the world, was gutted after the Treaty of Geneva, with most of its assets being transferred to the victorious powers or scuttled by mutinous sailors. It now currently stands at 2 battleships and 21 other types of warships.

Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: Once a juggernaut in Asia and Europe, the Turkish economy is now slowly recovering from the Turkish War, as well as its loss of lands and resources. The loss of the Bosporus Straits is a great blow to control of the Aegean Sea, along with much needed revenue. Despite this it has begun a slow recovery and may in the long-term prove beneficial if proper funding and investment is put into Anatolia, to bring it into the modern age.
Goals:

• Recover Constantinople and the Bosporus Straits
• Modernise Anatolia, making it into a multicultural liberal democracy
• Recover Rumelia and the eastern territories
• Drive Imperialists out of the Middle East

History: ~History up until 1848 is pretty much the same, minus losing Libya earlier + a far stronger Hellas to deal with
The Ottoman Empire, long in decline, was perhaps upon the road to recovery. The Auspicious Incident of 1826 and the Tanzimat reforms of Sultan Abdulmejid I breathed life into the Sick Man of Europe. Yet 1848 was to prove a disastrous year, even more harrowing than the loss of Greece and Libya in the early 19th century. Hungry eyes looked upon Ottoman territory and sensed weakness. Powers communicated with each other, drawing up plans and an unlikely alliance was formed.

When war was declared the Sultan and his government initially assumed it would be like any other; a foe to fight and best, or at worst to grant concessions to. They were not prepared for the combined forces of Britain, France, the Commonwealth, Persia and Hellas to descend upon them like a pack of wolves. The Ottoman Navy was soon returned to port, beaten and bloodied, while the army fought desperately on all sides to no avail. By 1850 the war was clearly over, with Konstantiniyye having fallen and the Ottoman Government in Bursa forced to sue for terms.

The Treaty of Geneva (1850) was considered by many contemporaries to be particularly controversial. The Ottoman Navy was largely disbanded, its assets scrapped or doled out to the victorious powers. The Ottoman Army was reduced to a maximum size of 80,000, to serve only as a peacekeeping force capable of defending its borders. Its government was forced to relinquish all claims on lands lost before 1848, and to accept the surrender of all lands taking during the war, including Konstantiniyye.

The Sultan, Abdulmejid I, refused to sign the treaty and chose to abdicate, dying of Tuberculosis one year later. His brother, Abdülaziz, succeeded him and signed the treaty reluctantly. Despite having been uninvolved with the war or its treaty, beyond the signing, he became the main target of blame, along with the government of that period. Chaos erupted in Anatolia as the Turks rioted against what they saw as an unfair treaty, with the diminished army barely able to keep the peace. Over the next few years many of the old elite were assassinated or forced into retirement, with Sultan Abdülaziz himself dying under suspicious circumstances.

Sultan Murad V has been able to institute a new calm, with sweeping constitutional changes. Parliamentary democracy, with suffrage for all men above the age of 21, as well as the removal of the Millet system and secularisation of the judiciary. Despite this tensions of the recent past remain high. While many have embraced the new system, with political parties flocking to defend it and expand upon it, reactionary ultra nationalist and revanchist parties, factions and paramilitary groups have also begun to form.

The future of Anatolia depends upon the following weeks and months, as both sides plot to do away with the archaic Ottoman dynasty and establish a new and fresh nation; one ready to restore Turkey's place in the world.
RP Sample: (required, send Telegram with a sample of what your post would be like if you have not participated in any previous RPs)
429 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Chewion]

App for France should be up tonight.

[Finland SSR]

Generic Info
Nation Name: (Positivist) Republic of Pomerania / Republik Pommern

App finished.

[Vaterlandische Austria]

I'd like to join, but I have no idea what's going on

[Tracian Empire]

I'd like to join, but I have no idea what's going on

I'm not sure what you don't understand. The most important details about the world are presented in the OP.

If you have any specific questions, about a region or a nation you'd be interested in, we'd be more than happy to help xD

[Vaterlandische Austria]

I'd like to join, but I have no idea what's going on

I'm not sure what you don't understand. The most important details about the world are presented in the OP.

If you have any specific questions, about a region or a nation you'd be interested in, we'd be more than happy to help xD

Well, there's a lot of things confuse me from the map and the OP didn't really give any detailed explanation per se. For one I don't quite understand the premise of "East that is a reflection of the West". What does that mean exactly? Why is China so divided? Why is Peru of all thing divided? What's with the big country in North America?

I understand that most of this detail came from the previous RP, and I did look it up first. But the warning about thing may not be up to date with the current...canon(?) dissuade me from looking it up there.

[Tracian Empire]

Generic Info
Nation Name: (Positivist) Republic of Pomerania / Republik Pommern

App finished.

Alright, most of the app seems to be alright, so I'll be the first to review it.

I really like the idea and the concept, but since Positivism is at the core of your nation and since it might influence and involve others around you, we're going to need a few more details about a few things. Specifically, how you'd imagine these things, so that we can see whether we'll accept it as it is or make some changes. How widespread and popular do you envision it to be, in Pomerania and in Germany as a whole? How many of Pomerania's people support it, and how stable is the revolutionary regime internally?

[Finland SSR]

App finished.

Alright, most of the app seems to be alright, so I'll be the first to review it.

I really like the idea and the concept, but since Positivism is at the core of your nation and since it might influence and involve others around you, we're going to need a few more details about a few things. Specifically, how you'd imagine these things, so that we can see whether we'll accept it as it is or make some changes. How widespread and popular do you envision it to be, in Pomerania and in Germany as a whole? How many of Pomerania's people support it, and how stable is the revolutionary regime internally?

Thank you for the review. I'll try to answer your questions in brief.

• Historically in this time period, Positivism was a competitor to Marxist socialism as the "ideology of liberation" in some parts of the globe, most notably Brazil and Poland - and thanks to it being codified into a revolutionary ideology much more successfully, I would definitely imagine it being more prominent than OTL. If I had to make a guess, I would compare the popularity of Positivism to 1860s Marxism - i.e. it is by no means a massive movement nor even the only notable movement in the radical revolutionary playing field, but it is certainly growing prominent across Europe, with its strongest base of support being in Central and Western Europe, as that's where both of its originators (Comte and Rothmann) come from.
• Pomerania is definitely not completely united under Positivism. I would compare the situation there to the Paris Commune somewhat - Stettin and other cities are leaning left and support the revolutionary Republic, while the countryside is more conservative and traditional and the Republic has yet to stabilize its control over the peripheral regions. There is no organized resistance against the revolutionaries, though, as the Duke has fled and most of the military has mutinied - so if no intervention takes place, the Republic should be able to exert control over the countryside in the following year.

[The Industrial States of Columbia]

I'm not sure what you don't understand. The most important details about the world are presented in the OP.

If you have any specific questions, about a region or a nation you'd be interested in, we'd be more than happy to help xD

Well, there's a lot of things confuse me from the map and the OP didn't really give any detailed explanation per se. For one I don't quite understand the premise of "East that is a reflection of the West". What does that mean exactly? Why is China so divided? Why is Peru of all thing divided? What's with the big country in North America?

I understand that most of this detail came from the previous RP, and I did look it up first. But the warning about thing may not be up to date with the current...canon(?) dissuade me from looking it up there.

Basically China broke up after the Yuan dynasty fell, and going with the premise that competing states creates an environment suitable for advancement, divided China advanced in parallel to Europe. Regional identities emerged in the former lands of the Middle Kingdom, and China became to the far east what Rome is to the west. Peru is a series of complicated colonization things, with the Spanish and various Chinese states at one point or another controlling the region, leaving behind clusters of settler peeps, while also ensuring some native groups survive in isolation as well. Fusang is basically an eastern US, formed from a former Wu colony out of Cascadia/ California. I hope this helps some, still need to get a skeleton timeline up to assist with the new canon. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask : )

[Granluras]

Alright, I'm changing my reservation. Didn't realize this was the TOTH reboot.

Reservation:
Location: 80
Nation Name: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.