Age of Steam and Steel OOC- OPEN

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

Reservation:
Location: 21
Nation Name: Free City of Frankfurt
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Finland SSR]

Reservation:
Location: 21
Nation Name: Free City of Frankfurt
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

Heya, welcome to the world's best Jigsaw puzzle!

[The Miaphysite Church of Coptic Archism]

Generic Info
Nation Name: Free City of Frankfurt
Symbols:

Location: 21
Population: 83,390 citizens
Capital City: Frankfurt

Government Info
Government Type: Unitary Semi-Meritocratic Republican City-State
Brief Explanation of Government:

Frankfurt's form of government is complex.

An 85-seat Legislative Board, elected annually in a non-direct process involving an electoral college, is the primary legislative body, chaired by the President (who has two Vice Presidents and a Secretariat of Four Legal Scholars assisting him, the Secretariat are not members of the Legislative Board but the Vice Presidents are). The legislative board only has the right to authorize budgets and taxes however, the drafting and administration of the City's finances is handled by the Citizens' College.

The Citizens College is a 61-seat body where terms are for life and appointment could only be declined in cases of illness. Elections to this body are handled by an ad hoc 12-man body, six appointed by the remainder of the Citizens' College, six from the Legislative Board. The Citizens' College is headed by the Director elected from among the College, who is assisted by a consultant and a registrar.

Then there is the City Senate, a body comprised of three "banks" of 14 members. The City Senate functions as the collective Head of State, and is responsible for the administration of the executive government. The first bank, the Schöffen, is comprised of 14 syndics. They are replaced on an anciency basis from the second bank. The second bank, the Senatoren, includes lawyers, merchants and upstanding citizens, replaced by ball secret ballot of the Schöffen. The third bank, the Dritte, sits six appointed representatives of Trade Guilds, six representatives of the Lutheran Consistory, and two representatives of the quarter City-Captains.

The city has two mayors. The Senior Mayor is elected annually by the Senate, and must be a member of the Schöffen. The Senior Mayor chairs the City Senate, and is responsible for the administration of foreign and military affairs. The Junior Mayor is appointed by the Senior Mayor from among the Senatoren, and is responsible for police, guild and civil rights affairs.

There are More than 20 administrative offices and agencies, appointments to which are made by the Senate. This list includes the Building Authority, the Forestry Office, the Guild Affairs Commission, the Sanitation Office, the Customs Administration, and the Monuments Deputation.

The city itself is divided into 14 quarters, each of which elects a Citizen-Captain. These Citizen-Captains are responsible for the Quarter Role, a registry similar to a census, and maintain volunteer fire fighting services and local watches. The Citizen-Captains are also responsible for the maintenance and furnishment of local reservists and militias for the sake of defense.

Separation of Church and State is an alien concept in Frankfurt, where there is a literal state church. The rural regions of the Free City are split into the Bonames, Bornheim, Hausen, Niederrad, Niederursel and Oberrad Lutheran parishes, which share ideals and opinions with the city parish but are unaffiliated legally. The Gemeindevorstand Lutheran Parish includes the entirety of urban Frankfurt, which is led by a Presbytery of 36 Lutheran elders elected by Parishioners. This Presbytery is responsible for the appointment of state pastors and the day-to-day operation of Lutheran churches within the city.

There is also a Lutheran Consistory, a body linking the Presbytery with the rest of the government. The Consistory is led by a council comprised of the Lutheran Chief Pastor (Consistory Senior), two other Lutheran pastors, one jurist, and one Lutheran Senator. This Consistory handles marriage, divorce, birth, and death recognition, maintains churches, pays Lutheran clergy, operates Lutheran schools, and maintains a number of other endeavors like charitable shelters. The Consistory is just as much an organ of the government as any other, and it is Frankfurter taxes and tariffs that pay for the Lutheran pastors who maintain the piety of the city.

Ideology: Much of Frankfurt's day to day administration is handled pragmatically and realistically, with little ideology entering into things at all. They perhaps would not consider it a political ideology, but the Free City and it's inhabitants tend to be quite faithful and believe that religious thinking absolutely has a role in informing policy and government action. The relatively cosmopolitan and libertine city-state has also been a southern hotbed for conceptual Positivism, though the anti-clerical nature of the Pomeranian branch does little to warm Frankfurters to the side of Orthodox Positivism. Many are flocking, however, to Oppenheim's new strand of thought, that the teachings of Jesus and the tenets of Positivism are one and the same. Though relegated to the halls of airy philosophers for now, this kind of pious revolutionary thought is spreading.
Leader/s:
Senior Mayor: Karl Konstanz Viktor Fellner
Junior Mayor: Daniel Heinrich Mumm von Schwarzenstein
President: Heinrich Bernhard Oppenheim
Director: Joseph Paul Johannes Hoch
Consistory Senior: Johann Heinrich Christoph Willibald Beyschlag

Relations: As a member of the Zollverein and the host of the Bundesversammlung of the German Confederation, Frankfurt is firmly entrenched within the confines of the German geopolitical zone. Trade flows via road, rail, and the Main river, from across the Zollverein and beyond. Frankfurt has yet to make any indication towards a preference between Brandenburg-Saxony or Austria, or Pomerania for that matter, to take a leading role in Germany, though it's word may carry more weight than expected due to the financial importance of the city and the soft power within hosting of the Confederation and the historic legacy of Frankfurt being the site of the election and coronation of Holy Roman Emperors.

Population Info
Brief Description of your people: Pious, urban, liberal. The Frankfurters are for the most part a cosmopolitan body of tradesmen, merchants, lawyers and scholars, artists and other such professions. They are far wealthier on average than the population of any other German nation, save possibly the Hanseatic League. Satiated by common trade fairs and festivals, the people of Frankfurt can be definitively considered well off, and the only real threats to the stability of the city-state are the wild-eyed Pan-Germanists or Revolutionaries.
Religion: Frankfurter Lutheranism is the state church, and the vast majority of the population belong to the city-wide Gemeindevorstand Parish. There are small minorities of Reformed Protestants and Catholics, who are allowed to maintain their own churches but receive no support from the state. Frankfurt also has a notable Jewish population. Though the Jews in Frankfurt have had a sometimes rough history, in recent years the city has grown more accepting of these peoples, or at least of the wealth they generate.
Ethnicity: Central Germans are almost the entire population, with handfuls of migrants from throughout the Confederation and a very small amount of peoples originating from either further away than that.
Main/Accepted Culture(s): German peoples.
Other Cultures: Catholics and Jews see a bit of mistrust.

Military Info
Army: For a nation the size of Frankfurt, the problem of maintaining a force of defenders of acceptable quality is quite complex. Thankfully, large sums of money tend to solve a great number of problems. While a small full time force of Frankfurters is maintained, the bulk of the army is generally made up of contracted mercenaries. A permanent Guards Brigade of about 2,800 men is maintained, well trained and highly equipped, and including migrants from around Germany (non-Germans can only participate in mercenary roles, not in the Guards Brigade).

While not on permanent call, Frankfurt pays a premium to a number of mercenary groups which ensures that some will be nearby when needed and that they will not be turned against the city. In times of war, the city can buy out multiple mercenary brigades, and form them in combination with the core of the Guards into a full division or more, depending on need.

1st Guards Brigade
Brigade Headquarters (100 men)
- Particularly large headquarters, as it is intended that when ad hoc divisions are formed with mercenary brigades this headquarters will also provide the Divisional headquarters.
1st Infantry Battalion "Die Eisenseiten" (650 men)
- Contains a Battalion headquarters, signals and supply platoons, three 200 man companies.
2nd Infantry Battalion "Der Wand" (650 men)
- Contains a Battalion headquarters, signals and supply platoons, three 200 man companies.
3rd Infantry Battalion "Die Bluthunde" (650 men)
- Contains a Battalion headquarters, signals and supply platoons, three 200 man companies.
1st Light Infantry Battalion "Die Jäger" (400 men)
- Contains a Battalion headquarters, signals and supply platoons, three 120 man companies.
1st Artillery Battalion "Die Hammerer" (24 guns, 120 men)
- Contains a Battalion headquarters, signals and supply platoons, four 6 gun batteries.
Brigade Support Battalion (260 men)
- Contains a Battalion headquarters, an engineer company, a logistical company, and a medical company.

The Citizen-Captains of the 14 quarters of Frankfurt are also responsible for the maintenance of small local volunteer forces and the registration of reservists. The quarter militias are variable and often small, the general purpose of which is to assist in the defense of the city should Frankfurt come under siege by helping maintain order, guarding gates and other such duties. The militias are not intended to hold the city for a drawn out battle, home by home and room by room. Frankfurt would rather be consumed than burned.

Navy: Frankfurt is not particularly geographically inclined towards naval interests. The city does own a handful of river boats which can police travel along their section of the Main river, but outside this small area of influence Frankfurt is navally non-existent.

Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: Frankfurt is a home to great wealth. Trade activity running along the Main, including traffic from the Rhine, supports a significant hub of mercantile activity, further encouraged by well maintained roads, zealous construction of railways, as well as the Zollverein customs union making travel within Germany much simpler. It is a comparable distance from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, or Milan. Great amounts of money and goods change hands every day in Frankfurt, to the benefit of the city and it's inhabitants.

Nothing displays the international economic relevance of Frankfurt like the city's finance sector. An innovative stock exchange draws investment from near and far, and Frankfurter banks have their fingers dipped in every pudding from Lisbon to Moscow. There are many internationally successful banks, but the chief among them is the Rothschild family bank, which has subsidiaries in many of Europe's major cities and sees incredible wealth pass through it's network. The whole system is managed by the Rothschild patriarch, Freiherr Amschel Mayer, from Frankfurt.

Frankfurt also includes a strong craftsmens scene, though it is outshined by the opulence of the financial sector. Frankfurt is home to a number of tailors, glassblowers, bookmakers, cobblers, coopers, dye makers, carpenters, masons, architects and all manner of other crafts and trades. The refined products of Frankfurt satisfy a much wider area than the citystate itself, doing business with people all throughout the wider Hessian region.

Finally, of note, is the scale of the more abstract side of Frankfurt's economy. The city has become a hotbed for cultural output, helped along by the generally libertine ideals of the city as well as the patronage of many of the city's wealthy citizens. A great many authors, poets, painters, composers and other artists live and work in the city, alongside philosophers, scholars, naturalists, historians, philologists, theologians and antiquarians. Frankfurt is thus a learned and cultured city, which houses many societies of sciences, philosophies, and arts, as well as museums, galleries, theaters, and other collections of great cultural value. This draws scholars and creatives to Frankfurt like moths to a flame, and generates a prestigious image for the city, as well as drawing leisure travellers.
Goals: Keep Frankfurt prosperous and free, grow the wealth of the city, bring about a stronger German Confederation.

History: From 1806-1813, Frankfurt and it's rural territories were involuntarily included in the Confederation of the Rhine, however through the Congress of Vienna the Imperial Free City of Frankfurt was restored. Without an Empire however, Frankfurt became one of many sovereign states associated with the German Confederation.

There has been an ebb and flow of radical and traditional politics in the city-state since this period, though the meritocratic and liberal system of government in Frankfurt prevented most push backs on either side from getting out of hand, only Jacobins, Pan-Germanists, and recently Positivists, have rejected the system altogether and made plans or attempts to substitute their own idealistic form of governance. The 1830s and 1840s were a

RP Sample: Most recent RP I was in involving politics, though it ended quickly.
429 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Vaterlandische Austria]

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 : )

I see, so that's the reason the Chinese ((minors)) colonizing? Are they also industrialized? What about other Asian player? Are they like Arabs to Europe? I would very much like to play some sort of Sick Man of Asia, maybe with Toungoo...

Thank you by the way, I think I get the gist of the timeline now.

[The Industrial States of Columbia]

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 : )

I see, so that's the reason the Chinese ((minors)) colonizing? Are they also industrialized? What about other Asian player? Are they like Arabs to Europe? I would very much like to play some sort of Sick Man of Asia, maybe with Toungoo...

Thank you by the way, I think I get the gist of the timeline now.

No problem. Most of the Chinese states should have industry along the lines of Europe. Allen has a bit more information on what specifics exist.

[Age of Steam and Steel OPs]

So, the IC is up for those players that have completed their apps, we also have a discord server to work in conjunction with everything you guys can check out. Reservations and Accepted apps should be up to date.

So far the Commonwealth, Joseon, and Austria are accepted.

@Finland, I love your app, but I am somewhat concerned by the heavy emphasis on positivism. If you can find some way to moderate that with some other influences, it would be much appreciated. Once that is done, your app should be ready for acceptance.

-Columbia

[Granluras]

So, the IC is up for those players that have completed their apps, we also have a discord server to work in conjunction with everything you guys can check out. Reservations and Accepted apps should be up to date.

So far the Commonwealth, Joseon, and Austria are accepted.

@Finland, I love your app, but I am somewhat concerned by the heavy emphasis on positivism. If you can find some way to moderate that with some other influences, it would be much appreciated. Once that is done, your app should be ready for acceptance.

-Columbia

Oh boy oh boy

[Vaterlandische Austria]

I see, so that's the reason the Chinese ((minors)) colonizing? Are they also industrialized? What about other Asian player? Are they like Arabs to Europe? I would very much like to play some sort of Sick Man of Asia, maybe with Toungoo...

Thank you by the way, I think I get the gist of the timeline now.

No problem. Most of the Chinese states should have industry along the lines of Europe. Allen has a bit more information on what specifics exist.

Allen?

[Granluras]

No problem. Most of the Chinese states should have industry along the lines of Europe. Allen has a bit more information on what specifics exist.

Allen?

Alleniana

[Villadolia]

this seems pretty cool

[Finland SSR]

@Finland, I love your app, but I am somewhat concerned by the heavy emphasis on positivism. If you can find some way to moderate that with some other influences, it would be much appreciated. Once that is done, your app should be ready for acceptance.

-Columbia

Modified my app - specified that Positivism was not the only force behind the Pomeranian revolution and that the country is instead led by a popular front of basically everyone who hated the monarchy - Positivists, liberals, republicans, nationalists and pan-nationalists, though Positivism still holds an important role due to Reichskanzler Rothmann.

I also updated the population, since I didn't notice before that Pomerania also controls Mecklenburg.

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

[The Industrial States of Columbia]

this seems pretty cool

I do hope so

snip

Well in that case, acceptido

[Age of Steam and Steel OPs]

Roster should be up to date again. Finland was accepted, in addition to Krugmar.

Columbia

[Zhukovian]

Reservation:
Location: 93
Nation Name: Kingdom of Argentine
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Chewion]

Generic Info
Nation Name: French Empire
Symbols:

Location: 2
Population:
Mainland France: 39.3 million


Capital City: Paris

Government Info
Government Type:
Constitutional Monarchy

Brief Explanation of Government: (explain all the complex/unique stuff that can't be described in the type section)
Ideology: Monarchist Nationalism
Leader/s:
Emperor Napoleon III

Prime Minister Philipe Petain
Relations Pyrenees Alliance with Iberia.


Population Info
Brief Description of your people:
Religion:
Ethnicity:
Main/Accepted Culture(s): (ex. IRL-UK would be English, Scottish; only cultures that are dominant and the gov't favors)
Other Cultures: (ex. IRL-UK would have been Irish, Welsh, etc ; cultures that aren't accepted by the gov't/people)

Military Info
Army: (branches, number of troops, quality of army, etc,)
Navy: (branches, number of troops, quality of navy, etc,)

Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy:
Goals:
History:
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.

[Vaterlandische Austria]

Allen?

Alleniana

I've tg them for few days now and I have yet to get any response

[Zhukovian]

Generic Info
Nation Name: Royaume d'Argentine (Kingdom of Argentina)
Symbols:

Location: 93
Population: 3.5 million
Capital City: Ventforts

Government Info
Government Type: Enlightened Despot Absolute Monarchy
Brief Explanation of Government: A government type where the monarch is both the Head of State and Government. He is in-charge in representing the Kingdom to the world and in administrating the day-to-day working of the government. He is the one who can appoint the members of the Executive Branch including the Privy Council. To keep his power in check, the first Grand Duke Artois issued a Royal decree for the formation of the House of Lords as the Legislative Branch.

The Legislative Branch is led by the Premier, who is in-charge in presiding the bills passed by the House of Lords. He is usually recommended first by the members of the House of Lords before appointed by the monarch. The House of Lords is composed of the different nobles and royalty throughout the kingdom including high ranking members of the clergy. The sole legislative house of the branch is tasked with the formation, discussion and passage of the national policies, this is also a move to keep the Duke's power in check and to develop a wider view on some issues through debate. With the lack of the House of Commons, one of the House's passed bill is the creation of local council for towns, cities and provinces. Each council named differently: the Town Council or City Council (Conseil Municipal), depending on its size, is the lowest form of the local legislative branch. They are in-charge for the development, and passage of local policies. It is composed of 7 council members with a Chairman as a presider, only under to the Town/City Mayor (Maire de la ville). The other one is the Provincial Council (Conseil Provincial) which varies from number due to the different number of districts in a province but it is always an odd number. They are in-charge for the passage of provincial policies that only affect their respective provinces. The members of such council must be elected by its own locals, and the candidates must be local to the district they want to serve.
Ideology: Progressive Monarchism; Mixed Economy
Leader/s:
King Noël I of House Artois
Premier Hugo Beaumont, Duke Beaumont
Relations
*Full Alliance with France (Military, Economic and Socio-Political)
*Trade Agreement with Yue (and mass immigration)
*Potential Trade Agreement with other nations in South America
*Blizzard relations with Brazil, Chile and Paraguay

Population Info
Brief Description of your people: The majority of the Kingdom's population is composed of French Le Platans, a cross-breed of French mainlanders and the native population. Because of this, the main language that is spoken here is French with some natives speaking their local dialect. Also because of the spread of Christianity in this part of the world, the majority of the population are fierce Christians which led to the construction of churches and even some cathedrals outside of Ventforts. Though the aristocrats may be the ruling class, they themselves are giving the commoners some power in order to keep them in check. As per order of the King, the commoners and artisans have been gradually given rights and powers to wield such as the ability to own and buy land. This move by the Head of State is one of the reasons for the majority of the populace to trust and abide them.
Religion: Roman Catholicism
Ethnicity: French Le Platans, Anglo-Brazilian, and Paraguayan Creole with an influx of immigrants from around the world especially from Yue.
Main/Accepted Culture(s): French Le Platans
Other Cultures: None

Military Info
Army: Before the "War for Independence" in 1815, there is already a standing yet small army of the french has composes French Le Platans, who have seen their fair share of encounters with minor rebellions and attacks from the neighboring colonies. And even beyond their war for independece, the Argentinian Army have to also protect the territory against the Chileans in 1817, and the Brazilians in 1820. After the succesful invasion of the former Republic of Antarctique, the military has been greatly transformed into a more modern army. Gone are the days of rampant nepotism, the rusted guns, and cannons of the old. Because of the close relations with France, they have provided the Army with modern European military equipment and training through military advisors. Since the early 1850s, the Army has been improved considerabely after the planned invasion for Paraguay was postponed.
Total Personnel: 45,000 | Reserve: 70,000
Infantry: 25,000
Cavalry: 10,000
Artillery: 5,000
Royal Guards: 5,000
Navy: Though historically the Argentines favor the Army for its practically given that their main enemies share land borders and their shores aren't near enough, the Navy has been given the attention with was due. The government has gradually created its own fleet of ships that were reinforced by using the modern ironclad technology, their sloops were now semi-powered by steam and given more armor, which rewards its speed and endurance. The French have then again greatly assisted the Argentines in acquiring some ironclads one that was used for research while the other two were refitted in a way that would best served the demands of the Royal Navy.
Number of Ships: 70
Fleets: 1 (Royal Atlantic Fleet)
Ship of the Line - 5
Frigates - 20
Reinforced Sloop of War - 40

Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: With the massive construction boom in 1848, thousands of kilometers of rail, road and bridges with laid down throughout the kingdom, making the flow of products smoother and lessens the transportation costs, which attracted more immigrants from around the world especially from Yue, mostly influenced by the agreement between the two nations. With the easier flow of goods, mining expeditions by some private mining companies have also begun at Pompas, which could spearhead the rise of the Argentine economy which as of present has been steadily increasing. With the surge of immigrants, industrialization on those once pastured provinces has begun which fueled the major revenue pool of the government, whom of which used the money for attracting more investors by either: investing on new ventures (with minimal risks), support some startups, expanding the infrastructure project to the ports, incestives for foreign investors.

It would not be long before Argentine Kingdom would be recognized as one of the leading markets and nation as a whole in the second half of the 19th century and may as well be in the 20th century.

Goals:
*Finally Conquer Chile and Paraguay.
*Encircle Brazil to paralyze her.
*Gain more investors from Europe and the Far East.


History: With the fall of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 came the fall of the French influence in Americas. The once united French Territory of South America would eventually be divided into three nations namely: the Grand Duchy of Argentina, Grand Duchy of Chile and the Republic of Antartique. The two Grand Duchies were the result of the major influence of the remaining French nobles who were given land there when it was still a French Colony. Supported by other escaping nobles from the mainland, this band of aristocrats formed a new nation. Among these nobles, the ancient House of Artois by Count Artois rose among them, a House whose former head has served under the Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars.

With Count Artois' leadership and initiative, he has successfully assembled his first court where they have mutually agreed on the terms of the creation of their Declaration of Independence from France. Forming the Grand Duchy of Argentina, which is then divided into 50 provinces with a noble loyal to him stationed. In the first decade of freedom, the court has produced a series of reforms that modernized the Duchy in the New World's standard. Starting with the formation of a Bi-cameral Legislative Branch and dismantlement of the feudalism, which means the freedom of serfs and the granting of lands for commoners.

Though people may assume that as nations who shared the same culture, the three French-speaking nations should have been close. But in fact, these states are near the point of warring each other. The current Duke Artois would exploit this tension in order to expand the Grand Duchy's territory and making it into a Kingdom. With this ambition in mind, he has gradually built up a military force with the training and equipment of the Napoleonic era this also led him to plead for French assistance. As the mid-19th century looms near, a series of reforms have also been passed one of this is the transitional period to a Constitutional Monarchy which would then give more power to Premier as the Head of Government.

In the past 12 years, the Royal Intelligence Authority (RIA) has funded the rebellious plot and decay of the authority of its neighboring countries, one of which may have caused the collapse of the former Chinese colony power of the north. Over the years, it's personnel has been delicately increased to satisfy the impending workings for the complete collapse to chaos of Chile and Brazil. The Kingdom has beem bidding its time and stacking up for the invasion of Paraguay in the near future.

RP Sample:
Tales of Two Horizons II - Kingdom of Argentine
2024: Age of Superpowers - The Philippines
429 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[The Industrial States of Columbia]

Alleniana

I've tg them for few days now and I have yet to get any response

Feel free to tg me about what you are interested in, or you can stop by the discord. I can help you on either platform you would wish.

[Elerian]

Reservation:
Location: 28
Nation Name: Holy Italian Confederation
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Vaterlandische Austria]

I've tg them for few days now and I have yet to get any response

Feel free to tg me about what you are interested in, or you can stop by the discord. I can help you on either platform you would wish.

Alright

[Age of Steam and Steel OPs]

Roster should be once again up to date, Argentine has been accepted conditionally, granted changes discussed in discord.

Columbia

[Castelia]

Reservation:
Location: 67
Nation Name: State of Min
635 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.

[Granluras]

Alright, I guess I have to renew this. Il try to app by tonight.

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

[Castelia]

[REMOVED] - I will not be continuing with my roleplay due to unexpected circumstances.

[Jaslandia]

Generic Info
Nation Name: Kingdom of Bohemia (Full name: Kingdom of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia)
Symbols: Flag of Bohemia; Coat of Arms of Bohemia; Čechie (national personification)
Location #16
Population: 12 million
Capital City: Prague

Government Info
Government Type: Constitutional monarchy
Brief Explanation of Government: The Kingdom of Bohemia is a constitutional monarchy. Once a semi-constitutional monarchy with the King sharing power with the Diet, King Maximilian III has gradually ceded power since the 1848 revolution. However, the monarch still retains some reserve powers, such as dissolving the Diet appointing the Chancellor (although most of the time those powers are only used upon consultation with the Chancellor or the majority party).

The Diet is in made up of two houses: the Senate as the upper house, and the Chamber of the People as the lower house. The Diet has control over the budget, tax collection, and many other areas of financial and domestic policy. However, most of the Diet’s actions (such as the budget) must be approved by the monarch, but in most instances, this is ceremonial; only rarely on issues where the monarch feels strongly will he refuse to approve the legislation, and in that case, the Diet and the monarch must reach an agreement for the legislation to pass.

The monarch is (at least nominally) powerful figure, as he is the head of the army, has control over foreign policy, and can appoint the Chancellor (who in turn appoints the Cabinet). In addition, he has to approve many of the Diet's actions. However, most of the time the monarch uses his powers in consultation with the ruling government in the Diet, and only rarely does the monarch use his authority independently.

Finally, there is the court system, led by the Supreme Court of Bohemia. Bohemia is renowned for having an independent judiciary, which can check the powers of both the monarch and the Diet according to the Constitution of Bohemia. The Supreme Court was initially headquarted in Prague along with the monarch and the Diet, but the court moved to Brno in 1850 in order to have greater independence.

Ideology: Liberalism, conservatism (to a certain extent), monarchism, constitutionalism, classical liberalism, civic nationalism
Leader/s: Monarch: Maximilian III of Bohemia
Chancellor: Felix Lichnowsky, Prince Lichnowsky

Relations The modern Kingdom of Bohemia’s foreign relations have been in flux since its inception. When Charles Albert (Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor) first formed Bohemia, he broke Bohemia away from Austria, which meant he was naturally allied with Austria’s rival Brandenburg. However, when Maximillian III Joseph (Maximilian I of Bohemia) came to the throne, his personal ambitions on capturing and holding Silesia put him into conflict with Brandenburg, which had long desired control over Silesia. When the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle ended the War of the Austrian Succession, Bohemia ironically grew closer to Austria, as Bohemia holding Silesia would keep that resource-rich region out of the hands of Austria’s rival Brandenburg. This relationship became even closer when Ferdinand V became King of Bohemia in 1799, making Bohemia practically a vassal state of Austria.

After being aligned with France for most of the Napoleonic War, Bohemia began to move in a pro-Brandenburger direction, as Austria’s attempts to re-annex Bohemia or reinstall Ferdiand as their puppet king were defeated at the Conference of Vienna, and the pro-Brandenburger Maximilian of Zweibrücken became King of Bohemia (albeit with restrictions to ensure that Bohemia wouldn’t just do Brandenburg’s bidding). However, things have changed in recent years, as Brandenburg has grown further apart, while Austria has grown closer. While Brandenburg reportedly still has designs on the formerly-German region of Silesia, Austria has been less forceful, and the rise of a Bohemia (Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky) to Minister-President of Austria has led to improved relations.
Besides Austria and Brandenburg, Bohemia is also friendly with Hungary (due to common ethnic heritage, and a shared desire to maintain their independence against the German powers), although increasing instability in Hungary and Maximilian III’s more positive relations with the German states has caused Bohemia and Hungary to grow apart. Bohemia also has a solid friendship with Great Britain, as Bohemia sees that nation as the great stabilizing power which will maintain the current balance of power and protect Bohemia’s current existence. Bohemia also has strong trade ties with the Commonwealth of the Four Kingdoms, though the Commonwealth's dislike of Hungary and the German states prevent the relationship from growing beyond that.

Population Info
Brief Description of your people: The Kingdom of Bohemia is a multinational state, made up of both Czechs (also known as Bohemians) and Germans. Originally, the German minority formed the entirety of ruling class, owing to the fact that the ruling dynasty was Bavarian German in origin. However, it was soon realized that this was a recipe for societal tension, so successive monarchs have made an effort to build a Czech middle class and Czech bureaucracy, bringing about more social equality between the two groups. This process increased with the 1848 revolution, which saw most of the kingdom’s top German officials replaced by Czechs. Today, most of the bureaucracy is Czech, while Germans make up a large portion of the merchant class and some political positions. In recent years, King Maximilian III has tried to instill a ‘Bohemian’ identity to cover all of the country’s ethnic groups, but with limited success.

However, the aforementioned dynamics do not apply to Silesia, where Germans still make up most of the ruling class, and the population is split roughly 50-50 between Czechs and Germans. However, there are growing Czech middle and upper classes in Silesia, as Czechs join the bureaucracy and get rich from new industrial enterprises. There is more social tension in Silesia than in the rest of the Kingdom, but the situation seems to be under control so far.

Religion: The primary religion of Bohemia is Roman Catholicism, and it has been ever since the Habsburgs crushed the Hussite movement and forcibly converted the population back to Roman Catholicism in the 1600s. In addition, the King of Bohemia is considered the ceremonial head of the Roman Catholic Church in Bohemia.

However, in recent years, there have been moves toward religious freedom in Bohemia. Protestants in Silesia had had religious freedom since Silesia was incorporated into Bohemia in 1745, as Silesia has a significant German Protestant population. Starting in the 1830s, these protections were expanded to other Protestants in the Kingdom, such as the Moravian Church, and the remnants of the Hussite movement. Jews have not yet been granted full religious freedom, however, and the emancipation of the Jews is a contentious issue in Bohemian politics. Full religious freedom for the Jews may be on the horizon, but with the vehement opposition to this in parts of Bohemia, it can be hard to know for sure.

Ethnicity: Czech, German
Main/Accepted Culture(s): Czech, German
Other Cultures: Jewish, Hungarian, Roma/Gypsy, Slovak

Military Info
Army: The Army of the Kingdom of Bohemia, consisting of 97,000 men, is made up of two branches: the main Regular Army, and the Royal Guards.

The Regular Army consists of 82,000 men, and is the core of the Bohemian military. These are your average infantry, cavalry (including Hussars), and artillery troops. The military was once a strong and experienced force, having fought valiantly during the Napoleonic Wars (first on the side of France, and then on the side of the Coalition near the end of the war); however, since then, the army has had little do besides quelling a few riots and peasant revolts, and Bohemia has generally been at peace. Because of this, the size of the military has shrunk, and it is lacking in experience, though King Louis hopes to change that soon. Only the cavalry and Hussars of Bohemia are still experienced, and Bohemian cavalry is renowned throughout Europe, and young cavalry offices often spend time serving and training in other European armies before returning home to serve in the Bohemian forces.

In contrast, the Royal Guards are the most elite regiments of the Bohemian military, made up of 15,000 men total. While two Royal Guard regiments live up to their name and are assigned as the King’s bodyguards, the rest are active in the field, with the ‘Royal Guard’ status simply signifying their elite nature. Though these troops haven’t seen much combat, they are highly disciplined, and they receive more training and more rigorous training than the Regular Army. The Royal Guard regiments are without question the pride of the Bohemian military.

Navy: There is only one branch of the navy, the River Patrol Forces. The navy only consists of small ships for navigating rivers, since Bohemia has no coast line, and Bohemia’s only waterways are rivers and lakes. The navy currently consists of 200 sailors. The navy is understandably inexperienced and not well-equipped.

Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: The economy of the Kingdom of Bohemia is still largely agricultural, but the country grows more industrialized by the day. The urbanization of Bohemia’s biggest cities like Prague, Brno, and Breslau, plus control over the resource-rich Silesia region, has created a golden opportunity for industrialization, and many have already taken advantage of it. Coal mining has sprung up all over Silesia, with the coal being used to power small factories in both Bohemia proper and in Silesia. The coal also powers many rail lines in the kingdom, making Bohemia the first adopter of railways in Central Europe. The free market leanings of the Bohemian government have also contributed to this industrial growth. Though not as industrialized as countries like Britain and New Batavia, Bohemia (Silesia in particular) has rapidly developed, and is now considered to be the industrial powerhouse of Central Europe.

Goals: Increase Bohemia’s cultural standing; increase Bohemia’s standing on the world stage; expand the army; further industrialize the country

History:

For centuries, ever since the demise of the Přemyslid dynasty in the early 1300s, Bohemia had mostly been a domain of larger empires, specifically Poland (under the Jagiellonian dynasty) and the Holy Roman Empire (under the Luxembourg and the Habsburg dynasties). By 1526, the Habsburgs had consolidated control over Bohemia, and except for a brief interlude under the ‘Winter Monarchs’ Frederick and Elizabeth of the Palatine in 1620, Bohemia remained a core part of the Habsburg empire.

That is, until December of 1741, when Charles Albert, Prince-Elector of Bavaria, marched into Prague during the War of the Austrian Succession, and had himself crowned King of Bohemia. However, the Austrian Habsburgs, now led by Maria Theresa and her husband Francis, contested Charles Albert’s claim, and their Austrian armies fought to dislodge Charles Albert from both his new Bohemian holdings, and his original homeland in Bavaria. While their campaigns to take Bavaria were successful, marching into the Bavarian capital of Munich in early 1742, Charles was more successful in Bohemia and central Germany, where his armies not only repelled Austrian attacks, but even managed to march into Frankfurt, where Charles Albert was crowned Holy Roman Emperor (a largely symbolic position by now) as Charles VII.

Charles Albert dreamed of creating a great empire based out of Bohemia, Bavaria, and the other German states, but these dreams were dashed as Charles was soon pushed out of Frankfurt and central Germany, leaving him with only Bohemia. Charles Albert was preparing for a new campaign to retake Bavaria when he died in January of 1745. Charles was succeeded by his 18-year-old son Maximilian III Joseph, who decided to radically change course. Maximilian saw that Bavaria was well-defended by Austrian troops, and a campaign to retake it would be foolhardy. So, Maximilian all but abandoned his familial possession of Bavaria, and instead focused his efforts on the north, hoping to retake Frankfurt, declare himself Holy Roman Emperor, and coordinate with the Brandenburg forces to crush Austria. While Maximilian’s attempts to take Frankfurt ended in failure, and the position of Holy Roman Emperor went instead to Maria Theresa’s husband Francis of Lorraine, Maximilian’s armies were more successful in taking Silesia (which had fallen back under Austrian control), much to the frustration of the Brandenburgers, who briefly controlled Silesia during 1742-1743 before losing it to the Austrians. After that, Maximilian focused on a defensive war, with his few offensive campaigns mostly focusing on consolidating his territory and capturing border towns.

In 1748, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle was signed, which redrew the borders of Europe. In particular, Bavaria as a state was abolished and ceded to Austria, with Maximilian and his Wittelsbach dynasty being allowed to retain Bohemia and Silesia as compensation. While Austria was unhappy to lose a core part of their territory, they were also pleased, as the treaty defeated Brandenburg's goal of capturing Silesia, which was one of the main reasons Brandenburg entered the war in the first place. Brandenburg swore they’d get back Silesia one day.

But for now, Maximilian III Joseph (who was now known as King Maximilian I of Bohemia) set to work consolidating his new state. He reformed the judicial and tax system, he supported the establishment of cultural institutes like museums and opera houses, he patronized prominent artists and musicians, and he generally did everything in his power to establish new and strong institutions for a nation that hadn’t been truly independent in centuries. For this, Maximilian was much loved, although some resented that they were still ruled by a German despite their independence.

In 1777, Maximilian died without an heir, triggering the War of the Bohemian Succession. Austria, under Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, claimed the throne of Bohemia through his wife Maria Josepha, who was Maximilian’s sister. The Brandenburgers supported the claim of the nearest relative of Maximilian, Charles IV Theodore, provided that the pro-Brandenburg Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken, would be Charles Theodore’s heir (as Charles Theodore had no legitimate children). Both countries hoped to finally control Silesia through the war: Austria by directly controlling Bohemia and Silesia, and Brandenburg by installing a pro-Brandenburger monarch who would sign over Silesia to Brandenburg. After an indecisive war lasting about a year, Austria started to gain the upper-hand, and after the Commonwealth of Four Kingdoms threatened to enter the war on the Austrian side, the parties agreed to come to the negotiating table. Under the resultant Treaty of Prague, Charles IV Theodore became King of Bohemia, and left his choice of heir in the hands of the Holy Roman Emperor. Joseph II initially named himself as heir, despite widespread opposition in Bohemia, who feared that Joseph would bring his radical Enlightenment-style reforms to Bohemia. However, Joseph died in 1790, leaving the choice of heir in the hands of Joseph’s brother and the new Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II.

Leopold contemplated naming himself as heir just as Joseph did, but other powers like Britain and Brandenburg opposed this, as they wanted to see Austria remain in its weakened state. With the threat of another war looming over him, Leopold at last named his second son Ferdinand as heir, with Ferdinand becoming Ferdinand V of Bohemia upon Charles Theodore’s death in 1799. With Ferdinand as King, Austria now had a pro-Austrian puppet state in Bohemia, while at the same time avoiding the wrath of the Great Powers that direct annexation would have incurred. However, there was a growing liberal movement in Bohemia, and they wanted to see Bohemia be truly independent, and not a vassal to some greater power.

The liberals soon found their champion in Napoleon Bonaparte of France. In November of 1805, as the French army marched toward Vienna, liberal young people began protesting in the streets of Prague, demanding a constitution with a parliament to limit the power of the king. Ferdinand pleaded with the Habsburg government in Vienna for aid to crush what could soon become a rebellion, but as the Austrian Habsburgs were busy fighting the French, no aid was forthcoming. On November 28, 1805, Ferdinand V and his court fled to the Austrian lines, and the next morning, liberal revolutionaries stormed Prague Castle and declared the Republic of Bohemia.

However, the Republic was not long for this world. On December 5, a few days after his victory at Austerlitz, Napoleon and his armies marched into Prague, ostensibly to restore order to a state in chaos. After asserting control over Bohemia, Napoleon called for a constitutional convention in Pilsen to create a new form of government. While the convention was dominated by liberals, Napoleon had secretly bribed many of the delegates, getting them to support a constitutional monarchy headed by Elisa Bonaparte, Napoleon’s sister. Forming an alliance with a few moderate conservatives at the convention, the bribed delegates managed to get a constitutional monarchy headed by Elisa put into the Constitution, while the other liberal delegates got everything else they wanted: guaranteed rights like freedom of speech and freedom of the press, the abolition of corvee (a system of unfree labor which succeeded serfdom after serfdom’s abolition in 1791), a strong national parliament known as the National Diet, and suffrage for all male citizens. With a pro-Napoleonic government now in power, Bohemia fought on the side of the French for much of the rest of the Napoleonic Wars, while Bohemia continued to support liberal institutions at home and foster support for liberal ideals. When Napoleon invaded the Commonwealth of Four Kingdoms, Bohemia sent a corps of troops to fight on Napoleon’s side.

However, as Napoleon and his army retreated from the Commonwealth, Napoleon’s enemies (such as Austria, Great Britain, Brandenburg, and the Commonwealth) formed a Coalition and rose up against him. Despite Napoleon’s falling stature and military setbacks, Elisa Bonaparte did her best to uphold the pro-French government in Bohemia, and she was helped along by her popularity among the people (Elisa has been a hands-off monarch, but she subtly supported the liberal agenda, and her efforts to provide aid for the poor and homeless also earned her popularity). However, Elisa knew she couldn’t survive Napoleon’s fall, and as Coalition forces neared Bohemia, the Austrians instigated a revolution which put Elisa Bonaparte under house arrest, while a new Provisional Government of Bohemia was proclaimed. The provisional government supplied troops to the Coalition forces, and Bohemian forces fought with the Coalition at the Battle of Leipzig.

When the war ended, and Napoleon was exiled to Elba, the Conference of Vienna was held to decide the fate of post-Napoleonic Europe. The question of Bohemia was a central question, as the delegates debated whether Ferdinand V should be reinstated as King of Bohemia, Bohemia should be annexed directly to Austria, or a new king should be installed in Bohemia. While Austria favored either direct annexation or reinstating Ferdinand, Britain and Brandenburg opposed this, as they sought to keep Austria weak. In the end, it was decided that Ferdinand V would not be reinstated, Elisa Bonaparte would be released from custody and returned to France, and that Maximilian I Joseph, Duke of Zweibrücken (younger brother of Charles II August, the pro-Brandenburger candidate who had tried to gain the Bohemian throne during the War of the Bohemian Succession), would become King of Bohemia. However, to ensure that Maximilian Joseph wouldn’t just be a pro-Brandenburger puppet like his brother, a provision of the treaty on Bohemia (the Treaty of Salzburg) said that Brandenburg could not annex Silesia, nor could Bohemia sign over Silesia to Brandenburg in any way, for 50 years. And even after that 50 years, Austria maintained that it had a right to intervene in a Brandenburger annexation of Silesia if Austria felt that the annexation would upset the European balance of power.

Not long after Maximilian Joseph took the throne as King Maximilian II of Bohemia, a political crisis developed over whether the Bonaparte-installed Constitution of 1806 would remain in place. Proponents argued that the Constitution formed the foundation of a modern and liberal state, and that rejecting it would set Bohemia back by decades; opponents argued that the Constitution was illegal due to Napoleon’s bribery of the delegates, and that it took power away from the divinely-appointed monarch. As a compromise, Maximilian II re-presented the Constitution of 1806 to the local assemblies, and asked them to either ratify or not ratify the Constitution. Without any bribery, a majority of the assemblies ratified the Constitution of 1806, and it became law. However, while the original Constitution of 1806 made the monarch mostly a figurehead, a series of amendments passed between 1818 and 1820 gave the monarch more powers, such as requiring the monarch to sign off on many parliamentary actions, and giving the monarch control over military and foreign affairs. With the constitutional crisis resolved, Maximilian II passed the rest of his reign peacefully, as he focused on strengthening a sense of Bohemian identity and consolidating his authority over Bohemia. Upon Maximilian’s death in 1825, his son Ludwig took the throne (under the regnal name Louis III). It was under Louis that Bohemia would reach a new golden age, as Louis sought to revitalize Bohemia both culturally and economically.

Louis was an eccentric monarch, and one of his eccentricities was his fascination with the Middle Ages. Louis’ interests led to the reopening of monasteries and abbeys which had previously been closed during the reorganization of Germany during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the construction of a grand summer palace just outside of Prague, and the redecoration of a few castles in the neo-Gothic style. Ludwig also patronized educational institutes, hired new composers and artists for his courts, and renamed the state to ‘the Kingdom of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia’ (to reflect the three regions of the Kingdom).

However, Louis also wanted to expand his nation’s economic potential. Under Louis III, the first railway in Bohemia, and one of the first in Central Europe, was built, connecting Breslau in Silesia with Prague in Bohemia. Textile mills, initially powered by water, opened in Prague, Brno, and Breslau, but with large-scale coal mining in Silesia, the factories later switched to coal. Louis helped encourage this economic development through both his personal support and sponsorship of big projects, and by loosening regulations and abolishing royal monopolies.

As 1847 turned into 1848, Bohemia faced both great potential and great obstacles. On one hand, Bohemia began to industrialize at a rapid pace, starting its rise to become the economic powerhouse of central Europe. On the other hand, Bohemia’s foreign and military policy still resembled that of a second-rate power, and Bohemia had not used its economic prosperity to exert greater influence on the world stage. That began to change, however, when the Prague Revolution broke out in February of 1848. What started out as simple protests by industrial workers seeking better pay and working conditions turned into a full-blown liberal revolution, as liberals demanded a change in government (moderates favored deposing the autocratic Louis III in favor of his more liberal son, while radicals called for the institution of a republic). After about a month of escalating tensions, Louis III bowed to pressure and abdicated, being succeeded by his son Maximilian.

The new Maximilian III took a new course. He abandoned the more eccentric and despotic ambitions of his father, although he also completed some of his father’s construction projects. Maximilian also sought to continue the liberal revolution, surrendering more power to the Diet, and taking a less direct role in politics. However, Maximilian still exerts some influence on foreign affairs, and partly at Maximilian’s urging, Bohemian foreign policy has shifted decisively toward Austria, bringing the two nations closer. With accelerated industrialization and major shifts in world politics on the horizon, Bohemia must be prepared to respond to any challenge.

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