1812: Alternative Divergence [AH][OOC-DEAD]

[Empire of Techkotal]

Short Question Trakia. What do you think gives me more possibilities Jihad or Piracy?

[Tracian Empire]

Interest tag, reserving Italy.

Reservation accepted!

[Tracian Empire]

Short Question Trakia. What do you think gives me more possibilities Jihad or Piracy?

Well, it depends on what exactly you're claiming. Jihad would mean land-based conflict and might be a little more difficult to pull off, Piracy could be a more low-intensity thing.

[Kenobot]

Interest tag, reserving Italy.

How do you feel about rejoining the Holy Roman Empire

[The Traansval]

Full Nation Name: United Republic of Great Britain and Ireland; also known as the United Republic, British Republic, or the Union.
Anthem: The Green Flag

Territorial Core: The Main core of the Union is the British Isles of Great Britain containing the English and Scottish Republics and the isle of Ireland containing the Irish Republic, along with the several smaller isles surrounding the Republics.
Territorial Claim: Former colonies of the monarchy were placed under the control of the British parliament (rather than any individual republic of the union) through the appointment of Governors creating the colonies of the Gambia, Free Province, Guyana, and Cape Colony. Colonies that are granted limited self-government are called "Provinces", such as the Provinces of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and St. Johns Island; while each of these is considered separate colonies, they're all under the oversight of the Governor-General of Canada, whose influence is mostly indirect as each province has a Lieutenant-General. The Governors are largely charged with maintaining order and promoting colonial expansion, particularly in Canada as the British explore westward towards the Hudson bay which is claimed entirely as British territory. Colonists gain some say in the form of Colonial Councils (In Colonies) which advise the Governor, and Colonial Assemblies (In Provinces) which have limited legislative and executive powers. British holdings in Indian Bombay, Puducherry, and the island of Java are under the control of the loyal but autonomous Honorable East Indian Company, which also relies on the use of loyal local rulers to maintain order and assist in HEIC attempts to expand.
Capital City: London

Government Type: Democratic Federal Republic
Government Ideology/Policies: The United Republic is a nation founded on the principles of human rights, legal and political equality, universal male suffrage, and benevolent care for the poor and laboring classes. Wrapped together this overall package of revolutionary values is known as Radicalism or Radical Republicanism, a current of Liberalism that advocates for the militant overthrow of institutions of monarchial and despotic power, and a view of the state being a helping hand. This view is most expressly pushed by the United Republican Society. The British Liberal Society expresses a more moderate approach, believing that with the revolution having been achieved and the monarchy was overthrown the government needs to step back its measures and return to a more normal state of affairs, with heavy political influence from Liberal figures like the late Adam Smith and Malthus. The Levellers, who form a minority pressure group within the United Republicans, criticize the flaws they see in Capitalism, primarily based on the interpretations of rising stars David Ricardo and Thomas Hodgskin, with young members of the society like Robert Owen stating that a new economic revolution must take place where the economy will be reorganized into a utopian society based on mutual cooperation and common control of land and tools.

Government Focus: With the growing continental reaction posing a threat to the young Republic, Councilman Thelwall has taken a key eye to "guarding the revolution" through building up the security of the state and promoting the values of the Republic.
Head of State: President Edward FitzGerald of the Irish Republic, President Joseph Gerrald of the Scottish Republic, and President Charles Hall of the English Republic together form the Tribunal of the Republic.
Head of Government: First Councilman John Thelwall oversees the government, whose leaders form the Council of State which he chairs.
Government Description: Governance of the United Republic is divided between the three Republics of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the British Parliament whose laws, agents, and administrators have jurisdiction across the three Republics and the overseas territories of the union. According to the London Charter, the British Parliament's authority extends over matters of foreign affairs (including war, diplomacy, and trade), matters of security and upholding law and order within the union, cross-Republic matters like internal trade or disputes, and matters of the "Common Welfare"; laws passed related to these matters by the Parliament are enforced by special "British Courts". The individual Republics are guaranteed their own Parliaments which have jurisdiction over matters not given to parliament by the Charter, such as the regulation and taxing of internal commerce, the organization of internal political divisions and local governments, and more. The charter also protects the Republics in its later clauses, stating that the British parliament cannot force the Republics to adopt or enforce laws it has passed with their courts, nor can it repeal laws passed by the Republican parliaments. The only check the British government has is to rule laws passed by the Republics unconstitutional through the British courts. The Charter and its parts like the Instruments of Government can be amended by vote of at least two of the three Republican parliaments (Or a majority vote in a referendum in at least two of the three) plus assent from the British parliament and at least two members of the Tribunal.

The British Government is a series of offices and departments under the control of a roster of Councilmen apart of the Council of State, which is elected by the members of Parliament (MPs) of the British Parliament. Every five years each county will be able to elect a certain amount of MPs based on their population, with MPs from all three Republics taking their seats in London forming a united parliament which acts as the supreme political organ of the nation, exercising its oversight through parliamentary committees and investigations, and enacting its will through laws enforced by the courts and the Council of State. Said Council is composed of MPs who are elected by the majority in parliament to take their seats in the government, where they will oversee the office or department they were elected to oversee. Currently, the Council is made up of the First Councilman, the Councilman of the Home Office, Councilman of the Justice Department, Councilman of the Treasury Department, Councilman of the Trade Office, Councilman of the Foreign Office, Councilman of the War Office, Councilman of the Navy, and Councilman of the National Heritage Office.

Each Republic's government is in line with the instructions of the Instruments of Government; each is led by a President popularly elected in a national election, whoever oversees a cabinet of ministers appointed by the President with the approval of the Republic's parliament. Like the British Parliament, the Republican parliaments are unicameral with a single House of Commons with a representative elected from each County of the Republic. Each Republic has its own courts which are used to enforce its laws and its own police in the form of their local Militias and any special formations the Republic establishes.

Under each Republic is a series of local governments, the largest of which is the County which contains within it multiple Divisions, which itself is at its smallest organized into Tithings. These Tithings are the size of neighborhoods and can contain usually a dozen or couple dozen households, whose adult men meet regularly in direct democratic Tithing meetings to discuss matters of the neighborhood and elect Tithingmen to form the Division Council. Divisions extend their authority over a district-sized area, usually over a small town or a section of a city. The Tithingmen of a district council are important in the running of the local administration, particularly where it comes to land and construction, as they control property regulations. Every five years the district council elects men to the County Council; the County Council oversees the implementation of Republican law, the upkeep and leadership of the county Militia, and a number of other local affairs.

The Tribunal of the Republic is the official Head of State of the Republic, although the President of England is, by tradition, considered the “First among equals” of the Tribunal and usually is the one who represents the Republic for formal events. The Tribunal's role is primarily ceremonial and was created to fill the place the Monarchy once had. Its only real power is the ability to veto legislation passed by Parliament, although this is a very rare occurrence as it requires ⅔ to approve a bill but 3/3 to veto a bill. Besides this, the individual Presidents on the tribunal hold considerable prestige and power within their own Republics and they are often consulted by the First Councilman.

British Courts have adopted a policy of strict adherence to textual sources while continuing the use of common law as a stop-gap measure due to the still shaky cannon of the law of the young Republic. Most important of these is the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a part of the London Charter which saught to go learn from the mistakes of the Americans and ensure their rights and liberties in the founding document of the Republic. Heavily influenced by Paines and the leading Radical enlightenment ideals of the time, it has been the most cited piece of the law so far in the decisions of the courts in forming new common law within the Republic.

Population: Approximately 16 million citizens live across the three Republics of the Union, with the largest population residing in the English Republic. An additional twelve million (roughly) people live under the control of the HEIC in Java and the Indian ports, these subjects are treated legally as foreigners, and because they are under the administration of the HEIC the Declaration of the Rights of Man do not extend to them as it does to the roughly 100,000 people living in the British Cape Governate, the 2 million people living in British Canada, and the several thousand strong populations of Guyana. Legal British citizenship is extended to those living in the colonies including freed slaves but excluding American Indians and native populations who retain special reservations and rights.
Majority/Official Culture: The three major constituents of the Union; England, Scotland, and Ireland; represent the three major cultures of the British isles. Additionally, England is home to the very distinctive and independent Welsh and the more often forgotten Cornish. The union’s overseas territories and colonies are also home to many native cultures and some colonial cultures.

Majority/State Religion: The three biggest religions are Anglicanism (Church of England), Presbyterianism, and Roman Catholicism. There also are substantial minority religions, mostly Protestant branches such as Baptists, Quakers, and others, along with a decent Jewish minority. Parts of the Empire also contain majority Muslim areas, notably Java, and Hindu areas, notably British India.
Religious Description: Religion in the British Isles has been one of the underlying factors in much of its conflicts. The Glorious Revolution saw three nations; Catholic Ireland, Presybeterian Scotland, and Anglican England join together in a common Union, and this would not have been possible without a commitment to Secularism in government and the freedom of worship. While some Conservatives might talk about Papist plots in their parlors, the United Republic has maintained this commitment to religious freedom, and it has allowed for the growth of religion in the nation. Ireland is a majority Catholic land, with sizeable Protestant (both Anglican and Presbyterian) minorities, mostly around the north. Scotland is mostly dominated by the Scots Kirk, or Scottish Church, which is a Presbyterian Church, although it's contested by the Episcopal Church which believes the Kirk has gone too far from the Anglican church, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church which believes the Kirk has gone too far towards the Anglican Church (Very oversimplified, the main conflict is over church structure, namely that the Episcopals want Bishops; while the Reformed church just generally believes the main Kirk has strayed from the path so to speak). England is relatively united by the Church of England, its main church, with sizable minorities of “Non-Conformists”, other protestant denominations such as Baptists and Quackers. England's religious freedom has also seen many other religions come to it, namely Jews, although they form the largest of the smallest groups and are commonly discriminated against.

Economic Ideologies: Dirigist Capitalism
Major Production: The British Isles are relatively resource-rich, with a strong mining sector that produces coal, iron, tin, and other metals in ample enough quantities to satisfy domestic demand. Britain also, thanks to the strong protectionist and anti-enclosure policies of the Republicans, has maintained a healthy domestic agricultural sector of mostly small holding family farms and communal farms. Britain is also at the forefront of the burgeoning manufacturing sector in the global economy, being a prime producer of textiles, metal works, and tools. Britain's colonies also provide her merchants with a steady supply of luxury goods and raw materials like sugar, spices, cotton, and more.
Economic Description: While not opposed to private property and market capitalism, the Republicans following the example of Paine have engaged in a form of humane capitalism, influenced by both the Utilitarianism of men like Jeremy Benthem and economics like now President of England Hull. Fundamentally this involves the use of progressive taxation, inheritance taxation, and protectionist tariffs along with land taxes to fund robust programs for workers and the poor such as the current state pension, the universal income, state-run public schooling, subsidies on cultural and medicinal programs, and many more. In terms of commerce and production, the Republicans have engaged in what would be called "Dirigisme", from the French "To Direct", which sees the British government take a direct involvement in the economy not only through regulations but also price-fixing, direct cooperation on economic planning, state corporations competition with private businesses, and subsidies to industries and corporations.

Development: Industrializing
Development Description: While the majority of the population still engages in agriculture, the Republic through the Trade Office and its partners both in business and local governments has been promoting the adoption of new innovations. Britain is a leading mining power in Europe, extracting coal with the help of steam engine pumps, with some like that designed by the engineer Watts being used in many textile mills, replacing the old water wheels to power new weaves and spinning jenny machines. Imported Indian cotton brought by the HEIC combined with this new explosion of textile mill industry has begun a new trend of factory production in Britain, one which has run up against resistance by the established Cottage and Workshop systems and by workers known as "Luddites" who fear the upheaval these new factories and machines will bring to their established production. Britains current explosion in agricultural production has sent many to seek their fortunes in the urban cities, promoted by the new social mobility they enjoy under the Republic, expanding the population of cities and leading local authorities to engage in new policies of development planning to create new modern cities employing innovations like gaslighting.

National Goals: Defense of the Republic, Expansion of Britain's colonial holdings, and the establishment of friendly revolutionary states to protect against the reactionary forces of continental Europe.
National Issues: The Industrial Revolution and the growing Luddite-Leveller movement, unrest in major urban centers as protectionist policies protecting domestic agriculture has led to rising food prices, and concerns over national defense as Briton watch the growing reaction to the Radical movement while also looking at the currently unfolding failed experiment of the United States of America; some worry that their fate may be Britains without immediate action.
National Figures of Interest: Thomas Paine, now deceased Father of the Republic. Horatio Nelson, commander and part-time populist demi-god of the Naval Service. John Thelwall, First Councilman, and leader of the British Republic and United Republican Party. Charles Hall, President of England and unofficial leading figure of the Leveller movement. John Shore, President of the Honorable East India Companies board of directors and Governor of Jakarta.

Army Description: Command of the British Army is held by the Irish Republican Army (Irish Establishment), the Scottish Republican Army (Scottish Establishment), and the British Republican Army (War Office). Despite the names, these are not separate armed forces but three different command establishments for geographic regions. The Irish and Scottish establishments are responsible for raising, maintaining, and commanding troops within their borders, while the War Office oversees the official British Republican Army containing regiments from all three Republicans and colonial troops, and has command authority within England and oversees. Legally and in common speech the combined forces of the Irish Establishment, Scottish Establishment, War Office, and Colonial forces are referred to as the United Army of Britain.

The standard unit of the Army is the battalion; most infantry regiments contain a single or two battalions while some special regiments like the Foot Guards or rifle Corps can more. For tactical deployment, infantry battalions can be subdivided into companies, who form ranks and fire, while cavalry regiments can be subdivided into troops. Further subdivisions are mostly organizational and not tactical in purpose. Battalions are often shifted and moved around, often placed under the command of a Brigade or Division apart of an army when deployed; it's rare for battalions of the same regiment to serve together. On paper, each battalion is authorized a thousand men apart of ten companies, two of which are "flank" companies (Light infantry, grenadiers, riflemen, etc.), although this maximum strength is often not met as active service depletes the number of men enlisted and recruitment can fall short of its goals; it's often common to have one battalion of a regiment to draw recruits from the second battalion of the regiment, which can often result in the second battalion being understrength if deployed. In total, the army has 95 Line Regiments, of which two (the 60th and 95th regiments) are rifle regiments with three and four battalions each respectively, with seven (43rd, 51st, 52nd, 68th, 71st, 85th, 90th regiments) light infantry regiments of two-three companies each. Separately counted from the line regiments are the four Foot Guards Regiments (1st Irish Guards, 2nd Scottish Guards, 3rd Welsh Guards, 4th English Guards) with two-three battalions each which form an elite corps of experienced soldiers, often veterans of the glorious revolution. The 11th Regiment of the foot is a special regiment with four battalions that exclusively recruits foreign volunteers; it was created as an amalgamation of various foreign volunteer regiments from the revolution.

The army additionally fields 30 cavalry regiments divided seven regiments of Dragoons, nine regiments of Dragoon Guards, ten regiments of Hussars, and four Light Dragoons. Officially the Dragoon Guards are distinguished as "heavy" cavalry while the Dragoons serve as "medium" and the Hussars and Light Dragoons as "light"; the distinction between the "heavy" Dragoon Guards and the "medium" Dragoons is basically non-existent as the Dragoon Guards operate effectively the same as the Dragoons. The purpose of the Dragoons and Dragoons is to harass the enemy and take part in flanking and break out maneuvers on the field while the hussars and light dragoons act as foraging, scouting, and vanguard forces. Cavalry regiments are roughly the same size as infantry battalions and when deployed are organized together as brigades; the term of Cavalry Division is used to refer to all cavalry within a field army on deployment.

Directly under the command of the Board of Ordnance, fifty companies of field artillery and six companies of horse artillery are organized into five artillery battalions to support troops in the field. An additional ten artillery battalions are attached to thirty-six "Invalid battalions", both of which are under the Ordnance board's control and are used to man fortifications and other emplacements. Also under the board is the Corps of Engineers and the Corps of Artificers, the former for field construction and the latter involved in the upkeep of the army, its tools, and its quarters.

In total, approximately 180,000 men served in the British infantry, around 28,000 in British cavalry, around 9,000 men in the artillery, and several thousand others in various support roles, along with tens of thousands of civilian employees in the Establishments and War Office. Standard issue weaponry is the Land Pattern or "Brown Bess" musket paired with a ring bayonet for use in close combat. Battalions of the 60th and 95th regiments utilize the Baker Rifle, which features rifling or grooves on the inside of the barrel to increase accuracy. Officers often carry flintlock pistols alongside swords, although rarely use them, unlike the cavalry who carry standard pattern Sabers for combat alongside pistols and carbines. The regular uniform is a red coat with white pants, white undershirts, and black boots with a leather Shako. This is not universal and also not standardized as supply and equipment are handled by individual regiments and are not provided by the War Office. Some regiments wear different colors depending on their history, such as green for some light infantry and rifle battalions, and kilts with multiple Scottish regiments. Soldiers also carry a large amount of equipment in their rucksack, mostly their camp equipment so that they can encamp immediately, while larger supplies are carried in supply trains or foraged from the local area.

Army Weakness: The British army historically limited officer commissions to members of the aristocracy and gentry, limiting the upward mobility of enlisted men. When the Glorious Revolution kicked off the initial leadership of the militias were political organizers or elected commanders, with minimal if at all training, with the few experienced military men like Despard being promoted to the top. Defections from the Royalist forces were primarily of enlisted and non-commissioned men, rarely of officers, and even with the end of the war, many officers of the Royal army preferred life abroad than trying their luck with the new Britain. As a result, Britain has had to hobble for the past decade without a real officers corps, relying mostly on the rapid promotion of non-commissioned officers to fill leadership positions. While this is in line with the Republican's meritocratic and democratic ideals, seeing it as giving the command to those most experienced of the enlisted ranks, these new officers have experience but rarely finer educations as many come from artisan and worker families. The doctrine has largely had to be formed on the study of written materials from the Royalist period synthesized with field experience.

Naval Description: The British Naval Service is the maritime wing of the British military, providing for both defense and offense on the high seas and waterways. The Service is most associated with its largest branch, the Republican Navy, but it contains other branches including the Republican Marine Forces, Republican Naval Artillery, and support services. All of this falls under the operational control of the Board of Admiralty, part of the Naval Department, with administrative duties done by the Navy Board. An evolution from the old Royalist system, First Admiral Horatio Nelson, who has been the undisputed leader of the navy since the Revolution, adapted the old institutions to push a new innovation in the form of a centralized professional command staff in the form of the Board of Admiralty to oversee command and operations.

Most of the ships in service were those seized by Republican mutineers during the war or those captured or surrendered during the war; thanks to the large Republican support in the navy, this constituted most of the navy. The Republican Navy adopted and adapted the Rating System of the Stuart Navy, assigning ships "rates" based on the number of guns they carried and their size. The Navy's weapon against foreign fleets is the Ship of the Line, those given 1st through 3rd rates. These ships are built with two or three gundecks and are large enough to carry between sixty to over a hundred naval guns depending on their rate. Their main purpose is to be used against enemy fleets in line battles, giving them the short name "Battleships". The navy currently has five 1st rates, eight 2nd rates, seventy-one 3rd rates, and seven 4th rates (4th rates are an intermediary rate that's being phased out of service. Often called "Great Frigates"). While battleships are used to counter enemy fleets, the lower rates of 5th and 6th rates, known as Frigates, are medium-sized warships built to either assist battleships or capitalize on their victory on the battle to utilize their control of the sea to "cruise" or operate on independent missions against land targets or more commonly raiding along trade routes to seize enemy merchant shipping; frigates, particularly larger ones, can even act as battleships in their own right against other frigates or smaller vessels as they carry between twenty and forty guns. Eighty-four 5th rates and twenty-five 6th rates (Of which, ten are called "post ships" as they carry a smaller armament than usual frigates but technically count as rated frigates) are commissioned in the navy. Below the Frigates are support ships known as "Unrated"; these include Sloops-of-War which are single gun deck warships carrying slightly lesser armament than frigates, which are commonly used in support of larger warships or for colonial service, alongside smaller specialized ships like brigs, schooners, cutters, and others; there is in total across the entire span of the naval service around three hundred or more unrated ships. Exact count is difficult as a lot of the particularly smaller ships serve in colonial service.

Ships are assigned to serve under Divisions that are headquartered in Stations; Division commanders will organize ships into fleets, squadrons, and flotillas as the tactical or strategic situation demand. Currently, operating divisions are the Home Division in Portsmouth Station, American Division in Halifax Station, West African Division in Freetown Station, Indian Division in Bombay Station, and East Indies Division in Jakarta Station. The majority of the heavier ship rates are concentrated in the Home Division, East Indies Division, and American Division in order of preference; the Home Division obviously protects the home isles, the East Indies Division is seen as a major concern due to the high competition in the area and the volubility of the HEIC's position on the island, while the American Division in general not only checks the Aztecs but also protects exports leaving Guyana and checks the growing piracy off the American coast caused by the collapse of the United States. More minor divisions like the West African and Indian Divisions mostly utilize unrated and frigate ships in cooperation with land forces to project British power in the area.

Uniforms are relatively plain; most of the crew wear their normal clothes while members of command and officers wear blue uniforms with white or gold facings combined often with top hats or bicorns/tricorns, the latter preferred by officers. The main exception being the Republican Marines dressed in red, whose companies are often stationed in ships for use as snipers, boarding party members, landing forces, or maritime military police/guards. The main weapons of any ship are their naval guns; the most common are those used for broadsides which are classified by the "pounder" system, based on the weight of their projectile. Ships will also often sport Long Nine bow guns which are special longer cannons designed for greater accuracy at the range for use during pursuits. Smaller ships will also often make use of carronade's, which are shorter lighter guns that don't have the same range but are better able to be mounted on smaller unrated ships while still providing the same punch at short range. These guns make use of special ammunitions like a round shot for standard engagements to punch holes in the enemy's sides and send splinters flying into its packed crew, grape or canister shot which fires a cluster of small pellets acting like a shotgun to clear enemy crews from decks, and chain shot to attack to take down enemy masts or rigging to immobilize them. When the need arises and the men need to board they'll make use of a cache of rifles, blunderbusses, pistols, and various swords, clubs, daggers, and other melee implements, along with mounted swivel guns firing shrapnel shots.
Naval Weakness: While large, the navy is woefully understaffed not only by experienced sailors but more importantly by experienced officers. With many Royalist sympathies and having either gone into exile, joined foreign forces, or turned to piracy, what's left is a group of revolutionary officers and rapidly promoted junior officers forming the Nelson Clique around their leader the First Admiral. While Nelson's reforms have attempted to professionalize the navy, his favoritism to his allies is not only known but blatant, as he knows Parliament dare not go against him for fear of a naval revolt. With the Navy stretched across several continents and oceans, the need for ships to man the stations has been easier to fill than the need for men to man these ships, leading to the unpopular practice of impressment by lots, a process that is not always above the law as individual captains have been known to "Bombay" or kidnap citizens, colonial subjects, and former colonial subjects in the form of the Americans and impressing them into service. While publically illegal and condemned, the Board is known to overlook the practice unless egregious due to the demand for sailors in a navy still expanding as new ships are ordered faster than the new ones touch the water.

Further Military Description: While strictly speaking not apart of the British Army, the many colonial forces of the Republic ultimately fall under the directive of the War Office. The largest of these is the army of the Honorable East India Company, a private mercenary army primarily staffed by Javanese and south Indian recruits led by European officers, mostly British but also continental. Service in the HEIC Army is not considered equivalent to service in the British army, and legally speaking those serving in it as private citizens and not legal officers of the Republic. Still, the War Office works with the existing company command to coordinate the defense of the company realms and its expansion for the good of the Republic and the savage peoples in need of intelligence governance. Those who are considered officers of the Republic are those in the Colonial Corps of Cape Colony and Canada, which are four battalions and eight battalions (plus three cavalry regiments) strong respectively. In support of these colonial battalions are the colonial militias also known as Fencibles which are self-organized by colonists for rapid mobilization in defense of their colony, and can be used either in support of the Colonial Corps or regular regiments or can be used in defensive and garrison posts to free up regular troops for combat.

RP Sample: You know me

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)[/spoiler]

[The Traansval]

History: The following is a People’s History of the British Isles. These two isles, long divided, were united by the marriage of the English Queen and the Scottish King, uniting the Kingdom of England, and its colony the Kingdom of Ireland, with the Kingdom of Scotland. Thus three nations existed under one Monarch, and under this monarch existed the institution of Parliament. Although not unique to England, as many contemporary monarchies held similar institutions, the Parliament of England developed throughout its history certain privileges and powers through the leveraging of the power of the gentry, who constituted Parliament’s ranks and also provided to the monarchs a steady administration and tax revenue. The assert of Parliament’s and by extension the gentry and aristocracy’s powers and privileges ran against the bulwark of the monarch's divine right to rule the Kingdom as his personal property. These two forces co-existed in a constant cycle of skirmish then reconciliation until finally coming to a climactic clash in an English Civil War, in which the flame of parliamentarians was snuffed out and the divine right of kings was made the law of the land.

Rule of Charles I
King Charles, I succeeded his deceased father in the year 1625, becoming King of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the fledgling British colonies abroad. Almost immediately, he came into conflict with parliament due to his detestation of their attempts to infringe upon his powers. As a result of this, Charles spent the first eleven years of his reign without having called Parliament to meet, a process known as his “personal rule”.

Another source of conflict was between the Arminians or “High Church” members of the Church of England, the state Protestant church of the Kingdom, and the “Nonconformists” in the form of the Puritans, Presbyterians, Quakers, and other Protestant denominations who disapproved of the Arminians in control of the Anglican Church or just the Anglican Church itself. In England, the main religious opposition to the Anglican church was the loosely organized but highly influential Puritans, who sought a purer church and who often accused the Arminians of Papist influence due to their grandeur, and in Scotland, the Anglicans were opposed by the Kirk, the Scottish church, a dominantly Calvinist church which opposed the Anglican church’s organization in favor a Presbyterian organization of church elder councils.

Religious conflicts boiled over into the Bishops War, where the Scottish Presbyterians launched an armed campaign in opposition to Charles over his attempt to institute a standard prayer bible across the three Kingdoms; a blatant attempt to impose Anglicanism upon the Kirk. Charles raised an army to combat the Scots, but he was unable to raise any new taxes due to his refusal to summon parliament, and thus was forced to find inventive ways to raise revenue to pay for his army such as pilfering funds from the Ship Tax (which was instituted to fund the navy, not armies) or stealing the Royal Mint’s bullion reserves. The Scottish and English armies skirmished but for the most part, avoided open battle until the Treaty of Berwick in 1639 established a temporary peace which Charles used to further build up his forces. Running low on funds, Charles finally convened the parliaments of England and Ireland to ask for support; Ireland, whose parliament was wholly dominated by the Anglicans colonists, pledged funds and troops to support Charles, while the English parliament went down in the annals of history as the Short Parliament as it was promptly dismissed following its denunciation of Charles for his theft of funds.

The Scots relaunched the war in 1640, leading a path of scorched earth, burning and looting Royalist areas, and cutting down south into Newcastle. Led by a veteran of the Swedish Army, Alexander Leslie, the Scottish army of Covenanters (So named as they adhered to the Covenant agreed to by the General Assembly of the Kirk) was a force of professional soldiers utilizing modern artillery along with the Swedish model, while Charles had managed to raise a force mostly of militias and untrained recruits who were more likely to desert than fight. That happened when the English army was defeated at the Battle of Newburn, which caused a collapse in army morale forcing Charles to peace. At the Treaty of Rippon, the Scots extracted demands of payment in the amount of 850 pounds per day along with the occupation of Northumbria; the war would not fully be resolved until the Treaty of London the next year 1641 where Kirk’s acts establishing a Presbyterian church were affirmed along with other guarantees such as protection for covenanters from prosecution.

Backtracking a little bit, the Treaty of Rippon forced on Charles the need to cough up 850 founds *per day* to the Scots, an amount he could not raise on his own, and thus for a second time, he was forced to call the English parliament to session. This parliament was a convention of 493 members, of which 350 were in opposition to the King. Its first acts were impeachments of the King’s councilors, chief among them Lord Stafford, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, and right-hand man of the King. Parliament also took radical action to protect itself, including passing an act mandating that it must meet at least once every three years, which Charles reluctantly agreed to due to its combination with a revenue bill. The case against Stafford fell apart in the courts, so the leader of the parliamentary radicals, John Pym, went to Parliament seeking a bill of attainder. While Pym was initially in the minority and attempted royalist army coup turned opinion against Stafford; he was beheaded by Parliaments orders on May 12th.

After this, parliament passed a slew of bills, including the abolition of major courts which Charles had used to enforce his revenue acts, along with the abolition of said acts to gain revenue, and an act which forbade the King from dissolving parliament. Charles granted these acts in order to concede and gain favor, and also to allow for the passage of taxation bills. He even made visits to Scotland and endorsed Kirk in an attempt to make friends, although an attempted royalist coup there undermined his support.

A new rebellion popped up in 1641, this time in Ireland. Said island was a complicated area both politically, ethnically, and religiously; Its population was mostly Catholic with a Protestant minority, but while religion played a large role, so did class and ethnicity; the lower classes were mostly composed of the Irish Gaelic, while the gentry and nobility were divided between the Old English, those who had come over during the Norman invasions and older England, and the New English, who had settled after the establishment of the Church of England. The chief difference between these two groups was religion; the Old English were Catholic, which they shared with the Gaelic, while the New English were mostly Anglican with a notable Presbyterian minority in Ulster. These religious and ethnic differences caused tensions, and it didn’t help that the Catholics were often discriminated against and had their lands taken over by Protestant plantations, particularly in the north around Ulster or Dublin. The Irish Rebellion was primarily one in opposition to this colonization and religious tension, and it saw the Gaelic be supported by the Old English, while said Old English still professed loyalty to the King. A government known as the Irish Confederacy, formed shortly after the initial uprising, and primarily dominated by Old English gentry and nobility, raised regiments of Irish soldiers and fought the New English.

In England, Pym pushed through the Grand Remonstrance, a bill listing grievances and complaints against the King and the House of Lords, a very controversial bill that nonetheless passed. Shortly after, news of the Irish rebellion and rumors of Charles’s involvement began to spread, inciting embers to burn. When Charles asked for funds to raise an army to put down the Irish, parliament suspected Charles meant to raise an army to instead march on parliament, and so Pym pushed the Militia Act to place the military under parliament. Soon, the antipathy between parliament and Charles was brought to its boiling point by rumors that parliament meant to arrest Charle’s wife, and so he took drastic action.

The boots of soldiers dressed in red, armed with pikes and matchlock pistols, trampled over the carpet of the Commons. They forced open the doors and secured the chamber as the King marched in and sat in the speaker’s chair. He held in his hand a warrant for the arrest of five men, five agitators, and radicals, five members of parliament. The men had fled, forewarned by trusted sources, and so Charles looked around a house containing none of the men he had come for. He asked the speaker where they were, but the speaker told his monarch that he could not answer except as the Commons instructed him; that he was a servant of parliament first, not the King. Charles left the house, and soon after fled London fearing for his safety. With the king in flight, Parliament raised an army; civil war had come to England.

Wars of the Three Kingdoms and an English Civil War
Charles attempted to seize the militia arsenal at Hull but was rebuffed by its parliamentary governor. The lines had been drawn; on one side, the Royalists or Cavaliers, on the other the Parliamentarians or Roundheads. In the north, the Scottish who had once fought the king in the Bishops war now constituted the Covenanters, now allied with the Parliamentarians, while Royalist Scots under James Graham attempted to retake Scotland for the King. Ireland was a mess as New English Royalists and New English Parliamentarians fought each other and the semi-Royalist Irish Confederation. Charles formed his court in Nottingham on the 22nd of August 1642, soon after moving to Oxford where he’d also form a rival parliament. Both sides formed their armies, and soon enough marched out to fight.

With both sides relatively evenly matched in arms and numbers, the fighting came down to tactics. For the parliamentarians, their forces came under the command of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex; Charles brought in Prince Rupert of the Rhine to give counsel and command his elite cavalry, which is exactly what he did at the Battle of Powick Bridge, routing a force of parliamentarian cavalry. On the 12th of October, his army marched out on the road to London, baiting Devereux’s army to come out and meet them. He would do just that, and at Edgehill, the two fought a bloody but indecisive battle, and later they’d fight again at Turnham Green, where Charles was forced to retreat to Oxford. The two sides hunkered down for the winter, and the dawning of 1643’s spring saw the Royalists gain many victories, but the parliamentarians were beginning to gain steam, undercut somewhat by demonstrations in August by Londoners demanding peace.

Devereux gained much-needed victories at the Battle of Newbury and the siege of Gloucester. Other victories such as at Winceby and King’s Lynn put immense pressure on the Royalists, leading to Charles agreeing to a ceasefire with the Irish Confederates in order to bring Royalist troops there over to England. These reinforcements, along with Prince Rupert’s cavalry utilizing effective scouting, delivering Charles a decisive victory at the Battle of Marston Moor; his outnumbered troops managed a successful fight against a joint parliamentarian and covenanter force, where the quick use of Rupert’s cavalry decimated a charge by the Ironside Cavalry under command of Oliver Cromwell, taking his life, and destroying infantry under command of the covenanter the Earl of Leven.

The victory dealt a large blow to the parliamentarian forces and crippled the covenanters, allowing for Charle’s forced to link up with the forces of James Graham, eventually leading to the pacification of Scotland in 1645. Earlier in 1644, Parliament reformed its forces, creating the New Model Army of professional officers and soldiers to fight Charles. Command of this army was given to Thomas Fairfax, who saw it through the fighting at the Battle of Lostwithiel and Second Battle of Newbury, both Royalist victories. Fairfax was beginning to see the writing on the walls and was increasingly coming to blows with the more radical members of the army such as Henry Ireton, who vied with him for power. Fairfax officially defected along with a contingent of moderate officers and soldiers, leaving the New Model Army as a mass of radical soldiers and a handful of radical officers, now under the command of Ireton. It fought two more battles at Naseby and Langport, both of which were Royalist victories.

Fighting continued into the next year until Ireton was captured in battle in May of 1646, and Charles entered London at the head of an army commanded by Fairfax in June of the same year. What followed was known as Charles’s Purge, as he put to death fifty major members of the parliamentarian rebellion and stripped titles, land, and peerage from hundreds more. Charle’s legalized all of this along with new taxes through a new parliament, known as the Rump Parliament or the Royalist Parliament as it was stacked with royal supporters. Charles had defeated the parliamentarians and put to death or exiled his major opponents, but more importantly, he had, through force of arms and more blood than had ever been spilled, enforced the doctrine of divine right, and taken the growing power of parliament and put it to the torch.

However, his fighting was not over yet, as Ireland was still in a tricky situation. The Irish Confederation there professed to be loyal to Charles but had been in opposition to the New English and Royalist forces there, and while Charles was sympathetic to the Irish Catholics he loathed the amount of autonomy the Confederation sought. Charles sat at home, gaining funds and men, until finally breaking his ceasefire and launching the Irish Campaign in the spring of 1649. His forces landed and soon put to siege the city of Dublin, a bloody fight that saw over 3,500 killed. This ruthlessness was seen throughout the campaign at places such as Rathmines and Drogheda, coming to an end only having the complete destruction of the Confederacy and subjugation of Ireland under New English lords in 1651.

The final years of Charles’s reign, known as the Postbellum Period, was an era primarily of reconstruction and the strengthening of the monarch's position. This period also saw a few last uprisings against Charles, including the Second Scottish Civil War where the covenanters give their last fight and Pride's Coup where Thomas Pride, a former colonel in the New Model Army, lead a band of former soldiers to seize Parliament and attempt to re-install parliamentary rule, only to see the force be put to death by Royalist militias. With the end of the Irish campaigns and the brutal put down of the last uprisings, Charles finally cemented his rule, and in 1654 he looked out from the windows of the palace on his empire, only for his heart to finally give out after years of campaigning. Charles I was dead and his son now inherited a destroyed Kingdom.

Postbellum Britain and the Passing of the Torch
Coronated Charles II, the new King saw the unrestricted implementation of “Thorough”, a policy drafted by his father’s advisors, chiefly Stafford, to centralize royal power for the establishment of Absolute Monarchy. The first acts his Royal government and parliament passed were the Clarendon Codes, a series of laws named after one of the king’s chief advisors, which in effect banned nonconformists and non-Anglican, along with standardizing the Church of England as the dominant religion throughout the three Kingdoms, although mostly England and Scotland. These saw Puritans and other non-Anglicans flee England for the colonies, joining those Roundheads who had gone into exile there as well, in an event known as the Great Ejection. Charles also implemented the Fairfax Reforms, a series of reforms championed by Thomas Fairfax to create a professional core similar to the New Model Army although restricted in order to keep it under monarchist control, along with the adoption of parliamentarian naval doctrine and tactics, allowing the Royal navy to be reformed into a more effective fighting force.

The new King ruled with absolute power, with a parliament of yes men rubber-stamping anything he asked for. Charles saw a great expansion in colonial efforts including plantations in Ireland and the American colonies which, while full of Puritans and now former roundheads, and by and large stayed loyal, earning the most loyal, Virginia, the title of the Old Dominion. However, it was not to be all sunshine and rainbows, as in 1665 Charles needed to oversee his nation as it went through the Great Plague of London, the last major outbreak of the disease, and in 1666 London was hit again, this time with the Great Fire decimating much of the urban city.

1668 saw the acquisition of Bombay by the British East India Company. It’s worth mentioning them briefly; the Honorable East India Company has acted as a nation unto itself with the sole purpose of trade and colonization in the East ever since its establishment. Utilizing colonial ports established in West Africa and the growing Cape Colony, the company came into the Indian ocean and soon set up in Java, where it made deals and fought conflicts to gain ports and allies in order to control the island's valuable spices. These spices were then sold in India, ruled by the Mughals. Bombay was the first port acquired by the British, and to support its growth Charles II granted the HEIC sweeping powers such as to raise troops and taxes, make peace and war, and others in order to allow it to operate.

While parliament was filled with Royalist supporters, it was also filled with protestants, who began to chafe under the Catholic friendly Charles II. Of note was the Declaration of Indulgence in 1670 which lifted penal laws placed on Catholics. Charles recanted this Declaration soon after, bowing to parliament which passed the Test Act, which placed restrictions on Catholics being able to be civil servants and other penalties. Parliament had been willing to fund the King’s projects and allow for his acts, but finally, it had broken from him on religion; Charles favored the High Church like his father which drew accusations of Papal influence, while the Anglican royalists in parliament were not happy with such accused influence.

Rumors of a papal plot to overthrow Charles ran rampant through London, and soon enough ire fell on one of Charles’s ministers; Lord Danby, who had been a part of Charles’s effort to negotiate non-aggression with Catholic France. To avoid having his minister be tried and possibly executed, Charles dissolved parliament in August of 1679. This didn't work, however, and he’d be forced to recall it and have Danby face trial, leading to his exile to the colonies. These troubles were overshadowed by the biggest showdown between Charles and parliament over Charles’s brother, James. Charles was childless, and so if he died the crown would pass to James, who was a Catholic. James had earned popularity after taking part in the effort to fight the Great Fire, and even more so when an attempted assassination was foiled in 1682. However, he was still a Catholic, which was not popular with the largely protestant and anti-papist gentry and nobles.

A divide formed over the introduction of the Exclusion Act, which aimed to exclude James from succession; its supporters were called Whigs in reference to a group of radical Scottish parliamentarians, and its opponents were called Tories referencing a group of Irish Catholics. Whigs formed an opposition to the King, while the Tories supported him and his attempts at Absolute Monarchy. The exclusion bill never saw a vote as Charles dissolved parliament and began a few years-long personal rules after he attempted to form another parliament only to see the Whigs fill it, necessitating him to dissolve it again. A string of acquittals towards those accused of involvement in papal plots showed the growing support for Charles and growing opposition to the exclusion bill, allowing Charles to push support for Tories in the civil service and judiciary. Support grew again after the Rye House Plot of 1683, a failed protestant assassination was uncovered, leading to the prosecution and execution or exile of many leading Whigs. With support at an all-time high, Charles solidified control by replacing judges and sheriffs at will and packing juries to achieve convictions favorable to him. He also disenfranchised many Whigs to achieve electoral victories for the Tories in municipal elections.

A Pretender's Rebellion and the Catholic King
Charles suffered a sudden apoplectic fit on the morning of February 2nd, 1685; he died shortly after. With the country firmly in the hands of Tory politicians, James ascended to the throne of the three kingdoms as James II of England and James VII of Scotland. James called a parliament that was largely packed with Tories thanks to the before-mentioned disenfranchisement campaign. James mostly kept Charles’s old ministers and officers, relying on them and continuing their policy Throughout. All was not roses, however, as soon after his coronation, James faced his first test as his nephew, the Duke of Monmouth raised an army hellbent on dethroning the Catholic King.

Monmouth was joined by the Earl of Argyll who raised a rebellion in Scotland; the rebellion was primarily based on religious and political differences, as Monmouth declared himself the rightful King and was supported by many Whigs who opposed Stuart's policy of absolute monarchy and James’s catholicism. James raised an army thanks to the generous funding provided by Parliament and crushed the Scottish uprising, capturing Argyll, in June of 1685. Monmouth saw a similar fate at the Battle of Sedgemoor where his forces were routed and himself captured, leading to the Bloody Assizes; a series of trials where Monmouth and Argyll were put to death and over three hundred other rebellion leaders and Whigs were sent into indentured servitude in the Suriname colonies of America.

After the rebellion, James sought security by incorporating the troops he raised for the Monmouth Rebellion into the standing Royal Army. This, along with James’s use of Catholic officers in the army, caused outrage among Whigs, while the conduct of the often rowdy soldiers in towns alienated many. When parliament objected to James’s use of Catholic officers in defiance of the Test Act, James dissolved Parliament. James then began to surround his court with men dubbed “papists” by the public, even receiving the first envoy of the Papacy itself since the reign of Mary I. While this alienated many Anglicans, even tory ones, James’s powerful standing army and the utter control of the courts by James’s appointments meant there was little power to stop him as he entered his personal rule. In May of 1686, James utilized a court packed with his supporters to rule that he had the power to nullify acts of parliament, and so overturned many of the penal laws against Catholics. Between 1687 and 1688 the King went on a speaking tour of the nation, driving support for his reforms throughout the nation, including new reforms granting tolerance to Scottish Presbyterians, who had become a minority in a new Anglican dominated Scottish Kirk.

Alongside his speaking tour, James instituted a new round of purges and disenfranchisement which saw the Dissenters; Whigs, and Tories alike who supported the Test Act and opposed James’s religious tolerance; removed from offices and purged from Parliament, along with the appointment of new Lord-Lieutenants in the counties and other municipal positions. After this, James issued writs of elections calling for a new parliament, which was seated in May of 1688 and was packed with Tories, most of whom were Nonconformists. In that same year, eleven Anglican lords formed a parliament of their own, which voted to declare the King’s Parliament null, nominating Lord Danby to lead their forces. Militias on both sides were raised, and within a month England was plunged into another civil war.

Many Tories of Anglican belief, or generally just opposed to James’s policies, joined the new Parliamentarians. Also joining the rebellion were the Agitators, and it is now that we shall take a detour to explain them. When the New Model Army was formed, its members became a group of conscripted, mostly puritan, men from all across England, now brought together. The rank and file became a hotbed for radical ideas, and the representatives of these men were called the Agitators. After the defection of Fairfax, Ireton rose to power and he empowered the Agitators, turning the Army into a radical force of Republicans. When they were defeated, these men didn’t disappear; while their officers fled to America, they were pardoned and returned to their homes, where they kept their arms and their radical ideas. Throughout the reign of Charles II and James II, these Agitators worked in the shadows, the most radical of the radicals, more radical than even the Whigs. Influenced by groups such as the Levelers who sought full political enfranchisement of the citizenry, the Agitators formed Green Ribbon clubs where they discussed and planned. With the rising of a new Parliamentarian force, the Agitators raised their own militias and went out to fight for parliament, even if parliament didn’t want them.

James met the rebels in June of 1688, resulting in a victory for his larger and more professional army. However, James did not capitalize on his victory, as despite his troop's quality they were low in numbers due to defections, so he wished to sit and build up his forces before moving. This allowed parliament's forces to regroup in the north, although this was a short respite as disagreements led to an all-out war between parliament and the Agitators in 1689, soon to be joined by the landing of Irish forces loyal to James in 1690. With his main opposition fighting amongst themselves, James fought multiple battles across a campaign cutting a bloody path north until he retook Nottingham in March of 1690. Now linked up with his Irish forces, James launched a final bloody fight stomping out the rebellion, with the last pockets falling in 1692.

The King was merciful to those lords who decided to pledge allegiance to him once more but gave only hellfire to the Agitators captured, ordering hundreds to death or exile. A second civil war, a second bloody purge, and a second Stuart King upholding his absolute god-given right to rule. Nine years later, just short of a decade, he was dead. A brain hemorrhage killed the Catholic King; he left behind a Britain utterly transformed from the one his ancestor, James I, knew. Succession passed officially to the thirteen-year-old James III, although his sister Mary ruled as regent until her death in 1704. Mary was a protestant, and so became favorable to the Anglican Tories. Her pressuring resulted in James officially converting to Anglicanism, and so his full rule in 1706 was marked with cheers from a now united Tory party.

Jacobite Era
James III began his reign mostly relying on his father’s ministers. While there was some push for it, he refused to undo the reforms of his father, although he did not push any new ones, instead of toeing the line between Anglicanism and tolerant reform. James’s reign was focused greatly on trade and the colonies, as the North American colonies, most established under his father and grandfather's rule, flourished, with booming populations and rich trades. The triangular trade emerged where slaves from British colonies on the west African coast were transported to British Guyana to work the extremely valuable sugar plantations. This sugar then was sent either back to Britain or to North America where it was used in alcohol production. America also sent back to Europe many raw goods such as tobacco, indigo, wood, and grain, while Britain sent to America manufactured goods like linens and guns. The whole trade became even more profitable with the expansion of the HEIC into the interior of Java and the acquisition of the port of Puducherry. This made the British the largest European power in the Indian Ocean trade and the ever-important spice trade which exploded in profitability over the emerging 18th century.

This period, known as the Jacobite Golden Age, became an era of extreme growth in the British economy, the further centralization of control and unity among the three kingdoms, and general peace in the Empire. It was also an era of progress, both in technology as the Royal navy adopted new techniques and weapons to stay ahead in the age of sail, and in policy as the Bank of England was formed by royal charter in 1708. The bank is of particular note not only for the fact that it was a private institution backed by the crown which allowed for the financing of the expansion of the Empire but also for the fact that it was a Whig institution. In fact, British politics had evolved to the point that being a Whig wasn’t a sign of radicalism and opposition to the king, but a new type of ideology; Liberalism and Capitalism. Ideals of the burgeoning enlightenment such as toleration but more importantly free trade became the defining ideology of these “New Whigs”, while the Tories became a party of those dedicated to protectionism; their disagreements became primarily economic, as both sides had their radicals weeded out by the Second Civil War. James tended to play the two sides off each other, although leaned Whig due to their tolerant stance and his own support for the expansion of trade.

That’s not to say there was no opposition, after all in 1712 a plot to assassinate the King was uncovered and its ringleader executed, but these types of things were common, and there was no sizable uprising or political opposition to the monarch on the basis of his right to rule. The plot, however, is notable for the fact that the ringleader went to the beheading block wearing a green ribbon. Despite their defeat in the civil war, the Agitators were still alive, just underground, and the growing enlightenment profoundly altered them. They perceived their defeat as having been due to the betrayal of the largely noble rebel parliament, just as the original New Model Army had been betrayed by the noble Fairfax. This, along with a growing movement in support of popular sovereignty and works from enlightenment writers such as John Loche, an Englishmen, turned the agitators towards what they called the “Grand Old Cause”; Universal Suffrage, Republicanism, an end to the nobility, and redistribution of noble lands to peasant farmers. The actions of James and his parliament helped him, as the agitators were soon joined by many of the Old Whigs who abhorred the New Whigs for their cooperation with the King.

Some of the first “Police” organizations were formed personally by James to combat the Republicans, who formed a complex net of organizations. The most expensive of these was the Constitutional Society of England in the north primarily around Sheffield and the London Corresponding Society in… London. Both of these groups operated as political organizing groups spreading radical ideas, often operating in shadows as the open spread of Republican ideas was considered Treason.

1715 saw the passage of the Acts of Union, which combined England, Scotland, and Ireland into one nation; the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It also abolished the Scottish and Irish parliaments and created one Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland, although other institutions and common law continued to stay separate. While there was no major armed uprising, there was discontent in the two, although the act mainly affected the Scottish gentry and New English in Ireland, both of whom now had seats in the Parliament of Great Britain.

While there was peace at home, James was often involved in the wars of Europe, supporting various sides ranging from Catholics to Protestants, mostly just attempting to keep the balance. The largest of these wars was the War of Jenkins Ear beginning in 1739 over the Iberian mutilation of a British smuggler. The war saw the British and the Iberians trade blows across the ocean, mostly in the form of privateers hired to raid the other's shipping routes. A few major naval battles had England come out on top, and on land, the Georgia militia made huge gains taking the Iberian colony of Florida. Later wars, including the Seven Years War, saw Britain gain full control of Canada and what was upper Louisiana, now the western territories, were costly. These foreign wars often distracted the monarch's attention, allowing for rebellions to take place in the home isles. The most common were rebellions by Scottish Presbyterians and Scottish Nationalists wishing to undo the Act of Union, the biggest of these being the Rising of 1745 where the Scots were joined by a force of Green Ribbon Militia organized by the Constitutional Society; both forces were put down with brutality by the Butcher of ‘45; the King’s song Charles Edward. While ending the immediate threat, the brutality turned the rebels into Martyrs and also united the Republican and Scottish causes.

Caroline Era and Prelude to Revolution

While the Empire was rich off its trade, taxation felt like a burden to many making this revenue. Nowhere was this hated more than in British North America, where the colonists hated the fact that Catholic Ireland had representation in parliament but they didn’t. These tensions erupted into outright protests during the 1760s after British authorities cracked down on smuggling and tax evasion. In 1766, King James passed away, leaving his crown to his some Charles, now Charles III; the Butcher of 45. His rule, known as the Caroline Era, would be remembered for the escalation of the American conflict; in 1770 a group of British soldiers labeled Red Coats by the Americans, fired on a protest. This, along with the proclamation that they’d be tried in England, not America, stoked outrage. In 1773, rebels in Boston seized ships of the HEIC and dumped their stores of tea into the harbor; in response, Charles pushed through punitive acts known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Americans formed a continental congress, and soon fighting broke out, causing the Americans to declare independence in 1776. The war became of considerable concern for Charles, as he feared a successful American rebellion might spread to other British colonies, and possibly even back home.

After years of conflict, major successes by the Americans combined with the entrance of France and Iberia into the war forced Britain to seek peace in the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, recognizing the American Republic and ceding it the western territories, although Canada had stayed loyal thanks to the presence of the Royal Navy. The defeat at the hands of not only Britain's long-time enemies of France and Iberia but also the upstart American rebels humiliated the Stuart monarchy and began to incite the people who had lived so long under its absolute control. The monarchs absolute control had been a fact for decades now, and one that was very unpopular, even to the royalist tories in parliament; but the Second Civil War had seen to it that rebellion was seen as impossible and so it was deemed by many prefer to simply deal with it and work within the system. It helped that the large growth in the economy over the 18th century meant that many cared little for what the King did as long as they stayed well fed and the gentry stayed well paid. Now, not only had the Americans proved rebellion possible, but the loss of the colonies and the war with France had caused a major depression in the economy, which was slowly recovering. This economic depression led to the Gordon Riots in London, whose violent suppression alienated the Whigs who oversaw said repression and drove people even more towards the Republican societies.

Recruitment to the Grand Old Cause skyrocketed. In Ireland, leading parliamentary leaders there had secured approval for the raising of the Irish Volunteers during the American War, and armed forces to free up British troops. The leadership of the Volunteers united in the Belfast Conference in 1780 under a new society, the United Irishmen. The leadership of the United Irishmen was mostly Presbyterians who sympathized with the Irish as they were both discriminated against by the Anglicans, and while the Irishmen’s leader Wolfe Tone disliked Catholicism he pushed for unity with the Irish Catholics as a means of obtaining a Democratic-Republican Ireland. The United Irishmen made common cause and contact with fellow Republicans in Scotland and Ireland, where the United Scotsmen and United Englishmen were formed by the Friends of the People in Scotland and the Constitutional Society in England.

In 1784, a year after the peace and the Gordon Riots, the Manchester Convention was held between representatives of the Republican organizations and came to an agreement on cooperation, forming the United Britons. At this point, the movement had grown so large that meetings and rallies were held out in the open, with street fights between constables and United Britons happening on the regular. The decentralized democratic model of organizing pioneering by the London Society was adopted and expanded across the country, creating a Federation of organizing units across the country that organized everything from political campaigning to the training of militias. Elections saw many prominent Republicans being elected to both local office and parliament, although those elected to parliament boycotted and refused to take their seats. With control of local offices, the Republicans took over command of Royal Militias primarily in the north.

Giving fuel to this fire was the radical writer and political organizer Thomas Paine. Known as the Father of the Republic now, Paine’s writing, most notably “Plain Truth” and the later “Rights of Man” were highly circulated and read works that formed much of the political theory at the foundation of the United Britons and Republican movement. Paine himself was constantly in and out of prison while men such as John Cartwright, Thomas Hardy, Thomas Holcroft, John Thelwall, John Horne, and Edward Despard led much of the effort to organize both politically and militarily in England. In Scotland, Thomas Muir led the organization of the United Scotsmen, while in Ireland the United Irishmen united with many militant Catholics and often butted heads with the Irish Patriot party which advocated for reconciliation with Great Britain to gain autonomy and mainly appealed to the Whiggish Irish. Many leading intellectuals of the time such as William Godwin, Mary Wollenstencraft, Richard Price, and many others gave support to the Republicans through the press, writing social and political works calling for parliamentary rights, universal suffrage, the abolition of slavery, and some radicals like Wollenstencraft even called for “Social Levelling” such as Women's Suffrage and the abolition of the aristocracy.

Glorious Revolution and Early Administration

The monarchy's reaction to this explosion of radicalism was the usual attempts at a crackdown by local authorities, but its ability to rationally react was stopped short by the death of the King at the hands of a stroke in 1788. Charles had died heirless, and the next in line was the controversial Catholic Henry, now Henry IX, also known as the Cardinal-Duke of York as he had dedicated his life to religious pursuits only to find the Kingship of Britain dropped into his lap. With the monarchy at an all-time low, the United societies recognized the time for revolution was neigh, and the spark to light the powder keg would come from the navy. A force of working-class men stuffed into hot wooden vessels, the navy was a historic source of radicalization, having sided with the parliamentarians during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Sailors from sixteen vessels at Spithead and eight vessels at Nore mutinied in March of 1789, seizing control of the vessels and their guns, and electing new officers. One of these new officers was Horatio Nelson, a career officer who had constantly been passed up for promotion by his aristocratic peers. Nelson led the Spithead and Nore sailors to draft a manifesto denouncing the poor treatment of the sailors and declaring their common cause with the Republicans. Their mutiny sparked off the uprising of the United Irishmen several weeks later, and as word spread a domino effect happened as Republican militias rose up, supported by Republican-controlled local governments.

A pitched battle was fought for several days in London as armed militias fought for control of the city, ultimately ending with Henry deciding to abandon the city to find a better strategic group in the west. With control of London, those Republicans who had boycotted entered the now empty halls of Parliament and declared themselves the new House of Commons of the English Republic, with their first acts being the legalize many of the revolutionary measures taken, nationalizing the militias as the Army of the Republic, and abolishing the House of Commons. Leadership from the United Britons was hastily elected as the Council of State, the new executive body taking over the former position the King and his court held, led by First Councilman Thomas Paine. At the end of July, the United Englishmen held London and the surrounding areas along with a large swath of the north while Royalist forces held onto Wales, Cornwall, and western England. The United Irishmen had declared the Irish Republic with its parliament currently in Belfast as their Irish Volunteers under Wolfe combated the Royalist garrison in Dublin. Muir’s Scotsmen had secured Edinburgh and the Highlands and were working their way south to defeat the Royal troops near Newcastle and then unite with the northern Englishmen. Meanwhile, Henry had fled the country, leaving his troops in the hands of his ministers and Generals. The Royal Army had seen many desertions but kept most of its officer corps, with many veterans of the American war commanding what was left of the Royal Army and its militias. The Republican Army was led mostly by defectors or elected officers, with notable commanders being John Cartwright in command of the northern United Englishmen and Edward Despard leading the London Militias.

Despard led a march north from London, cutting a path to Cambridge and then Norwich by September. Royalist forces were sent north to hold back the Republicans in the north, skirmishing south of Manchester and holding at Nottingham. Meanwhile, Muir surrounded and besieged Newcastle, separating half his army and sending it south to reinforce Sheffield while he settled in for a long siege. Through the fall Despard secured the east while sending his forces west to secure and defend the greater areas outside London. With winter setting in, both sides settled down, not willing to fight with rushed forces through the terrible cold. The Royalist Generals held a council in Bristol where they broke with Henry and declared a military government which would act as a temporary regency until the Republicans were put down; this was all legitimized with the seating of the Bristol parliament, made up mostly of members of the former House of Lords and House of Commons, who passed laws giving near-dictatorial powers to the military council in order to prosecute the civil war. The Council then undertook an internal purge of “Stuartites”, mainly Catholics and Nonconformists, replacing them with Anglican Tories who supported the Lords and the Military Council. On the other side of Britain, the Republican Army used the winter to conduct training under the guidance of foreign volunteer officers from Europe, mainly Germany, whose sympathy to the Republican cause saw them come to Britain to assist. Paine’s Council of States instituted a wholesale reorganization of the administration under his control, creating a map of Counties which were subdivided into “Divisions” and further subdivided into neighborhood sized “Tithings”, directly copying the structure of the Republican Societies and grafting them onto a larger scale to create a decentralized Democratic administration based on direct democratic votes at the Tithing level and the election of recallable delegates to division and county-level councils. Paine also pushed through his Republican Parliament several bills related to land reform, a topic he was personally concerned with, including the seizure of Royal and Noble lands and having them be redistributed by County officials and instituting a new series of taxes mostly on landowners and the wealthy to pay for direct relief programs for the urban poor.

When the frost melted in Spring of 1790, Royalist forces of the Military Council marched north on a warpath to take Sheffield. At the helm was General Clinton of fame from the American War, leading the main force up north through Birmingham while sending a detachment to reinforce his flank at Oxford and Northampton. Clinton, however, greatly misjudged the ability of the men at Northampton to stand up to Despard’s militias, believing them to be a ragtag group unlike the organized soldiers he fought in America; he was right in that they weren’t like the Americans, but he was wrong to underestimate them. Despard, with the assistance of German volunteers and his fresh army, smashed the Royalists at Northampton and sent a force to surround Oxford, drawing the surrender of the Royalists thereafter their troops mutinied seeing Republicans behind them. Clinton was unaware of this until he reached Nottingham, and soon realized the situation he was in when he also received word of the fall of Newcastle, freeing up the Scottish army. Clinton attempted to retreat south but was caught by Republican forces moving south from the north at Derby, fighting a pitched battle that ultimately ended in Clinton fleeing the field with his men. They’d again be cut off this time on the road into Coventry by Despard’s militias, another victory for the Republicans and one that put Clinton in between Republicans advancing from the south and the north. Recognizing he was between an anvil and a striking hammer, Clinton surrendered his army and the city of Birmingham to Despard.

The remaining Royalist forces rallied at Bristol, fighting a valiant defense of the city in June of 1790 that ultimately ended in defeat after a blockade by Nelson’s fleet cut off all supplies into the port. Most of the Military Council had managed to evacuate before the arrival of Nelson’s ships, but the members of the Bristol Parliament had been left behind and taken prisoner. There was a great question in the air as to what to do with these men, most if not all were members of the aristocracy and gentry. Of the several hundred arrested, Paine’s personal intervention saw many of the lower gentry and those who had not been very vocal in their opposition given prison sentences, but even his influence could not save the Forty top lords and gentry who the court convicted of counter-revolutionary action and crimes against the people of England; the noose was their own salvation. With their forces in shambles and their leaders either dead, in prison, or fleeing the country, the remains of the Royalist forces in Ireland and Scotland dissipated, with their officers fleeing and their men deserting. Wolfe Tone marched at the head of a column of Volunteers into Dublin on July 5th, 1790, and a day later personally oversaw the executions of many of the leading Royalist commanders. Muir was elected President of Scotland. Paine’s government oversaw the demobilization of the militias, with the men either being sent home or transferred to the control of county councils, turning them into a new police force; the same happened in Ireland and Scotland, the former renamed its Irish Volunteers into the “Garda”.

With the war over, Britain had become three independent Republics, with the Irish and Scottish motivated by Nationalist sentiments to maintain their own government after having lived under the boot of the English kings for so long there was hesitation in reunification. A new convention of the United Britons was held in the fall of 1790, this time in London, and the topic of the day was not only unification but a federation. Paine and the Englishmen stressed the need for a united Britain to combat the threat of the Iberians and the French, while the Irish and Scottish as said before wished to maintain their national sovereignty. The convention drew heavily upon the work of the Germans in their Federal state, and ultimately a pact was formed with the signing of the London Charter in the spring of 1791. The charter laid out the modern Federal state of Britain, along with the guarantee of liberties in the Declarations of the Rights of Man.

The elections of 1791 naturally saw a Republican parliament elected, which re-elected Paine and his government to their positions within the Council of State. With their demobilization, the United societies transitioned from revolutionary organizations to political parties, united in a common coalition under the banner United Britons. Despite a united front, those elected were not of unanimous opinion, and soon enough factions formed. More moderate members surrounded the Irishman Henry Grattan and Englishman Charles Fox, seating themselves on the right side of the House where the Whigs used to sit, gaining them the nickname "Right Opposition" in the press. More radical members, like school teacher-turned MP Thomas Spence, embraced the title of Leveller, adopted from the old radicals of the English Civil War, while those true to Paine proclaimed themselves true "Republicans". Before Paine took his first official oath of office, the Treaty of Bombay was finalized with the Honorable East India Company. The loyalty of said company was greatly in question, as many of its governors had been members of the aristocracy and nobility, but it had also gone into great debt to the monarchy and it had not intervened in the revolution. Negotiations began with company leadership after the surrender of Clinton's army, ultimately concluding in their allegiance to the Republic in exchange for forgiving debts previously owed by the company to the British treasury. British Regiments were sent to the colonies to secure their loyalty from any possible Stuart loyalists and new administrations in Guyana, West Africa, Canada, and Cape colony were installed. Despite the treaty, many of the most aristocratic and royalist bureaucracy and governance in the Company mutinied; some were put down and tried for their treason, others were embraced by foreign governments like the French Kingdom, protecting them from the Republic's justice.

No longer ruling as a provisional authority, Paine took his victory in parliament as a mandate from the people to act, instituting many of the social programs he spoke of in his written works. Ranging from price-fixing, wage regulations, industrial and agricultural subsidies, grants and subsidies for medicinal facilities, and the nationalization and expansion of the union's secular school system, opening it up to the poor. Paine served ten years before retiring in 1800, citing his old age and a wish to promote a revolving door of power. His successor, Thomas Hardy, largely continued his policies, added with a focus on "Popular Culture" as his administration created the Office of National Heritage to "Promote the culture and heritage of the Republics and her Peoples". Hardy also empowered the Militias as a true police force, creating a cultural revolutionary fervor where citizens were taught of the ideals and importance of the revolution, coupled with the Militias arresting those denounced as Stuart sympathizers or counter-revolutionaries. Very few convictions happened but those brought up on charges had their property seized by the Militias, were shunned by the community, and barred from local and national offices; and for those convicted, death was the only punishment.

Just the year before the 1810 elections, the nation mourned the loss of Paine, struck dead by natural causes in his old age, one of the last of a string of deaths and retirements of many of the leading figures of the revolution, leaving a few old guards surrounded by rising new young politicians. The election brought a shakeup as the Central Committee of the United Britons decided to endorse Charles Hall as a candidate for President of England; Hall was an economist and a member of the Levellers, and thus an ardent critic of Capitalism, making him particularly popular in the urban areas. Members of the Right Opposition felt this was the last straw; first moderates of the United Englishmen resigned from the party, followed by those of the United Irish and Scotsmen. A few months before the election, the Edinburgh Conference was held and the assembled delegates declared the creation of the British Liberal Society, nominating Christopher Wyvil to party leadership. With grand support from the Irish Protestants, Scottish Anglicans, and English business-owning class the Liberals carried a large number of seats but ultimately fell short of unseating the United Britons, who in their party convention voted to reorganize as the United Republican Society. Emerging from the schism battered but alive, the Republicans elected old guard and revolutionary hero John Thelwall as First Councilman. Two years into his administration, Thelwall has made the defense of the Republic his top priority, seeing the growing clouds of reaction on the horizon.

[Alt Div Admin]

Map and list updated, further reviews of apps and removals of reservations will happen later today

[Novacom]

Full Nation Name: United Republic of Great Britain and Ireland; also known as the United Republic, British Republic, or the Union.

Looks good for the most part and well done, Accepted!

[Military Lands of the Scottish People]

Reservation

Nation Name: Imperial State of Persia
Territory: Borders of the Afsharid Dynasty

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

*Note: Reservations will last for 48 hours. The OP board reserves the right to be subjective in regards to accepting and removing reservations.

[Alt Div Admin]

Map and list have been updated, Russia is free

[Alt Div Admin]

Full Nation Name : Sacrum Imperium Romanum (Holy Roman Empire)

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

Accepted

[Alt Div Admin]

Full Nation Name : 習王朝 - Great Zhu, or the Zhu Dynasty

Accepted

[Alt Div Admin]

Full Nation Name : United States of Germany, Vereinigte Staaten von Deutschland, Germany, The German Republic


#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

If no CO-OP has anything to say about it, accepted

[Alt Div Admin]

Reservation for southern India has expired, and it has been removed. People who need more time to work on their apps can just inform either of the members of the OP board here or on the Discord - the IC will be be launched tomorrow and those who have been completely inactive will have their reservation removed.

[Dentali]

Would an African nation be allowed an advanced tech level? On par with Europe?

[Tracian Empire]

Would an African nation be allowed an advanced tech level? On par with Europe?

Presumably not quite on par since there are plenty of factors still disadvantaging Africa, however, since this is just 1812, and industrialization is just starting, African nations in general are not at that much of a disadvantage. You could most certainly find a way for your nation to already have muskets and some modern equipment. You'd have more than a fighting chance, any European nation would struggle.

It also depends on what area of Africa you're interested in though.

[Dentali]

Would an African nation be allowed an advanced tech level? On par with Europe?

Presumably not quite on par since there are plenty of factors still disadvantaging Africa, however, since this is just 1812, and industrialization is just starting, African nations in general are not at that much of a disadvantage. You could most certainly find a way for your nation to already have muskets and some modern equipment. You'd have more than a fighting chance, any European nation would struggle.

It also depends on what area of Africa you're interested in though.

Yea i want them to only be a few decades behind europe. I want cities and industries and such. I'm thinking Nigeria or Ethiopia would be the basis for the nation.

[Tracian Empire]

Presumably not quite on par since there are plenty of factors still disadvantaging Africa, however, since this is just 1812, and industrialization is just starting, African nations in general are not at that much of a disadvantage. You could most certainly find a way for your nation to already have muskets and some modern equipment. You'd have more than a fighting chance, any European nation would struggle.

It also depends on what area of Africa you're interested in though.

Yea i want them to only be a few decades behind europe. I want cities and industries and such. I'm thinking Nigeria or Ethiopia would be the basis for the nation.

Cities and some manufacturing could work if you built your history that way

An earlier Sokoto Caliphate might be an idea, though Axis Asteroid, one of the CO-OP's, is much more knowledgeable in African history than I am. Ethiopia also, certainly.

[Dentali]

Yea i want them to only be a few decades behind europe. I want cities and industries and such. I'm thinking Nigeria or Ethiopia would be the basis for the nation.

Cities and some manufacturing could work if you built your history that way

An earlier Sokoto Caliphate might be an idea, though Axis Asteroid, one of the CO-OP's, is much more knowledgeable in African history than I am. Ethiopia also, certainly.

I was going to have the Songhai win the Battle of Tondibi in 1591 and then embark on reforms and Westernization that lead to the creation of the Empire of Niger, a Constitutional Monarchy

[Tracian Empire]

Cities and some manufacturing could work if you built your history that way

An earlier Sokoto Caliphate might be an idea, though Axis Asteroid, one of the CO-OP's, is much more knowledgeable in African history than I am. Ethiopia also, certainly.

I was going to have the Songhai win the Battle of Tondibi in 1591 and then embark on reforms and Westernization that lead to the creation of the Empire of Niger, a Constitutional Monarchy

Like I said, African history isn't my strong point

A constitutional monarchy might be a bit too much, on account of the fact that there aren't any Western European constitutional monarchies for them to take inspiration from.

But some reforms might work, you can make a reservation for the area you're interested in

[Dentali]

I was going to have the Songhai win the Battle of Tondibi in 1591 and then embark on reforms and Westernization that lead to the creation of the Empire of Niger, a Constitutional Monarchy

Like I said, African history isn't my strong point

A constitutional monarchy might be a bit too much, on account of the fact that there aren't any Western European constitutional monarchies for them to take inspiration from.

But some reforms might work, you can make a reservation for the area you're interested in

Hmm... Okay please reserve

[Northern Socialist Council Republics]

I’m really sorry about this, but I’m going to have to drop. My free month is mostly over and things has gotten abruptly hectic here.

I’ll come back when my schedule clears up a bit if the spot is still free then, but if there’s anyone who wants Scandinavia I don’t want to hold up the spot.

[Dentali]

WIP
Full Nation Name :Empire of Niger
Majority/Official Culture : Songhai is the primary but fairly cosmopolitan
Territorial Core : IRL Modern Day Countries of...
Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivore, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria

Territorial Claim : All West Africa
Capital City : Gao in Modern Day Mali
Population : WIP but lets say 15 million?

Government Type : Empire
Government Ideology/Policies : Mercantile, Defensive, Cosmopolitan, Diplomatic
Government Focus : Economic, Economic, Economic
Head of State : Emperor WIP
Head of Government : WIP
Government Description : Cosmopolitan EMpire

Majority/State Religion : Islam
Religious Description : Islam

Economic Ideologies : Capitalism
Major Production :
Economic Description : Trade

Development: Industrializing
Development Description : [[Explain further why your nation is in one of the above categories]]

Army Description : [[Describe your nation's army in as much detail as you can]]
Army Weakness :
Naval Description : [[Describe your nation's navy in as much detail as you can]]
Naval Weakness :
Further Military Description : [[OPTIONAL]]

National Goals : $$$$
National Issues : WIP
National Figures of Interest : [[OPTIONAL]]WIP
National Ambition/Aspirations : [[OPTIONAL]] WIP

History : [[Can be formatted in paragraphs or as a bulletpoint timeline.]]
RP Sample: [[Either a link to a past post, or an example written right here.]]

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

[Tracian Empire]

Full Nation Name : Exarchate of Egypt | Exárcheia tis Aigýptou | Esarcato d'egito
Republic of Zanzibar | Serenìsima Repùblega Zanzibar | Politeía tis Zanziváris
Official Culture : Eastern Roman [Primarily Greek, but including Graecified Slavs, Armenians, Syriacs/Aramaeans, and Arabs]
Other Cultures In Egypt: Copts, Egyptian Arabs (incl. Bedouin and Fellahin), Nubians and Sudanese Arabs. In Zanzibar: Arabs and Persians, Swahili, Hadimu,
Territorial Core : Egypt, Zanzibar, Tanzanian coast, Cyrenaica
Territorial Claim : the Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya
Capital City : Heliopolis
Population: ~4,000,000 for Egypt, ~500,000 for Zanzibar

Government Type : Egypt: Absolute Viceroyalty | Zanzibar: Oligarchic republic with elective monarchistic features
Government Ideology/Policies : Explorationist
Government Focus : Securing power, exploring Africa
Head of State and Government: Luca Barbarigo [Loúkas Barmparínko], Exarch of Egypt, and Exarch and Duke of Zanzibar [Éxarchos tis Aigýptou, kai Éxarchos kai Doúkas tis Zanziváris; Esarca d'Egitto, Esarca e Doxe de Zanzibar

Government Description : Egypt: The Exarch of Egypt wields considerable autocratic power, being a localised version of the Basileus in Constantinople. This power is de jure restrained by the Assembly in Alexandria, although most successful Exarchs usually pack it with loyalists to create it as a rubber stamp. The main restrictions on their power come from the Emperor and Senate in Constantinople, with rivals in the latter who may have designs on Egypt sure to critique any mistakes made by the Exarch.

Zanzibar: The Duke is the First Citizen and leader of Zanzibar's Senate, relying upon personal authority and deals with the other great families of the republic to maintain their authority. Their title of Exarch is purely a formality, as part of recognising the suzerainty and personal protection of the Roman Emperor.

Majority/State Religion : Roman Orthodox Church
Religious Description : Egypt is relatively diverse religiously, albeit between two groups: Christians, and Muslims. The country is roughly evenly split religiously, though the Christian population is rising. Muslims face increasing public and private restrictions, and are largely rural, with the two communities largely self-segregating. The Christian population is divided between Greek Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and small numbers of Roman Catholic. The Copts make up the largest sect, while the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic are growing in size due to settlers and converts. Muslims are largely Sunni, of the Shafiʽi madhab.

Economic Ideologies : Mercantilism
Major Production : Crops such as Cotton, rice, wheat, corn, sugarcane, sugar beets, onions, tobacco, and beans. Gold and iron ore, textiles and clothing.
Economic Description : Egypt is still largely agrarian, with most of the economic activity conducted in its cities such as Heliopolis and Alexandria. Although its economy is largely self-contained, it is also integrated into the wider Roman economy, and is enriched by its position as the (overland) connector of the Mediterranean and Red seas.

Development: Industrialising in Egypt, Pre-Industrial in Zanzibar proper, Primitive for much of the mainland coast
Development Description : Egypt is one of the Empire's richer provinces, being its bread-basket, and the Barbarigo have been able to leverage its vital food exports to both reduce taxes sent to Constantinople, and leverage key resources needed for further development of their power base. Zanzibar has had far less attention, with only the city-proper gaining patronage from its wealthier citizens.

Army Description : See: Eastern Roman Army for macro details.

Egypt's army is not particularly divergent from the rest of Eastern Rome, with the exception of a few unique things:

The Mamelukes (μαμάλου mamálou) are a caste of military nobility, converts descended from the previous ruling caste of Egypt. They dominate the officer corps of Egypt's military, and tend to be a thorn in the side of the Exarch, being unruly 'natives' who contrast with the new nobility formed from Greek and other Roman settlers.

The Koleman (κολέμαν koléman, from Turkish Kölemen, from Arabic غِلْمَان ghilmān) are slave-soldiers, usually drawn from the Sudan and now from the Zanzibar interior. They primarily serve as the Exarch's bodyguard, although under the Barbarigo have been expanded dramatically to number a full regiment. They are slaves, the personal property of the Exarch, until they reach the age of 40, when they are freed and the restrictions upon them, such as celibacy, are withdrawn. Most of those who are freed go on to further service, either continuing in the military, or serving in the Exarch's household.

Army Weakness : For Egypt, the Mamelukes are the largest weakness. Nearly every mutiny or attempted coup has featured their involvement. Their power is slowly being broken, growing weaker the longer Egypt is under Roman rule, but they still represent a sizeable noble faction and threat to both the Exarch and Emperor.
Naval Description : Egypt's navy, that the Exarch controls, is largely riverine. The Exarch also oversees the Red Sea fleet, which is largely used to combat piracy and protect merchant shipping in Zanzibar and the Indian ocean. Alexandria is a key port for the Empire, hosting a division of its fleet. The Barbarigos seek to create their own Egyptian fleet.

Zanzibar's navy is fairly small, largely composed of old vessels purchased from the Empire.
Naval Weakness : Both navies are fairly small, and like their Roman counterparts are underfunded.

National Goals : - Explore the Nile river to its source
- Explore mainland Zanzibar and the interior
- Build up Barbarigo power and influence within Egypt and the Empire
- Secure more trading posts, ports, and land in Africa and beyond
National Issues : - Mamelukes
- Industrialisation
- Religious divisions
- Naval buildup
National Figures of Interest: tbd (will mainly be Barbarigos)

History : Egypt:
1587 - Romans gain the Sina peninsula, Mamluk power in the Middle East is firmly broken
1642 - Lower Egypt is under Roman control, but the Mamluks in Upper Egypt continue to resist
1681 - Roman control of Egypt is solidified with the fall of Aswan in 1681
1695 - A great rebellion in Egypt and the Levant fails, and heavy restrictions are put in place on the Muslim population, as well as colonisation efforts, both of which are still in effect today.
1801 - Luca Barbarigo, Duke of Zanzibar, is appointed Exarch of Egypt by Andronikos V. His enemies (correctly) accuse him of bribing his way into the position, and the Senate is outraged that an "Italian barbarian" is given such a high position. Two mutinies (1805, 1811) to remove him fail, and he is still the present Exarch.

Zanzibar:
pre-1701 - Zanzibar was visited by Arab merchants, who spread Islam across the coast and helped in the formation and spread of Swahili. Many urban centres appeared during this time, with the elites being Muslim and Swahili-speaking Bantu peoples, who often established for themselves Persian or Arab genealogies. Over time Nestorian Persian and Indian merchants began arriving and settling in these cities, particularly Zanzibar Town
1701 - 1735 - Roman merchants become increasingly prominent along the East Coast of Africa, and establish their own quarter in Stone Town.
1735 - The Roman Merchants banded together to overthrow the Sultanate of Zanzibar and institute their own oligarchic republic, though they were quick to establish links and recognise the sovereignty of the Empire. Among these merchants were the Barbarigo, who quickly became one of the premier families of the young republic.
1748 - Aureo Barbarigo is elected Duke of Zanzibar, and the post becomes de facto hereditary from this point onwards.
1775 - The Duke of Zanzibar is awarded the title of Exarch by the Emperor. Other than being a ceremonial recognition of Zanzibar as a client of the Empire, it also gives the duke power over all Roman subjects in the Indian Sea, and the ability to establish diplomatic ties on Constantinople's behalf in the Maritime East and African interior.
1801 - Luca Barbarigo is created Exarch of Egypt, and moves the family's power base from Stone Town in Zanzibar, to Heliopolis in Lower Egypt. He remains dually Exarch and Duke, though the functions of the latter are carried out by his brother, Dragano.

Barbarigo:
The Barbarigo are a Venetian family, though they have long been intertwined in the Roman world. They first appear in the records after 1204, first as landholders in Athens and, after that was lost, in Crete. Following the sale of Crete to the Empire they lost their land, though gained reimbursement, which they used to enter the Byzantine mercantile world and purchase for themselves properties in Constantinople's Venetian quarter.

They make themselves noticeable in the records again in 1711, when Clario Barbarigo purchased an estate in Stone Town and established himself in the local slave and plantation trade. The family became pre-eminent among the Roman settlers of the area, establishing links across the East African coast and Indian ocean. They took part in the 1735 coup against the Sultanate, and in 1748 Aureo Barbarigo accepted the position of Duke, which became de facto hereditary. They were granted the title of Exarch of Zanzibar, giving them great influence within the Empire, and in 1801 Luca Barbarigo was able to acquire the position of Exarch of Egypt. The family is now split between their two power bases of Egypt and Zanzibar, both united in the person of Luca Barbarigo.

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

Looks great to me, accepted!

[Tracian Empire]

I’m really sorry about this, but I’m going to have to drop. My free month is mostly over and things has gotten abruptly hectic here.

I’ll come back when my schedule clears up a bit if the spot is still free then, but if there’s anyone who wants Scandinavia I don’t want to hold up the spot.

Don't worry, it's understandable. You'll be more than welcome to return to the role-play as any nation that will be open at that point when you'll have more free time again!