The Hohenzollern Empire 3: Iron and Blood - A Roman Reich Megacampaign

[zenphoenix]

Edit: frak, that didn't work out. Post has been deleted, and update will come likely on Wednesday while I try to sort out this mess.

Edit 2: Update fixed, here you go.

 

[zenphoenix]

Chapter 179: The Maximist War, Part 3 - Counter-Attack​

"They call themselves a legion, but they can't face my men in battle!"
-Wolfgang Ludendorff

"We may have lost Constantinople, but as long as we still hold Berlin we are safe."
-Sigismund II


Sigismund and his General Staff knew they were fighting a losing battle. The Maximists simply were too numerous to defeat. So they focused on trying to destroy as many rebel division as possible and set up spy networks to make sure that should the Maximists finally take Berlin, they would have to face severe resistance when they set up their new regime.
Meanwhile, Wagner was suffering some heavy casualties as his legion attempted to fight its way through the hordes of Maximists.

The Bureau of Economics developed the concept of the silver standard to alleviate the tax burden on those citizens still loyal to the Reich, hoping they would form the core of the "Siegfriedist" movement that Sigismund was putting together..View attachment 171165
In March of 1846, another wave of Maximists rose up. All of Italia except for Rome, Gallia except for Paris and a few cities, Hispania except for Lisbon and a few eastern and northern themes, Anatolia except for the south, Greece except for several patches of resistance, Carpathia, East Germania, Mauretania, Afrika except for Carthage, Cyrenaica, Aegyptus, Israel, Hibernia, Britannia, Caledonia, and Mesopotamia were in rebel hands.

Meanwhile, Sigismund questioned the judgment of the newspapers to focus on the recent attempts by Russia to invade Lithuania rather than on the Maximist rebellion.

Deep inside Bohemia, Ludendorff and his legion were surrounded by hundreds of Maximist rebels. Knowing that making his way to Berlin would be suicide, Ludendorff instead headed south, towards Constantinople. Konrad von Habsburg realized what Ludendorff was doing and ordered an ambush to be set for him. At the city of Budejovice, fifty thousand Maximists converged on Ludendorff's weakened legion, hoping to annihilate it once and for all and kill Ludendorff.

However, they were wrong about who was going to be annihilated.

Using a clever strategy involving traps, lures, and guerilla tactics, Ludendorff engaged the rebel army in brutal battles outside of the city using tactics that would later evolve into trench warfare. Five thousand Romans lost their lives at Budejovice, but their lives were avenged by the fifty thousand Maximists killed. Ludendorff became a hero again, with Sigismund revoking his demotion and appointing him to the General Staff again, which would have been useful if he could reach Berlin. Of course, he never heard about this development, as the Maximists had destroyed all communications with Berlin.
By April, most of the Reich was under Maximist control, with a few patches of resistance inside Germania and East Germania. It was impossible to reach Berlin, but maybe Ludendorff could reach Constantinople instead...

The next day, another Maximist rebellion began, and Constantinople fell under siege from almost two hundred thousand Maximists. The Varangians guarding the city were caught off-guard when the Maximists, being radicalized citizens, attacked them from inside the city, massacring them all to the last man, but not before they took down ten thousand enemies.

Meanwhile, Indochina was relatively peaceful. The Maximists had overrun most of the province, massacring whatever Thais, Malays, Buddhists, and Muslims, they could find. In the south, the Majapahit forces were being driven off by Indian reinforcements.

After hearing news of the siege of Constantinople, Ludendorff ordered his legion to remain in Budejovice and fortify their defenses in an attempt to wait out the Maximists. Konrad von Habsburg did not give him a minute's rest and ordered thirty thousand men to converge on the city. The Maximists being just citizens with pitchforks and limited military training, they were all massacred by the well-fortified and dug-in government forces, despite having the numerical advantage.

The Queen of Cities fell after a prolonged siege, and the Maximists began a horrible slaughter against the non-Christian and non-German populations. All routes of escape were cut off by the Maxiists, and after six weeks, hundreds of thousands of Greeks, Jews, Muslims, women, children, elderly, nuns, bishops, and even patriarchs were dead, their bodies mutilated and displayed on the Theodosian Walls for all to see, their blood running into the Bosphorus and turning it dark red. Libraries and churches were sacked, and bibles, classical texts, textbooks, and famous paintings went up in flames. Although the gold and silver of the Hagia Sophia was raided and confiscated for Konrad's "war effort," the Ecumenical Patriarch managed to escape with the precious murals and artwork of Saint Wilhelmina. The Maximists, enraged by his escape, put a prostitute (who also happened to be an Iconoclast) on his chair and "crowned" him Ecumenical Patriarch. The only citizens that they spared from the slaughter were the heretics. Seeing that the heretics were fellow Christians, they deemed them their comrades against the "heathens and barbarians corrupting the Reich." Many heretics then joined the Maximists.

By 14 May, the Maximists were firmly in control of most of the Reich, except for some patches of resistance in Africa and throughout Germania and Gallia. Konrad wanted to put an end to that, and three days later, he summoned another uprising, hoping to destroy the remaining legions with sheer numbers.

The economy, which was barely holding on, completely crashed at that point. Thousands of citizens fled the Reich in what became the worst refugee crisis up to that point in history. Not wanting to suffer under Maximist persecution, they fled to the Eimericas and to the Tran dynasty, where they hoped they could rebuild their lives. Many countries turned back the refugees, citing religious and cultural differences, but others accepted them. When faced with the fact that potential recruits were fleeing abroad, Konrad von Habsburg ordered that all Roman ships were to be sabotaged and the militias to kill everybody they came across that did not look German or did not carry papers identifying them as Maximists.

As if things couldn't get worse, a fire broke out in East Gallia, leveling an entire city and killing hundreds. The Maximists used it as a recuiting tool, saying that the government was willing to sacrifice innocent lives to kill Maximists. The government responded by saying it was the Maximists who started the fire in an attempt to blame the government for it and gain more recruits.

Whatever the case, the fire spurred another Maximist uprising, and Maximists stormed the house of Megas Domestikos Martin Komnenodoukas and tore him to shreds. Ludendorff was appointed as his replacement after a quick funeral.

The events of the next few weeks became routine. Some researchers claimed to have invented more efficient ways of killing animals, but Sigismund had no time for that, because just two weeks later, another Maximist uprising began. In his anger, he ordered all legions to go on the offensive and destroy the militias that were closest to Berlin, hoping to gradually reclaim lost territory.

In Aden, a local garrison of three thousand men found itself under attack from over thirty thousand men. The Maximists being disorganized citizens, the garrison killed almost all of them before the survivors managed to retreat into the desert.

The counter-offensive ran into some difficulties almost immediately, and Sigismund ordered them to retreat to Berlin as soon as possible. The capital was now exposed to enemy attack.

In a humiliating setback, a legion in Africa found itself under attack from a numerically inferior Maximist militia of nine-thousand men. The demoralized men surrendered without firing a shot, giving the Maximists yet another propaganda victory. The responsible generals were to be immediately exceuted, but the execution order got lost while in delivery.

There was, however, one bright spot. Hugo Wagner managed to defeat one militia, giving hope to the government that they could win. However, Berlin, was under siege, and Wagner was forced to abandon his positions to save the capital.

Meanwhile, Carthage was overrun by the Maximist hordes, the local legion forced to retreat.

In September of 1846, Majapahit finally sued for peace, inexplicably, despite winning the war. Sigismund eagerly accepted the peace offer, giving him one less threat to worry about.

(I swear I didn't cheat this)

In October, some Poles, angered by the persecution that the Maximists were committing against them and the government's inability to help them, formed a committe whose goal was to gain independence for Poland, which hadn't existed in centuries.

However, Sigismund did not have time to deal with them, for he had greater concerns.

Konrad von Habsburg himself was launching an assault on the capital.

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

Really Poles? Trying to form Poland now? That's just silly in this world.

Also, the AI apparently have you a break with Majapahit giving up for some odd reason.

Oh, and go Ludendorff! We're getting to the point that he's the only reason the war is still going.

 

[Michaelangelo]

Looks like the Reich is really in trouble now, not that it wasn't for the past few updates.

I also find it ironic that a supposedly liberal faction would burn books and texts.

 

[HIMDogson]

So why is a better analogue, Maximists as Confederates or Maximists as ISIS? Also, that attack becomes much less... threatening when you see how many men Konny boy actually has.

 

[siamsee people]

Free for All!
Asia United!
Freedom for all!
Down with Impirialism!

 

[adriankowaty]

I'm sure that these maximistic dogs will siege Berlin with all forces, as soon as they finnaly ocuppy the rest of Reich.

 

[EmperorofMordor]

Assuming something drastic doesn't happen, and Sigismund does fall, I so want Maximillan to be Kaiser for like 30 days, declare Konrad a traitor, and then abdicate back to Sigismund or his child.

 

[zenphoenix]

Really Poles? Trying to form Poland now? That's just silly in this world.

Also, the AI apparently have you a break with Majapahit giving up for some odd reason.

Oh, and go Ludendorff! We're getting to the point that he's the only reason the war is still going.

...for now.

So why is a better analogue, Maximists as Confederates or Maximists as ISIS? Also, that attack becomes much less... threatening when you see how many men Konny boy actually has.

I was aiming more at Maximists = Carlists (I just renamed and modded the Carlist rebel type), but the Confederate analogy might come up later...

And yeah, I was expecting Konrad to attack with more men so I could write an epic World War Z-style update, where instead of zombies there are Maximists.

Free for All!
Asia United!
Freedom for all!
Down with Impirialism!

Well, excluding Indonesia and Malaysia there really hasn't been any imperialism in Asia, except for that done by the Asians themselves...

I'm sure that these maximistic dogs will siege Berlin with all forces, as soon as they finnaly ocuppy the rest of Reich.

You would be surprised how quickly that might happen, given >90% of the Reich is under Maximist occupation.

Assuming something drastic doesn't happen, and Sigismund does fall, I so want Maximillan to be Kaiser for like 30 days, declare Konrad a traitor, and then abdicate back to Sigismund or his child.

That would be best, but Konrad probably will write a clause into his "constitution" preventing that.

 

[siamsee people]

Im thais.

 

[adriankowaty]

...for now.
You would be surprised how quickly that might happen, given >90% of the Reich is under Maximist occupation.

I'm sure, that they'll do that within a month, maybe two.

 

[zenphoenix]

Im thais.

Don't worry, the colonial administration of Indochina is actually quite respectful of local customs and traditions, and many Thais are actually loyal Roman citizens. They know that at least they're not suffering under the less tolerant Tran rule.

 

[EmperorofMordor]

Don't worry, the colonial administration of Indochina is actually quite respectful of local customs and traditions, and many Thais are actually loyal Roman citizens. They know that at least they're not suffering under the less tolerant Tran rule.

Honestly I'm very surprised that so many people in Britania, Iberia, Gallia, and the other non-German states rose up. You'd think Maximism wouldn't have much appeal. Perhaps it's down to lack of Reich expansion leading to a perceived weakness and decadence?

 

[zenphoenix]

Chapter 180: The Maximist War, Part 4 - The Last Stand​

"We've built a wall, and we'll make the Maximists pay for it! In blood!"
-Sigismund II

"Finally, the hour is at hand. The day that all landowning Christian German men can be freed from the oppression of tolerance and equality is upon us!"
-Konrad von Habsburg

Konrad von Habsburg's assault on Berlin would have been alarming, if not for the fact that he had only three hundred and fifty eight men with him. All of the Maximists save for Konrad himself were killed in the battle. The Maximist leader escaped back his headquarters in occupied Potsdam and called in reinforcements for a second assault on Berlin.

In October of 1846, Sigismund ordered a status report from the Bureau of Economics. Based on what little information they could get from out of Berlin, they determined that even with taxes and expenses reduced to the minimum, nobody was getting any of their basic needs. The Maximists were starving out entire towns to force their men to join them and to make a point to Sigismund to abdicate. However, Sigismund vowed to fight on with what few legions he had left.

In November, a physicist named Foucault proved the rotation of the earth with a large pendulum. He repeated the experiment in Maximist-occupied Paris, where the crowd was reportedly amazed by his findings before local Maximist Jagdruff militias stormed the building and killed everybody inside.

Realizing that with much of the Alps infested with Maximist rebels he could not reach Constantinople, Ludendorff retreated to Berlin in time to stop a second assault on the capital, using numerical superiority to annihilate the militias and hold back the Maximist hordes again.

Angered by the second failed attempt to seize Berlin, Konrad von Habsburg ordered even more reinforcements in December.

Around the end of that month, Sigismund got word of more uprisings in Frisia, Hibernia, and Britannia, though these rebels were anti-Maximist liberal revolutionaries seeking to capitalize on the weakness of Berlin, which had lost control of basically every theme in Europe except for those on Crete, Cyprus, and the Beleares.

The opening of the 1847 Diet. was the most depressing one so far. Over a tenth of the conservatives had been killed, their seats being replaced with liberals, who were alarmingly close to gaining a plurality in the Diet.

Desperate to do something to spite the Maximists, Sigismund ordered that press rights be expanded, in the hopes that the Maximists could not bend the state press to their advantage once in power.

As the year progressed, it became clear that Konrad was making Berlin a top target. The attacks on the capital became more and more frequent, and although in every attack the Maximists were repelled, it was only a matter of times before the casualties mounted.

Meanwhile, reactionary generals, aided by Khulan, launched a coup against the liberal government of Yavdi and were successful in returning absolute power to Khulan.

On 6 March 1847, the final assault began. With all cities in Europe under Maximist occupation, Konrad ordered every single Jagdruff to march on Berlin and overwhelm Ludendorff's and Arndt's legions with sheer numbers. The Frisian militias, numbering forty thousand, were the first to arrive and brutally assaulted the walls of Berlin. While Arndt's soldiers were able to kill many of them, including their leader, more of them simply showed up.

---

"...We have found the tablet and are awaiting extraction to Indochina. Your loyal servant, Ferdinand von Wrangel."

Sigismund put down the letter. The Inquisition had finally found the next tablet fragment. It was a great victory for the Reich over the forces of hell, but it wouldn't matter if the Maximists killed them all and destroyed the fragment. So he quickly penned a response, handed it to a courier, and prayed it got out of the Reich and to Wrangel.

"The Maximist situation here is not good. You are to remain on the islands until further notice."

It was a miracle Wrangel's letter even made it to Berlin.

---

By the end of March, the Maximist forces had swelled to over a hundred thousand and counting. Hundreds of thousands more were on the way. Arndt's and Ludendorff's legions were at the breaking point.

Two days later, despite killing over a hundred thousand Maximists and taking minimal casualties, the legions' morale shattered, and the soldiers fled their posts, leaving Berlin undefended. Jakob Wittman, Konrad's second-in-command, now besieged the capital.

Inspired by the victory over the last loyalist forces, the final wave of Maximists rose up to finish off the government once and for all.

The shattered legions regrouped outside of Berlin, where Ludendorff rallied them to make a last stand against the Maximists. The survivors, inspired by Ludendorff's defiance, charged back to Berlin. They would rather die than live under Maximist oppression.

Not a single man made it out alive.

Ludendorff was captured by the Maximists and brought before Konrad von Habsburg, who subjected him and other captured loyalist generals to brutal brainwashing techniques that firmly turned him to the Maximist side. The newly brainwashed general played a key role in breaching Berlin's defenses and speeding up the siege of the capital.

By May of 1847, all of the Reich was under Maximist occupation, save for Neu Rhomania, Sudafrika, Mittagsland, some random islands, and some colonial outposts.

At the end of May, a miracle occurred when a lone loyalist legion managed to liberate Carthage. Inspired by this victory, Sigismund ordered that Constantinople be liberated next, sending his last remaining legions to Greece to accomplish that.

However, Berlin would not be as lucky as Carthage. On 3 June 1847, the Maximists breached the defenses of the capital and stormed the city, overwhelming the local police forces with sheer numbers and marching straight to the imperial palace, where they dragged a screaming Maximilian out of his quarters, took him to the nearest cathedral, and at gunpoint forced the Ecumenical Patriarch to anoint him as Kaiser, all the while holding down the prince on the altar. The angry Jagdruffs then took their frustration out on the helpless citizens of the city, citing "the Will of the Kaiser" as their reason for looting, pillaging, slaughtering, and burning everybody and everything they came across.
Sigismund, though, managed to escape Berlin with his family, Metternich, and most of his government. However, it is not known where they went; the last confirmed sighting of the deposed Kaiser was in a town outside of Vienna, where peasants reported seeing a monk who looked like Sigismund asking for directions to Constantinople.

Despite the fall of Berlin, the loyalist forces fought on. In Neu Rhomania, a loyalist legion managed to liberate Neu Brandenburg from the Maximists. And what remained of the imperial legions in Europe arrived at Constantinople, ready to liberate the city and restore Sigismund to the throne.

It wasn't until the fourth of July, 1847, that the last of the loyalist forces "surrendered." While resistance to the Maximists continued, it was clear that they were now in control of the government. Konrad von Habsburg proclaimed himself the new Ministerprasident of the Reich, abolishing both the Chancellery and the Augustinian Code. A new Diet was convened to vote on a constitution that was "granted" to the people by Maximilian (but actually was written by Konrad). The Diet voted (at gunpoint) with 134% support to pass the Maximist Constitution, which deprived all religious and cultural minorities of their rights and gave them to all Christians, including heretics. Women and minorities were banned from universities and from voting. All tolerance rules, including those against Christian heretics, were revoked. All Christian landowning German men were granted the right to vote in the upcoming election, though it was expected that they would vote for Konrad.

It was all over. The Maximists had won.

Long live Kaiser Maximilian I, the one true Kaiser of Rome!


---

Honestly I'm very surprised that so many people in Britania, Iberia, Gallia, and the other non-German states rose up. You'd think Maximism wouldn't have much appeal. Perhaps it's down to lack of Reich expansion leading to a perceived weakness and decadence?

You have no idea...

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

Another takeover, another Kaiser deposed that succeeded in escaping... I get the feeling history will repeat. Of course, Maximilian is just a figurehead. An unwilling puppet controlled by Konrad. Given some of your suggestive comments, I'm guessing some kind of massive split between the Reich, a Civil War on an enormous scale.

 

[Rabbit Burgher]

I'm sure Konrad will face the same fate as Malcolm. Long live Sigismund Hohenzollern!

 

[Michaelangelo]

And here I thought the Maximists would turn out to be even more reactionary than Sigismund.

 

[zenphoenix]

Chapter 181: Power to the People​

"Freedom at last!"
-Konrad von Habsburg

"I hate you all."
-Maximilian I, upon being crowned Kaiser

Brandenburg Palace, Berlin - July 1847

Konrad von Habsburg, in his robes as Ministerprasident, entered the throne room, bowing respectfully before his liege, Maximilian I, who sat regally on his throne, at all times "protected" by no less than eight "loyal" bodyguards.

"Greetings, your Majesty," he said, "I hope you are in good spirits today."

"Go away," muttered Maximilian.

"That requires a majority vote by the Diet to overturn the amendment in the constitution that prohibits that order from being carried out," said Konrad, "So no. Anyways, as your most loyal servant, I am ready to serve you in any way possible."

"Then go away."

"In a way that is permitted by the constitution that you bestowed upon your citizens!"

"You wrote it!"

"I never said that! I said you bestowed it!"

Maximilian sighed. "Then I want dumplings."

"What?"

"Ich bin der Kaiser und ich will Knödel!" snapped Maximilian.

"Okay, okay! I'll get your dumplings, your Majesty."

Konrad bowed again and left the throne room. Immediately, he headed to the Reichstag, where he took his seat at the center podium. All of the other senators, most of them left over from the old regime, stared at him, waiting for his command.

"Good day, fellow senators of the people," said Konrad, "I have some very important legislation to present to you. Bill A-1 is a request by His Imperial Majesty Maximilian I to have dumplings for lunch. You have one hour to debate, after which we will vote on this measure. Remember, by the principle of liberum veto, the measure must be unanimously supported to pass."

Around noontime, Konrad von Habsburg returned to the throne room.

"Unfortunately, the Diet has rejected your request to eat dumplings," said Konrad. "Too bad, but it is the will of the people."

---

Many hoped that with the Maximists now in power, they could restore the Reich's greatness and power. No longer did people have to suffer in the streets to make ends meet! Instead, only the minorities will! No longer will pointless lives be lost in costly wars around the world. Instead, only the lives of minorities will!

Since the Restoration of 1104, the Kaisers had worked tirelessly to end centuries of prejudice and discrimination against minorities, on the grounds that they were all Romans. Laws against anti-Semitism, acts to promote the status of women, and proclamations that guaranteed religious and cultural freedoms were enacted, but enforcing them was much harder. Making them illegal only served to make them more attractive. Those groups who were hardest hit by these laws, namely the Germans Orthodox landowners, were more inclined towards Maximism as a way of "restoring the natural order of things." It was here that tolerance was decried as being part of the old order, and modern society's job was to get rid of that.

Such was the sentiment expressed in the first edition of Die Zeiten published after the Maximist takeover. Gone were the days of tolerance. Back were the days of the 17th century Inquisition. Speaking of the Inquisition, Konrad von Habsburg took personal control of the organization, having the Diet vote to grant him the position of Head Inquisitor and then ordering the inquisitors to begin mass conversions of the heathens of the Reich. Heretics would be spared this proselytization. Should any heathen resist conversion to the True Faith, their entire community would be put to the sword and to the flame. Konrad also made it a point to enforce German culture on the non-German parts of the Reich, making German the only official language and forcing all schools to change their curriculum. The "Maximist-approved" curriculum dropped all local culture from schools and replaced them with Germanic lessons. History lessons on local civilizations, for example teaching about the pharaohs in Aegyptus and Hannibal in Carthage, were replaced with lessons on how Friedrich the Great conquered the relevant regions and spread German culture and Christianity to them (even if he never really set foot there or carried out such policies). Music lessons now only used German instruments. Math and science lessons now only taught content from German scientists. A whole new course was created: Maximism. All students were to be taught about the benefits, and only the benefits, of Maximism and why Maximilian I was the true Kaiser. Naturally, the minorities were angered by these policies.

After his sweeping education, religious, and cultural "modernization" programs, Konrad began to modernize the government. All factions within the Diet were made into political parties, though they did not know what to do with their new status. In addition, while an election was in progress, basically nobody knew how to vote, who to vote for, or even why they should vote in the first place. Faced with the fact that the election could implode because nobody knew how to vote or who to vote for, potentially leading to the return of the Siegfriedist system, Konrad declared himself the Maximist Party's candidate for the new Ministerprasident. To keep up a semblance of choice, he ordered Ecumenical Patriarch Germanos IV to run as the Church's candidate, knowing that everybody would just vote for him instead of a clergyman.

While the elections progressed, Konrad received word that not all of the Jagdruffs had demobilized or stood down. In fact, several hundred thousand Maximists were still on the loose, rampaging across Germania and laying waste to whatever they could find. Many of them were even besieging Berlin. Konrad sent orders to the rogue militias demanding that they stand down, but they refused, arguing that Konrad had "betrayed the Maximist cause" and was not liberal enough, particularly on reviving slavery (current legislation passed by the Diet as part of the constitution made the use of slave labor legal but not the actual slave trade).

On 10 August, Konrad von Habsburg organized a debate against Germanos IV in a town hall outside of Berlin. The two "debated" on the immigration policy of the Reich (Germanos had been given a script to read from), where Konrad eloquently argued in favor of building a wall along the Lithuanian border to stop the "heathen Baltic terrorists" from entering and stated that the idea of Romanitas did not protect cultural rights but rather encouraged assimilation into Roman culture. On the other hand, Germanos IV was "incapable" of responding to Konrad's argument.

In early September, the rogue Maximists breached the walls of Berlin, which had only recently been repaired. They headed straight for the Reichstag, where they killed as many senators as they could before loyal militias dispersed them. The loyal militias in turn were overwhelmed by the rogue militias, who then seized control of the government and dissolved what remained of the Diet, though they left Konrad and Maximilian in their places and did not cancel the election.

To distract the people from potential Siegfriedist propaganda, Konrad ordered another debate to take place, this one on economic policy. In preliminary polling, it was determined that 132.32% of all citizens were in favor of laissez faire economics, and so Konrad argued in favor of it, winning the debate yet again.

The next month, another debate took place. Konrad and Germanos IV now discussed tariff policies. Again, Konrad won out with his expert defense of protectionism, saying that foreign trade "steals jobs from hard-working Christians and Germans" and that the Chinese and Mexica and Norse "cheat" at trade.

Meanwhile, a new magazine called "Vanity Fair" started publication, becoming well-known for its gossip as well as its thinly-veiled pro-Siegfriedist stance. After two issues it was shut down by the Maximist military government.

In other news, there were still rogue Maximist militias roaming around the countryside. With the legions still being rebuilt, there was no way to stop Berlin from falling for a third time. As if that wasn't bad enough, more rogue militias rose up in November, further exposing the fracturing of the Maximist groups, which had barely united behind Konrad and were now falling apart into open warfare. The Siegfriedists quickly capitalized on this development, gaining thousands of recruits each day.

On 27 November, the rogue militias breached the defenses of Berlin, sacked the city, and overthrew the previous junta, installing themselves as a new junta. Konrad and Maximilian again were not removed from their positions, though the Diet was dissolved and purged a third time.

The last few months of 1847 saw another debate on economic policy, with a full 200% supporting laissez faire economics now, allowing Konrad to not only dominate the debate but also humiliate Germanos IV and run him off the stage.

The last debate, two days before Election Day, focused on the military. Konrad argued in favor of diverting more funding to the legions, arguing that they were necessary to enforce commercial fairness with the Reich's neighbors (and to defeat the rogue militias). Whavever the case, when Konrad finally assembled his third Diet on New Year's Day, after winning the debate, he found that many liberals had simply resigned, not wanting to work under a system that simply didn't work. The transition to representative government had happened so rapidly and violently that people could not adapt or accept the changes.

On 3 January 1848, the elections finished, and Konrad was surprised to discover that the people had overwhelmingly voted for Germanos IV or for Maximilian himself (Konrad put his name on the ballots as a joke), with the Maximists gaining no votes and the Diet faction gaining less than one percent of the votes.

Enraged by this "betrayal," Konrad had Germanos IV sacked and replaced by another Ecumenical Patriarch rather than appoint him as Ministerprasident. Konrad then declared that Germanos had been disqualified for having stored important government-related letters in a private mailbox and that Maximilian was constitutionally barred from assuming the position of Ministerprasident, which meant that by default Konrad was the new Ministerprasident. Konrad then organized a coup against the Diet when it tried to protest, dissolving it for the fourth time and repopulating it with loyal Maximists.

Needless to say, this "undemocratic" act did not go over with the people or even with other government officials. The Minister of Finances, secretly a Siegfriedist, sabotaged the budget of 1848 by slashing taxes to 0% while not reducing any expenses, hoping to bankrupt the Reich, force a government shutdown, and bring Konrad to the bargaining table. The people, even those who were fervent Maximists to begin with, found themselves sympathizing more and more with the Siegfriedists.

On 20 January 1848, a German astronomer discovered the planet Neptune and published his works in a scientific journal. The next day, rogue Maximist terrorists attacked his house and killed him.

The death of this astronomer incited rebellion among Konrad's ranks, with the Maximist Party imploding on itself. Different factions emerged within the party, declaring themselves the most "liberal" or "revolutionary" or "Maximist" of all factions. Each faction encouraged its supporters to rise up in revolt against Konrad, and thousands answered the call, with Berlin certain to fall under siege yet again.

Five days later, the Committee of Polish Independence decided to act, and in an ultimatum delivered to Berlin, its leaders declared the independence of the Kingdom of Poland. When Konrad refused to recognize Poland's independence, the Poles in the city of Plock rebelled.

But that was nothing compared to the things to come. Disillusioned by the failure of the Maximists to bring peace and prosperity to the Reich highlighted by the thousands of rogue Maximists rampaging through Europe, angered by the failure of the election of 1847 to produce fully democratic results, enraged by the representative's government to get past petty ideological differences and overcome political gridlock, and really enraged that Maximilian was legally prevented from doing anything about this, the citizens of the Reich increasingly began to turn back to Sigismund II as their true Kaiser, joining the Siegfriedist movement in the millions. Many minorities, eager to die fighting for Sigismund rather than suffer under Maximist persecution, threw in their lot with the Siegfriedists. On 3 February 1848, Sigismund II sensed it was the time to strike back. That day, he resurfaced in Constantinople and had the few generals and patriarchs still loyal to him to crown him a second time in Hagia Sophia. The Greek dynatoi families swore their complete allegiance to him as Kaiser. An ultimatum was delivered to Berlin that same day: end the farce of a democracy that the Maximist regime is, or die. Maximilian agreed to step down from his throne, but Konrad had him imprisoned and sent the ultimatum to the Diet for voting. The senators voted 1724% in favor of rejecting it, and a legion marched on Constantinople, intent on killing Sigismund and his family and ending the succession dispute once and for all. It was then that Sigismund sprung his trap. All across the Reich, the anti-Maximist network he had been building up for years suddenly activated, and millions of citizens swore their loyalty to Sigismund. Entire provinces, particularly those with large minority populations, swore loyalty to Constantinople. The people rose up in rebellion, not as disorganized rebels, but as united soldiers, ready to serve their Kaiser. At approximately 12:54 on 3 February, an hour after receiving word of Berlin's decision and the Siegfriedist uprising across Europe, Sigismund ordered his generals to mobilize what legions they still had and to declare war on the Maximist regime. This was a battle for the very fate of the Reich, for the very legacy of Rome itself. And Sigismund was going to fight to preserve it.

The Roman Civil War had begun.

 

[GermanPower]

Awesome AAR. Just spent time reading it!

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

I love that Konrad ended up hated by his own people, no one wanting to vote for him. Also, catching a lot of topical jokes (private mailbox, eh?). Poor Maximilian... I hope he gets to punch Konrad for this colossal mess.

The Roman Civil War... Well, this will be fun. I'm just waiting for the AI to take advantage of the situation and try to grab some territory.