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Chapter 295: The Close of the Imperial Century
"I did not expect the equalists to rise up in 1935, but they actually made things a lot easier for me. The Kaiser trusted me to make sure such a rebellion didn't happen again. He played right into my hands..."
-Markos Angelos, Memoirs of an Angeloi (1945)
"One hundred years ago, the world was much simpler. The Industrial Revolution had just begun, and the Reich had just emerged from the Enlightenment and the Renaissance. There were few factories, few railroads. There were no fascists, no corporatists, no republicans, no socialists, no equalists. The Kaiser reigned as he saw fit, without any ambitious chancellors, union leaders, or generals standing in his way. Those were the days of Metternich and Bismarck, Sigismund II and Franz Joseph. But I am not asking you to look back to those days as a lost era of greatness to be returned to. I am asking you to use what we learned from that time to look forward and prepare for the hardships ahead of us. The Reich in 1935 is not the same as the Reich in 1835. The world is different now. Instead of balloons, trains, and horses we have planes, cars, and barrels. We have sprawling factories pumping out goods and products on a scale never seen before. We have weapons of mass destruction. The Weltkrieg differed from all ancient wars in the immense power of the combatants and their fearful agencies of destruction, and from all modern wars in the utter ruthlessness with which it was fought. … Europe and large parts of Asia and the Eimericas became one vast battlefield on which after years of struggle not armies but nations broke and ran. When all was over, Torture and Cannibalism were the only two expedients that the civilized, scientific, Eurasian States had been able to deny themselves: and they were of doubtful utility. Samarkand is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years. The Imperial Century has ended. We must prepare for what the future holds for the Reich."
-Kaiser Otto I
It turned out the rebels' promises of reinforcements were empty. Once the legions were deployed, they effortlessly tore through the ranks of the traitorous citizens. The equalists were quickly driven out of all major cities if not completely annihilated at little cost to the legions. Tens of thousands of rebels were cut down within a month. The "revolution" was actually too easy to deal with. The most dangerous thing that resulted from the rebellion was the fact that Angelos's support had increased "I told you so," he told the Diet one day. Polls showed that his support among the population and the government had shot up, as they trusted him to deal with the equalists. The public continued to be polarized, with more and more declaring their loyalty first and foremost to the Angeloi and coming into conflict with the Kaiser's supporters.
In March, Chandra Gupta announced the reinstatement of the Vaayu Sena, the Indian Air Force. This reinstatement violated the terms of the Treaty of Samarkand, causing protests from the Chinese government. However, the Indian people approved of Gupta's actions, while other fascist regimes congratulated Gupta on his achievement. Ras Wolde Tzaddick of Abyssinia requested for a meeting with Gupta where both of them could discuss strengthening their alliance. Reza Khan soon invited himself to this meeting (despite his country being landlocked by the Reich and Turkestan), followed by Inca Roca Yupanqui and Itzcotocatl Yaquica (Yaquica was expelled after a day for being "too annoying"). Together they agreed to form a new alliance bloc with a single ideological platform. India, Abyssinia, and Iran were the first to sign the alliance treaty, which was dubbed the "Tripartite Pact" or the "Axis Delhi-Isfahan-Gonder," or simply "Axis." The Inca Empire joined the Axis powers a few days later. The goal of the Axis Powers was to "break the hegemony of plutocratic-capitalist -monarchist Eurasian powers and defend civilization from equalism."
The equalist rebels continued to be utterly destroyed, with the legions taking only a few hundred casualties per battle. Rebel strongholds in Milan and Madrid were cleared out with minimal losses. Angelos, wanting to show that he "cared" for the common people, ordered the decades-old temperance league to be disbanded and approved of the opening of a new beer hall in one theme. As a result, more and more senators joined the ranks of the Angeloi factions, restoring the Angeloi's majority over the Diet.
In April, Gupta announced that India would rearm its military. Rearmament of the post-war Indian military had begun during the time of the Indian Republic, when Bose passed cabinet laws that allowed secret and illegal rearmament efforts. Before 1934, the rearmament was relatively small, secret, and supported by a cross-section of Indians motivated by a mixture of patriotism-based nationalism and economics-based nationalism. The latter motive viewed the Treaty of Samarkand, which was ostensibly about war reparations and peace enforcement, as being in reality an economic anticompetitive measure by which the Chinese Empire removed the Indian Empire from future global economic competition by effectively disbanding it. The Weltkrieg reparations would be difficult or impossible to pay without viable export markets for India's industrial sector, which was as large as China's. The rearmers' hope was that India would slowly and quietly build up sufficient military potency until a time when it would return to colonial economic activity (or effectively similar activity of a neo-colonial nature, although that name had not yet been coined for it), but China would decline to fight another war to enforce the Samarkand Treaty, thus bringing the treaty's effects to an end.
An example of the Republic's clandestine rearmament measures was the training and equipping of police forces in a way that made them not just paramilitary in organizational culture (which most police forces are, to one degree or another) but also well prepared to rapidly augment the military as military reserve forces, which the treaty did not allow. Another example was that the government tolerated that various Republican paramilitary groups armed themselves to a dangerous degree. Their force grew enough to potentially threaten the state, but this was tolerated because the state hoped to use such militias as military reserve forces with which to rearm the Indian Army in the future. Thus various Muktkor, the Dawon, and the Gurapu grew from street gangs into private armies.
After the Rasa takeover of power in 1934, the Rasas pursued a greatly enlarged and more aggressive version of rearmament. During its two election campaigns, the National Socialist party (RSS) promised to recover India's lost national pride. It proposed military rearmament claiming that the Treaty of Samarkand and the acquiescence of the Indian Republic were an embarrassment for all Indians. The rearmament became the topmost priority of the Indian government. Gupta would then spearhead one of the greatest expansions of industrial production and civil improvement India had ever seen.
Although available statistics don't include non-citizens or women, the massive Rasa re-armament policy almost led to full employment during the 1930s. The re-armament began a sudden change in fortune for many factories in India. Many industries were taken out of a deep crisis that had been induced by the Great Depression.
By 1935, Gupta was open about rejecting the military restrictions set forth by the Treaty of Samarkand. Rearmament was announced on 4 April as was the reintroduction of conscription.
Some large industrial companies, which had until then specialized in certain traditional products began to diversify and introduce innovative ideas in their production pattern. Shipyards, for example, created branches that began to design and build aircraft. Thus the Indian re-armament provided an opportunity for advanced, and sometimes revolutionary, technological improvements, especially in the field of aeronautics.
India also turned outwards towards the rest of the world. Undercover Gurapu were spotted in North Borneo, inciting the locals to riot. At the same time, the Indian government declared that North Borneo was rightful Indian territory, which the Reich refused to acknowledge.
The last of the equalist rebels were eliminated outside the city of Bamenda later in the month.
In May, a massive duststorm swept the Great Plains of North Eimerica. The Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the Chinese Fusang prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent wind erosion (the Aeolian processes) caused the phenomenon. The drought came in three waves, 1934, 1936, and 1939–40, but some regions of the high plains experienced drought conditions for as many as eight years. With insufficient understanding of the ecology of the plains, farmers had conducted extensive deep plowing of the virgin topsoil of the Great Plains during the previous decade; this had displaced the native, deep-rooted grasses that normally trapped soil and moisture even during periods of drought and high winds. The rapid mechanization of farm equipment, especially small gasoline tractors, and widespread use of the combine harvester contributed to farmers' decisions to convert arid grassland (much of which received no more than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation per year) to cultivated cropland.
During the drought of the 1930s, the unanchored soil turned to dust, which the prevailing winds blew away in huge clouds that sometimes blackened the sky. These choking billows of dust – named "black blizzards" or "black rollers" – traveled cross country, reaching as far as the East Coast and striking such cities as Manhattan, Conoy, Jinshan, and Markland. On the Plains, they often reduced visibility to 1 metre (3.3 ft) or less. While the term "the Dust Bowl" was originally a reference to the geographical area affected by the dust, today it is usually used to refer to the event, as in "It was during the Dust Bowl".
The drought and erosion of the Dust Bowl affected 100,000,000 acres (400,000 km2) that centered on central Fusang, Tejas, and the western Great Plains.
The Dust Bowl forced tens of thousands of families to abandon their farms. Many of these families, who were often known as "Tejiaren" because so many of them came from Tejas and migrated to Fusang only to find that the Great Depression had rendered economic conditions there little better than those they had left.
The Dust Bowl caused havoc on Lithuania's economy, crashing its stock market a third time. It also spurred more senators to join pro-Angeloi factions, giving the Angeloi two-thirds of the seats in the Diet.
An earthquake struck the city of Quetta, in Paksthana, killing several thousand civilians.
Reza Khan, following Angelos's example, began promoting traditional Iranian and Zoroastrian values, cracking down on Muslim populations and forcing them to convert to Zoroastrianism. He proclaimed a "Zoroastrian Resurgence," one not seen since the days of Shahanshah Yunus.
On the 27th of June, a hundred thousand Balinese citizens, angered by Angelos's policies and inspired by the equalist rebellion in the mainland, rose up against the government, demanding the right to unify with the Indian Raj. Ferdinand Foch and his legion were immediately deployed to deal with the rebels.
At the end of July, Padishah Osman I of Turkestan signed a bill extending constitutionalism. While he retained extensive political power, the elected government's power was also increased, and voting rights were extended to all Turks. The weighted voting system which benefited the rich was eliminated. As a result, the Turkish government reformed itself into a more stable democratic system along Chinese lines. Because the Reich also wielded significant influence over Turkish affairs, the meritocracy was also strengthened, serving as a "backup government" in case demagogues, special interests, and corrupt individuals hijacked the elected legislature.
The Dust Bowl also affected the Commune of Michigan, which had enacted a series of land reforms and encouraged its subjects to become farmers. Poor farming techniques only worsened the effects of the Dust Bowl in the Commune's western provinces, causing the Great Depression to intensify. News that the Norse settlers in the western Fox provinces were especially suffering caused the Danish stock market to crash.
On the 3rd of August, the Soviet Commune organized the Seventh Congress of the "Equalist International," or Equintern for short.
While the differences had been evident for decades, the Weltkrieg proved the issue that finally divided the revolutionary and reformist wings of the workers' movement. The radical socialist movement had been historically anti-militarist and internationalist, and therefore opposed workers serving as "cannon fodder" for the "bourgeois" governments at war. This especially since the Dual Alliance comprised two empires (the Reich and India), while the Central Powers gathered India and the Reich into an alliance with the old Tsardom of Russia. Karl Marx's The Equalist Manifesto had stated that "the working class has no country" and exclaimed "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" Massive majorities voted in favor of resolutions for the Second International, the prewar international socialist organization, to call upon the international working class to resist war if it was declared.
Nevertheless, within hours of the declarations of war in 1914, almost all the socialist parties of the combatant states announced their support for the war. The only exceptions were the socialist parties of the Reich. To Lenin's surprise, even the socialist-leaning Schweinfurts were in favor of war credits.
Socialist parties in neutral countries mostly supported neutrality rather than total opposition to the war. On the other hand, during the 1915 Zimmerwald Conference, Lenin organized opposition to the "imperialist war" into a movement that became known as the "Zimmerwald Left" and published the pamphlet Socialism and War, in which he called all socialists who collaborated with their national governments "Social-Chauvinists", that is, socialists in word but chauvinists in deed. However, when the last neutral countries were dragged into the war starting in late 1914 and early 1915, their socialist parties quickly declared their support for the war effort.
The International divided into a revolutionary left and a reformist right, with a center group wavering between those poles. Lenin condemned much of the center as social-pacifists for several reasons, including their voting for war credits despite opposing the war.
Discredited by its passivity towards world events, the Second International dissolved in the middle of the war in 1916. In 1917, Lenin published the April Theses, which openly supported a "revolutionary defeatism": the Bolsheviks pronounced themselves in favor of the defeat of Russia which would permit them to move directly to the stage of a revolutionary insurrection.
The victory of the Russian Equalist Party in the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917 was felt throughout the world. An alternative path to power to meritocratic and democratic politics was demonstrated. With much of Eurasia and the Eimericas on the verge of economic and political collapse in the aftermath of the carnage of the Weltkrieg, revolutionary sentiments were widespread. The Russian Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Trotsky, believed that unless socialist revolution swept Eurasia, they would be crushed by the military might of world capitalism, just as Roman equalists had been crushed by force of arms in 1910. The Bolsheviks believed that this required a new international to ferment revolution in Eurasia and around the world.
The Equintern was founded at a Congress held in Kiev from March 2–6, 1919. There were 52 delegates present from 34 parties. They decided to form an Executive Committee with representatives of the most important sections and that other parties joining the International would have their own representatives. The Congress decided that the Executive Committee would elect a five-member bureau to run the daily affairs of the International. However, such a bureau was not formed and Lenin and Trotsky later delegated the task of managing the International to Grigory Zinoviev as the Chairman of the Executive. Zinoviev was assisted by Angelica Balabanoff, acting as the secretary of the International, Victor L. Kibaltchitch and Vladmir Ossipovich Mazin. Lenin, Trotsky and Alexandra Kollontai presented material. The main topic of discussion was the difference between "bourgeois democracy" and the "dictatorship of the proletariat".
The following parties and movements were invited to the Founding Congress:
- Russian Equalist Party (Bolsheviks)
- Spartacus League (Reich) (The Schweinfurts weren't invited for obvious reasons)
- Equalist Party of Rome
- Equalist Party of Suomi
- Lithuanian EP
- Equalist Party (Bolsheviks) of the Rus' SER (for Northern Russia)
- Equalist Party (Bolsheviks) of the Ruthenian SER (Ruthenian section of Russian EP, same party basically)
- Social Democratic Left Party of Svithjod/Tsarist Russia
- The Noregr Labour Party
- Klassekampen group of Danmark
- Socialist Labor Party of the Fox Empire
- Industrial Workers of the World (Fox)
- Industrial Workers of the World (China)
- Workers' International Industrial Union (China)
- The Socialist groups of Nanjing and Shanghai (China)
- Left-wing elements of the Japanese independence movement
- Socialist Youth International (represented by Willi Münzenberg)
Second Congress of the Equalist International. 1920.
Boris Kustodiyev. Festival of the II Congress of the Equintern on the Uritsky Square (former Palace square) in Leningrad
Ahead of the Second Congress of the Equalist International, held in July through August 1920, Lenin sent out a number of documents, including his Twenty-one Conditions to all socialist parties. The Congress adopted the 21 conditions as prerequisites for any group wanting to become affiliated to the International. The 21 Conditions called for the demarcation between Equalist parties and other socialist groups, and instructed the Equintern sections not to trust the legality of the bourgeois states. They also called for the build-up of party organisations along democratic centralist lines, in which the party press and parliamentary factions would be under the direct control of the party leadership.
Regarding the political situation in the colonized world, the second congress of the Equalist International stipulated that a united front should be formed between the proletariat, peasantry and national bourgeoisie in the colonial countries. Amongst the twenty-one conditions drafted by Lenin ahead of the congress was the 11th thesis which stipulated that all equalist parties must support the bourgeois-democratic liberation movements in the colonies. Notably some of the delegates opposed the idea of alliance with the bourgeoisie, and preferred giving support to equalist movements in these countries instead. Their criticism was shared by the Indian revolutionary M.N. Roy, who attended as a delegate of the Equalist Party of the Triple Alliance. The congress removed the term 'bourgeois-democratic' in what became the 8th condition.
Many Eurasian socialist parties divided because of the adhesion issue.
Writings from the Third Congress, held in June–July 1921, talked about how the struggle could be transformed into "civil war" when the circumstances were favorable and "openly revolutionary uprisings". The Fourth Congress, November 1922, at which Leon Trotsky played a prominent role, continued in this vein.
During this early period, known as the "First Period" in Equintern history, with a wave of revolutions across Eurasia and the Eimericas, the Comintern's priority was exporting the October Revolution. Some Equalist Parties had secret military wings. On example is the M-Apparat of the Equalist Party of Rome. Its purpose was to prepare for the civil war the Equalists believed was impending in the Reich, and to liquidate opponents and informers who might have infiltrated the party. There was also a paramilitary organization, the Rotfrontkämpferbund.
The Equintern was involved in the revolutions across Eurasia in this period, starting with the 1926 Roman General Strike that led to the Kanatan Revolution. Several hundred agitators and financial aid were sent from the Soviet Commune and Lenin was in regular contact with the Kanatan leader, Thorvald Erikson. Soon an official "Terror Group of the Revolutionary Council of the Government" was formed, unofficially known as "Lenin Boys". A new attempt was made at the time of the escalation of the strike in 1927. The Red Army was mobilized, ready to come to the aid of the planned insurrection if the legions chose to crack down on the strikers by force. Resolute action by the Roman government cancelled the plans, except due to miscommunication in Hamburg, where 200-300 Communists attacked police stations but were quickly defeated. In 1925 there was a failed coup in Lithuania by the Lithuanian Equalist Party.
Lenin died in 1924; the next few years saw a shift in the organization's focus from the immediate activity of world revolution towards a defense of the Soviet state.
The success of several revolutions in the Eimericas was balanced out by many more failed revolutions in Eurasia, forcing Trotsky to reconsider the plans for continuing the world revolution. Instead, the Soviet government decided to focus on strengthening equalism within the Commune and its allies before spreading outwards.
At the time of the 5th World Congress of the Equintern in July 1926, the Equintern was a relatively small organization but it devised novel ways of controlling equalist parties around the world. In many places there was a equalist subculture, founded upon indigenous left-wing traditions which had never been controlled by Kiev. The Equintern attempted to establish control over party leaderships by sending agents who bolstered certain factions, by judicious use of secret funding, by expelling independent-minded activists, and even by closing down entire national parties. Above all, the Equintern exploited Soviet prestige, in sharp contrast to the weaknesses of local parties that rarely had political power.
Equalist front organizations were set up to attract non-members who agreed with the Party on certain specific points. Opposition to fascism was a common theme in the "Popular Front" era of the mid 1930s. The well-known names and prestige of artists, intellectuals and other "fellow travelers" were used to advance Party positions. Often they came to the CSER (or CSSR after 1924, when Trotsky decided to change the name) for propaganda tours praising the future. Under the leadership of Grigory Zinoviev the Equintern established fronts in many countries in the 1920s and after. To coordinate their activities, the Equintern set up international umbrella organizations linking groups across national borders, such as the Young Equalist International (youth), Profintern (trade unions), Krestintern (peasants), International Red Aid (humanitarian aid), Sportintern (organized sports), etc.
In 1928, the 9th Plenum of the Executive Committee began the so-called "Third Period", which was to last until 1935. The Equintern proclaimed that the capitalist system was entering the period of final collapse and therefore all Equalist parties were to adopt an aggressive, militant, ultra-left line. In particular, the Equalists labelled all moderate left-wing parties "social fascists", and urged the Equalists to destroy the moderate left. With the rise of the Rasa movement in India after 1930, this stance became controversial.
The 6th World Congress from 1927-1928 also revised the policy of united front in the colonial world. In 1927, the Guomindang Party's socialist wing had turned on the Equalist Party, which led to a review of the policy on forming alliances with the national bourgeoisie in Asia. The congress did however make a differentiation between the character of the Guomindang on one hand and India's Swarajist Party and the Indian National Congress on the other, considering the latter as better allies. The congress called on the Indian Equalists to utilize the contradictions between the national bourgeoisie and the Chinese government. The Congress made efforts to invite equalist leaders from Africa, Indochina, Penglai, Fusang, Japan, and Neu Rhomania to further the equalism movements there.
The seventh and last congress of the Equintern was held between August 4 and September 4, 1935. It was attended by representatives of 65 equalist parties. The main report was delivered by Dimitrov, other reports were delivered by Palmiro Togliatti, Wilhelm Pieck and Dmitry Manuilsky. The congress officially endorsed the Popular Front against fascism. This policy argued that Equalist Parties should seek to form a Popular Front with all parties that opposed fascism and not limit themselves to forming a United Front with those parties based in the working class. There was no significant opposition to this policy within any of the national sections of the Equintern. In addition, the Congress also formalized the United Front into an alliance bloc, where the Soviet Commune would protect its fellow equalist governments from capitalist aggression and help consolidate the revolution within their borders.
While the Equintern Congress proceeded, Iran's stock markets crashed, as investors were concerned that the Soviets might try to invade Iran or subvert its political system. The Balinese rebels were destroyed, although at a high price. Over two-thirds of the soldiers sent to crush them were killed in the battle.
Discrimination against Muslims in India intensified after the RSS seized power; following a month-long series of attacks by members of the Dawon on Muslim businesses, mosques, and members of the legal profession, on 1 April 1933 Gupta declared a national boycott of Muslim businesses. By 1933, many people who were not RSS members advocated segregating Muslims from the rest of Indian society. The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service forced all non-Aryans to resign from the legal profession and civil service. Similar legislation soon deprived Muslim members of other professions of their right to practice. As part of the drive to remove Muslim influence from cultural life, members of the National Socialist Student League removed from libraries any books considered un-Indian, and a nationwide book burning was held on 10 May. Violence and economic pressure were used by the regime to encourage Muslims to voluntarily leave the country. Legislation passed in July 1933 stripped naturalized Indian Muslims of their citizenship, creating a legal basis for recent immigrants (particularly Turkish Muslims) to be deported.] Many towns posted signs forbidding entry to Muslims. Throughout 1933 and 1934, Muslim businesses were denied access to markets, forbidden to advertise in newspapers, and deprived of access to government contracts. Citizens were harassed and subjected to violent attacks.
Laws promulgated in this period that were not aimed directly at Muslims included the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring (passed on 14 July 1933), which called for the compulsory sterilization of people with a range of hereditary, physical, and mental illnesses. Under the Law against Dangerous Habitual Criminals (passed 24 November 1935), habitual criminals were forced to undergo sterilization as well. This law was also used to force the incarceration in prison or Rasa concentration camps of "social misfits" such as the chronically unemployed, prostitutes, beggars, alcoholics, homeless vagrants, and Rohingya people.
The Central Office for Combatting Rohingya was established in 1929. In December 1934, Security Minister Shekha issued an order for "combatting the Rohingya plague".
The Dawon had nearly three million members at the start of 1934, before it was purged.
Disenchanted with the unfulfilled promise of the RSS to eliminate Muslims from Indian society, Dawon members were eager to lash out against the Muslim minority as a way of expressing their frustrations. A Gurapu report from early 1935 stated that the rank and file of the RSS would set in motion a solution to the "Muslim problem ... from below that the government would then have to follow". Assaults, vandalism, and boycotts against Muslims, which the Rasa government had temporarily curbed in 1934, increased again in 1935 amidst a propaganda campaign authorized at the highest levels of government. Most non-party members ignored the boycotts and objected to the violence out of concern for their own safety.
The Indian Interior Minister announced on 25 July that a law forbidding marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims would shortly be promulgated, and recommended that registrars should avoid issuing licenses for such marriages for the time being. The draft law also called for a ban on marriage for persons with hereditary illnesses.
The violence also had a negative impact on India's reputation in the international community. For these reasons, Gupta ordered a stop to "individual actions" against Indian Muslims on 8 August 1935, and the Interior Minister threatened to take legal action against Party members who ignored the order. From Gupta's perspective, it was imperative to quickly bring in new Islamophobic laws to appease the radical elements in the RSS who persisted in attempting to remove the Muslims from Indian society by violent means. A conference of ministers was held on 20 August 1935 to discuss the question. Gupta argued against violent methods because of the damage being done to the economy, and insisted the matter must be settled through legislation. The focus of the new laws would be marriage laws to prevent "racial defilement", stripping Muslims of their Indian citizenship, and laws to prevent Muslims from participating freely in the economy.
The seventh annual Rasa Party Rally, held in Vijayanagara (instead of the usual Hyderabad) from 10–16 September 1935, featured the only Sansad Bhawan session held outside Delhi during the Rasa regime. Gupta decided that the rally would be a good opportunity to introduce the long-awaited anti-Muslim laws.[46] In a speech on 12 September, leading Rasa physicians announced that the government would soon introduce a "law for the protection of Indian blood". The next day, Gupta summoned the Sansad Bhawan to meet in session at Vijayanagara on 15 September, the last day of the rally, where he announced two "Vijayanagara Laws."
The two Vijayanagara Laws were unanimously passed by the Sansad Bhawan on 2 October 1935. The Law for the Protection of Indian Blood and Indian Honor prohibited marriages and extramarital intercourse between Muslims and Indians and forbade the employment of Indian females under 45 in Muslim households. The Raj Citizenship Law declared that only those of Indian or related blood were eligible to be Raj citizens; the remainder were classed as state subjects, without citizenship rights. The wording in the Citizenship Law that a person must prove "by his conduct that he is willing and fit to faithfully serve the Indian people and Raj" meant that political opponents could also be stripped of their Indian citizenship. This law was effectively a means of stripping Muslims, Rohingya, and other "undesirables" of their legal rights, and their citizenship. Over the coming years, an additional 13 supplementary laws were promulgated that further marginalized the Muslim community in India.
1935 drew to a close, but this time things were a bit different. In late November Otto had invited the militaries of Mali, Denmark, and Lithuania to joint drills in Gallia, Germania, and Hispania. It was the first time that the Reich had called on its dependencies to join it in military exercises. As Otto began making plans for the centenary of Sigismund II's revisions to the Augustinian Code, he worried about the future. With men like Angelos in power, the Reich was entering uncharted waters. He remembered learning about the horrors of the Anarchy and the Thirteenth Century Crisis and wondered if something terrible was just ahead. Ludendorff agreed with Otto. The old general urged him to prepare for the future.
The two men realized that the Imperial Century was over. It had been over since the Weltkrieg. Decades of peace and prosperity had ended. Ahead lay an uncertain future. The last century had changed the world more than the previous four centuries combined. It was natural to assume that the next few years would shape the world for decades to come. And the Reich had to be ready.
---
The next five or so updates (to get to 300) will be character based and wrap up this AAR. There may be a few pictures missing from this update, as the forum deleted my pictures for no reason earlier today and I had to reupload them.
Oh, I almost forgot. Be careful when you use /QUOTE, it may make your quotes close in the wrong place. I removed the brackets so that your next quote won't make the same mistake. Or just don't type in an extra /QUOTE.
Um, did you check your second paragraph? But merci, merci!
Plus, what do you think of my new chant?
Ahem-
WHAT DO WE THINK OF MARKOS?
****!
WHAT DO WE THINK OF ****?
MARKOS!
THANK YOU!
THAT'S ALRIGHT! WE HATE MARKOS, WE HATE MARKOS, WE HATE MARKOS, WE HATE MARKOS, WE ARE RHE MARKOS HATERS![/QUOTE]
BURN THE HERETIC SCUM! THE ANGELOI PROTECT!
Just don't include QUOTE blocks anywhere next time.
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I was wondering when the equalists would try to overcome their differences and stop conquering each other.
Nice to include your allies in military exercises, including those ghosts in France.
Nice to include your allies in military exercises, including those ghosts in France.
Ah, the Axis has formed... the lines for the coming second Great War are already being drawn.
I needed them to stop killing each other so they can actually challenge the Reich in HOI3.I was wondering when the equalists would try to overcome their differences and stop conquering each other.
Nice to include your allies in military exercises, including those ghosts in France.
The allied troops and "French ghosts" were left over from a fascist rebellion that I had to retcon out at the last minute.
That sounds so wrong.
I fixed it anyways.All three factions are now set up (Axis, Equintern, Allies), and all that remains is to set up the transition to HOI3.
Chapter 296: The World in 1935
Berlin at the end of 1935 was the largest city in the world, dwarfing Nanjing, Tenochtitlan, Delhi, and even Constantinople and Vienna. Over twelve million citizens lived in peace in the great metropolis, which had grown into a hub of trade and culture over the years.
While the Great Depression still affected millions of citizens throughout the empire, the Reich's economy was no longer struggling due to austerity measures implemented by Angelos, one of the few good things he did since he returned to power. As a result of this effective economic policy, Angelos maintained enough public support to remain in power.
The Angeloi maintained a two-thirds majority over the Diet, although the Hohenzollern dynatoi were still the official ruling party. Most of the government's social reforms remained in place, but the press was still heavily censored and trade unions remained banned.
The demographics of the Reich were quite diverse, thought not as much as in 1836. Most Romans were Christians, with the next largest religious minorities being Judaism and Inti. Germans accounted for over sixty percent of the Reich. Greeks, Sephardim, Quechua, and Norse were the next largest minorities. The most dominant issue to the public was an expansion of voting rights, though those who were in favor of it were not in the majority. Almost half of the population, particularly the German people, were firm believers in fascism and supporters of Angelos.
The imperial legions remained the most well-trained and equipped in the world. The General Staff had no shortage of talent with the likes of Ludendorff, Komnenodoukas-Palaiologos, Foch, and Lettow-Vorbeck still in service. The Reich had the largest military force in the entire world, meaning that it could take down large countries like Tawantinsuyu without breaking a sweat or even fully mobilizing. However, as many soldiers were divided between loyalty to the Kaiser and loyalty to the Chancellor, the Reich could not bring its full power to bear anytime soon.
The young Council of Nations was already fighting for its life. Three of the eight most powerful nations were equalist, while two were fascist, one was democratic, and two were nonaligned and meritocratic (though with some problems with fascism). Only the Reich was interested in maintaining the Council as it was. China frequently disregarded the rulings of the Council, and the Soviets outright denounced it as an extension of the capitalist agenda (though they reluctantly accepted an offer to take an "honorary seat" for the sake of "ideological diversity").
The cultural makeup of Europe had changed much in the last century. Britannia and Hibernia remained firmly Anglo-Saxon/English and Irish, respectively, though substantial German minorities were gaining ground. Caledonia remained firmly German. The Occitan, Basque, and Norman minorities in Gallia were slowly being assimilated into the German population. The same was true about the Hungarians in Carpathia, the Lombards in Italia, the Norse, Normans, and Sephardim in Hispania, the Malians in Mauretania, the Ethiopians in Aegyptus, the Armenians in Anatolia, the Kurds and Ashkenazim in Mesopotamia, and the Ashkenazim in Arabia. Even the Greeks in Greece were starting to assimilate, and many major Greek cities had large populations of Germans.
By comparison, Mali and Abyssinia remained somewhat ethnically diverse. Large non-Malian populations existed in the former's western, southern, and eastern provinces. Non-Amharic peoples lived in Abyssinia's south and north.
Indian Africa was for the most part culturally homogeneous. Only a few cities in the interior and along the coast were still dominated by non-Indians.
The countries that made up the former Scandinavian Empire were populated almost completely by Norse, except for Stockholm, where thousands of Russian refugees had displaced the local Norse population.
The region of Finland was now populated primarily by Russians, as Russian settlers had displaced the local Norse populations. A few Mongols had settled in Karelia and western Finland, and a large Norse minority persisted along the border with Tsarist Russia and Noregr.
The Lithuanians remained a majority in the provinces of the old Commonwealth, though in the regions occupied by the Soviets many of them had fled their homes and Russian settlers were sent in to replace them. The Mongols in the former Yavdi territories remained mostly unmolested by the Russians, despite there being limited attempts at assimilation by authorities in the regions close to the Russian heartland.
Central Asia was, as Foreign Minister von Papen called it, "still a mess." Iran was dominated by Persians, obviously, but in the Roman concessions Germans had begun reclaiming the majorities they enjoyed during the 1836-1864 occupation. For a country priding itself on ethnic homogeneity, there were many non-Rajputs in southern and eastern India though they were usually considered full Indians by the government. Turkestan, Zunbilstan, and Paksthana were still largely dominated by Rajputs, though in north Turkestan several regions had Turkish majorities. Xinjiang was still predominantly Turkish, and Tibet was divided between native Tibetans and Rajput settlers.
Southeast Asia and south China was mostly Vietnamese. There were a few Burmese, Thai, Khmer, and Cham minorities scattered throughout the region. Most Chinese citizens in Guangdong, especially in Hong Kong, spoke Vietnamese, though along the coast many still spoke Cantonese.
Provincia Indochina was divided between Thais in the north and Germanized Malaysians in the south. The former Indian Indonesian colonies were dominated by Rajputs and a few native Indonesians. The Qiandao island chain ((Philippines)) was divided between Vietnamese and Chinese settlers.
Oceania was still a diverse region. Mongols settled in south Penglai while the Chinese remained concentrated along the coast and the Indians remained in the western regions. The Japanese had settled the interior, and the Aboriginal peoples had been supplanted in most of the continent.
Mittagsland was still dominated by Germans, though the Maori had spread out through the province, integrating with the settlers, and the Chinese remained a majority in the north.
The Chinese heartland was, as always, dominated by Chinese. North of the heartland, though, was, as Papen said, "a monstrosity." Chinese settlers, Mongols, Manchus, and even Japanese were squished together in the wilds of Siberia. The Manchus were the most coherent group, dominating all of Manchuria proper. Mongolia and western Siberia, though, were divided between Mongols, Chinese, and Japanese. The Ainu remained undisturbed on their islands, though Mongols had displaced them in Sakhalin. Japan remained mostly Japanese, but the Chinese had accelerated their resettlement programs, and large minority groups had popped up in major cities. The Koreans were slightly better off. Some oddities included a Mongol population right next to Seoul and a city in the north, Qingjin, where the freed descendants of African slaves had a majority.
China's territories in Fusang were divided between the original Manchu settlers and more recent ethnic Chinese settlers. Fusang was the most culturally homogeneous region of North Eimerica. Norse dominated most of Vinland, but near the Great Lakes the native Eimericans had a majority. The Commune of Michigan was culturally diverse, split between Meskwaki (Fox), Algonquians, and other natives. The CSA's population were mostly Nahua, as were PARA's. Nahua populations also dominated the Mayan homeland and many Mayan islands. Most of the UPM's citizens were Quechua, and most of the people living in areas once ruled by Tawantinsuyu still spoke Quechua. Most of Neu Rhomania's heartlands had been Germanized.
Central Asia was a volatile region, owing from its recent history. Tensions were high in Tibet, Xinjiang, and most of Turkestan and Zunbilistan. It seemed likely that a conflict would break out there sometime in the future.
Fusang was also a volatile place. Although the government of the former Jin Dynasty had voted to unify with the Chinese Empire in 1868, the people of Fusang had grown tired of being controlled by Nanjing. There was a sizeable independence movement in central Fusang calling for an independent Wanyan monarchy to be restored.
Other North Eimerican flashpoints were located in the Union of Seven Republics or just across the border. The USR's territory was disputed by both the Union of Vinland and the Commune of Michigan. Only their membership in the Equintern and the threat of Soviet retribution kept both of them from invading.
The UPM's territory was also disputed. Both PARA and the Inca Empire claimed the UPM's territory for themselves. The only things keeping them from invading were the protection of Mayapan and the Reich.
Neu Rhomania was also a flashpoint. Although the citizens had been loyal to the Reich since the colony was set up, they had grown tired of hundreds of years of control from Berlin. The fact that Neu Rhomania was the province most devastated by the war inflamed tensions more. The Athanatoi heard that many citizens had begun organizing into movements and demanding more autonomy from Berlin.
Mali had become incredibly unstable over the years. Multiple rebellions by native non-Malian populations had only worsened the tensions between the provinces and Timbuktu. Now it appeared that the entire south of Mali was on the verge of breaking away.
One hundred years had passed. One hundred years had gone by since Sigismund II updated the Augustinian Code. One hundred years of revolution, advancement, and change had taken place. Empires rose and fell. New ideologies had emerged while others had fallen into obscurity. Peoples conquered and were conquered. And now the world was entering a new age, a new order.
---
Vienna Hauptbahnhof (Central Station), 25 December 1935
Oren heard a voice in his head. Yes? he thought.
Do you hear me?
Yeah, loud and clear.
Are you in position?
Yes.
Okay, your contact will be entering the station in a few minutes. He will be carrying a briefcase for you. Understand?
Yes.
Oren got up from his bench and looked around. The train station was filled with people from all kinds of backgrounds, rushing to catch their trains or meet their friends and family. He remembered when he was like them, so long ago.
He spotted his contact entering through the main entrance. He was a nondescript man, wearing a simple suit and hat. In his right hand was a black briefcase.
Oren walked over to him, cutting in front of him quickly. The man was somewhat startled by him, for some reason.
"Um, do I know you?" said the man.
Oren held out his hand. "The briefcase," he said.
"The what?" said the man.
"The briefcase! Give it to me!" Oren demanded.
The man looked at him weirdly. "Are you trying to--"
Oren suddenly felt pain shoot through his body. He doubled over, clutching at his shirt. One hand tore away his shirt, revealing a sigil carved into his chest, while another reached for a hidden angel dagger. He tried to stop himself, but he couldn't. It was as if somebody was controlling his movements.
"Deus vult!" he shouted through gritted teeth as he plunged the dagger through the center of the sigil and into his chest.
As he collapsed, wisps of bright white energy seeped through his wound, lighting up the sigil. The last thing he remembered was his vessel's body disintegrating and angelic energy violently rupturing outwards.
The resulting explosion took out half of the train station and incinerated everybody within ten feet of the blast origin.
I forgot just how massive China was. Integrating Tran and Jin certainly set them a step forward over the century.
It's interesting to see how far some have fallen, like India or the Triple Alliance. I wonder how the latter is doing. They certainly won't be the scourge of Europe again any time soon.
It's interesting to see how far some have fallen, like India or the Triple Alliance. I wonder how the latter is doing. They certainly won't be the scourge of Europe again any time soon.
Did you really think I would forget about the angels?
Don't forget Ryukyu!I forgot just how massive China was. Integrating Tran and Jin certainly set them a step forward over the century.
It's interesting to see how far some have fallen, like India or the Triple Alliance. I wonder how the latter is doing. They certainly won't be the scourge of Europe again any time soon.
I was generous enough to give them Mexican borders and Guatemala, but no, they weren't satisfied with that and forced me to balkanize them more.
Chapter 297: The Investigation
Sarajevo, Illyricum - 30 December 1935, night
Nat woke up to the sound of Gavrilo getting dressed. She opened her eyes and saw him standing in the doorway to their room, putting on his work clothes.
"Gav," she said, "Where are you going?"
"There's been a change in plans," said Gavrilo, "There was an emergency at work. They need me."
He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. It shouldn't take long."
She thought she saw Gavrilo vanish, but she decided it was just her tired eyes playing tricks on her. But she couldn't explain why she felt a breeze when her windows were all closed.
Inquisition Headquarters, Vienna
Wilhelm materialized in the conference room the prayer originated from. Several other Inquisitors had already shown up there.
"Someone called?" he said.
"That would be me," said the old man at the head of the table.
"Owen Niederung," Wilhelm said, "It's nice to see you again, after all these years. How old are you? 105? 106?"
"There's no time for silly questions, angel," replied Owen, "We have an emergency on our hands and we need your help."
"Don't you recognize me?" said Wilhelm.
"Nah, I never really remember angel faces, you guys change faces as if you were in a Chinese opera."
"It's me, Wilhelm."
Niedurung leaned over. "Wilhelm, eh? Haven't seen you in a while. Ironic that you were the first to respond."
"Okay, what is it you need, Owen?"
Niederung motioned to his other Inquisitors, who passed some very thick paper-stuffed files in front of Wilhelm.
"On Christmas afternoon, there was a large explosion at the Vienna Hauptbahnhof," explained Niederung, "According to eyewitnesses, the suspect apparently exploded after stabbing himself in the chest with a dagger. My men have found some grace at the scene. Sound familiar?"
"Yeah," said Wilhelm, "I've heard of other cases like this. They use a special sigil to concentrate their energy into a single blast that can be released upon death. Some radical angel factions used these tactics centuries ago, but nobody's used them since the Apocalypse ended."
"That doesn't help us at all," said Niederung, "Can you tell us who's doing it, why, and how to stop them?"
"I don't know," said Wilhelm.
"Of course," said Niederung, "I figured you wouldn't know."
"I need more details," said Wilhelm, "Did any witnesses see any particular target or motive for the explosion?"
"One of them, a child, said he saw the suspect talking with a man with a briefcase before exploding," said Niederung, "But we can't rely on--"
"Wait, you said you found grace at the scene?"
"Yes, but we can't--"
"Bring it to me."
Niederung nodded to an aide, who brought Wilhelm a small vial filled with white energy.
"There wasn't enough for us to construct a profile, what can you--"
"His name was Oren," said Wilhelm, "He was always quiet but very devoted to his work. I believe I can use this grace to tap into their communications frequency and find out when the next attack will be."
"There'll be another attack?!"
"If I know my history correctly, this isn't just a one-off incident," explained Wilhelm, "They'll try to strike again."
Wilhelm concentrated. He mentally connected with the angel communications network, searching all communications between angels for mentions of Oren's name. After a minute of searching, he found a match, but the communications involved were encrypted. He searched through Oren's grace and his fragmented memories for the decryption code, which took another minute. And then he was in. The participants' names were all hidden under a second level of encryption, and this time he didn't have a decryption key. However, he could read what they said to each other. After a little bit of searching, he finally found what he was looking for.
Wilhelm snapped back to reality. "The next attack will be at the Opera House, at 3 pm tomorrow."
"Wait, they're showing Persepolis tomorrow," said Niederung, "It's going to be packed."
He turned to his other Inquisitors. "Get some men down to the Opera House as soon as possible. I want both the target and the suspect alive."
The old fossil hunter turned back to Wilhelm. "Thanks, Wilhelm, I don't know how to repay for everything you've done over the course of my career."
"Don't thank me, then," replied Wilhelm, "Just stop whoever's doing this. Call me when you're ready."
He teleported away.
Nice final overview of the world in V2. Will you do a quick summary of how things change upon conversion?
Niedurung is back! Sweet.
Niedurung is back! Sweet.
Most of the summary will be done in the HOI3 segment, but there will be some in-universe references to the changes, which are mostly border-related. As expected with a conversion, the borders are horribly messed up. I spent two hours trying to fix just India's borders, not to mention Afghanistan, Paksthana, and Turkestan.
I was actually debating whether or not to use Sigmund Freud in his place, but I decided to bring him back as I wanted to resolve his plotline.
Sadly, since he's quite old now, I'm afraid I will have to kill him off sometime soon. I don't know when or how yet, but I'm thinking about keeping him alive until at least the start of HOI3.
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Of course the angels start causing havoc right when another world war is in the works.
Yo, when is the conversion anyway? We gonna stop at 300 chapters then go go gadget HOI?
Conversion has already happened. Chapter 300 will be the Victoria 2 "finale," and then I set up the HOI3 AAR thread.
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