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The Empire under the leadership of Amine XIII had gone to war against the Spanish Empire capturing the capital of Cagliari and occupying the whole of Iberia. The assassination of the Kaiser on the 5th September 1823, however, would bring disaster to the empire. His wife was pregnant but still hadn't given birth and thus Amine XIII's younger brother, Anwa II would inherit the throne. Anwa II would gain the nickname 'the Disgrace' due to his 7 years of failue. Neighboring states stole lands from the empire whilst the Spaniards pushed back the Atlasii. On the 25th December 1830, he was assassinated by those loyal to Amine XIII's 7 year old son, Atlas III. A new era in history had begun ending the Renaissance Era and beginning the Industrial Era.
-Jugurtha Regius, 2017
Chapters:
I - State of Affairs I 1836 AD
II - Steel and Blood (Atlas III)
III - War on the Nile (Atlas III & Hiba II)
IV - Sumatra (Hiba II)
V - Pillars of Hercules (Hiba II)
VI - Treaty of Naples (Hiba II)
VII - Succession Crisis (Hiba II & Amine XIV)
VIII - Anarchy (Amine XIV)
IX - Imperial Decay (Amine XIV)
X - Sick Man of the Mediterranean (Amine XIV)
XI - Slave's Dream? (Amine XIV & Massiva IV)
XII - The Communist Manifesto?
XIII -
XIV -
XV -
XVI -
XVII -
XVIII -
XIX -
XX -
XXI -
XXII -
XXIII -
XXIV -
XXV -
XXVI -
XXVII -
XXVIII -
The world had changed a bit since 1821 with the intermediate era being relatively peaceful except for a few wars.
Europe
Europe has seen little change during the 15 years since 1821. The Atlasii invasion of Spain saw the capture of Cagliari and Amine XIII's push north into France capturing the city of Bordeaux before Amine XIII's assassination. The war would divert the Spaniard's focus from Sweden and a white peace was signed between the two nations. Amine XIII's attempt to crush the Spanish Empire might have failed but he had brought Spain down to the ground making them think twice about where their nation was heading. Other then that there would be little changes. Bern would move in and conquer parts of Burgundy whilst their was some border changes elsewhere. During the period, the empire is famed for losing land but one thing often forgotten is how Vojvodina was taken from the Thessalonikans during the Atlasii-Spanish War.
Scandinavia
The borders of Scandinavia like mainland Europe have changed very slightly. In Sweden, some Spanish lands were reconquered by Sweden whilst in the east, Altay has moved west during the Spanish-Swedish war moving into the Bothnian Bay whilst also getting access to the Helsinki Bay and as a result Finland was separated from Sweden. Other than that, there is no changes in Scandinavia.
Eastern Europe
Altay not only captured parts of Sweden but also parts of Tabriz. They gained control over lands along the Caspain coast but by doing so lost their access to the Onega Lake. During the conflict between Tabriz and Altay, Spoleto expanded their lands in Ruthenia whilst Vitebsk expanded south.
North Africa
Northern Africa has seen some changes. There was a slight skirmish between the Malians and the Atlasii which infact resulted in the Malians being pushed back a bit. The region once called the Sahara Bridge would expand as Malian and Atlasii colonists inhabited these new lands forming villages on the desert. This would be seen as the beginning of the colonization of Africa. Along the coast, the Provencals have expanded their colony like the Atlasii who colonized lands south of their border in the Libyan Desert. In Egypt meanwhile, conflicts after the death of Amine XIII saw the Aswanis push up the Red Coast to capture the whole of Egypt. However, they were eventually halted.
Western and Eastern Africa
Other than the territorial changes between Mali and the Atlasii, Mali's border remained very similar. However, they lost control over parts of Guinea as Malians fled from the disease ridden jungle. On the East coast there was also little to no changes which was mainly colonial in nature.
Central and South Africa
Central and Southern Africa saw a huge change in the 15 years. On the southern coast, the Yorkists were expelled by Calabria whilst abandoning some territories on the very northern border. The Yorkists meanwhile in the centre expanded their colonies taking over much of the Congo Basin whilst on their east the Kilwans expanded their territory almost reaching the West African coast. In their efforts to become an empire, the Rozwis would change their title of Kings of Kilwa to Kings of Swahili. In their attempts they wiped out the Buhans but they have yet to destroy the Mutapans or the Betsimisarakans on their island.
Middle East and India
In the Middle East and India there was a large amount of changes compared to the rest of the world. In the Middle East, the Tabrizites pushed into Anatolia and Syria during the times of trouble of the empire. On the Hedjazi coast, the Aswanis have been kicked out only keeping their Yemeni lands. Basra meanwhile has maintained part of the Hedjaz but are blocked off by Nikaea which like Basra and the empire expanded into the Arabian desert. In India, the war of 1821 had left the borders changed. Maharastra was split in two by the Kamarupans but the Chiavarians had blocked off the Esfahanis from the Indian Ocean whilst their armies were locked in bloody combat within India against Kamarupa. The Ming and Esfahanis meanwhile made slight advances in Kamarupa.
South East Asia
In South-East Asia, the Ming purchased border territories with the Lan Xang. Meanwhile on Kalimantan, the Majapahitians have colonized the inland territory whilst Pagarruyung colonized the eastern half of Papua. There would be some smaller changes within the archipelago too such as the Tidorian purchase of several islands from the Ternatians.
Eastern Asia
Eastern Asia has seen some territorial changes. The biggest of these being the colonization of Central Asian lands formerly inhabited by tribes. Altay conquered eastern Kumul which has consolidated itself turning from a strip of land into a compact nation. In Manchuria, Japan has expanded into Korean lands but whilst doing so, they lost part of the north Manchurian coast. Other than that there is no other changes since 1821. This would also be the same for the Ming colonies in the Northern wasteland.
Australia
A severe drought in Australia pushed back the Maharastrans who had been kicked out of the outback back to the coast. However, the continent would see no other cases.
South Arcadius
The drought which struck Australia would also strike the Incan Empire causing the Incans to abandon parts of the Amazon which was costing more than it provide. But they had taken control over parts of the Aztec colonies in a quick three month long conflict in 1832. Other than these changes, South Arcadius remains the same.
Central Arcadius
Central Arcadius like the South hasn't changed much. The southern border of the Aztecs with the Incans remains the same with no changes in the Caribbean. On the northern border, the Navajo have pushed out the Aztecs by a bit.
North Arcadius
North Arcadius unlike the lands to the south had quiet a few amount of changes. The northern Aztec border was changed dramatically whilst the Cherokee stormed the Atlas Guard splitting it in half during an Atlasii attempt to expel the Creek from North Arcadius. Whilst the Cherokee invaded the Atlas Guard, they also moved the entire Iroquois population to the Great Lakes so that the native Arcadian nation was no longer a Cherokee enclave. A drought struck the Navajo and they fled from the Rocky Mountains keeping control over the Western Coast, Mojave desert and parts of the Great Plains conquered from the Miamians. The Incans too were struck by the drought but managed to maintain control over most of their land.
Northern North Arcadius
The very north of North Arcadius saw mainly colonial changes. The freezing temperatures caused the Cherokee to abandon their most northern lands whilst the same is seen with the Incans. Other than a few colonial frontier changes, there is no other border changes.
Atlas III 'Golden Brain' ibn Amine Gherensi I 7 January 1824 - 9 June 1842
Before having even reached his 10th year, Atlas would be installed as Kaiser of the Imperium di Atlas. By 1836, he was aged 13. His regency had already develope national industry in order to stay ahead of the Spaniards. In Algiers alone there was an ammunition, cement, paper mill and steel factory. In the meantime, the population had surpassed 210 million people during the Intermediate period due to a never before seen increase. With the beginning of the industrial era though, the government so it beneficial to officially create their own newspaper loyal to the crown. Thus in Algiers, a newspaper factory was constructed so that private citizens won't have a say in the newspaper. However, the construction of the factory would see private investments and the plans to have the entire factory be free of private citizens didn't work out. It wasn't only the rich who invested in the factory. In March there was the discovery of diamonds in Figuig and this resulted in a diamond fever which saw even the lowerclass invest in the construction of national factories in order to try and increase their wealth.
A few would even attempt to seek jobs in the bureaucracy with most of the bureaucrats who rose due to the diamond fever being located within Tlemcen and Algiers. It would seem from the outside that the empire was prospering but from the inside you could see the cracks and fissures within the system. Hence, when the Incans went to war against the Ming in May 1836, the empire stayed neutral betraying their ally. At the same time, there would be a major colonial incident in Australia when some Atlasii merchants seeked to set up a colony on the Australian coast. However, this angered Maharastra who were dominant on the continent and wishing not to cause drama, Atlas III's regency didn't further the incident and ordered the merchants to leave their short lived base. Instead they were allowed control over ports in Australia and also on Maharastra's homeland. However, the empire would focus on other things within the East. On the Chinese coast was a European port called Dutch Harbour under the administration of merchants from Holland. The area it was built was famed for its floral diversity and many expeditions would be sent to the port by private or national institutions. The empire would send an expedition under scientist Alexandros Oblarian.
On the 13 October 1836, the first national newspaper, Daily Eagle, was released. From that day onward, all news the government wanted released would be released to the public ear with the first major lie being diplomatic tensions with the Aztecs. Atlasii ambassadors were insulted by the Aztecs but instead of taking any rash decision, the regency decided to remain calm thanking for the Aztecs' time whilst at the same time getting rid of them. However, in the newspaper, it stated that relations between the two empires was cordial. A month later, a single man in a fishing boat approached an Atlasii merchant ship at the port of Aden revealing that the botanical expedition sent to Dutch Harbour was stranded on North Sentinel Island after their ship was sunk in a storm. The only intact structure left was a small fishing boat which had space for one person. Whilst he sailed to the capital to seek help from the Imperial navy, the men back on the island had to hold out against constant attacks by the hostile natives. Alexandros Oblarian took an arrow to the arm, however, after closing the wound he recovered. Immediately, a ship was sent to the island to save the men who had lost most, if not all of their equipment during the storm.
Controversy would strike the empire just a month later when a large reserve of iron ore was discovered in Pljevlja. The authorities had mined deep even though the current technology meant that there was heavy losses. This angered man of the lower class who sympathized with the miners sent into the dangerous environment and miners all over the empire went on strike. The tried and tested technique of killing opposition, however, kept them silent. Greek nationalist would use the killing of strikers as a reason for the Greek majority in the eastern half of the empire to rebel and re-establish themselves as Emperors of Rome which was a title inherited by the Tabrizites after they subjugated former emperors, the Isaurians. The most vocal of the nationalists was Ankara university student Zenobios Tarchaneiotes who was imprisoned after climbing the 200 metre tall minaret of the Imperial Mosque in Algiers. He would go on to write the Purple Dream whilst in jail before his execution. It would take over 200 hundred years before the Purple Dream was discovered in the Imperial Archives and published. In it Zenobios promoted introspectionism, the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. However, it wasn't only he who spoke about the topic as in September 1837, pyschologist Vukan Bishoi coined the term in his book, The Human Mind: A Search for Internal Satisfaction.
The ideals would become popular with the religious who claimed introspectionism was actually the examination of one's soul. In February 1838, the were mass arrests in Bolu with the most troublesome of the clergy being arrested for speaking out against the young Kaiser. The others were bribed with gold taken from Postojna during its gold rush which began at the end of 1837 with the discovery of a large amount of gold. This excitement would spread to Karlovac where gold too will be discovered and the business savvy would invest in cotton from the farms around Alexandria since they proving to be worth a lot due to their quality. However, that wasn't the biggest news of the year. In July 1838, there was an informal alliance between the Imperial Army and the Gherensites owned business, Atlas, which owned all national factories. This would go on to be known as the military-industrial complex. By the end of the year, both found themselves in Basra with the nation being pulled in the empire's sphere of influence allowing factories to be built along the Basran coast and the army to garrison several key locations thus giving them an increasingly large amount of power.
The following year was the discovery of the Esfahanian Empress, a beautiful plant which grew only in the region surrounding Dutch Harbour. The discovery was made by Esfahanian biology professor, Menushir Belak. This was a major event for the Esfahanians who were slowly becoming more irrelavant as the years passed on but it would be a major embarrassment for the Atlasii and the other great powers who had been defeated by an important yet at the same time irrelevant nation such as the Esfahanians. However, Alexandros Oblarian and his crew would become famous for being stranded on the North Sentinel Island and the publication of 'Stranded with Savaged' before Alexandros' death would make him one of the most famous writers in history. Back within the empire, the middle and upper class had a tax rate of 50% but as Atlas III was close to getting rid of his regency, the tax rate was reduced down to 25%. The tax reduction would bring attention to the lower class who so no such decrease. It was asked by many thinkers why the population had increased so dramatically in less than a generation with a large percentage of the empire's percentage being children who were living in poor conditions and were a drain on the national economy. Hamilcar Malthus would propose that the large population was only temporarily and that a large plague would strike down the empire reducing it to its 1821 levels since the world was incapable of handling a large population. Many would agree with Malthus and fear rapidly grew within the empire about what could be the upcoming disaster. Some believed it would be Atlas III getting rid of his regents once he reached his sixteenth year.
As the wait for Atlas III's name day turned into days, an alliance was formed with Swahili and on the 7th January 1840, Atlas III's official coronation saw him rid of his regency and absolute ruler of the vast empire created by his ancestors. The first year of his reign was surprisingly silent since he was the son of Amine XIII after all. The first major event would be an incident with Calabria when an Atlasii ship rammed a Calabrian fishing ship sinking it and killing its owner. Calabria would make the problem public but Atlas III would simply apologize and refused to hand over compensation. Nobody knew what Atlas III would do. Would he like his father launch an invasion of Spain or would he be like his uncle and dig the hole the empire was in even further? From the fact Atlas III had already gained the nickname of Golden Brain by the age of 16, it can be assumed people thought the former was the case.
Atlas III 'Golden Brain' ibn Amine Gherensi I 7 January 1824 - 9 June 1842
The failure of the Dutch Harbour expedition caused Atlas III to look for other possible botanical expeditions. Atlas III would decide to send botanists to the Incan pacific colony of Pago Pago. The selected captain of the expedition was Constantinople professor, Alexandros II Isauros. The expedition would use up a large amount of money and this would receive criticisms from the public since the national economy had begun to worsen. Thus 1841 saw Atlas III attempt to bounce back from imperial economic decline. However, all attempts proved to do very little and by February 1842, there was major concern within the government and public. This culminated in Atlas III's advisors convincing him to not aid his allies, the Shewans, who had been victim to an invasion by the Aswanis. Despite the economic uncertainty, there was advancements within the empire as well as civil unrest. In March 1842, the refusal to aid their allies of Shewa made the empire look week and protests broke out within Cyprus. The Greek majority would begin rioting by the end of the week demanding independence from Atlasii rule.
The Cypriot Riots of 1842 culminated in the infamous Massacre of Roman Square, Nicosia. The local garrison under the command of Amir Awgustin III opened fire on a crowd of three thousand rioters culminating in a bloodbath as troops blocked the streets and shot dead every person who had participated in the riots on the 5th March. News of the massacre was suppressed but the rebel newspaper, Daily Cypriot, managed to find its way into the hands of many other underground newspapers within the empire. News spread quickly. The empire would assassinate and kill hundreds of people included in the leak whilst also focusing their own reporting on how Alexandros II Isauros, after coming back from Pago Pago, developed new medicinal drugs which could aid the sick and dying. After enough coverage, this news about the advances in medicine eventually made people stop thinking about Roman Square. Other news that would appear during the scandal was the discovery of hereditary genetics by an Altay scientist living in Algiers, Genghis Mendel; his partner Ardabal Rudwaan meanwhile would make major advances in medicine primarily focused on combat injuries. However, the diversion of the public's attention towards medicinal advances wouldn't save Atlas III and during the June Parades of 1842, the Kaiser suffered a bullet to the back of hid skull instantly killing the 18 year old emperor leaving the empire to his two year old son, Hiba II.
The Kaiser of Gold, Giovanni Abdelid
Kaiser Hiba II 'Dragon of Steam' ibn Atlas Gherensi I 17 October 1840 - 7 March 1850
The reign of Hiba II was a dangerous one since the regency could very easily remove the two year old from power. He would, however, be saved by his regents' rivalries which meant that nobody could advance their position since there was somebody to stop them from gaining to much power. The government's first task would be to find Atlas III's assassin. After intense investigations, royal investigator Cherif Hadramaut discovered the killer to be a Cypriot nationalist called Constantine Anastas. Further investigation revealed him to be seeking asylum in the Aswani capital of Dongola. Imperial Regent, Jugurtha Qutid, sent the Emir of Cyrene to talk to Sultan Muhammad II Uwaysid of Aswan. The diplomatic attempt to solve the crisis was a failure. In August 1842, the talk descended into violence when Sultan Muhammad II assaulted the Emir of Cyrene with a fan causing outrage and violence as the Emir's guards clashed with the Sultan's leaving three dead. The news was not well received by Jugurtha Qutid.
The Fan Incident
In October, Aswani ships led an assault on the Suez Canal. This caused outrage amongst the Atlasii nobility since despite not being able to destroy the canal as hoped, the Aswanis managed to kill up to two hundred people. It is believed that the 'Battle of the Suez' took place because Sultan Muhammad II wanted to stop the Atlasii from entering the Red Sea if war broke out. What he didn't know was that Jugurtha Qutid did not which to go to war but this attack forced his hand into escalating matters. The Imperial armies were prepared for an invasion as they were sent to Egypt to enter Aswani territories. These troops would be the first people in history to receive vaccinations since Alexandros II Isauros had developed a vaccine for smallpox. Wanting to save the Atlasii troops from a possible smallpox outbreak, Jugurtha had it mandatory that all troops would be vaccinated; this would give the First Red Sea War the nickname of the Vaccine War. In November 1842, Atlasii troops finally crossed the border entering Aswan.
The troops spent much time simply advancing into their enemy's land with no resistance except for a few militias. However, the first major battle would be at Dongola when a militia force engaged an Aswani army which was stationed in the capital. The battle was a victory for the Atlasii since the general, Khalid al-Shawiyyati, managed to have a force go behind Aswani lines thus enveloping the smaller army. However, his militia wasn't skilled and thus casualties between the two forces were similar. Nevertheless, the battle would result in a siege of the capital after the routed troops fled back to Dongola. Elsewhere the Viceroy of Egypt, Mustafa al-Shiluhi, crushed an entire army at Baris losing just under 2,000 men. The victory would cause cracks within the Aswani army with many wishing to surrender; there were does who criticised Mustafa, however, since he outnumbered the Aswani commander, Ahmad al-Najdi, five to one. Nevertheless, this victory would finally convince the Shewans to accept an Atlasii alliance offer. Things though were soon to become difficult for the empire. Famed commander Ahmed Belkadi, however, would still be victorious against Fawzi ibn Kamil at Marsa Alam when his force of 90,000 men almost crushed an entire force of almost 50,000 men with very little loses.
This news though was met with bad news as in March 1843, the Spaniards, fearing a revival of the Atlasii military under Jugurtha Qutid, convinced their ally of Chiavari to invade Atlasii Italy whilst the Spaniards attacked Atlasii Austria thus flanking any forces that might be located in the region. This was major and terrifying news because following the assassination of Kaiser Amine XIII, the Spaniards had dramatically increased their army capacity and their industrial capabilities. A national mobiliziation was announced and money was spent on construction railroads in Eastern Algeria and Libya to allow armies in Aswan to quickly travel to Morocco and from there land in Andalusia. The Peloponnese meanwhile would see the construction of explosive factories whilst southern Serbia saw the construction of new canned food factories. These changes, however, wouldn't save the Egyptian militia army besieging Dongola when reinforcements came to aid to besieged Aswanis. The entire militia force was killed and al-Shawiyyati was forced to flee.
There was, however, an issue. Al-Shawiyyati had sent a messenger to Legio V requesting aid but soon after the messenger departured, the Aswanis arrived and the Legio V never got the request for aid. Many believed the messenger was killed on the way but after investigations took place, it was discovered that the militia man was a member of the Bedouin National Front. His brother would be the head of the First Farmer's Bank and another member of the Bedouin National Front. Thus on the 23 April 1843, a force of 100 Atlas Guardsmen stormed the bank's headquarters in Cairo capturing up to two hundred resistance members since there was a meeting taking place. A public execution would take place in the streets before the civilians rebelled and began to fight. The massacre left up to five hundred dead with only three Atlas Guardsmen losing their lives. The Cairo Massacre, however, would be the second massacre in a short time and the populace would not forget easily.
The very same month would see the empire pulled into yet another war, the Mutapan-Swahilian War; the current situation of the empire, however, meant that no aid was being sent to the Kaiser's Swahilian allies. Meanwhile along the Nile, an Aswani army pushed into Atlasii territory hoping they could capture the former capital of Aswan, Aswan. Abd al-Karim would gather two legions and march back into Atlasii territories to stop the Aswani advances and would catch them whilst the troops were still in ships travelling up the Nile. Infantry and artillery shot at the ships whilst the Aswanis shot back. However, the numbers of the Atlasii caused several ships to sink and the survivors to flee back to Dongola. For the next few weeks, the Nile was red with blood and filled with debris from the sunken ships causing major complaints by those who relied on the river. This victory, however, wouldn't be shared with the fleet off Cape Bone where the Spanish brought hell upon an unprepared and inexperienced fleet.
In May 1843, Alexandros II Isauros would make another great discovery; this time being Prophylaxis which could be utilised against malaria. His colleagues meanwhile would develop Chemotherapy just a few days before Aswan's surrender to the empire in June 1843. The Aswani surrender was met with celebrations, however, once the tacticians looked at the situation against Spain, they realised victory was impossible. The Spaniards had secured naval dominance over Gibraltar and had landed outside of Tangiers whilst in the Balkans, the Spanish and Chiavarians overran the light garrisons and were now moving into Montenegro. Thus on the 25 June, Jugurtha Qutid sued for peace surrendering the poor region of Lombardy to the Chiavarians. This defeat made the Atlasii look for allies who could aid them and this would result in the Treaty of Jerusalem between Esfahan and the empire. Both nations would work together to bring down the Tabrizites.
Kaiser Hiba II 'Dragon of Steam' ibn Atlas Gherensi I 17 October 1840 - 7 March 1850
The empire now at peace could focus itself on regaining any prestige lost due to the Second Mediterranean War against Spain. Like before, scientists and university professors would make great advances in the medical field with the development of the Akzerian Chamber in February 1844. It was a pressure chamber which could be utilised for thorax surgery and its inventor, Gregorios Akzer, would be given applause by doctors all over the empire as the Akzerian Chamber found itself in every major hospital. The rest of 1844 was bland but to celebrate the revealing of the Akzerian Chamber to the public, Gregorios' brother, Isauros, revealed his discovery of aerial bacteria and antiseptic principles. Like his brother, Isauros received much applause for his work and these advances brought home to the empire's public of a world with no disease. It wasn't only in the medical field that advances were being seen. In June, poet F.W.D Hegiel would begin the Idealist movement; it, however, remained a minor movement favoured by mainly poets and artists. Eventually though, Hegiel's form of Idealism would differ and in October of the same year, Idealism was split into two; Idealism and Hegielian Idealism. However, not even Hegielian Idealism could save the empire from another war. In November a month after the split of Idealism became official, the Calabrians and their Tabrizite allies launch an invasion of Atlasii Italy and the Levant beginning the First Calabrian War. The Esfahanis would be called into the war causing them to suffer a Tabrizite invasion.
There were many people who refused to fight in the war and thus the Law of 1845 was passed stating that all able bodied men who refuse to fight are to be sent to a colonial region of the empire. Thus the empire began to expand down the West African Coast (reaching modern day Western Sahara) as thousands of people were brought in ships and even in caravans. In December 1845, a nationwide mobilisation effort was announced. Legions moved in to combat the Tabrizites and Calabrians whilst on the other side of Asia, an international crisis was stirring in Sumatra Pagarruyung seeked to take control over Majapahiti settlements on the island. This would drag in the Asian powers but diplomatic negotiations between the nations involved would see a peaceful resolution and no territorial changes. Whilst the Asian powers were engaged in diplomacy, the Atlasii too were using their diplomats wisely. In February 1846, the Emir of Serbia would eventually manage to gain enough influence within the Spoletoan government that the nation was now practically under the Atlasii sphere of influence. The Emir, however, wouldn't be as successful with the Kamarupans and insults were thrown before the Kamarupan ambassadors were dragged out of the embassy in Algiers by Atlas Guardsmen almost starting a war.
May saw the first battles being fought at Antep, Palmyra and Ruwayshid and the early victories would increase morale making the troops actually want to go to war. The fact the able bodied men who refused to go were deported to colonies might have also player a major part. The following months would simply see more battles being fought at Kayeri, Aleppo, Dayr al-Zour, Adana, Diyarbakir and even Mosul. Eventhough able bodied men who refused to fight were sent to colonies, there were some men exempt from fighting (primarily philosophers and teachers). Thus during the war, Soryia Therrisi developed an ideology at the time known as Therrisism but later on as Proto-Existentialism as Therrisi's beliefs were the foundation of the existentialist movement and unlike idealism, it gained widespread popularity within the empire. However, the empire's structural integrity was beginning to collapse and in October this would show. A Bedouin National Front member, Ibrahim Abdallahid, was arrested and thrown into prison by Atlas Guardsmen after it was discovered that the man plotted to assassinate Jugurtha Qutid. He would be relocated to the Kouba Prison of Algiers; a prison famed for its brutality and extreme torture. The resistance member was publicly hung, drawn and quartered after a week of intense torture. It is fair to say that this caused anger amongst the minorities of the empire.
The Execution of Ibrahim Abdallahid
Throughout Anatolia and the Balkans, a force of 48,000 Greeks entered an open rebellion. With this rebellion posing a threat to internal stability, peace was made with the Tabrizites who had been cleanly defeated. The Treaty of Mosul was signed seeing the surrender of Tabrizite Anatolia, Syria and Mosul to the empire whilst Tabrizite influence was to be removed from Sweden. This would result in Sweden falling under the empire's sphere of influence, however, even this would backfire as in November 1846, anti-Atlasii troops laid siege to the Atlasii embassy within Kristiansand. The Atlasii ambassadors were held up in the embassy with no way to escape. Jugurtha Qutid demanded that the Swedish army intervened but they did not do so and as their supply of food began to run out by the end of the week, three frigates was sent to Kristiansand with two hundred Atlas Guardsmen. They bombarded the Swedish capital killing the anti-Atlasii forces as well as many innocent civilians. The Atlas Guardsmen then entered the capital killing anyone who were in their way before saving the ambassadors and taking them back to Algiers. This incident caused outroar throughout Sweden and they refused to form any kind of relationship with the Atlasii. This was ago though since almost the entire populace wanted for to get revenge for the Kristiansand Bombings of 1846. They would never get it.
A photograph of Kristiansand following the bombing
Kaiser Hiba II 'Dragon of Steam' ibn Atlas Gherensi I 17 October 1840 - 7 March 1850
In February of 1847 the Mediterranean was rocked by a scandal when it was discovered that Spain was supporting the Greek Independence Front based in Sinop. The empire had already suspected this to be the case but after the capture and torture of a Greek resistance member, more information was gathered and the Atlas Guard was now able to intercept letters being sent from the Spaniards to the Greeks. Once it was revealed the Atlas Guard was reading their messages, the Spaniards roared in disapproval even sending ambassadors demanding that the Atlasii stop breaching their privacy. Two months later, the empire's former Incan allies would tire from the Atlasii's 'aggressive' expansion and declare war upon the empire. The declaration of war sparked a Babylonian rebel in central Anatolia. Since the Incans were across the Atlantic Ocean, the Legions of the Atlas had time to combat the rebels and thus they did so becoming victorious at Adana, Kayseri and Antioch. By July 1847, the Babylonian revolt had come to a close. Romanticist poet, Hudavios Hedera would write 'The Flowers of Babylon' sparking the beginning of romanticism within the empire as Hedera's poem gained widespread popularity. Elsewhere within the empire, a revival of the philosopher Aemanios Kantios would result in the increase in popularity of Neo-Kantiosism.
Having now defeated the Babylonians, many legions were transferred to the Atlantic coast in anticipation of an Incan invasion. Thus during this time of waiting the empire was capable of spreading its influence which culminated in Vitebsk falling into the sphere of influence that the empire controlled. In December 1847 the first romanticist novel, was written by Hudavios Hedera called Jugurtha. By the end of the year, it had been noted that not a single Incan ship was spotted within 10 km of the empire's coast causing many to believe that this meant the Incans had surrendered before they got to fight. Of course during this time, the minds of the empire were busy developing technology that could improve the quality of hospitals. Early 1848 saw the development of clinical thermometers as well as the binaural stethoscope. The news of the world, however, wouldn't report on these advancements rather focusing on the plight of minorities throughout the empire. This would result in global pressure as foreign states wished to force the empire into giving more autonomy to minorities whilst the empire couldn't care less about minority rights.
In May 1848, most members of the military had come to accept that an Incan invasion was most likely not going to take place and thus Jugurtha Qutid allowed the investing of money into Fez's regular clothes industry, Aydin's steel industry, Konya's explosive industry and Naxos' fertiliser industry. Money would also be invested into railroads in Syria. However, this calm would be disturbed when the Incans assumed control several ships belonging to the Atlas Guard. Arcadian natives who served into the navy as admirals defected to the Inca secretly and thus were able to get past the Atlasii defences at the Straits of Gibraltar. The small fleet would then sail to Cyprus where it dropped off a force of 5,000 men on the island's western shore. Once having dropped off the troops, the ships began to travel all over the eastern empire spreading books about Atlasii mistreatment of the Kurds. The Atlas Guard began to curtail the distribution of the books whilst also shutting down the businesses of underground printing presses that demanded the end of the monarchy.
Captured Incan soldiers, 1848
Once the Incan landing became public, the Spaniards and Chiavarians declared war upon the empire beginning the Second Mediterranean War in June 1848. The following month, a Gherensite prince was declared head of the anarcho-liberal party. By the end of July, Jugurtha Qutid announced a nationwide mobilisation effort. In the meantime, the Legio II had been sent to Cyprus to aid local garrisons defend against the Incan force; by the time the mobilisation efforts had begun, the Incans had been expelled from the island with many soldiers captured. Nevertheless, this small victory was small in the grand scheme of things as the Aswanis launched an invasion as soon as mobilization began hoping to seize the Nile before the Atlasii army became too strong. In October, a Spanish invasion force was repelled at Tangiers before reinforcing troops could attack the Spaniards from the rear. In total about 30,000 Atlasii were at the field of battle losing 4,000 men in their destruction of the 17,000 man strong force of Spaniards. However, an even greater victory would be achieved at Sisak when Ahmed Belkadi and 30,000 men repelled a force of 66,000 Chiavarians. His loses reached 12,000 but the Chiavarians had lost just over 55,000 lives that day. In Tetouan meanwhile, 15,000 Atlasii - under the command of Abd al-Karim - stopped the advances of a 48,000 man strong Spanish army losing 6,766 men compared to the Spanish commander's, Qasim ibn Sulayman, 11,941 dead men. However, the great victories were only temporary and a crushing defeat would be felt at Fiume when 29,000 men held out against a larger force of 66,000 Chiavarians. Less than 10,000 Atlasii made it out alive whilst the battlefield was littered with the corpses of over 28,000 Chiavarians.
Kaiser Hiba II 'Dragon of Steam' ibn Atlas Gherensi I 17 October 1840 - 7 March 1850
The empire was thrown into a war that it could possibly loose and stress was building up on Jugurtha Qutid since his role as Imperial Regent was one coveted by many. Assassinations plots against his life had been revealed before it was discovered that there was plots to see the eight year old Kaiser dead. The entire nation meanwhile was being mobilised for war with individuals as young as sixteen being brought to the front lines to fight for their nation's survival. After fighting at Zagreb, Tetouan, Fiume and Sisak, the decision was made to launch an invasion of mainland Andalucia and thus in December 1848, troops crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and defeated a Spanish force at the port. However, elsewhere defeat was felt. At Bihac, Ahmed Belkadi and his army of 30,000 held out against a 60,000 man strong army under the command of Ahmed al-Shiluhi. Eventually, though Spanish reinforcements joined the battle and this would result in an army of 34,717 being forced to defend a town against a much larger force of 157,333 men. Eventually, though Belkadi lost the battle and was forced to retreat after Spanish artillery broke the Atlasii defences allowing a cavalry charge to cause a route. In total, Bihac was littered with the corpses of 23,271 Atlasii whilst a much larger number of 71,547 Spaniards were left dead. It is to be noted, however, that it wasn't only Belkadi and the Legio VIII who fought at Bihac; the other commanders were Mustafa al-Shiluhi (Ahmed al-Shiluhi's cousin) commanding Legio IV and Legio VI under Muhammad al-Shawiyyati.
Belkadi's retreat from the battle, however, didn't save the rest of his troops since the Spanish chased him to Banja Luka where more men where killed but not all. Whilst the defence in the Balkans was collapsing, the offence in Iberia was coming to a halt. Khalid al-Zanatawi lost at Malaga against Sulayman ibn Abdullah during his assault on 50,000 Spaniards with an army of 88,000 (many who were peasants). However, Spanish reinforcements would result in the Spanish army's size increasing to over 120,000. This heavily outnumbered the Atlasii who were flanked and defeated. 52,000 of Khalid's men lay slain whilst just 25,000 Spaniards lay dead. The defeat was such a shock to the empire that it almost brought it to its knees and thus Jugurtha sent a diplomat to Cagliari asking for peace from the Spanish Sultan. The Treaty of Naples saw an end to the Second Mediterranean War and a second Atlasii loss to the Spanish. From the war, only one legion (Legio VIII) survived as well as the Atlas Guard; Legio VIII was officially changed to Legio I due to it being the last standing legion.
The war left the nation hungry, poor and depleted in both resources and men. May 1849 saw heavy violence in Sidon which could be quelled only by the Atlas Guard after a few weeks had passed due to the state of the army. Meanwhile the new Legio I was forced to fight the Aswani as the only professional army. This, however, wouldn't stop the Atlasii and a great victory would be seen at Dumyay whilst the Aswanis were crushed Mansura. In July there was a crack down on Bedouins and restriction of the construction of buildings and holding of land in an attempt to further assimilate the Bedouins into Berber culture. Meanwhile, news would arrive on the fate of a botanical expedition to the heart of the Congo; all the men including Professor Alexandros II Isauros had been roasted alive and later eaten by a tribe of cannibals.
