Chapter 30: Aftershock (Nov 1903 – Feb 1905)
After the war ended, the financial strain it had put on the country of Livonia became quite obvious. The conscription of men had taken people out of the workforce for the duration of the war, and many became casualties of war – especially those who fought in Brunswick and Luneburg. In many cases, the male population of entire villages was killed after conscription, due to the army staff naively grouping them together into a single unit.
In addition, the loss of the Suez Canal and Africa led to serious shortages in certain raw goods, and generally made any trade overseas much more expensive. Now that the war was over this would soon stop being an issue, but over the course of the war it had caused several Livonian factories had been forced to close.
One of the first cost saving measures by the government was the downsizing of the Baltic Navy. At the end of the war, what remained of the Pact’s naval forces were scuttled or scrapped, so there was little need for such a large navy anymore. By this point, the only navy which could rival Livonia’s was that of America.
One sector of industry which had done well during the war was military production – but now, many of them were forced to close, or shift to producing civilian goods. While in the short term this led to large levels of unemployment, it also meant that several new state-of-the-art factories were being constructed, including those which would produce brand new goods such as telephones and newly-developed automobiles.
1904 conveniently marked the year of the next Livonian elections, and the resulting parliament was headed by Janis Matisons of the Liberal Party, rather than the Socialists which had led the previous two governments. The popularity of the Liberals this time around was a result of their message of stability – promising regrowth for the country, and continuing to make minor reforms without huge disruption to society.
By September of 1904, the unrest in Genoa began to die down after the Communist faction gained control over most of the country. This was a jarring change for the people of Genoa, and the rest of Europe wasn’t sure how to react to it – for the moment though, Genoa would certainly be focused on regrowth, so they weren’t considered threatening.
Meanwhile, the industrial sector of England had completely crashed by the end of the year. The devastation of the war and lack of imports, as predicted, caused the country’s previously enormous factories to become unsustainable, leading to bankruptcy and closure in most cases. The spending power of the average English citizen had been reduced quite a lot as well, after the prices of food had soared from the blockade and then loss of colonial imports. Overall, the country was in a state of financial disaster and many of its people were suddenly struck by poverty for the first time.
On the contrary, the industry of America was booming after the war. Aside from the investment in military, the country had continued to urbanize and industrialize – now, industry was common across the whole country, while it had previously been focused in the east coast. The introduction of colonies also helped the economy grow, as easier trade and access to rich resources helped the country prosper.
The collapse of English (and decrease in Livonian) industry led to huge demand across Europe for many industrial goods, helping fuel the economic boom of previously second-tier industrial powers.
Aquitaine and Italy also had quite strong industry by this point, with a lot of room for growth. Aquitaine was starting to invest heavily in industrial expansion, now that they had the riches to do so. The country’s industry had been relatively weak compared to many of the other European countries back in the 1880s, but this was changing quickly now. Italy’s industry was also starting to recover after the war – it had already been in very good shape before, and now the country was beginning to rebuild and thrive once again.
However, controversy over their new central government continued, culminating in a large communist revolt in November. The Italian army was still trying to rebuild after disarmament ended, so the revolt was much more threatening than it otherwise would have been. Still, the new Italian army had much better equipment than whatever rifles the communists had managed to grab, so they would likely succeed.
The popularity of Communism in general had surged in Europe towards the end of the war. Poor conditions across all of Europe, anti-imperialist sentiment which blamed the old governments for the devastation, and a few influential philosophers saw the communist movement experience a huge revival, and now it found supporters in practically all of the European countries, as well as a few others abroad such as Misr.
Despite cost-saving measures, the Livonian treasury was still draining fast. Matisons still hoped that the regrowth of the country’s industry would be enough to turn around the country’s deficit, but if he was wrong, more serious measures might be necessary. For now though, Matisons bided his time, as he was reluctant to make any huge changes and disrupt what otherwise seemed like a steady regrowth of the country’s economy.
At the beginning of 1905, the first automobile factory opened in Livonia. Following closely behind were Italy and Aquitaine, where other designs were being developed.
Around the same time, the first airplane in the world was invented in Aquitaine. This was huge news around the world, and the fact it had been invented in Aquitaine helped increase the country’s prestige, revealing that Aquitaine was now becoming a top industrial power.
Over in Asia, the country of Japan declared war on Korea. Japan had been slowly modernizing for decades now, especially after the European colonial expansion into Southeast Asia – among all of the native Asian countries, Japan was definitely the most advanced. Now it seemed they were hoping to expand into the rest of Asia to secure resources and influence after centuries of general isolation.
In February of 1905, the Isbani Civil War broke out after several months of tension. The old absolutist monarchy was extremely unpopular, but the main contention was actually between its opponents – there were radically different ideas for how the country should be reborn. As the war began, almost the entire country was occupied immediately by various factions: Communists, Liberal Anarchists, Religious Fundamentalists, and Liberal Republicans.
The Italian Army continued to expand as the Communist revolt went on, but by this point there were few communist rebels remaining. While the revolts were obviously doing some damage to the country, the government’s success helped legitimize their rule over the country, and the economic boom underway was certainly helping as well.
It had been only a little longer than a year since the Great War had ended, and already there were enormous changes within many countries. Aquitaine was thriving for the first time in nearly a century, Italy’s new government was controversial but thus far successful, and Livonian industry was slowly rebuilding to be much more modern. On the other end, England was in a state of disaster, Genoa had fallen to Communists, and Isbania had just entered an enormous civil war. There was no sign of stabilization yet – these years were just as critical to the future as the wartime years had been.
After the war ended, the financial strain it had put on the country of Livonia became quite obvious. The conscription of men had taken people out of the workforce for the duration of the war, and many became casualties of war – especially those who fought in Brunswick and Luneburg. In many cases, the male population of entire villages was killed after conscription, due to the army staff naively grouping them together into a single unit.
In addition, the loss of the Suez Canal and Africa led to serious shortages in certain raw goods, and generally made any trade overseas much more expensive. Now that the war was over this would soon stop being an issue, but over the course of the war it had caused several Livonian factories had been forced to close.
One of the first cost saving measures by the government was the downsizing of the Baltic Navy. At the end of the war, what remained of the Pact’s naval forces were scuttled or scrapped, so there was little need for such a large navy anymore. By this point, the only navy which could rival Livonia’s was that of America.
One sector of industry which had done well during the war was military production – but now, many of them were forced to close, or shift to producing civilian goods. While in the short term this led to large levels of unemployment, it also meant that several new state-of-the-art factories were being constructed, including those which would produce brand new goods such as telephones and newly-developed automobiles.
1904 conveniently marked the year of the next Livonian elections, and the resulting parliament was headed by Janis Matisons of the Liberal Party, rather than the Socialists which had led the previous two governments. The popularity of the Liberals this time around was a result of their message of stability – promising regrowth for the country, and continuing to make minor reforms without huge disruption to society.
By September of 1904, the unrest in Genoa began to die down after the Communist faction gained control over most of the country. This was a jarring change for the people of Genoa, and the rest of Europe wasn’t sure how to react to it – for the moment though, Genoa would certainly be focused on regrowth, so they weren’t considered threatening.
Meanwhile, the industrial sector of England had completely crashed by the end of the year. The devastation of the war and lack of imports, as predicted, caused the country’s previously enormous factories to become unsustainable, leading to bankruptcy and closure in most cases. The spending power of the average English citizen had been reduced quite a lot as well, after the prices of food had soared from the blockade and then loss of colonial imports. Overall, the country was in a state of financial disaster and many of its people were suddenly struck by poverty for the first time.
On the contrary, the industry of America was booming after the war. Aside from the investment in military, the country had continued to urbanize and industrialize – now, industry was common across the whole country, while it had previously been focused in the east coast. The introduction of colonies also helped the economy grow, as easier trade and access to rich resources helped the country prosper.
The collapse of English (and decrease in Livonian) industry led to huge demand across Europe for many industrial goods, helping fuel the economic boom of previously second-tier industrial powers.
Aquitaine and Italy also had quite strong industry by this point, with a lot of room for growth. Aquitaine was starting to invest heavily in industrial expansion, now that they had the riches to do so. The country’s industry had been relatively weak compared to many of the other European countries back in the 1880s, but this was changing quickly now. Italy’s industry was also starting to recover after the war – it had already been in very good shape before, and now the country was beginning to rebuild and thrive once again.
However, controversy over their new central government continued, culminating in a large communist revolt in November. The Italian army was still trying to rebuild after disarmament ended, so the revolt was much more threatening than it otherwise would have been. Still, the new Italian army had much better equipment than whatever rifles the communists had managed to grab, so they would likely succeed.
The popularity of Communism in general had surged in Europe towards the end of the war. Poor conditions across all of Europe, anti-imperialist sentiment which blamed the old governments for the devastation, and a few influential philosophers saw the communist movement experience a huge revival, and now it found supporters in practically all of the European countries, as well as a few others abroad such as Misr.
Despite cost-saving measures, the Livonian treasury was still draining fast. Matisons still hoped that the regrowth of the country’s industry would be enough to turn around the country’s deficit, but if he was wrong, more serious measures might be necessary. For now though, Matisons bided his time, as he was reluctant to make any huge changes and disrupt what otherwise seemed like a steady regrowth of the country’s economy.
At the beginning of 1905, the first automobile factory opened in Livonia. Following closely behind were Italy and Aquitaine, where other designs were being developed.
Around the same time, the first airplane in the world was invented in Aquitaine. This was huge news around the world, and the fact it had been invented in Aquitaine helped increase the country’s prestige, revealing that Aquitaine was now becoming a top industrial power.
Over in Asia, the country of Japan declared war on Korea. Japan had been slowly modernizing for decades now, especially after the European colonial expansion into Southeast Asia – among all of the native Asian countries, Japan was definitely the most advanced. Now it seemed they were hoping to expand into the rest of Asia to secure resources and influence after centuries of general isolation.
In February of 1905, the Isbani Civil War broke out after several months of tension. The old absolutist monarchy was extremely unpopular, but the main contention was actually between its opponents – there were radically different ideas for how the country should be reborn. As the war began, almost the entire country was occupied immediately by various factions: Communists, Liberal Anarchists, Religious Fundamentalists, and Liberal Republicans.
The Italian Army continued to expand as the Communist revolt went on, but by this point there were few communist rebels remaining. While the revolts were obviously doing some damage to the country, the government’s success helped legitimize their rule over the country, and the economic boom underway was certainly helping as well.
It had been only a little longer than a year since the Great War had ended, and already there were enormous changes within many countries. Aquitaine was thriving for the first time in nearly a century, Italy’s new government was controversial but thus far successful, and Livonian industry was slowly rebuilding to be much more modern. On the other end, England was in a state of disaster, Genoa had fallen to Communists, and Isbania had just entered an enormous civil war. There was no sign of stabilization yet – these years were just as critical to the future as the wartime years had been.
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