Chapter 302: New Year
Reichstag, Berlin - 1 January 1936
"Esteemed senators and honored guests, the Kaiser of the Romans."
"Gott erhalte unser Kaiser"
Kaiser Otto I, the 32nd Hohenzollern Kaiser of the Romans and the sovereign of two billion citizens around the world, appeared before the assembled Imperial Diet. One hundred senators, several hundred provincial representatives, and several dozen provincial viceroys and nobles applauded him as he made his way to the stage. The Kaiser took his place behind the podium and began to speak.
"Gentlemen," said Otto, "We have seen the end of the Imperial Century of the Römisches Kaiserreich, the Roman Empire, an empire that has endured for centuries against all odds. Many changes have come, including the unification and rise of the Chinese Empire, the ultimate fall of our barbarian enemies in the Triple Alliance, the rise of the ideological menaces known as equalism and fascism, and the emergence of modern warfare. We have endured a devastating civil war between the Maximist branch and my ancestors' Nikephoran branch, as well as the Weltkrieg, which claimed millions of lives and brought down empires that had lasted almost as long as our Reich. We survived the dark days of the General Strike of 1926, the general strike which saw equalism destroy our allies in the Kingdom of Kanata and fascism rise in Iran and Abyssinia. We are currently in the midst of the greatest economic crisis to ever grip the world, a crisis which has caused the peoples of many countries to turn to equalism and fascism in desperation.
"But still, there is more to come. My good friend and Chief of Staff, the war hero Field Marshal Erich Ludendorff, said the Treaty of Sarmarkand, that horrible treaty the Chinese Empire imposed on what remained of India after the military overthrew the monarchy, was an armistice for twenty years. As the months pass and the militarism of Trotsky's revolutionaries and the madman Gandhi become more apparent, it is clear the next war will certainly come of the next decade. Do not be fooled by the words of our enemies. Do not believe them when they claim they only want peace. It is not a question of if a war will break out, but when.
"Where will this war break out, you ask? Why, the world is quite volatile today, as it was back in 1914. One incident anywhere, no matter how small or seemingly irrelevant, could light the spark that starts the next great conflict. Perhaps we should worry about the Nordic states, those which were established out the remains of the old Scandinavian Fylkirate, the collapsing Tsardom of Russia, and the exiled monarchy of Kanata. But the State of Danmark is in no shape to wage war against its neighbors without the support of the legions, and the Kingdom of Noregr and Tsarist Russia are only interested in reclaiming their homelands. We know quite well that Trotsky has designs on Finland, but any Soviet invasion of Finland would be met with an immediate invasion from the Germanos Line, an invasion they cannot possibly repel.
"Perhaps the Soviets could try to invade the Baltic states, our semiautonomous provinces of Lithuania and the United Baltic State? But just as in Finland they would be met with Roman arms and forced to capitulate.
"The more hawkish of you are probably asking, why not just invade the Soviet Commune and depose the godless equalist regime now before they get too powerful? To answer that, remember your history lessons. Russia has only been conquered once, and that was by the Mongols when it was just a regional power. Even then it regained its independence within several years and went on to destroy the Mongols. Every invasion of Russia by Lithuania and Scandinavia has been repelled by the Russians, who then went on to turn the tables and almost conquer both of them. While the empire has the largest and most advanced army in the known world, the Russians have the second largest army, and ours is not in good shape as the Great Depression has forced the government to slash the military budget. Any invasion of Russia would quickly become a stalemate like in the last war, where millions of men would die for nothing. I intend to avoid such a stalemate, and we shall wait until our legions are ready to fight before invading.
"Central Asia is another flashpoint. Before the war, the entire region was controlled from Delhi, which was conducive for stability, of course. But because of interference and subversion carried out by the Chinese agent Sun Yatsen, the Turks declared their independence from India and fought the Indians to a standstill. As a result of this stalemate, radical elements within the Indian military overthrew and exiled the monarchy to Africa, establishing a republic ruled by a junta. After the Great Depression destroyed India's economy, the junta called for elections, which Gandhi won. You all know what Gandhi did with his new powers.
"The Kingdom of Turkestan, formerly known as the Ghaznavid Khaganate, was originally organized as a Chinese tributary state, but when it showed signs of leaning towards Berlin the Chinese, claiming the need to help "sort out religious disputes," partitioned Turkestan into three states with arbitrarily drawn borders--a Slavic Turkish state, a Zunist Afghan state, and a Hindu Rajput state. The geopolitical situation is very unstable currently. Anybody who knows a little about Gandhi knows that he intends to conquer all three states at some point, as well as the Chinese client state of Nepal. Fortunately Indian militarism is held back, ironically, by the terms of the Treaty of Samarkand, which has restricted its military, but it can only hold for so long.
"The Persian menace, Rome's oldest enemy, is another threat to world peace. When the Reich invaded in the 1920s to resolve a border dispute with Turkestan, the resulting Treaty of Baghdad stripped Persia of all of its coastline. The ensuing anger in the Persian population propelled the dictator Reza Khan to power. Khan is like Gandhi, only slightly more sane. But he has repeatedly threatened to invade the Reich and reclaim Iran's former coastline, though we all know that there is no way the Iranian army can stand up to the imperial legions.
"As most of Africa is firmly integrated into the Reich, there are no independence movements such as those in Neu Rhomania and Indochina. But the Abyssinian Empire is also a threat to world peace. Its constitutional monarchy allowed a man such as Wolde Tzaddick and his New Abyssinia Party to rise to power. Wolde has repeatedly announced his intentions to depose the exiled Indian monarchy in Dar es Salaam and conquer most if not all of Africa. We must be wary about this madman and his plans.
"Mali remains as usual, incredibly unstable but propped up by Berlin. The southern regions are festering with independence movements, while radical revolutionary movements have taken root in the north. Luckily we don't have to worry too much about Mali, because the Royal Malian Army should be enough to deal with any rebellions that begin.
"Of course, when we discuss the Soviet and Indian menaces we must also discuss the China problem. In just fifty years, the Chinese Empire had risen from a regional power to a truly global hegemon, with a military and industrial strength almost equal to that of the Reich. Their Chancellor, Wang Jingwei, has subscribed to the ideology of Pan-Asianism and Sinocentrism. Pan-Asianism is the belief that all non-Asians must be expelled from Asia, while Sinocentrism is the belief that China is the center of the world and all countries must be made subservient to it. In the past Wang declared that Indochina and the former Indian colonies in Indonesia, which have defected to the Reich, are rightful Chinese territories, something we obviously dispute. The military, which also subscribes to these ideologies, are rapidly gaining power within China's constitutional monarchy. It is likely they will try to strike in our moment of weakness. A war with the Chinese Empire would be a repeat of the last war. Nobody would win, and the only thing that a war would accomplish is weakening both empires, making them ripe for equalist takeover.
"There is also the matter of the equalist regimes of North Eimerica. Both the Union of Vinland and the Commune of Michigan have neighbors whose land they claim as their own. There have been several skirmishes along their borders with the Union of Seven Republics, but full-scale war there has been prevented by Soviet influence. The Commune of Michigan and the Confederation of Southern Altepetls could also invade the state of Pueblo or each other, though all three claim the protection of the Soviet Commune, the Reich, and China, respectively.
"The People's Alliance of Red Altepetls, while still weak, is highly volatile and could strike against its even weaker neighbors. Our allies in the United Provinces of Mitteleimerica are safe from PARA's aggression so far due to the region of Guatemala being under the control of the neutral Mayapan Kuchkabal. But it is not safe from aggression by Tawantinsuyu. The Inca Empire, as its chancellor Inca Roca Yupanqui requests it be called, claims all of South Eimerica and the UPM's territories for itself. In the last war Tawantinsuyu almost overran the whole of Neu Rhomania, but they were stopped before they reached New Berlin.
"Now, I shall discuss matters of the state. I have assembled my cabinet for the next ten years. Markos Angelos shall continue serving as the Chancellor. I have decided to appoint Franz von Papen as my Foreign Minister. Chief of Staff Erich Ludendorff shall be the Chief of the Army. The son of the war hero Paul von Hindenburg, Oskar von Hindenburg, shall become the new Chairman of the Athanatoi, while Hermann Goering will be the Minister of Security and Chief of the Kaiserliche Luftwaffe. Albert Speer, the renowned architect and political figure, will be the new Armaments Minister. I will assume the responsibilities of the office of the Chief of the Navy.
The Diet today is highly divided. The Angeloi dynatoi control almost half of the Diet, forcing the other factions to form a coalition. Our society is still fairly open-minded. Conscription is limited to a three year draft. There is still massive investment into educating our future citizens. The economy is oriented around consumers to keep citizens happy, and the last of the restrictions on the press established two years ago have been removed.
"I must remind you that the Reich is not on the verge of destruction. It is not declining. It is not falling apart. And it is most certainly not doomed. Over the last two thousand years, Rome has persisted in one form or another. The first empire saw frequent military coups and assassinations which brought down many emperors and their dynasties, but it was only ended by barbarian invasions after five hundred years. Even after Rome fell to barbarians the empire lived on and prospered in the east. Constantinople grew into the City of the World's Desire. Barbarians, Persians, and Arabs were all driven back with ease, even when they were camped outside the walls of Constantinople. Though the second empire was also filled with military coups and assassinations, by the time of the Doukai it had been stabilized and was on track to recovering its former glory. When in 1105 my ancestors united both the Empire of the Germans and the Empire of the Greeks under their rule, they intended to accomplish what other dynasties failed to do and restore Rome to its full power. They accomplished that. They ended the cycle of assassinations and coups that plagued previous dynasties. They ended inter-vassal wars and brought true stability to all lands under their rule. When the barbarians invaded again, seven hundred years ago, many citizens thought that the Reich was doomed to destruction as its previous incarnations were. But the Hohenzollerns prevailed. They drove out and destroyed the barbarians. They went on to create the Augustinian code before destroying the barbarians again, this time in their own homelands. My ancestors and the empire they built has survived many more 'disasters': the Anarchy, the Iconoclast-Purist heresy, the Fifty Years' War, to name a few. The Reich won the previous Weltkrieg, and it will win the next Weltkrieg. I am sure of it. We must not lose faith or hope in these hard times. The Reich has survived for centuries. It will live on for centuries more."
His speech over, Otto stepped back from the podium. Strangely, however, nobody clapped or rose from their seats. All of the senators and guests simply continued staring at him.
Suddenly, Markos Angelos stood up and raised his arm in a Roman salute. "The Angeloi Protect!" said the Chancellor.
"The Angeloi Protect!" echoed the pro-Angelos senators, shooting out of their seats to salute Angelos.
"The Angeloi Protect," murmured everybody else, shifting nervous in their seats.
As Otto walked out of the chamber, he noticed Angelos glaring at him, a serious expression on his face. It was as if he disapproved of Otto's speech...
