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Post by Max Sinister on Jan 31, 2024 21:20:06 GMT
King Joaquin / Gioacchino, the last of the Álvarez kings of Italy, was a peculiar person... during the reign of his cousin and predecessor, Francesco III, he spent his life mostly in the background of the court. He went to the officers' school during his youth, without standing out either positively or negatively. Even after the end of his school, he kept a faible for strategy and a good contact to the military - although he never went to a real battle throughout his life. There were constant talks about his affairs with the younger men of the court, but nothing could ever be proven - either he knew how to cover his tracks, or there weren't really any affairs (less probable). Only one thing was sure - even at the age of 37, he was still unmarried, despite of the pressure from his aunt, the queen. After Francesco was murdered (as many believed, because of the annexation of Venice by Italy) in 1770, the Italian Royal Family had shrunk "to a couple of lamenting old women", as the British ambassador wrote. But while Gioacchino wouldn't father a successor, he managed to keep the Italian monarchy alive, while at the same time the dukes and kings of Europe fell one after another to the French Republic [1].
During the short episode of peace between the First and Second French Republican War, the king got offered the hands of several European princesses again, including a French one, which he continued to decline very politely. This caused a lot of bad blood, and if there hadn't been the French threat, Italy would've been forced to go to war.
In 1776, the king proved his cunning in diplomacy, when he made a contract with duke Filiberto III of Savoy. In the First French Republican War, all his heirs had been killed or captured (the last heir would actually die in 1781), and the original Savoy, the homeland of the dukes, was under the French yoke. Those circumstances meant it was no wonder that the last duke had become depressed. So king Gioacchino would visit or invite him from time to time, ostensibly to cheer him up in his loneliness, or to gloom about their common fate of being heirless, and constantly talking about his fellow countrymen who wouldn't let him make war against the French aggressors. Step by step, he would earn the trust of Filiberto, and this again would lead to harmonization of the two countries... at first, they made an "everlasting pact of peace and understanding", later, the shocked Turinese would see Italian soldiers standing guard (and talking in ununderstandable accents!) on their places, and in 1779, the two states were united - the last internal division on the Italian peninsula had fallen.
During his reign, king Gioacchino would also reform the Italian administration. Even in the century after the unification of Florence and Sicily, the old bureaucracies from both states would work in coexistence; but in the work of decades, the king unified the administration, also removing the special treatment of Venice and Savoy. The officials would try to thwart his reforms, but the king proved to be better in intrigues than they were, relocating the resistors to the new conquered places, like Algeria, Caroline and Louisiane. [...]
[1] In the original source (see first post), there's a caricature from German Atlantis included, which shows French general-dictator Boulanger as an Indian... oops, Atlantean chief, with a dozen scalps hanging from his belt. Said scalps are labeled with the names of toppled European kings and dukes.
It was visible for anyone - whether France, Sweden or their old-time friend and ally Novorossiya - that the good times had passed for the Hong empire. Instead of their Treasure Fleets, European trade ships would now frequent the Asian Seas; lands in India and the Spice Islands which once had paid tribute to them didn't care for them anymore, or even had become European colonies; and even the states in Indochina which once had been firmly in their sphere of influence, now fought against their former masters and occupied several southern provinces of China. The longest-reigning dynasty so far was ripe, the only question was who'd restore the empire, and how.
This was the situation when general Lin Xiaolong entered the scene. In his youth, he had participated in a mission to the Russians, when they had suppressed an uprising of the Nuzhen. He had made friendship with some of the "Western Barbarians", which was even more uncommon at this time than in later times, and even kept contact. Now, many decades later, he was stationed as the commander of the troops in the province of Peking, which had the biggest Russian quarter of all Chinese cities, even bigger than of the capital Nanking. This was his first power base, but it wasn't enough. Chinese generals would be rotated between provinces every few years, to prevent accumulating power. Until his time, it had been impossible to keep contact with their former troops.
But Lin Xiaolong knew from the Russians about their new invention, the telegraph, which had helped to bind the vast Novorossiya closer together and also had encouraged the development of science. He saw the chance this technology would give him. That's why he had telegraphs built in every province he was stationed in, selling even parts of his family's property for the initial investments. By this way, he could easily keep contact with sub-commanders he was sure of their loyalty to him after his relocation. In addition, the traders would use his network (the Russians foremost), which gained him their friendship and support, not to mention that they paid his investments back with interest. Later even some bureaucrats would see the use of the improved communication... but at this time, the Northeast had already declared for the new Ming dynasty.
History of the "Schulzenaufstand"
When they were still under the Welf dynasty in far away Braunschweig/Copenhagen, the lands that later became German Atlantis (or only "Atlantis", as if they were the only important part of the double continent) were quite a split country. Later things would change, of course, but at this time it was almost like in that historical cartoon where villages and towns were like forts, under the antagonized banners of the two parties, "The Free" and "The Equals". The former were staunch monarchists, or aristocratic republicans at best, while the latter (often descended from the settlements of the Dutch puritans, or the immigrants from Münster) already dreamed of full democracy - or, on the opposite, of the great, just king standing on the side of the people, not the rich ones.
So things developed for a century: Around the Great Lakes and at the banks of Uheiho [1] river, new trading cities emerged [2], while in the lands between, those people lived in small villages and hamlets who were dreaming of a world where people could own the land they had had to acquire from the wild forests and the native Atlanteans who lived here.
Then, one day in 1788, a ship arrived, and the news spread by telegraph as far as Paulskirchen [3] (the telegraph hadn't reached the Great Mountains yet), bringing news that king Kristian V had passed away, and named the former Holy Roman Emperor Stanislaus from Poland regent for his kingdom. This message was discussed with great vehemence in the cities, but soon ebbed when they found out that in their personal life, not much had changed. But only five years later, more news arrived: The French had toppled the last German dukes, who had fled to England, and Denmark-Braunschweig, the former mother country, had been divided between a satellite republic of the French, and the Swedish-Norwegian kingdom.
Historians compared the situation with what had happened in France after the death of the last king: Nobody went on to kill officials, or turn the world upside down, but the monarchy had rather silently passed away. So, all the official cities (and in the last century, after the hinterland had changed hands from the French to the Germans, very many cities had been founded with royal privilege) sent one elected official to Martinsburg, which stayed the proud capital - or even prouder, now being the capital of an independent state.
It was called the "Schulzenaufstand", the mayors' uprising, but it had nothing in common with the other revolutions that had happened in Europe: What really had happened, was that a dead idea was officially buried, and afterwards the guests of the funeral would act as if themselves had defeated the old grievance that was monarchy.
[1] German for Ohio
[2] Some even getting the coveted title of Hansestadt (Hanseatic City)
[3] At the site of OTL Minneapolis
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Post by Max Sinister on Jan 31, 2024 21:22:40 GMT
"Paradigmatic revolutions: Two done, one missed", by Prof. Vladimir Ivanovich Markov, Chair of scientific history, University of Popovsk, 1931
Three revolutions have formed the world of today: The scientific revolution, the communication revolution, and the industrial revolution. On the first one, Russia always had its fair share; one has just to think about the many inventions and discoveries made in Russia, like the lightbulb, the inflation control and the car [1]. The second revolution started in Russia and later conquered the rest of the world, and made the Russians the best-informed and scientifically most productive [2] people on Earth.
Unfortunately for our motherland, the industrial revolution depended on very special circumstances, which developed first on an overcrowded island west of Europe. Thus, factories, railroads and modern production methods came into existence in Germany, France and Italy first, while Russia was idle. But without factories, Russia lacked many modern inventions for which exchangable parts are necessary, like typewriters, and without railroads, while the people in the largest country on Earth could freely communicate over wide distances, trade and traveling was still hampered. This sadly lead to two shameful defeats [3] against the upstarting western powers [...]
[1] Slight exaggeration: At the same time the Russians built their first cars, New Rome had cars driven by gas, and Germany made steam cars - but since the Russians started to do electric cars, this became the base that only Russia invented "real" cars first. Gridenkov wasn't yet in power when this was written, but overly nationalist propaganda was already "in".
[2] Counting the scientific texts written per capita, this is even true - but at the same time many Russians even criticized that too many of these texts were about more and more specific areas of knowledge, while no more "great leaps" were done.
[3] The anti-Russian War and the First World War.
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Post by Max Sinister on Jan 31, 2024 21:24:29 GMT
Walter Meier remembers... in 1783, the French had invaded Dresden, and made the Hermunduric republic of the old duchy of Thuringia-Meissen. Yes, the French and their funny renaming of lands after old Germanic people. They also made Hesse the Chattic republic, and Franconia the Naristic republic that time. For what? Did they want to remind the Germans that they were a kind of barbarians, compared to the French? The ordinary people still speak of Thuringia, only the French lackeys don't. And unfortunately, everyone who wants to make a career in the republican parliaments, has to suck up to them.
He himself is no politician, fortunately. He had been a simple secretary for the ministry of Finances before the French came. After the conquest, they had needed people to work for the new republican order, so he had risen to the rank of his former boss. Then in 1791, there was the next war, the French lost one minor battle in Brandenburg, and for a short moment there was the rumor that the princes would return. Instead, the French picked up the rest of the former HREGN, founding the Raetic republic (formerly known as Bavaria), the Engeric republic (Braunschweig), the Semnonic republic (formerly Mecklenburg and Brandenburg), Rugian republic (ex-Pomerania) and the Silesian republic ("silesianisch" - no German would use that name, everyone said "schlesisch"). And Walter Meier who had been smart enough not to believe the rumor, rose again through the ranks. It had been a good time.
But then everything changed. The French had brought some necessary reforms, everyone had to admit it, and everyone would've liked them for doing it, if they had left afterwards, but they didn't leave. Their garrisons were in every bigger city, controlling everything. And their politicians had decided to keep Germany separated. The old dukes had disappeared, never to return, but Germany stayed divided. Only Hesse and Franconia had been united, but everything going further was too dangerous for the French, it seemed. A few years ago there had been an uprising in Silesia, and Walter Meier had bet some Thalers that Silesia would become a part of Thuringia now, but had lost. There wouldn't even be a customs union, although it could've helped generating more wealth.
And the Germans could've made use of it. All the time, the French were busy defeating a new uprising down there in Spain, but to no avail. Walter Meier had heard French soldiers complain, that it didn't take an end, that the Spaniards hated the occupation, and would never give up. And Germany had to pay a tribute for "liberation from the kings" to France, every year, even now, although the kings and dukes would never return... but what would the politicians do? Nothing at all. They were still way too busy discussing aspects of liberty and democracy in the parliaments, whether the proportional voting system was better than the first-past-the post, or one of the thousand possible variation of the two... how to organize the parliaments and governments on the various levels, to make sure that noone has enough power - while not seeing that only one faction has real power in Germany, the French army. But of course, either they don't get it, or they're too scared to say it loud. German politicians, a bunch of useless blabbing idiots, and Paul Schmidt, Kanzler of Franconia, is the worst blabber of them all.
Of course, there are the various conspirators. There must be hundreds of them: Monarchists and Republicans, Democrats and pro-dictatorship, centralist and federalist [1] ones, egalitarian ones and the opposite, religious (split again into those who want a universal Catholic church and those who want national churches) and atheist ones, nationalist or pan-European... and it seems they're only around to make the German politicians look good, because none of them ever achieved something. They distribute leaflets protesting the French (as if the population wasn't already angry about the high taxes for the French tributes) and try to get rid of the French with badly coordinated uprisings, which only bring a few more Germans into the prisons. Or on the wall. You can't make a revolution like that. You need money, you need arms, and you need a bit of organization. And of course it helps if you're separated by an ocean from the country you fight, like the Canadians are doing in Atlantis. But how can a little secret organization get its hands on that?
Walter Meier has once been in a secret organization - almost. But on the first evening when he was supposed to go to their assembly the first time, he was sick, and the next day he learned that the French had smashed the cell of revolutionaries. Fortunately he hadn't given anyone his real name, so they didn't know about him. But on this day, he decided that the revolution has to take another way.
And this was the only reason he chose this job, which made him the most despised man in all Germany. The main tribute collector for the French. Wherever he comes, people hate him, except for those who never met him, and after they learn who he is, they hate him too. They call him "Ober-Meier" [2] and "Geldsack" [3], and even worse things. But the work has to be done. Fortunately there's no way to spread how his face looks like, so in the villages and little cities some people don't recognize him.
Actually the work isn't that hard, once you understand it. The money - there's no one in Germany through whose hands runs more money than him, and he knows of ways how to cheat the French. Often he demands from his underlings to collect a bit more money than the French actually want, and keeps the rest. All the people who work for him are corrupt, of course, for no honest man in Germany would take such a job. Hell, some of them are former criminals, unlike him. From time to time, he can accuse one of them, and he's always right. And then he can take a bit of the money they embezzled and use it for the coming revolution. And to make the win even better, the Germans will become even more angry about the high tributes. And the French even will believe he's a honest man because he turned some criminals in. There's no way he'll be fired - they need him, and they can't even use one of them for the job, because they usually don't bother to learn German.
After the money is embezzled, he will put it on banks in Italy, where he also gives - with the help of middlemen - the advice to buy weapons with them, in Solingen, which is in Nassau, the only independent German state left. (Of course, the Nassauer also have to pay some tribute to the French. But that's outside of his job description.) But the most important thing is that his work allows him to collect informations, a little bit here and there, and if you put it together, you get some really interesting things - like for example, that the French occupation army is getting rather weaker than stronger (no wonder with all the fighting done in Spain), or which French officers don't mind taking a little bribe, improving their lousy life in Allemagne, or even a bigger one.
And now, after many years which made him old and bald, the work is done. Using the holiday of the declaration of the republic (celebrated everywhere in France, Germany and Iberia) as an excuse he leaves - to cross the border to Bohemia, where he is secure once things should become awry. In the last months, using a lot of bribes, the weapons have been brought to several hidden places, mostly in Hesse, but also elsewhere. A few days before, he left some resistance groups notes how to get them. And now he's crossed the border together with his Czech bodyguards (there's no way he could've survived all the years in his job without them - and there's no reliable German who could be trusted guarding the tribute collector for the French), goes for the next little city that has access to the Telegraph network. One telegram sent to several places in Germany... that's all left to do for him. Now the most important part follows, waiting that his countrymen don't blow it. It simply has to work, but he can't influence it anymore... in this night, he doesn't get much sleep.
On the next morning, he buys a Czech newspaper. He opens the page with the articles, asks one visitor of the restaurant he's in (a Jewish merchant who is literate and understands a bit of German) to translate it. Now he'll finally learn whether he was successful...
For the rest of his life, Solomon Krakauer wouldn't understand why that German guy first screamed so loud that the whole city must've heard it, and then had his face overflowing with tears. What was it about the destroyed Rhine bridges that moved this strange man so much? He couldn't tell for sure, but for some moments he had almost thought, these were tears of joy...
[1] In the European sense, i.e. the opposite of pro-centralized government!
[2] "Mach hier nicht den Obermeier!" ("Don't patronize!") stays a kind of insult in TTL Germany until the present.
[3] Engl.: Moneybag. Russ.: Kalita. Yes, there's some connection...
Thomas König and the siege of Kingsburgh
In 1819, the sixth year of the Canadian Revolutionary War, the population in German-speaking Atlantis just south of it was split in their opinion of said revolution. In Europe, the Germans just had thrown off the French yoke and united for the first time, but for the moment the Atlanter [1] weren't much interested in that, seeing even the fall of the German monarchies in the last century as a more important change. Of course, only one generation ago, the Atlanter themselves had broken their ties to Europe in the Schulzenaufstand, but even those who had participated in it didn't care much about the war in the white North.
Not so, however, the younger generation. They had grown up with the ideals of republic and revolution, and when the Canadians started their uprisings in 1813, they found a lot of sympathies with many young Germans, who went north to fight in a Canadian troop, or smuggled weapons for them, or supported them with money. Their efforts weren't in vain, for after the war, the two nations enjoyed constant good relationships. One such example is the history of Thomas König, a son of a wealthy mine-owner from Silberstadt [2], who was present during the second siege of Kingsburgh. Originally, he had been supposed to transport a wagon of silver to the Great Lakes and find a British ship-owner there who'd transport the silver to Europe (for at this time, the British ships still ruled the North Atlantic), but now he found himself across the biggest British army the war had seen so far, which was trying to force the besieged Kingsburgh to give up. Certainly the loss of this city would've severely hurt the Canadian rebels, with whom Thomas sympathized (he had had several rows with his father about that topic).
Since the winter was coming, the British army depended on food support at least as much as the Canadians. Thomas König knew that, and he also knew that their support line from the sea [3] was guarded by several forts, armed with cannons. The Canadian rebels he had met had tried in the past to storm some of these forts, but in vain so far. After talking for some time, a plan riped in Thomas' head. Being German, he could take the pose of a neutral, thus getting into negotiations with the fort commanders. After some smooth-talk, he happened to find a commander willing to change sides for some silver bars in exchange, thus giving the Canadians the control over a fort, and cutting through the lifeline of the British army. In the same winter, the siege of Kingsburgh had to be broken, and the Canadian revolution was saved.
So, Thomas König returned to Silberstadt without gold, on his tongue the half-lie that the Brits had taken his father's silver, but with the knowledge in his head that he had helped to bring down the old tyranny in Canada.
[1] As the Germans in North Atlantis call themselves
[2] lit.: Silver City. Its location isn't clear, seems to be at the foot of the Rockies, in either Montana or Wyoming.
[3] read: along the St Lawrence stream
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Post by Max Sinister on Feb 3, 2024 22:46:59 GMT
It was in the year of 1810.
Old king Gioacchino, the last survivor of the royal Italian family, was lying in his bed, for he had become so sick that he couldn't hope to ever leave it. But still, the king who reigned over vast lands in North Africa and Atlantis knew very good what was going on in the world.
A young man, wearing the uniform of an army captain, stood by his bed. Nobody else was in the room, even the nurses and servants had had to leave.
"I recognize you... when we met the first time, you were a young officer from Sardinia, right? Only sixteen years old, and still ready to become an officer in my army?"
"Yes, your majesty", the officer answered shortly.
"Of course. I just knew when I met you that you had potential. And meanwhile... you have fought for me in Cuba, I remember? Promotion to captain, and later to major, right?"
"That is correct, your majesty", the young man returned.
"A great achievement, for a man as young as you are. But still, I don't think that you have reached your limit already. I'm sure if there had been another war meanwhile, you may have become colonel already... but what hasn't come yet, may still come. There have been various unrests at our borders to Florida, and there might be a war somewhen in the future, maybe tomorrow already... I think I could need another colonel for my troops, but there aren't many people who want to command troops in a swampy land like that..."
"I would be proud to serve in that position, your majesty!"
"Of course you would. But after that, you should return to the Old World. Our lands in North Africa have to be defended too, and it can't hurt to learn about every part of the empire. A war in a desert is much different than a war in the tropics, I have heard, and there may be a war against Egypt one day. Egypt..." He smiled, and the general smiled too, in the same way.
"I am an old man, and I don't have many years left [1]", the king said after a while. "This isn't a good omen for a kingdom, however powerful it might be." He paused. "But one thousand and seven hundred years ago, the emperors of Rome had devised a special way of succession: Before they died, they named a man their successor - but this man couldn't be their own son, it had to be someone else. And as long as they stood to this principle, the Roman Empire thrived. But later, they gave it up, unfortunately..."
"One has to imagine what Rome could've become if they hadn't!" the officer blurted out. The king didn't care for that breach of etiquette.
"You know, I never had a son in my life. Enough people have told me that was a mistake, but they failed to see the opportunity this situation gave me - the opportunity to choose the most worthy young man in the empire. Will you be my son?"
And thus, the later colonel and general Alessandro Napoleoni became the designated heir of the Italian kingdom.
[1] Not exactly true. King Gioacchino would still live for another 13 years, dying 90 years old. Still, Alessandro as his co-ruler had his share on the decisions done during those years too.
The old king Gioacchino had known how to use the opportunities, and thus had added one province after the other to the colonial empire, just as a monarch would add a new wing to his palace. The new emperor, on the other hand, had a different approach. His style was definitely aggressive, as one could see on his advancing against the Brits. The old king wouldn't have cared for the British king declaring himself Holy Roman Emperor, knowing perfectly well how empty that title had become, but emperor Alessandro thought differently. He wouldn't let the Stafford king even think that he accepted the former's theoretical overlordship, he started a war to show him who was the worthy emperor. Having started as a lower noble, he felt that other monarchs didn't give him proper respect. King Gioacchino had told him not to care about it, since he saw the old-fashioned absolutist monarchy doomed to fall anyway, but the emperor still wouldn't take it. His dream was to make the Italian kingdom a new empire, which would be comparable to Old Rome, and himself on a par with the great conquerors Alexander and Caesar. And thus, the development started...
A youth in China
David Fitzroy was born in the year 1810 on Tungning as the only child of the British ambassador in China, Richard Fitzroy, and his wife, the author Ann Ridley. The changes of British foreign politics had brought a change of location to the family - instead of the prestigious old capital of China Nanking, they lived in what once had been the capital of an insignificant Chinese province, for Britain only accepted Hong China as the legitimate state. For this decision, British traders (never that many anyway) had been excluded from the mainland, but on the other hand, they had a quasi-monopoly in remaining Hong China. But even if the government and the merchants could accept this new situation, Lady Fitzroy certainly couldn't. "Nanking is the most splendid city on Earth! Why cannot we be there?" she'd exclaim so often, and David always would remember these outbursts. As well as he'd remember that once in a while, she'd punish her Chinese maidservant for breaking a teacup in the most severe way (while always boasting how correct she treated them during other times).
The boy always had two teachers: An English one, and a Chinese, who'd teach him not only the Chinese language, but also Chinese history and Confucianism. These early experiences would be essential for David's later life...
(OOC: Yes, it's a cliffhanger! David will return in a later story!)
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Post by Max Sinister on Feb 3, 2024 22:48:25 GMT
"The decline of France", by Prof. Antonio di Salvo, University of Palermo, 1907
In the 18th century, France had reached the height of its power, only to see it crumble completely in the 19th century. After the surprising loss of Germany - for many contemporaries would rather have guessed that it would be guerilla fighting Spain to regain its independence first, where instead the fighting continued, making it "The Ninety-Year War" at the end - no French government, neither democratically elected nor with temporary dictatorial powers, could escape the vicious circle of uprisings that took its toll on the young men of France, which lead to cries for revenge that no politician could afford to disdain, which would only lead to more uprisings of the proud Spaniards, going on until both France and Spain had wasted all their power. After the declaration of the republic the peasants had celebrated their new lives, as they had become respectable farmers on the land of the expropriated noblemen; but now, the future looked grim and hopeless in a way it never had under the royal regime. The "horreur" [1] had indeed trickled down to all classes of society. And even worse for the last adherents of the republican thought, this feeling was only comparable to the one that had permeated the societies of the dying monarchies some decades earlier, like Nassau, Hungary or Britain. [...]
[1] ITTL used in a similar way as IOTL "angst" found its way into many other languages.
"The little kingdom", by Dubhghlas Ó Súilleabháin, 1930
As every child in New Albion knows, king Philip was killed by the revolutionaries, and the situation was so dire that the rest of the royal family easily could've been slaughtered too in the turmoil during and after the revolution. But the fact that they survived, is mostly thanks to one man, king George I of New Albion. He was neither a Humphrey I or Henry V, not even an Edward V or Henry VI, but simply a nice average man who happened to be raised for the day when he'd be king. He didn't really stand behind the expedition of admiral Carleton, but didn't give in to the republicans either; instead, he decided to lead his family to England's only colony left, and his calm, polite behavior towards anybody on the journey probably helped the clan to survive the hardships. [...]
It isn't very well known even in the Antipodian world, but it was a pure accident that the Staffords ended in New Albion - originally, their ship was supposed to only made a short stop in Philipsburgh [1], and continue to reach our capital [2]. But when the king who had been at sea for several months saw the city, he spontaneously decided to make it the residence and capital of his remaining lands, and the rest is history. [3] [...]
It's hard to tell what could've happened otherwise, but it is sure that New Albion had developed more along its own ways, instead of becoming a kind of fairytale kingdom, where royal princes play cards using European lands as their wagers and not only dream of, but live in the glorious past. Yes, the "Plethora of Princes", as the famous court chronicler Gray Wolvertone would've said, is the main problem of New Albion today. If the islands had stayed a part of Antipodia, or even a colony, they certainly never would've seen a prince George of Brunswick claiming the whole chalk industry of the country as his personal monopoly, to name but one example. [...]
[1] OTL Wellington
[2] He refers to the capital of Tir Tairngire, at the location of OTL Sydney.
[3] And now he hints at the fact that short time later the Tirlanders seceded, which cost George I the rule over a whole continent and seven eights of his remaining subjects.
"Musings about Atlantis", by Hermann Pfühl, written in his exile in Victoria de Guadalupe (OTL Durango), 1945
So many powers of Europe have struggled for Atlantis in the last half millennium... Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, Britain when it was still the kingdom of England, France when it still existed... and, of course, Russia. In fact, one could wonder why the biggest state on Earth [1] hadn't played a mayor part. There are many reasons, probably: The climate isn't really inviting - California isn't called "the hot oven" for a joke, and Aleska [2] has terrified harder men than myself. Then, while the Western Europeans found vast fertile lands, the Russians found one of the biggest and widest mountain chains in the world; and finally, before steamships were built, the Pacific was an obstacle that cut the Russians in Eurasia and those in Atlantis apart from each other, and made a defense for the Yenisseisk government either very costly, or completely impossible - their few lands could never stand against half a continent. In fact, one can say that those Russians in Kalifornien had a different mentality altogether, which is why they abandoned their mother country, as the old Novorossiya (what a pleonasm!) had once quit its allegiance to the Czar [...]
[1] Note that New Rome is bigger at the moment... (i.e. 1860, not 1945!)
[2] No typo. German transcription.
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Post by Max Sinister on Feb 8, 2024 23:23:55 GMT
Excerpt from "Dangerous cults in India: Part 6", by Oberst Peter Schneider-Langenhagen, Delhi, 1924
The origins of this strange cult go back until the time of the first New Roman emperor, Alessandro. The Imperial Catholic church had sent many missionaries to India, and during the first years they could report high numbers of converts for the church. However, some time later they had to admit on request that the results hadn't been as expected - although there were now many gurus preaching the sermon of the mount, and people who prayed to statues of Christ, Holy Mary and other biblical characters, Christianity hadn't really had an impact - because when the "converted" Indians were inquired, it was found out that they still believed in their old Hindu teachings, and just added the Christian biblical persons to their pantheon.
Other than cursing the pagans, the emperor made one of his infamous plans instead: As he told one courtier (see attachment 3): "If those Indians revere every Holy Man they see - imagine how they'd have to revere a real great man!" This marked the shift: Not only had he declared himself head of the Imperial Catholic church, now he wanted people praying to him. (Quite an expectable behavior for the man who was embalmed and buried in a pyramid after his death.) During his lifetime, he wouldn't see his plan becoming reality, but after the New Roman conquest of India, the new emperor Ludovico succeeded in building a cult around his person in India. [...]
"From the state of cities to the state of villages: Novorossiya in the 2nd half of the 19th century", by Ph.D. Lazar Kovacevic, University of Belgrade, 1930
From the very beginning, it were the cities in Novorossiya where the decisions for the future were made. Here, the schools were founded to introduce Chinese knowledge; here, the political parties formed; here, the merchants accumulated money from the trade with Chunkvo and the rest of East Asia; here, the first Dozor armies were built up; and the crucial decision to separate from Vladimir-Suzdal also was made here. Thus, it was no wonder that the constitution of Novorossiya gave the cities most, if not all of the power.
But in the long run, the flaws of the system became visible. Only those cities could get representation at all in the Central Vyetye who were able to pay some of the old cities to get the coveted admission. [1] The Rebel Grandfathers [2] probably hadn't envisioned this but rather expected that new cities would get admission if they became big, or worthy enough, but around 1850 only the money paid played a role. It is also claimed that this was the reason for the gold digger cities like Tainstvo [3] to declare independence. The peasants of Old Russia and the richer farmers of Novorossiya had to carry a good part of the taxation, without having any political power above local level. But after the Great Patriotic War [4], when the Dozory proved not being strong enough against massed armies, the villages fought against the new conscription law. State officials who visited them to draft the young men often returned without their trousers, if not tarred. [...]
[1] We remember: When Novorossiya was founded, only a number of cities founded then got representation. New cities could only get admission if invited.
[2] The founders of Novorossiya
[3] At OTL Sacramento's site
[4] Russian name for the anti-Russian War
From the Welt-Enzyklopädie, 1932:
"The empty circle" - a name that was given to these lands [1] by geographers, coined after "the empty quarter", the Rub' al Khali on the Arab peninsula, for being mostly desert and for the Muslim influences in its culture. [...]
The population of the area was probably the most mixed-up one could ever find on Earth, except maybe in Braseal: Atlantean tribes who had always lived there, like the Schoschonen [2], or had settled in the desert coming from the east, like the Nakota [3]; religious sects which were considered heretics by the Russian Orthodox church; fled slaves from the New Roman empire (often smuggled in by German and Canadian abolitionists), both of African and Arab origin; outlaws from all the nations represented in Atlantis.
Other than in areas like Kalifornien or Aleska, which saw a sudden population boom after gold was discovered there, the population of the e.c. gradually developed to the state of today. In the 17th century, Russian scouts discovered the area first, but the Novorussian government tended to ignore it, except for sending a few missionaries. Soon after, the first Spaniards found their way into the e.c., and with them came the ibnatun [4], bringing Islam to the area. In the 18th century, Atlantean tribes converted to a barely recognizable version of this religion, made many raids into Russian and Spanish lands [...] When the New Roman empire conquered Mexico in 1846, many more Spaniards and their slaves left for the e.c., making Spanish finally succeed as the verkehrssprache [5] of the region. After the Anti-Russian War, the area officially became part of the New Roman empire, but still was neglected. From then on, the e.c. saw relative peace until the Great War, during which New Roman agents infiltrated the area and started a raid into Kalifornien in 1912. After the war, the chaos allowed the inhabitants to acquire weapons from the retreating Imperial army, which turned the e.c. during few years into the most lawless area in the "Wilden Süden". [6] [...]
[1] OTL Utah, Nevada and west half of Colorado, plus a few border areas.
[2] German transcription for "Shoshones"
[3] OTL Sioux / Dakota / Lakotah.
[4] Arab for "daughters", i.e. daughters of Allah - Arab women converted and married to Spaniards by force, who secretly stayed Muslimas. As mentioned in an earlier story.
[5] German term for OTL "lingua franca".
[6] "Wild South". German term for all the (culturally quite different) areas south of German Atlantis.
Lauritz von Arguim (1924)
Directed by John Gardell
Written by Hans Strauch, Robert Mann
Based on the book by Ph.D. Wilhelm Borstein
Genre: Adventure
Plot: In the year 1878, Anti-slavery activist Lauritz Lebrecht (Georg Götzner) gathers a group of similar minds in his home country Anderland, after which they set sail to the infamous slave harbor Arguim on the west African coast. After a first attack against the castle of his opponent Juan de Rodrigues (Fransisko Peres) fails, he finds new allies with the help of his Wolof companion Fallu Diuf (Liberio Freimann).
Billed Cast:
Georg Götzner ..... Lauritz von Arguim
Liberio Freimann .. Fallu Diuf
Matthias Langer ... Kapitän Schäfer
Fransisko Peres ... Juan de Rodrigues
Monika Kallen ..... Elisabeth Lebrecht
Language: German
Color: Black/White
Famous quote:
Lauritz von Arguim: "Kapitän, you're brainless!"
"Der Goldrausch von Braseal", by Bernhard Holzhofer, published by RM (Romane Müller), Neustadt, Argentinien, 1902
This story happened in one of those gold digger cities, that sprang up in the jungles of Braseal, where one generation earlier had been nothing but a village of escaped slaves... here, I witnessed one man of about hundred thousand really getting as rich as everyone else only dreamed of... [...]
He converted to the religion of Mohammed (because this religion is tolerated by the king of Braseal, if only to avoid the Moors starting a bloody uprising - but one has to imagine, what this means in a country like this, where the mayors and officers have been risen to their offices for being little more than competent gang leaders), only because he wanted to marry his concubines officially: Isabella, a woman with Spanish ancestors; Latifah, an Arab girl from an Egyptian family; Marisol, a big black woman whom he bought out of slavery; and an Indian woman named Pavati who joined his religion, taking the name Leila instead. [...]
When I returned, I first remarked something was wrong when I saw Isabella walking together with another gold digger, a one-eyed black man; and when I reached his palace, one part of it was destroyed and replaced by a group of the typical huts, while the rest had been turned partly into a brothel, partly into a coffeehouse... when I asked what had happened to the old owner, they told me that he had cursed his new God while being drunk after he had squandered all of his money, and was killed by some Moors for this blasphemy. [...]
(Taken from a Judean webforum about vacations for the culturally interested.)
Elias bar David, 17.4.5740, 18:03:59
Shalom! I'm a big fan of Suez, I've spent three of my holidays there, and I'm very interested in the history of the city. Can anyone recommend me a good book about Suez before the world wars?
Ariel C, 17.4.5740, 21:16:78
I could recommend you "A visit in Suez", by Teodosio Montorsoli, from 1909. If you ask me, this book surpasses every other one about Suez in excellence. The descriptions of the city, the palace of the vice emperor of Egypt, the Emperor Alessandro Central train station, the Emperor Benedetto University, the quarter of the Jewish and Greek merchants, the churches, mosques, temples and synagogues, the restaurants of a dozen different nationalities, the Indian and Arab coolies loading and unloading Italian cars, French wine, Portuguese corks, Greek olives, Indian tea, Egyptian cotton, Syrian glassworks, Tripolitanian oil, Atlantean tobacco, Caribbean sugar and Chinese silk on the steam freighters and even occasional dhaus... it's so vivid, the city comes to life again, even if you read it today.
(Note that he wrote the book before the death of emperor Ludovico. Later in his life he returned to the city, but was shocked how much it had changed - he couldn't recognize "his" Suez anymore. This was one of the reasons he committed suicide. :-(
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Post by Max Sinister on Feb 12, 2024 20:24:35 GMT
Excerpt from "Science by the people" (London, 1990, Socialist Block)
Lars Andersson was born on 5/1/1867 into a Swedish family in the city of Turku in Finland, then part of the Swedish kingdom. During the confusion of the year 1879, when the German and Russian monetarists [1] lead their expansionism to the peace-loving, progressive Scandinavia, his family left the continent with a boat from Göteborg (where they had fled to during the invasion), to support the People's State of England. Lars' father Ole played a role in organizing the Socialist resistance in Scandinavia against Nils Grieg, the lackey of the invaders, but his son chose the way of engineering instead. In 1882, he became a member of the House of Tomorrow, with a special permit. [...]
Lars always was moved by the stories of the Red Pirates, how they captured ships of the Rich to give their booty to the Poor, and after having learned about cryptography, he spent many nights at the HoT working on a device that would be able to break codes. He presented his invention on 29/6/1892 at the yearly celebration of the Red Pirates, where he was chosen to speak for the apprentices [2] of the HoT. His well remembered speech was simply: "I want to support you in your fight against the dogs of the monetarists [3]. That's why I give you this: The Codebreaker!" After which he demonstrated how to decipher a coded text with his machine. On which the head of the Red Pirates, Old Richard Selway answered: "Dammit boy, if your machine works, we'll damn use it too!" [...]
[1] Capitalists. In this context, with a similar snide as if used in OTL Communist texts.
[2] Students are called apprentices in Socialist Britain, which sounds more proletarian and less bourgeois.
[3] The warships protecting merchant vessels against the Red Pirates.
Leading article of "La Fiamma" [1], Roma Nuova, by Carlo Carosio for the 20th of July 1910
[...] So finally, the emperor will come to rest... as I fear the first rest he got in many years, for the state of the world and the empire would barely let him sleep well at night. I always revered him, not for his conquest of Spain, France and India, but for the fact how he held his vast empire together, until he became the empire. [...]
But I fear that the Germans only stayed quiet in the last years for respect of the old imperator, and very soon, people will think that the time for mourning has passed and start to rattle the sabers impatiently. And even worse, it might well be that not the new Germanics will try to destroy the New [Roman] empire as their ancestors destroyed the Old one, but rather that someone in Rome will decide to fight Germany, if only for the fact that it's the only country we didn't defeat in the last hundred years. But that means challenging the fate... the imperator was so lucky during his life, it seems to me that he used up all the good luck that was there [...]
[1] Italian for "The Flame"
Critical review of "Das Paradies der Goldis" [1], 1952, in "Der Tag"
Secretly, a scandalous book has found its way to Atlantis [2], sadly. We're talking about "Das Paradies der Goldis" by Katherine Geller, of course. How was this possible, since the book is forbidden since it exists in print? The answer is, as our reporters found out: Weekend tourists going to Neu-Italien [3], Caroline or Louisiane, where they can find the German edition of the novel, ready to buy and take away, to smuggle it back. And so, a depraved book about the alleged sins happening in Paradies [4] now poisons the minds and souls of the people, violating censorship paragraphs [5] no. 17, 18 and 49 [...]
[1] "The paradise of the goldies". The title has two double-entendres: First, "Paradise" can refer to the paradise, but also the city with the same name, ITTL the center of the movie industry; second, "Goldi" is the brand name of a doll ITTL (like Barbie), but also refers to "golden pills" in the book.
[2] In German Atlantis, and more and more in European Germany and Argentinien too, "Atlantis" is used for German North Atlantis only, in the same way as US-Americans (and others) call the USA "America". Despite of the fact that German Atlantis only has roughly the northern half of the continental US.
[3] Italia Nuova
[4] This book seems to be TTL equivalent of "Valley of the dolls".
[5] These German censorship paragraphs deal with the depiction of mental diseases (17), drug addiction (18) and lesbian love (49) respectively.
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Post by Max Sinister on Feb 17, 2024 3:16:44 GMT
Somewhere in Germany, in an unnamed city, in an unspecified house.
The policeman knocked at the door, which opened.
"Herr Seinfeld?"
"Yes?"
"German Seinfeld, right?"
"Yes, but why-"
"You're arrested."
"Arrested? For what?"
"Not important. Come with me."
"Oh, come on, that's absurd! You can't arrest people in a Rechtsstaat [1] for nothing!"
[1] German term for a state that has the Rule of Law. In this case, it doesn't promise what it holds.
The room of the party was full of clamor.
"Of course we'll fight-" "Cowardly tedescos-" "We could finish them in a month-" "Why, one Roman man can finish twenty germanicos-" "Teach them a lesson they won't soon forget-" "No, no, no, look how Herr Ke-lai-ber insulted our Commissioners!" "Yes, insulted them for having slaves-" "They want war; we'll make them sick of war-"
The tall man with the malicious smile entered the middle of the group, a glint of amused contempt in his eyes.
"Has any one of you signores ever thought that there's barely a cannon factory south of the New Limes [1]? Or how few iron foundries there are in Italia Nuova and the whole South? Or power plants or car factories or even tanneries? Have you thought that we cannot rebuild a single warship, and that the German wharves could build new ships faster than our ones can sink them, until they can bottle up our harbors, so that we could not transport our cotton and tobacco to Europe? But - of course - you signores have thought of these things."
"I have seen many things that you all have not seen", continued Ronaldo Servio. "The factories, the foundries, the shipyards, the iron and coal mines - all the things we lack off. Why, all we have is cotton and slaves and arrogance. They'd finish us in a month."
"Who is this outrageous signore, mamma?" asked the Texan maidservant.
"Keep your fingers off him, Consuela!" warned la mamma. "His name is Ronaldo Servio [2], he's from Charlesbourg, and he's got the most terrible reputation all over Italia Nuova!"
[1] Ironical nickname for the German-New Roman border in Atlantis. TTL's equivalent of the Mason-Dixon-line.
[2] Not by accident with a similar name as Maffeo Servitore, TTL's Machiavelli.
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Post by Max Sinister on Feb 22, 2024 7:21:07 GMT
"World War One: An Analysis of the circumstances", by Prof. Avram ben-Aleksandr, Chair of historical economy, Department of History, University of Haifa, Judea, 1973
Germany had two great advantages: Its coal, and its iron ore. All the important deposits were on German or allied grounds: The iron in Lorraine, Kiruna, the Great Lakes and the Ruhr, and the coal in Wallonia, Upper Silesia, the Appalachians, and again the Great Lakes and the Ruhr. The Russians also had great reserves in the Urals and the Donez area, but compared to the German ones they were barely developed: On the eve of the war, the Ruhr area had five times the population density of the Russian industrial centers. [1] So the Germans had more weapons (esp. battleships and tanks) produced, and they had the proper railroads to bring them where they were needed. Except for Socialist Britain, no other state could come up with logistics on a similar level. [...]
If the war had happened twenty, fifteen, maybe even only ten years later, New Rome would've had an advantage instead thanks to its oil wells in Texas and North Africa, and the Russian-controlled wells in Baku and Romania also would've helped. It's hard to predict how the New Roman generals would've lead strong motorized divisions, but if they recognized the usefulness of their new invention, they could've made the war faster instead of degrading it to a battle of material for every small piece of ground. [...]
[1] This was the state IOTL before the Soviet Union ceased to exist. ITTL, Russia's way earlier as developed and densely populated at this level - but still not early enough.
One immigration desk near the harbor of Gaza.
"Next one! What is your first name?"
"It's Lew, and my last name is-"
"Oh, that's not important. What does your name mean?"
The man pauses, a bit puzzled. "It means 'lion' in Russian."
"Lion - ariel. Good. Your new name will be Ariel."
"For what?"
"We live after the laws G_d gave us, here in Judea", the official explains. "We don't keep our gentile names here."
I haven't really cared about G_d, thinks the man, but then the Russians suddenly decided I was Jewish and would better leave now.
"What's your father's name?"
"David. But why-"
"David. Good. From now on, your name is Ariel Ben-David. Here are your new papers. Next one!"
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Post by Max Sinister on Feb 26, 2024 2:41:09 GMT
A scene from 1920.
"Father Gunnar! Father Gunnar!"
The sacristan is running up the hill, where the priest went to, God alone knows why.
"Father, it's the Socialists! They have made the church a storehouse, and now -"
Now only the priest turns his face to him. In his eyes, tears are visible.
"Yes, go on speaking, Albert."
"And now - they have said that the people don't need religion anymore, and from now on the Party will care for their souls! Father, we don't have to let them do that! I could run to the village, and take some of the farmers and fishermen, they would help us! We'll show them that people want to fight for God!"
"No, Albert, it is good the way it is. Let them have the church, it's just a building. And let them care for the people instead. In fact, we should join them. We know how to help people with problems, and they need us, and the Socialists also can need our advice how to help people the right way."
"But father, we can't let them do that! Don't you think we have to defend us somehow?"
"God is trying our faith, and this time it's a harder trial than ever since the Roman emperors had believers killed for their faith. If the Socialists take the church away from the people - at least don't let the humanity die!"
From the Encyclopedia Judaica, 1983:
Fireless Spark Judgement:
In 1922, the Supreme Court of Judea gave the judgement that electricity causes "fireless sparks", so the switching on doesn't constitute making of fire, and thus isn't considered making fire. As the result of this verdict, using electrical light and other devices on Sabbath became legal, which they hadn't in the past decades. Prof. Isaac ben Isidor (once from the University of Yenisseisk) had participated in the decision, and people generally think it's his merit to convince the Chief Rabbi and the other members of the Chief Rabbinate.
A scene from 1957.
The little boy is cycling along the Rhine. It's in the afternoon, and the sun is shining on the eastern shore. A good summer day for cycling. The streets of Königswinter are pretty empty, no adults running around who could complain about him. His grandparents, with whom he lives since his parents died in the war, say that once in the past many more people lived in the city, and the hotels and restaurants along the promenade were full of visitors from Bonn, or even Cologne. But now, many people have left the city. The adults say, it was all the Socialists' fault, when they "rose up" (what does that mean? Doesn't everybody rise up in the morning?) and took all the land in the west. The boy doesn't know when that happened, but it must've been a long time ago. At this time, there were even fights in the nearby Ennert Forest. "The Blauer See [1] was red from all the soldiers' blood, my father said to me!" his grandfather told him. Yes, once in the past things might've been better indeed. What have the Socialists done, then? In the school, they don't speak much about this topic. There aren't many other kids from here in the school now, only the stupid "army brats", who'll come and leave again after a few years.
He takes a look at the Rhine. Right at the center is a line of buoys, that seperate the two sides: The "sunny side", his side, and the "schäl sick" [2], the other one. He can see the houses at the other side, and sometimes humans moving too. How do the people live there?
[1] German for Blue Lake
[2] Rhenish dialect for "bad / false side". Ironically, IOTL this meant the eastern shore of the Rhine, not the western as ITTL.
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Post by Max Sinister on Feb 28, 2024 23:52:50 GMT
The agenda of the Technocratic government (...and what the critics of the government would secretly make of it...):
1. Build up a strong military (...turn the empire into a giant barrack...)
2. Reunite the divided people (...censor the media and send all critics to prison...)
3. Revive the economy (...and divide it between the cartels...)
4. Reorganize the labor force (...turn the workers into modern serfs...)
5. Build up the infrastructure (...so the tanks can roll again...)
6. Cut losses in the colonies (...keep the raisins in the cake, and let the rest fall into chaos...)
7. Binding our allies in Eastern and South Eastern Europe closer to Germany (...germanize them...)
8. Promote science and technics in the schools and universities (...and kill off classics and humanities in return...)
9. Give the small farmers a chance to improve (...by sending them to settle in Texas...)
10. Win the hearts of the working class for the new regime (...making them unpolitical with the three F [1]: Fußball, Fernsehen, Fernreisen [soccer/football, television, journeys abroad].)
[1] Some critics also add a fourth word beginning with F to this list.
German technocracy. Ernst von Wildenhart-Universität. It's Friday, shortly after 6 PM.
"You're too late, son!" the janitor "greets" the young man. "The library is closed!"
"Excuse me - there won't be a problem. I know the librarian, and I promised to help her."
"Na..." The janitor has mercy and lets him in. Ludwig hurries through the halls.
"Where have you been?" The frail young woman seems quite desperate. "You're late!"
"I'm sorry, Johanna", the young man with the receding hairline says. "It wasn't easy to get the car for the weekend from the Herren of the firm. And the gasoline is rationed now, after all."
"I was so worried! What if something had happened to you?"
Several minutes later. Keeping silent, he carries the heavy boxes down to the car, one after another.
Hours later. Johanna has finally fallen asleep. They're going north - not on the road along the lake [1], but on the lesser-used streets which lead around the Great Lakes on the western side.
One day later. Ludwig is tired from the long, almost sleepless trip, and one can see that Johanna spent the night on a front passenger's seat. They've spent some minutes to restore themselves, but they still got to hope that no one will see through them.
"Halt! Your papers, please!"
Ludwig hands their passports over. Now it all depends on one man. If only Johanna isn't so nervous that she gives them away.
"Who is the girl? And what are you doing in Canada?"
He doesn't want to risk lying. "She's my fiancee. We will visit my cousin Michael", he answers. "He lives there."
"And why are you travelling in a van?" Oh no. He starts asking questions. "Wouldn't the train be cheaper - and maybe more suit for a young lady?"
"I drive this car at work", he explains. "My superiors allowed me to take it for the weekend."
He anxiously awaits the answer. But if the customs official found something, he doesn't say so.
"Herr Burlefinger. Fräulein Torka. You can go on. Have a good journey!"
Again, several hours (and another few stops in trucker diners, to have coffee and pancakes) later.
"Ludwig? What are you doing here in Canada? And why did you come by car?"
"We had to bring you something. Quite some freight, to be specific."
"It's books from the university", Johanna explains. "Philosophy, sociology, ethics, political science, theory of complexity [2]..."
"What? I really don't understand..."
"We fear that the technocracy might outlaw these books. Canada is still free. You will have to find a good place for those books."
[1] Lake Michigan - they've started in OTL Chicago
[2] The literal translation into English from German "Komplexwissenschaften" [3] would be "complex science", which would be too confusing. English is so ambiguous...
[3] Similar to OTL cybernetics, the science of systems. A "complex" is what we would call a system in OTL (as in ecological system).
Gerhard Bos, once the German chief ambassador in New Rome and now the technocrat of foreign affairs, has three important meetings on his agenda. All three meetings about the preparation of an... intervention in Europe. Normally such interventions would take their time, but now that the two Russias, Greater Italy and the Socialist Block rattle their sabers, it's time to act fast, or else Old Germany will be in serious danger to be crushed.
And now the door opens, to let in the first of his three special guests...
"Sir Marlborough?" he greets the stocky man.
"Just call me Sir Winston", the man answers in the fine old King's English, as they only speak it in New Albion nowadays.
"Sir Winston - welcome to the German Technocracy", Bos starts the usual address of welcome. Theoretically the man is just a minor nobleman from an insignificant country - but he has a vision, and the Technocracy needs him. Until now, he has hunted Socialist pirates in the Pacific; but with some support, he could go for bigger game.
"We have prepared the ships for you; they're anchored in a small harbor in California - the name is Los Angeles. Your men can board them as soon as you're ready to fight the Socialists. I hope, this is satisfactory to you."
"I'd even have appreciated help by the devil, if this could help me to bring down the Socialists", Sir Winston boldly states. "We fought them on the sea, wherever we could get hold of them; but with your help, we shall also fight them on the fields, ..."
Sir Winston is orating on, very impressively, one has to admit that. Somehow his guest reminds him of something... yes, of course, the bulldog which symbolized the old, pre-republican Britain.
"...we shall never surrender." Sir Winston has finished his speech and shakes Bos' hand. "Thanks for your help, we won't disappoint you!" He bids farewell and leaves.
Bos wonders whether Sir Winston will be successful. His agents have told him that Sir Winston smokes and drinks as if there was no tomorrow. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
A few weeks later. He's awaiting the second guest - a Charl d'Gaul. While he had the complete family tree of Sir Winston dating back to the Normans, his staff could barely find out about this man. d'Gaul - an everyday name in Braseal, where thousands of emigrants from Gaul (as the New Romans insisted calling France) arrived once.
"Mui plesir, segnor", the tall man replies while Bos winces on the inside. He can't help it, but he prefers real French to the mishmash they speak in Braseal. Unfortunately, the real France is Socialist now. Fortunately, his guest also speaks German.
Bos concludes what was prepared in the last months: "Your men should've received the arms by now; our men in Argentinien have delivered them. Are they ready for the transport to Algiers at the scheduled date?"
"They are ready - however, with your permit, segnor technocrat - let us postpone the departure from Algiers for ten days. There are more volunteers in Algiers willing to fight the Socialists then we had hoped for."
This is a positive surprise - something you don't get that often nowadays. Of course d'Gaul can get more time in Algiers.
"We put our trust in Free France!" the technocrat says for goodbye.
"And we will show you that we can be a worthy ally!" d'Gaul replies.
Again, a few weeks later, he gives his attention to guest number three. Other than the first two ones, this man has decided to wear his uniform. But that's not the point which makes things difficult.
"Excuse me, mein Herr... I notice that you didn't mention your name..."
"Just call me el caudillo", the guest answers. "Everyone does." El Caudillo. The authoritative political-military leader. Of course.
"Your troops in Morocco - are they ready for the operation?"
"The Spaniard troops have been ready since they were born, and the Berbs are also ready. We have concluded the preparations."
"Berbs?" Bos is skeptical. "You're talking about Muslims?"
"Why not?" el caudillo replies. "They're more willing to fight for a government that supports a religion of the book than for people who believe in nothing."
Bos nods, making a mental note. This could be useful some day.
(With apologies to two men everyone certainly recognized.)
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575
Captain
There is no Purgatory for warcriminals - they go directly to Hell!
Posts: 2,729 
Likes: 4,106
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Post by 575 on Feb 29, 2024 8:44:40 GMT
The agenda of the Technocratic government (...and what the critics of the government would secretly make of it...): 1. Build up a strong military (...turn the empire into a giant barrack...) 2. Reunite the divided people (...censor the media and send all critics to prison...) 3. Revive the economy (...and divide it between the cartels...) 4. Reorganize the labor force (...turn the workers into modern serfs...) 5. Build up the infrastructure (...so the tanks can roll again...) 6. Cut losses in the colonies (...keep the raisins in the cake, and let the rest fall into chaos...) 7. Binding our allies in Eastern and South Eastern Europe closer to Germany (...germanize them...) 8. Promote science and technics in the schools and universities (...and kill off classics and humanities in return...) 9. Give the small farmers a chance to improve (...by sending them to settle in Texas...) 10. Win the hearts of the working class for the new regime (...making them unpolitical with the three F [1]: Fußball, Fernsehen, Fernreisen [soccer/football, television, journeys abroad].) [1] Some critics also add a fourth word beginning with F to this list.
German technocracy. Ernst von Wildenhart-Universität. It's Friday, shortly after 6 PM. "You're too late, son!" the janitor "greets" the young man. "The library is closed!" "Excuse me - there won't be a problem. I know the librarian, and I promised to help her." "Na..." The janitor has mercy and lets him in. Ludwig hurries through the halls. "Where have you been?" The frail young woman seems quite desperate. "You're late!" "I'm sorry, Johanna", the young man with the receding hairline says. "It wasn't easy to get the car for the weekend from the Herren of the firm. And the gasoline is rationed now, after all." "I was so worried! What if something had happened to you?" Several minutes later. Keeping silent, he carries the heavy boxes down to the car, one after another. Hours later. Johanna has finally fallen asleep. They're going north - not on the road along the lake [1], but on the lesser-used streets which lead around the Great Lakes on the western side. One day later. Ludwig is tired from the long, almost sleepless trip, and one can see that Johanna spent the night on a front passenger's seat. They've spent some minutes to restore themselves, but they still got to hope that no one will see through them. "Halt! Your papers, please!" Ludwig hands their passports over. Now it all depends on one man. If only Johanna isn't so nervous that she gives them away. "Who is the girl? And what are you doing in Canada?" He doesn't want to risk lying. "She's my fiancee. We will visit my cousin Michael", he answers. "He lives there." "And why are you travelling in a van?" Oh no. He starts asking questions. "Wouldn't the train be cheaper - and maybe more suit for a young lady?" "I drive this car at work", he explains. "My superiors allowed me to take it for the weekend." He anxiously awaits the answer. But if the customs official found something, he doesn't say so. "Herr Burlefinger. Fräulein Torka. You can go on. Have a good journey!" Again, several hours (and another few stops in trucker diners, to have coffee and pancakes) later. "Ludwig? What are you doing here in Canada? And why did you come by car?" "We had to bring you something. Quite some freight, to be specific." "It's books from the university", Johanna explains. "Philosophy, sociology, ethics, political science, theory of complexity [2]..." "What? I really don't understand..." "We fear that the technocracy might outlaw these books. Canada is still free. You will have to find a good place for those books." [1] Lake Michigan - they've started in OTL Chicago [2] The literal translation into English from German "Komplexwissenschaften" [3] would be "complex science", which would be too confusing. English is so ambiguous... [3] Similar to OTL cybernetics, the science of systems. A "complex" is what we would call a system in OTL (as in ecological system).
Gerhard Bos, once the German chief ambassador in New Rome and now the technocrat of foreign affairs, has three important meetings on his agenda. All three meetings about the preparation of an... intervention in Europe. Normally such interventions would take their time, but now that the two Russias, Greater Italy and the Socialist Block rattle their sabers, it's time to act fast, or else Old Germany will be in serious danger to be crushed. And now the door opens, to let in the first of his three special guests... "Sir Marlborough?" he greets the stocky man. "Just call me Sir Winston", the man answers in the fine old King's English, as they only speak it in New Albion nowadays. "Sir Winston - welcome to the German Technocracy", Bos starts the usual address of welcome. Theoretically the man is just a minor nobleman from an insignificant country - but he has a vision, and the Technocracy needs him. Until now, he has hunted Socialist pirates in the Pacific; but with some support, he could go for bigger game. "We have prepared the ships for you; they're anchored in a small harbor in California - the name is Los Angeles. Your men can board them as soon as you're ready to fight the Socialists. I hope, this is satisfactory to you." "I'd even have appreciated help by the devil, if this could help me to bring down the Socialists", Sir Winston boldly states. "We fought them on the sea, wherever we could get hold of them; but with your help, we shall also fight them on the fields, ..." Sir Winston is orating on, very impressively, one has to admit that. Somehow his guest reminds him of something... yes, of course, the bulldog which symbolized the old, pre-republican Britain. "...we shall never surrender." Sir Winston has finished his speech and shakes Bos' hand. "Thanks for your help, we won't disappoint you!" He bids farewell and leaves. Bos wonders whether Sir Winston will be successful. His agents have told him that Sir Winston smokes and drinks as if there was no tomorrow. But desperate times call for desperate measures. A few weeks later. He's awaiting the second guest - a Charl d'Gaul. While he had the complete family tree of Sir Winston dating back to the Normans, his staff could barely find out about this man. d'Gaul - an everyday name in Braseal, where thousands of emigrants from Gaul (as the New Romans insisted calling France) arrived once. " Mui plesir, segnor", the tall man replies while Bos winces on the inside. He can't help it, but he prefers real French to the mishmash they speak in Braseal. Unfortunately, the real France is Socialist now. Fortunately, his guest also speaks German. Bos concludes what was prepared in the last months: "Your men should've received the arms by now; our men in Argentinien have delivered them. Are they ready for the transport to Algiers at the scheduled date?" "They are ready - however, with your permit, segnor technocrat - let us postpone the departure from Algiers for ten days. There are more volunteers in Algiers willing to fight the Socialists then we had hoped for." This is a positive surprise - something you don't get that often nowadays. Of course d'Gaul can get more time in Algiers. "We put our trust in Free France!" the technocrat says for goodbye. "And we will show you that we can be a worthy ally!" d'Gaul replies. Again, a few weeks later, he gives his attention to guest number three. Other than the first two ones, this man has decided to wear his uniform. But that's not the point which makes things difficult. "Excuse me, mein Herr... I notice that you didn't mention your name..." "Just call me el caudillo", the guest answers. "Everyone does." El Caudillo. The authoritative political-military leader. Of course. "Your troops in Morocco - are they ready for the operation?" "The Spaniard troops have been ready since they were born, and the Berbs are also ready. We have concluded the preparations." "Berbs?" Bos is skeptical. "You're talking about Muslims?" "Why not?" el caudillo replies. "They're more willing to fight for a government that supports a religion of the book than for people who believe in nothing." Bos nods, making a mental note. This could be useful some day. (With apologies to two men everyone certainly recognized.) Only two?  |
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Post by Max Sinister on Mar 2, 2024 23:52:20 GMT
(With apologies to two men everyone certainly recognized.) Only two? Well, why should I apologize to Franco?
Toni and Xaver are walking through the mountains. Two years ago, they were poor farmhands, who had to poach a bit to improve their life, and were hunted by the police for that. Now, they're "hunting" Italian occupation soldiers instead, and have the full support of their village; as his girlfriend Kathi tells him when he visits her in the night, even the Herr Oberinspektor from the city is on their side. Still, he wonders for how long they can hold out.
"The city slickers [1] have given us up, Toni", Xaver muses along. "Now we're the only ones who keep on fighting."
Toni doesn't seem to care much, singing a little song instead. "Ziwui, ziwui..."
"I won't give up. They don't know the mountains here. We do. As long as we have our rifles and some ammo, we can do this for years."
"Ziwui, ziwui, ziwui, ziwui..."
Xaver hears a rustling somewhere, stops Toni and pulls him aside. A boy appears between the rocks, laughing stupidly.
"Kreuzbirnbaumundhollerstauden! [2] It's the Hüttler-boy, that retard! He'll blab about us!"
[1] In the original, he said "Stoderer".
[2] Bavarian curse, meaning about "Holy Cross, pear tree and elder bush!"
--
A joke from war-time:
A German troop (including a few Judean soldiers accompanying them) has been captured. Stalin himself has decided to inspect them.
"You'll all fell so sorry for messing with Russia! Just let me tell you one thing: My name is Stalin, and I'm as hard as steel!"
Complete silence. Then, suddenly one of the Jewish prisoners starts to laugh.
"Who's laughing there?! What is your name, scum?"
"Moses Diamant!"
--
Maybe for the last time: A thread from the WWW forum
Mark Anton:
So - is there a way for Germany to stop the Russian molniya [1]?
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 16:09)
Henrich:
Well, since South Russia was crippled by German limitations for armaments, the German strength (in absolute numbers) was initially as high as Russia's. Gridenkov hadn't much more men and material than the Germans and their allies. In other words, their success wasn't guaranteed.
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 16:30)
Mark Anton:
Good, so we have to find a way to prevent the German Kiev front from breaking together. I thought about letting Uhrlau survive his assassination (i.e. never let it happen at all). Just don't make him take a drive on that day.
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 16:54)
Henrich:
Ah, Uhrlau again. Seriously, the man would've been better, but he couldn't do miracles. If you want the Germans nip the Russian attack in the bud, why don't you have them simply informed about the Russian attack?
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 17:26)
Mark Anton:
Wouldn't work out. The German humint in Novorossiya never was that strong. But WI the Germans could bring troops from other fronts as reinforcements?
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 18:33)
Henrich:
They would never be so daring to denude one front. And besides, they moved some troops from the Minsk and Charkov fronts too, but to no avail.
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 19:08)
Max:
What I wanted to ask all the time: Why do you folks name yourselves after the big losers of history? [2] I never understood that.
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 22:48)
Mark Anton:
Max, Henrich is also the name of a German technocrat...
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 23:07)
Max:
So what? His Henrichlinie wasn't a great idea either.
(13. 9. 1992 CE, 23:13)
[1] Russian for "lightning"
[2] This is a reference to the defunct German AH forum, but probably no one but me will get it. Sorry Hendryk, it wasn't planned that way. One thing just happened after another - you know, Umberto Eco never had planned to make Jorge de Burgos the murderer either.
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Post by Max Sinister on Mar 5, 2024 23:43:22 GMT
New "religions" - part 1
Sophie Stein was a peculiar person...
The details of her worldview, known as Veritism, are only known to a small minority, but her speeches and writings are well known, and even ordinary people know her as the originator of the phrases "All the ill in the world comes from empty promises" (often shortened to "No empty promises!") and "No theory, no ideology, and no religion is greater than the Truth!" [1]. She was an admirer of Aristotle from the beginning, and helped greatly to make his teachings, especially about logic and the Golden Middle as an ethical principle, more popular.
Young Sophie Stein, aka Sofonisba Leoncavallo, aka Shayna Löwenpferd arrived as a young woman in Technocratic Germany, having fled from the Socialists. Here, she chose the name under which she became famous, and here, her talents for literacy and logic were appreciated - and in return, she would praise the system of technocracy and the men ruling it for their honesty. "Sophie Stein [2] is the stone that breaks the steel of Socialist propaganda!" as her most prominent patron, Culture/Propaganda Technocrat Georg Hartmann proudly used to say. And he didn't exaggerate too much - her radical pro-Technocrat, anti-Socialist articles in newspapers and the radio were of the kind that made Socialists foam at the mouth.
Of course, her opponents weren't all asleep and fought back. Many people only referred to her as "Sofonisba" (implying she had no problem living under, or even cooperating with the famiglia). Her Socialist opponents in Greater Judea used to mock her: "Löwenpferd [3], of course - she roars like a lion, and is as smart as a horse!" [4] Some people in later decades even tried to turn her words against her, screaming "No empty promises!", using her own slogan for protesting the ever-present commercials.
Ironically, she had more things in common with the Socialists than she would ever have admitted - the way she glorified the heavy industry, and railroads, cars and planes in her stories, how she believed in scientific and technical progress, her uncompromising fanaticism, and her general lack of humor.
In her later years, she even became an embarassment for the technocracy: While her old propaganda texts were still used in the ideological struggle against Socialism, she herself had almost become unbearable - her position on religion, esp. Christianity, had become more and more radical throughout the years, until the point where she considered Christianity as a fertile ground for Socialism. The professors at whose universities she had given speeches in the past now tried to forget their former contacts with her. Still, Veritism was tolerated and even encouraged by the German government as a philosophy - the only modern one.
Even after her death, she lived on - her works were Pflichtlektüre [5] among the neo-monetarist school emerging in the 80s, and many of them based their works on hers, and no one forgot to write a dedication to her in their books. And although Socialist would still condemn her for "defending the top percent", even comparably poor, but hopeful people would discover her works and discuss them in the Weltsystem [6].
[1] The "no religion" part usually was omitted in Germany.
[2] Stein = German for 'stone'
[3] Löwen-Pferd = German for 'lion(s) horse'
[4] In Yiddish, "fert" / "horse" is an insult for stupid persons.
[5] Set books, "must read"
[6] German name for TTL equivalent of the Internet; created after the end of WW2, merging the national computer networks.
Hans left his apartment and went down the staircase. In the plumbings, the water rushed. Behind the thin wall, he could hear the sounds of sex happening.
Some time later, he's sitting together with Fritz in the diner. At the telescreen, a propaganda spot is running: A Canadian factory worker hands a German soldier some fresh arms. The dialogue resounds: "Danke, Kamerad!" - "Keine Proublem, Jerry!" [1] A fanfare follows, and the words DEUTSCH-KANADISCHE FREUNDSCHAFT appear on the screen.
Now the spot is over, and the two guys continue their talk.
"So - what about this new job you got?"
"Nothing special. Construction of a new factory. It's at a Canadian place - called Hare Lake [2]. There's a whole new city there just doing mining sulphur."
"What? That can't be."
"'Course it's like that, why're you saying it's not?"
"My cousin was working in sulphur mining in Canada. At that place there's no sulphur."
"Hey, I get work, I won't have to go to war, so why complain? Now quit it."
"Yeah. You feel sorry 'cause you have to leave, Hans?"
"Nope. Not really. Why?"
"Didn't you tell me about that African chick you met at the canteen?"
"Oh yeah, Soninya. Yeah, she definitely had something. Skin like chocolate... 1000 braids..."
"How can you dare to date a blackie?" another man breaks into their conversation. "Would you marry her? Beget kids with her? Don't you think about your parents? Your people? Your fatherland?"
"Shut up, Röhm!" Hans shouts back. "None of your damn business!" He stands up and walks towards the other guy in a menacing way. Röhm decides to back off.
A bit later, Hans has cooled down.
"So, now what about her?"
"Didn't work out. She's one these health freaks."
"How's that?"
"She said she didn't like white bread."
[1] "No problem, Jerry!" in German with Anglophone's accent.
[2] OTL Cigar Lake, Saskatchewan.
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575
Captain
There is no Purgatory for warcriminals - they go directly to Hell!
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Post by 575 on Mar 6, 2024 8:27:29 GMT
New "religions" - part 1Sophie Stein was a peculiar person... The details of her worldview, known as Veritism, are only known to a small minority, but her speeches and writings are well known, and even ordinary people know her as the originator of the phrases "All the ill in the world comes from empty promises" (often shortened to "No empty promises!") and "No theory, no ideology, and no religion is greater than the Truth!" [1]. She was an admirer of Aristotle from the beginning, and helped greatly to make his teachings, especially about logic and the Golden Middle as an ethical principle, more popular. Young Sophie Stein, aka Sofonisba Leoncavallo, aka Shayna Löwenpferd arrived as a young woman in Technocratic Germany, having fled from the Socialists. Here, she chose the name under which she became famous, and here, her talents for literacy and logic were appreciated - and in return, she would praise the system of technocracy and the men ruling it for their honesty. "Sophie Stein [2] is the stone that breaks the steel of Socialist propaganda!" as her most prominent patron, Culture/Propaganda Technocrat Georg Hartmann proudly used to say. And he didn't exaggerate too much - her radical pro-Technocrat, anti-Socialist articles in newspapers and the radio were of the kind that made Socialists foam at the mouth. Of course, her opponents weren't all asleep and fought back. Many people only referred to her as "Sofonisba" (implying she had no problem living under, or even cooperating with the famiglia). Her Socialist opponents in Greater Judea used to mock her: "Löwenpferd [3], of course - she roars like a lion, and is as smart as a horse!" [4] Some people in later decades even tried to turn her words against her, screaming "No empty promises!", using her own slogan for protesting the ever-present commercials. Ironically, she had more things in common with the Socialists than she would ever have admitted - the way she glorified the heavy industry, and railroads, cars and planes in her stories, how she believed in scientific and technical progress, her uncompromising fanaticism, and her general lack of humor. In her later years, she even became an embarassment for the technocracy: While her old propaganda texts were still used in the ideological struggle against Socialism, she herself had almost become unbearable - her position on religion, esp. Christianity, had become more and more radical throughout the years, until the point where she considered Christianity as a fertile ground for Socialism. The professors at whose universities she had given speeches in the past now tried to forget their former contacts with her. Still, Veritism was tolerated and even encouraged by the German government as a philosophy - the only modern one. Even after her death, she lived on - her works were Pflichtlektüre [5] among the neo-monetarist school emerging in the 80s, and many of them based their works on hers, and no one forgot to write a dedication to her in their books. And although Socialist would still condemn her for "defending the top percent", even comparably poor, but hopeful people would discover her works and discuss them in the Weltsystem [6]. [1] The "no religion" part usually was omitted in Germany. [2] Stein = German for 'stone' [3] Löwen-Pferd = German for 'lion(s) horse' [4] In Yiddish, "fert" / "horse" is an insult for stupid persons. [5] Set books, "must read" [6] German name for TTL equivalent of the Internet; created after the end of WW2, merging the national computer networks.
Hans left his apartment and went down the staircase. In the plumbings, the water rushed. Behind the thin wall, he could hear the sounds of sex happening. Some time later, he's sitting together with Fritz in the diner. At the telescreen, a propaganda spot is running: A Canadian factory worker hands a German soldier some fresh arms. The dialogue resounds: "Danke, Kamerad!" - "Keine Proublem, Jerry!" [1] A fanfare follows, and the words DEUTSCH-KANADISCHE FREUNDSCHAFT appear on the screen. Now the spot is over, and the two guys continue their talk. "So - what about this new job you got?" "Nothing special. Construction of a new factory. It's at a Canadian place - called Hare Lake [2]. There's a whole new city there just doing mining sulphur." "What? That can't be." "'Course it's like that, why're you saying it's not?" "My cousin was working in sulphur mining in Canada. At that place there's no sulphur." "Hey, I get work, I won't have to go to war, so why complain? Now quit it." "Yeah. You feel sorry 'cause you have to leave, Hans?" "Nope. Not really. Why?" "Didn't you tell me about that African chick you met at the canteen?" "Oh yeah, Soninya. Yeah, she definitely had something. Skin like chocolate... 1000 braids..." "How can you dare to date a blackie?" another man breaks into their conversation. "Would you marry her? Beget kids with her? Don't you think about your parents? Your people? Your fatherland?" "Shut up, Röhm!" Hans shouts back. "None of your damn business!" He stands up and walks towards the other guy in a menacing way. Röhm decides to back off. A bit later, Hans has cooled down. "So, now what about her?" "Didn't work out. She's one these health freaks." "How's that?" " She said she didn't like white bread." [1] "No problem, Jerry!" in German with Anglophone's accent. [2] OTL Cigar Lake, Saskatchewan. Oh, come on..
Back to business - what's going on at Hare Lake; nuclear facility?
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