Since recently there have been.... um, let's just say disagreements between me and that board's moderation, I have decided to move some of my older works here just in case things were to escalate.
Original Date Posted : August 8th 2023
Original Date Finished : August 17th 2023
I will post one chapter a day (more or less, depending on the day) until all 24 have been moved.
A rough outline map of how far the Native Atlantians settled before the arrival of European Settlers
While most of Tochalia (OTL North America) and parts of Adorar (OTL South America, in this case they mean Guyana and Northern Brazil) have been mostly settled by native tribes by 8000 BC, it took their settlers a suprisingly long time to reach what we now know as Atlantis. While some Historians still debate the exact reason for this, it's been mostly agreed upon that the polonesian-esque slow island-by-island colonization style is to blame for this. The first signs of Human Habitation on the southern tip of the Continent date back to around 3000 BC, being mostly temporary villages creating for the sake of Fishing and Hunting in the summer before going back to the Island's ,,greener pastures" in the Winter.
This state of affairs remained so up until around 900 BC, when the first signs of permanent and semi-permanent settlements began to arise. This caused the rise of countless local statelets, too numerous to name here, however the Continent's relative Isolation in this already Isolated part of the Planet began to stunt its development as Agriculture and Infrastructure remained mostly behind the times. This all changed around 400 BC.
A leader of one of the Southernmost Statelets, a mythical man only known as ,,The SunBringer" took control over the Area and began a series of conquests, unifying most tribes under his rule. Notably however his ,,Empire" never developed a large navy (only small vessels to protect Trade) which meant the Island States (and other states which fled to their Island colonies) remained Independent and thus formed a distinct cultural identity. While the SunBringer's identity remains unknown (some speculate he was a composite character of several short-lived conqueror Kings) his deeds are undeniable - for the first time in History, theese regions had a somewhat-centralized Administration, a working Military and even a sort of primitive Road Patrol which hunted bandits and protected trade routes (they also doubled as a sort of Coast Guard in coastal regions). While this country would collapse shortly after the SunBringer's death, its legacy would live on as Children would be taught about the Great God-King who buildt roads and brought the region (even if only for a short time) into ,,Modernity". This would become especialy important in the Region's darkest times... but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
A true breakthrough would materialize in 1423, when a Portugeese trading ship would (by pure accident) crash on the shores of what we know as Central Atlantis (OTL Virginia or Delaware). Seeing this land filled with plenty of fertile soil and (as far as they were concerned) no people, the ,,Accidental Expedition" (led by one Horácio Caetano) soon brought news of this New World to King John of Portugal. Still remembering how he had rashly acted durring the Conquest of Ceuta (a wealthy trading outpost, which John realized too late was only worth anything becouse of its proximity to many other Arabic Trading Centers... which he did not conquer) but also wishing to uphold his benevolent image, he decided to listen to the Men and was ecstatic upon being told that this New Land had no people. He soon gave them a modest amount of coin and ordered them to create a New Fort on the Atlantian coastline, wishing for this colony to eventualy become a massive stockpile of Wood, Stone and whatever other commodities this land might have... which then could be sold to other European countries at a heafty profit. And with that, the colonists set out, and in the Summer of 1424, the Fort-Town of Rei João had been born.
Atlantis around 1430 AD
The Portugeese settlement rather quickly came into contact with the various Native statelets in the South, most notably the Realm of Freedom - a sort of Traders' Federation which was actualy descended from a Rump State of the SunBringer's Empire. The 2 sides were quick to trade, exchanging information, tech, resources, slaves... and leathal diseases. Yes, not even a decade into its existance, the Garrison of Rei João was devastated by an outbreak of a disease which is still unknown to this day. However, the natives had it much worse. Entire villages were wiped out, cultures reduced to ashes overnight, stories so horrifying they managed to scare even the toughest collonists. Ironicly however, this ended up benefiting the Realm - while their colonies (due to their nature as Trading outposts) were near completly wiped out, their main realm avoided the devastation of the plague thanks to very strict quarantine measures. High Chief Harkahome II even has the questionable distinction of being one of the first frequent users of Biological Warfare - deliberately sending infected Traders into the Territory of Tribes that had pervously picked a bone with his people. However, as thousands died in horrible pain, a New contender was about to Enter the stage.
The Spanish? No, they were still busy with Granada, and they faced a suprisingly crushing defeat durring the battle of Cordova, losing most of their army and King John II. By 1435, much of their realm was in upheval - not enough to cause it to implode, but far more than enough to prevent the Castillian Crown from investing in any potentialy costly endevours. No, the second collonial power to settle the Atlantian lands would be.... the Republic of Genua!
Yes, constantly looking for ways to one-up their rivals in Venice, and also going through a sort of banking golden age, Genua would seek to establish a New Trading Colony in order to compensate for their losses in recent wars. Eventualy, Genuan Representatives managed to reach an agreement with the young High Chief Tohopka, getting the abandoned (due to the plague) and seemingly worthless Freedomian Fort of Hopeland. Soon rechristened Barreitima, it became a major hub of Trade as Genoans imported vast amounts of goods from their Trading Empire. It seemed like a sort of balance was begining to emerge, with the Genoans responsible for Luxury Goods (such as Literature, Gunpowder weapons and medicine) and the Portugeese mostly offering everyday goods (like clothes, food or better farming tools). By 1450, Barreitima had become a local power in its own right, and the weakening of both Castille and Aragon meant that the storms which eventualy hit Genoa weren't quite as harsh as in OTL. However, this status quo would soon be interrupted by another rising power, but we'll talk more about that in the next Chapter.
With the discovery of this Brave New World, missionaries were begining to arrive (much to the chargin of some local religious authorities, but some were happy that theese strange White Men also brought better Farming Methods and ,,Education" with them) in increasingly large numbers. The newly-established collonial authorities in both Portugeese-owned and Genueese-controlled territories soon expanded, creating new towns / outposts all over the continent and begining an Age of Discovery, with brave sailors mapping the coastlines of Tochalia and Northern Adorar.
A New Era had begun, even if some at the time still failed to realize that.
Fun idea! If you're looking for ideas over how Atlantia's ecology would probably actually work compared to the "New Zealand 2!" of the book, I would be happy to offer them.
I do like that you have native people populate Atlantia--it never made sense that earlier native Americans wouldn't reach the island.
The mid XV-th century seemed to be poised to be the French Century - Aragon and Castille had been heavily weakened, and England began to kill itself durring a series of increasingly brutal civil wars. However, the King of the Franks decided against early investment into a potential Atlantian colony, instead focusing on rebuilding his realm and funding the Economy to help it recover. However, his actions (most notably kicking the Anglos across the channel) had an unitended side effect - the collapse of the English sphere of influence. While the bloodshed of the Wars of the Roses (or, as they would later come to be called, the wars of English Dissulusion ) had ruined the English Countryside and pulled all of their military assets into the fighting, the diffrent factions completly ignored their investments in... Ireland.
The Emerald Isle had been a tug-of-war between the Gaelic people and so-called Hiberno-Normans for centuries, however the recent English incursions into their land have left the 2 groups to set aside their differences and kick out the occupiers. Now, with Freedom ensured, the diffrent statelets re-established the office of High King and even a ceremonial Parlament. However, they too soon collapsed back into fighting - and while it was far less brutal than what was happening over across in Merrie England, it was still a very painful experience for many and convinced a small group of 100+ Irish Commoners to try and put their lives back together across the Pond, in Atlantis. Word had spread by then of this mysterious land, and thousands were more than willing to abandon their everyday lives to try and make a fortune in that Foreign World. One Eric Prendergast was chosen as their temporary leader, and the Irish soon arrived in what we would have called Nova Scotia . While Eric sadly died durring a hunting accident, his brother-in-law Calvin O'Larcan would replace him and create the foundations of a new community - both literaly and figuratively. This community (now commonly known as New Ireland) would see moderate prosperity, earning some money from Fishing and Hunting (not unlike the Native States of the South) and trading with both the Portugeese and the Old Country. It would, over the years, evolve into a system unlike any other at the time, with a Duke being elected to a lifetime term by a congress chosen by the avarage person (so sort of like a mix of OTL Venice and the PLC).
Meanwhile, things weren't so good for the Genoans over in Europe. With the French crown having now somewhat recovered from the hundred years war, it began to carve out its own little sphere of Influence - and in 1460 the French Army occupied Genoa and turned it into a duchy of the Kingdom of France. A failed revolt 2 years later only further solidified their rule. This, understandibly, threw the Genoan colonies into complete chaos, with some being taken over by the Portugeese and others falling to the Freedonians (who have by now abolished their Monarchy and turned into a full-blown Merchants' Republic, ruled by a council of the most powerful Traders and Landowners), which gave them the reinvigoration they long yearned for. They were now able to resume their campaigns of Expansion across the South, but it remained to be seen if they would be successful.
Meanwhile, across the Ocean, the French King had an idea. His son had seen with his own Eyes the riches the colonies held, and wanted for his Father to get a piece of the Pie before it was too late. However, the Old Monarch wasn't buying it - while he would not turn away a chance to get free land, this was a peculiar situation in a peculiar era - they couldn't lose too many men or else they would risk Revolts, but they also couldn't be too careful or else they would come back home with empty hands. However, as the King's council assembled, they pointed out a rather simple solution :
Colonize the Carribean. Very few people + a lot of good crops = massive opportunities for profits. The Iberian crowns were eating themselves alive to survive, England was melting away, Genoa was a part of the French Realm. The only way this could go south would be if the Freedonians intervened, but they wouldn't do that.... right?
We'll see in the next chapter.
Fun idea! If you're looking for ideas over how Atlantia's ecology would probably actually work compared to the "New Zealand 2!" of the book, I would be happy to offer them.
I do like that you have native people populate Atlantia--it never made sense that earlier native Americans wouldn't reach the island.
Some bloke posted very interesting posts regarding this hypothethical Atlantis' Ecology in the original thread, I'll try to see if they're still there. If so, I'll maybe pass them on here.
,,One thought - there's probably substantially more faunal diversity than Turtledove anticipated. It was, after all, part of a continental structure, not an isolated Island. It splits off 85 million years ago, mammals emerged 300 million years ago. So after the KT event, there's a relatively sophisticated suite of baseline mammals, and a stunning diversity of climactic/latitudinal niches to occupy. So you'd see a lot of speciation.
Likely you wouldn't get a lot of megafauna, but a large suite of local species, and rapid divergence. Likely catlike or weasel-like predators, a perhaps a large bear-like omnivore, and a diversity of herbivores in specialized niches. Probably no hoofed animals, but there might be some very large, cow sized' species that are either occupying very productive local niches, or seasonal migrators."
and
,,
I've enjoyed this immensely. Some thoughts.
Communication and Transportation - there's no major navigation/drainage systems in this Atlantis. If you look at patterns of settlement/civilization/trade and communication, we can see that the Mississippi Basin was a huge gateway into the continent, and the river basin system gave access to literally a third of North America - the heart of the continent. Just a little further north, the St. Laurence lead to the Great Lakes. This allowed for widespread indigenous trade networks literally one end of the continent to another, it allowed for European exploration far into the interior, and the formation of a massive but tenuous French empire OTL. British settlement was confined to rough country and short rivers which didn't interconnect, which left the colonies to develop as stand alone from each other, and left them without a hinterland, so you got dense settlement.
Atlantis undoubtedly has rivers, but they're all relatively small and relatively fast drainage basins emptying into the sea, there is or are no great internal 'river highway' systems for trade or war or economic development. Instead shipping and transit will be coastal, with ships moving up and down the coasts, trading with relatively smaller cities that control local hinterlands. Overland conquest will be tough. I would expect a lot of local indigenous cultures and communities, and real difficulties in forming and maintaining an indigenous empire - it will have to invest heavily in its infrastructure - roads and forts, portages over hills to connect river systems. During the European era, I'd expect a lot of regional isolation, and local independence movements - neither Irish nor Portugese Atlantis will be monolithic or homogenous, but they'll actually be aglomerations of smaller colonies politically forced or administered together, but fiercely independent, going their own way, and locally combative. You'd even see internal 'wars' within the Portugese and Irish spheres.
I'm curious about agriculture - assuming cultural contact from the south, Cassava will move north to the limits of the plant. Then indigenous agriculture may have some hiccups. We might see an emergence of an Atlantean Agricultural complex similar to the crops of the Eastern Agricultural Complex.
But looking it up, I see that the Eastern Agricultural Complex (sunflowers, goosefoot, squash, marsh elder) emerged inland, so it wouldn't be the same or similar development.
But if Cassava is being introduced in the south, then you don't necessarily need an independent invention of Agriculture. You have people who understand and work with the principles of agriculture moving into marginal areas with lots of new, potentially domesticable plants. The geography is complex, which leads to a lot of local biodiversity, and a multitude of plant species, probably you'd see some of them being suitable for agriculture and spreading rapidly.
You'd probably also see some animal domestication - there might be chicken/turkey/guineau pig candidates. The Cuban Taino had domesticated an animal called the hutia as a food animal.
It's location would suggest that Atlantis would be ready for exposure to both North American (maize, sunflowers, potatoes, squash) and European (wheat, barley, root crops, sheep, cattle, horses). Likely there'd be a massive adoption of American/European plants and animals, and some displacement of local domesticated plants and animals. But you might see some backwash - transmission or adoption of indigenous Atlantean crops in Europe or America.
Oh, and invasive species every which way. Typically geographically smaller biomes tend to be ecologically devastated by contact with larger ecologies. But Atlantis, with its strong diversity of latitudinal ecological zones likely has some pretty diverse and tough local species. The Atlantean Rat might well prove a tough customer. Still, expect a wild free for all, of invasive European plant and animal species, some invasive American, Central-American and South American plant and animal species, and maybe some counter-invasions by the Atlantean forms. Watch out for insects particularly.
Anyway, love the timeline. It's why I hang out in this place in the first place."
The Lands of Atlantis around 1480 AD
The End of the century would signal a definitive reshuffling of the cards in Atlantis. The French landing in Ayiti would be counteracted by the Freedonians gobbling up smaller border states and begining their expansion into Choobey (OTL Cuba). However, the rest of the century would be mostly spent on building infrastructure and trade routes, not on fighting, as the diffrent Empires and statelets mostly laid down their arms (War means potential disruptions in Trade). The French colony in Ayiti, soon renamed Joan in honor of the Famous French Hero, would somewhat prosper and bring profits to the Crown. However, while everyone in Atlantis is mostly getting along, this is NOT the case in Europe.
In Iberia, the decades long Iberian Wars had come to an end, and resulted in the complete collapse of the the so-called ,,Dual Kingdoms". Aragon would lose their Sicilian holdings to Naples and Sardinia to the Corsican Republic (the self proclaimed successor to the Genuans which the French have left alone... for now) while the Balearic Islands would be massacred and looted by the Barbary Pirates. Their Western neighbor didn't fare much better, losing some of their southern lands to a Muslim reverse-reconquiesta and their northernmost lands to ambitious local dukes who now ruled as Independent Leaders. Galicia would fall under Portugeese influence.
Meanwhile in the Old English isles, things were still far from calming down. While Ireland, Wales and Cornwall have mostly secured their independence by now, the dozens (!) of diffrent local dukes and their associated factions continued to wage the war to become Kings of the ashes, constantly changing sides in a very confusing manner. While this made reliable recordkeeping very difficult, we are certain that by 1488 the South was still in flames while the north had mostly become dominated by Scottish-aligned ,,Monarchs" who actually focused more on fighting off southern invasions than one another, creating the basis of a very distinct ,,Midlander" identity. But that's a story for the future. For now, all you need to know is that France's main rivals are either gone or working hard to wipe themselves off the map, so it's able to mostly prosper. Mostly.
For now, let's tackle the issue of the the ,,mainland" of the New World - Tochalia and Adorar. Theese lands were home to various local states, with Tochalia being dominated by the Maya Civilization based in its Centre, and Andorar being mostly dominated by the Inca - a loose ,,federation" of Tribal duchies and petty Kingdoms which was actually pretty strong when (or rather if) the diffrent local authorities got together and fought as one. The rest was mostly dominated by isolated tribes and a handful of city-states focusing on trade. The First Trading outposts were created by the Portugeese (out of their colonies near the Gulf of Guinea) years prior, but they mostly specified in Trading exotic wood and weren't quite as profitable as their Atlantian brothers. However, the French had ideas for the region - ideas that would split the royal court in 2. The Big faction wanted to directly absorb the Mayans (and sometimes the Inca too) and use this new manpower to expand further, creating a massive Empire in the New World. However, they were countered by the Small faction, which was more supportive of a system where French Trading outposts monopolized certain areas of trade and thus could manipulate local markets to indirectly influence local affair in their favor, being sort-of puppetmasters. The King eventualy settled on a compromise, promising to Conquer the area but only AFTER reconnaissance had been done through the Trading outposts. This Long term plan was estimated to last decades at least, but both factions were mostly satisfied and the Kingdom returned to its usual affairs, expanding Farming, inveting in research and building a long-term administration in Joan.
As the world Entered a New Century, many speculated what it would look like. A few got it right, most got it wrong.
The fragile peace would soon shatter in the matter of months.
Following the Tropikan Sea's (OTL Caribbean Sea)'s division between Freedonia and France, quite a few predicted this state of affairs wouldn't last long. Indeed, the elites in Sun City (Freedonia's capital, OTL Miami) were quite upset - they were OK with the Portugeese and Genoan trading and colonizing some far off northern lands, but were terrified at the concept of this Imperial Power setting up shop right at their doorstep. Their counterparts in Paris weren't too happy either, thinking that allowing a local rival to hold so much of Choobey was both an insult to French power and a potential threat (being equaly motivated by a superiority complex and an actual fear of losing Joan should hostile leaders come to power in Freedonia). However, a far bigger match would soon be lit (or rather, relit) in the North. The Flame of the Sun, in fact.
In February 1511, the leader of one of the Southern Tribes called a meeting with his compatriots, in order to discuss a potential defense treaty against Freedonian Expansion. It soon devovled into a series of anti Freedonian, anti Colonialist and Isolationist tyrades, By the end of the three-month long meeting, the newly established ,,Council of the Atlantians" proclaimed the creation of the ,,Second Empire" (SunBringer's state being known simply as the ,,Empire" as there was no other power to really rival it in that part of the globe at the time) with one of the more powerful Tribal Leaders, one Lusio of Mountain Land, was crowned as the ,,Second Sun Bringer". A provisional Military and other similar institutions were soon organized as dozens of villages, towns and tribes voted to join this new state. In a series of speeches, Lusio decried Freedonia's abadonment of ,,Traditional Institutions" and proclaimed that ,,they have lost their mandate of the Gods" and had become lackeys of foreign powers. However, at the same time, he began to pucharise large amounts of medicine and weapons from the Portugeese. The local government in Rei João gladly obliged - money is money, after all. It soon became clear to everyone on the continent that war was coming.
In spite of their isolationist message, the Empire soon signed an alliance with the French, one targeted specificly against the Freedonians. As the French fleet moved into the Area and their inspectors began to train Imperial troops, it became clear as day that the conflict would arrive in the matter of months. It came sooner than many expected, and came from an unusual place.
The small border town of Miwon had a famous pub, one which was known far and wide across the Continent. It was also the meeting place of local border guards, where they would talk, joke and(of course) drink. As relations between the states deteriorated, so did the nature of the meetings between the guards, and on September 4, 1512, a large brawl would begin. We aren't exactly sure what happened, but from victim testimonies we can piece together a somewhat cohesive narrative - Freedonian Guards, drunk out of their mind, refused to pay the bantender, threw insults at him and attempted to attack him. However, Imperial Guards (also present there and somewhat sober) managed to fight them off and send the remaining ones running back to the border outpost. There, they told their commander some sob story basicly going ,,they attacked us for no reason sir!!1". Their commander, a pretty hot headed trigger happy fellow, decided to send out a ,,punitive expedition" to ,,request payment" for his ,,unjustly assulted men". He was very suprised when his band was ambushed by enraged locals who tore them limb from limb before laying siege to the outpost. Around this time news about this reached the Imperial Capital of Plentyful (around OTL Albany, Georgia), with the Sun Bringer (just to avoid confusion - it's a TITLE worn by leaders of the Second Empire, and it shouldn't be confused with the actual Sun Bringer who died nearly 2000 years prior) using this as an excuse to launch a full on Invasion into Freedonia. A few weeks later his French allies followed suit.
So how did the War go for the Freedonians? 2 Words - complete failure. The Oligarchical Cabal ruling the state was mostly interested in collecting wealth and not, you know, feeding the populace or integraring conquered territories, which meant that they essentialy had to fight a several-front war against the Imperials, the French Navy, French Forces in Choobey and local partizans (in what we know as the Florida Panhandle). Constant coups and counter coups by diffrent factions did NOT help the situation, and by March 1513 Sun City had been sacked by Imperial forces, with the ruling family of Freedonia captured. Now left leaderless and with their armed forces disintegrating, the remaining Freedonian authorities decided to seek peace with the Alliance. And thus, on April 2 1513, the Treaty of Joan City was signed. How harsh was it?
Well, some Imperial political figures wanted to fully annex Freedonia (at least the Mainland) and reunify the SunBringer's Empire. However, many others were against this idea (either becouse the French would be pissed off that they replaced one rival with an even stronger one) for many reasons (... or becouse they knew that attempting to integrate this amount of land with their own barely functioning Administration would complelty ruin their state in its infancy). And thus, they ,,only" annexed its Northern Lands and forced a ,,temporary" Government made up of collaborators onto the Freedonians. They also formaly re-established it as the ,,Realm of Freedom", a very ironic name considering the circumstances. The position of High Cheif remained vacant for now, but Imperials promised it would be filled as soon as possible. France meanwhile took all of Freedonia's colonies and once again turned to Mayan matters.
However, a new minor player soon entered the ring.
The Republik of New England was, in some ways, a bastardization of New Ireland. Created by refugees fleeing from the English Wars (which still refused to die down) the state was established in the mostly uninhabited Northern part of the continent, near the ruins of the old Genoan settlements. However, starvation, disease and wild animals soon put a dent in the numbers of the colonists, and their political system was dysfunctional (their elected a ,,Commanding Sheriff" who had to be re-elected every Year, so he spent a lot of useful time just campaigning and not ruling) and the area lacked useful resources (and the ones it had had to be sold raw as the colonists lacked the means to refine them). Their numbers soon shrank to less than 100 (between 80 and 50, we aren't sure) and many were contemplating just going back to England. We'll see how their story develops later.
Oh, and before you ask, the Portugeese and Irish are doing just fine. Portugeese Merchants are earning a lot of cash, New Ireland and Old Ireland (which came out of its wars as a Decentralized Monarchy) have signed many beneficial trade treaties and generaly are good lads to one another, and England's still melting away (although the sheer manpower shortages and frequent famines are making large Military campaigns harder and harder, not helped by rampant banditry and lack of a cohesive administration).
The ,,First Frontier of the New World" was slowly entering the last phase of Colonization.
Since it's been over a century since the establishment of Rei João, let's go over what the next few decades have in store for each of the States we have come to know so far - one by one.
The French Century extended into the next century, it seems. Profits from Joan and the newly acquired colonies in Tropiko and the Mayan Ports brought even more profits to the French Kingdom, filling the royal coffers to the brim. The French used some of that money to wage wars of conquest into Northern Italy and the HRE, expanding their territory, overthrowing and establishing dukes and so on and so forth. However, the Lion's share of that went to the development of the French Countryside - New Noble manors sprang up left, right and centre ; Roads connected nearly every major town ; tax breaks were thrown around as if they were but candy. Life was Good for the French, and eventualy some of that money made its way back to Tropiko - the Garrison recived a through-and-through modernization, the local Churches and Peasant groups were given some breathing room, the first True European-style Cities began to arise. While there were some issues (Religious Rivalries in the Mainland, as well as conflicts between colonists and natives in Choobey) they mostly remained under control as everyone was bathing in money. For now.
Meanwhile, the newly reborn Realm of Freedom was in a very tough spot. Being pretty much a vassal to the Second Empire, it struggle to keep its people fed and safe from the massive crews of bandits (mostly former Soldiers who were left without payment for a long time). The debate over who to crown as the first High Chief in nearly 100 Years. This soon devolved into petty bickering, with the various Powerful merchant / landowning families waging war against one another in order to expand their influence. If not for the continued occupation by Imperial Forces Freedonia would have collapsed long ago, and their overlords demanded a return on their Investment. Eventualy the position was ceremonialy handed to Sun Bringer Lusio II, the brother of the recently deceased Lusio the Great. This calmed things down a little... but not for long, as soon public outrage at this decision caused a popular uprising to break out in the countryside. It was mostly crushed by the Imperial Garrison, but it remained as another open wound on the body. The economy remained in shambles, banditry was only marginaly limited and corruption was everywhere. It seemed like the rising flower of Freedonia was strangled in its crib. It remains to be seen if they'll get back from the brink or if they shall become just another footnote in Atlantis's long History.
The other tribes didn't really do anything interesting, except for one Allahkoliken of Sunflower who became famous after directing an expedition into the then-unknown Central Plains of Tochalia. Eventualy after returning he was handed the position of Chief and lived a long, happy life.
The Second Empire, except for bullying around Freedonia and annexing some small neighbors, mostly focused on expanding their infrastructure and modernizing their Military. They embraced a semui-isolationist foreign Policy, mostly focusing on Atlantian Affairs while remaining on mostly cordial relations with the French.
Portugeese Atlantis was going through a golden age at the time. Thanks to the aid of King John III they essentialy became a sort testing ground for the King's planned reforms. The Area's population had grown to nearly 700,000 permanent residents (nearly as much as Portugal proper at somewhere around 1.1 Milion people) and began to aid the Mother Country in its ,,Trade" Missions into India, Africa and Ecrunia (OTL Coastal Brazil). The Newly-formed Autonomous Government of Atlantis soon grew from just a collection of Coastal Trading Towns into a proper country, with future generations admiring the Roads, Churches and Towns buildt durring this time. The office of Governor was also established, helping centralization. In a sign of gratitude (of sorts), the King granted Bernardino Caetano (a descendant of the leader of the orginal Colonists) Noble Status and made him the first Governor for life. While this could have very well gone south, Bernardino turned out to be a very benevolent man, approving a lot of Public works projects. For now, let us rejoice, becouse Portugeese Atlantis is Grand! No, not just Portugeese Atlantis... the Dominion of Maxima!
New Ireland is also doing pretty well. A series of competent Dukes established new settlements, including one pretty close to New England to keep an eye on those bloody Britons. However, this all would take an unexpected turn when a New Duke was chosen in 1539. Said Duke was (in modern terms) a Hoarder, and he adored a lot of the belongings his ancestors and predecesors brought from the Old World (anything from Armor to paintings to even mundane objects like Chairs). Upon discovering the dysfunctional Republik of New England sat on a metaphorical (or, in terms of monetary vaule, quite literal) gold-mine of old Genoan ,,relics", he soon expanded Fort Colin and gave the local settlers the best Weapons money could buy at the time. Not long after, the small but experienced and well-equiped Irish Army would descend upon the already collapsing Republik, ,,offering" a deal the locals wouldn't refuse - give us some Power and we'll give you food so that you don't starve (and if you refuse we'll take our cannons and we will bomb your little atrocity off the Map). Faced with the posibility of total collapse, Commanding Sheriff Harper (running for his third term) agreed, now sharing power with the Irish ,,Representative" Paul MacGeraghty. While Irish aid began to flow in as Genoan goods flew out, Paul soon disarmed the local militia and overthrew Harper's regime, proclaiming a new Government with himself in charge. However, in a somewhat confusing (or not confusing at all, depending on how you look at it) twist of fate he soon surrendered to the Duke. In exchange for all remaining Genoan Goods the leader of the New Irish people allowed for MacGeraghty to remain in power as ,,Governor-general" of ,,The State of Ronania", a brand new colony-state of New Ireland. While most of the English were glad to have a working Government for once, some were fed up and either left into the wilderness (where they died) or returned to England (where they probably also died).
Just for the sake of now having to repeat this in the future - by 1550 the English Wars have mostly died down, but the fragmented states (not counting Wales, Cornwall, Ireland or Scottland) numbered less than 300,000 People combined and remained stuck in the eternal cycle of border wars, plague and famine.
And thus, we approach the Next stage of Atlantian History. As the Maya and Inca prepare for the French onslaught, and the Iberians begin to slowly recover from their century-long blunders, who's to say what Tomorrow shall bring?
,,One thought - there's probably substantially more faunal diversity than Turtledove anticipated. It was, after all, part of a continental structure, not an isolated Island. It splits off 85 million years ago, mammals emerged 300 million years ago. So after the KT event, there's a relatively sophisticated suite of baseline mammals, and a stunning diversity of climactic/latitudinal niches to occupy. So you'd see a lot of speciation.
Likely you wouldn't get a lot of megafauna, but a large suite of local species, and rapid divergence. Likely catlike or weasel-like predators, a perhaps a large bear-like omnivore, and a diversity of herbivores in specialized niches. Probably no hoofed animals, but there might be some very large, cow sized' species that are either occupying very productive local niches, or seasonal migrators."
Hmm, I can definitely add and correct a few things on that, although the person was right in that there would be substantially more faunal diversity. First, and technically this is just a minor correction, but mammals evolved 225 million years ago--the ancestors of mammals (which weren't mammals) had diverged from saurian amniotes 300 million years ago. But the main point still stands--there would be mammals on Atlantia.
Second, there's a bit more complexity about why New Zealand generally had a unique but non-diverse amount of bird fauna; the sub-continent of Zealandia had gotten stretched out to the point of sinking below the waves. You probably know that in modern times, 90% of Zealandia is underwater and that Aotearoa represents 10% of the subcontinent. But what usually doesn't get mentioned is that 30 million years ago, almost 100% of the continent was underwater, which seems to have wiped out most (if not all) the native mammals. The continent has only started to pull itself out of the water 15 million years ago, leaving a significant terrestrial ecological vacuum. That's why the ecosystems were so fragile on Aotearoa in modern times--the ecosystem was still building itself up when people arrived. It's also why the largest predator was an eagle that grew really big really fast instead of--say a terrestrial bird that would probably be more effective at hunting.
Still, that commentor is generally right that Atlantia would preserve a substantially more diverse and resilient ecosystem, mainly because the continent wouldn't have sunk under the sea. It's probably reasonable to assume that non-avian dinosaurs go extinct after the K-PG Mass Extinction. Based on that, it would probably have multituberculates, metatherans (ie marsupials), birds, and crocodilians. In terms of placental mammals, I think there's a good chance that they wouldn't be present on Atlantia for a while: while it's not quite known when placental mammals originated, but even if we take the earliest point of origin, there's just not that much time for a placental mammal to make it to Atlantia before it rifts apart from the rest of the continent. Now eventually, some placental mammals will probably make it to Atlantia via rafting, those mainly being rodents, primates, and xenarthans (ie sloths). The rodents may primarily be cavies, if they could make it to the island. Multituberculates would probably decline to extinction--but it could be fun to have a relic species survive in Atlantea.
So here is my idea of how this would look at the time of human arrival. There could be some hold-overs of terrestrial crocs in southern Atlantea, which used to be more prevalent when the continent was warmer. Metatherans, like Thylacosmilus (although obviously not that because it's a South America species), would probably dominant most larger land niches, while rodents would still end up taking up most small niches. I would bet that there would be several large terrestrial birds on the continent, but I don't think they would be ratites (ie ostriches) since those seem to have evolved on Gondwana. Primates would probably be some early offshoot of New World monkeys, but they might have arrived on the continent so far back that they would technically be considered their own group. It could be interesting if primates on Atlantea eventually evolved into racoon-like analogs in colder climates, although more regular monkeys would probably be present in the far south (or they may just go extinct as the climate cools, idk).
And I do agree with the commentator that animal life would probably not get too much larger than a cow (but maybe a rhino-size is possible) and there would not be any ungulates. Although slothes may get quite large, since ground slothes were found on the Antilles. But I would guess that the largest species would go extinct some time after humans arrive.
By 1560, the balance of power seemed fairly firm - the French dominated the South (and had a near monopoly for expanding further into the New World), Atlantis was split between The Second Empire, Portugeese Maxima and New Ireland, with some smaller powers in-between. However, soon new events would challange the Status Quo, for the better or for worse.
The first of theese events was the Crisis of 1560 - France's massive stockpiles of tropical luxury goods came back to haunt them as their rapidly increasing circulation on the market caused Prices to plummet. The main reasion France's economy survived this was thanks to their prior investment in their Colonies (which alliviated the collapse somwahat) and the Countryside (which prevented an open Revolt). However, for now, they'll be unable to further expand into either Atlantis or Tochalia, giving the Mayans some crucial breathing room and preventing their total collapse at the hands of the French. Speaking of,
this was around the time that Piracy in the SunBringer Sea (The Sea between Tochalia and Atlantis, also known as the ,,Sea of John" by the Portugeese and the ,,Sea of Prosperity" by most other Europeans) increased to unbearable amounts. It was already pretty bad in the last few decades, considering that Freedonia had a large Merchant Marine which was left adrift after their Defeat in the War. However, the initial defeats of the Maya caused most of their Navy to scrable and flee Northward, eventualy becoming Pirates due to desperation. This made the Pirates' Numbers skyrocket, and when you combine this with the Fact that small ,,family" Pirate bands were slowly being gobbled up by Massive Bandit conglomerates (giving them organization and information, ie. the Edge they need to become a real pain for Traders) you have the recipie for disaster.
The Pirate Wars, waged from roughly 1550 (at the earliest) for the next three or so decades, were seemingly far less devastating than expected. In fact, Maxima and New Ireland had large navies specificly to defend their trading interests, and now they simply had to put them to good use. The French Navy (bolstered by the small but efficient allied navy of the Empire) also did its fair share of Pirate Hunting, and the League (an Alliance of the remaining Native Tribes which wanted to avoid being annexed by either the Second Empire or the Portugeese) dispatched experienced navigator crews to find new, un-infested trading routes. Even the Ronani (now dominated by a New Generation which wanted to ,,prove themselves" to their Irish Overlords) dispatched some ships, and while their efficiency was debatable you can't deny that they tried their best.
However, one Nation was completly unable to do anything - The Realm of Freedom.
Still stuck in a constant recession and harrased by Bandit gangs, the country neared the brink of collapse when its Ancient Trade routes suddenly dried up (sometimes literaly, as they were also hit by a drought which killed River Trade). This was NOT helped by the fact that the new SunBringer, Lusio III (later nicknamed ,,The Wise") pulled his troops out of the country (which he considered a drain on his limited Resources, and truth be told he wasn't wrong) and even refused to be crowned the High Chief to sever the ties with the Realm. This pushed the Ancient Nation to the brink of collapse as the Collaborators mostly moved out and their replacements were more concerned with bickering over petty issues than solving the country's real problems. This is where Alessandro Mcguire comes in.
This former English Nobleman fled the country after his fortunes turned against him, and used his large fortune to pucharise a large estate in The Realm. He eventualy grew attached to the Land and its people, sympathizing with their plight and deciding that he must reverse their streak of bad luck. He soon founded a popular movement known as the ,,Party of (Grey)Hats", known as that due to most of their supporters wearing Gray hats to distinguish themselves from the avarage person durring meetings in Bars and such. He gained a massive amount of followers in a short time - some estimates say that up to a fourth (!) of all Freedonians were a part of the Party at its high point. This evetualy gave Alessandro the idea to march on Sun City in order to take power. And take power he did - unbeknownst to both him and his foes, most of the Native Troops in the city were actually Grayhatters and they helped the Marching Men take over major government offices. Soon, Alessandro Mcguire proclaimed himself chancellor of the (re)born Second Republic of Freedonia.
Undestandibly, the Imperials soon went down demanding to know what the hell Mcguire thought he was doing. However, he was a very charismatic and knowlagable man, who eventualy convinced (or bribed, we aren't sure) the Delegates that a strong Freedonia would focus its strenght on fighting Pirates (who were a threat to its lifeblood) or the French (whoose relations with the Empire had begun to slowly deteriorate after the begining of the Pirate Wars), and thus wouldn't be a foe to the Empire - in fact, it could potentialy even be useful.. and definitly more useful than the bandit-infested money drain that proceded it. Eventualy, the Delegates agreed, and the Sun Bringer told his troops to stand down and refocused his efforts on the Wars against the Pirates. With this, Freedonia was safe again... for now.
Chapter 8 (?) - A light cannot go out, it can only dim
Finaly, Atlantis was calming down. The Pirate Gangs had been routed , Freedonia was hunting down its last bandits, France had stabilized its Economy. And with all of that, New Roads were being paved, new towns were being established, new lands were being settled. Surely, at least for a short while, Atlantis would be at peace?
Unfortunatly, no. Bloodshed would continue, and it would come from the most unusual of places - The State of Ronania, formerly New England.
To understand why such a land would even contemplate revolt, we need to understand something crucial to New Englander Society - the Three Generations. The First Generation were people who were either the original settlers or born durring the Republik of New England's existance. Theese people associated Independence with pain, chaos and starvation - and since most who resisted died quickly, this became the overwhelming opinion among most New-Englanders. The Second Generation were men born durring the initial decades of the existance of the State of Ronania. Theese people associated collaboration with benefits like food security and safety, but quite a few also belived in a Political theory known as Ronanism - that is, belief that the Irish saved New Englanders from starvation and chaos and that the people must pay back their debt by helping New Ireland. It's Ronanist beliefs that inspired the creation of the Ronani Fleet which selflessly helped the New Irish fight off the Pirate Hordes, and Ronanists dominated the local Political sphere for nearly the entire existance of the State of Ronania. That is, until 1589.
Becouse that's when the Third Generation comes in.
Consisting of people born durring the last years of the State of Ronania, members of the Third-Gen. were influenced by the success of the Freedonian Revolution and convinced that you didn't need all the things that Alessandro Mcguire had (Money, oratory skills, popular support and sheer dumb luck) to stage a succesful uprising - all you need is the Rebel Spirit!
Despite how that sounds, Third-Gen supporters actually managed to convince much of Ronania (and the Anglos who lived in New Ireland - He will not divide us transpires universes, indeed) to join them in ,,The Good Fight". The 1589 Sheriff snap-election brought forth an Englishman named Tommy Burns, who soon arrested the Governor General and proclaimed the ,,Strong and Free Second Republik of New England". Talk about a tounge twister.
The Irish were, obviously, unamused by their Colony and several border towns breaking away, however their Duke was a known pacifist and decided to instead try to talk it out with the Rebels. He made many offers - some of them even good - but all were turned down by the hot headed Rebels. Eventualy the Duke's request to send another delegation was turned down by the Congress which, in a very narrow vote, decided to send Troops down to end this ,,Revolutionary War".
It was over before it really even began.
Despite the harsh reality, the Rebels seemed exthathic and itching for a fight, soon organizing a ,,Provisional Militia" to fight the Irish. This fevour soon died down after the Rebels were defeated at the battle of Mountmend, losing most of their Army. Then they lost at Addersfield. And then at Garen's Well. By the time the Irish reached the newly-rechristened Capital Town of Edwardsville, the Rebel situation was dire and the Commanding Sheriff agreed to an unconditional surrender. The Colony was absorbed into New Ireland, this time without any special privilages. Most English settlers either Fled back to Europe (where they formed small enclaves in France and Portugal) or down south to Freedonia (where they became valued military experts), with the few remaining soon being outpopulated by the incoming Irishmen.
The Revolutionary dream was dead, as was the English Hope for rebirthing their Homeland across the Pond, but the legacy of the Revolutionary War would live on for centuries to come, used both in favor AND against Revolutionaries.
BTW I'll try to fix it but the next few posts have chapter names moved by one, as I accidentaly labeled both this chapter and the next one as chapter 8
I really like this idea tbh. I found the parallelism of the OG a bit too much. I think that an underrated element of this timeline is that Atlantis is discovered pretty early like 1450's so that changes a lot of the colonization patterns imo
The Already unstable Status Quo finaly collaped in the 1620's. How could such a thing even occur? Well, let's go over the causes of this :
1. The Northern Clashes. Constant border conflicts between the League and the Second Empire essentialy turned Central Atlantis into a constant warzone filled with abandoned, overgrown villages and corpses in every county. This was, understandibly, a large issue to Imperial Authorities, but even more so to the League, which saw border stabilization as a matter of life and death.
2. The memory of the First Freedonian War. Freedonians wanted revenge for the decades under foreign occupation, while Imperials thought that their ancestors didn't fix the issue fully by destroying Freedonia, and that they now had to ,,finish the Job" to prevent the ,,Southern menace" from ever threatening them again.
Soon, all 3 powers were gearing up for War, and an eventual outbreak of hostilities became only a matter of time. And it would arrive sooner than expected, in an... oddly familiar place.
Do y'all still remember Miwon? You know, that somewhat famous Town that caused the outbreak of the First Freedonian War? Well, in the last Century it had grown massivly, becoming known not just for its Pub (or should I say Pubs by this point) but also for the Amazing Local University (The Second on the continent, only after the one in Rei João) and large fruit gardens. Most of this prosperity came from the cheap labor of Freedonian Refugees, who were brought here to do hard manual labor for Local Landowners. Freedonians, who by that point didn't really have a country to go back to, complied and soon the Town had a large underbelly of underprivilaged, constantly malnurished and increasingly angry people (slaves in all but name). However, by 1622, the afformentioned underbelly soon became a hotbed of Greyhatter inspired unrest, which resulted in quite a few bloody riots. However, theese would prove to be nothing compared to what's to come.
On September 4, 1622, on the 110th Anniversary of the outbreak of the FFW (First Freedonian War), a large mob consisting mostly of underpaid Freedonian workers attacked a local Patriotic demonstration, sending the Imperials into a rout. Local Law Enforcement attempted to quell the protest however they were swiftly defeated and the Freedonian march escalated into an uprising. This was carefully calculated by the Newly elected Chancellor of Freedonia, Thomas Mcguire Jr. From a young age Tom ( Grandson of the Refounding Father of the Republic) wanted to do something that would match the Greatness of his predecessor and bring Glory to Freedonia, and finaly he had it. Thanks to a secret Alliance with the League, he had the Imperials in a 3-way conflict, with 2 Fronts and a domestic insurgency brewing. He truly belived that his newly-reformed Army would crush the Empire and bring the Republic into a new Golden Age.
It was not to be.
While the French had by that point mostly nullified their alliance with the Empire, they still didn't want a uber-expansionist modern Freedonia on their doorstep. So, using ,,unjustified Freedonian Agression" as a causus beli King Henry II [1] ordered his Navy to blockade Freedonian ports and launch a suprise landing on the shores of Sun City.
Now, Freedonia was in a far better spot than before. The roles were seemingly reversed - the Modern, well-armed and wealthy Freedonia was up against the Second Empire - a nepotic, increasingly dyscuntional Isolationist relic-of-a-state which should have logicly went the way of the dodo decades ago. However, that's only one side. True, the Empire was riddled with Nepotism and notoriously corrupt, but they still had a working military structure and were usualy able to overwhelm their foes with sheer numbers. Also, Freedonia's ally in the North wasn't quite as strong as the Government in Sun City would have hoped - since it was birthed from a band of Warlords deciding they should rather hang together than be hung separately, this wasn't all that suprising. Not to mention the sheer devastation of the Border Wars essentialy rendered their Army and Administration completly useless and only present on a very bare-bones decentralized level. While that might have worked for minor skirmishes (every lord only had to look out for his border, so his 20 Troops were usualy better armed than their Imperial counterparts 5 miles down the road) it was a horrible strategy for a large-scale offensive War that more often than not left the League's lines stretched thin and outmatched against their numericly superior enemy.
All of that combined soon turned the tide against the Freedonians.
That's not to say they went quietly - far from it, actually. The Freedonian Army fought tooth-and-nail, with the French having to pay for every inch of Freedonian soil with blood. However, eventualy the joint onslaught left the Republic on the brink, and the decisive battle of Illorgaamiut proved to be the straw that broke the cammel's back, being the end of any organized Military Activity against the French-Imperial forces. However, that's not to say Freedonia went away. More on that later.
The Peace treaty that ended the War was seemingly Great for the Imperials. They got the Entire Alliance (or most of it, depending on how you read the wording of the treaty) and some borderlands from Freedonia. However, in reality, it only left the Vestigal Empire even more overextended and insurgency-riddled than before. When the French eventualy threw out the few remaining Pro-Freedonian partizans from their new Colony, most of them went North, filling the ranks of the countless Insurgent Organizations, Partizan groups and Bandit Gangs roaming the Empire's countryside. Several shadow governments emerged, the most notable being the Continental Brigades (remaining Alliance Leaders who banded together to resist the occupation) and the True Freedonia Front (a mix of several partian groups which swore that they would not rest until they put an end to Tyrany in Atlantis), with both groups being sometimes more efficient forces for bandit eradication than actual Imperial Authorities.
Meanwhile, the French mostly just pacified their new Freedonian Mainland Holdings (which they named Terre du roi Henri after their leader at the time) and began cautious but decisive investments in the southernmost tip of the peninsula, creating Forts and infrastructure (to connect theese forts with one another). They also began a somewhat efficient Francization program, which would eventualy result in a curious situation - within a Generation, Freedonian Culture would be more prevelant in the Second Empire than in the cradle of the Country, Freedonia proper. But let's not get ahead of the facts.
For now, France mostly re-focused on their European Wars, eventualy resulting in their great victories against Austria in 1630 which allowed for the establishment of a new ,,Kingdom of Italy" (being in a personal Union with France and only consisting of the OTL provinces of Lombardy and Piedmont ). The Maya had earned some extra breathing room - how they would use it was up in the air.
As the middle of the century came and went, New Ideas and technologies began to emerge. How did they Impact Atlantian History? We'll see in the next update, stay tuned!
[1] by now pretty much all Europeans have been butterfiled away due to Immigration (combined with Iberia and England shiiting the bed) so don't expect for any of theese names to belong to their OTL namesakes. Asia might be a bit better off tho... for now.
After standing for an impressive 150 Years, the house of cards known as the Second Empire began to crumble in the early 1660's. After the death of the beloved SunBringer Lusio IV the Council of the Atlantians was stuck between 2 possible replacements - either Lusio the fourth's son, Lusio V (who was only 6 years old at the time) or a rising star - a popular nobleman known as Lanu of Sunflower. A very distant relative of Allahkoliken, Lanu became widely known as a ,,man of the People" who used his wealth to improve local infrastructure, with Pro-Lanu Militias (known as ,,yellow-jackets" becouse they... well, wore yellow jackets) becoming known far and wide as being very effective at fighting seccesionists (or negotiating with them) and Bandits (or helping former Bandits reintegrate into Society). However, he was countered by a coalition of Old Noble Families which (for once) stopped fighting and wanted to use the young Lusio as just another puppet, a tool for their interests. However, soon the tension would boil over and flames would engulf the country.
On November 4th 1662, the Council would gather in Plentyful to select the new SunBringer. However, tragedy would strike as a local gang would murder Lanu while he was giving a short speech on the steps of the Council House. While they were soon torn apart by both the Yellowjackets and the Enraged Mob, the damage was done. The so called ,,Saviour of the South" was dead. The People's sadness soon turned into rage as they blamed the Old Nobility for killing their ,,champion" (which, to be fair, was probably the case) and stormed the Council, killing most councilmen and burning the building to the ground. They soon found Lanu's Wife Tawa and crowned her as the first female SunBringer. She soon promised Land Reform and Democratization, or at least de-oligarchisation. This was unacceptable to the remaining Nobles, who soon convened in Ojina (The Capital of Mountain Land, the homeland of Lusio I) and crowned one of their own as the SunBringer - Lusio V, who was still only 6 Years old. The real power behind him was his Regent, one Wattan Arapah of Mountain Land. War was soon decleared and both sides march out into battle. But hold on, there's more!
While the Continental Alliance mostly rallied around Tawa and her reformists, the TFF stood their ground and soon proclaimed the Third Republic of Freedonia, They chose a prominent Partizan figure as a temporary Leader and began to organize an Administration - most prominently an Army, of course. And what an Army - it had decades of experience, and it would only remain to be seen if Partian Tactics translated well into Grand-Battles, Atlantis style.
And, as if this wasn't confusing enough, many Villages and Towns (or even Duchies) proclaimed Independence, but most were swiftly re-taken so I won't delve into details about them.
So, Brother fought brother in this most Uncivil of Wars. But how did it end, exactly? With all the odds against them and the French not coming to their aid, the Establishment Nobles were doomed, right?
Wrong. Their foes had the advantage in morale, tactics, resources and maybe even Manpower, but the Establishment had one final trick up their sleeve.
Money. Or rather, mercenaries. Let me introduce you to the infamous figure of Jozin.
Ah, Jozin (sometimes spelled Iosif or Józef)! Where to start with him? Born to an impoverished Bohemian family, he joined the local Militia at an early age and soon became known for his brutality durring Wars. Eventualy he grew tired of how the Austrians were treating his people, so he joined a Nationalist Group durring an Uprising durring the Franco-Austrian War (the one that helped form Italy, if you remember that), soon advancing up the ranks to become the local aquivilant of a General. He was disgusted at the collaboration that many Moravian villages were activly engaging in, so he did the only thing a sane person would do in his position and massacred them all. No, seriously. He wasn't called the Butcher of Moravia for no reason. His troops often hid in the Swamplands in the day, only to emerge upon the unsuspecting collaborators in the night and proceeding to [redacted] and [expunged] and then [censored] all the women. Over all, it's been assumed that Jozin's little ,,adventure" in Moravia cost the lives of up to 100,000 people. But eventualy, the uprising was crushed, and Jozin became a mercenary for hire. The Swedish Deluge? Yep, he fought alongside Polish Troops durring the Liberation of Kraków. The Smolensk War? Yep, he fought there too (this time fighting alongside Muscovites, a fact which irritated his Polish ,,fans" to no end). The Haida Wars? Yep, he fought there too. So yeah, that's quite the portfolio - and now he's been hired by the Nobles to help crush the rebelion.
Jozif soon became known as Jozif of the Swamp (Józef z Bagien) due to his tactics. The Imperial South had no shortage of swamplands and unexplored forests, a fact Jozin realized even durring his Voyage to Atlantis from the Kingdom of Cornwall. Arriving in April 1663, Jozin's Army (as they came to be known) devastated Rebel lines all over the former Alliance territory. Tales of horror from refugees fleeing into Maxima were enough to terrify even the most stoic Portugeese bureocrats, and they soon demanded that Jozin be handed to them for a fair trail. The Nobles soon told the Portugeese something along the lines of ,,piss off or we'll bomb your ships, and even if you defeat us after that then it still won't unsink your pride of the Fleet", a fact that the Northerners soon recognized... although it left a very sour taste in their mouths, someting that i'm sure won't come back to bite the Imperials in the arse. Anyways, back to war crimes : Jozin was horrifyingly efficient and by the end of 1664 the War was over... mostly. While the Alliance had been crushed and the Rebels shattered, the Third Republic of Freedonia prevailed in the South. Seeing a similarity in their own national struggle and his own, Jozin initialy hesitated to crush the Freedonians before coming up with an idea - compromise. He soon ,,requested" that the 2 sides go to the negotiating table (or rather he threatened to burn down the entire country since His army was by that point the largest in the Empire, and the only functional one not relegated to garrison duty), an act which resulted in the Plentyful accords - The Third Republic would become an autonomous Duchy of the Second Empire, and would be allowed to fully administer itself save for Foreign Policy. All Freedonian rebels were given Pardons for their crimes and the Central Government had to pay for the local reconstruction. Satisfied with his ,,redemption", Jozin and his men soon departed to help hunt bandits in Coastal Tochalia, an act which contributed to the muddying up of his legacy (the New World mostly sees him as the epitome of the Archetype of the ,,Excentric but helpful and brave Brother Slav" and the Old World seeing him as a ,,genecidal man-eating War Criminal", an opinion which does arguably have a point). While some warlord statelets would remain in the Imperial Countryside, most would be defeated by 1670.
The Civil War was over, and the Old Order survived - not thanks to bravery or reforms, but thanks to horrific acts against Mankind. Huh.
But that style of war had its negatives too - the region's population dropped by a third of what it once was, and agraculture was devastated. Entire generations of work were seemingly wiped away in less than a decade. But as the ruins grew back up with either stone or plants, a new day had risen - and who knows what it shall bring?
And thus ends this Chapter of Atlantian History. Will the South Recover? Will the system reform, or shall it collapse? Find out in the next chapter, coming out (hopefully) tomorrow!
As the 17th Century came and went, the balance of Power in both Europe and Atlantis was begining to change once again. Iberia, once scarred from its countless conflicts, was now able to send ships on their first shy, cautious expeditions into the New World. Portugal was becoming home to an Industrial Revolution, partialy kickstarted by descendants of the Old English refugees. The Kingdom of France was going ,,full steam ahead" when it came to Expanding in the New World. The lands of former England were still burning with the flames of constant civil war. But soon, this status quo would be shaken, like so many before it.
The Young Portugese King, Sebastian III, had an idea in his mind - a pretty revolutionary one, if you will. The idea that, perhaps, the Portugese Empire should not be just One Kingdom directing all of its Colonies, but a sort-of Imperial Federation of several equals (Portugal, Ecrunia, Maxima and an unspecified fourth power, presumably in Africa or India). He had serious hope in the project, and decided that the first step to achiving it would be to further fund Administrations and Education in the Colonies. However, a lot of that went to Ecrunia, as by then it was the far less developed Area when compared to Maximia (which was, according to some sources, actually richer than Portugal Proper and nearly as populous). However, when news of the Idea reached Maximia, the local people were exthathic in support of their Monarch, even renaming a minor City in the North to ,,Sebastiano" in honor of ,,The Good King". However, for now this idea would be put on hold after Sebastian's tragic death, but it certainly wouldn't be forgotten by the Elites - both in Rei João and in Lisbon.
On the other Hand, the Second Empire was still desintegrating. 200 Years after its founding it tethered on the brink of collapse once more as the Nobles threatened to secede should the SunBringer not bow to their demands. As it turned out, Lusio V (the Young Man who was partialy the cause for the Imperial Civil War) was a bit of a reformer himself, and he wanted to style the Empire more closely after the Third Freedonian Republic - something unacceptable to most of the Nobility. However, with his sheer authority granted to him by Law he was able to brute force some of his planned changes through the Council, but even then the Nobility found a way to nullify their real effects - for example, in 1701 he managed to pass a bill that would allow Judges to try Nobles for treating their Peasants cruely, but the Nobles ,,fixed" it by adding a clause that, from then onward, only allowed Nobles to be judges. It was stuff like this that convinced Lusio that the system was beyond fixing, and in 1705 he Abdicated and moved to Freedonia, the only really functional part of the Realm.
Even after over 30 years of rebuilding, much of the Eastern Seabord was still littered with abandoned towns, ruined cities, overgrown roads and bandit gangs in every corner. The region's population actually decreased since then as many surviviors moved elsewhere (quite often abroad) in search of a better life. Jozin's rampage, was it was called at the time, left scars, deep scars that simply wouldn't (couldn't) heal without aid from the Central Government - and it was increasingly clear this aid was not coming anytime soon.
Freedonia, on the flipside, was doing great. They reinvigorated Trade, had a functioning Democratic System, and even managed to get past the whole genecide thing and got buddy-buddy with the French (who were kinda desperate for a Atlantian ally - one that wasn't constantly collapsing, that is), signing many treaties of friendship (one of which even limited the Francization programs, which allowed a sort of Fredonian Renaissance to happen) and even a secret alliance. This would become crucial in 1709 AD.
By then, tensions between the diffrent factions escalated into a Second Civil War, however this one had so many damn sides that I won't bother explaining most of them to you. What you need to know is that the country was in chaos and the French really, REALLY didn't like that. And so they sent delegates to Freedonia basicly saying ,,look, our relations have been rough so far, but if you help us restore order in the Empire we'll force them to mend their laws so that you guys essentialy become their overlords in all but name". Eager to get true revenge on their opressors, the Freedonians Agreed, and on September 4, 1709, The Third Freedonian Republic decleared Independence and WAR on the Second Empire. Soon they were joined by the French, who praised Freedonia's ,,fight for Freedom" and joined to ,,protect Freedonian Independence from the chaos on their Northern Border". They were soon joined by the Portugeese, who were still salty about how the Nobles allowed Jozin to commit such horrific crimes in former Alliance Territories. As if that wasn't bad enough, New Ireland soon decleared an Embargo on the Empire, and several partizan groups in the NorthWest emerged, creating another front for the already overextended Imperial Forces. Still disorganized and more focused on fighting one another than the Invaders, the Empire didn't stand a chance. After Plentyful was sacked and burnt down by Freedonian Forces (although they did escort its Inhabitants out beforehand) on January 20th 1710, everyone Knew the War was over. In early February, a sort of provisional delegation made up of the few remaining Nobles arrived in the ruins of what was once their capital to officialy surrender to the Freedonians.
The Treaty would be harsh - of course it would be. Freedonia was made into an Independent Ally of the French (and granted some extra land), The Portugeese gained much of the North, France would grant Autonomy to several different Tribes which helped them durring the war, and also annex some Coastal Lands. The Rump-Empire would be turned into a satelite state of the French Kingdom, with the SunBringer being hand-picked by the French Monarch. It seemed that Peace was finaly upon Atlantis, and everyone would be (for once) able to rest.
As happens so often in History, the fate if Atlantis would be decided by One Man. In this case, French King Louis XIII.
Sometimes nicknamed either ,,The Great" or ,,The Mad", he was certainly an interesting fellow, to say the least. Born as a spare to the French Throne Louis was thrust into the line of succession when his Older Brother (the intended heir) died. From a young age Louis was interested in Atlantis, and saw it as a land which could bring him fame and make his realm the home of a new Global Empire. His obsession only grew further when he got a set of Book about Atlantis as a gift by the Freedonian chancellor for his 15th Birthday (The King's, not the chancellor just to make it clear).By the time of his coronation, his mind was made up - he would conquer Atlantis for his Dynasty, he would make France Great Again! But in order to achive that, he would need to do something unthinkable.
Go to war with the Portugese.
Now, Portugese-French relations weren't always sunshine and roses, but at the very least they remained acceptable ever since the Iberian Wars. They even recently enjoyed a brief peroid of friendship when the 2 countries intervened in the Second Empire 2 decades earlier. However, the King was firm in his ideas - Portugeese Atlantis must perish if the Empire is to be truly born anew. He also brought forth more practical matters - Portugal had been industrializing for some time now, and France was lagging behind. If their friendly-enemies weren't ,,beaten down" a bit now, then who knew how powerful they could get? Stripping them of their major colonial holding(s) would surely cripple them for a while, at least for enough time for France to catch up with the European Industrial Standards. His advisors gave in one by one, and by 1735 the King had his way - War was declared, and the 2 Navies clashed on the Eight Seas as thousands of young men were mobilized.
The Portugeese fought valiantly, but just like with the Freedonians durring the 2nd FW, they were overwhelmed due to the sheer numbers their enemies had at hand. While Portugal had 3 Milion people at hand (with Maxima and Ecrunia bringing forth an extra estimated 1.2 Milion and 400k, respectivly) it was still no match for France's 24-or-so Milion People (not to mention their allies in Freedonia, their Friends in Italy and Cannonfodder in The Second Empire). Their heroism on many diffrent battlefields (The Third Battle of Widow's Rock and the siege of Maka, just to name a few) would unfortunatly yield little result, as the French were able to easily replenish their losses while Portugal suffered the losses of experienced crew after experienced crew. The War was bloody and costly, but by 1740 the King of Portugal decided to agree to a peace treaty. With a heavy heart, he signed the treaty of Paris.
What were the terms of this treaty? Well, Portugal lost Maximia (of course) but in exchange the French paid the Portugeese Crown a large sum of money and gave them some seemingly worthless settlements in southern Ecrunia. The 2 sides agreed to a non agression Pact and ended all tarrifs on eachother's goods for the duration of the next decade. However, French rule in their new lands would be made far harder by the creation of a New Partizan Group - His Majesty's Most Loyal Resistance (HMMLR), a Maxian Resistance Group which would do everything in their power to make the life of the French a living nightmare without hurting the local populace too much. They would be not-so-covertly funded by New Ireland, which feared it would be the next one on the chopping bloc if the French didn't have their ambitions cooled down somehow. And they weren't wrong - while King Louis did plan on marching up north next, he instead focused on rebuilding his country and, later on, European Conquests.
And thus, with1.5 Milion Dead, dozens of towns abandoned and Age-old trade routes destroyed, the Great Western War came to an end. Hundreds of fields were set alight, many young men never went home, and entire provinces were left desolate. Hope it was worth it, Louis.
... Well, was it worth it? We'll see in the next chapter!
Chapter 13 - Stand Firmly, A to Z, we swear forever to be Free!
It is easier to forgive an Enemy than to forgive a friend.
The Very Delicate Sphere of Influence, slowly buildt by a string of French Monarchs over the span of Centuries, came crashing down becouse of just a few bad decisions. Without further ado, let's get into it - how did France go from a hegemon to a Local Power?
Well, it all has to do with King Louis the 13th's increasingly erratic decisions. Ever since he won the Great Western War, he... well, using a saying from here in the land of Piast, woda sodowa mu do łba strzeliła - in other words, he got a bit too full of himself after achiving his Victories. However, his old Atlantis-mania would be (for now, of course) put on hold, as he turned his watchful stare towards his 2 new targets - Iberia and Southern Italy.
Both are somewhat self explainatory - Iberia had been a hot-pot of diffrent Kings and Dynasties for decades now, and the French Monarchy wanted to, for the first time in Generations, have peace on their southern border. Italy had long been split between the Kingdom in the North and the various realms in the south, and the French wished to extend their reach acorss the Entire Peninsula - and now, with a recent Vanancy on the Sacred Throne being filled with a Sympathethic Pope, they felt more confident than ever to push south and unify Italia for the first time since the Times of Rome. So, how theese campains go?
We'll start with the Italian one - pretty damn good over all! Without much Issue, the French-Italian expedition crushed Kingdom after Kingdom, duchy after duchy, eventualy putting the Entire Peninsula (except for Rome and its immidiete surroundings) in the Grip of the Kingdom of Italy, now a true Local Power in its own right. However, their second wave of conquests went... less well, to say the least.
Iberia, while divided between Portugal (which by this point also included Galicia), The Kingdom of Espania (former Castille), The Kingdom of Tarragonia (formerly Aragon) and the Emirate of Granada (which lost some of their most recent conquest but still remained a pretty strong power over all). King Louis thought that they were weak and divided, and one strong attack would be enough to shatter them. However, he was mistaken. The French Monarch thought that the Iberian States were weak like the Post-English Ones, but they were actually fairly strong - it's just that the local terrain didn't favor offensive actions, so every time they tried to fight a war of reunification they made fools of themselves. However, this time the French were the attackers, and Iberia wasn't about to take it. The 3 states soon met in Salamanca, decicing that they'd rather hang together than be hung seperatly. And thus, the Iberian Accords were born. The 3 states dug in and began a war of attrition and partizan tactics, hoping to wait their enemies out. They wouldn't be alone, however - Espania would recive a lot of aid from New Ireland and Portugal while quite a few big-mouthed Islamic Leaders decried French ,,Expansionism" and decleared a Jihad against the Government in Paris. As Barbary Pirates (now on the payroll of the afformentioned Islamic States) ravaged the French Coastline, dozens of volounteers from Mesopotamia to Morroco arrived in Granada, bolstering their ranks and giving the Alliance an even larger edge. After a few years of constant defeats and humiliation, the French eventualy gave up and withdrew from the Peninsula. Exthathic about their recent victories, the 3 signatories soon met in Salamanca to hammer out further potential agreements. There, Espania and Tarragonia merged into the Kingdom of Iberia, inviting Portugal and Granada to join them. Portugal just paid them some money in exchange for the Salamancan Government dropping all claims to Potrugeese clay while Granada politely declined, but remained in the same Alliance and agreed to further Trade Agreements and joint defensive maneuvers. This sign of cooperation would be long remembered by diffrent countries around the world, and would come to serve as direct inspiration to today's cast of characters. More on them later.
For now, the King tried to levy higher taxes from the Overseas colonies, which enjoyed relative autonomy from the crown until now. However, sh#t really hit the fan when the King ordered the Navy to block the ports of disobedient cities. Outraged by this, Delegates from Freedonia, The Empire and several regions in borth Tropiko and former Maxima met together to discuss how much theese new laws sucked. However, just like the 1513 convention that birthed the Second Empire, this one soon also devolved into anti-French rethoric, with dozens of representatives decrying the current state of affairs and calling for change. By the end, their choice was clear - Secession. Just like the Iberian States, theese diffrent Duchies, Kingdoms and Republics decided to mold together into a cohesive entity - a united Atlantis.
The Federation of Atlantis.
Well, that is it for today! The Next Chapters will (probably) focus on the Atlantian War of Liberation, E for England and the state of Tochalia after 150 years.
When News of Secession reached Paris, King Louis was livid. Having realized he just wasted generations worth of scheaming, plotting and straight-up conquest that the French had to resort to for the past 2 Centuries, he was unwilling to let go of the ,,Jewel of the Empire", ordering the Navy and Army to immidetly reinforce the French Coastal Possessions against the Rebel forces. The Federation's nascent armed forces, centered around a Freedonian Army Official called Alfie Fox, managed to mostly rout the loyalists by the time the French Army managed to arrive on the Continent. By then, the Federation had earned the international support of several groups - cheifly among them, theese 3 :
Portugal, still salty about losing their colonial magnum opus was more than keen to fund the Federation, hoping that it would eventualy give Lisbon back at least some of its former Posessions. They supplied the Federation with a massive amount of Industrial Aid, weapons and gunpowder - this would be invaluable to helping somewhat standardize the Federal Armed Forces and mold them into one entity.
The Kingdom of Iberia, still remembering how the French had attempted to conquer them, was very happy at the thought of weakening the ,,Northern Barbarians" without having to go to war with them. While they were still recovering from the War, they sent the Federation volounteers and food, giving them invaluable experience on Partizan Warfare and unorthodox military tactics.
And, finaly, New Ireland - with the French Invasion Plans being pretty much common knowlage by now, Duke Thomas of House McDermott decided that the Atlantians must hang together or be hung seperatly, requesting that his duchy Recive ,,Observer Status" within the Federation - essentialy doing what Granada did when it didn't want to join Iberia but still wanted the benefits of its friendship. As a sign of good will, he allowed for the Republic of Mount Forest (a small statelet the Irish created in Maxima to act as a buffer state, refuge for partizans AND a potential base for a future restoration of Portugeese Atlantis) to join the Federation.
And so the War was on! The French managed to eventualy set up shop in a few coastal cities, but remained stuck there in a permanent stage of siege for the entire War. The main theatre of War was set on the high seas, where the Inexperienced but motivated and creative Atlantian Navy managed to beat back the Frenchies time and time again, escorting ships carrying European Aid and costing the Government in Paris many-a-good sailor. Eventualy, after 3 years of nonstop defeats, the Estates General have had enough. At an emergency meeting in Paris, they eventualy forced the King to sign a peace treaty with the Rebels at the threat of Revolt. And thus, on the 4th of September 1770, the Second Treaty of Paris was signed, undoing all of France's hard work since the 1500s.
France was to recognize Freedonia's Independence, vacate all of their possesions on the Atlantian Mainland, demilitarize French Tropiko and pay a large sum of money to the Atlantian Government.
The affects of this event are hard to underestimate. For the first time in History, Atlantis was under One Government. The Treaty was also treated (pun intended) as a sign of French Weakness and used by diffrent Partizan Groups as an excuse to kick out the French Occupiers, signaling the begining of the end of the French Colonial Empire.
However, not all was sunshine and roses.
Portugal felt betrayed, seeing the Atlantians leave them on the ice without even a ,,thank you". That, combined with the small but symbolic recession caused by the Atlantians refusing to pay back the Loans the Portugese gave them, paved way for resentment in Portugese society, and eventualy, it would be this attitude and atmosphere of betrayal and dissapointment that would convince the Portugese they could bring forth a New World from the ashes of the old, for the Union makes them strong.
On the flipside, the French King dismissed Parlament once and for all, crushing the nascent French Democracy in its crib. He would spend the rest of his life as a broken, drunk recluse, an image that would be forever ingrained into the minds of His Children - future monarchs, mind you. This New Era of Authoritarianism would eventualy cause a split in the Dynasty, with the more Liberal-minded Italian Kings slowly assimilating into local culture and steadily drifting away from the Mother Country. Eventualy, the French proclaimed, there would be a New Trinity - One Kingdom, One People, One King.
Join us in the Next Chapter to see how the New Atlantian state develops, but first - we will talk about how Tochalia and England have changed in theese last few centuries.
i kinda forgot to post it when it was relevant chronologicly, whoops
IN 1600, the New World is quite a diffrent place from what if was when the Settlers first arrived.
France, although distracted with their recent involvment in Italian Affairs, has continued to push the Maya further back with every next conflict, and while they failed their initial conquest of the Inca Empire, they continue to fund diffrent factions and pin them against one another, keeping the state in a de facto Decades Long series of Civil Wars which prevents it from Modernizing and potentialy becoming a threat. However, outside of Tropiko, most of France's colonial holdings are underdeveloped and impoverished, devastated by decades of insurgencies and Border Conflicts. While the Far Northern colony of Quebec does bring in profits thanks to the nascent Bever Trade, it's yet to be decided if this amount of money is enough to justify further Expansion in the Snowy North. Speaking of...
The Swedish holdings of New Vinland are sparsely populated Island settlements which claim a large portion of the Great North but really hold a tiny fraction of it. This was a deliberate move by Swedish Monarch, who hope to eventualy cash in on Trade in the future when the region is more settled and civilized.
Not too far away is the Russian (technicly still Muscuvite) settlement of Kirorzhinsk, which currently serves as a coal-mining and bever-hunting penal Colony of the Government in Moscow. However, since the Crown of Rus has still yet to fully colonize Siberia, it's mostly isolated and has a population of barely a thousand.
Going back to the SunBringer coastlines, The Kingdom of Sanlow is quite a strange National Entity. Born as a temporary settlement back durring Allahkoliken's Expedition it soon grew into a fairly prosperous city state with a stable population and safe countryside. However, durring the Pirate Wars it was taken over by the Mayan Navy and it served as the main base of the countless Pirate Clans which battled against Atlantian Fleets. However, when the last of theese Clans was near-completly destroyed durring the Second Battle of Widow's Rock (1589) the remaining Pirates (led by one Admiral O'Larcan) and the vestigal City Government (led by Council Member and provisional Mayor Chuslum Moxmox ) signed a peace treaty with the French, promising to oust most Pirates and abandon their Bandit Heritage in exchange for French protection. The French agreed, and thus the Kingdom of Sanlow was born. Soon it established its own unique brand of Constitutional Monarchism, with a New King (a former Coast Guard officer from New Ireland) having his powers kept in check by the Prime Minister (representing the ,,Native" population) and the Assistant Prime Minister (Representing the Former Pirates, and now coastal settlers) with semi-free elections being held every 4 Years or so by the 2 populations. This system has worked out somewhat fine so far, but further expansion into the Mainland might tip the balance of power in favor of one of the sides (much to the chargin of their bretheren).
There are seevral Tribes in the Great Lakes, but so far they haven't managed to form a cohesive Government and they mostly just remain merchants and hunters, trading their gains to the French in exchange for Weapons and Technology (or, in case of hard times, Food).
The other Tribes of North America aren't really all that interesting, as they mostly follow the same Government Structure and Economy (except for the Haida who love kidnapping people and selling them as slaves). That's not to say this will be the state of affairs forever, of course, we will go back here in a few decades (or Centuries) and see if anything's changed.
The Duchy of Neu Berlin is a small statelet created by German Merchants who wanted to establish an early outpost in the New World, wishing to cash in on local resources and monopolize certain aspects of the local Market. However, the Duchy's nature as essentialy a joint mission of several Merchants' Guilds has resulted in local leadership being completly dysfunctional and profit-focused, and if you re(a)d the Chapter on the Freedonian War you can probably see where this is going.
The Great Empire of Maya has seen better days. Now mostly pushed out of their encestoral Homelands and having to endure defeat after defeat, the only thing that can save this Vestigal Empire is serious reforms. They had some breathing room when France fell into crisis, and truth be told they haven't wasted it (doing their best to modernize and help tie the local ethinicities together to resist the Invaders) but when France turns their attention back from the Fields of Italia to the Hills of Maya, only time will tell if it was well spent or too little too late.
The Next chapters will focus on Atlantis Once Again, so stay tuned to see what will happen to your favorite statelets!
The New World is quite a diffrent place from how we last saw it 180 Years Ago. So, remembering France's Fresh Imperial collapse, let's dolve right back into the LORE of this Scenario, shall we?
This time, quite unorthodoxicly, let's start from the West and move further East, alright?
Splendid, let's start with the most Orthodox state on the Continent - The Russian Governate of the Far West, more commonly known as the Kirorzhinsk Colony. Having grown to a respectable population of around 50,000 , this settlement mostly specifies in Coal Mining and Lumber Exporting - and a bit of shipbuilding, specificly promoted to Help Fund Russia's Nascent Pacific Fleet. It's still mostly full of convicts and the poor souls send to guard them, but other than that, nothing special.
[Excerpt from The Butcher of Moravia or the Hero of the West? Jozin - Legend Unchained, Walter and Associates Publishing LLC, 1779.]
(with the language modernized, for your convenience)
[...] Jozin's perhaps most infamous deeds came durring his involvement in the Haida Wars. Upon discovering that the Haida Society was sustained by frequent Slave-hunting raids, Jozin was allegedly so sickened that he filed his infamous Order 66. What were the specifics of said order? Well, Jozin decleared all Able-Bodied Haida Men and Women to have ,,horribly sinned in the Eyes of the Lord" and ,,renounced their Humanity in the realm of Man", a quite ironic statement considering his prevous deeds. He thus took much of the Island's Population into indentured servitude and sold them off to various Courts across Europe. However, an even worse fate was bestowed upon the remaining people on the Island, as Jozin's hatered towards the locals reached Pathological levels. He soon ordered mass burnings of the Area, with the few local cultural institutions being specificly targeted to wipe Native Culture from the pages of History, forever. By the time Jozin departed from the Islands it's estimated there were less than 100 remaining inhabitants,However, within the next year they too departed due to a lack of food (the Great Fires consumed most of the Island's wildlife and fauna), leaving the Islands Dead - perhaps forever. While some praised ,,The Good General" for his ,,Destruction of the Modern Gomorrah" Many-a-men were terrified at this display of Brutality. Morbidly, it seems this foul act has mostly left the collective conciousness of the Local people in the following decades, as even now most people from Kirorzhinsk to the Great Lakes praise Jozin as ,,The Good General" or ,,The Second Allahkoliken" [...]
--
Alright, now, where were we? Ah yes, the Native States. Lightning Round - The Federation of Sunrise is a pretty pleasant Chiefdom, and the Azaltan Federative Union is a State which emerged when France's Authority over the Great Steppe was rendered null and void due to the Maya Uprising. The Locals, not too impressed by the idea of joining a (in their eyes) failed Dictatorship, went their own way, becoming a decentralized Republic based on Freedonia (the third one, that is).
The Empire of Maya is a Constitutional Monarchy, born from a fusion of the Maya Uprising and the Rump Maya state in the North. Both sides were mostly happy to reconcile and begin building a functional, truly Free administration for the People, but minor ideological differences still prevail.
The Kingdom of Centralia is a French-Majority state which left when they saw which way the wind was blowing (1. Better to Free the locals from above before they free themselves from below, and 2. They were getting scared of how the until-now Moderate French Monarchy was increasingly steering towards a fanatical dictatorship). There is a King, but his authority is limited by both the Nobles and local Councils elected by the People. Its Capital, Cité de la liberté ,has been long nicknamed ,,Little France" or ,,New Paris" - and, if nobody makes a major F#ck-up, it could very easily become a source of refuge for the thousands of Frenchmen left adrift after both their New Home (Colonies) and Old Home (France) fell to Enemies (either Internal or External).
The Brothers' Republic is quite a curious case. The Old Duchy of New Berlin managed to just about survive the 17th Century without going bancrupt, but it was saved (and doomed, Ironicly) by a massive wave of Slavic Immigration which emerged between 1660 and 1710. Various Czech Uprisings, the Deluge and the Smolensk War devastated Central and Western Europe, sending tens of thousands of Czechs, Poles, Russians and Cossacks abroad in search of a safe heaven. The Duke of Neu Berlin, thinking he was doing a 4D chess move, agreed to accept theese Men into his Land, deluding himself into thinking he just got an Infinite Free Labor Cheat IRL. Unfortunatly for him, the increasingly dissatisfied Slavs were assimilated into the small-but-firm German Revolutionary Underbelly, which eventualy grew strong enough to overthrow the Duke (in 1722). They then proclaimed the Brothers' Republic, an entity pretty similar to the Kingdom of Sanlow up North. Speaking of....
The Kingdom of Sanlow is doing... fine, mostly. There are issues with corruption and vote rigging (the O'Larcan Family has held the office of Assistant Prime Minister for the past 40 years) but over all it's a pretty prosperous Nation-State.
The Children of the Lake is a strange little bunch. Being made up of several small Tribes which grew to revere the Great Lakes over time (as the source of all of their Food, Leather, Plants etc.) they were eventualy united by a charismatic leader (whoose name was unfortunatly lost to History becouse the locals didn't keep written records until very recently) who streightened the Cult by potraying himself as the ,,Gift of the Lake" to the local People. This pissed off the French (and now Borelian) Catholic Church, and with relations breaking down and the borders a constant hot zone of battles and conflicts, it's a matter of time before Escalation becomes a matter of fact and not just the fear of local Traders.
Borelia, or more accuratly the Kingdom of Borelia, isn't really all that well settled, or all that well developed, but the Borelians still pride themselves on having a very distinct National Identity and being the ,,True North, Strong and Free!" - a Nation of Free People not chained by some foreign aristocrats, but by a Nobility and Monarchy truly descended from the Common Man! They're kind of just a slightly more nationalist version of Centralia, if you think about it. Huh.
Vinland has managed to evolve into a full-blown dominion of the Swedish Crown, giving some rights and basic goods to both the natives and the local settlers. Good for them.
And... that's it! And don't worry all you England-lovers, we'll probably give the Old Country a special Interlude of its own when it becomes relevant (spoiler alert there never was an England interlude but it still gets a fair bit of content later on)
Chapter 14 - ,,Years of Progress, soon to be undone"
After nearly 3 Decades of ,,Provisional Governance", the First Atlantian Forum (named that after the ancient Greek Forum) was about to meet, and discuss both the constitutional and more down-to-earth matters of how the New Atlantian State was to be run.
It. Was. Chaos.
The Delegates could barely agree on the fundamental issues. Slavery came up time and time again, as it was mostly shunned in Freedonia and some of northern Maxima (Specificly former Mount Forest) but was mostly seen as either ,,acceptable" or ,,fine" in the rest of the country. The issue of how powerful the Parlament would be, how elections would be run or how the hell it would even be named kept on popping up and clogging the conversations. So many hours were lost on worthless discussions that led to nowhere and only antagonized the different sides further.
One man, who hoped to save the situation but would eventualy end up burning the convention to the ground, was Douglass Walker.
Douglass, the delegate from the formerly-Freedonian district of Ovtitch, postulated what he called the ,,Fahrtocracy", a system where the ,,avarage peasant" could vote in elections for a lover house of a parlament (which he provisionaly named the ,,Public Chat" which would elect ,,Chatters" (lover house deputies) while the wealthiest members of Society (the ,,Barons") would be able to choose the ,,most competent" from among their ranks to serve in a higher house (which he never named). His ,,compromise" solution only attracted criticism, even from fellow Obvtitchian delegate Albert H. Spencer, who decried it as a ,,betrayal of Atlantian Values". Eventualy Douglass (after consulting with Samuel Piija, a Native Atlantian and an advisor of his) decided that enough was enough, recalling Albert from the Convention (as the Head of his delegation he was apparently allowed to do that) and declearing his county's secession from the Nation.
The collapse had begun.
Within 24 Hours, all delegates would storm out, with the few remaining fleeing the provisional capital afraid of getting lynched by a mob. The Great Experiment had come crashing down, and within days dozens of warlords would arise from its ashes.
By the arrival of the New Year, My country' , 'tis of thee, was no more.
The Story of Atlantis has ended, but its people have not.
It's been a Decade since the greatest Geopolitical Catastrophy of this Century (so far). The Ruins of Atlantis birthed and took the lives of many-a-warlord, but by now the situation of the Years of Blood and Glory has mostly stabilized. So, let's go through our cast of characters, shall we?
The Fourth Freedonian Republic is free again, but at what cost? The collapse didn't hit this region too hard, but the recent geopolitical shifts have rendered their old Trade Routes null and void - and, while the Republic is far less reliant on Trade than it used to be, it's still not too good for such a nascent state. Let's hope (pray) that nobody will have to march on Sun City anytime soon.
The Fahrtocracy of Freedonia is a sort-of Rival Government to the one in Sun City. Douglass Walker, the man who unintentionaly killed the Federation, has been hard at work instituting his Vision of the Perfect Democracy, reciving moderate support from both the Peasants and the Barons. He even started his own Political Party - the Patriot Party of Freedonia. However, the young national experiment is endangered by border conflicts with its Southern Neighbor and a Reformist movement headed by none other than Good Old Albert H. Spencer, now the head of the Pro-Reunification Freedonian Democratic Party. Will Fahrtocracy prevail, or shall it become just another footnote in History?
The United Provinces of Atlantis are a curious case. Created by local politicians after they got the situation in the region under control, they quickly noticed one thing - the Region is full of many cultures (Imperial, English, French, Freedonian and some smaller Native Ones) and to prevent the state from going the way of the Second Empire, the Delegates did something unthinkable - they gave unchecked power to one man in Hopes that he'd fix the situation. That man was Stephan Lombard, a man born from a mixed Family (his father being the descendant of New English refugees while his mother was from an infulential Freedonian Merchant family) who decided he had the perfect idea - mold the diffrent ideas and cultures into one! But not by genecide and war crimes, but by Mixed Marriage and Cultural Studies. It wasn't long before laws petitioning to the creation of the ,,One True Atlantian Race" were underway and Mixed marriages were ,,heavily encouraged" (depends on the local Authorities, sometimes it was forced and sometimes encouraged with subsidies and such). Stephan also abolished Slavery in the area, considering how he already predicted that perhaps saying that all people are the same while keeping half the country in chattel wasn't the brightest of ideas. Still, will this curious national experiment survive, or will it perish like so many others?
The Third Empire is an already dysfunctional trainwreck, mostly molded from dozens of small warlords who eventualy united under a fassad of legimitacy to protect their fiefdoms. Constant internal wars, border skirmishes and (duh) rampant Banditry are everpresent problems, and in its short history the state has already had seven SunBringers assasinated by diffrent warring criminal clans.
The Federation of Atlantis is but a husk of the old dreams of Unity and Democracy. Created by an aspiring ,,benevolent Authocrat" who wanted to add some legitimacy to his Rule, the Federation is a country of broken hopes from the past. The ,,People's Consul", the son of the Original Warlord, rules for as many 10 year long Terms as he wishes to, and has already appointed his son as the ,,President of the Forum" (head of Parlament) in hopes he would succeed him. He also hand picked every member of said Forum, creating a massive Party Machine for his Political Movement (The Crusader Party) which renders most Governors and major politicians as Aristocrats in all but name. Ruling from Angel City (formerly Rei João, with the rename annoying the local Portugeese Minority to no end) he submits decree after decree, and the people toil away under his regime. The Red Rose Refuge is - ,,Calm down goddammit!"
.... yeah, that. Created by the local Church Authorities durring the harshest months of the Collapse, it was supposed to be a temporary body for when the Atlantian Government would arrive to save them.
That aid never arrived.
Realizing their hopes won't come true anytime soon, local authorities (both religious and secular) soon organized a congress to decide what the hell they were going to do now. It soon devolved into mindless bickering, and continues on to this day, but at least the avarage ,,Red Roser" can still feed himself and his loved ones - something that can't be said for many others on the Continent.
The 2nd Republic of Mount Forest - Cheer, Cheer, the Green Mountaineer! The Republic is a fanatical Republican Entity, more than keen on kicking the assess of all the other Warlords on the Continent. The main split in their Diplomacy is on how to do it, with the Pro-Compromise Yellows postulating an alliance of all semi-Democratic entities on the Continent against the ,,Hard" Warlords, and the Blues postulating a Total War against all other Nations who ,,betrayed" Atlantis.
His Majesty's Most Loyal Resistance - Descended from the Partizan group of the same name, the HMMLR's main goal is to return Atlantis to mother port - Portugal. They are already lobbying the Portugeese Government for aid and protection, and it remains to be seen if the King over in Lisbon will deem their cause as worth salvaging.
New Ireland - For 400 years we've fought you without fear. And we will fight you for 400 more. When all hell began to break loose on the continent, the remaining old Authorities of New Ireland seceded from the Union, rebirthing the Old State as it always was. And while the country is mostly recovered from the collapse (with some of it even prospering) it remains to be seen if it can Modernize and match its neighbors should they eventualy come knocking on their doorstep.
You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere. And as the Federation is now long gone and buried, what shall happen to the Dream it once propagated? Shall it live on in the hearts of the people, or will they reject it in favor of a New Order - wheather revolutionary or age old?
It's been 40 years since the ,,Great Experiment" came tumbling down. Since then, many warlords came and went, but now, we are reaching perhaps the climax of this situation - the winners of today might be the winners of tomorrow, while the losers of today won't live to see it. So, let's see how our cast of characters has changed in theese last few years, shall we?
But first, we need to talk about 2 major Political developments that shook the world in the 1840's - the creation of Communalism and Franconationalism.
After Europe was shaken by a moderatly large economic recession in the 1830's, several schools of thought attempted to find a solution to it - but none really ever went anywhere except for one. Communalism. Being an attempt to define the methods of the somewhat prosperous People's Republic of Tropico and adapt them to the Portugese situation. Created by José Ribeiro, the famous Portugese Philosopher, it soon became widely used by many Right-Wing (note : in this TL Right Wing and Left Wing are reversed becouse the French Revolution as we know it never happened) pub loudmouths and soapbox politicians as the solution to everyone's problems. In the next few years both the Moderate ,,Communalists for Freedom" party and the Far Right ,,Communalist Resistance Front" would gain quite a large following with Portugal's massive Industrial Worker base (as well as the impoverished farmers).
On the other hand, French Prime Minister and famous Leftist Lothaire Denis would write the Franconationalist Thesis, which despite being just another French Book promoting Patriotism (which sometimes slipped into hard nationalism) and Unity would grow a large following among French Intellecual Groups. Soon, 2 main groups of thought would emerge - True Franconationalists (as they called themselves) called for a wider integration of the diffrent nationalities while being far more authoritarian than even Denis's Clique (for example : As long as a man is a French patriot they don't give a shit if his dad was a Frenchman, a Jew or a Centralian..... but if you step one foot out of line then they'll kill you no matter if your dad is a Frenchman, Jew or Centralian) and the New Group, which postulated for ,,closing ranks" while giving the ,,Master race" more Freedom (for example : they had a very specific definition of who was French, but if they thought you were French then your life was far better than that of the avarage person in a True Franconationalist state). Eventualy the True Franconationalists would emerge supreme in that conflict, but Franconationalist thought would soon ,,hit the shelves" abroad (thus becoming known as Euronationalism - kinda like how in OTL German Nazism is called Nazism while Nazism in other countries is called ,,National Socialism"), gaining a small cult following in Poland, Russia and some Germanic States. Speaking of, Germany was undergoing a metaphorical revolution. The works of one Jacob Krukenberg, postulating a German Reunification (which, in his mind, would be all of Germany North of Bavaria, the Netherlands + Scandinavia, as the ,,Ancient Germanic Homeland") much to the chargin of the French and some of the Scandinavian Nobility. However, the Prussian Kings were more than keen to join in on this Steam-era Hype Train, proclaming Krukenberg's theories to be ,,The one and objective truth", and from there onward working on putting them into action. They also had some following in England, which will become relevant when (if) we get to it.
But for now, let's go back to Atlantis. How are some of the characters holding up?
Well, let's get the losers out of the Way :
Red Rose Refuge - The Bishops bicker no more as their realm collapsed and was soon overrun by their neighbors, who mostly assimilated the remaining administration into their own apparathus.
The Fahrtocracy of Freedonia - The Last Years of this statelet mostly consisted of the Walker Administration attempting to solve an economic crisis with mixed results. By election day 1822 the situation was pretty bad, so Spencer's FDP won a slim majority in the Public Chat and voted to re-join Freedonia - a measure that was approved by a depressingly large majority of Chatters. Mr. Walker, the now-former president, was enraged by the decision, but he decided to respect the Democratic Process, so he left public life to resign to his Countryside Mansion before soon dying of old age, leaving life to enter History.
The People's Republic of Tropico - subject to harsh sanctions and an ongoing insurgency against the increasingly authoritarian Government, the People's Republic was couped by a coalition of former Aristocrats, Conservatives and Moderate Leftists. The New Provisional Government soon quelled all counter-coups, establishing itself and holding elections. It's now a tense, but working Democracy dominated by Conservative Elements.
And with that out of the way, how did the ,,Winners" change?
Freedonia bought Choobey from the struggling French Kingdom and (of course) annexed the Fahrtocracy in the North, becoming the most prosperous country on the Continent aside from maybe New Ireland. Currently under the rule of chancellor Zechariah Ford of the Conservative Party, the Nation is industrializing and well on track to perhaps reunifying Atlantis.
The United Provinces have seen an unprecedented event - their leader's efforts actually worked, and much of the country is now under a majority culture called Neo-Atlantian, which is a nightmarish amalgomation of Native, English and French cultures but does have a charm to be honest. Unfortunatly for its citizens, the New Leader still has unchecked power and wants to fufill his Father's dream of a United Atlantis - by Fire and by Sword.
The Fourth Empire is still the Third Empire in all but name, stuck in a constant cycle of coups and banditry, having lost quite a lot of territory to its neighbors.
The Republic of Atlantis (descended from the 2nd Republic of mount Forest) considers itself the True Successor to the Old Atlantian Government, having a working Democracy, freedom of Speech and actual Labor Laws. Their Leader, one Zachary Henderson (an Independent) is a devout Blue but one who's somewhat willing to tolerate New Ireland's existance... for now.
Portuguese Atlantis was reborn thanks to the efforts of the HMMLR, but it remains as a barely-stable confederation of diffrent counties and towns. The New Governor aims to turn things around, but will he succeed? Let's hope so.
The Federation of Atlantis (Capital : Angel City) is still as tyranical as ever. While People's Consul Marinho Bettencourt aims to run for his third 10-year term in 1843, there is no doubt he will be re-elected ; the Crusader Party has 99 out of 100 Forum Seats, and by now they have integrated all aspects of Civilian Administration into their Political Machine. All symbols of opposition have been clamped down upon and Free Speech was shut down, with opposing Newspapers quite often catching fire. As reckless militarization and Industrialization make the lives of avarage Atlantians even worse, some begin to wonder - by the time (or if) Atlantis reunifies, will there be anything left of the dreams of Alfie Fox?
And now, as the sun sets on Atlantian shores, many cannot help but wonder - what will come next?
We'll see in the next chapter.
en.wikipedia.org
