Idle Idea: Splendour of Empires

[Czernobog]

Note: None of this is meant to be offensive.

SPLENDOUR OF EMPIRES

Splendour of Empires is an alternate history of the world set in AD 1850, springing from the simple point of divergence: "What if Frederick Barbarossa had not died during the Third Crusade?". As you can see, this simple event makes a lot of difference...

SPLENDOUR OF EMPIRES: THE NATIONS

EUROPE

THE WEST AND THE CENTRE

The west of Europe is primarily dominated by the United Crown of England and France, a dual monarchy set up after a great war with the Holy Roman Empire in 1750 and the disastrous Great French Revolt of 1766 in which France almost gained independence before order was restored (before then, it had simply been known as England). The United Crown, as it is commonly referred to, uses the same style of constitutionalism as used in the Holy Roman Empire - limited, with radical parties (Communalists, Socialists) firmly banned and the government having the power to appoint a ruling party without an election in times of crisis. The United Crown controls Ireland, Wales and what we know as Australia, but Scotland is independent from it.

To the south of the United Crown, the Kingdom of Iberia, a union of Portugal and Spain, lies, a monarchy with radical levels of power given to the electorate, in which appointing parties is not done. It possesses a colonial empire in Africa, having lost most of its American colonies to revolution.

To the east of the United Crown lies the Holy Roman Empire, a monarchical state that stretches from Silesia to Burgundy, from Schleswig-Holstein to Sicily. The Empire is federal, consisting of a great many states that can theoretically declare independence and secede - but choose not to because of the Empire's rather large army which tends to dislike the idea of secession. The Empire is bordered in the South-east by Venice and Hungary, in the north by Denmark, and in the North-east by Poland-Lithuania and the Kingdom of Prussia ruled by the Teutonic Order.

THE EAST

Eastern Europe revolves around several centres, the most notable of which is the ancient Basileion ton Rhomaion - or Eastern Roman Empire if you're feeling less formal, which controls Syria, Anatolia and the Balkans, all ruled from Constantinople, the so-called 'Queen of Cities'. The Basileion is crumbling, only theoretically absolute, its emperor trying to reform but constantly blocked by his hawkish nobles who ceaselessly seek to take the Empire's fate into their own hands. To the north of the Basileion lies the Kingdom of Muscovy, the dominant Russian state which controls all of Siberia and large amounts of land to the west of the Urals. The Ukraine is a mess of squabbling principalities, from Kiev-Chernigov to Crimea (a vassal of the Basileion). To the north of Ukraine lies the Grand Duchy of Rayazan, which controls Belarus and a large portion of European Russia, and north of Ryazan Novgorod, which controls Ingria, Karelia, Novgorod and the Archangelsk region.

To the west of Novgorod lies Sweden, which controls Finland and the Swedish regions of Scandinavia (Denmark controls the Danish regions, Norway, and the area of Scania).

ASIA

THE ORIENT

Japan is the rising star of the Orient, having westernised in the late 1700s following the disastrous collapse of the Togukawa Shogunate and the establishment of a new order by a cunning general. It controls Taiwan, the region that we would know as the area around Vladivostok, Hainan, Alaska, the area we think of as British Columbia, and what we would call California.

China remains stubborn, sticking to the old ways, and is in for a rude surprise when it encounters the technological and industrial might of the West.

SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL ASIA

India is divided into two areas - the northern Empire of Hindustan, and the Deccan region to the south, a mass of feuding states that only agree on one thing - keeping the West out. Hindustan and the Deccan states are both uncivilised by the standards of the West and technologically unadvanced, but they have managed to retain their independence by virtue of pure disinterest.

Persia rules over most of Central Asia, excepting the territories in the north, which are ruled by the Sultanate of Kokand. Persia also controls Afghanistan, and part of what we would call Pakistan, lands which Hindustan feels should belong to her. Persia managed to westernise, and is the prime enemy of the Basileion ton Rhomaion.

MIDDLE EAST

The Middle East is dominated by two Crusader states - The Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Kingdom of Egypt with its capital in Alexandria. Jerusalem controls Judea, Jordan, and parts of Kaf. Egypt controls Egypt and the Sudan. Both states are Catholic, sworn enemies of the Sultanate of Arabia, which controls all of Arabia. There also exists a Kingdom of Mesopotamia in the cradle of civilisation, a vassal of the Basileion which is the site of the occasional war between the Basileion and Persia.

AMERICA

NORTH AND CENTRAL

North America is firmly in the sphere of influence of Neu Deutschland, a German-speaking republic that encompasses all of colonised North America north of Mexico, save for the parts that are ruled by Japan. Mexico is controlled by a bunch of Communalists, who took over during the Springtime of Nations some six years prior. South of Mexico, the area is ruled by a state known as Gran Colombia which stretches from Colombia and Venezuela to Central America. Iberia controls Cuba and most of the Caribbean, but the New Germans are looking for any excuse to take it off them.

SOUTH

South America is primarily ruled by New England, a state that stretches over all of what we would call Brazil and Argentina (excluding Pantagonia). The west is controlled by the Kingdom of Cuzco, stretching over what we know as Peru, Chile and Bolivia. Guyana is controlled by the Basileion ton Rhomaion - however, disinterest is growing in the Basileion, and the populace is growing rebellious.

[Heretic]

I admire your deep fascination of Alternate History (hey, maybe you'll become the next Turtledove!) and I was wondering: What kindled this interest? Do you read alot of Alternate History fiction books and mused "What if?" or is there another reason?

I am seeing improvements here as time goes on. Earlier, you had a "China VS Greece" kinda barebone feel. Now, you are writing paragraphs(!) of info. Still feels empty and I think you should work on it, but I see potential.

[Czernobog]

THE ROMANOV DYNASTY

The Basileion ton Rhomaion is, perhaps unusually, ruled by a Russian family - the Romanovs. While taking Greek first names and intermarrying with Rhomaoi nobility, they continue to use the old family name of Romanov, and continue ruling as they always have done - as supreme autocrats. The story behind them achieving such a splendid coup starts in 1617, when the ruler of the Basileion ton Rhomaion dies without issue and without declaring a heir. Civil war between feuding noble families over the Eagle Throne looms, until one of the families short-circuits the issue by inviting Ivan Romanov, second son of the ruler of Novgorod and married to a Rhomaoi princess, to take the throne, but he has to renounce all claims to Novgorod. He accepted, and took the Greek name Ioannes.

It was a splendid coup, the Romanovs taking over the Basileion. In one instant Ivan Romanov had made himself one of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the whole of Europe. His son, Hagios Alexandros Romanov, was called by several foreign commentators as 'the greatest man in Europe', surpassing even his contemporary the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II Von Hapsburg in the lavishness of his court and the scale of his victories, crushing the Persians at several major battles and forcing them to admit Rhomaoi hegemony over Mesopotamia. Such was his prestige that the Orthodox Church's Patriarch of Constantinople beatified him as a saint only weeks after his death.

His grandson, Ioannes XVI, crushed the Holy Roman Empire's finest troops at Naples in 1701, establishing Rhomaoi rule over South Italy. The Romanov line looked to continue its glory, but they had not reckoned for Andreas II Romanov, who ruled from 1740 until 1789.

Andreas was famously cold-hearted, and hated the church, ever looking to increase his power over it. But then the Basileion went bankrupt, and the Holy Roman Empire and Persia declared war at the same time. Andreas was horrified, and could only watch helplessly as Rhomaoi rule was brutally stripped from Italy, at the same time the Persians pushing into Mesopotamia. In 1745 a peace deal was found, in which the Basileion would retain its rule over Mesopotamia.

In 1770, Andreas went insane, and his son took over as Regent. He died in 1789, unmourned, unloved, and mad. This Basileus' name was Constantine XVI, and he went on to be a brutal, unmannered, autocratic despot. He was feared by the nobles and hated by the poor, dreaded and horrifying. His death was met with pleasure by the nobility, and relief by the middle and upper classes.

The current Basileus is Michael III Romanov, a liberal who seeks to reform the Basileion but is currently blocked by his nobles. He is overseeing a period of economic prosperity, but his people yearn for freedom, and anarchist, socialist and communalist groups are on the rise. Can the Romanovs negotiate the perilous future, or are they doomed to failure?

[Czernobog]

I admire your deep fascination of Alternate History (hey, maybe you'll become the next Turtledove!) and I was wondering: What kindled this interest? Do you read alot of Alternate History fiction books and mused "What if?" or is there another reason?

I am seeing improvements here as time goes on. Earlier, you had a "China VS Greece" kinda barebone feel. Now, you are writing paragraphs(!) of info. Still feels empty and I think you should work on it, but I see potential.

Well, it mostly comes from being a member of a site, the primary interest of which is to discuss and write alternate history.

[Czernobog]

THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE


The Flag of the Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Sacrum Romanum) in its present form dates, most historians agree, from the reforms of Frederick Barbarossa after his return from the Third Crusade. He centralised the Empire, fought a series of wars against rebellious nobles and the Normans of Sicily, and created a bureaucracy that survives to this day, the Imperial Service. He also severely damaged the Papacy's power, forcing the Pope to allow the Emperor to invest priests. The Hohenstaufen line continued until the 1300's as the Empire's rulers, Barbarossa's son making the Emperorship a hereditary rule. But then came the great upheaval, as the Black Death broke the Hohenstaufen line, allowing the Austrian Hapsburgs (the name coming from their fortress, the Habichtsburg) to take over. The nobles did not like this one bit. They wanted to be the Emperor, how come the Archdukes of Austria had earned the title instead of them?

They rose up, but the Hapsburgs were brutal. They massacred the rebellious nobles in their own homes, even burning down the churches where they sook sanctuary. The nobles that had the misfortune to be executed were hanged by knotted ropes, which says all about what the Hapsburgs thought of them. With a vast amount of the nobility dead, the Hapsburgs 'redistributed' their lands as they saw fit, taking possession of their castles and fiefdoms, or simply giving them to those who had remained loyal.

In the 1400s, Burgundy was inherited by the Hapsburgs, and Vienna, their capital, became a centre of the Renaissance. In 1466, at the Vienna Diet, the Holy Roman Empire (except for the City of Rome, which remained
to be ruled by the Papacy), was united as a single state by near unanimous vioting. All of it was to be ruled from Vienna, but the Empire was about to face a pressing matter - religion.

In 1498, the Reformation was begun by the theologian Ludwig Sternberg, who was declared a Heretic - but the population and some nobles were beginning to follow his teachings, so the Hapsburgs began a brutal purge against the heretics, poor man or rich, which ignited fervour against them and led to what was later termed the War of the Cross. Organised rebellion rose up in the Empire, many towns fell under the rebels' control, and the chaos allowed England to attack. The Hapsburgs kept it under control, but Sternbergism and Catholicism would have to exist uneasily side-by-side.

In the 1500s, the Holy Roman Empire flourished. In the 1600s, a brutal war was fought for 48 years against Poland-Lithuania, as the Hapsburgs inherited Hungary and Transylvania in 1650, and the Poles didn't want them holding on to it. The Hapsburgs got Hungary, but no side truly got what they wanted out of the war.

The Empire fought the Basileion in 1701, and lost Southern Italy to them, but the Empire regained it in 1745. Then the Hapsburg dynasty died out. Ludwig Karl Von Erzengel (a city which does not exist in our timeline), took over, and survived a revolution in 1777 (which he resolved by agreeing to limit his powers and those of the nobility) and the loss of the Imperial American colony, Neu Deutschland, in 1780. He and his successors, the Erzengel Dynasty, proved to be very capable rulers, and still reign to this day in 1850.

Today, the Empire is a federal state, divided into many territories nominally ruled by the aristocracy, who are actually powerless, and of course those territories ruled by the Imperial line directly are exempt from the annoyances of the nobles or Cardinals. The Imperial Senate functions as a legislative group, but the Emperor reserves the power of veto over all proposed laws.

Imperial Law applies throughout the Empire, even in the Papal city of Rome. This has been set in place specifically to weaken the Pope. Indeed, the Holy Roman Empire is a great nation, one that many others attempt to emulate.