Europe, 1898. What you see here is a continent in a period known as the Lull, a short period of peace in the middle of the Second Revolutionary Wars.
After the dismemberment of Portugal by the Franco-Spanish forces, Napoleon set about consolidating the continent. In the year 1812, however, the Russian Empire lifted its embargo on British goods. Napoleon, in retaliation, launched a wide offensive, reaching for St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev (19th Century Barbarossa). However, the Russian forces did not give in. With the help of disease, famine and old Father Winter, the Russians ground the French Armies to a halt, beginning a long and bitter campaign to destroy the Napoleonic Empire. As the Russians began pushing the French out of Russia proper, many of the French puppets and allies changed sides, Prussia being the first. The combined Russo-German force annihilated the remnants French armies at the Battle of Warsaw, killing Napoleon in the process. His son, Napoleon II, can under the influence of a minor politician and general, Fabien Lascelles. Lascelles began a brutal campaign of fear on in the occupied territories, from Lisbon to Dresden his name was spoken with dread. He was most famous for a large scale expulsion of the German majority in the Rhineland and the former Netherlands, despite the fact that the Coalition forces were fast approaching. Yet his reign of terror did not last, in August 1813 the Spanish declared war of the French Empire, after a significant bribe from Britain. By autumn 1814 Lascelles had been captured by the advancing Russians and had been executed and publicly displayed in the streets of Paris as the Romanov Banner flew over the city.
After the end of the First Revolutionary Wars, as the period from 1789 to 1814 is referred to by modern historians, a Congress was held in Aachen, one of the few Rhineish cities not to be destroyed during the 'Rhineish Purges', as a reminder of the evils of Revolutionary thinking. The Congress of Aachen saw the dismemberment of France into several petty states, with several border territories being awarded to Britain and Spain. Denmark, one of the last allies of Lascelles' France, was divided between Hanover and Sweden, whilst the territories of the now defunct Dutch state were divided between Hanover, a remnant Dutch state of Holland and the new Empire of the Rhine. The two great surprises of the Congress were the recreation of Savoy, under the belief that a strong state in Italy was required to defend Italy against a possible French resurgence, and the building of a completely new state, the Empire of the Rhine. The Empire was built from the remains of the Rhineland, Netherlands, the former Austrian Netherlands and eastern France. The ethnic Germans were brought back to their native lands, in combination with the large scale expulsion of native French speakers by the vengeful German powers. The result was a militarily strong, largely ethnic German state to defend the north. Spain managed to gain a few territories from France, but its primary achievement was earning the right to maintain the situation in Portugal, which it made sure would not rise again, to the anger of the newly formed Kingdom of Brazil.
The powers that be maintained this delicate situation in Europe for immediate decades after the Congress of Aachen, crushing any 'Revolutionary' sentiments on the continent, a statement that continually seemed to transform into meaning any form of anti-government activities. Eventually the leaders and kings of the European nations became less concerned with the elimination of Revolutionary thought and more about helping their own people at home and unfortunate ethnic minorities, a rather hypocritical view in consideration of what they had previously overseen. Examples of these more philanthropic efforts were the independence of the Greek and Dacian states, as well as the protection of Georgian independence, which broke up after a long civil war. This period, known to history with the unfortunate title of the Interbellum, saw the unification of the minor German states into a united Germany, although lacking Prussia, Hanover or the Rhineland, the independence of Poland and fall of Papal power in Rome and the foundation of a benign Republic.
However, as the continent stopped using the memory of Lascelles to frighten their children, a second revolution was on its way. The ideal that all men are equal, the ideal of a state without the need for a government or royal house, the ideal of Communalism was born in the French state of Maine. This took root in particular in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the largely forgotten Finish population and, of most concern to the Great Powers, the Free City of Paris. In 1881 the Communalist Party gained the majority and Louis Blanqui became Mayor. He set about organising the Communalist parties of Europe into a secret organisation, the Council for Revolutionary Change and Betterment, or 'the Council' for short. He wished that the Council would be ready to enact the great Revolution at any moment’s notice, using the latest developments in telegraphs and semaphores to spread the signal to the farthest corners of the continent at a moment’s notice.
However, things took a turn for the worse with the assassination of Blanqui in 1895 by a lone assassin who claimed to be working for the conservative forces within Paris, primarily the members of the Dauphine Club. The Council, in the midst of rage at the loss of their leader, figure head and father, ordered the revolutionary signal to be sent across Europe. First to fall to the Second Revolution was the Republic of Maine, where Communalist paramilitaries seized the government house at Orleans, toppling the government and joining with Paris to become the new Revolutionary Republic of France. This terrified the monarchies of Europe, who were sprung into action, but too late to stop the revolution in their own nations. Some, like the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Athens, collapsed and a revolutionary government was formed to challenge the Kingdom of Italy for dominion over the peninsula. Some, like Austria and Britain, reached a compromise with the moderate wings of the revolutionary forces and were saved the bloodshed of Naples and Athens, but at the cost of refusing to join any attempts to counter the new French nation. And some, such as Prussians and the Rheinish, brutally crushed their own Communalist parties and executed all who even attempted to align with them. Finland broke away from the Russian Empire and, in defiance of all previous expectation within the Council and the Russian government, not only drove the Russians out of Finland but managed to invade Russia itself, occupying St. Petersburg with the help of Russian Communalists. The Second Revolutionary Wars had begun.
By 1898, a strange peace had settled over the continent. The French had occupied most of the minor states, but agreed to pull out of the majority of them to appease the member
s of The International, the alliance of counter-revolutionary forces, although the minor French states were no longer viable, after living under a united French rule for the first time in over 80 years. One quick thrust from the Conciliary
French and the house of cards would fall, something Paris knew very well. In Italy the Neopolitan Armies had run out of steam just short of Follonica and agreed to a ceasefire with the combined Italian-Savoyard forces. A similar agreement had been reached in Russia, where the Counciliary Finns had managed to bring the Russian government to the peace tables after occupying Moscow after 3 months of heavy fighting. The Tsar and the Royal Family, having fled to Tsaritsyn for safety, agreed to an immediate ceasefire to, according to official sources, attend to the plight of the citizens and people of Russia. Only in Greece did fighting continue, but without any great power involvement. However, all parties knew that this peace was temporary. Both the Conciliary forces and the armies of the International were preparing for round two. Across the front lines in France, Russia and Italy, the fate of Europe was being decided.
To recap, the wanked nations are: Finland, Savoy and Westphalia (the Empire of the Rhine).
