This big Bulgaria will be unstable, but not necessarily more internally unstable than OTL. The Muslim population of Bulgaria was most heavily concentrated in the east of the country, areas which were part of Bulgaria in OTL, so adding Macedonia isn't likely to skew things all that much. Big...
Roger Evans; A Descent into Hell - A History of The World War: Penguin Publishing
The Fall of Bulgaria
The Redl affair which had scandalized Viennese society and the military establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with its seamy late-night bathhouse visits and strolls around the Prater...
Roger Evans; A Descent into Hell - A History of The World War: Penguin Publishing
The Battle of Paris
The Battle of Paris had not been part of the plan for the Germans when they had first invaded France. What they had envisioned was something akin to 1870-71, to surround France’s capital city...
Paris' future depends very much on the results of the war. If the Entente somehow manage to win, we can expect that vast amounts of war reparations would be ploughed into the reconstruction of Paris. In OTL Modernism was beginning to gain ground in the Western World so it is unclear whether the...
Montmarte, April 1913
Martin Daladier had wanted to visit Paris since he was a young boy. The “City of Light”, a place of artists, writers, and showgirls, full of excitement and just a hint of danger sounded like everything that his provincial little town of Doué-en-Anjou was not.
He had never...
Okay, so long time no reply. This time my excuse is an impromptu trip to Bahrain (nothing bad happened, I just had the opportunity thanks to China finally opening up its borders), as well as my luggage (which included my laptop charger) being stuck in Bangkok for almost two weeks (thank you Gulf...
Always great to see another Ottoman timeline around here. The idea of Selim's reforms being successful is a rather interesting one as it gives the empire a good 30+ years of reform, and at a critical time when Europe is concerned with some Corsican rampaging around the continent.
Trying to...
Threadmarks: Ottoman Policy at the beginning of the Great War
Fadıl Necmi; The Sublime Ottoman State: A History of the Ottoman Empire: Istanbul University Press
Ottoman Policy at the beginning of the Great War
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Great War for the political classes of the Ottoman Empire, was that it had broken out under...
I have now recovered from Covid! (remember Covid guys?!?)
I'm loving the discussion on the possibilities that the war and post-war period have for India. There's a lot to have a think about here for what might happen in the future, and India's future isn't totally decided so it's always...
Threadmarks: The Bear Marches South - The Central Asian Front, 1912
Roger Evans; A Descent into Hell - A History of The World War: Penguin Publishing
The Bear Marches South - The Central Asian Front, 1912
The latter part of the 19th century had seen a rise in tensions between Britain and Russia as both of their empires began to expand toward each other...
The Russians don't have that baggage of the defeat, especially important when one considers that many revolutionary groups smelled blood as the regime tottered in 1905. On the other hand, the Japanese may still have the chance to inflict a defeat on the Russians, but I wonder what this would...
Threadmarks: The German advance toward Paris, 1912
Roger Evans; A Descent into Hell - A History of The World War: Penguin Publishing
The Advance toward Paris
As October began, the Germans were locked into a race against time in their offensive against France. Already the weather was becoming colder, and it began to rain more, sometimes turning...
Threadmarks: Thunder in the East - The Far-Eastern Front of the World War in 1912
Roger Evans; A Descent into Hell - A History of The World War: Penguin Publishing
Thunder in the East
Following her great victory over the Chinese in 1896, Japan had soon come to identify Russia as her primary adversary. Both powers had been expanding their spheres of spheres advanced steadily...
There's a lot to respond to here, so I'll take the unusual step of not quoting all your posts while responding. I'm travelling at the end of the week, which means that besides not being able to play as much Victoria 3 as I'd like to, I'll be unable to post anything until some point after...
This is something of a danger-zone for the Ottomans actually. With Italy, the TEA has enough reason to partition Ottoman lands and there would certainly be enough strength. Whether Italy does join... well were France to crumple against the Germans then I could see something like Italy's...