I see France hasn't tried its hand at colonising just yet. Too busy forming The Natural Border(TM)?
Map Thread XX
- Thread starter Balkanized U.S.A
- Start date
- Status
Crazymachines
Banned
actually they had a go at Barbuda/Barbados for a couple years before being yeeted by the Iberians (which actually wound up mildly pissing off almost everyone, because TTL's Tordesillas, the treaty of Setúbal, exclusively divides the new world between the Iberian monarchies and the english)
This is a small one that I may have posted here already, but I'm 99% sure I have not. But here's a cover map of the fake Red Dawn movie from 2012. Ultranationalist Russians on the East Coast, China on the West Coast, and North Korea has a grant in the north west (They said that North Korea occupied the Northwest, but that Free America stretched to Arizona, so someone is obviously occupying the rest of the West coast). Obviously, this is an America only map, hence why Canada is unaffected.
Map of Spain during the Spanish Civil War
"I wouldn't know why I did what I did. If you asked my family they would've said I was a stupid child with hopeless ideals of the world, if you would've asked my comrades they would've said I was a passionate revolutionary who believed in the good of the cause, if you where to ask God he would merely shrug. The devil has made his home in Spain and laughs as we kill each other over who is more righteous... who truly deserves this land? Dose anyone? We bicker like spoiled nobles instead of uniting over the greater threat of those Germans."
- Diary of prominent Socialite Francisco Franco Bahamonde during the Civil War.
"I wouldn't know why I did what I did. If you asked my family they would've said I was a stupid child with hopeless ideals of the world, if you would've asked my comrades they would've said I was a passionate revolutionary who believed in the good of the cause, if you where to ask God he would merely shrug. The devil has made his home in Spain and laughs as we kill each other over who is more righteous... who truly deserves this land? Dose anyone? We bicker like spoiled nobles instead of uniting over the greater threat of those Germans."
- Diary of prominent Socialite Francisco Franco Bahamonde during the Civil War.
More of my New Luxembourg timeline! This time is more of my alternate Europe, once again I hade to make the map smaller since the site doesn't like big maps so sorry if things are hard to read.
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That is a massive massive massive country.
Will Muscovy benefit from the fractured state of China?
Easily the most thought I've seen put into Zealandia and it's great. Are we going to get an updated key at some point? What year is this supposed to represent roughly?
Very cool. Is there a thread where all your Do Not Waver stuff can be viewed? Every time I see something from the TL posted here it sparks my interest.
The Forbidden City: The Last Emperor by u/Alagremm
The Forbidden City stood as a testament to the power and grandeur of China for centuries since its foundation, flourishing under the rule of the mighty House of Aisin-Gioro, popularly known as the Qing. But with the dynasty’s slow decline the empire soon turned into a rotting carcass ripe for the picking by the world’s vultures. Conspiracies abounded until finally the Wuchang Uprising started by the Kuomintang led to the Chinese Revolution of 1911, which ended with the imperial and rebel militaries coming to an agreement and requesting the Qing Emperor’s abdication. With the united military forces threatening the imperial capital, the Empress Dowager was forced to accept the treaty, known as the Articles of Favorable Treatment of the Great Qing after His Abdication, which included the continued use of the imperial title, an annual subsidy, the retention of servants, and most importantly, continued Qing sovereignty over the Forbidden City.
The young emperor Puyi of House of Aisin-Gisoro soon learned that the real reasons for the Articles of Favorable Settlement was that President Yuan Shikai was planning on restoring the monarchy with himself as the emperor of a new dynasty, with Puyi relegated to the role of a mere custodian of the Forbidden City until Yuan could move in. But with his attempt at declaring himself Emperor a catastrophic failure, the country soon collapsed into an era of strife between warring factions of vicious warlords. A coup in Beijing nearly ended Puyi’s meek rule over the rump Qing state, were it not for Imperial Japan’s intervention while Puyi hid in the Japanese embassy of Beijing. Following the coup, the former emperor spent much of his time traveling, with rampant claims of debauchery and homosexuality following him wherever he went. But as the government waited for the right moment to finally deprive the wayward monarch of the Forbidden City, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria made Puyi’s reputation a minor concern for the besieged nation – until his deep relations with Japan were brought up and widely denounced.
Desperate and fearful for his life, Puyi was ecstatic to accept Japan’s offer of new empire for him to rule over – his ancestral land of Manchuria. Whisked away to Hsinking in 1934, Puyi spent the next decade as the figurehead of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, forbidden from leaving the confines of his new capital and its dilapidated “Salt Palace”. His former home, the Forbidden City, lying so tantalizingly close to the borders of Manchukuo, was as unreachable to him as the highest peaks of Tibet. In this time the dragon banner of the Qing flying over the distant city was replaced by Puyi’s personal standard, bearing the imperial seal of Manchukuo – but not its flag. Despite being the emperor of Manchukuo, the Forbidden City was legally the emperor’s personal possession and did not fall under the Manchurian government’s jurisdiction, the sovereignty being Puyi’s alone according to the Articles of Favorable Treatment.
As the Second World War drew to a close and the Soviet forces charged through Manchuria, Puyi attempted to finally escape back to his home – but was captured by Soviet forces shortly before reaching it, and spending years in labor camps and prisons. Following his reeducation as a socialist commoner the former emperor denounced his past crimes and spent the remainder of his life as a street sweeper in what used to be his grand capital.
The leadership over the House of Aisin-Gioro shifted to Puyi’s younger brother and playmate, Prince Pujie, who in his youth moved to Japan to study under the Imperial Japanese military. In 1937 he married a Japanese noblewoman on request of the imperial government before moving to Manchukuo to serve two emperors as the head of the Manchukuo Imperial Guard. Successfully escaping to Japan after the fall of Manchukuo and Puyi’s capture, he made his claim to the world community to restore the sovereignty of Manchuria, then occupied by the Soviet Union. US occupational authorities treated the self-declared emperor with caution, unsure whether to prosecute or promote the rogue prince. While Washington was in no rush to demand Manchu self-determination, the possibility of a buffer state being established in Manchuria after the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War to shield the Republic of China from the Soviet Union was a tantalizing prospect. As such, Pujie managed to avoid arrest and led the House of Aisin-Gioro in exile in Osaka for many years. However, with the declaration of the People’s Republic of China following Kuomintang’s defeat in 1949, an independent Manchuria became nothing but a pipe dream. Pujie continued to petition for Manchu independence in vain until the People’s Republic of China was granted Taiwan’s seat on the Security Council in 1971, with most UN members recognizing the PRC and its borders. Soon Pujie and his heirs surrendered their claims for the Manchu throne and doubled down on their claims for the Forbidden City according to the Articles of Favorable Treatment, demanding that the Communist Party of China respect the treaty as a successor of the original Republic of China – but to no avail.
The House of Aisin-Gioro continues to claim the Forbidden City as a sovereign Qing microstate, despite a lack of recognition or support by Beijing, Taipei, nor the vast majority of the Chinese diaspora, save a few determined monarchists. At the same time, the branch of the House remaining in PRC, consisting largely of party bureaucrats, refutes their claim and recognizes the Forbidden City as an inalienable part of China. Aisin-Gioro sovereignty over the Forbidden City is currently recognized only by the fellow monarchies of Bhutan and Cambodia - albeit without much fanfare, to avoid displeasing the true rulers of the Forbidden City.
[This user has been banned from entering the People’s Republic of China]
The Forbidden City stood as a testament to the power and grandeur of China for centuries since its foundation, flourishing under the rule of the mighty House of Aisin-Gioro, popularly known as the Qing. But with the dynasty’s slow decline the empire soon turned into a rotting carcass ripe for the picking by the world’s vultures. Conspiracies abounded until finally the Wuchang Uprising started by the Kuomintang led to the Chinese Revolution of 1911, which ended with the imperial and rebel militaries coming to an agreement and requesting the Qing Emperor’s abdication. With the united military forces threatening the imperial capital, the Empress Dowager was forced to accept the treaty, known as the Articles of Favorable Treatment of the Great Qing after His Abdication, which included the continued use of the imperial title, an annual subsidy, the retention of servants, and most importantly, continued Qing sovereignty over the Forbidden City.
The young emperor Puyi of House of Aisin-Gisoro soon learned that the real reasons for the Articles of Favorable Settlement was that President Yuan Shikai was planning on restoring the monarchy with himself as the emperor of a new dynasty, with Puyi relegated to the role of a mere custodian of the Forbidden City until Yuan could move in. But with his attempt at declaring himself Emperor a catastrophic failure, the country soon collapsed into an era of strife between warring factions of vicious warlords. A coup in Beijing nearly ended Puyi’s meek rule over the rump Qing state, were it not for Imperial Japan’s intervention while Puyi hid in the Japanese embassy of Beijing. Following the coup, the former emperor spent much of his time traveling, with rampant claims of debauchery and homosexuality following him wherever he went. But as the government waited for the right moment to finally deprive the wayward monarch of the Forbidden City, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria made Puyi’s reputation a minor concern for the besieged nation – until his deep relations with Japan were brought up and widely denounced.
Desperate and fearful for his life, Puyi was ecstatic to accept Japan’s offer of new empire for him to rule over – his ancestral land of Manchuria. Whisked away to Hsinking in 1934, Puyi spent the next decade as the figurehead of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, forbidden from leaving the confines of his new capital and its dilapidated “Salt Palace”. His former home, the Forbidden City, lying so tantalizingly close to the borders of Manchukuo, was as unreachable to him as the highest peaks of Tibet. In this time the dragon banner of the Qing flying over the distant city was replaced by Puyi’s personal standard, bearing the imperial seal of Manchukuo – but not its flag. Despite being the emperor of Manchukuo, the Forbidden City was legally the emperor’s personal possession and did not fall under the Manchurian government’s jurisdiction, the sovereignty being Puyi’s alone according to the Articles of Favorable Treatment.
As the Second World War drew to a close and the Soviet forces charged through Manchuria, Puyi attempted to finally escape back to his home – but was captured by Soviet forces shortly before reaching it, and spending years in labor camps and prisons. Following his reeducation as a socialist commoner the former emperor denounced his past crimes and spent the remainder of his life as a street sweeper in what used to be his grand capital.
The leadership over the House of Aisin-Gioro shifted to Puyi’s younger brother and playmate, Prince Pujie, who in his youth moved to Japan to study under the Imperial Japanese military. In 1937 he married a Japanese noblewoman on request of the imperial government before moving to Manchukuo to serve two emperors as the head of the Manchukuo Imperial Guard. Successfully escaping to Japan after the fall of Manchukuo and Puyi’s capture, he made his claim to the world community to restore the sovereignty of Manchuria, then occupied by the Soviet Union. US occupational authorities treated the self-declared emperor with caution, unsure whether to prosecute or promote the rogue prince. While Washington was in no rush to demand Manchu self-determination, the possibility of a buffer state being established in Manchuria after the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War to shield the Republic of China from the Soviet Union was a tantalizing prospect. As such, Pujie managed to avoid arrest and led the House of Aisin-Gioro in exile in Osaka for many years. However, with the declaration of the People’s Republic of China following Kuomintang’s defeat in 1949, an independent Manchuria became nothing but a pipe dream. Pujie continued to petition for Manchu independence in vain until the People’s Republic of China was granted Taiwan’s seat on the Security Council in 1971, with most UN members recognizing the PRC and its borders. Soon Pujie and his heirs surrendered their claims for the Manchu throne and doubled down on their claims for the Forbidden City according to the Articles of Favorable Treatment, demanding that the Communist Party of China respect the treaty as a successor of the original Republic of China – but to no avail.
The House of Aisin-Gioro continues to claim the Forbidden City as a sovereign Qing microstate, despite a lack of recognition or support by Beijing, Taipei, nor the vast majority of the Chinese diaspora, save a few determined monarchists. At the same time, the branch of the House remaining in PRC, consisting largely of party bureaucrats, refutes their claim and recognizes the Forbidden City as an inalienable part of China. Aisin-Gioro sovereignty over the Forbidden City is currently recognized only by the fellow monarchies of Bhutan and Cambodia - albeit without much fanfare, to avoid displeasing the true rulers of the Forbidden City.
[This user has been banned from entering the People’s Republic of China]
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Sultanate of Adakale: an Ottoman Elba on the Danube by u/Alagremm
“THE SUBLIME PORT”:
The Habsburg Monarchy first fortified the island that would one day be known as Adakale to defend it from the Ottoman Empire, and that fort would remain a bone of contention for the two empires until in 1699 the island came under Ottoman control. Even though the Ottomans lost the areas surrounding the island after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, the island was completely forgotten during the peace talks at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which allowed it to remain a de jure Ottoman territory and the Ottoman sultan's private possession, sandwiched between Romania and Serbia.
Following the Ottoman Empire's disastrous campaign in the World War I the country was partially occupied by Entente and forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Sèvres - sparking the Turkish War of Independence, led by the Grand National Assembly and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk against the monarchist government in Constantinople. On 1 November 1922 the Grand National Assembly ended the Ottoman Empire, which had lasted since 1299 - but the question of what was to be done with the imperial House of Osman remained. Weary of the Khilafat Movement, which threatened revolution in India if the Ottoman caliph was deposed, Britain attempted to safeguard the House of Osman. However, with the Republic of Turkey declared the same year, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wished to see the former royal family banished. The unlikely solution came from Romania's attempted annexation of the island of Adakale.
With Adakale remaining the Sultan's private possession and Turkey's most remote territory, it was decided to send the House of Osman into exile onto this newfangled island of Elba. The solution satisfied British interests of nominally preserving the sultanate, Turkish interests of maintaining a point of influence on the Danube, while Bucharest and Belgrade were convinced into securing the island by the Constantinople Affair. Sultan Mehmed VI, followed into exile by his court and remnants of his "Caliphate Army", was sent to the tiny island in 1923, with miserly remains of the dynasty's wealth - and the disgraced caliph title. The following year Mehmed VI declared an independent Sultanate of Adakale in a move recognized only by Turkey, noted by Romania and Yugoslavia, and utterly ignored by the rest of the world. The Ottoman rule was fading into history...
In the following decades the House of Osman was joined in its exile by a slow steady stream of religious traditionalists weary of secular Turkey and Atatürk’s reforms, leading to the growth of the tiny sultanate’s population and infrastructure - while the former barracks made way for the lavish Rumelian Palace, a vain lavish pursuit of the disgraced sultan, and various mosques were built, including what would one day become the grand Mavi Nehir Mosque, housing the last remaining relics the sultan could hold on to. Even the new war did not disturb the peace of the remote island.
But as the Iron Curtain lowered over Europe upon the end of the Second World War, the sultanate found itself sandwiched between two communist regimes, with the king of neighboring Romania exiled to Saranda. With the end of colonialism granting freedom to many Muslim states and Ottoman oppression a distant memory, the eyes of the Muslim world were focused on the sultanate – now a symbol of perseverance, tradition and faith in the face of foreign oppression. Support and gifts from other Muslim monarchies bolstered the sultanate’s wealth, while many traveled to distant Danube in pilgrimage to stand on the soil ruled by the last living caliph. Despite Yugoslavian and Romanian refusal to recognize the sultanate in any way, the island remained supplied by Austria upstream and Turkey out from the Black Sea. Suddenly, the tiny island became the sole Western-aligned port on the whole length of the Danube, earning it the humorous title of the Island of Liberty – a name uttered in earnest by Romanian Tatars, many of whom escaped to Adakale. Unexpectedly, the sultanate became an important geopolitical point – and a bitter eyesore to Romania and Yugoslavia.
In 1968 the two nations declared their intention to construct the Iron Gate hydroelectric dam – a grandiose socialist project intended to subdue Danube’s mighty force. To the utter shock of the Adakaleans, the proposed plan involved the complete submersion of the island by the reservoir, and in 1969 the young Sultan Mustafa V travelled to Morocco to speak before the Islamic Conference -precursor to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The news that socialist states planned to flood the last Muslim monarchy in Europe shook the Muslim world and drew worldwide condemnation. The USSR hurried to pressure Romania into ceasing the project, concerned with the prospect of Muslim nations being alienated from the Eastern Bloc. While the crisis was short-lived, it brought international attention to the sultanate and a flurry of recognitions by other sovereign states – as well as massive investments from Saudi Arabia and the newly-formed United Arab Emirates.
In 2020 the Sultanate of Adakale is a tiny prosperous state, the pearl of the Danube, and a destination for both tourists and pilgrims, attracted by the luster of the island’s winding Istanbul-like streets, the monumental mosques, and the illustrious Adakale Madrasa. While the ruling Sultan Mahmud III does not claim the title of caliph nor harbor ambitions for restoring his ancestors empire, for many the island is not just a tiny shred of the once-mighty Ottoman Empire, but everything it could have been.
“THE SUBLIME PORT”:
The Habsburg Monarchy first fortified the island that would one day be known as Adakale to defend it from the Ottoman Empire, and that fort would remain a bone of contention for the two empires until in 1699 the island came under Ottoman control. Even though the Ottomans lost the areas surrounding the island after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, the island was completely forgotten during the peace talks at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which allowed it to remain a de jure Ottoman territory and the Ottoman sultan's private possession, sandwiched between Romania and Serbia.
Following the Ottoman Empire's disastrous campaign in the World War I the country was partially occupied by Entente and forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Sèvres - sparking the Turkish War of Independence, led by the Grand National Assembly and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk against the monarchist government in Constantinople. On 1 November 1922 the Grand National Assembly ended the Ottoman Empire, which had lasted since 1299 - but the question of what was to be done with the imperial House of Osman remained. Weary of the Khilafat Movement, which threatened revolution in India if the Ottoman caliph was deposed, Britain attempted to safeguard the House of Osman. However, with the Republic of Turkey declared the same year, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wished to see the former royal family banished. The unlikely solution came from Romania's attempted annexation of the island of Adakale.
With Adakale remaining the Sultan's private possession and Turkey's most remote territory, it was decided to send the House of Osman into exile onto this newfangled island of Elba. The solution satisfied British interests of nominally preserving the sultanate, Turkish interests of maintaining a point of influence on the Danube, while Bucharest and Belgrade were convinced into securing the island by the Constantinople Affair. Sultan Mehmed VI, followed into exile by his court and remnants of his "Caliphate Army", was sent to the tiny island in 1923, with miserly remains of the dynasty's wealth - and the disgraced caliph title. The following year Mehmed VI declared an independent Sultanate of Adakale in a move recognized only by Turkey, noted by Romania and Yugoslavia, and utterly ignored by the rest of the world. The Ottoman rule was fading into history...
In the following decades the House of Osman was joined in its exile by a slow steady stream of religious traditionalists weary of secular Turkey and Atatürk’s reforms, leading to the growth of the tiny sultanate’s population and infrastructure - while the former barracks made way for the lavish Rumelian Palace, a vain lavish pursuit of the disgraced sultan, and various mosques were built, including what would one day become the grand Mavi Nehir Mosque, housing the last remaining relics the sultan could hold on to. Even the new war did not disturb the peace of the remote island.
But as the Iron Curtain lowered over Europe upon the end of the Second World War, the sultanate found itself sandwiched between two communist regimes, with the king of neighboring Romania exiled to Saranda. With the end of colonialism granting freedom to many Muslim states and Ottoman oppression a distant memory, the eyes of the Muslim world were focused on the sultanate – now a symbol of perseverance, tradition and faith in the face of foreign oppression. Support and gifts from other Muslim monarchies bolstered the sultanate’s wealth, while many traveled to distant Danube in pilgrimage to stand on the soil ruled by the last living caliph. Despite Yugoslavian and Romanian refusal to recognize the sultanate in any way, the island remained supplied by Austria upstream and Turkey out from the Black Sea. Suddenly, the tiny island became the sole Western-aligned port on the whole length of the Danube, earning it the humorous title of the Island of Liberty – a name uttered in earnest by Romanian Tatars, many of whom escaped to Adakale. Unexpectedly, the sultanate became an important geopolitical point – and a bitter eyesore to Romania and Yugoslavia.
In 1968 the two nations declared their intention to construct the Iron Gate hydroelectric dam – a grandiose socialist project intended to subdue Danube’s mighty force. To the utter shock of the Adakaleans, the proposed plan involved the complete submersion of the island by the reservoir, and in 1969 the young Sultan Mustafa V travelled to Morocco to speak before the Islamic Conference -precursor to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The news that socialist states planned to flood the last Muslim monarchy in Europe shook the Muslim world and drew worldwide condemnation. The USSR hurried to pressure Romania into ceasing the project, concerned with the prospect of Muslim nations being alienated from the Eastern Bloc. While the crisis was short-lived, it brought international attention to the sultanate and a flurry of recognitions by other sovereign states – as well as massive investments from Saudi Arabia and the newly-formed United Arab Emirates.
In 2020 the Sultanate of Adakale is a tiny prosperous state, the pearl of the Danube, and a destination for both tourists and pilgrims, attracted by the luster of the island’s winding Istanbul-like streets, the monumental mosques, and the illustrious Adakale Madrasa. While the ruling Sultan Mahmud III does not claim the title of caliph nor harbor ambitions for restoring his ancestors empire, for many the island is not just a tiny shred of the once-mighty Ottoman Empire, but everything it could have been.
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Constantinople: Vatican of the East by u/Alagremm
Following the Ottoman Empire's disastrous campaign in the World War I the country was partially occupied by Entente, sparking the Turkish War of Independence against the monarchist government in Constantinople. Upon the completion of the war and the sultan’s defeat, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk proceeded to exile the House of Osman to the island of Adakale on the Danube under British pressure – but to do so, he required the cooperation of Romania and Yugoslavia. Faced with the fall of the greatest bastion of Orthodox faith to socialist tyranny in Russia and the exodus of Greeks from Asia Minor accompanied by the destruction of Greek Orthodox religious sites in Turkey, the nations in question (now joined by Greece and Bulgaria), demanded autonomy for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in a manner similar to the Holy See in Rome. While Mustafa Kemal himself was interested in reducing the importance of Istanbul along with the government’s move to Ankara, his initial counter-proposal included granting the Ecumenical Patriarch the district of Phanar around the patriarchate’s principal cathedral. However, facing insistent demands as well as offers of financial compensation from the royal families, he granted Patriarchate the use of Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia - allegedly due to his view of the palace as an enduring symbol of despised Ottoman rule, unfitting of the new republic he was building.
As Turkey refused to guarantee the security of Constantinople and vehemently opposed a Greek military presence within Istanbul, the Patriarchate began the search for its very own Swiss Guard. The unexpected solution came from a short-time inhabitant of Istanbul - the infamous “Black Baron”, General Wrangel of the Russian White Army. Having completed the evacuation of the White Guard from Southern Russia, he now resided in Istanbul with its sizable white emigre community. The Ecumenical Patriarch approached Wrangel with his plan of restoring the famed Varangian Guard, which was founded from the warriors sent to protect Constantinople by St. Vladimir I of Kiev in the year 988, by recruiting now-stateless Russian emigres to defend the city-state. Famously exclaiming “We have failed the Third Rome, but we will uphold the Second!”, General Wrangel swore allegiance to Constantinople and thus began the long tradition of White Russian service to the city. The former general organized remnants of the White Guard into a tight-knit professional defense force, bearing uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army and maintaining age-old military traditions. Unlike the mostly-ceremonial Swiss Guard, the Varangian Guard was formed in an environment of constant tension between Constantinople and Turkey, leading to a far greater emphasis on combat readiness and military training. Although the Varangian Guard was only put on full combat alert in 1974, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, they have nevertheless prevented several terrorist acts and ensured the security of the Ecumenical Patriarchate against infiltration. After 1991 membership in the Varangian Guard was extended to recruits from other Orthodox nations.
Once Constantinople gained limited autonomy from Ankara in 1924, it was immediately recognized by several European nations as a sovereign state in its own right, despite Turkey’s objections. In addition, Constantinople received extraterritorial control over the Theological School of Halki, as well as administrative control over Mount Athos in Greece. Over the next few decades the Ecumenical Patriarchate continued to convert the former palace grounds into a home of the church, restoring Byzantine-era churches and monasteries on its territory, as well as accommodating believers from other Orthodox nations.
Upon the end of the Second World War, Turkey found itself in a perilous spot. Having stayed neutral throughout the war, it was now pressured by the Soviet Union over its perceived good will towards Nazi Germany. Among several Soviet demands were enormous territorial concessions to the Georgian SSR, intended to reclaim historical Armenian and Georgian lands, demands which pushed Turkey into the Western camp. With the Cold War emerging in the post-war order, United States, United Kingdom and France were interested in promoting internal dissent in the Eastern bloc through promotion of religious sentiment. However, Constantinople’s lack of formal independence was heavily exploited in socialist media with the city-state presented as a puppet of the Turks – as well as increasing tensions with neighboring Greece, which Western powers hoped to include in common defense. This prompted Western governments to pressure Ankara into formally recognizing Constantinople’s independence, which the Turkish government reluctantly did in 1949, on the same year NATO was founded. Three years later Turkey joined the organization together with Greece – former adversaries now united under a single banner.
Throughout the Cold War Constantinople remained the center of Orthodox Christianity and was well-known for its consistent demands for religious freedom in the socialist bloc and close cooperation with Radio Free Europe in transmitting religious programming to Eastern Europe. And while the collapse of socialism in Europe and liberation of Orthodox nations was a cause for great celebration in Constantinople, it also brought about an era of conflict, as the renewed Moscow Patriarchate reasserted itself on the regional stage and clashed with Constantinople over jurisdiction in newly independent post-Soviet states – with the weight of the majority of the world’s Orthodox Christians behind them.
Modern Constantinople’s tranquil gardens may seem like a place of peace in the heart of Europe’s largest city, but behind the scenes the Ecumenical Patriarchate is in a state of crisis, engaged in conflict with both the Moscow Patriarchate and the increasingly conservative Turkish government under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP. The Moscow Patriarchate continues to challenge Ecumenical Patriarch’s role as the leader of Eastern Orthodoxy and following Constantinople’s recognition of Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s autocephaly in 2019, broke relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Meanwhile Recep Erdogan’s continued attempts to chip away the city-state’s independence stirred great controversy in Orthodox nations, as the president proposed returning Hagia Sophia under Turkish rule and converting it back to a mosque in 2020 – an idea which the Ecumenical Patriarch described as an “utter fantasy”.
Following the Ottoman Empire's disastrous campaign in the World War I the country was partially occupied by Entente, sparking the Turkish War of Independence against the monarchist government in Constantinople. Upon the completion of the war and the sultan’s defeat, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk proceeded to exile the House of Osman to the island of Adakale on the Danube under British pressure – but to do so, he required the cooperation of Romania and Yugoslavia. Faced with the fall of the greatest bastion of Orthodox faith to socialist tyranny in Russia and the exodus of Greeks from Asia Minor accompanied by the destruction of Greek Orthodox religious sites in Turkey, the nations in question (now joined by Greece and Bulgaria), demanded autonomy for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in a manner similar to the Holy See in Rome. While Mustafa Kemal himself was interested in reducing the importance of Istanbul along with the government’s move to Ankara, his initial counter-proposal included granting the Ecumenical Patriarch the district of Phanar around the patriarchate’s principal cathedral. However, facing insistent demands as well as offers of financial compensation from the royal families, he granted Patriarchate the use of Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia - allegedly due to his view of the palace as an enduring symbol of despised Ottoman rule, unfitting of the new republic he was building.
As Turkey refused to guarantee the security of Constantinople and vehemently opposed a Greek military presence within Istanbul, the Patriarchate began the search for its very own Swiss Guard. The unexpected solution came from a short-time inhabitant of Istanbul - the infamous “Black Baron”, General Wrangel of the Russian White Army. Having completed the evacuation of the White Guard from Southern Russia, he now resided in Istanbul with its sizable white emigre community. The Ecumenical Patriarch approached Wrangel with his plan of restoring the famed Varangian Guard, which was founded from the warriors sent to protect Constantinople by St. Vladimir I of Kiev in the year 988, by recruiting now-stateless Russian emigres to defend the city-state. Famously exclaiming “We have failed the Third Rome, but we will uphold the Second!”, General Wrangel swore allegiance to Constantinople and thus began the long tradition of White Russian service to the city. The former general organized remnants of the White Guard into a tight-knit professional defense force, bearing uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army and maintaining age-old military traditions. Unlike the mostly-ceremonial Swiss Guard, the Varangian Guard was formed in an environment of constant tension between Constantinople and Turkey, leading to a far greater emphasis on combat readiness and military training. Although the Varangian Guard was only put on full combat alert in 1974, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, they have nevertheless prevented several terrorist acts and ensured the security of the Ecumenical Patriarchate against infiltration. After 1991 membership in the Varangian Guard was extended to recruits from other Orthodox nations.
Once Constantinople gained limited autonomy from Ankara in 1924, it was immediately recognized by several European nations as a sovereign state in its own right, despite Turkey’s objections. In addition, Constantinople received extraterritorial control over the Theological School of Halki, as well as administrative control over Mount Athos in Greece. Over the next few decades the Ecumenical Patriarchate continued to convert the former palace grounds into a home of the church, restoring Byzantine-era churches and monasteries on its territory, as well as accommodating believers from other Orthodox nations.
Upon the end of the Second World War, Turkey found itself in a perilous spot. Having stayed neutral throughout the war, it was now pressured by the Soviet Union over its perceived good will towards Nazi Germany. Among several Soviet demands were enormous territorial concessions to the Georgian SSR, intended to reclaim historical Armenian and Georgian lands, demands which pushed Turkey into the Western camp. With the Cold War emerging in the post-war order, United States, United Kingdom and France were interested in promoting internal dissent in the Eastern bloc through promotion of religious sentiment. However, Constantinople’s lack of formal independence was heavily exploited in socialist media with the city-state presented as a puppet of the Turks – as well as increasing tensions with neighboring Greece, which Western powers hoped to include in common defense. This prompted Western governments to pressure Ankara into formally recognizing Constantinople’s independence, which the Turkish government reluctantly did in 1949, on the same year NATO was founded. Three years later Turkey joined the organization together with Greece – former adversaries now united under a single banner.
Throughout the Cold War Constantinople remained the center of Orthodox Christianity and was well-known for its consistent demands for religious freedom in the socialist bloc and close cooperation with Radio Free Europe in transmitting religious programming to Eastern Europe. And while the collapse of socialism in Europe and liberation of Orthodox nations was a cause for great celebration in Constantinople, it also brought about an era of conflict, as the renewed Moscow Patriarchate reasserted itself on the regional stage and clashed with Constantinople over jurisdiction in newly independent post-Soviet states – with the weight of the majority of the world’s Orthodox Christians behind them.
Modern Constantinople’s tranquil gardens may seem like a place of peace in the heart of Europe’s largest city, but behind the scenes the Ecumenical Patriarchate is in a state of crisis, engaged in conflict with both the Moscow Patriarchate and the increasingly conservative Turkish government under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP. The Moscow Patriarchate continues to challenge Ecumenical Patriarch’s role as the leader of Eastern Orthodoxy and following Constantinople’s recognition of Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s autocephaly in 2019, broke relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Meanwhile Recep Erdogan’s continued attempts to chip away the city-state’s independence stirred great controversy in Orthodox nations, as the president proposed returning Hagia Sophia under Turkish rule and converting it back to a mosque in 2020 – an idea which the Ecumenical Patriarch described as an “utter fantasy”.
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Not to say anything, but are you @Guy712 the same individual posting these maps on Reddit, u/Alagremm ? Just to make sure.
Damn me I should've posted a key and explanations, yes they shall come soon enough (hopefully)
Are these maps your direct creation?The Forbidden City: The Last Emperor
The Forbidden City stood as a testament to the power and grandeur of China for centuries since its foundation, flourishing under the rule of the mighty House of Aisin-Gioro, popularly known as the Qing. But with the dynasty’s slow decline the empire soon turned into a rotting carcass ripe for the picking by the world’s vultures. Conspiracies abounded until finally the Wuchang Uprising started by the Kuomintang led to the Chinese Revolution of 1911, which ended with the imperial and rebel militaries coming to an agreement and requesting the Qing Emperor’s abdication. With the united military forces threatening the imperial capital, the Empress Dowager was forced to accept the treaty, known as the Articles of Favorable Treatment of the Great Qing after His Abdication, which included the continued use of the imperial title, an annual subsidy, the retention of servants, and most importantly, continued Qing sovereignty over the Forbidden City.
The young emperor Puyi of House of Aisin-Gisoro soon learned that the real reasons for the Articles of Favorable Settlement was that President Yuan Shikai was planning on restoring the monarchy with himself as the emperor of a new dynasty, with Puyi relegated to the role of a mere custodian of the Forbidden City until Yuan could move in. But with his attempt at declaring himself Emperor a catastrophic failure, the country soon collapsed into an era of strife between warring factions of vicious warlords. A coup in Beijing nearly ended Puyi’s meek rule over the rump Qing state, were it not for Imperial Japan’s intervention while Puyi hid in the Japanese embassy of Beijing. Following the coup, the former emperor spent much of his time traveling, with rampant claims of debauchery and homosexuality following him wherever he went. But as the government waited for the right moment to finally deprive the wayward monarch of the Forbidden City, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria made Puyi’s reputation a minor concern for the besieged nation – until his deep relations with Japan were brought up and widely denounced.
Desperate and fearful for his life, Puyi was ecstatic to accept Japan’s offer of new empire for him to rule over – his ancestral land of Manchuria. Whisked away to Hsinking in 1934, Puyi spent the next decade as the figurehead of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, forbidden from leaving the confines of his new capital and its dilapidated “Salt Palace”. His former home, the Forbidden City, lying so tantalizingly close to the borders of Manchukuo, was as unreachable to him as the highest peaks of Tibet. In this time the dragon banner of the Qing flying over the distant city was replaced by Puyi’s personal standard, bearing the imperial seal of Manchukuo – but not its flag. Despite being the emperor of Manchukuo, the Forbidden City was legally the emperor’s personal possession and did not fall under the Manchurian government’s jurisdiction, the sovereignty being Puyi’s alone according to the Articles of Favorable Treatment.
As the Second World War drew to a close and the Soviet forces charged through Manchuria, Puyi attempted to finally escape back to his home – but was captured by Soviet forces shortly before reaching it, and spending years in labor camps and prisons. Following his reeducation as a socialist commoner the former emperor denounced his past crimes and spent the remainder of his life as a street sweeper in what used to be his grand capital.
The leadership over the House of Aisin-Gioro shifted to Puyi’s younger brother and playmate, Prince Pujie, who in his youth moved to Japan to study under the Imperial Japanese military. In 1937 he married a Japanese noblewoman on request of the imperial government before moving to Manchukuo to serve two emperors as the head of the Manchukuo Imperial Guard. Successfully escaping to Japan after the fall of Manchukuo and Puyi’s capture, he made his claim to the world community to restore the sovereignty of Manchuria, then occupied by the Soviet Union. US occupational authorities treated the self-declared emperor with caution, unsure whether to prosecute or promote the rogue prince. While Washington was in no rush to demand Manchu self-determination, the possibility of a buffer state being established in Manchuria after the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War to shield the Republic of China from the Soviet Union was a tantalizing prospect. As such, Pujie managed to avoid arrest and led the House of Aisin-Gioro in exile in Osaka for many years. However, with the declaration of the People’s Republic of China following Kuomintang’s defeat in 1949, an independent Manchuria became nothing but a pipe dream. Pujie continued to petition for Manchu independence in vain until the People’s Republic of China was granted Taiwan’s seat on the Security Council in 1971, with most UN members recognizing the PRC and its borders. Soon Pujie and his heirs surrendered their claims for the Manchu throne and doubled down on their claims for the Forbidden City according to the Articles of Favorable Treatment, demanding that the Communist Party of China respect the treaty as a successor of the original Republic of China – but to no avail.
The House of Aisin-Gioro continues to claim the Forbidden City as a sovereign Qing microstate, despite a lack of recognition or support by Beijing, Taipei, nor the vast majority of the Chinese diaspora, save a few determined monarchists. At the same time, the branch of the House remaining in PRC, consisting largely of party bureaucrats, refutes their claim and recognizes the Forbidden City as an inalienable part of China. Aisin-Gioro sovereignty over the Forbidden City is currently recognized only by the fellow monarchies of Bhutan and Cambodia - albeit without much fanfare, to avoid displeasing the true rulers of the Forbidden City.
[This user has been banned from entering the People’s Republic of China]
A response IS required.
pedantry time
Espanha é Nossa (Labled)
also, i assume the khmer empire beat the Nguyễn lords to conquering and settling all of modern-day south Vietnam
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Crazymachines
Banned
needless to say I got several second opinions on the naming of the chinese states which agreed they where fine
What were they exactly? I'm interested in hearing what these people said; to correct them if they were wrong, to increase my own knowledge if they were right
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