Lore Summaries up-to-date (And when in doubt, ask):

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AFRICA

1: Pan African Empire/Ethiopia

The death of Emperor Menelik II in 1913 brought upheaval to the ancient east African mountain kingdom. Menelik has seen the country into the modern world, fighting off Italian invaders at the legendary Battle of Adwa and allowing western technology to seep into Ethiopian life. Iyasu was not his patrilineal heir, but the aging emperor did not like his closest heirs so instead he designated the second son of his eldest daughter to succeed him.

But the young Emperor-to-be was not popular. Rumors spread that the arrogant young man disrespected God by smoking in church, and that he was not morally correct enough to rule. Even after Menelik's death, the nobles did what they could to stave off a coronation. Iyasu was not popular with the establishment, shirking his responsibilities and antagonizing those he did not like. Rumors spread that he had converted to Islam. Rebellion began to ferment. It looked as if his reign would soon end, until the Germans arrived.

The Great World War had taken seed in Europe, and the Germans wanted an ally in Africa to help bring chaos to the colonies of France and Britain. Iyasu accepted the alliance, and with it came German advisers and weapons.

But the rebellion sparked none the less, and at the battle of Segale, Iyasu's father Mikeal of Wollo brought the German weapons to bear against their enemies, scattering them and cementing Iyasu's reign.

Iyasu' government made common interest with the remnants of the Dervish state of Somalia and used this alliance to seize the British and French colonies there, bringing Somalia into the fold. French Djibouti was soon thereafter taken. Helping the German Lt. Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, the Ethiopian-Somali forces captured Kenya and and Uganda. By 1920, the war in Europe had become a post-apocalyptic affair, and support for the Africans waned. The Ethiopian invasion of Sudan would be against pro-British natives rather than the British themselves. Still, the Ethiopians now lacked the support they had in the early war, and they had trouble financing the campaign.

In 1925, the Great War finally ended. Western Europe was devastated, and its colonies began to sue for increased autonomy. The seeds of rebellion had been planted in Belgian Congo, who lacked the resources to keep it in check. Power was handed to certain factions among the Askari, who used the cruelest methods they could find to keep this new found power. In the peace, Ethiopia gained Kenya, Uganda, and Somalia - lands that were handed over because their colonial mother nations acknowledged they could not defend them.

In the 1940's, sympathetic members of the Askari in the Congo rebelled, asking for more pay and better treatment for their families. The sudden shift in authoritative power caused tribal rebellions to spring up all through the center of the country. Members of the Pro-Belgian faction in the Askari responded by imprisoning the families of their comrades. The war escalated.

Iyasu admitted to his Islamic beliefs soon after, and he made attempts to replace the entrenched Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Rebellions were frequent during his reign, and he began to rely more on the Somali part of his realm. Modernization continued under his reign, as electricity and plumbing brought Ethiopia into a world of modern convenience. By his death in 1959, Iyasu had turned Ethiopia into a meaningful regional power.

His son Yohannes succeeded him. Yohannes had spent his youth traveling with German school companions, where he took an interest in anti-colonial politics. Europe, focused on rebuilding, lacked the ability to care for their African holdings, and the people suffered as a result. Yohannes secretly funneled weapons and money to anti-colonial rebels. He has used his own money and influence to do this before, sending the young up-and-coming Somali-Arab officer Hassan Yusuf al-Soomaaliyeed to the Congo, who's family had been exiled from Hejaz in the 19th century and became Dervish nobility as a result. After the fall of Leopoldville in 1970, the Belgians sold the the Congo to Yohannes in exchange for promises that Belgian business could continue to opperate in Katanga. This embittered the Katangans, but the rest of the Congo accepted the deal, seeing it as a way out of the violence that had bloodied the region for nearly a century. The Congo was made a crown territory, but allowed to keep its own government. This government was plagued by a second rebellion in its northern provinces, but the fighting quickly ended.

When the Ottomans decided to annex Egypt, Ethiopia made a deal with them to join the war in exchange for the Sudanese lands they had failed to take during the Great War. Shortly after, A similar joint annexation of Arabia happened alongside Persia, through which Ethiopia gained possession of Hejaz.

Emboldened by the successes of Ethiopian-supported rebels in South Africa, Yohannes made a speech attacking Europe for its history of abuses on the African continent. Many European politicians took this as evidence that Ethiopia was supporting the violent African revolts that were tying up their resources, and concern began to grown that Ethiopia could find itself at war. Yohannes contacted the anti-colonial but isolated Communist Chinese government, brokering a historical trade deal that would slowly trickle into a vague alliance. Yohannes's youngest son Yaqob was sent to be educated in a Chinese military school. The good faith was broken when Ethiopian agents, acting outside of the Emperor's knowledge, had government officials in rebelling Botswana killed, invading during the chaos that proceeded. The Botswanans held the Ethiopians back, but it damaged the relations between north and south.

In 1972, tragedy struck when Yohannes was assassinated during a new years speech in Addis Ababa. His murderers got away, and at first it was unclear who killed him and why. Soon enough, liberal activists campaigning for the end of tje all-powerful monarchy were blamed, and dissenting opinion was put down. Yohannes's son Sahle was put on the throne.

Sahle, a self-interested playboy, left government to his ministers. When riots broke out in protest of the harsh anti-liberal crackdown taking place all over the country, Sahle managed to broker a deal. The Congo, his crown territory, would be handed to a Belgian-Germany corporate rule, and resource rights in Sudan would be handed over to British oil interests. In exchange, they would finance further crackdowns. Nationalists shunned the ruling, seeing it as the end of the growing Ethiopian hegemony in Africa. Ras Hassan, the same Hassan that had went to the Congo on Yohannes's bidding before the later had been made Emperor, and who was now the commanding officer of the Ethiopian forces, led a coup. Failing to overthrow Sahle in one blow, they marched into the Congo to drive the Germans off.

Hassan declared Yaqob, the youngest son of Yohannes, as the rightful Emperor. The war was fought to a standstill until the Germans, who saw the war as more then they had bargained for, signed a truce and pulled out. Liberal rebels made an unlikely alliance with the nationalists, seeing Yaqob and his communist education as their surest bet, and Sahle's government was overthrown. Sahle was caught trying to flee the city wearing his mothers clothes. He was put in house arrest in the north of the country, on the shores of Lake Tana.

Yaqob reorganized the constitution, bringing the Congo under the national government for the first time. The first social programs were put in place, defending farmers and keeping outside forces from gouging prices. The Belgian interests in Katanga were nationalized, citing their attempt to re-insert themselves during the Civil War as having not been in good faith with their original agreement.

The jewel on Yaqob's enchanted early reign would be his successful bid to bring independence to the southern German colonies.

But the enchantment of his early reign ended when Katanga, seeing themselves as having been continually shorted by Ethiopian deals, gathered around an anarchist warlord and anti-belgian veteran Marcel Hondo-Demissie.

Demissie gained a reputation very quickly. He had been known throughout the Congo wars as an ingenius leader, drawing his enemies into traps by playing off of their general's assumptions. He had gained a new trait during the Katangan war, however - he had suddenly taken to wearing women's clothes and makeup, giving him the nickname "The Rouge General." His rebellion struck several blows to the Ethiopian government, and it made Yaqob slowly slip into paranoia and fear.

Even as the Katangan war raged on, a Spanish invasion to reinstall Sahle as Emperor was threatened. Sahle disappeared shortly after. Without their stooge, the Spanish invasion withered away. Soon after, however, an assassination attempt on Yaqob shattered his lung and put him in a coma. A life threatening infection caused him to sleep for two months.

In this time, Hassan went to work. Even as the Katangan rebellion began to falter with tribal leaders turning on the Rouge General. Hassan funneled the people of the largest rebel tribe into camps, where he began to starve them and mutilate their children. This caused an irreparable rift in the rebels, and their forces melted after a failed attempt to liberate the captives. Marcel was captured and committed suicide by slitting his own throat. The Katanga rebellion was over.

Yaqob woke up, but the scars from his wounds never truly healed - physical and emotional. An ugly, veiny scar dominated his chest and he had trouble breathing. Depression and paranoia caused him to become sullen.

As 1980 began, Ethiopia found itself tied into European affairs in a new way. A Turkish attack on the Ethiopian embassy in Armenia caused the African nation to go to war. The Ethiopian navy was sunk during the battle of the red sea, but Ottoman land forces did not manage to make headway. A surprise attack on Palestine was launched by Ras Hassan, who was presumed lost, leading the Ethiopian garrison in Hejaz and connection with Palestinian rebels. Over night, the Ottomans were forces to abandon the south an put their forces closer to Turkey. Ethiopian forces continued to fight alongside the Palestians until the conflict ended. 

2: Confederation of Tanganyika and Mozambique

Became independent from Germany in 1976 in a deal between Ethiopia and Prussia. This state has remained an Ethiopian ally ever sense, and sent troops to fight alongside the Ethiopians during the Ottoman Crisis of early 1980. The Ethiopian military base on Pemba trains Confederated troops. There are Ethiopian advisors active in the country.

3: Liberia

Has not been disturbed.

4: Egypt

Ruled by a sultan until his overthrow during the 1970 Egyptian War with Ethiopia and the Ottoman Empire. Southern Egypt was put under the rule of Ethiopia, while the north was rule of the Ottoman Empire. The Egyptian Sultan fled and disappeared, his whereabouts unknown. Egypt became a loyal part of the Ottoman state and remained so as other provinces began to rebel and break off. The fall of the Ottoman Empire has left Libya's fate uncertain.

5: Libya

Originally owned by France, southern Libya has been ruled by the Ethiopian Empire since the end of the Great War. A chunk of the west was sold to the growing Spanish Empire, and the rest was sold to the Ottoman Empire, who bought it in an attempt to finance their aging nation with oil money. Libya became a loyal part of the Ottoman state and remained so as other provinces began to rebel and break off. The fall of the Ottoman Empire has left Libya's fate uncertain.

6: Angola

Became independent from Germany in 1976 in a deal between Ethiopia and Prussia. The Katangan Rebellion in Ethiopia caused bitterness between it and its southern neighbors, cooling relations between the two countries.

7: South Africa

British colony until the 1971 rebellion that brought them independence. The Ethiopian airforce was involved, helping the rebelling South Africans. As a show of good will after the failed Ethiopian invasion of Botswana made the southern African nations weary, the 1976 government of Yaqob II brought South African officials into Namibia. Namibia was annexed by South Africa. Relations between South Africa and Ethiopia have cooled.

8: Zambia

Became independent from Germany in 1976 in a deal between Ethiopia and Prussia. The Katangan Rebellion in Ethiopia caused bitterness between it and its southern neighbors, cooling the relations between these two countries. This was due in part to the large population of Bemba tribesmen from Zambia who participated with the rebels on the side of the Katangan rebels.

9: Botswana

Botswana fought a lasting rebellion against the loosely governed British colony. Ethiopian help sped the fall of the colonial government. The new government was assassinated en mass during their victory celebration, causing the collapse of the new government and provoking an Ethiopian invasion. The invasion was a failure, and the Ethiopians retreated. Botswana has since been affiliated with South Africa.

MIDDLE EAST

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Ottoman Empire:

The Ottoman Empire was on the verge of revival in the late 60's and early 70's, but its age caught up to itself and it began a gradual climb down as the decade moved on. By 1977, Armenia (the de facto leader and role model of the revolts to follow), Kurdistan, and Azerbaijan had become independent after several long-running conflicts went hot and the fatigued and ill-trained provincial armies were finally attacked for perceived injustices (discrimination and killings targeting race in an effort to suppress rebellion that ended up encouraging it.) After the Armenian advance to the border of their colonial province was finally stopped by a sudden surge of reservist troops, a three year standoff occurred while both countries mustered up resources for the final conflict. This put a drain on other theaters, however, and allowed more insurgencies to crop up. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire's prestige and economy weakened massively and another war in Greece sapped men and supplies. The decline of the Empire - temporarily halted from the early 20th century - resumed at record pace.

From January to early April of 1980, the Armenians managed to reclaim their territories and push the Ottomans out of ethnic Armenia, while another major war in Ethiopia ate up men and materiel. Palestinian guerrillas cut supply lines and greatly weakened the Ottoman forces in the area, resulting in a military too stretched out to deal with the resulting crises. One by one, colonies in the Middle East took their chance and revolted. The provinces were liberated rapidly as Ottomans defected or deserted and lost their will to fight, while many more retreated back to Turkey proper in a command crisis (certain officers ordered their troops to withdraw to protect the home country independently when communications became disrupted and scattered.) In the wake of their collapse was left a volatile mix of unstable new nations - the Balkanization of the Mediterranean Middle East.

Azerbaijan:

Azerbaijan was invaded and occupied by Persia in 1978, shortly after Persian intervention in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict with Armenia and several flashpoints involving Persian diplomats and personnel. With a quick Persian invasion came diplomatic measures to either keep the state independent or to bring it closer to Persia: it has been granted a special status and is all but annexed. Anti-Armenian sentiment is still the norm in the country despite official efforts to change, and Persian military peacekeepers have more or less suppressed any sort of large conflict brewing with their neighbor.

Georgia:

Georgia is totally and completely collapsed. The stresses of invasion, revolution, and slowly-creeping instability from the north have culminated in a completely destroyed state. There is no government to speak of - or, rather, there are too many contested rulers to count. Warlordism in the norm in many regions of the area, with only certain cities retaining authority to become autonomous city-states. Georgia faces raiders from all directions save Armenia, where refugees consistently flee. In response, Armenian activities in the region have been dedicated to funding pro-Armenian warlords in the south to secure the border region and stop the instability from spreading any further. It is a contested region, with many groups of people vying for dominance. Plans have been brought up to deal with the situation, but none of them have been officially implemented.

Dagestan:

Dagestan became a haven for Muslims in the Caucasus during the Armenian War. On multiple occasions, they engaged in conflict with the Armenians such as during the 1978 Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict. Ottoman withdrawal essentially decimated the country and left it in a state of ruin, leading many to turn to crime. Bandit forays into Georgia contributed to the total collapse later that year. Many of these marauders are motivated by anti-Armenianism and engage in occasional skirmishes at border outposts.

Ossetia:

Formed from the ashes of the Russian state, Ossetia is the ethnic home of the Ossetians. Their position in the middle of two collapsed states has essentially rendered it third-world as well, and many turn to banditry like in Dagestan. Raiders frequently cross the porous border to Georgia to loot and kill.

Chechnya:

Chechnya is largely in the same boat as the other Russian territories: collapsed and riddled with warlords and crime. It is a particularly volatile region, holding both anti-Russian and anti-Armenian beliefs.

Volgograd Territories:

The Volgograd Territories are another attempt to create a stable state from Russia's ruins. It, too, is poor, weak, and ill-equipped. Starvation and crime is the norm, and while it remains in the control of a government it is turning slowly more authoritarian to counter the increasingly concerning anarchy.

Pontus:

Pontus is the home of the Pontic Greeks - another ethnicity massacred by the Ottomans. Their state is perilously close to Turkey proper, but the weakened state of the Empire meant that they could secure a turbulent independence with Armenian assistance.

Armenia:

Armenia is the nation that caused much of the initial chaos that led to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. Beginning in the 1920s when it semi-separated alongside Georgia from the Ottoman Empire (via a diplomatic treaty meant to defuse a potential civil war and to satisfy the Armenians in the wake of terrible crises), it had been wracked by ethnic tensions with the Turks (starting from a series of ethnic massacres in 1895 and 1917, although not to the level of a genocide) and popular opinion in Turkey was to have the territories back. They existed in a state of relative uneasiness for the next few years, with Armenia remaining essentially in the Ottoman sphere of influence. The Ottomans intentionally tried to diminish Armenian progress by passing resolutions to limit trade and opportunities for reparation and expansion. Their main goal was to take back those territories that they felt they deserved, while the Armenians tried to maintain their independence. At the same time, animosity between both sides grew to the point of border skirmishes in the early 1960s. This brought the Sultan to a realization that he could use as a just cause to invade Armenia and Georgia again, and retake the colonies that the Ottoman Empire used to own. Preparations for this invasion were underway by 1969, and the Ottomans were waiting for their chance to strike.

In April of 1970, a militia sniper attack struck two Turkish soldiers dead as they patrolled a few kilometers inside the Armenian border. This gave Turkey the chance it needed: they mobilized a full military battlegroup to invade the country. Their reason was that Georgia and Armenia were not "officially" independent countries, and they were removing a rebellion that had taken place in there. The Turkish military quickly overpowered Armenia and overthrew the government, causing a surrender just weeks later. Georgia would surrender at a later date after propositioning Russia for help (they were unable to assist.) Armenia was now a part of the Ottomans again, and within a month more revolutionary elements were underway. The Armenian Revolutionary Front - an organization that fought for independence in the late 19th century and later became a minority ultranationalist political party in the Armenian Parliament - began to organize rallies and militias against the Turkish control. Their leaders were quickly hunted down and jailed (oftentimes executed) and the ARF was disbanded in 1971. It would be six years of occupation before the Armenian Separatist Front - a distinctly different element - became the new face of Armenian revolution. They formed in early 1977, under the leadership of Colonel Aramazd Marissian of the former Armenian Army.

The Armenian War - something that the Armenians claim had been fought in a low-intensity state since 1895 - ratcheted up in intensity that February after the ASF instituted a wave of attacks to bring themselves onto the center stage. Unfortunately, this had the effect of drawing Ottoman attention directly to their key leaders. Less than a week after the sudden, violent declaration of rebellion, Ottoman troops laid siege to the town of Nor Yerzenka where the ASF was headquartered. The early ASF - including Colonel Marissian - were slaughtered in their attempt to stand like a regular army. It is noted that Hasmik Assanian, the later leader of the ASF and first President of Armenia - as well as a former Ottoman Army Pathfinder NCO -, survived the battle and sneaked away to link up with Marissian's contacts in the Nagorno-Karabakh. Assanian hitched a ride to the southern mountains of that province to find a new headquarters in the town of Hadrut. From there, he organized effective resistance against the Ottoman regime. Shortly after the rout at Nor Yerzenka, a declaration of independence was broadcasted over the state-run radio channel (practically the only radio station in the occupied country), urging Armenians to join their cause.

Thousands of Armenians heard the call to arms, and appropriated themselves quickly. Assanian's ASF instituted a campaign of propaganda across the country, and numbers of angry young men turned out in droves - many because of the economic and political policies of the Ottoman state, while others because of their feelings to defend their civil rights as Armenians - to fight the Ottomans. The ASF's guerrillas struck hard and unpredictably against the unprepared Turks. Battles broke out against military and security forces in East Armenia, and within two months the Ottomans were unable to cope with the sudden revolt. Their new directive was to retreat and gather reinforcements in the West Armenian provinces and push back into the East. With the Turks on the run, Assanian declared formal independence on July 17th, 1977. Yet the battle was still not over. The Armenian claims to Greater Armenia were largely unfulfilled in the West, where Turkish forces were regrouping and rearming with fresh troops. The ASF's combat corps assimilated and reorganized into the new Armed Forces of Armenia and began their push westward. After several bloody battles, the Turkish stopped them at Erzurum and denied access to the coasts. With each side unable to progress, a stalemate had been reached. A DMZ was quickly declared, and each side dug in to prevent further territorial losses.

The next three years were characterized by stalemate and development. Eager to put men back to work to begin producing to become self-sufficient and to finish the job against the Ottomans, Armenia began negotiating aid from Persia and Poland - two close allies - to begin improving various facets of the country. A recovery administration began repairing and opening up factories - particularly in Hrazdan - and resource plants, while companies set up to begin the economy. The government maintained a close control over everything, slowly letting go as industries became stable and did not need further intervention. Foreign assistance contributed greatly, with Polish weapons and industrial equipment forming the bulk of Armenia's military and manufacturing sector, respectively. Persia contributed with infrastructure improvements, including funding and plans for an oil pipeline and highway running through the country. The thousands of unemployed Armenians and the incoming refugees from the Caucasus (mostly from failed states like Georgia and Russia) were put to work, while many were drafted for an approaching fight. Between the Armenian Revolution and the Offensive of 1980, economic growth soared. Politically, Assanian took hold as President of the interim economy stated to be replaced by a legitimately elected government by 1980. He ruled in a troika of sorts with his Defense Minister Jordan Ivakon and the Vice President Joseph Pollundrian. While a parliament does exist, it was largely ignored in favor of Assanian's emergency powers.

Meanwhile, a plan for victory was taking shape. In a move characteristic of the oftentimes scheming Assanian administration (in cooperation with Ethiopia), the Armenians launched a secretive black-ops false-flag attack against the Ethiopian embassy in Yerevan, blaming the Turks and effectively securing an ally for the war (the attack, made in secret agreement with the King of Ethiopia, changed their parliament's mind over intervention in the conflict.) The Offensive of 1980 broke days later when Armenian forces launched a surprise attack over the border. They hurled their entire military at the Turkish forces massed in their lands, and rushed through the demoralized and ill-prepared Turkish units. Within two weeks, they had reached the city of Erzurum where the Turks planned to repeat their tactics during the 1977 revolution: link up with reinforcements drawn from Syria and other territories. However, as other revolts became more pressing, those men would never be freed to arrive. A war with Ethiopia consumed necessary supplies in large numbers, as desperate Turkish troops became lost in the African deserts. The Turkish were largely routed in bloody engagements. Armenian momentum carried them to the border, where they chased the Turks into the Turkish state by mid-April. Only a week later, the Ottoman Empire formally imploded upon itself, and the peace treaties signed made it recognize the former states' independence. A decisive victory not only for Armenia, but for the rest of the Ottoman colonies. Now Armenia found itself at the cusp of a new era: the respected leader and role model of a new mix of volatile, rowdy, infant nations.

Greece:

Greece has always been at odds with the Ottoman Empire. Although it was declared independent in 1822, it had fallen again to resurgent conquering and colonialism in the 1960s and 70s. It, much like the other countries that had been under the boot of the Ottomans, held animosity towards them for stealing their independence and actively sought to rebel. Their conflict was comprised mostly of low-intensity operations until the mid-1970s, where revolution suddenly erupted and the Greeks fought to secure their home. Their lands, being perilously close to the Ottoman homeland and its capital of Istanbul, were heavily fought for by the Turks - perhaps more so than Armenia or other possessions. By 1977, zones of the country were independent but it was only until 1980 that full stability of the Grecian isles was secured. But they did not stop there: during the last days of the Ottoman Empire the Greeks crossed the Aegean to reclaim lands on the western coast of Turkey. This included the Straight of Dardanelles, even if the Bosporus remained under Turkish control. Despite the fact that the Greek homelands were now secure, revolutions in Pontus and Cyprus continued.

Cyprus:

Cyprus was another one of the first wave of independent countries, when its guerrillas fought off the Ottoman units on the island and managed to repel any further amphibious invasion (Ottoman troops were relatively inexperienced and untrained, being mostly a land force.) Using its newfound position, Cyprus's economy became based more on trade and banking than anything else. It maintains positive relations with Greece and Syria, as well as (also Christian) Armenia.

Syria:

Syria revolted in the mass uprisings of 1980, fighting to secure its independence. Their strategic position cut Ottoman forces in two, letting the southern units wither without a solid supply chain. After the collapse in late March, Syria became a new country comprising the Greater Syria area (excluding Palestine, a separate state founded by an independent liberation organization.)

Palestine:

Palestine was another one of the countries formed after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. They, despite being within Syria's area, managed to remain independent through fierce negotiations with the Syrian guerrillas. As a result, they are often incredibly tense and at-odds with their neighbor.

Iraq:

The Kingdom of Iraq, ruled by the Hashemites since the Arab rebellion, has served as somewhat of a buffer state between the Ottoman Empire and Persia ever since. A poor and mismanaged country despite its immense oil reserves, it has returned to the forefront since the early 70's with the resurgence of its two major neighbors. The first years of the decade saw the Ottoman Empire attempt to take over the country by encouraging the Kurds to rebel, only to have Persia, itself just recently out of its torpor, act decisively against these goals, guaranteeing the Iraqi state's sovereignty and extending citizenship rights to the Shi'a population. Since these events in 1971, the Ottoman Empire has receded from view, engaged in its own civil war, leaving Persia as the main partner of the country. It is slowly growing closer to its protector, both economically and culturally, gaining a bit from it's meteoric expansion, essentially becoming its client state.

Afghanistan:

Afghanistan, ever a complex case, remains what it always has been: a proud collection of fierce peoples. The king retains only as much power as the tribes leave him, keeping thanks to political shrewdness and his neighbor's benevolence the land together. Slowly but surely, modern life is installing itself in the city's biggest cities: Kabul, Kandahar, Herat... Keeping rather apart from the surrounding turbulence, it was however forcefully involved in the diplomatic game in 1976, when the UFI, a communist-backed movement, made great inroads in northern India, threatening to reunite the shattered peninsula under Beijing's terms. Persia, in order to intervene, needed access to Afghanistan's few but nevertheless vital highways, and a foothold in the country, which it gained only in exchange for a sizeable contribution to the state's coffers. Aside from that sudden awakening, Afghanistan lays dormant.

Pakistan:

Pakistan, as such,does not exist. Part of India until 1971, it has since the collapse of central authority been divided into petty states by warlords, religious leaders and adventurers. Only in October 1976, following the takeover of Bengal by the UFI, was order imposed once again upon the region by the persian military, who occupied the Indus river valley preventively, as UFI forces were nearing on Ahmedabad, in nearby Gujarat. Since the armistice in late 1977, it has been reintegrated into a federal Indian state, with wide autonomy for its constitutive regions, Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkwa.

Persia:

Persia: Persia has underwent quite a radical change in the past decade. After a period of intermittent upheaval in the two decades following the close of the Great War, in 1927, which nearly brought the monarchy to its knees, pitting it first against the communists, then against the various ethnic groups, and finally the most extreme religious figures, the country stagnated socially and politically under the reign of Fereydoun Shah Qajar, who lacked the will to contest the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's increasingly powerful grip on the nation. This period came to an end with the assassination of the sick Shah along with his presumptive heir on December 8th 1970 by Kurdish terrorists, secretly supported by the Shah's very own son, Ali Mohammad, convinced of the necessity of radical change.

Immediately following his accession to the throne, his elder brother Qoram having been excluded of the succession for his communist sympathies, the Shah announced sweeping reforms, the foremost being the organization of free elections to elect a constituent assembly whose mission would be to draft a democratic constitution for the country, up to then an absolute monarchy.

The Shah's first move was to strike the Anglo-Persian by nationalizing it, returning its assets and revenues to the government. Less than a month after his arrival to power, the Shah was confronted with the necessity of intervention in neighboring Saudi Arabia, whose civil war was threatening to destabilize the entire Middle East. In conjunction with Ethiopia, a quick war was fought in late December-early January, which led to the partition of the country, the eastern regions, along with the Trucial States and Oman, populated mostly by Shi'a, and holding most of the oil reserves, going to Persia, while Hejaz went to Ethiopia, Najd itself remaining as an independent country, the Saudi family ousted from power. Yemen declared its independence in October 1971, concluding the collapse of the Saudi monarchy.

In his first six months of power, the Shah enacted a number of decrees introducing freedom of the press, of religion and giving civil rights to women, all of which were threatened in the immediate aftermath of the elections of July 1971 when a slight majority of the seats were found to be filled by conservative to extremely hard-line Islamists, resulting in massive protests. Eventually the constitution, adopted in November 1971, was written along much more consensual lines, safeguarding fundamental democratic rights and organizing the country along federal lines, to accommodate the ethnic minorities, which represent a sizable part of the population as well as of the parliament.

In the years since, the government, mostly centrist, has overseen an economic boom in Persia, fueled by the growing global demand for fossil fuels, serving the industrial take-off of the country, allowing it to adopt a number of social policies such as minimum wage and a basic social net, among others. Furthermore, it has spearheaded the modernization of the country, bringing running water, electricity and roads to the country's poor and isolated rural areas, as well as the development of an efficient and compulsory education system.

In international diplomacy, the country remained for the better part of the decade more or less neutral, intervening only to safeguard its immediate interests such as on Iraq, threatened with an invasion by the Ottoman Empire, or in India, where the communist-backed UFI was making significant inroads. There, starting from 1976, the Persian government massively supported the local Punarjanam movement, a disparate group lead by Kanda Timay Bagalkoti, calling for the regeneration of the country on its own terms, within a framework of democratic debate and reform of the country. In late 1977, an armistice was signed between the two sides, setting the stage for the peace treaty which gave India its current political system, that of a federal republic neutral in ideological terms and in international affairs. Furthermore, Persia unofficially involved itself in the civil war wracking the Ottoman Empire, supporting the rebel movements, and secretly backing the new Armenian nation, building extremely close economic and military ties with it.

These successes, accompanied by the flowering of a modern Persian culture, brought on by westernization and the increasingly fast urbanization of the population, left however the nation torn between several antagonistic groups, the most liberal groups opposing the most staunchly conservative ones. On a backdrop of corruption, this lead to a near-reenactment of the civil war in 1978-1979, bringing about the most unexpected result of a victory of the Communist Party of Persia in the urns in August of 1979, leading to the formation of the first ever democratically-elected communist government in the world.

With the reassurance that the party, actually only the leader of a wide coalition, would guarantee the democratic form of government, the Shah, recognizing his failure at preventing the near-collapse of the nation in the past years, acquiesced to the drafting of a new constitution, which would leave him as much more of a ceremonial figurehead. This constitution, as of 1980, is still being written, clearly entrenched in secularism and preserving the many radical social and economic reforms passed in the second half of 1979, among which the total re-foundation of the judiciary system, divorce at the instigation of the wife, the right to abortion, a universal healthcare system, the legalization of homosexuality, and significant urban development plans for the poorest, as well as a land reform in favor of small owners. In an uneasy situation, the government has not, however, clearly aligned itself on China nor sought to grow closer to the 3rd international, more so because the communist party has significantly drifted apart from the communist mainstream, evolving into a more moderate and national-oriented political formation.

In short, the country, whose rebirth has been acknowledged by the organization of the 1980 Olympic summer games, remains at a historical crossroads, ripe with opportunities and threats. 

EUROPE

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(Refer to Russia Map for lore-accurate Baltic and White Sea-area Russia)

1: France

Invaded by the German Empire during the Great War, it was one of the nations most affected. It has since recovered but traces of the Great War's effects still linger. Nearly all of it colonies were lost - some through revolts, others more peacefully - as a result of the war. Unable to manage its Algerian territories, and hoping to help its economy recover, Algeria was sold to the Spanish in the early 1970s.

2: United Kingdom

Like France, it was greatly affected by the Great War. Its colonies were quickly lost to independence movements and, in the case of Gibraltar (1948) and the Ivory Coast (1976), lost to Spanish occupation. With its military stagnant following the war, it becomes unable to respond to threats against its territories (allowing the aforementioned occupations to happen without much resistance) and fails to maintain its status as a Great Power. It saw a period of political turmoil that stood on the verge of anarchy for years and is still recovering from the effects.

3: Belgium

Invaded by the German Empire during the Great War. In 1950, it successfully repels a Spanish invasion of the Congo, one of its colonies at the time.

4: Denmark

Has not been disturbed.

5: Switzerland

Made a series of half-baked purchases in 1976 using loans from other nations, primarily from Germany, Austria and Serbia. They were unable to pay back their debt, leading to the Swiss Debt War in late 1976. A newly unified German state (a union between Prussia and Bavaria) lead a coalition of Austrian and Serbian allies to strike key targets across Switzerland. The war was brief and few land forces were deployed. The countries involved were able to reclaim their lost treasury after the conflict and Switzerland fell under the Prussian sphere of influence.

6: Hungary

Participated in the Great War on the side of the Central Powers (then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire). Split from Austria in 1922 (following a revolution that ended the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy) and ended its participation in the war. Unsuccessfully invaded Ukraine in 1976. Its forces were repelled by Polish forces in defense of Ukraine. The event lead to the formation of the Slavic Union, in which Poland and Ukraine joined to form one nation, due in part to Ukraine's inability to defend its borders alone.

7: Sweden

Has not been disturbed.

8: Norway

Has not been disturbed

9: Italy

Fought on the side of the Allied Powers during the Great War. Invaded by the Ottoman Empire in the early 1970s. Spanish support helps secure the northern part of the country and halt the Ottoman advance. By 1974, the Spanish governor of Northern Italy - Aurelio Batista - rules the north alone. Later, Batista goes on to push the Ottomans out of Southern Italy. Shortly after, he cuts his ties to Spain. He rules Italy with an iron fist for several years.

In 1976, Italian rebels begin to fight back against the Batistan regime. Spain - enraged that Batista refused to heel - begins to secretly assist the rebel cause. In early 1977, Spain declares war on Batista's regime and engages in open warfare. Batista flees the country and the rebels take over, forming a new government.

10: Netherlands

Has not been disturbed.

11: Serbia

Took part in a Prussian-lead strike force during the Swiss Debt War.

12: Greece

Rebelled against the weakened Ottoman Empire in 1976. With the Ottoman Empire dealing with other revolts across its territories, the Greeks were able to free themselves in a relatively brief and successful rebellion.

13: Slovenia and Croatia:

Formerly part of Austria. The two now form a single country. They were granted their independence after Austria was annexed by Prussia.

14: Poland/Slavic Union

Declared its independence in 1922 amidst the Great War. Later, it opens up ports and becomes a significant trading power. Poland took advantage of uprisings in Czech Republic in 1970, and the Austrian territory was quickly absorbed. Austria, unable to quell the uprising and confront Poland, lost the territory without resistance. Poland became the Slavic Union shortly after. In 1975, Poland intervened in a Hungarian invasion of Ukraine, managing to repel the Hungarian forces. Ukraine joined the Slavic Union in exchange for protection after the war.

In 1976, Poland deployed forces into Moscow to quell the violence there. They also provided arms to Armenia during their rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.

15: Bulgaria

Has not been disturbed.

16: Romania

Has not been disturbed.

17: Bosnia

Has not been disturbed.

18: Belarus

Has not been disturbed.

19: Lithuania

Has not been disturbed.

20. Slovakia

Has not been disturbed.

21. Finland

Rebelled against the Russian Empire in 1970 in a movement known as the Vallankumous Finns. The movement was founded by Viktor Laine, a Finnish farmer who's livelihood was destroyed by what he believed to be an oppressive government. Though originally a larger front, its members were whittled down to two survivors - Viktor Laine and Jahani Mikhael - following a Russian campaign of suppression against the rebels.

Viktor Laine and Jahani Mikhael went on to terrorize Finland and Russia in a series of attacks aimed at members of the Russian government and its supporters, as well as military forces. Perhaps their most notorious crime was the murder of the Tsar's daughter and her unborn child. Their terror tactics were so effective marshal law was established in several Russian towns following the murder, and riots broke out when they targeted civilians in a planned effort to cause anarchy and facilitate their escape.

Their rampage through Russia ended with the assassination of the Tsar himself, in which Jahani sacrificed himself to detonate a bomb near a stage the Tsar was giving a speech on. The chaos that ensued gave Viktor the opportunity to fire from a concealed position, killing the Tsar. Viktor himself was never seen again.

The assassination of the Tsar brought about the fall of the Russian Empire as the military became split with loyalties and counteracting political ideologies. With Russia gone, Finland became independent under the rule of the Royal Boyars that stayed behind, who many saw as nothing more than a remnant of the old government. This lead to a second revolution lead by Frihet-Kampe Sven, a leader of a socialist movement. The new revolution was successful in marching south to Helsinki, driving the Boyars off the mainland. In the end, Sven was successful in bringing about the formation of a communist government, a move that was quick to draw the attention of a strongly anti-communist Spain.

A Spanish naval force was sent - which included the newly constructed Spanish carrier, 'La Vanguardia' - to oppose the rise of communism in Finland. In response, China - a communist nation - sends its submarine, 'Bohai'. When the Spanish naval attache began shelling the coastline, the Bohai responded with a torpedo aimed at 'La Vanguardia', sinking it and forcing the Spanish into retreat.

Hostilities finally ceased when a peace conference held in Ethiopia split Finland in two. The south - backed by Spain - controlled by the Boyars, and the north - backed by China - controlled by the communists under Sven.

22. Germany

The Great War took its toll. Early victories in 1914 and 1915 gave the young Empire hope, and its people drank in the pride they had felt when their brave young men took the field at Sedan in 1870. But this was not the same. Even though the Russians blundered across the Eastern Front from one slaughter to another, Germany faced the combined forces of France, Britain, and the dozens of colonies both had spent the last two centuries building. New weapons of war, built in the factories of the industrial revolution and the laboratories of modern secular science, changed the shape of the battlefield forever. Machine guns ended the cavalry charge that had been a staple of warfare from Gaugamela to Waterloo. Flying machines built from canvas and beam and wire, an invention scarcely past a decade old, dropped bombs and burst reconnaissance balloons. And then each other. Pilots shot at each other with pistols, and then with machine guns timed with their propellers. Massive steel vehicles driven by diesel motors pushed through lines of men, and could not be stopped by rifle shot alone. To advance was death. To appear was death. Everybody hid in trenches.

Russia left the war earlier, frightened by a Bolshevik revolution at home. Though the revolution was brought to a close, the battered Empire stayed out of the war. German u-boats sunk any ship that threatened to supply their foes. This raised the ire of the supposedly neutral, but few did anything about it. As much as the Allies wanted them to join the fight, the United States kept silent. Even as their plans failed on the western front, Germany had a stroke of luck when Abyssinia, the small African kingdom that had broken Italy a generation earlier, joined its side and brought down Allied colonies abroad. No matter what happened, neither side gained enough of an advantage to end the war.

By 1919, Germany was prepared to crack. The British headed blockade in the North Sea was choking their lands dry, and prices sky-rocketed. The people blamed their generals, and they blamed the war, and they blamed their Kaiser. New troops that should have been heading to the front stayed in Germany and put down plots and the traitors who plotted them.

As the bloody decade came to a close and the twenties dawned, the war turned into a pointless stalemate. Neither side budged, but neither side could afford to advance. Calls for peace came and went, but both sides were convinces that the other would capitulate if they just waited a month longer. A month always turned into months, however, and months into years. It wouldn't be until 1925 when they would see their peace, and by then too much damage had been done. The Habsburg monarchy disintegrated, leaving the Austria-Hungarian Empire a smattering of new independent states. Britain retreated from the world, and even from her Empire, and France fared as badly.

For Germany, those who had hoped the end of the war would bring them normality had their hopes dashed. War debts loomed, an army full of disillusioned men came home with nightmares, and bread remained expensive. For many Germans, it was the Kaiser's fault.

Republicanism swept across the country, headed off only in the North where the military might of old Prussia still held sway. The Kaiser resigned, afraid that the bloody terrors of the French Revolution one hundred years before had finally arrived in his country. Legendary General Paul von Hindenburg was elected Chancellor, but this was not enough.

Unable to bring the south to heal, he allowed the new Bavarian-led republic its independence. It was a time to rebuild, not to fight a civil war, and so rebuild they did. For the next fifty years, the divided land of Germany licked its wounds and waited for a new generation of youth to guide them.

The death of Hindenburg in 1939, and his successor in the next decade, brought the republican spirit back to the country. Wishing for unity, they two nations folded back into a single republic. It would stay this way until 1976.

The 1970's were a decade that changed the world. Communism was rising in the east, Spain filled the boots of the old European powers and set about rebuilding its old Empire. The Ottoman Empire was showing signs of crumbling, and Africa was beginning to congeal into a force of its own. In Germany, the stressed republic was beginning to loose favor. Spanish hegemony in Europe was seen as an insult to German pride that the ineffectual government was doing nothing about. A string of depressions and recessions made people uncertain of their jobs or futures, and it seemed like there was a new scandal in Munich every week. When the Minister of the Treasury was caught embezzling funds into foreign banks for the personal use of him and his friends, the people grew angry, and when it was revealed that the same Minister was married into a prominent Jewish family, that made it somehow worse.

Protests turned into riots when green guards mishandled them. An underground pro-monarchy movement added fuel to the fire when they dug up an unknown construction worker named Frederick who happened to be second in line for the place of Hohenzollern family head. The first in line, a sonless old rich pile of dust living in an old castle that nobody thought twice about, was easily passed over. Frederick was tall, loud, and sported a forked blonde beard that looked good under a pickelhaube. With his face in their minds, the riots turned into a revolution. The Munich government surrendered, and Frederick was put in its place. He moved the capital to Berlin and took the title "King of Prussia".

A swift occupation of the broke nation of Austria brought it into this Greater German polity, and nationalism swelled in the streets. German military might was increased. For the Germans, Frederick had brought the nation back to where it was before the damnable war. As the seventies came to an end, it looks as if even borders will not contain their swelling pride. 

NORTH AMERICA

[img]http://i.imgur.com/mttYJn4.png[/img]

1: The United States:
The United States did not get involved in the Great War. For decades, American forces were tied up in a rebellion in the Philippines. In the 1960's, the United States was forced to pull out of the Phillippines when a Second Civil War broke out at home.

Jason Duhmell was a US army officer who's participation in Floridian politics was controversial enough to earn him an honorable discharge. He was a leading member in local workers movements, and spearheaded a state-wide campaign to divide the state of Florida in two - the Northern Half, his home, where workers rights candidates prevailed, and the Southern Half, which he claimed was part of a "Jewish Conspiracy." His movement failed, but it would be the seed of something bigger.

Economic depression struck the country in waves every other decade. World trade was devastated by the Great War, and the American economy failed to grow. Many of its poor, rural citizens saw this as a failure of their government, and of the "Big bosses" in wall street. Protests spread across the country demanding more rights for workers, better pay, and rights for unions. The American government responded coldly, and reform was rare. It came to a head in 1965 when the southern states broke away. A quick election was held in the south, and its capital was moved to Jacksonville, Florida. Jason Duhmell, the discharged officer from northern Florida, became the commander of the rebel military.

With weapons stolen from military bases and factories across the south, Duhmell invaded Maryland and forced the US government to flee Washington for the safety of San Francisco. United States forces arrived shortly after, and the brunt forced Duhmell back across the border.

The rise of the socialist rebels caused similar movements to explode across the Midwest. There were few successes, the most notable being the short lived Detroit Commune, but they had an effect. The United States was close to losing nearly half of its lands.

It was then, at the very worst possible time, that Canada invaded. The worlds longest undefended border in the world became a joke as Canadians pressed into New England and Oregon. Because this war ran into the Second American Civil War, the entire thing was seen as a single conflict. "The First North American War."

Canada quickly secured Alaska and began a campaign to annex parts of Oregon and New England. Having quickly overrun New England in a bombing campaign that leveled New York City and Boston, a Canadian puppet states was put in place. It would have went well, if it hadn't been for an invasion of Michigan which threatened the rebel Detroit Commune. American diplomats in the South used this to successfully convince the rebel Southern government that Canada was looking to annex everything down to Mexico. A temporary truce was brokered, and Canada was faced with the entirety of the American and Southern military might.

At the Wars zenith, Ethiopia and China staged a joint operation with support from the Vatican City, helping to bring aid to the embattled American people and to airlift refugees out of the country.

Peace was brokered. New England, the Canadian puppet state, would remain independent, and Canada would get to retain Alaska. For the Canadians, it was technically a victory, but the war would have costs on their government that would end in the creation of the Northwestern Coalition: A State comprised of Alberta and the southern portion of British Columbia.

The South did not go to war with the United States again; both nations were tired of Americans slaughtering Americans. The Southern government would prove reckless, however, when they invaded Cuba. This conflict would ruin their already bankrupt economy, and the nation would collapse almost as quickly as it won its independence. The Southern States, by the end of 1971, were ushered back into the Union.

The war had its effects though. The American Socialist party swallowed the remnants of the Southern Government and became a real force, electing their own president. The Socialist President, pressured by congress, began demanding that New England rejoin the union. Troops were stationed at the border, and a blockade was introduced along the nations ports. Though they were just meant as a way to pressure New England's government into a crisis between it and its often loyal American citizens, the plan backfired. Canada took it as a declaration of war and brought Spain into the conflict.

The Second North American War was short. The Spanish navy broke the blockade, but pro-American rebels in New England sabotaged Spanish and Canadian forces. The New English government failed to provide support, and it became clear that what the Spanish and Canadians were trying to save was hopeless. New England was abandoned, and folded back into the United States shortly after.

The Northwestern Coalition, which had joined the war on the side of New England, failed to surrender. They tried desperately to take control of what they felt was their rightful Cascadian territories. The war was an abysmal failure, but their president was presented with an option. He turned it down and sued for peace, but an extreme faction in his government went ahead with their plan. In 1976, the Northwestern Coalition dropped a deadly chemical VX bomb in Seattle, killing the entire civilian population. It was seen as an attack on humanity, and it destroyed any chance of the Northwestern Coalition getting a fair peace. The country was occupied and its government dismantled.

The US remained in the hands of the Socialist party until a mixture of conservative and populist elements began to emerge. By 1980, a rising senator named Dixon passed a bill that officially named the remnants of the North Western Coalition into a territory of the United States with the option of statehood in the future. Called "Cascadia territory", its future was sealed. The 1980 election season was hotly contested, but it was interrupted when a faction in the United States military, facing pay cuts, occupied the capital and forced an immediate election. This was seen as controversial across the world.

2: Canada:
Britain's Anarchy caused many British citizens to flee to Canada. Seeing it as an extension of their empire, they pushed forward a more aggressive nationalist agenda. An oil sand industry in Alberta caused an economic spike, and the wealthy conservative element it produced joined the nationalist movement. An idea spread amongst these factions that land bartered to the Americans during the 19th century had been unfairly lost. Oregon, Washington, and parts of Maine were seen as rightfully Canadian. This movement was little more than an attempt to stir up a more fervent nationalism, but when the United State broke out into Civil War, it became more.

In 1970, the Canada invaded the United States. They quickly over-ran New England and created a puppet state there. It was only when the United States managed to put its civil war aside that Canada was forced back. They managed to take Alaska, and their New English puppet was allowed to exist, but this still wasn't enough. Canada had failed in its goals, and the belief that they were superior to their disorganized American neighbors was dashed.

This caused the government to fracture. The wealthy conservative elements in the west managed to barter for autonomy, forming the North Western Coalition. Originally it was supposed to be no more then a slightly more autonomous part of Canada, but it quickly began to exercise true independence.

In 1976, American forced blockaded New England. Canada, with the help of Spain, went to war in order to support their neighbor. Canadian and Spanish forces broke the blockade, but found the New English government to be unpopular amongst its people. It was clear that they would not last long, so Canada and Spain abandoned the war. The North Western Coalition did not, and they continued to try to invade Washington despite being outnumbered and outgunned. It's elite presented a weapon to its president, but the president refused to use it, suing for peace instead. The elite ignored him, however, and used the weapon on Seattle. A VX bomb. The toxic chemical killed the entire population of Seattle and many of those downwind of the city. It was seen as an affront to humanity, and the United States occupied the NWC. They later annexed it.

3: Mexico:
Socialist, a member of the Third International/Comintern. Otherwise undisturbed.

4: Cuba:
Socialist. Otherwise undisturbed.

5: Jamaica:
Undisturbed

6: Haiti:
Undisturbed.

7: Dominican Republic:
Undisturbed

SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA

[img]http://i.imgur.com/jtAHXTv.png[/img]

1: Brazil:
From 1917 until the end of the war in 1925, Brazil fought against the central powers via its navy in the Atlantic Ocean. In 1976, Brazil started SAC (South American Confederation): A confederation that united South America through a system of alliances and open trade. Through a tentative alliance with Ethiopia, they openly questioned Spain and its expansion into the Ivory Coast, but nothing came of it. Brazil is an economic capitalist nation, but socialist elements have began to gain a political foothold in the country. Brazil, along with other SAC members, launched an operation in Columbia to root out drug lords.

2: Argentina:
Member of SAC.

3: Chile:
Member of SAC.

4: Bolivia:
Member of SAC.

5: Peru:
Member of SAC.

6: Ecuador:
Member of SAC.

7: Columbia:
Member of SAC. Like in real life, over-ran with Cocaine related drug lords. SAC launched an operation against them in the 1970's, weakening their power.

8: Venezuela:
Member of SAC.

9: Panama:
Undisturbed.

10: Costa Rica:
Undisturbed.

11: Nicaragua:
Undisturbed.

12: Honduras:
Undisturbed.

13: El Salvador:
Undisturbed.

14: Guatemala:
Undisturbed.

15: Belize:
Undisturbed.[/hider]