[center][b][u]Age of Imperialism 2.0: TURN 1 | Spring, 1920 (April)[/u][/b] (Turn ,1 Part 2 of 3)[/center] [b]April 1st[/b]: The capital of Grobina in the [color=ed145b][b]Markovnian Republic[/b][/color] was a bustling city in southwest Markovnia. Industry was booming, but only in Grobina was life comparative to the industrialized nations of Athos & Stule, Soroya and Ostruznica. Kalpian First Minister Aclen Bomanot Siquiouquio stepped off the train at Grobina and was met with a Markovnian security detail to the State House, where he met Minister of Affairs Juozas Karvelis. Karvelis showed Siquiouquio the magnificent paintings from famous Markovnian artists of the Great Era. While Karvelis was excited that Siquiouquio brought tidings from the recently re-established Kalpia state, he was disappointed the meeting was ultimately hollow and without purpose. Karvelis' bid Siquiouquio farewell. Siquioquio returned to the station and boarded a train for Savado, the seaside capital of the [color=0076a3][b]Kingdom of Montevedro[/b][/color]. [center][img]http://www.blogto.com/upload/2010/08/20100822-1924_Toronto_QueenW_lookingEastfromJamesSt.jpg[/img] [i]Grobina, April 1920[/i][/center] [b]April 4th[/b]: The [b][color=blue]United Kingdoms of Athos & Stules[/color][/b] released a statement to the press that it would be guaranteeing the independence of the [b]Free City of Suvre[/b] in Northwest Centran, [b]Aydina[/b] in Tervasa and the [b]Loremian Republic[/b] in Western Centran. All three's governments praised the strength and courage of the Dual-Monarchy and their decision to maintain the new borders and sovereignty of the states. Boletarian news pressed admonished the decision to maintain the Suvre's neutrality, stating: "[i]Suvre is a city propped up by the Dual Monarchy's fear of a strong Boletarian nation.[/i]." The Athos & Stulian embassy in Byrnis met with a small protest, and Athosian diplomat William Kinsberg complained: "[i]Those Survaekom boys sure took their time dispersing those dissidents[/i]." [b]April 9th[/b]: The [i]Soro-Qing Debacle[/i] was the attempted, and by Qing standards, forced measure of diplomacy between the [b][color=purple]Kingdom of Soroya[/color][/b] and the [b]Qingstao Dominion[/b] in Eastern Faresia. The embassy, which had lain mostly decadent since the beginning of The Terrible War, was reinvigorated with life at the beginning of April for renewed negotiations with the great Faresian nation. The Soroyan diplomat promptly requested a trade city within Qingstao lands. Foreign Junior Diplomat Chen Qiufa--Senior Diplomat Li Xiu was on leave in North Qingstao--had the Soroyan diplomat removed under threat of arrest for "[i]making judicious demands against the Thousand Heaven's Empire[/i]." The diplomat was on a train back to New Eiland later that evening. [center][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Kitaiskaia_Street_in_Harbin.JPG[/img] [i]Meung, Prominent coastal city in eastern Qingstao, 1920[/i][/center] [b]April 15th[/b]: The Živković Automotive Engineering company was reopened in the [b][color=brown]Commonwealth of Ostruznica[/color][/b]. A prominent development firm with a half dozen factories at its peak, half of the board was killed when their train was bombed by Zellonian bombers during the Great War. Eight weeks later the fighting in Ostruznica had ended, and plans were put into play to reactive the company. Several new factories are planned to retool their equipment to begin producing domestic automobiles, and anticipation is high for the new 1921 model to hit early next year, as automobiles are a long time tradition and luxury of the modern Ostruznican people. [center][img]http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/__data/assets/image/0011/297065/vickers-00394-640.jpg[/img] [i]Inside a typical Živković Automotive Engineering (ZAE) factory, circa 1920[/i][/center] [b]April 23rd-28th[/b]: The [b][color=fff79a]Korenian Republic[/color][/b] had long been held as a place of stoicism and tradition. A neutral party during The Terrible War, Prime Minister Michał Grażyński led the nation through with a resolution lacking in even more prominent nations. He successfully mitigated involvement by denying Osladian military access at the threat of invasion, and staved off further attempts by sly Soroyan diplomats to join the war effort. On April 23rd, Prime Minister Grażyński was laid to rest, having passed away in his sleep at the age of seventy-one. Deputy Minister Zdzisław Bradel, per the regulations of the Korenian Grand Constitution was allotted twenty-four hours before assuming office, allowing the Korenian Parliament to meet to discuss any problems. Bradel, a former military officer and sworn in during The Terrible War, was not well liked. An advocate for joining the Osladians against the Great Powers, he was made Deputy Minister by Grażyński as a stopgap to appease the war hawks in his State Party. Bradel did not wait twenty-four hours, and on the morning of the 23rd entered the Parliament Building with a half dozen Korenian military police. The Korenian Parliament was dismissed, and several more prominent Centrist's were placed on house arrest. He delivered a very succinct message to the press: [quote]"The people of Korenia have suffered. They have weathered neutrality, and banality. They have disgraced themselves by falling behind in the merits of industry, science and reason. Under Grażyński we have met peace and married mediocrity. Korenian nationality has suffered, as vagrants of the Terrible War invade from the borderlands. Tangarians steal our women! Athosians steal our jobs! Yet Korenia will not long linger in the shadows. Fate has placed me at your head, and Bradel is a name that will be remembered." -- Prime Minister Zdzisław Bradel[/quote] The streets came alive. By the morning of the 24th, thousands of Korenians of all sorts invaded the streets, swarming the parliament building. Offices were ransacked, cars overturned. Several dozen murders, many of them inadvertent, were committed in the mass of bodies and impulsive behavior. The change "LONG LIVE GRAZYNSKI" carried through the night. Bradel, from the Parliament Building ordered a general alert for the Herada Militia. On the morning of the 25th and for the remainder of the week, the world rushed to the morning paper to see the various headlines for Korenia: "[b]PRIME MINISTER PROMISES STRENGTH[/b]," "[b]TWO RIOTERS SHOT IN FRONT OF STATE BUILDING[/b]" [center][IMG]http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z72/Mazooma1/number%20two%20neat%20and%20old/wallstreet1920.jpg[/IMG] [i]Korenian streets, April 24th-28th[/i][/center] [b]April 30th[/b]: Near the end of the month, [b]Osika Aeronautics[/b], located in Wrenclaw of the [b][color=blue]Second Boletarian Republic[/color][/b], revealed a prototype fighter dubbed the Strzelec-1F. A robust fighter, it was powered by an Osika 2Ha 9-cylinder rotary engine capable of 82 kW (110 hp). Armed with a pair of nose mounted Soroyan Zallandt-12 machine guns, it boasted double the firepower of the Zima-16, Osika's Terrible War model plane. Taken to the air, it reached a maximum speed of 177 kilometers an hour, but was marred by a long takeoff time, needing a straight and smooth runway. The fuel tank was capable of only three hundred mile round trips, which meant that in a case of aerial warfare, it's average fighting time was only twelve minutes. Leading Boletarian pilot Lieutenant Stanisław Lorentz commented: "The plane is an arrow in the sky, deadly with it's machine guns, but it burns through fuel like a Tangarian burns through vodka." [center][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Nieuport_17_LOC_hec.09329.jpg[/img] [i]Boletarian aviators inspecting the Strzelec-1F prototype, 1920[/i][/center] [hider=Osika Strzelec-1F] [center][img]http://www.airdromeaeroplanes.com/airdrome/images/nieuport17_3view.gif[/img][/center] [u][b]General Characteristics[/b][/u] [b]Crew:[/b] one [b]Length:[/b] 5.80 m (19 ft 0 in) [b]Wingspan:[/b] 8.16 m (26 ft 9 in) [b]Height:[/b] 2.40 m (7 ft 10 in) [b]Wing area:[/b] 14.75 m² (158.8 ft²) [b]Empty weight:[/b] 375 kg (825 lb) [b]Loaded weight:[/b] 560 kg (1,232 lb) [b]Powerplant:[/b] 1 × Osika 2Ha 9-cylinder rotary engine, 82 kW (110 hp) [u][b]Performance[/b][/u] [b]Maximum speed:[/b] 177 km/h (96 kn, 110 mph) at 2000m [b]Endurance:[/b] 1.75 hours [b]Service ceiling:[/b] 5,300 m (17,390 ft) [b]Wing loading:[/b] 37.9 kg/m² (7.77 lb/ft²) [b]Power/mass:[/b] 0.15 kW/kg (0.09 hp/lb) [b]Climb to 3,000 m (9,840 ft):[/b] 11.5 min [u][b]Armament[/b][/u] [b]Guns:[/b] 2 × synchronised Zallandt-12 machine guns[/hider]