- Mar 14, 2012
Chapter 27: Left in the ColdDenmark was once again in Crisis. The Sick Man of Europe had been struggling against Swedish and Germanic Rebels now for decades. The Revolts of 1864 and 1865 however would be unlike the rather disorganized riots that had plagued the Danish beforehand. This time the revolts were organized and supported by Pan-Germanic Forces around the world. Pan-Germans who were now being abandoned by the greater Holy Roman Empire and her allies.
Kaiser Ferdinand had decided this would be his ultimate answer to the question of Germany. Instead of siding with the German Nationalists as his father had Ferdinand sided instead with the Danish. Military support namely in the forms of military and economic aid was sent to the legitimate Danish government in Copenhagen.
Westphalia who had also taken chances to jump on Danish weakness in the past also took pause. Memories of the short Austrian invasion were still fresh. Without Westphalian or Holy Roman Support, The Russian, Celtic and Eastern Roman Empires refused to stir for a predominantly German Revolt in isolated Scandinavian and left the rebels to their fate.
With the International End of the Crisis resolved Kaiser Ferdinand moved to set his new Policy regarding Pan-Nationalism as a whole. Germany as a concept was to be removed from discussion as the Holy Roman Empire was to be a nation of many different cultures as opposed to a singular nation state a policy that would be repeated for all the other prospective Nation-States within the Empire such as Italy, Bohemia and Bulgaria.
In Denmark work would begin on revising the Danish Constitution. The Celtic Empire who had large amounts of influence in the Danish Government and Economy would spearhead the effort to stabilize the situation in the North. The Celt's would prove unwilling to work with Holy Roman officials at all and work on governmental reform would slow to a crawl. The original goal of great power intervention, to stabilize scandinavia would increasingly fall further out of the spotlight as diplomats from both sides battled for prestige and influence in the Baltic.
Elsewhere in the world, Eastern Roman Archeologies had recently received approval from the Imperial Senate to begin an extensive research and excavation project in Egypt. One area in particular, known as Valley of the Kings had previously been declared as a restricted area by the Senate in an effort not to anger the local egyptian population. Emperor Alexios-Duncan however had now removed such restrictions in hopes that discoveries in egypt would bring greater prestige to the Nation and of course increase in the Senate for further african projects, such as colonization.
Elsewhere in the World, a new leap forward was being made for the Empire. The first Great American War had revealed the potential of steam powered Ironclad warships. While more traditional sailing ships still had a massive advantage in range Kaiser Wilhelm had seen the potential in furthering research into such modern ship designs, especially if Austria hoped to remain the dominant power at sea.
During the Summer of 1865 the First of a new series of Steam Powered Warships was launched after years of secrecy in development. The HRS Christopher would be the first in a new line of the imperial Ritterlich class of Ironclad Warships. Due to being the first in such a class the Ritterlich class was designed to balanced speed, firepower and projection.
The Navy proved willing to pay any cost to make such a design happen, Future ships were estimated to cost nearly Five Times as much as older steam powered commerce raiders which still remained competitive in speed and Firepower. The Christopher also be the first ship to experience some key weaknesses unique to it's new design. The First of which was it's massive steam Boiler which made it an ideal, and easily noticeable target for Shore Based guns that could penetrate the top of the ship and render it immobile. The Iron plated hull also required constant repairs due to corrosion. The ship also had a massive coal issue due to an oversized Boiler built to help maximize speed, but low amounts of cargo space dedicated to fuel. The Later two issues would force the Christopher and it's Sister ships to only operate in areas nearby ports capable of repairing and refueling the modern ships.
The Powder Keg of Europe had been effectively settled down for the moment. Denmark has proved that it was not to be the spark that Europe would bleed over, 1865 would end in peace but such things couldn't last forever.