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TIMELINE - PART 3

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1851

Britain reduces barriers to Trade Union membership and organisation.


1851 to 1856

The expansionist Mexican government attempts to take control of the Mosquito Coast and British Nicaragua. Although they initially have success, in the end the British proves to be too strong, and after bombarding several Mexican coastal cities force a peace settlement on Mexico which gives Britain the Yucatan peninsula.


1852

The German Chancellor Wolfgang von Humboldt is assassinated by Bavarian nationalists. This acts as a signal to various resistance groups to rise up in what becomes known as the War of German Dissolution. Aided by forces from Austria and the NEU, the German Reich quickly re-fragments into separate German states, some of which look towards external powers for support, and none of which are willing to trust Prussia again. The war ends with the Treaty of Hanover, which establishes the independence of the various German states, and limits the power of Prussia, though it does maintain the German Customs Union, expanding it to Britain, the NEU and Denmark. Even the east and west parts of Prussia itself became separate nations. Oldenburg, in north-west Germany allies with, and is then absorbed by, the NEU.


1853

The bright Comet Zhang [Schweizer] appears.

Comet Eckhardt [Klinkerfues] appears with a ten degree long tail; it is visible to the unaided eye.


1854

Clashes between China and the NEU in Java and Indonesia over trading rights lead to a Sino-Dutch war. There are also clashes between China and the UK in Burma.

Russia begins the construction of an elevated railway in Moscow.

The newly independent German principality of Lippe asks to join the NEU, and is accepted.

The telephone is invented in Scotland by Alastair McDougal.

The first electric power station begins operation in London.

A Great Comet is seen from mid-March to Mid April, visible to the unaided eye with a tail five degrees long.


[There is no Indian Mutiny, and the East India Company so lasts much longer than in the real world. Indian judges are on equal terms with British ones, and can try Indians and Europeans. There is less Indian dissatisfaction leading to fewer nationalistic feelings. Indian states are administrative units in the British Empire. This includes the remnant of the Mughal Empire centred on Delhi.]


1855

The Congo and an area of West Africa are settled by a joint Danish-Belgian Royal Company, backed by Russia, and were each divided into separate Danish and Belgian colonies (the Danish and Belgian Congos, and so on).


1857

The Suez canal opens to shipping traffic. All shipping is allowed through, subject to British approval and payment of a toll.


1858

Zhang's [Donati's] comet appears. It has two brilliant tails about sixty degrees long and is visible to the naked eye.

Russian mineralogist Andrei Kraslov accidentally discovers what becomes known as radioactivity while photographing mineral samples.


1860

Russia begins construction of a Trans-Siberian Railway, intended to run from Moscow all the way to the Bering Strait and to be linked by ferry with a matching railway in Alyeska. From the first this requires a number of innovations in railway and rolling stock design to cope with the extremes of Arctic conditions. Branches from this line go to the ports of Petropavlovsk, in Kamchatka, Magadan and Okhotsk. [There is no city of Vladivostok, as that part of the world was originally Chinese (according to the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk) and with China remaining strong, that does not change.]

Russia begins to electrify the St Petersburg Elevated Railway; this means that lines begin to be built into the richer areas of the city. These are lovingly crafted, quiet, and attractive to the eye.

The British begin to construct underground railways in Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.

A Great Comet seen from mid-June to July has a tail twenty degrees long.


1861

The bright Comet Eckhardt-Peng [Tebbutt] is observed with a tail one hundred and twenty degrees long.


1862

Comet Peng [Swift-Tuttle] is discovered. It is found to be the parent comet to the Perseid meteor shower, which occurs in August.


1863

The Chinese Emperor Gong-Quan dies. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes the Emperor Shang-Hsiu. With his ascension to the throne, China adopts a new western-style dragon flag. He also introduces a Russian-style Table of Ranks to China, allowing everyone who works for the state a chance to rise through the ranks and into the nobility.

The Chinese Flag


1865

The internal combustion engine is invented by Moqi Guotin, in China. It quickly begins to be adopted around the world.

Russia begins to electrify the entire city of St Petersburg. Other Russian cities are also electrified, and other nations around the world soon begin to follow the Russian example.

The Great Southern Comet appears.


1866

As in 1833, the Leonid meteor shower proves to be a spectacular meteor storm.

Several glider manufacturers in China build powered aircraft using internal combustion engines. Although light and fragile, these aircraft prove useful in a number of roles, particularly reconnaissance and message-carrying. [Because of their derivation from kites, the biplane is never invented in Monarchy World.]

British engineers use internal combustion engines to create the first powered airship. The first internal-combustion-driven ship and railway engine soon follow.

The Zhang-Peng [Tempel-Tuttle] comet is discovered. This is later found to be the parent comet of the Leonid meteor shower.


1868

Tsar Alexander I of Russia dies. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes Tsar Constantine II.

A major tsunami hits Peru, in places penetrating up to three miles inland.


[Because of the fragmentation of France and Germany there is no Franco-Prussian War.]

Internal combustion engines begin to replace coal-fired engines in many applications. Prospectors hunt for oil across the world.


1871

The first mechanical typewriter is patented in Russia by Francois Morozov. It is quickly adopted around the world, and adapted to other character sets.


1872

The theory of evolution is put forward by Briton Alfred Wallace.

Queen Victoria also becomes Empress of India. This changes her title to 'By the Grace of God, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, Hanover, and Brunswick and Lüneburg, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India, Queen of France' (Dei Gratia, Britanniarum Regina, Fidei Defensor, Indiae Imperatrix, Franciae Regina). Despite this Emperors within the Empire, such as the Mughal Emperor in Delhi, retain their titles but applying only to their own regions.

The first train runs on the new Trans-Siberian Railway all the way from Moscow to Uelen, at the very eastern tip of Asia.

The NEU introduces universal suffrage for all adults over twenty-one years of age, regardless of gender or race. The rest of the world is sceptical of this innovation.

The first heavier-than-air aircraft capable of landing on water is invented by Moqi Guotin in China.


1873

After years of rising public pressure against the institution, Britain abolishes slavery. However, the numbers of slaves in the British Empire has never been great, and with increasing industrialisation slavery is no longer economically viable. Newly freed slaves are encouraged to, if they wish, settle in less-populated parts of the Empire away from where they lived before emancipation. There is some talk of creating a separate homeland for freed slaves, but nothing ever comes of this.

Canada and Ireland are each granted a Union government.

Britain launches the first submarine boat.

The first military airships go into service in Britain. They are used for reconnaissance, message carrying, and some transportation of people and cargo.


1874

Australia is not really claimed or populated in anything other than a few small settlements and penal colonies until this point, when gold is discovered there. This triggers a huge gold rush with more than half a million people traveling to Australia to mine from around the world. It is at this point that British Australia becomes something other than a Penal colony [this Australia is under-developed compared to the real world]. There are what become known as Gold Wars as Chinese and European miners fight over gold in the east and west of the continent. Although Australia remains British, the presence of so many Chinese has led, by the present day, to their being quite a high percentage of Chinese-descended people in many parts of Australia.

Comet Arkhipov [Coggia] appears, and is visible to the naked eye. It has two tails more than sixty degrees long.


1875

After the publication of a government report on the vulnerability of the Royal Navy to the cutting of its supply lines, Britain begins a concerted program to establish fortified coaling and oiling stations for its Navy around the world. The other Empires soon begin to follow suit.


1876

Louisiana is granted a Union government.

The first commercial airship flights begin in Britain, China and Russia, carrying both people and cargo.


1877

The eruption of Mount Cotopaxi in Columbia causes severe mudflows which wipe out surrounding cities and valleys, causing one thousand deaths.

A second British Reform Bill extends the franchise to the upper middle class. [This happened in 1867 in the real world.]


1879

The Afghan leader, Yakub Ali, dies without leaving a successor. The independent nation of Afghanistan collapses into civil war. Both British and Russian forces move to take advantage of this, and the Fourth Afghan War breaks out. This time the British have the advantage, and are able to force the Russians out of Afghanistan and take control of the entire country.


1880

A Great Southern Comet appears with a fifty degree long tail.


1881

Prince Rupert's Land is granted a Union government.

The first skyscraper building is erected in China as a means of fitting more people into the same area, and keeping cities compact. Other nations soon adopt the idea, with the NEU, the Danish and the Belgians using it the most, but many cities (including London and St Petersburg) also building them because of high land prices there.

The machine gun is invented by Briton James Towers. It is quickly adopted and copied by the militaries of many nations.

A Great Comet, also known as comet Arkhipov-Yudin [Tebbutt], appears in the southern skies with a tail twenty degrees long.


1882

As part of a joint naval agreement worked out in secret between the British, Chinese and Russian Empires when it becomes clear to each of the Empires that the others will not let them proceed in this matter alone, Chile and Argentina are 'persuaded' to cede each of the Empires land in Patagonia to use as Naval bases. These become British Patagonia (adjacent to the Falkland Islands), Chinese Patagonia and Russia Patagonia respectively.

Russia begins to fund the building of a Canal across the width of southern Denmark, so that its vessels can reach the North Sea without having to sail around the entirety of Denmark.

Comet Dong [Wells] appears. It has a tail forty degrees long.


1882 to 1883

The Great September Comet is seen between September 1882 and Mid-February of 1883. It is very bright, with a bright tail twenty-five degrees long and can be seen by the naked eye during daylight, even at noon and close to the sun.


1883

The Krakatau volcano in the Netherlands Indies [Indonesia] erupts. Violent explosions destroy two-thirds of the island, killing roughly thirty-six thousand people. Sea waves from the eruption are detected as far away as England.

Britain and China set up naval bases in New Zeeland.


1884

Tsar Constantine II of Russia dies. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes Tsar Nicholas.

The NEU begins to construct what becomes known as the Kiel Canal across Schleswig and Holstein to link the North and Baltic Seas, allowing freer passage between Sweden and Holland.


1885

The Boy and Girl Scout organisations are formed in Britain, to groom the young for service to their country. Similar organisations are quickly formed in other nations,.


1886

Russia attempts to open up Japan to the world by diplomatic means. This is an attempt to obtain an ally or a colony close to, but on the opposite side of, China which it can use to limit China's power. Unfortunately, these diplomatic means fail, and the Japanese Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, rejects Russia's suggested alliance. [Japan never has the restoration of the Emperor and a western-looking regime and continues to be ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate as it has been since 1603; as such it remains very backward. Only the Dutch and Chinese are allowed to trade with Japan, and no-one else really considers it worthwhile, especially as it is really felt to be within the sphere of China.]

The city of Charleston, in British North America, suffers an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 which kills seventy people and extensively damages the city.

British Imperial Airways (BIA) is founded in London.


1887

Russia invades Japan, intending to turn the Japanese islands into a Russia outpost whether the Japanese want it or not. With its old-fashioned military and lack of firearms, Japan can do little to stop them.

Britain extends the vote to all males over the age of twenty-one. [In the real world this happened in 1881.]

China begins commercial heavier-than-air aircraft flights, carrying passengers and cargo.

Another Great Southern Comet appears with a tail fifty degrees long.


1888 to 1893 - THE JAPANESE WAR - WORLD WAR I

When it becomes clear what Russia is doing in Japan, China objects to the invasion, seeing what having a Russian-controlled Japan so close to their coastline would mean. When Russia ignores the Chinese objections, China declares war, and invades Japan too. This quickly leads to a land war in Asia and Japan, and a naval war in the surrounding seas. The fighting quickly spreads into Africa and North America by way of the Russian and Chinese colonies there.

Britain becomes involved nominally because its shipping and various colonies are threatened by Russia; in reality they join the war for political reasons, to maintain the status quo and prevent Russia from destabilising the world political structure. The NEU also supports the Chinese in order to hold onto their trading rights in Japan, and this leads to war with Russia along its Finnish border. Denmark and Belgium, allied with Russia, also attack the NEU and attempt to invade British Continental Principalities of Hanover, Lüneburg and Calais.

The war quickly turns nasty, with various new weapons being deployed, particularly poison gas and machine guns. Airships and aircraft are also used during the war. Although heavier-than-air aircraft are initially only used by China for message-carrying and reconnaissance, they are quickly adapted for combat, particularly cargo aircraft which are turned into crude bombers. Their great effectiveness in this quickly leads to their adoption by the other Powers.

The fighting in Europe quickly bogs down into trench warfare, as it does in places in Africa, America and Asia. Because the Chinese tend towards 'suzhan sujue' - "rapidly fought and rapidly decided" - operations, which have long been the preference of Chinese strategists, they have problems with their large numbers of losses in the trenches and other theatres of the war.

After five years, in late 1892, the British, Chinese and their allies are beginning to turn the tide against Russia. Japan is devastated as it has been blockaded and had two major armies fighting across it.

It is at this point that the Russian Tsar, Nicholas, is overthrown in a coup by a group who wish to end this terrible war. It is led by his wife, who becomes the Tsarina Catherine III. This leads to a negotiated settlement which leaves China and Britain the victors. Russia loses some of its African colonies, and some nominal amount of its North American holdings to Britain and China. It also loses some of its Asian holdings to Britain, recognising the front line at the end of the war, when Britain has taken control of the area up to and including Tashkent. China gains Japan. The NEU loses Finland to Russia during the war, but takes Norway from Denmark.

Initially known as the Japanese War, it has become known as WWI to history. It directly killed an estimated eight million people.


1889

Comet Eckhardt-Zhang [Barnard 2] appears.


1890

The Abenta Canal, across the width of southern Denmark, is completed.

The first automatic pistol is invented by Briton James Towers.


1892

The Kiel Canal is completed across Schleswig and Holstein.


1893 to 1910

After the Chinese annexation of Japan the continuing rebelliousness of the Japanese nobility leads to their mostly being exterminated. Japan is also colonised by large numbers of Han Chinese which quickly makes the Japanese a minority in their own country, with their culture relegated to museums. Japanese who are particularly troublesome are also deported to other parts of the Chinese Empire. Only the Japanese living in the hills, isolated, retain much of their original culture and many have made common cause with the Ainu against the Chinese. There is a Japanese Emperor, reinstated by the Chinese, but he is merely a powerless figurehead who the Chinese allow to rule because their doing so makes it easier for them to rule Japan.

The Chinese begin to industrialise Japan, brining with it a great deal of logging and mining. Many cities and towns are rebuilt as ugly dormitory/garrison settlements. Japan becomes rather provincial, on the edge of the Empire, but also quite heavily militarised because of that position. As time goes on it becomes even more militarised, with passive suppression of its language and culture; this does not stop it being a hotbed of anti-Chinese terrorism.


1895

Britain begins to build a ship canal across Nicaraguan after WWI shows the need for such a navigable link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is built to improve trade with Australia and New Zeeland as well as for military purposes and to provide better access to South America.

The steam turbine is invented in Britain by Samual Addamson. Navies around the world begin frantically refitting their ships or building new ones to take advantage of this leap forward in technology.

Chinese scientist Shen Li-Fou detects the existence of light-like waves too short and too long to be seen. He names them Duan Guihun Guang (short ghost light) and Chang Guihun Guang (long ghost light) respectively. In the west these are quickly abbreviated to 'dugugu' and 'chagugu'. [Dugugu are what are known as ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays in the real world; chagugu are what are known as infra-red, microwaves and radio waves.]

Comet Entwhistle [Perrine] appears.


1896

Twenty-seven thousand people are killed by a tsunami on the Japanese island of Honshu.


1898

The Chinese Emperor Shang-Hsiu dies. He is succeeded by his son, who becomes the Emperor Jing-Hsi.

The Ohio, Hudson's Bay and East India Companies are dissolved by the British government, and the territories they control become directly administered parts of the British Empire. [In the real world the Ohio company was lost in the American Revolution, the Hudson's Bay Company lost its monopoly on trade in 1870 and the East India Company was dissolved in 1858.]

Britain applies diplomatic pressure in an attempt to force the NEU to give up its mineral-rich Cape Colony to Britain. The NEU refuses. British forces bombard NEU cities around the world, and although the NEU fight back, it is obvious that they will quickly lose. The NEU negotiates with the British, and the war is concluded when the NEU and Britain sign a free trade agreement, ensuring that Britain has full access to the NEU's mineral wealth.

The first airship capable of crossing the Atlantic without refuelling makes its maiden flight from London to Boston, in North America.


1899

Radio is invented by Swede Frida Sakris, enabling the artificial generation and reception of Chang Guihun Guang (long ghost light).

Britain buys Cuba and the Philippines from Spain. The Chinese government objects to Britain acquiring territory so close to the Chinese mainland, and moves to block the sale. Gunboats from Britain and China exchange fire in what becomes knows as the Philippine War. Eventually the situation is resolved by Britain agreeing to limit the amount of military forces it keeps on the Philippine islands.


1901

Gyrocopters are invented by Edward Johnston, a British inventor who has been looking at sycamore seeds and how their method of flight might be combined with gliders. They are found to be effective as gliders towed behind ships. This leads to their widespread adoption, first by the Royal Navy, then by other nations.

The first long-range heavier-than-air bomber aircraft are built by all of the Great Powers.

A Great Comet appears. This is a naked-eye comet in the Southern Hemisphere.


1902

The Soufrière volcano, in St. Vincent, the West Indies, erupts, devastating one-third of the island and killing some sixteen hundred people.

Mount Pelée, in Martinique, the West Indies, erupts and wipes out the city of St. Pierre, killing forty thousand people.

The London Times coins the term the 'Fourth Power' to describe the Dutch-Swedish-Schleswig-Holstein-Oldenburg-Lippe alliance which makes up the NEU, as it gives them a status as a power in the world, though obviously not as great a power as Britain, China and Russia. Britain, Russia and China are clearly the First, Second and Third Powers, though exactly which is which is disputed. The terms Fifth and Sixth Powers are quickly coined to describe the loose blocs of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking nations in Europe and South America; which is which is again disputed. The Seventh and Eighth Powers are Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

The NEU introduces a system of state-funded health care for all citizens.


1903

Motion pictures are invented in several places almost simultaneously.

The first submachine gun is developed by Andre Nazhinskii in Russia.

Brazilian scientist Franco Columbo discovers the phenomenon that becomes known as superconductivity.


1904

Mass production is in invented by Sau-Ki Tan in China, and quickly copied across the rest of the world, although not without unrest among workers all over the world.

Queen Victoria of Great Britain dies. She is succeeded by her son, who becomes King William IV.

Large-scale oil production begins in the Middle East. Although the Middle Eastern nations, in particular Persia, are still independent, they are definitely heavily influenced by Britain and Russia, and they, and the Ottoman Empire, have little choice but to let both the British and the Russians in.

Columbia begins to build a Panama Canal. It receives a good deal of Chinese funding for this. The project fails due to corruption and disease. [Without a USA, Panama remains part of Columbia.]

Comet Smith [Borrelly] is discovered.


1905 to 1920 - THE SECOND OTTOMAN WAR - WORLD WAR II

Russia sees the possibility of the British Empire cornering the world oil market, and as this would significantly affect them, moves to secure its needs and maintain what it sees as its rightful place and influence in the Middle East. Their attempted seizure of the Middle Eastern oil fields quickly leads to war being declared between Russia and Britain. This quickly spills over from the Middle East and spreads to the rest of the world. China, also seeing the problems of a British oil monopoly, joins the war on Russia's side, forcing Britain out of the Philippines and west New Guinea. The NEU also joins the alliance against Britain.

All sides use the latest technology in the war, and the war drives the development of new technologies. Long-range bombers are used to attack cities belonging to the enemy. Submarines are used to attack enemy shipping. The first tanks are invented and used. Radio becomes a widespread tool in the militaries of both sides. Helium-filled airships provide sterling service on various fronts where the ability to move heavy cargoes long distances is important. Jet propelled aircraft are invented in Britain and used by them, giving enough of an advantage that they are able to hold their own against, essentially, the rest of the world.

However, no-one wants to use poison gas, after the horrible effects it had had in WWI.

The scale of the war leads to a scramble to claim what remains of the world, begun by Britain. The causes a rapid colonial expansion across the only continent with large unclaimed land areas - Africa - so that, despite the best efforts of the natives, who were usually supplied with weapons and training by the other sides, by 1919 most of Africa has been subdued and is controlled by the Powers. However, a great many Africans had been killed resisting this happening, and terrorism is a problem in many areas for decades, and is still a problem in some. Many of the minor nations, including Brazil, establish colonies in Africa too.

Oil shortages and so on affect the strategy and tactics used in the war, and also leads to experiments with substitute fuels. There is a scramble to prospect other sources of oil the world over, leading to the discovery of various oil fields here and there. There are also experiments with non-oil based fuels too (oil from coal, fuel gas, alcohol, vegetable oils and so on).


1906

The city of Yerba Buena [real world San Francisco] in Chinese North America suffers an earthquake accompanied by fire which razes more than four square miles of the city and kills more than two thousand people.

The Nicaraguan Canal is completed.

The first major oil spill occurs when a Russian warship sinks a British tanker in the Red Sea, contaminating a large stretch of the Arabian coastline.


1907

With the (grudging) permission of the Ottoman Empire, British forces occupy most Arabian cities, including Mecca, against the protests of Muslims the world over. From then on the British are troubled by Muslim riots and occasional acts of terrorism.


1908

Experiments with gyrocopters lead to the development ones which are powered. From these, in time, helicopters with two contra-rotating rotors (no tail rotors) evolve. Gyrocopters remain in use until jets became too fast for them to be practical. Even after this they remain in use in some places and some roles even to the present day.

Britain forms the Imperial Air Corps (IAC) as a separate arm of the military to take advantage of this new invention. Like all the other air forces it uses both heavier-than-air planes and airships.

A tremendous explosion devastates an area four hundred miles across in the Tunguska region of central Siberia and kills a number of people, as well as causing glowing white nights across the northern hemisphere. Despite initial speculation that it was caused by a large meteorite, no evidence for this is found by an expedition which reaches the site with weeks of the explosion, and its cause remains a mystery. However, the explosion does stimulate interest in astronomy, and in particular in small asteroids which pass close to the Earth.

The city of Messina, in Sicily, is totally destroyed by an earthquake which kills roughly eighty-five thousand people in Sicily and southern Italy.

In the Battle of Iceland, the British manage to destroy a large portion of a Russian fleet which was using Danish Iceland as a base and causing severe damage to British shipping across the Atlantic.


1909

The heir to the British throne, Prince Edward, is killed when the ship he is travelling home on from a morale-boosting tour of the Empire is sunk by a Russian submarine during fighting in the north Atlantic. His younger brother, Prince Henry, becomes heir in his place.

The jet engine is invented in Britain by Russian exile Natalia Raskova.

The NEU loses Ceylon to the British.


1910

Oil is discovered in the Texas region of Mexico. Both British and Chinese forces invade to seize the new oil fields.

Russian and Chinese doctors discover the different human blood types.

The Suez Canal is blocked after a number of battles over it between British and Russian forces.

The Daylight or Winter Comet appears. It has a brilliant tail fifty degrees long and is visible during the day.

A second comet appears in Mid-April to May with two tails, one thirty degrees long and one curved and ten degrees long.

Comet Halley reappears, and is very bright with a tail some one hundred degrees long.


1911

Comet Crijnsse [Brooks] appears with a bluish, straight tail thirty degrees long. It is visible to the unaided eye. At the same time Comet [Beljawsky] appears with a yellowish tail some fifteen degrees long. It is also visible to the unaided eye in the sky at the same time as comet Crijnsse.


1912

King William IV of Great Britain is killed during one of the last Russian bombing raids on London, and his son and heir, Henry, loses his right arm in the same raid, which causes what becomes known as the Second Great Fire of London in which St Paul's Cathedral is destroyed. Despite this, Henry quickly succeeds his father and becomes King Henry IX.

The first jet-propelled aircraft are built in Britain. The quickly surpass all previous aircraft in performance. Development work begins on jet-propelled fighters and bombers.


1913

Antibiotics are discovered in several place around the world almost simultaneously.

The Nicaraguan Canal is blocked after Russian and Chinese Fleets attack both ends simultaneously.


1914

A Russian army attempts to take Mecca from the British. In a long, hard battle which degenerates into house-to-house fighting, the British manage to repel the Russians, but in the process the most holy sites in Islam are destroyed. As news of this spreads, Muslims across the world rise up against both the British and Russian Empires, causing huge civil disorder in many places. The prosecution of the war quickly grinds to a halt as each side attempts to deal with this domestic unrest.

China, which although allied with Russia had nothing to do with the attack on Mecca suffers least from this Muslim unrest. The Ottoman Empire, which gave permission for Britain to occupy Mecca in the first place, is wracked with unrest.

A hastily convened conference in Buenos Aires, in neutral Argentina, brings the war between the Great Powers to an end, so that Britain and Russia can concentrate on quelling Muslim unrest. However, China only pulls out of WWII and leaves the British and Russian Empires to fight the widespread Muslim insurrections after forcing non-trivial concessions out of them both. This includes its gaining Kamchatka from the Russians, and forcing Britain to guarantee the freedom of the Suez and Nicaraguan Canals to ships of all nations by 'internationalising' them both, so that they are jointly administered by all three Great Powers. Also, Russia gains Persia and extends their empire to the Indian Ocean. Denmark and Belgium lose their Congo and West African colonies to the NEU. They are amalgamated into what is known simply as The Congo. Britain gets back most of the Philippines when they agree to cease hostilities with China.

The Chinese Emperor Jing-Hsi is 'persuaded' to abdicate in favour of his son to because of the way in which he ended China's involvement in WWII. His son succeeds him to the throne, becoming the Emperor Tsun-Ching.


1915

An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy leaves thirty thousand dead.

A coup overthrows Sultan Abd al-Hamid and government of the Ottoman Empire, killing thousands including the Sultan and most of his family. The new government, under a very religious cousin of the Sultan, Mehmet al-Haroun, and going largely in the face of military reality, declares war on both the British and Russian Empires. Many westerners in the Ottoman Empire are impaled in mob violence; a smaller number of more fortunate individuals are merely lynched.

Quantum Mechanics is invented by Willhelm Heidegger at the University of Vienna; Heidegger's Canary demonstrates his uncertainty principle. Although initially rejected by the scientific community for its strangeness, and its begin so opposed to the 'old physics', the fact that it works means that this new theory slowly gains ground. The period of post-war rebelliousness in many fields of life led to quantum theory's acceptance.

The Ottoman Empire is blockaded.

A Muslim uprising in Jerusalem leads to a British bombardment of parts of the city away from the holy sites. Unfortunately, the fires caused by this bombardment spread and grow into a firestorm which levels the city, destroying many holy sites of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. There is a huge outcry against this desecration, and the people of many nations call for war against Britain because of it; many in Britain itself agree with the idea. However, the problems facing the Russians, and the fact that all British forces were still very much on a war footing, lead to these protests remaining verbal in nature. However, many demonstrations against the attack take place, in Britain and across the world.

Because of Islamic terrorism, Police officers all over the world begin to carry firearms, 'for the duration of the emergency'.

As Muslim uprisings continue around the world, both Britain and Russia begin to suffer a manpower shortage as the traditional rulers and workers are killed off or needed in the fighting and more and more people are drained into the War. To combat this people who formerly would not have been considered for certain jobs, such as non-whites, women, people from the lower classes and so on find themselves allowed to take up any job for which they are qualified, gradually chipping away at racism, sexism and classism as the necessity to have someone to do the essential jobs becomes more and more apparent.

The first Jewish terrorists, seeking revenge for what the British did to Jerusalem, appear when they unsuccessfully attack the Houses of Parliament in London.

The British and Russians, so recently fighting one another, become allies in the fight to suppress Muslim uprisings around the world.


1916

As their forces are drained by losses in the War, both Russia and Britain begin to use poison gas against rebelling Muslims. British jet-propelled fighters and bombers prove particularly effective in delivering attacks against the rebels. Although all this proves highly effective at quelling uprisings, it does not make either side more friends in the Muslim world.

A joint British-Russian force invades the Ottoman Empire, and the usurper Sultan Mehmet al-Haroun is removed. Although the invaders attempt to take him prisoner, he dies in combat with invading troops. He is replaced on the throne by someone more acceptable to the other powers, Adnan al-Hamid, the younger brother of Abd al-Hamid, who was at university in Vienna when the coup occurred. Although he tries to be an effective Sultan, he is essentially a puppet of Britain and Russia, and the people know it. The Ottoman Empire continues to be wracked with unrest.


As the Muslim uprisings continue, both sides become more and more vicious. Terrorism begins to occur quite often inside the Empires themselves, as well as suicide bombings. The British and Russians respond with more and more heavy-handed retaliation


1918

The man who will become the first Chinese Sing Emperor is born.

The War begins to sink into a stalemate. Uprisings are near-constant, but the British and Russians have the weapons and will to crush them, and do so, only to see new uprisings spring up elsewhere.


1920

A second conference in Buenos Aires brings the Chinese, British, Russians, NEU and moderate Muslim leaders together in an attempt to stop the war and the bloodshed. The conference is a long and hard one. It ends with agreement between all present that the War must be stopped before the world as it stands is destroyed. Although it goes utterly against tradition, the only way forward is seen to be a public apology to the entire Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths by King Henry IX and Tsarina Catherine III, and a promise to completely restore both Mecca and Jerusalem (the British doing the vast majority of the latter), with both cities and an area around each to be made Free States [Similar to the Vatican in the real world.] Christian missionaries will also be removed from all Muslim lands. With this agreed to, the two monarchs make their public apology, and work begins on rebuilding the cities of Mecca and Jerusalem. This mollifies the majority of the world's Muslims, but not all of them, by any means, and there is continuing Muslim terrorism as parts of the Muslim world still simmer...

And so the War ends. But it is something of a Pyrrhic victory. Roughly one hundred million people are estimated to have died in the war, from its direct and indirect effects.

Tsarina Catherine III of Russia, feeling that she has failed as a ruler, abdicates in favour of her son, who becomes Tsar Constantine III.

A magnitude 8.6 earthquake in Gansu province, north-west China kills roughly two hundred thousand people.


Motion pictures come into their own during WWII as escapism for the masses. This continues into the post-war depression period.


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