The World Exhaled at Sarajevo



We all know (or should know) the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Saravejo in 1914 was the immedate trigger of World War I. But imagine a world were Ferdinand survived the assassination, and rather then invading Serbia, Austria-Hungary embargoed Serbia. The Serbians, wanting to avoid a pan-European conflict, cooperated, and the embargo was lifted in 1918, ending a 4 year time period where it seemed like a huge war was closer then ever. The world exhaled at Saravejo.

This universe is totally different. European states, without a war on their home soil, remain strong and because of this the United States can't take advantage of a weak Europe and become powerfull. Europe's grasp on the world remains strong. The USA is weak and plauged with constant regime changes, experincing two civil wars and two revolutions. What we call Third World nations are still mostly colonies of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. Britain is the world's sole superpower for now, but the powerfull rising states of the Arabian Federation and the People's Republic of China may overshadow Europe within the 21st century. The Eurasian Union is also an important player in world politics, which was established following the Allies victory in the Global War. Currently, the UK is a dealing with a rebellion by Canada as well as a violent civil war in Mexico.

Point of Divergence
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, surived an assassination attempt while touring Saravejo, Bosnia. Bosnia had been under Austro-Hungarian control since the 1870s, and the assasin was a member of a Serbian national group called the "Black Hand" that promoted the idea of a pan-slavic nation uniting Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, and, Slovenia.

The Great Crisis (1914-1918)
Following the assassination attempt, Austria-Hungary embargoed Serbia. Wanting to avoid a war with Russia, Austria-Hungary did not shut down the Serbian-Romanian border, which Russia used to trade with Serbia. The Russian Csar said what Austria-Hungary did was "disgusting", but after weeks of consideration, Csar Nicolahs II decided not to attack or make agressive diplomatic demands against Austria-Hungary. Serbia, wanting to avoid war just like the other two states, complied with Austria-Hungary's strict terms.

At 11:00 AM on November 11th, 1918, Austria-Hungary officially lifted the embargo on Serbia. The Great Crisis, a four-year period of high tensions between European powers, had finally ended. War had been avoided. Relations between the Entente nations (the UK, France, Russia) actually improved with the Central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey). What made the First Great Crisis so tensefull was that several other wars were occuring douring that time so the world was closer then ever to an enourmous, global war.

Theses wars includes:
 * 12th Russo-Turkish War (1915-1917)
 * Mexican Civil War (1910-1920)
 * German-Japanese War (1915-1916)
 * Ottoman Dissolution War (1914-1918)
 * Irish Revoultion/Civil War (1917-1922)
 * Polish Independence War (1917-1918)
 * Chinese Civil War (1917-1922)

12th Russo-Turkish War (1915-1917)
--against---
 * Russian Empire
 * Azerbaijan
 * Armenia
 * Ottoman Empire

The 12th Russo-Turkish War was a war between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, later including Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Greece (fighting the Third Balkan War). The wars occured during the Great Crisis, which involved a series of proxy wars between the Central and Entente powers. For instance, Russia was backed by the UK and France, while Turkey was backed by Germany and Austria-Hungary. The 12th Russo-Turkish War extended from the Caucases to the Eastern Anatolia reaching as far as Trabzon, Bitlis, Mus, and Van.

On February 23, 1917, the Russian advance picked up momentum, and peace talks began in Bucuretsi, Romania. As the 12th Russo-Turkish war was ending, the Ottoman Revolution was beginning- parts of the Ottoman Empire were declaring independence from it. The Ottomans initially rejected the proposed treated by Russia, in which Russia would have complete control of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and the eastern half of Anatolia- divided by a line connecting the Mediterannian and Black seas at their closest point. But during a 20-day period where the negotians dragged on and Turkey bidded for better terms, the Russian army advanced and countered virtually no resistance, as the Ottoman military forces were destroyed and local police were overstretched.

The war ended in September 14th, 1918, when the Turks finally agreed to the Russian-proposed Treaty of Bucurseti.

Mexican Civil War (1910-1920)
All of the Factions:
 * Constitutionalists (in control 1914-1920)
 * Felicistas (never gained control)
 * Hueristas (in control 1913-1914)
 * Maderistas (in control 1910-1911)
 * Magonistas (never in control)
 * Orozquistas (anarchists who never gained control)
 * Porifiristas (in power before the first revolution starting the war, from 1884 to 1911.
 * Reyistas (socialist rebels who never gained power).
 * Villistas (nationalist supporters of Pancho Villa, opposing all other governments).
 * Zapatistas (agarian rebels who never gained power)

The Mexican Civil War was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco Maedro against longtime autocrat Porfirio Diaz. The war was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and conservatve movements. After the revolution against Diaz ended in late 1911, a power gap quickly developed, and a mulit-sided civil war lasted until 1920.

After prolonged struggles, its representatives produced the Mexican Constitution of 1917. The Revolution is generally considered to have lasted until 1920, although the country continued to have sporadic, but comparatively minor, outbreaks of warfare well into the 1920s. The Cristero Civil War of 1926 to 1929 was the most significant relapse of bloodshed.

The Mexican Civil War triggered the creation of the Mexican Constitutional Party in 1929 (renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or MCP, in 1946). Under a variety of leaders, the MCP held power until the general election of 2000.

German-Japanese War (1914-1915)
---against---
 * Japan
 * Germany

The German-Japanese war was a war between Germany and Japan over Germany's sphere of influence in China. The war was generally fought on a small scale- the only major battle was the attack on the German-controlled port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China. The war was a proxy war during the Great Crisis, for Japan was backed by Britain and Russia, while Germany was backed by Austria-Hungary.

After the Battle of Tsingtao, German forces were constantly retreating from there colonies in Beijing, Melekeok, Saipan, Samoa, Nauru, and Micronesia. When Beijing fell in mid-1915, the Germans fled there Pacific subjects as the Japanese moved in to occupy them. The Germans lost their "sphere of influence", centered around Beijing, in China- which was divided between the colonial powers of Japan, Russia, and Britain. Japan became more powerfull when it aqquired Germany's Pacific colonies, and controling colonies as far south as Samoa ment Japan could extend naval power deep into the central and southwest Pacific.

Turkish Revolution (1917)
Ottoman Empire

---against---
 * Turkey
 * Armenia
 * Palestine
 * Assyria
 * Mesopotamia
 * Arabia

Middle Eastern War (1917-1922)
---against---
 * Turkey
 * Palestine
 * Syria
 * Iraq
 * France
 * United Kingdom
 * Armenia
 * Greece
 * Saudi Arabia
 * Persia

The 1920s
The 1920s was the decade that started on January 1, 1920 and ended on December 31, 1929. It is sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties, when speaking about the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom. In Europe the decade is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Twenties" because of the economic boom following the Great Crisis.

However, not all countries enjoyed this prosperity. Russia had to face a severe economic downturn in the opening years of the decade. The crisis would culminate with a devaluation of the Ruble in 1923, eventually leading to severe economic problems and, in the long term, favour the rise of the People's Liberation Party (PLP). European imperialism increased as well, and as a result, anti-imperialistic nations created the Anti-Imperial Alliance, composed of Japan, Persia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and Thailand.

Additionally, the decade was characterized by the rise of radical political movements. Populism began attracting large numbers of followers following their political success in Russia, as well as determination to win the Chinese Civil War, which lasted throughout the second half of the 1920s. In 1929, the communists were succesfull, and the nationalists fled to Taiwan. The Populists would eventually adopt a policy of mixed economics. The 1920s marked the first time in the United States that the population in the cities surpassed the population of rural areas. This was due to rapid urbanization starting in the 1920s.

Besides Russia, the United States was another modern nation that didn't enjoy economic prosperity during the thirties. The American economy would go from stable to poor during the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

The 1930s
The 1930s was the decade that started on January 1, 1930 and ended on December 31, 1939. It was the fourth decade of the 20th century. It is sometimes referred to as the Black Thirties.

After the largest stock market crash in America's history, much of the decade was in an economic downfall, called the Grand Deppression that had a traumatic effect in the United States, but didn't effect much of the rest of the world. The constant civil unrest in Asia gave rise to Populist regimes emerged in several countries in Asia, in particular the Soviet Republic of Russia. A huge shift in world power occured in 1935, a year which saw the consolidation of the Anti-Imperial Alliance, Soviet Republic of Russia, and Communist China into one single confederation- the People's Union. The People's Union advocated the end of European imperialism and a global communist revolution, and this ultimately led to the Global War by the decade's end.

The decade also saw a proliferation in new technologies, including intercontinental aviation and radio.

Factions
Allied Coalition
 * Romania
 * Australia
 * France
 * Italy
 * New Zealand
 * United Kingdom (and colonies)
 * South Africa
 * Canada
 * Bulgaria
 * Austria-Hungary
 * Greece
 * Yugoslavia
 * Germany
 * Netherlands
 * Mexico
 * Brazil
 * Ethiopia
 * Iraq
 * Bolivia
 * Colombia
 * Iran
 * Liberia
 * Peru
 * Venezuela
 * Turkey
 * Argentina
 * Chile

People's Union

 * People's Congress
 * People's Union Military Authority (PUMA)

Soviet Union

 * Russia
 * Belarus
 * Ukraine
 * Moldova
 * Georgia
 * Armenia
 * Azerbaijan
 * Kazakstan
 * Uzbekistan
 * Turkmenistan
 * Tajikistan
 * Kyrgyzstan

Anti-Imperial Alliance

 * Japanese Empire (as well as puppet states in Korea, Manchuria, Vietnam, and Burma)
 * People's Republic of China
 * Mongolia
 * Thailand
 * Afghanistan
 * Persia

Overview
The Global War, was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945 which involved most of the world's nations, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allied Coalition and the People's Union. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant action against civilians, including the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in human history and it has been estimated that it resulted in fifty to seventy million deaths.

The war is generally accepted to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Romania by the People's Union and subsequent declerations of war on Germany by France, Italy, and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth. Other countries that were not initially involved joined the war later in response to events such as the PUMA attack on Germany and the Japanese attacks on European colonies in the Pacific, Asia, and Oceania.

The war ended with the total victory of the Allied Coalition over the People's Union in 1945. World War II left the political alignment and social structure of the world significantly changed. While the Congress of Europe was established to foster international cooperation and prevent future conflicts, the British Empire and the German Empire emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Peacefull War, which lasted for the next forty-six years. European attitudes towards imperialism remained the same, and most of the powers of western Europe gained even more colonies, while the Eurasian Union was established in the areas which had once been the People's Union, and the Eurasian Union made a spectacular long-term recovery, with the Eastern Federation having the third most powerfull economy in the world today.

Background
During the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, the global political gap between Left and Wide widened greatly. Communism was popular in Russia, China, parts of southeast and southwest Asia, and even slightly in Japan. During the Great Crisis, central and western European nations dismissed any socialist-like reform and developed an anti-communist foreign policy. European nations wanted to destroy communist bodies in eastern Asia and Russia, while the communist movements and later powers wanted to rid the world of the European "empires" and establish a global communist state.

The Kuomingtang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese communist allies. In 1929, the Chinese communists won the civil war, and the People's Republic of China was establised that year. In 1931, following the Third Anglo-Afghan war which ended as a stalemate, and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the nations of Afghanistan, Persia, Japan, China, Thailand, and Mongolia all joined the new Anti-Imperial Alliance. These nations were all against European imperialism.

Vladimir Lenin, after an unsuccessful coup in 1923, seized control of Russia in a second coup in which communist forces marched on Moscow. Lenin gained total power in Russia the following year. He abolished democracy, espousing a radical, radically motivated revision of the world order, and soon began a massive rearmament campaign.

In 1935, a political event occured that changed global geopolitics dramatically. The Soviet Union, Japanese Empire, and members of the Anti-Imperial Alliance all merged into a single confederation: The People's Union. This consolidation of power in the Eastern world benefited all of it's members. Japan had access to Chinese and Russian natural resources, China had access to Russian and Japanese military protection, and Russia had allies in the future "crusade against Europe" it was planning. Japan did not become communist under this consolidation, but several forms of Japanese government changed and socialist aspects were incorporated. A similar scenario occured with the third-world members of the Anti-Imperial Alliance.

In September, 1935, Hoping to contain the People's Union, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy formed the Toulouse Front, signed in Touluse, France. Germany and Britain formed the Anglo-German Pact, but as Great Crisis-era tensions heated up between Britain and Germany, this pact was only a diplomatic stunt and had no real effect on geopolitics. In October, Italy invaded Ethiopia, with the People's Union the only nation objecting to the invasion. Ethiopia attempted joined the People's Union, but with the People's Congress feeling not prepared for a war with Italy (possibly leading to a war with Britain, France, and/or Italy), the People's Union declined the proposal. Ethiopia would be invited to join once again in early 1939, but this time, Ethiopa would refuse.

PUMA forces militarized Russia's western regions bordering Germany and Austria-Hungary in March 1936. Lenin received little response from other European powers. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in July, the British, French, and Italian governmnets supported Generalissimo Francisco Franco's nationalist forces in his civil war against the PU-supported Republic of Spain. Both sides used the conflict to test new weapons and methods of warfare, and the nationalists won the war in early 1939.

In 1938, the People's Union began pressing claims on territorial rights in the Baltic states of Estonia, Lativa, and Lithuania. These nations, fearing an invasion by PUMA, formed the Baltic States Union on Christmas, 1938. In early 1939, the People's Union demanded control of these nations. During the Volograd Conference, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany all jointly agreed to the wishes of the People's Union, and conceeded Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania to PUMA forces. The Baltic States Union was furious, and declared war on all of the nations represented at the Munich Conference. No war existed though- PUMA forces quickly moved in to the Baltic States, which were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.

Also at the Volograd Conference, the western Europan governments agreed that the People's Union could only keep the Baltic states if they didn't make any more territorial demands in eastern Europe. Only a month after the conference, though, the People's Union declared it had the right to Romania's eastern provinces. With war looming, the Volograd Conference met once again, and western Europe this time guaranteed Romania's independence. They stated that if PUMA forces attack Romania, the Allies would declare war on the People's Union.

On September 1st, the People's Union invaded Romania. Because of the deal they made with Romania, the Allies had no choice, and two days later declared war on the People's Union. The Global War was about to begin.

1940s
The 1940s was the decade that started on January 1, 1940 and ended on December 31, 1949.

The Global War took place in the first half of the decade, which had a profound effect on most countries and people in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. The consequences of the war lingered well into the second half of the decade, with a war-weary Asia divided between the jostling spheres of influence- Britain, France, and Italy against Germany and Austria-Hungary. To some degree internal and external tensions in the post-war era were managed by new institutions, including the European Leauge and the welfare state, providing to the post-Global War boom which lasted well into the 1970s.The decade also saw the early beginnings of new technologies (including computers, nuclear power and jet propulsion), often first developed in tandem with the war effort, and later adapted and improved upon in the post-war era.

1950s
The 1950s was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959.

The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century. By its end, the world had largely recovered from the Global War and the raging Phoney War developed from its modest beginning in the late 1940s to a hot competition between the British Empire and the German Empire by the beginning of the 1960s.

Clashes between democracies and monarchies dominated the decade, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. The conflicts included the Kazahkstan Civil War and the beginning of the Race into Space with the launch of Frederick I, the world's first space craft. Along with increased testing of nuclear weapons, this created a politically conservative climate. The decade was also highly materialistic in the western world.

A coup occured in 1952 overthrowing the democratic coalition government of the United States created after the Second American War, and installed dictator Richard Nixon.

In the United Kingdom, Kaiser Syndrome developed, which was a popuar term used to describe the fear of a nuclear war with Germany or a German invasion. Britain and Germany were now rivals on, not only a regional, but a global scale, and even though they never wen't to war directly, they fought proxy wars such as the Kazakh Civil War. Conformity and conservatism characterized the social mores of the time.

1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.

The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called "The Sixties", denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy, France, Yugoslavia, Australia, the Eurasian Union, Austria-Hungary, and others. This "cultural decade" is a bit later than the actual decade, beginning around 1963 and ending around 1972.

In the United Kingdom, "The Sixties", as they are known in popular culture, is a term used by historians, journalists, and other objective academics; in some cases nostalgically to describe the counterculturue and social revolution near the end of the decade; and pejoratively to describe the era as one of irresponsible excess and flamboyance.

Several governments turned to the left in the early 1960s. Italy formed its first left-of-centre government in March 1962 with a coalition of Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, and Republicans. Socialists joined the ruling block in December 1963. In Britain, the Labour Party gained power in 1964. In Brazil, Joao Goulart became president after Janio Quadros resigned.