Timeline (Against the Dying of the Light)

Here is the timeline for Against the Dying of the Light.

Introduction
The late 19th and early 20th Centuries proved to be a very difficult time for humankind, as the Age of Imperialism was at its zenith and the Scramble for Africa was really getting heated, especially in the immediate years leading up to the First Great War, where many lives were lost in what could be best described as a bloody carnage of corpses, organs and the screams of the dead. However, around that same time, the Industrial Revolution was beginning to ramp up with new inventions and advances in both science and technology like automobiles, telephones, assembly lines, light bulbs, machine guns, and even the discovery of x-rays. With these advances came new ideas, new hopes and new dreams. However, the day the First Great War began, the whole world unraveled and soon the hopes and dreams of many were crushed, along with the optimism and idealism that so many people had at the time. However, to truly understand the world of today, we must go back to the beginning on that Christmas Eve of 1895.......

The War of 1895
The War of 1895 was a military conflict between the United States, Venezuela and Britain that began over a territorial dispute in the modern states of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice, back then called British Guiana, and later escalated into the Little America region of the modern United States, back then called the Dominion of Canada and the Newfoundland colony. The conflict stemmed out a series of tensions that have been in place since the independence of Venezuela in 1830, though it was not until 1895 when tensions reached a high point. Initially, neither side wanted a war, and the two actually found ways to benefit each other mutually, while securing the other’s interests. However, around early December of 1895, Venezuela became increasingly uncooperative and minor skirmishes were reported. Though no deaths were reported, there were at least 8 injured on Venezuela’s side and at least 5 injuries on Britain’s.

Then on that fateful afternoon on Christmas Eve, the tension reached the tipping point. It all began around 13:40 local time when an American squadron of ships composed of the USS Maine, the USS Texas, the USS Vesuvius, the USS Charleston, and the USS New York began approaching a Royal Navy squadron a kilometre off the coast of Georgetown, which was composed of the HMS Calypso, the HMS Spartan, the HMS Rocket, the HMS Magnificent, and the HMS Surly. As the Americans slowly approached, the Royal Navy fired a warning shot and just as Rear Admiral Yates Stirling ordered the ships to turn around, at around 14:43 local time, the Royal Navy began to fire, unaware that Stirling gave the order to turn back. The Americans began to return fire, and by 15:27 local time, the Royal Army began to retreat after losing the HMS Calypso, the HMS Surly and the HMS Rocket, and the HMS Magnificent taking heavy damage. The Americans lost the USS Charleston and the USS New York, while the USS Vesuvius and the USS Texas had sustained heavy damage. This later became known as the Christmas Skirmish. Though the Americans had won, the War of 1895 had begun…….

After the Christmas Skirmish, the Venezuelan military began its invasion of British Guiana, while the Americans blockaded British Guiana to prevent reinforcements from arriving. Throughout that front, around 47,000 civilians lost their lives, along with 40,000 Venezuelan troops and 25,000 Royal Army troops in the period between the 26th of December of 1895 and the 10th of March of 1896, when the whole of British Guiana was occupied by Venezuelan forces, with American naval assistance and supplies.

Meanwhile, the Americans wasted no time in invading Canada and on the 27th of December of 1895, American troops led by Maj. General Thomas H. Ruger began to advance across the border into Canada. Many borders towns in the region were easily overrun, and by New Year’s Day, heavy fighting was reported in Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto. Vancouver fell by the 16th of January of 1896, whereas Toronto ended up in a bloody stalemate and Montreal had just barely managed to prevent the Americans from taking the city. Toronto was eventually captured by the Americans around the 8th of February of 1896, and Montreal quickly followed by the 14th of the same month. By the 20th of March of 1896, Ottawa fell, and local government officials fled to Saguenay, Quebec, where local forces began to retreat, while the Royal Army delayed the Americans for as long as they could. By the 23rd of July of 1896, Saguenay fell, and the remaining Royal Army forces began to make a final stand in Newfoundland. Newfoundland fell by the 3rd of August of 1896, and that same day, the Treaty of Caracas was signed, effectively making the former colony of British Guiana the modern provinces of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice, and handed the Americans the new territories of Quebec (composed of modern day Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Adams Island), the Northern Territories (modern day Yukon, Jefferson, and Nunavut), and Canada (composed of modern day Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, Columbia and Lincoln). By then, the 240,000 American troops, 100,000 Royal Army troops and 170,000 civilians lost their lives, effectively adding up to a total body count of 680,000 deaths on all fronts. With this, a world power emerged and one that could very well challenge the British Empire…

Outbreak of War
While the Americans were trying to finish off the Spanish Empire’s remaining colonies in the Spanish-American War and dealing with insurgents in Quebec simultaneously, Britain was busy licking its wounds from the War of 1895. However, it had other problems, especially France. On the 18th of September of 1898, after a series of expeditions ran into each other, there was a meeting between French and British forces in the town of Fashoda, in Mahdist Sudan, in which both sides insisted their rights to the town, but agreed to wait for further orders. As news of the incident spread, the two sides began to prepare for war, and although Fashoda brought both sides to the brink, it was the Suez Incident that pushed both sides over. As the French battleship Gaulois and the HMS Royal Sovereign began to approach each other, a skirmish broke out at least 5 km south of the Suez Canal on the 8th of October of 1898 at around 18:08 local time, and after 48 minus, the Gaulois sank to the bottom of the Red Sea. When word reached the two nations, France declared war in retaliation, and soon, the First Great War had begun.

New Alliances
After the declaration of war from France, the town of Fashoda immediately turned into a battleground, and soon, the two sides began to destroy each other in Africa. Around that time, Germany proposed a treaty to form an alliance with Britain, and the minute Britain signed, the Grand Accord was born, effectively dragging Germany into the war. Austria-Hungary would follow after the a bombing in Vienna, which kills 13 and leaves around 23 injured. Emperor-King Franz Joseph I and Archduke Franz Ferdinand were among the dead, effectively leaving Charles I of Austria in charge. Of course, with the outbreak of war, two things were considered: first, the Russians and the Italians were just as terrified of Germany as France was at the time, and the Balkans were a powder keg before the war just ready to blow. Italy refused to join the war initially, but after secret negotiations, Italy joined the war a year after the start of hostilities. The Russians on the other hand, immediately joined the war on the side of France, abiding by the Dual Alliance of 1894 to protect France. The Ottomans joined in around the fall of 1898 on the side of the Accord, while the French solidified their alliances as the Versailles Pact by the 17th of January of 1899.