PODs (Chisel of Time)

1978
A push for closer ties with other members of the Commonwealth leads to the establishment of a Commonwealth Confederation between the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This causes the UK to cut all political ties with the EC and other European integrationalist organizations, except for NATO.

1993
-A suitcase nuclear device of 6 kilotons is detonated in Moscow by Chechen terrorists﻿. This kills the President Boris Yeltsin, leading to widespread panic throughout the already unstable Russian Federation.

1994
-In the wake of the chaos to the east in Russia, the western European countries sign the Treaty of Rome, establishing a joint defense agreement within the structures of the EU, the integration of nuclear capabilities into one shared stockpile, the establishment of international naval battle﻿ groups around the member states' aircraft carriers, and the creation of a common monetary currency, the Euro, adopted by all members before the end of the century.

1995
-The federal government relinguishes control of the region of Chechnya, seeing this as the only move to avoid any further unrest. Other regions throughout the Caucasus declare their independence following Chechnya's, leading to a weak and vulnerable southwestern border.

1996
-Turkey becomes the first nation to recognize the new states and signs the Grozny Charter, formalizing an alliance between Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Crimea, Gaugazia, Chechnya, Abkhazia, Ingushetia, Ossetia, Transnistria, North Cyprus, and Crimea. This allowed Turkey to stage military personel in the allied regions, and essentially turned them into protectorates. Their economies were linked to the Turkish through an FTA and a customs union.

2005
-Kosovo, Albania, and Bosnia join the Grozny Treaty Organization.

2009
-Belgium is partitioned between an independent city-state of Brussels (run by the EU as a capital district), Luxembourg, France, and the Netherlands after the governmental strife that lasted since 2007.