Reform Union (Plato Succeeds)

The Reform Union
In 1518 the monk and scholar Martin Luther began to notice that the Kallipolic Confederation seemed to be moving away from the works of Plato. Spirit and desire were taking over, reason was increasingly ignored in favour of religious fanaticism and the Guardians and philarchons were abusing their power. Preaching reform and declaring "faith is the greatest enemy of reason", he showed his 97 Theses to the local people. Agreeing with him, areas around north-west Germany, the Netherlands and parts of France declare themselves to be "Protestants" as they are protesting against corruption. The Confederation, labelling European members "Catholics" to show they are all united together denounce such actions as illegal and unutopian.

Confederates outside Europe didn't care about the religious nature of the conflict, they follow religions like Orthodox Christian, Zoroastrianism, paganism, Hinduism, Buddhism or, for many members of the scientific community a peaceful and non-assimilating religion called Islam. However they look upon the political consequences as serious, some fearing for Platonism, some using it as a chance to settle old scores. The Turks, led by philarchon Suleiman the Magnificent take several areas in Northern Africa to secure the safety of the Mediterranean, while sending peacekeepers into Eastern Europe. By the of the 17th century, the dispute is resolved, with nations agreeing to simply respect each others views. They're all independent states after all.

The British Kallipolis
Composed of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Western Isles, the Hebrides, the Shetlands, the Orkney's, the Scilly's, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, Anglesey and over 130 other inhabited islands. In Scotland, it is believed that an "island" is a landmass that can accommodate 1 sheep. In 1535 the Reform Unions ideas spread over the English Channel to the south of England and the City of London. The philarchon at the time was Guardian Anne Boleyn, her surname coming from her serial code B013YN. At the time she was in a union with admiral Henry, who was English with Welsh descent. However he opposed the changes and began to conspire with many leading Guardians and Civilians, including Anne's own brother George. When discovered, he was taken to the Tower of London and beheaded (this means that in this timeline, Edward Tudor never existed). Anne wasn't completely in favour of Luther's ideas but implemented them anyway, leading her to be declared "unreasonable" by the Confederation, which led to Britain breaking off from the union of utopian city states it had been in since ancient times. However, it did not join the Reform Union either, though it is often listed as a member anyway by official records.

After 1547, the next philarchon was Civilian Thomas Cranmer, who was assisted by Catherine Parr and Robert Kett.In 1558, with Britain now led by Civilian Jane Grey, the Confederation launched a fleet from Spain and Portugal known as the Armada. With some of the best technical innovations such as purpose built aircraft carriers and submarines, the Armada was sure of victory. But sadly for them, the fleet was well known before it was completed allowing Britain and the Reform Union to prepare its own ships, adapted specially to counter the Armada's trump cards. The Spanish fleet also set sail during a period of stormy weather. The result was a victory for the fleets of reform, as the Catholic ships were not as manoeuvrable as the ships of the Protestants, had less ammunition, some of its guns didn't fit the ammunition carried and its main weapons, the aircraft and submarines were destroyed by specialist anti aircraft and anti-submarine vessels, including a few submarines built or acquired by the British. The Armada, badly beaten reached land but was then attacked by exploding derelict vessels. Forced to leave it was then caught in a storm that left it, with crews not used to this climate, vulnerable to the Protestants. The prestige of Spain was badly hit, with some convinced that God was on the side of the reformists. Jane Grey was a disappointment for the rest of her reign, eventually dying in 1578. The legislatures of the Guardians and Civilians, known as Parliament, chose a surprising new leader. Another young Civilian woman, Mary Stuart of Scotland was chosen. She had connections both in Britain and overseas. Some speculate it was to appease the more warlike Guardians who would happily rampage throughout Europe and probably lead to more attempts to reconquer Britain. Mary was opposed to anyone coming over to Britain and trying to absorb it into any union, whether the Confederation, the Reform Union and should they try for some reason China.

Both the Reform Union and Britain rejoin the Confederation in 1700 when the aforementioned peace is made.