Government

Name: Sultanate of Egypt

Flag/Badge:


Head of State: Sultan Muhammad Ali Pasha
Head of Government: Sultan Muhammad Ali Pasha
Ideology: Conservative.

Military

Army Numbers: 75,000 - 80,000 (After Point of Divergence.)

Navy Numbers: (Copy Wikipedia if you are not using a Point of Divergence. If you are, use common sense and reason - No absurd numbers. Also, if you have multiple fleets, list each one's ships seperately, do not bunch them up).

Mediterrenean Fleet (After Point of Divergence):

-8 Ships of the Line
-20 Frigates
-30 Corvettes
-10 Schooners
-20 Brigantines

Red Sea Fleet (After Point of Divergence):

- 3 Ships of the Line
- 8 Frigates
- 10 Corvettes
- 5 Schooners
- 10 Brigantines

Army Equipment:

-Springfield Model 1842 (Rifle).
-Colt Walker 1846 (Pistol).
-The Harpers Ferry Model 1841 (Rifle).
-Aston Model 1842 (Pistol).
-20 Smoothbore Cannons (Field and Siege Guns).
-15 Rocket Artillery.

Naval Ship Types:

-Ships of the Line
-Frigates
-Corvettes
-Schooners
-Brigantines

History, Expansion, and Economics

The Point of Divergence began in the year 1840, where the British offered Muhammad Ali, then merely the rebellious viceroy of Egypt, a deal - Keep his military conquests, his navy, and gain independence from the Ottoman Empire in exchange for an earlier Suez Canal. Muhammad Ali agreed, and once the deal was signed, he found himself the new Sultan of Egypt, and ready to create a new modern nation which nevertheless did not lose its continuity and attachment to the Past. With a free hand to continue his reforms, and relations with the independent Greek Kingdom repaired by his' ceding Crete to them, he now had almost unlimited power in his nation.

His modernizing reforms involved improving education and fostering literacy, encouraging foreign business and trade, while at the same time making use of the Western Powers' current goodwill (extended by legally abolishing slavery) to foster trade with the parts of Africa which were still unconquered by European powers. Not just that, but he also founded a Military Academy in order to lessen his dependence on European specialists, as well as extended medical education to women in order to improve the expertise of midwives and women's doctors so that his pool of potential soldiers and workers can grow.

While these all came with a cost, economic growth was high due to investment in Egypt's agricultural economy, as well as the workshops and small factories the Sultan ordered built all along the Nile. Gold mining in Sudan was also a vital source of funds, especially when new methods of resource production were brought in from the West. And of course, there was Egyptian Cotton, which grew into a viable competitor against the American South's products. While taxes were still high, wages grew, and the standard of living in Egypt began to improve, although it was still poor by European Standards.

As for foreign affairs, Muhammad Ali chose to eschew intervention into Ethiopia as he grew older, knowing full well that he had to focus on building Egypt's economy. So in a surprising move, he chose to aid the would-be uniter of the Ethiopians, Sahle Dingil/Tewedoros II, in ascending to his nation's throne in exchange for preferential access to the coffee plants of said nation. At the same time, defenses are built up all across the Cicilian border with the Ottomans, where the local Armenian population is given tax exemptions in exchange for helping build fortifications and serving as soldiers and sailors.

Nevertheless, some touch of the old ruthlessness remains in the elderly, successful, Sultan of Egypt, as he is speculated to have secretly ordered the death of his most incompetent nephew, Abbas, in order to have an heir who would not scrap his modernizing policies (his competent eldest son, Ibrahim, is currently dying from tuberculosis). For now, however, despite the absolute nature of his rule and his insistence that it continue, Egypt's future looks bright...

Territory: Cilicia/Lesser Armenia, The Levant, the Hedjaz region of Arabia including the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina, Egypt and Sudan.

Economic Description: Egypt makes most of its money from agriculture, whether of food crops or cash crops, with cotton making up most of the latter. It has also built up a proto-industrial economy of workshops and factories for local consumption of goods, as well as the production of guns, artillery, and ships. Mining in Sinai and Sudan is also a source of wealth, with gold and iron ore being important resources to the domestic and foreign economies. And finally, a Western-style Bank has been set up in Cairo itself, one which heralds the arrival of more 'sophisticated' financial institutions.

Historical Claims: None, Egypt is satisfied.

Government

Name: Vereinigte Staaten von Großösterreich (United States of Greater Austria) VSGO
Flag/Badge:

Head of State: Prinz-Präsident Klemens von Metternich
Head of Government: Reichskanzler Franz Anton von Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky
Ideology: Liberal

Military

Army Numbers: 350.000
Navy Numbers:
- 1 Ship of the line
- 5 Frigates
- 5 Frigates
- 8 Schooners
- 2 Paddle Steamers
Army Equipment:
Naval Ship Types:

History, Expansion, and Economics

History:
Metternich, the architect of the concert of Europe, was a masterful diplomat that managed to keep Austria relevant following the Napoleonic wars despite an arguably dismal military performance from the empire. His objective was simple: Maintain the status quo and keep Austria relevant in these changing times. This was easier said than done and when Ferdinand I, a speech impeded epileptic, took the throne in 1835, more power was delegated to him and he realized he could either save the monarchy or make Austria into a durable entity. With the raising nationalism and revolution in the air, old absolute monarchies were ill fit to rule over a large multi-ethnic empire. In this point of divergence, he decided to ditch the monarchy and collaborate with the liberals to preempt the upcoming storm.

A master negotiator, it was easy for him to rally people on his side by stating the obvious: Napoleon had shattered the old order and while the tides of liberalism had recessed, just like the tides, they were sure to come back. The elite could either drown under this wave or try and ride it to greater heights and attempt to harness the energies of liberalism to achieve success on the European and world stage.

Turning Austria around was achieved with extreme ease, all the minorities were clamoring for freedom and reform and so chose the path of least resistance: Metternich`s path. The Emperor relied entirely on the man and trusted him when he told this was the only way: A Federal and Democratic Austrian constitutional monarchy. The monarchy part would quickly take a dive and Ferdinand was forced to abdicate, so the Habsburg name may go down quietly in history as that of diplomats and reformers and so that some privileges may be retained by the aristocrats, there were no breaks on this train anymore.

The great experiment has been a wild success, the liberalization allowing for greater freedom and development while the Maestro of Europe held the economy in a tight leash with standardization efforts and making german the default langua franca of the Union, but despite how the Prince-President speaks with confidence of the future of the Balkans and how this country is a model for the basis of a united Europe, the truth is no one knows where this is going and that no one has gone down the road of progress so fast. Will this be truly a success story that will inspire mankind? Or will this wind of change be too strong for the fabric of this nation to handle, smashing it to bits?

So far, two things have held this enterprise together: Metternich`s personal charisma, and a rapidly raising quality of life for everyone in the empire, closing the gap with germany and france year after year. Everyone is mostly friendly right now, embracing each other as friends as everyone enjoys the fruits of prosperity, but can this friendship last when things don`t go so well?

Territory:


Economic Description:
Bohemia is the economic power-house of the union and industrializing at a pace rivaling the rest of the major powers thanks to its rich coal and iron deposits, likewise there is a growing fashion and ship-building in north Italy while Austria proper is an important financial and cultural center. The Balkan parts of the region are in comparison backward but are seeing quick development, especially around the Adriatic and rivers that can be used to facilitate the transport of resources around. The government generally keeps a hands free approach on things, but the armament industry is a protected area of the economy as it is seen of vital strategic importance for the Union to be able to produce its own arms.

Historical Claims:
Officially, there are only disputes with the Ottoman Empire on the subject of the Balkans and minor things with the Italian states. Unofficially however, the nationalist fervor sweeping through the Union has led many local governments to make quasi-claims of their own and petition the Federal government to seek territorial expansion in states where their own minority exists in a subjugated state. Slavic-Pan-Nationalism in the Balkans, the Polish state wishing to expend itself to include all Poles, including those in Russia and Germany, the State of Venice seeing itself as a contender to form Italy and many german liberals saying all of germany would be better enjoying the freedoms of the Union rather than be under the yoke of Prussia. Some, again, think there should be a 'United States of Europe', but these are the minority.

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Government

Name: Russian Empire
Head of State: Tsar Nicholas I
Head of Government: Same as Head of State

Ideology:
Pan-Slavism is a political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic peoples. Russia has firmly declared itself as the protector of all Slavs, and has belligerently fought for the unity of all Slavic peoples - which has historically led them into conflict with most all of its neighbors, notably Austria and the Ottoman Empire.

In spite of its world-famous avant-garde intelligentsia, Russia remains a very conservative society, reluctant to implement reforms unless necessary.

Military

Army Numbers: The Russian Imperial Army has approximately 900,000 regular troops, in addition to 250,000 irregular troops, including the famous Cossacks.
Navy Numbers: The Russian Imperial Navy is large, but also divided into several constituent fleets in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Arctic Sea, and the Pacific Ocean.

There's like next to zero actual info on how many ships were in each fleet, just a number that it's total navy was: "in 1853, Russia had the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets, Arkhangelsk Flotilla, Caspian Flotilla and Okhotsk Flotilla (altogether, 40 battleships, 15 frigates, 24 corvettes and brigs, 16 steam frigates etc.)."

History, Expansion, and Economics

History: As OTL, no significant changes to history.

Territory: Russia proper, plus the Governates of the Baltic Territories, Poland, Finland, the Caucasus, Turkestan Krai, and Russian America.

Economic Description: Though possessive of the largest land empire by far on Earth, Russia's economy remains in a rather under-developed state. Literacy still remains poor, and in spite of increasingly staunch liberal protest, the hesitance to abolish serfdom has resulted in immense dead-weight loss of what would otherwise be a plentiful source of industry workers. Throughout the ages the institution had undergone several reforms and changes, the first steps toward a complete abolishment were taken only in the 1810s, when the institution was abolished in Kurland, Estonia and Livonia. Industry is largely relegated to the centers of Moscow and Petrograd, while Russia's massive size means that its most bountiful deposits of ore and coal remain under-exploited. Large industrial changes are slow to implement, and Russia's immense territory and vast holdings create challenges to industrialize that few would even need to contemplate. Even so, the Breadbasket of Ukraine, the mines of the Caucasus, and the shipyards of the Baltics have brought much prosperity to the Empire.

Historical Claims: As the Protector of All Slavs and the Beacon of the Orthodox world, Russia has long had its eyes on the long-lost city of Istanbul to re-conquer it from the usurping Turks and manifest Russia as its rightful place as the Third Rome. Sensing weakness from Egypt's independence from the Ottomans, many believe that Russia will soon make its march.

Government

Name: Provisional Imperial Republic of Japan
Flag/Badge:

Head of State: His Imperial Majesty Emperor Kōmei of Japan
Head of Government: Sei-i Taishōgun, Katayama Kumiko, Shogun of Japan
Ideology: Japanese Republican Imperialism:
An ideology created and espoused by Shogun Kumiko following her stunning military victories in the early days of the civil war. Japanese Republican Imperialism is an ideology espousing the rule and ownership of the nation of Japan by its population rather than by social elites, and the spreading of Japanese influence, culture, and territory through military or economic action. Lands and resources are to be managed for the public good, instead of private profit, and the surplus from this used to further expand the lands and resources of the Japanese state and to bring other peoples into the fold of Japanese society.

Military

Army Numbers: The Imperial Japanese Army practices conscription and is capable of levying hundreds of thousands to supplement its 50,000 strong professional standing army. It is notable for the high number of women in its armed forces.
Navy Numbers: The Imperial Japanese Navy is small, but growing, and efforts are underway to purchase yet more ships from abroad and construct new ones domestically.

• 4 Ships of the Line
• 11 Frigates
• 16 Sloops
• 2 Brigs
• 6 Schooners
• 2 Steamships

Army Equipment: The Imperial Japanese Revolutionary Army is equipped with modern percussion rifled muskets, artillery, and other equipment. Initially these weapons were purchased from abroad, but have recently begun domestic production following the purchase of industrial tooling from abroad.
Naval Ship Types: The Imperial Japanese Revolutionary Navy is small, but counts ships of the line, frigates, sloops, brigs, schooners, and even steamships among its fleet.

History, Expansion, and Economics

Historical Claims: The Provisional Imperial Republic of Japan is overt about its short term goals - annexing Korea, Taiwan, the Sakhalin island, and large swathes of mainland China. In the longer term, they seek to control or influence a much wider sphere, turning the Pacific Ocean to their rule.

History: Point of Divergence: 1840

The Shogun of Japan’s road to greatness began in the year 1840. Bad harvests exacerbated by the poor management and harsh taxation of the Daimyo lead to severe food shortages and riots across the entire nation. Though most of the Japanese people were secluded from the goings on of the wider world, the port city of Nagasaki was not. Hearing news of the ongoing humiliation of Qing China, a young woman living in the farms on the outskirts of Nagasaki began making waves in the local community, insisting the same might happen to them, that if their rulers could not handle the food shortages, what hope did they have against the foreigners?

Initially, she was ignored, belittled, and told to know her place. She was, for a time, regarded as little more than a madwoman - claiming to be a descendent of Tokugawa Ieyasu himself, no less. But her following grew, slowly, as news filtered in from abroad. The year was 1840 when, following the orders of a local magistrate, an order for her arrest was issued. Instead of allowing herself to be taken, the strange woman produced a short sword and slew the two men sent to arrest her.

The rebellion began in earnest, then. Buoyed by her rhetoric, many villagers and townsfolk flocked to her side. Bearing improvised weapons they overran and looted the city’s armory. The rebellion exploded overnight, seizing control of the city of Nagasaki. An army was dispatched by the Shogun to quell the uprising, but in a startling turn of events the rebels, under the stunning leadership of Katayama Kumiko, intercepted and decisively defeated the government forces.

Urgent missives were dispatched from the port of Nagasaki to any foreign empire that might lend an ear. The great bear of the east, the Russian Empire, was the first to respond. Russian ships arrived in Nagasaki, bringing old guns and cannon, powder and shot. With an eerie level of proficiency, Kumiko began the organization of a proper army from her peasant’s rebellion. With fresh supplies, new weapons, and a fanatically devoted and growing army, the Japanese civil war commenced fully. Skillfully lead both tactically and strategically, the growing rebellion pried the country away from the hands of the Shogun and Emperor piece by piece.

In the year 1844, Katayama Kumiko enters Kyoto at the head of her victorious army. The previous Shogun is executed, and with the support of her army she is inducted as the new Shogun of Japan, much to the shock of onlookers both internal and external.

Shogun Kumiko’s reforms begin almost immediately. Trade deals and alliances are forged with the Russian Empire, and the centuries long policy of isolation of the previous Tokugawa Shoguns is abolished overnight. The port city of Nagasaki is transferred to the ownership of the Russian Empire, granting the great power something it has sought for decades if not centuries - a warm water port. Women are empowered by her decree, enforced by her fanatical army, women consisting of up to thirty percent of its number. Weapons, industrial machinery, wondrous technologies, trains, and more are imported as much as the nation’s treasury will allow. The domains of the daimyo are liquidated and transferred to the ownership of the peasants who work them. Foreigners - primarily Dutch and Russian - are permitted, and encouraged, to enter the country in order to spread the technologies of the West. Samurai rebellions are put down with ruthless efficiency, the newly termed Imperial Japanese Revolutionary Army formed around a solid core of veteran soldiers from the civil war, drilled and trained in the style of European warfare. The armies of Japan stand ready to make China bend the knee and make the whole world recognize the Imperial Republic as a force to be reckoned with.

"If we are to stand against the European powers we must learn from them, and take what is rightfully ours by force, lest we be left behind to be crushed beneath their bootheel. The ways of old have served us well, but in the land of the rising sun, we must look forward into this new dawn."

-Katayama Kumiko, Shogun of the Provisional Imperial Republic of Japan

Economic Description: The economy of Japan remains primarily agricultural, but is rapidly modernizing in nearly every conceivable field. Railroads are being rapidly constructed to link as much of the country together as possible. The consolidation of farmland away from the hands of the nobility and into those of farmer’s cooperatives has boosted rice output significantly. The Japanese islands are notably resource-poor, and intensive efforts are underway to secure not only mining and extraction rights within the vast Russian territory of Siberia, but expanding the borders of the empire. At present, Japan relies on imports for its burgeoning industrial sector, built up first on foreign purchased machinery, and subsequently on an increasing number of domestically produced tools.

This is, of course, a massive gamble on the part of the Shogun. The importation of resources and the Shogun’s financial investments on the scale currently being practiced requires an equally vast incentive. The Japanese Yen has been established as a fiat currency, and intensive efforts are underway to build up a proper financial sector of the economy. As it stands, the Japanese economy has two great advantages in building itself up - cheap labor, and cheap goods. The rapidly growing economy is built on a pile of IOUs to foreign creditors, and it is in the island nation’s best interests to make good on every ounce of investment. Resources such as iron and coal flow in to newly founded factories in rivers, and cheap goods flow out to the global market. Though the standard of living has risen, costs remain low in comparison to those factories of Europe, giving the Japanese Empire a chance to grow strong on European gold.