[OOC] Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

[Letter Bee]

@Keyguyperson, The Worker Co-Operatives in Subic Bay are ready to betray the Philippines to Japan if you want, but notify me first if you're going to use them for courtesy's sake?

[Chapatrap]

Oh wow, PoW is back. I haven't looked at RPGuild in months so excuse my absence so far. I might do my usual and grab a little nation in Europe, if that's grand.

Scratch that, I'm grabbing the Ottomans, esse

[shadowsaint007]

Going to have to drop out of this. I just keep losing inspiration and focus. Sorry guys.

[Chapatrap]

The Ottoman Empire

History:
The Ottomans entered the Great War on the 29th of October, 1914, with a surprise attack on Russian Crimea. They entered on the side of the Central Powers but saw action largely in the Caucasus and within their own borders. However, with the exit of the Russian Empire in 1916, the Ottomans gained dominance in the Black Sea and largely concentrated their armies to crushing revolts and holding the Eastern Front. Backed by the British, the Arabs in the Ottomans Levant territories began a huge revolt. Despite the Ottoman's best attempts at crushing the ever present Arab insurgency, it only became larger and more powerful. The Ottoman's possessions were abandoned in all but name by 1920 as the army fell back to Anatolia to defend the homeland.

As the war dragged on and the Ottomans became increasingly dependent on the Central Power's help in crushing nationalist insurgencies in their Arab provinces. When a white peace was declared and Europe began the long road of reconstruction, unrest continued in the Ottoman provinces but once again, the Sick Man of Europe was left isolated. The Central Powers, all facing their own internal issues, could no longer subsidise the dying Islamic empire and by 1929, Ottoman forces had largely fallen back to Anatolia. The abandonment of provinces held for centuries left many Turks bitter and unrest began in the urban centres of Turkey. The declaration of a Turkish Republic in Constantinople by disillusioned army officers caused the Sultan, Mehmed VI, to flee the capital. As the revolution began to lose steam in late 1932, a large force of Ottomans loyal to the Sultan crushed it and it's leaders, including a man we would today call Ataturk.

The population at large disliked Mehmed VI's government for his perceived abandonment of the Empire and the military declared a Interregnum period of 5 years, during which a new constitution and Sultan were to be chosen. The Military Junta largely concentrated on a reconstruction of the Empire's remnants and it came to a surprise in 1937 when a relatively unknown member of the House of Osman was crowned as Osman IV. Under the Third Constitution, the Sultan was delegated as a figurehead to the so-called Second Empire and wide-sweeping liberal reforms swept over Turkey. Basing the Second Empire on the United Kingdom as a symbol of stability, Islamic law was abandoned completely in favour of a secular Empire, although the Sultan was still recognised as the Caliph of Islam. The remaining minorities in the Empire were all enfranchised and the head of the military even issued an apology to the families of Pontic Greeks and Armenians who's families had been effected by "brutal military conditions during a time of extreme political stress".

Liberal reforms, as promising as they seemed, did not last long. While a majority of the empires subjects were placated with notions of freedom of speech and religion, in practice very little changed. The Gizli, a secret police established in the 30's by the military junta, remain at large and people have been known to disappear or discouraged from expressing certain opinions in the name of national security. Romantic notions of re-conquering the lost territories are ever-present in the Ottoman Empire and since the early 50's, the Ottomans have begun sowing the seeds of pro-Turkish revolt in Cyprus, Tataria and parts of the Caucasus.

In the early 40's, the Ottoman government began a programme of settling Turkish-speaking peoples into Ottoman Kurdistan (an autonomous region in South-Eastern Anatolia) in order to encourage economic development there. This created tensions among the Kurds who saw it as a form of assimilation. Large tracts of traditionally Kurdish land were bought cheaply from local tribes and given to loyal Ottoman citizens, usually richer men from a military background. An political party, known as the Kurdish National Movement, and its paramilitary wing, the Kurdish National Force, have grown quickly in recent years due to the Ottoman's heavy handed response in dealing with dissent. Despite being an illegal organisation, the KNF has become bolder and attracted many young, educated Kurds. The Ottoman intelligence organisations have become increasingly concerned by the radicalism expressed by these organisations.

It is now 1960 and in his yearly address to the public, Osman IV announced that the days of a dying Empire were over. The 1960's were to be "the Ottoman decade", a quote that worried many in the lost territories and beyond. 30 years of peace have allowed the state to grow and consolidate. Some are already bidding farewell to the liberal decades and are preparing for a decade of upheaval and change. The Sick Man of Europe, while battered black and blue, has once again began a march in the name of Islam.

Other:
The Ottoman Empire consists of just the European side of Constantinople and Anatolia, including the autonomous region of Kurdistan.

[Letter Bee]

Alternate Philippines Mid-term Elections will start on the next IC Page.

[Nerevarine]

[disregard]

[Letter Bee]

Alternate Philippine Mid-Terms are delayed somewhat.

[Letter Bee]

Anyway, this is my idea for the constituency of Aurelia's Opposition Party:

- The remaining rich fucks in the Philippines and their tenants.
- Corrupt Worker Co-Operatives in Subic and other coastal regions (The Subic guys do not know Aurelia has cast them off yet).
- Rural guys who have a lot of spare time at night, but cannot use it because of the darkness.
- Urban guys seeking the prosperity of the Americas.

[Chapatrap]

[disregard]

@Nerevarine

:^(

[Letter Bee]

NGO Character Sheet

Name: The Stefan Orlov Pleistocene Project

Location: Alaska

History: Stefan Orlov (born 1892) was a Russian Noble who, in the old days, was known for his apathy to politics and his enthusiasm for science, enthusiasm that reached the point of obsession. Twenty-four when the Trans-Siberian Railway was built, Stefan earned a reputation as an eccentric when he volunteered to go to Siberia in order to do research on the extinct Mammoth. Twenty-four more years passed, in which Stefan Orlov discovered more about the Pleistocene Era's fossil records, ecology, Mammoth habitats, and even went to Wrangel Island, where he discovered that the Mammoths survived up to 1700 BC, when the Great Pyramids were being built (this was IRL, but discovered in 1975). He also found relics of human habitation on that island, proof that the Wooly Mammoth was rendered extinct by humans, not changing climates.

He also found out that the Mammoths and other Megafauna of the Pleistocene had created a 'Mammoth Steppe', a productive area of fertile grasslands that was more lush and hospitable to humankind than the tundra that existed today. But thanks to the extinction of the Megafauna, the land slowly became tundra, with harsh consequences for Siberia today. But, if primitive humans can do so much damage, cannot they also repair it? Those were his thoughts.

True, Mammoths, Giant Sloths, and other extinct species cannot be brought back. But other large hervivores, such as Yakutian Horses, Musk Oxen, and European and American Bison...those still existed. If he had those, as well as predators and human hunters to keep said hervivores in check, he might yet bring back the Mammoth steppe!

Too bad however, that despite Stefan's noble heritage, Tsar Nicholas II had too many other things in his mind to listen to an eccentric whose plans were incomprehensible to him. That and it would cost a lot of money for little immediate profit. Stefan was disappointed, but then came an unexpected windfall; the Tsar was assassinated and the Orlov Family and several other nobles went to Siberia along with a huge amount of gold and other valuables. Because of this, Stefan became interested in politics for the first time (albeit marginally), and offered all help he could to the Whites; mostly advice on surviving in Siberia. But his prime loyalties were to his 'Pleistocene Project' and acquiring gold for it.

And so another windfall came when it was suggested that most of the White Russians' gold can be safely hidden in America, which had just reunified itself from its own Civil War. Orlov offered to come with the gold to 'safeguard it', and this was accepted by the White Leadership.

Now with the majority of the White Russians' treasury - 300 tons of Gold of the 500 that had been moved from Petrograd - Orlov now had enough resources to start his project; creating a 'Pleistocene Park' in Alaska in order to restore the Mammoth Steppe. He sent a weak justification to the remaining White Russians and the Tsarist forces of St. Petersburg that he was making a 'refuge and hunting reserve' for Russian Emigres to Alaska, but it turned out he did not need to - they were too focused on war to get back their gold. That, and even if he spent it like a drunken sailor, he would still have enough to give back to the Russian Tsardom.

So in 1949, Stefan Orlov bought and legally transported 50 Yakutian Horses to Alaska; many were eaten by wolves and bears or died from eating poisonous plants, but enough survived to prove his point; where the horses had compacted the soil, the mosses, weeds, and willow shrub had been replaced by grasses!

The promise of turning tundra into grassland was real. It would even be more real if Moose (already present in the area), Musk Oxen (same), and even Bison can be brought in with enough numbers to survive the harsh winters. And thankfully, that was what gold, and bankrolling poltiical campaigns by friendly candidates, were for...

@Dinh AaronMk@Pepperm1nts@Byrd Man@Vilageidiotx

Mentioning the GMs as I need their approval, mentioning Pepper as I am using Russia's Gold and Byrd because I am using his country's territory.

[Pepperm1nts]

@Letter Bee

Sorry, but I can't green-light the Russian gold stuff. The gold is and should be a Russia-specific storyline - one that I have the ultimate say on as the player for what remains of the old Russia. And that said, I have my own plans for where the gold ended up.

[Letter Bee]

<Snipped quote by Letter Bee>

Sorry, but I can't green-light the Russian gold stuff. The gold is and should be a Russia-specific storyline - one that I have the ultimate say on as the player for what remains of the old Russia. And that said, I have my own plans for where the gold ended up.

@Pepperm1nts

Acceptable. How much of a fortune would you allow Orlov to have/keep, then?

[Letter Bee]

Nevermind, going with a wealthy Filipino to make my Pleistocene Park.

[Shyri]

Updated muh fancy map to include Chap.

[Chapatrap]

For the record, Greece controls most of the outer islands of the Aegean and all of Cyprus. Neo Byzantium, nu?

[Vilageidiotx]

Updated muh fancy map to include Chap.

@Shyri

updated your fancy map because there was some shit left out and shit that shouldn't have been left in.

[Dinh AaronMk]

tfw you go to bed hoping tomorrow will get better, only to wake up and now it begins feeling worse.

[Vilageidiotx]

tfw you go to bed hoping tomorrow will get better, only to wake up and now it begins feeling worse.

@Dinh AaronMk

woo! flu season!

[Keyguyperson]

Shit. I've had a bit of a time. Now that NaNoWriMo, the three back to back major projects, and my week of depression are done I can actually get back to this. I'll try to get a post done after I finish my research essay.

@Keyguyperson, The Worker Co-Operatives in Subic Bay are ready to betray the Philippines to Japan if you want, but notify me first if you're going to use them for courtesy's sake?

@Letter Bee

I ain't had the time to read the IC since my disappearance yet, but assuming you haven't already done something with them then yeah sure you can be the one to do it.

[Letter Bee]

Shit. I've had a bit of a time. Now that NaNoWriMo, the three back to back major projects, and my week of depression are done I can actually get back to this. I'll try to get a post done after I finish my research essay.

<Snipped quote by Letter Bee>

I ain't had the time to read the IC since my disappearance yet, but assuming you haven't already done something with them then yeah sure you can be the one to do it.

@Keyguyperson

Ah, already did something with them and are doing more stuff.

So, will there be a War Arc soon?