From Sick Man to Savior - An 1847 Nation Roleplay
Muhammad Ali establishing a Modern Navy
The Discord Server
The IC Thread (TBA)
Muhammad Ali establishing a Modern Navy
The Discord Server
The IC Thread (TBA)
In 1840, history diverged when the British offered Muhammad Ali of Egypt, the great modernizer of his country, independence and continued rule of the territories he had conquered in his rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for one major concession: The construction of an earlier Suez Canal. As the European Navies' guns were staring down his metaphorical throat, the ruler of Egypt agreed, and sweetened the concessions by ceding Crete, which he held at the time, to the nascent Greek state. Thus, the newly-founded Sultanate of Egypt found itself in control of the Levant, Cicilia, and the Hedjaz, becoming the hegemon of the Middle East almost overnight.
Using this opportunity, Muhammad Ali continued his modernizing reforms, establishing a professional bureaucracy, introducing modern technology and agricultural methods, and even sowing the seeds of industry in Egypt, all the while keeping friendly relations with the European powers, relations made friendlier by his abolition of slavery a few years after consolidating his rule over his new lands. Diplomatic ties were also formed with the Muslim states of Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the Christian nation of Ethiopia, where he formed an unlikely alliance with one of the claimants to its Imperial Throne, Sahle Dingil (The future IRL Tewodoros II), an alliance dedicated to modernizing both their nations in the face of European Expansion.
As for the rest of the world, China is trying to recover from its stunning defeat and humiliation in the First Opium War, with reactionaries and reformists beginning to clash over what reforms their Empire needed, if they needed any at all. Hatred for the foriegners who forced drugs into their country and threaten their way of life simmers among the citizenry and peasants, but above all, the latter despise the ruling Qing Dynasty for trapping them in oppression and poverty. This is the year in which Hong Xiuqan, who would later start the Taiping Rebellion, was refused baptism by Western Missionaries, a foreshadowing of how his revolution will have to rely mostly on domestic support...
In America, the United States is handily beating Mexico in the first and only war between their two nations. Founded on principles of Freedom and Democracy, the United States is brimming with ambitions to turn itself into a world power, although it has to deal with the cancer of slavery which still exists in its southern parts. Will its future be as bright as it was in History, or will the American Dream flounder in this alternate world? For that matter, what of Brazil, Peru, and the other nations of 'Latin America'? Will they be able to rise up and industrialize, attaining unheard-of strength, or will their dreams crash and burn?
And while Ireland suffers under the Great Famine, and Britain sits in 'splendid isolation' to build an empire while not involving itself in Continental Europe, where the forces of Revolution and Reaction stir, with nationalists and liberals formenting rebellion against the Old Guard. Italy and Germany call out for Unification, with would-be revolutionaries in the former prepared to confront the Papacy itself, while in the latter, plans are made to influence Prussia, the hegemon of North Germany, to unite the other German-speaking peoples by force. In Hungary, intellectuals plan to agitate for the self-determination of their people and equality with the Austrian crown, while France's last King, Louis-Philippe of Orleans, is losing popularity to the point where his downfall seems inevitable.
In the Real World, these will become the unsuccssful rebellions of 1848, but who knows what the seeds of discontent will flower into in this world? Or will the forces of reaction succeed instead?
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Co-GMs:
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Rules are below:
1.) Do not be an asshole.
2.) The Point of Divergence is 1840 (the present date of the RP is 1847). Before that, your nation's history must be as IRL.
3.) Do not make your nation overpowered.
4.) Do not ignore Logistics or Economics.
5.) By the same token, only a few nations can match the British Empire's economy.
6.) Do not make your nations perfect.
7.) Technological Development must be plausible - I do not want people developing Dreadnoughts in the 1840s. That said, this is an era of advancements in Science and Technology, so don't overly gimp yourselves either.
8.) All nations must have existed in the 1840 - 1847 period. This includes my own, Egypt.
Nation Sheet
Nation Sheet
[b][u]Government[/u][/b]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Flag/Badge:[/b]
[b]Head of State:[/b] (Who rules your nation, either as a figurehead or in truth).
[b]Head of Government:[/b] (If your Head of State is a figurehead, list the real ruler here. If he isn't, type 'Same as Head of State').
[b]Ideology:[/b] (Is your nation Liberal, Conservative, or some radical version of both?)
[b][u]Military[/u][/b]
[b]Army Numbers:[/b] (Copy Wikipedia if you are not using a Point of Divergence. If you are, use common sense and reason - No absurd numbers).
[b]Navy Numbers:[/b] (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).
[b]Army Equipment:[/b] (What sort of guns and cannons does your army have?).
[b]Naval Ship Types:[/b] (What sort of ships does your navy have?).
[b][u]History, Expansion, and Economics[/u][/b]
[b]History:[/b] (Optional unless you are using a Point of Divergence.)
[b]Territory:[/b] (Describe Verbally or show on map.)
[b]Economic Description:[/b] (Elaborate on your Economy. What natural resources, manufactured goods,and crops do you produce?)
[b]Historical Claims:[/b] (What land [i]outside[/i] your territory do you want? If using a Point of Divergence, do not claim the rest of the world).
