The Assembled History of the Confederation

[khymerion]

[Over the years, many people have had their hand in recording and shaping the direction and course of the old Baltic League and its successor, the Baltic Confederation.  In the wake of the chaos of the revolution, a few documents that survived were compiled.]

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Brief History of the Baltic Confederation

an overview 1879-1899

By W. S. Churchill, the famous correspondent of the London Morning Post
Special thanks to Swamphen for describing the first part.

Following the First Franco-Prussian War, the Danes were concerned that the defeated Germans might take out their frustrations on their weaker northern neighbor. The Danish Empire therefore approached the Swedish Empire with an offer of alliance, and in 1874 a mutual defense agreement was signed.

In 1879, both Empires realised they were facing a pair of clear and present dangers: a France victorious over all comers, and a Greater Germany that had just sent its Kaiser packing. When added to long-term Swedish nemesis Russia, which some feared might seek to capalitise on France's sucess, a simple alliance was no longer considered to be sufficent defence, and after long and often heated negiotations, in 1880 the Scandanavian League was founded. The Swedish and Danish Empires would continue to manage their internal affairs, however all foreign relations, as well as defense, would be conducted by central government of the League.

By 1885, the Prussians had come to realise that they had simply traded one set of problems for another; however both French pressure and their own pride prevented asking the Kaiser to return. After another round of sometimes acrimonious diplomacy, the Prussian Republic agreed to join the Scandanavian League, which would now be a constitutional monarchy with the king of Sweden as its figurehead (analogous to OTL Britian). Several of the other Germanic states, of the norddeutscher bund, also opted for membership, and the League was renamed as the Baltic Confederation...

Prussia maintains that its old Imperial colonies - now independent as the Deutsches Kaiserreich Brandenburg - still belong to it, however the Confederation as a whole has so far declined to pursue this claim.

neutrality

Scandinavian parts of the alliance have always advocated a policy of strict neutrality and up to present day this has been a firm basis for foreign policy. It has always been a self-reliant neutrality, and the armed forces are fully prepared and equipped to back it by force. Perhaps the fact that the Swedish Royal Family and the Prussian president (Otto von Bismarc Junior) both are major shareholders in the Bofors and Krupp arms companies is an important factor in this.

Nordic system

If it's got to do with strict neutrality or not remains a question, but the confederation hasn't even chosen to adopt the metric or the imperial sytem. It has a system of it's own, the Nordic System.

Basic measurement unit is the Tjom (skandogermanic for "thumb").

One tjom equals 2 and 1/3 centimetre, ergo 23,33 mm or 0,9186 inch.
Fifteen Tjom equals one fytt (foot), in metric 350 mm or 13,8 inch.
Three Fyyt equals one myttra , = 1,05 metres or 41,3 inch.

nationbuilding

During the 1890's, slowly but surely the nations grew closer together. The armed forces which were first maintained by the member states themselves were joint in one force in 1891. Since then, all conscripts serve in units that are composed of all nationalities and most are stationed in another member state (reserve units are, however, territorial). This has been a major step in bringing the different citizens together. Another has been the adaptation of the Skandogermanic language as the official language. It is a mixture of German, Danish, Swedish and English and derived from fisherman's dialects in the Baltic and North Sea by de "Taalwissenschattliken Institoet" of the university of Germania (the Prussian capital, former Berlin).

Karlstadt

The capital rotates between the member states on a yearly basis. There are plans however to make Karlstadt the new and only capital in 1900. Karlstadt: Kopenhagen was named after the venerable king Karl of Denmark, who's family tree goes back as far as the ninth century AD and has ruled much of Scandinavia and parts of Britain. His only heir is his granddaughter Victoria, after his daughter the crownprincess Ingrid died in a tragic railway accident in 1883. She was married to Otto von Bismark Junior (now president of Prussia) and they had one daughter, Victoria, before her untimely death. King Karl and his wife are very old and live a withdrawn live. Since the accident, Karl hasn't been interested in any affairs of state.


Victoria and Alexander

There have been strong rumours that princess Victoria, who will be eighteen soon, and crown prince Alexander of Sweden (30) will be married, since their fathers, Von Bismark Jr. and King Olav of Sweden are very close. But these rumours may also serve to distract the public eye from the Dandy-lifestyle Alexander has increasingly embraced in the past decade. Prince Alexander is however reputed to be very good at his job: Skaut-by-Naktt (Rear Admiral) commanding the cruiser squadron in the north atlantic from 1895 - 1897. Presently he is placed with the Department Of Naval Construction of the ministry of the Navy, as liason officer between naval designers and the industry. Though left wing groups criticise this because of militarism and conflicts of interest (some even speak of corruption), everyone at the ministry praises his skill and intelligence. The prince has graduated from both the naval Academy at Kiel, and the technical University of Trondheim. The minister of the navy, admiral Von Tirpitz has always refuted any accusations that Alexander's positions and grades fell into his lap because of his noble blood: "He is a very talented young man, and the world will hear of him, in times to come"

And so, as the nineteenth century draws to a close and we move into the twentieth, who knows what the future holds in stock for this young, yet old brave nation?

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[Of course... not much seems to have been kept detailing the next few years...  till we came across this in the personal library of General Rocki...]

To: Gen. Filip Rocki(Warsaw)
From: Max Andersson(Karlstadt)
Message: Protests on the streets STOP People angry STOP Abolish prince Alexander STOP

[It took some time to deconstruct the meaning this might have meant to the late Revolutionary General and the rosetta stone, so to speak, was discovered.  A half ruined journal was discovered in by Royal Guardsmen and turned into the archieves a time after the counter revolution.  It detailed out his feelings of the chaos as his time to try and take over the Baltic League.  Scattered records are all that remain detailing the move of the capital to Warsaw, the naming of King Gustav to the throne, and the detailing of the assignment of General Rocki to the admiralty.  Unfortunately the heavy fighting in Warsaw ruined many of the records from this time.]

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[This tidbit of history was compiled at the request of Prime Minister Silbertann for the University of Germania's archieves.]

Though a council was formed in the months of chaos following the coup that had placed Prince Gustav into power with his military advisor, the opportunistic General Rocki, not all who lived in the wake of the move of the central government to Warsaw, the very edge of the Baltic League's territories, were supportive.   A cabal of generals and officers who lead each of the 6 corps that the league operated actively was gathered in Hamburg, far from the reach of central.  In addition, a representative of the admiralty arrived to round out the cabal.  The meeting took nearly three days of arguing amongst the 7 and their Attachés, debating what was right, about what was called for.

They saw the writing on the walls, the fact that most of the nobility was no longer viable in its present form.  They argued over if it was right for them to set policy for the nation.  Many wanted to see the country back in the hands of a strong leader but the elderly Bismarck nor the old king seemed like the right choice.  It wouldn't be right to go ask the elder statemen to return to the helm.  That would have been a terrible choice for the long run, especially in the light of the global stage.  But one thing was agreed upon, the common populace revolution that had brought this to bear could not be allowed to continue if the stability of the League was to be maintained.

General Heinrich Kassar was called to lead IV Corps with elements of II and VI Corps against the new capital in Warsaw.  Naval commanders under the command of the admiralty did their best to shut down any waterways leading to and from the capital while the army units were moved into position.  A diversion lead by Colonel Aaron Branson of the former Royal Guard was started in areas outlying Warsaw to draw away loyalist units.  The counter coupe did not last longer than three days of hard fighting before the new government was brought to its knees, trapped under the weight of the old order it had not done a good job in removing.

In the wake of the events, the government was rapidly returned to its ancestral seat in Karlstadt and rebuilding what was lost in the league internally began.  First a new leader was needed and that was a priority.  With the Crown Prince dead and no immediately apparent heir worthy of ascension, the choice for this position would have to come from outside the old nobility.  It was at that point one of the civil leaders stepped forward, bringing old ideas back to a new time.

This leader proposed that they returned to their roots for governing.  It was an order much akin to how their ancestors ran things.  The Norse of the Continent had become more like their southern neighbors, bringing about ultimately the problems they were now facing.  Arguments and murmurs rang through the once bustling halls of the capital at the mentioning of this till someone in the back coughed.  It seemed the president of Prussia had finally arrived on steamship at this point, eager to add his two cents.  He was, much to the suprise of the delegates, willing to let the old leader speak.

The old man started to talk.  He outlined the idea of a central parliamentary system much akin to the ways that the Icelanders handled things.  It would mean turning more control over to regional leaders, to the old style Jarls and princes that once dominated the former Norse and Germanic territories and that these leaders would be the ones to oversee their provinces within the league.  These Jarls would then meet in Karlstadt on a regular basis to run things within the league.  With the growing use of telephones and telegraphs, there would be little need for the regional leaders to    In essence, it was to remove the concept of 4 independent nations and forge them into a greater whole capitulating to Karlstadt... the foundation for a greater Baltic Confederation.

While there were many disagreements with this from the delegates and especially with President Bismarck, it was a good foundation to start.  While the central government did their best to hide the work they were doing, to make everything seem okay and to keep the trains on time, it was still shaky.  General Kassar did his very best to keep things in line, having been promoted to head of the General Staff for his work in Warsaw.

By the end of 1903, the government was hammered into place.  While the idea of bringing back Jarls was shot down, they did adopt the idea of the various smaller provinces sending representatives to form a Parliament for day to day operations under the head of a Prime Minister while the military managed to win the day by staying out from under the Parliament's direct control, answering to the general staff who answered only to Prime Minister.  While many regretted the loss of the old nobility, they all agreed that in light of the world, this was the best move on their part.  The first Prime Minister elected to the post was the General that had kept order during the chaotic days following the coupe, General Kassar.

Now the General faced a new battlefield.  He once lead corps of troops into battle but now had to face the very real prospect of having to defend his young nation.  Though well into his 50's, he took on the task of nation building with the energy of someone two decades younger than himself.  At the university of Germania, many top scholars still residing within the borders of the confederation proposed ideas to the new Prime Minister, entirely keeping in mind the turbulent events occurring around them.

The plans were made and while new industry wrapped around Krupp and Bofors would be added, additional companies were encouraged to move to newer processing facilities deeper in the Confederation's territory, closer to the mines in the north.  Mauser Werke and Rheinmetall along with a number of other companies were given great boons from the government.  Blom+Voss, neglected during the chaos of the revolution and the immediate rebuilding, was ordered to begin work on designing and re-establishing Confederate Presence and the recreation of a blue water navy... especially if their tentative hold on their limited overseas provinces was to be maintained.  The Kiel-Hamburg canal system was to be expanded to allow for larger ships to traffic the channel, namely the freighters bringing in the resources of the north to the Blom+Voss yards in Hamburg.  Finally, the slow expansion of the ground armies was begun, built around the nucleus of the original 6 corps that had assisted in saving the nation from its spiral towards communisms.

As 1904 and 1905 came crawling to a close, the heavy toll of the frantic rebuilding began to be collected by time on the old general who had led the country through its rebuilding.  He looked very much older than he had even a few years prior during the revolution.  In mid November of 05, Kassar's health failed him and he collapsed on the floor of the Parliament building in Karlstadt.  While it was a non-fatal incident, many who were close to Kassar knew that it wasn't going to be much longer.  As the year came to an end, Kassar stated that he would lead the country for as long as he can, in an advisory role, while bringing his replacement up to speed, a younger man of similar promise and mindset to his own, named Jonas Silbertann.  The young man of 33 was quite eager to see the completion of the work that his predecessor had started and the brighter future it promised the young Baltic Confederation.