The German Empire in 2014

Short History:

The year is 1904: Wilhelm II slips in the bathroom, hits his head and becomes mentally and physically disabled. He dies three years later. This leads to several political crisis’ in the empire, but Germany manages to avoid some international problems (Morocco crisis, Doggerbank incident etc.) and the public opinion in the UK stays in favor of the Germans.

After some problems at the start of his rule Wilhelm III manages to become a pretty popular monarch. He tries as good as he can to be a good example for his people. Wilhelm is more modest than his father and more pragmatic. In 1910 his first son is born: Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Johann Georg Albert of Prussia (called Heinrich).

The 1920s are a time of conflict for Europe. The Ottomans sink into war. The Balkan states divide the European part of the empire between them. Austria-Hungary and Russia avoid war with each other by rearranging their spheres of interest. The Russians gain Armenia and control the east of Anatolia, whereas Austria-Hungary becomes the de-facto overlord of Serbia and Albania. In 1925 the Poles rise up and bring Russia and A-H to the edge of collapse.

In 1928 communists take over the government of Saxony. The German chancellor decides to intervene in Saxony whereas Wilhelm III is passive and afraid to act against the communists. This leads to an internal crisis and the army takes power in 1930. With the military in power the constitution is changed and the states in the empire lose much of their power. In 1932 a strike brings down the semi-dictatorial regime. Theodor Liebknecht is appointed Chancellor and elections are to be hold the next year. Liebknecht undos some of the constitutional changes and introduces some new laws before the election; giving some of the minority languages such as Polish an official status. This leads to conflict with the weak and reactionary regimes in A-H and Russia.

The following war puts Germany against the A-H and Russia. The Entente Cordiale stays neutral at first but by 1933 the A-H collapses completely and the UK joins on Germany’s side in the hope of taking over Russia sphere in the middle east and central Asia. By the end of the year Russia surrenders. France is not really happy with the situation in Europe but can do little because the British don’t want to interfere on the continent.

The war end with the Treaty of Cracow:

-the Republic of Poland is formed out of Russian Poland and Austrian Galicia

-the Czechoslovak Federation is formed with Friedrich of Duke of Teschen as King

-Yugoslavia is formed

-German Austria gets annexed by the German Empire

The elections which should have been held in 1933 are hold in February 1934. The election is won by the Socialists which form a government with the Liberals; but the Socialist party is split between Reformists and Communists. The government is able to push a constitutional reform through the parliament, which abolishes the already weakened German states (“Länder”). Instead the counties (“Kreise”) gain more power.

Wilhelm III lost much of the popularity he had in the 1910s and ‘20s. Many in the Socialist Party want to abolish the monarchy altogether. Re-elections are held in 1936 after the government couldn’t decide about the issue if monarchy should be abolished or not. After that followed 20 years of conservative dominance. In 1951 Luxemburg joins the Empire, but it gets some autonomy. In the next decades Luxemburg would become TTL version of a European Las Vegas. A social-liberal government takes over in 1956. In the mean time Czechoslovakia disintegrates. The country is split into the two republics Czechia and Slovakia and the Duchy of Teschen, which had previously a special status in Czechoslovakia.

Wilhelm III dies 1966 and his son Heinrich I takes over the throne. In 1971 the conservative take over the government again but their cruel treatment of the independence movements in the colonies makes them use much of their popularity. The election of 1977 is a catastrophe for the conservatives. Germany develops into a de-facto two party system. The two-party system ends in 2001 with the rise of the modernists and neo-cons.

The Crown Prince Wilhelm is born in 1932 but dies in a plane crash in 1978. In 1984 the german counties are rearranged and provinces are introduced, but they stay pretty powerless. Heinrich I dies in 2002, his grandson Friedrich II becomes the new emperor.

Points of interests:

Head of State: Emperor Friedrich II

Head of Government: Chancellor Balthasar “Balder” Kurmann (United Liberal Party)

Berlin:

Capital of the Empire. Over 7 million inhabitants. The city is surrounded by a belt of “suburbs”; the biggest of them are: Potsdam (don’t tell the people of Potsdam that that they live in a suburb … they don’t like to hear that), Bernau, Oranienburg and Märkische Neustadt. The last is a planned city and was founded in the 40s.

The people of Berlin think sometimes that the city is the center of the world; an attitude which is disliked by most of the other people in Germany (“Damn Berlinians!/Damn Prussians!”).

Prussia:

Like all other former German states Prussia is nowadays of no importance for administrative purposes. It has a status similar to the Swedish “landskaper”. In everyday life Prussia has pretty blurry borders. Austrians call everything north of Bohemia and the Danube for Prussia. Bavarians mean the land north of the Main if they say Prussia. For Alsatians is Prussia a mythical land east of the Rhine. For people of Cologne it is more of a metaphysical concept. And the children of Berlin are confused why they are in the middle of Prussia but also west of West Prussia.

Saxony:

Very blurry northern border. Most people consider Anhalt to be the northern border of the region but even many Magdeburgians call themselves for Saxons.

Leipzig:

Over 1 million inhabitants. Thinks it’s heart and soul of Saxony. The Major actually tried one time to unite Elbsachsen, Südsachsen and Askanien into a super-Saxony, with Leipzig as capital. Has a long standing rivalry with Dresden. People from Leipzig think Dresden is a overrated dollhouse, and people from Dresden think Leipzig is a hipster town.

Dresden:

Over 1 million inhabitants. A bit schizophrenic: likes to be capital of something (Elbsachsen) but on the other hand also wants to be a Free City like Leipzig and Munich.

Province of Askania (Askanien):

They were not sure about how to name the province. Many liked Nordsachsen only few liked Anhalt-Sachsen/Sachsen-Anhalt. As the province around Hamburg named itself Niedersachsen many thought it would be weird to have a Saxony north of Nordsachsen. It was the Duke of Anhalt, an old but popular man, who gave them the idea of naming the province after his very old dynasty, which owned once most of the land.

Province of Lusatia (Lausitz):

Got a 91% approval rating of its inhabitants in the issue of happiness with provincial borders (highest in all the empire). Sorbian is minority language here.

Silesia:

There are four provinces with the word Silesia in it, which makes the people in Silesia for some reason pretty happy. The east is a center of industry and polishness. They think mostly as themselves as Silesian (“We lay south of South Prussia, don’t we?!”)

Province of South Prussia (Südpreussen):

It has a historical name but many are still a bit confused. Polish is minority language in all of the province.

Königsberg:

Proud of being the center of the old Prussia (they like to remind Danzig of that). The people of Königsberg feel sometimes that they are really far away from anything important that happens.

Province of the Four-Land (Viererland):

They really hate their province. named Viererland because it was created out of parts of Westphalia, Hanover and Hesse and all of Waldeck. Because Waldeck is the only historical region which is completely in province and because its capital is the Waldeckian Arolsen, the province is also hatefully called "Superwaldo", "Riesenwaldeck" and "Groß Waldisches Reich".

Other names were considered for the province, like "Chattenland", "Mittelland" and the amazing "Hewahawe", but none of them got enough support.

Bavaria:

Most people of Upper and Lower Bavaria still like to say that Bavaria extents till the left side of the Rhine but no one takes that serious. In the minds of most people the borders of Bavaria do not even encompass Nuremberg.

The Bavarians were a bit sad as Austria joint Germany because they couldn't feel special anymore ("We are the second biggest! Respect our specialness!!!").

Province of Upper Bavaria (Oberbayern)

More or less designed to fit Munich, but with Augsburg as capital. Now Augsburg is in the awkward position of not wanting to be part of the province it is the capital off. On the other hand: most people of the rest of the province don't like Augsburg either. That led to a very strong local rivalry between Munich and Augsburg but also between Augsburg and the Swabian capital of Ulm.

Munich:

Over 1 million inhabitants. A bit on the megalomanic side. Doesn't like Vienna and is often claimed to be the Jewel of the South by its inhabitants.

Austria:

They one time offered Frankfurt as a compromise capital instead of Berlin. The people north of the river Main had a good laugh.

But they got the Emperor to change the German imperial eagle to a double eagle and the Hapsburgs are allowed to be called Imperial Highness even if the Austrian Empire is long gone. Most other Germans see the Austrians as a little backwards. Everyone and then some small parties want independence (for Austria or sometimes for all Catholic Germany), but they never succeed.

Vienna:

Nearly 3 million inhabitants. Berlin might be the capital of Germany, but Vienna is the cultural capital of the world - at least that is what you will hear in Vienna’s café’s.

Province of Middle Austria (Mittelösterreich):

They like to think of Bohemia as northern Austria, but the Bohemians don’t like that.

Bohemia:

The two German provinces of West and North Bohemia are traditionally part of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Habsburgs still wear the title of King/Queen of Bohemia with pride, as long with all their other titles. Most people of Bohemia think as themselves mostly as Bohemians and don’t identify as Austrians.

Province of Swabia (Schwaben):

Most people are happy to have a Swabia that is not part of Bavaria or Württemberg but they would love to see the province extent from the Rhine in the south to the Main in the north. The province is referred to as Donauschwaben by some.

Province of Württemberg:

Many Germans forget that Württemberg was once much bigger but the Württembergians never forget. The city of Württemberg, which is also the province’s capital, is actually fairly new. It was created by the fusion of the cities of Böblingen and Sindelfingen.

Grand Duchy, County and City of Luxemburg:

Luxemburg is the Las Vegas of Europe (compared to OTL Las Vegas). The large casinos, hotels and the amusement park are concentrated in Zeissingen and not in the center of the city. The city center is popular with tourists interested in culture and history. The most famous of Luxemburg’s casinos is the Rex - its entrance has the form of a T-Rex skull. The Grand Duchess of Luxemburg was in the 90s the most wanted bachelorette of the continent, she was also a party princess and became an alcoholic and drug addict. She overdosed in 2001 - her death was the sad highlight of recent Luxemburgish history.

Rhine and Ruhr District:

The hot, steaming heart of Germany’s industry. The identification with the traditional regions and kingdoms of Germany is pretty weak here.

Neighbouring countries:

Republic of France:

Head of State: President Marie Arnoult (no party)

Head of Government: Prime Minister François Tourville (List Tourville)

The number two on the continent. They forgot more or less about that Elsass-Lothringen-thing. De-colonisation was not quite rough on both the French and the former colonies. The republic still keeps some towns on the northern coast of Africa. France is member of the European Customs Union, together with Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Teschen.

Kingdom of Belgium:

Head of State: Queen Astrid I

Head of Government: Prime Minister Karel Thelin  (Belgian Concorde)

The country is split between the Flemish and the Walloons and the central government has nearly no power. The only thing keeping Belgium together in the last decades was the fear of the Dutch and French right-wing. Neither the Walloons nor the Flemish want to be part of another country.

Kingdom of the Netherlands:

Head of State: King William VI

Head of Government: Prime Minister Per van Vliet (Socialist Party)

The Dutch got a bit of a bad reputation in south-east Asia, after what happened on Java, but let’s not talk about that. The stereotypical Dutch is a hard-working but nice fellow, who enjoys cheese and orange juice. A German cliché about the Dutch is that they are a bit simple, even if they never gave them any reason to think that.

Swiss Confederation:

Head of State: Federal President Emilio Lanza (Swiss Conservative Party)

Their neutrality is also well known but it isn’t as legendary as OTL because Europe was in general more peaceful in the last hundred years. Both Dutch and Swiss are sure that they have the best cheese.

Kingdom of Denmark:

Head of State: King Frederik X

Head of Government: Minister of State Ingrid Petersen (Liberal Coalition)

Would like to talk to Germany about some border corrections, but lacks the confidence to do so. The Danish see themselves as an island nation with just a tiny bit of unfortunate landborder.

Kingdom of Sweden:

Head of State: Queen Christina II

Head of Government: Minister of State Ingvar Lundgren (Social Coalition)

Famous for art films and for being the home of the world’s biggest ice-cream-company.

Republic of Poland:

Head of State: President Małgorzata Pawlak (Polish People’s Party)

The number three on the continent (but don’t tell that to the Italians or the Spanish). Most Poles would still like to have a baltic port but the German support against the Czar made up for it - and they have now a port on the Black Sea.

Republic of Czechia:

Head of State: President Stanislav Vymazal (Czech National Party)

Head of Government: First Minister Stanislav Urban (Czech National Party)

Especially the right-wing parties are unhappy about the German influence on the economy, but most people are okay with their big neighbour, even if they dislike the somewhat arrogant Austrians. Czechs prefer Germans from other parts of the country. They love holiday on the sea and are always welcome in the holiday resorts on the Baltic.

Republic of Slovakia:

Head of State: President Hannah Mićić (Socialist Party)

Head of Government: First Minister Cyril Jakubisko (Free Slovak Party)

Dislike the Germans more than the Czechs, even if they lost less land till them. They are still grumpy about that they didn’t get to keep the old royal city of Pressburg (Bratislava). The capital is Nitra.

Grand Duchy of Teschen:

Head of State: Grand Duke Peter I

Head of Government: Prime Minister Václav Wenzel (Liberal People’s Party)

Czechoslovakia became a democratic kingdom under a Habsburg price after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire, but in the 50s the kingdom disintegrated and Poland would have liked to swallow the Polish parts of Teschen but they didn’t succeed because of various reasons and Teschen became independent. The Grand Duchy has no military and its defence is organized by its neighbours. The European Customs union is seated and Teschen and supporters of the idea of European unification see the little country as the center of a future united Europe.

Republic of Hungary:

Head of State: President Arpad Habsburg–Lotaringiai (Christian Hungarian Union)

Went through some rough decades and many think that it is not living up to its possibilities. Since 2008 a Habsburg is in charge of Hungary again, but as president. The Hungarian cuisine is very popular all over Europe, especially in Great Britain and the Netherlands you can find many Hungarian restaurants.

Republic of Yugoslavia/South Slavia:

Head of State: President Dragan Schubert (Progressive Radicals)

The Yugo-part did not really catch on with foreigners, so most countries just translate it. Belgrade is the capital but Serbia is not as dominant as IOTL, they lack Macedonia. Especially the Adria coast is a popular destination for tourists, even if Italy overshadows its neighbour in total numbers. Yugoslavs love football.

Kingdom of Italy:

Head of State: Queen Giovanna I

Head of Government: Prime Minister Nikola del Montenegro (Italian Radical Party)

Went through a civil war and a quasi-communist republican phase but became once again a kingdom after a military coup in the 50s. Democracy slowly came back to the country after the junta was kicked out in the early 70s. The king had luck not to be kicked out again and the royal house tries its best to stay in favor of the population.

Republic of Lithuania:

Head of State: President Petras Mačiulis (Socialist Majority Party)

Head of Government: Chancellor Mindaugas Sternbergas (Socialist Majority Party)

Lithuania is traditionally trying to work together with Russia but that did not always work out so well for them. Lithuania’s political landscape is dominated by various shades of red. In the moment a Social-democrat party is in charge (they developed out of a communist party).