Not necessarily, even in WWI the Allied powers had a hard time COMPLETELY blockading that Central Alliance, I imagine a good twenty years earlier it will be even more difficuly, particularly with Russia operating on the side of the Korsgaardians. Russia is particularly important here, as its participation in the alliance means that the Western powers have no chance at all of closing the asian markets to them. Trade in the Pacific will be even harder to restrict, given TTL's U.S.'s continued nuetrality and Russia's permenant warm ports via Manchuria. I actually imagine the Eastern powers will be able to maintain a relatively stable level of trade throughout the war.
ALL HAIL PM CTHULU!!! lol, that was as unexpected as it was brilliant.
Not necessarily, even in WWI the Allied powers had a hard time COMPLETELY blockading that Central Alliance, I imagine a good twenty years earlier it will be even more difficuly, particularly with Russia operating on the side of the Korsgaardians. Russia is particularly important here, as its participation in the alliance means that the Western powers have no chance at all of closing the asian markets to them. Trade in the Pacific will be even harder to restrict, given TTL's U.S.'s continued nuetrality and Russia's permenant warm ports via Manchuria. I actually imagine the Eastern powers will be able to maintain a relatively stable level of trade throughout the war.
If you only have far rightists and centrists, then the middle ground of political discourse happens far to the right (see the current OTL US to an extent).
You need crazy-leftists to make the centrists actually look centrist,
and to introduce important ideas that get taken up later when people release how important they are (You'd be surprised how many of points of the Communist Manifesto are embraced by all modern capitalist states).
How on earth did I miss this update! I'm so angry at myself
Wonderful as always Glen, such a great update to a great timeline, thanks for the plug...and I must say that Mexican flag is several magnitudes of awesome!
Glen, Austria-Hungary wasn't formed until 1866 wasn't it?
Glen
Good argument, covering a lot of points. Hope you don't mind a small nitpick over the arithmetic.
Steve
In the decades prior to the onset of hostilities in 1889, all of the great powers had sought to build navies hoped to command their local waters and critical trade routes. While the British Empire remained the largest navy in the world, they were stretched out across the face of the globe. One place where multiple nations vied for local dominance was the Baltic. Russia and Prussia-Poland massed their Baltic forces in the hopes of knocking Germany's Baltic navy out of the war, but the entry of the United Kingdom of Scandinavia into the conflict set the stage instead for one of the greatest naval battles of the war, the Battle of the Four Navies. When the Eastern Powers' joint taskforce found the German Baltic fleet, they were surprised to find the Germans accompanied by the Scandinavians, who they did not think could mobilize their navy so quickly and effectively. The coal smoke and artillery smoke from black powder quickly turned the Baltic into a hazy chaos. While ship engagements in the first salvos were at great distance, by the end of the battle ships lost in the haze were engaging at point blank range. The battle was a draw in many ways, but served as a morale booster to the Western Powers, who saw it as the first time the Eastern Powers had been significantly halted since the beginning of the war.
Glen
A lot will depend on what's happening in the other Balkan states but sounds like a good period for Romania. The Ottomans could have shot themselves in the foot by dividing the principalities again but have to see how things develop. Good update on the period.
Steve
You are assuming that there needs to be a middle ground of political discourse.
While yes, a token left-wing political affiliation needs to exist for centrism to be recognised as centrism, it need only be token - enough for the centrists to say "look at us! we don't want to bring down the wealthy!".
But yeah, if the world polarises then there doesn't necessarily have to be a new dominant political theory that counterbalances the two sides. Heck, there doesn't even need to be a unified centrist front. You can have oligarchal republics, constitutional monarchies etc all existing as alternatives to Korsgaardian proto-fascism (sorry Glen, used the term more as illustrative language than because I meant it) while not necessarily associating with each other. In fact, the various centrist "factions" may feel as much in common with Korsgaardists as with each other, and the concept of a "centrist" political philosophy may simply be not how people describe politics, looking instead to government set-up and interaction with the unenfranchised etc, so long as the centrist "factions" avoid being right-wing, along with all the entrapments of the inherent militarism and nationalism it implies (or, usually implies, and probably will imply).
I'm not sure how much sense that made to other people (hopefully at least one other person understood me) but that's my line of thought.
The development of politics is still an open book here. There's no reason why politics must devolve into the same categories as OTL, or even be examinable in the same way as we can examine OTL philosophies.
Just wanted to pop in and say keep up the good work Glen!
People here are using Centrism to indicate varieties of Classical liberalism correct? Because in the absence of an explicitly left wing ideology like Communism, I suspect the classical liberals will start assuming left wing positions outside of any ideological framework. Unless Working conditions have improved dramatically from OTL, there is going to be a ready made base for any politician who supports popular working class causes, and some politicians will take that to it's logical conclusion. So instead of communism you get a sort of Left Liberalism, which sooner or later someone will codify into an ideology.
Moreover by the early 20th century OTL, and it sounds like even earlier in TTL, Classical Liberalism has more or less been played out, because it's various goals have mostly been either established and become a part of the social fabric or become irrelevant in the context of the Modern World.
In order to Maintain a "center" in these sort of conditions, you really need some sort of left wing thought for them to rob ideas from and repackage as acceptable to the ruling elite while placating the masses. Otherwise Centrism just becomes a decrepit ideology of the status quo, waiting to be blown away by the first strong breeze of crisis that stirs it.
To a certain extent it sounds like this is what the US might be falling victim to, i.e. a totally complacent and stagnant liberal ideology that ceases to offer solutions and thus is threatened by something that normally wouldn't be able to find purchase in the political landscape of the US; a radical foreign political ideology.
Finally!
WAR!
Finally!
I wonder how this will all turn out.
A long time coming - The Danubian Spring sparks a hot European Summer.
Glen
This could be very long and bloody, given the sides and technology.
How independent is the DSA in terms of foreign affairs at this stage?
Probably going to be a lot of volunteers for supporting the homeland but that could well drain as casualties increase and especially if London tries to prompt something more vigorous. [Would depend on how both nations have developed].
I presume that Prussia/Poland has come in on the eastern side given its relations with Austria and opposition to Germany?
Will Bavaria be able/willing to stay outside?
Also Italy could be interesting.
Steve