"Io Mihailŭ, Împĕratul Românilor" - A Michael the Brave Romania Wank

[Sir Omega]

The rise of nationalism came ITTL in a period less... tolerant, and since Europe is less fragmented, the centralized power blocks have more freedom to impose their view of society, strengthening their nation by integrating (sometimes forcefully) a number of minorities and conquered/occupied populations. There also may be another reason: nationalism may work both ways. A strong nationalist sentiment may manifest in the minorities as well, and the ruling governments try to stamp (and stomp on) the problems ahead of time.
There are ways to pull this off. the Roman Empire was especially efficient. An Roman from Tracia didn't think himself less of a Roman than one from Latium especially since many provinces were seeded with veterans.

 

[Zagan]

The rise of nationalism came ITTL in a period less... tolerant, and since Europe is less fragmented, the centralized power blocks have more freedom to impose their view of society, strengthening their nation by integrating (sometimes forcefully) a number of minorities and conquered/occupied populations. There also may be another reason: nationalism may work both ways. A strong nationalist sentiment may manifest in the minorities as well, and the ruling governments try to stamp (and stomp on) the problems ahead of time.
There are ways to pull this off. the Roman Empire was especially efficient. An Roman from Tracia didn't think himself less of a Roman than one from Latium especially since many provinces were seeded with veterans.

After this talk about minorities, I think that a summary is needed here...

Ethnic and Religious Minorities and their fate in TTL's 17th century Europe​

1. Spain / Iberia
- Iberian Nation - partially cohesive
--- Portuguese (including Galicians, etc) - content
--- Castilians (including Leonese, Andalucians, etc) - no troubles
--- Catalans (including Aragonese, Valencians, etc) - no troubles
- Ethnic Minorities
--- Basques - language suppression - no troubles
- Religious Minorities - none

2. France
- French Nation - theoretical
--- French - content
--- other Romance (Occitans, Provensals, Catalans, etc) - no troubles
- Ethnic Minorities
--- Basques - no troubles
--- Bretons - no troubles
--- Germans (including Flemish and Swiss Germans) - being sent to Germany (all Population Exchanges are going to be completed in about a decade)
--- Italians - being sent to Italy
- Religious Minorities
--- Huguenots - attempted conversion, suppressed - very unhappy
--- newly acquired Protestants in Suisse - no policy yet
--- Jews - tolerated

3. Britain / Britannia
- British Nation - theoretical
--- English - content
--- Scots - content
--- Irish - no troubles (in the national aspect, for the religious aspect, see below)
--- Welsh, Cornish, Manx, etc - no troubles
- Ethnic Minorities - none
- Religious Minorities
--- Catholics - heavily oppressed, forced conversions - frequent revolts

4. Germany
- German Nation - cohesive
--- High Germans - content
--- Middle Germans - content
--- Low Germans - content
--- Swiss Germans - content
--- Dutch - unhappy
- Ethnic Minorities
--- French - being sent to France
--- Italians - being sent to Italy
--- Danes - content
--- Poles - being sent to Sarmatia
--- Slovenians, Sorbs, Kashubians, Silesians, etc - assimilation - content
--- Czechs - assimilation - low level of unrest, mainly formented by Slovakia, starting to see themselves as Slovaks
--- Hungarians - no troubles
--- Croatians - low level insurgency - suppressed
- Religious Minorities
--- Catholics - slow conversion to Protestantism - some degree of unrest
--- Jews - being sent to Romanian Holy Land

5. Sarmatia
- Sarmatian Nation - theoretical
--- Poles (including other West Slavs) - content
--- Lithuanians (including Latvians and other Balts) - no troubles
--- Ruthenians (Ukranians, Byelorussians, Russyns, etc) - various attitudes (from content to marked discontent to rebellion)
- Ethnic Minorities
--- Germans - being sent to Germany
--- Tatars - some troubles
--- Estonians (including other Finnic Peoples) - no troubles
--- Armenians - content
--- Russians - being sent to Russia
- Religious Minorities
--- Protestants - slow conversion to Catholicism - some troubles
--- Russian Orthodoxes - forced conversion to Eastern Catholicism (United with Rome), expelled to Romanian Asia Minor - various attitudes (see above, Ruthenians)
--- Muslims - conversions, expulsions - some troubles

6. Romania
- Romanian Nation - cohesive
--- Daco-Romanians (Wallachians, Moldavians, Transylvanians, etc) - content
--- Traco-Romanians (Aromanians) - content
--- Macedo-Romanians (Aromanians, Meglenites) - mostly content
--- Illyro-Romanians (Aromanians, Morlachs, etc) - content
--- Istro-Romanians - retrieved from Istria - mostly content
- Ethnic Minorities
--- Germans - protected, content
--- Szeklers - protected, content
--- Italians - protected, some unrest
--- Hungarians - unrest - suppressed
--- Croats - unrest - suppressed
--- Slovaks, Poles - no trouble
--- Ruthenians - assimilation - no trouble
--- Greeks - being sent to Greek Cilicia
--- Armenians - being sent to Armenian Cappadocia
--- Bulgarians (including Slavo-Macedonians) - assimilation - no troubles
--- Serbs (including Bosniaks, Montenegrins) - assimilation - some unrest, starting to see themselves as (Orthodox) Croats
--- Albanians - assimilation - some unrest
--- Turks, Tatars - being sent to Turkey
- Religious Minorities
--- Catholics - protected
--- Protestants (mainly Lutherans) - protected
--- Other Orthodoxes - conversion or expulsion
--- Muslims - conversion or expulsion
--- Jews - being sent to the Holy Land

7. Scandinavia
- Scandinavian Nation - cohesive
--- Danes - content
--- Norwegians - content
--- Sweds - content
--- Icelanders, Feroese, etc - content
- Ethnic Minorities
--- Germans - content
--- Finns - no troubles
--- Lapps - no troubles
--- Russians - some unrest
- Religious Minorities
--- Catholics - ongoing conversion
--- Russian Orthodoxes - attempted conversion - some unrest
--- Pagans - rapid, forced conversion

8. Russia
- Russian Nation - theoretical
- Ethnic Minorities
--- various peoples (mainly Turkic and Mongolic) - no data
- Religious Minorities
--- Muslims - mainly left alone
--- Pagans - forced conversion
--- Jews - mainly left alone

9. Slovakia
- Slovak Nation - partially cohesive
- Ethnic Minorities (Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Poles, Ruthenians, Jews) - content
- Religious Minorities (Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Hussites, Anabaptists, Orthodoxes, Jews) - freedom of religion, content

10. Greece
- Greek Nation - cohesive
- Ethnic Minorities
--- Albanians - forced assimilation
--- Turks - insurrection - heavily oppressed
--- Armenians - being sent to Armenian Cappadocia
- Religious Minorities
--- Muslims - forced conversions, oppressed
--- Jews - being sent to Romanian Holy Land

11. Croatia and Dalmatia (Romanian Occupation)
- Croatian Nation - cohesive
- Ethnic Minorities
--- Italians - trouble, encouraged by Romania and Italy
--- Romanians - trouble, encouraged by Romania
--- Hungarians, Serbs, Germans - no trouble
- Religious Minorities (Protestants, Orthodoxes) - freedom of religion - content

12. Italy
- Italian Nation - partially cohesive
- Ethnic Minorities
--- French - being sent to France
--- Germans - being sent to Germany
--- Slovenes, Croats, Albanians - assimilation - no trouble
--- Greeks - being sent to Greek Cilicia
--- Jews - being sent to Romanian Holy Land
- Religious Minorities - none

13. Hungary (Romanian Occupation)
- Hungarian Nation - cohesive
- Ethnic Minorities (Germans, Slovaks, Croats, Slovenes, Romanians, etc) - no trouble
- Religious Minorities (Protestants, Orthodoxes) - freedom of religion - content

14. Georgia
- Georgian Nation - theoretical
- Ethnic Minorities (not enough data) - no trouble
- Religious Minorities (Muslims) - oppressed

15. Armenia
- Armenian Nation - theoretical
- Ethnic Minorities
--- Greeks - being sent to Greek Cilicia
--- Turks - insurrection - oppressed
--- others - no trouble
- Religious Minorities (Muslims) - oppressed


Something like that.
Some minorities fare better than others. There is no clear rule here.

Specific cases will be discussed in the corresponding chapters of Part Two.

 

[Zagan]

Another Dream​

Notes:
1. I decided to have no more mottos. There are already too many of them (66) and they serve no clear purpose. I may bring them back though if I hear (energetic) protests.
2. This Introduction does not convey any new information but rather sets up the scene for the following chapters. It is actually unrelated to the Epilogue of Part One. Not everything will happen as dreamt, of course.
3. The Chapters of Part Two will be a little different from those of Part One. Each of them will cover a specific topic or country rather than a fixed time period.


Warning: The text below may or may not contain spoilers.


30 May 1653, Imperial Palace, Constantinople, Empire of the Orient

Maria woke up in the middle of the night. She had had a very strange dream. This was no ordinary dream. I have to talk to someone about it.

Maria lit the gas lamp and ckecked the clock. It was almost four in the morning. It is so hot in this country. And it's only May! She went to the window and opened it.
Now that the Coronation is over, we shall go home as soon as possible. I don't want to languish anymore in this gigantic City! The Coronation had been magnificent, though... Maria the First, Empress of the Romanians, of the Greeks and of the Orient... Yes, it sounds nice.

Then she opened the door to Frederick's bedroom. It was emply and the bed had not been slept in.
So far from home and he still manages to sleep around... I will have to do somethnig about that some day.

Maria entered the hallway. The guards sprang to attention and gave a military salute. Leftovers from Iulia's reign...
Maria smiled and returned the salute. I am not only Empress but Commander in Chief as well. Whether I like it or not.

A short knock on her Mother's bedroom door... If she's sleeping tight she won't hear me and I won't enter her room uninvited lest she stabs me like she stabbed Iulia!

Cristina: "Yes, dear, come in. I was awake as I usually get up early in the morning, but why aren't you asleep during these small hours?"

Maria: "Mother, Fred is missing. Again!"

C: "I see. These things do happen, you know. No, it shouldn't be like that, of course, don't misunderstand me, but... Men are men. It's in their nature."

M: "And what should I do about it, Mother? Talk to him? Threaten him?"

C: "Are you really so upset, my darling?"

M: "Yes, Mother. I fear that I will end up divorcing Fred."

C: "A divorce will give a bad example to our people, the hundreds of thousands of our Catholic subjects will be appalled and even the newspapers might speculate..."

M: "What should I do then?"

C: "I don't know, Maria. Look the other way, I suppose. It's not as if he actually taunts you, isn't it?"

M: "Of course not, but... Mother, what did you do... If... When... Were you ever in my situation?"

C: "Oh, no, honey. Your father really loved me and Cosimo, well, he was very sick and died soon after marrying me."

M: "Then Fred does not love me."

C: "I'm sorry, my dear, I did not mean that... But is this all? Because I think that you have something else to tell me..."

M: "Oh, Mother, sure, yes. I had a very strange dream."

C: "Well, this is surely going to be interesting. I'm listening."

************

M: "I saw Father. And Iulia too. They were both in Heaven."

C: "Naturally, Maria. Where else should they be?"

M: "Father yes, sure, but Iulia... Do you think that she was righteous?"

C: "Maria! How can you say something that wicked? Iulia was pure at heart, fair and loving. She confessed her sins every other week and built countless churches and monasteries. And she fought for Christendom more than anyone before her!"

M: "I'm sorry, Mother. I was wrong... Did you love her so much?"

C: "Sure, honey. I have loved Iulia since I first met her, since she was a little girl. She was so lovely!... Iulia was like a daughter to me, like your elder sister! And she loved us very much, although she did frighten us a few times with her martial attitudes... Anyway, now Iulia is in Heaven and we should remember her fondly and have nothing but prayers and good words for her."

M: "Sure, Mother, I was wrong. And I will confess more often. About my dream..."

C: "Yes, I'm sorry, I will not interrupt you anymore."

************

M: "They talked to me and showed me the future! Father advised me to always put Romania first and keep it separate from the other countries of our Empire for it to remain forever a true reservoir of endless and unadulterated Romanianness. Father was very forcefully against this idea the Greeks have, to completely merge our realms into one. He wants us to remain distinct from the Greeks."

C: "I believe that your father is right. We do already have too much ties with these Greeks."

M: "So, do you hate the Greeks like Father did?"

C: "No, my child. I do not hate anyone and neither did your father. We do not have to hate the Greeks. We just have to love the Romanians more and always act with the interest of the Romanian Nation in mind. That's all. The Greeks are a very fine people... as long as they stay in Greece."

M: "I see. But Iulia seemed to like them..."

C: "She liked that they had gived her a crown. Her first one. That's all. Now, please, go on."

M: "Yes. He also told me to continue to encourage patriotism and literacy, the sciences and, you know, all those things that make people smarter. He said that the people must be educated enough in order to have a say in the matters of the State."

C: "The real question here is whether the people should have a say in the matters of the State."

M: "Father thinks so. Do you?"

C: "I don't know, I am not sure. Mihai had told me about the sovereignty of the people, democracy and other concepts like these which sound nice in theory, at least with an educated population, but all these should probably be attempted sometime in the far future. And what do you think about that? Because you are the Empress, after all."

M: "I don't know, Mother. I am the Empress, but it seems that I am not very good at it. I don't know if I could manage to reign alone, without your help. You are so much better than me!"

C: "You are not trying hard enough especially because you know that I am always here to do your job. But you'll get uset to it. Reigning is difficult but it can be very rewarding. Until then, let's say that I am your Counsellor, or Minister if you prefer."

M: "But I have lots of Ministers! You are, I don't know, special."

C: "Prime Minister, then."

M: "Yes! You are my Prime Minister! Now... Father did also say that conquering more Mahommedan countries serves no purpose."

C: "I don't understand. Why would he say that?"

M: "Me neither. Anyway, Iulia disagreed with Father here. She thinks that we have to build our military strength closer to the Southern borders and slowly but continuously advance Southwards in Arabia and in Africa, all the way to the Southern Seas. I think that her reasoning is sound here. All I want is to send capable generals and not go to war myself like she did! I don't want to die so young in God knows what wilderness!"

C: "That is beyond any discussion. Of course that you will never go to war. Never! Yes, sadly you are Commander in Chief. But you can and should delegate power and responsability to those who are both capable and eager to fulfill it!"

M: "And Iulia said that all Mahommedans should be expelled from Europe. What do you think about that?"

C: "This may be necessary for the security of our people and for our own peace of mind."

M: "I thought so as well. See, I am not dumb."

C: "Honey, no one said you were dumb! Please!"

M: "Fine, Mother."

C: "What about the future?"

M: "What future?"

C: "You said that they had shown you the future!"

M: "Oh, yes. It was not very clear, but I could see glimpses from the future. Like wars, lots of wars, not only with the Mahommedans, but also with the Chinese!"

C: "That is indeed very strange. Are you sure? Is it possible that you were mistaken?"

M: "Mother... How could I be so mistaken? I know how a Chinamen looks! I would never take one for a German!"

C: "Yes, sure, but... China?! It's so far away! Why should we ever go there?"

M: "I don't know. But the battlefield did not look like being in China, but rather somewhere here, in Europe!"

C: "That is even stranger! I cannot fathom the idea of Chinamen invading us! Anyway, that cannot happen in the near future, so we'ld better think about more current issues, don't you think?"

************

M: "And another strange thing... I saw fighting, not only on the ground and on the sea, but also in the air!"

C: "That's understandable. The science of ballooning is already progressing quite fast."

M: "I know, but those... things did not look like balloons to me."

C: "When dreaming, images can get distorted my dear. You should not take everything at face value."

M: "Sure, Mother. I also saw ships sailing under water and huge explosions and..."

C: "It was only a dream, Maria. Please, don't get too excited. Better tell me, what about here in Europe? Will there be any wars in the near future?"

M: "It seems that we shall have peace for a hundred years!"

C (smiling): "I find ships sailing under water a little more believable than a century without wars! I don't think that even a decade had ever passed with no wars between any European Powers. It was pure fantesy, my dearest."

M: "But Mother, I saw Father... and Iulia."

C: "That is very good and I envy you for it. I'd cherish a dream like that but not believe everything in it. Oh, Maria, I miss Mihai so much..."

M: "Me too. What about Iulia?"

C: "Yes, I miss her too. Do you?"

M: "Yes, I suppose so."

************

C: "Look, Maria, the Sunrise from the Bosphorus!"

M: "It's wonderful! But we can see the Sunrise from the Sea at Constanța too, in Romania."

C: "Do you miss Romania? Already?"

M: "Yes, Mother, Romania and the children. I'd like to go home."

C: "As we do not have anything else to do here, we can very well leave tomorrow, I presume."

M: "Very good then. I'm glad. Now I'll go to see if Fred has returned."

C: "You'd better not. Don't let him know that you care... Yet."

M: "Fine, Mother. I'll see you later."

C: "See you later, Maria."

************

Frederick was sleeping and Maria did not wake him up. She needed a plan.

************


A new day had begun and with it a new Era in the history of Romania and its Empire. An Era of peace, prosperity and progress, the best there ever was.

 

[Zagan]

I am sorry to disappoint you (my faithful readers), but I will not post any update the following week, because I will be doing a TLIAW from Monday, 24 October 2016, 00:00 to Sunday, 30 October 2016, 23:59.

The TLIAW is something that I had promissed to do for a long time: 1937 / 1938 OTL Greater Romania ISOT 100 years in the past. It will not be really a wank, but something rather grim.

If anyone wants to read it, it will be easy to spot (because of its frequent updates) in the ASB Forum.

TTL will be resumed after 1 November 2016 with Chapter 1.
Thank you for your understanding.

 

[Zagan]

Planning Sheet


The next bunch of Chapters will deal with the Century of Peace* (1653 - 17XX).
* = Peace in Europe only, remember?

The Empire of the Orient during the Century of Peace:
- The Romanian Imperial Family;
- The Romanian politics and the advent of "democracy";
- The Ethnic and Religious Minorities of Romania;
- The question of the Real Union between Romania and Greece;
- Science and technology in Romania;
- Romanian society and culture;
- More conflicts with the Muslims;
- The External Provinces (Dalmatia, Croatia, Hungary, Asia Minor);
- The Colonies (Syria, Lebanon, Holy Land, Sinai, Canal Zone, etc);
- The other States (Greece, Armenia, Georgia, Slovakia).

The rest of Europe during the Century of Peace:
- Spain and its colonies;
- France and its colonies;
- Italy and its colonies;
- Germany and its colonies;
- Britain and its colonies;
- Scandinavia and its colonies;
- Sarmatia;
- Russia;
- The issue of the Catholic Church and other religious matters;
- The reform of the Great Powers Council and international cooperation and competition.

The rest of the World during the Century of Peace:
- The Islamic World;
- Sub-Saharan Africa;
- India and South-East Asia;
- China, Korea, Japan and the Steppe Khanates;
- The Americas, Australia and Oceania.

Conflicts during the Century of Peace (outside of Europe only):
- Wars with the Muslims;
- Wars in Asia;
- Colonial Wars;
- Small-scale conficts between the European Colonial Powers;
- Colonial genocides and other crimes perpetrated by the European occupiers (cannot sweep this under the rug).

Note: In average, the Chapters of this Part will be shorter and some of them will be quite short.


The following Time Periods will be treated in a similar fashion, with chapters focused on specific issues.

A tentative periodization is shown below:
I. The Century of Peace (1653 - 17XX) - current;
II. The End of the 18th Century (17XX - 18XX);
III. The 19th Century (18XX - 18YY);
IV. The Age of Troubles (18YY - 19XX);
V. Contemporary (Alt)History (19XX - Present).

The last (or last two) periods may be placed in a separated Part Three.

The two ASB Spin-Offs I have so far planned will be available after (or during) the posting of the Chapters from the Age of Troubles (because the information up to the ATL early to middle 20th century is needed).


Question: Would you like any other topics covered?

Thank you.

 

[Zagan]

I am sorry to disappoint you (my faithful readers), but I will not post any update the following week, because I will be doing a TLIAW from Monday, 24 October 2016, 00:00 to Sunday, 30 October 2016, 23:59.

The TLIAW is something that I had promissed to do for a long time: 1937 / 1938 OTL Greater Romania ISOT 100 years in the past. It will not be really a wank, but something rather grim.

If anyone wants to read it, it will be easy to spot (because of its frequent updates) in the ASB Forum.

TTL will be resumed after 1 November 2016 with Chapter 1.
Thank you for your understanding.

Here it is: "Mayhem" - An OTL Greater Romania ISOT.

You may give it a try since there will be no more updates here for the rest of the week (until that TLIAW is finished).

Thank you for your patience.

 

[Zagan]

The Century of Peace
The Romanian Imperial Family​

Notes:
1. The chapters of this part (Part Two: The Empire of the Orient) will be organized by time period (the first line of the title, common to several chapters) and subject (the second line of the title, specific to each individual chapter).
2. Before we start discussing the reign of Empress Maria I, a short recapitulation of the previous Emperors seems appropriate.


Ancient and Medieval History

Romanian historiography is adamant that the Romans (Latins) and the Ancient Balkan peoples (Dacians, Moesians, Thracians, Macedonians, Illyrians, etc, considered closely related) are the ancestors of the Romanians and, as a logical consequence, the States and the Empires created by all these peoples are predecessors of the Romanian Empire.

The fact that the Macedonian Empire and its successor States were culturally Greek (not Macedonian) did not seem to deter the Romanian historians and propagandists.

The Empires of the Romanians' forefathers in Antiquity:
- Macedonian Empire (the first Empire) -- Alexander the Great (Alexandru cel Mare);
- Seleucid Empire (frequently downplayed for some reasons);
- Ptolemaic Egypt (the title Pharaoh was considered equivalent to Emperor) -- Cleopatra*, etc;
- Dacia (considered an Empire due to its large size) -- Burebista, Decebal (Decebalus);
- Roman Empire (the archetypal Empire) -- Julius Caesar (Cezar), Augustus, Trajan (Traian), Constantine the Great (Constantin cel Mare), etc;
- Romanian-Bulgarian Empire (aslo known as the Second Bulgarian Empire) -- Petru Asan** (Peter Asen IV), Ioan Asan** (Ivan Asen I), Ioniță Caloian** (Ivan II Kaloyan), etc.

* Cleopatra was very popular in the 17th century Romania probably because it was considered that, as a female Monarch, she would confer more legitimacy to the Romanian Empresses (Iulia and Maria).
** Considered ethnic Romanians.

Between the fall of the Romanian-Bulgarian Empire and the foundation of Romania, the Romanians have lived either under foreign rule (Greek, Ottoman, Hungarian, etc) or in small independent or autonomous Principalities (Wallachia, Moldavia and many other, smaller ones).


1. Emperor Mihai I (Împĕratul Mihai I Viteazul / Emperor Michael I the Brave, 1601 - 1641)
Io Mihailŭ, Mare Voevod și Domn al României (al Țĕrrilor Române) / Io Michael, Great Voivode and Lord of Romania (of the Romanian Lands)
Io Mihailŭ (Mihai), Împĕratul Românilor / Io Michael, Emperor of the Romanians

Mihai Viteazul marked the start of the Modern History of the Romanians, being the Unifier of the Romanian Principalities (1599 - 1602, officially on 12 August 1601), the Father of the Romanian Nation (the Romanian National Awakening started around 1601), the Conqueror of Ottoman Europe (1622 - 1630) and our First Emperor (the Empire was proclaimed on 12 August 1625).

All subsequent Romanian Emperors and Empresses were descendants of Emperor Mihai I.
Mihai I had two children (Crown Prince Nicolae and Queen Flora of Sarmatia) with Lady Stanca and one child (Empress Maria I) with Empress Cristina.


2. Empress Iulia I (Împĕrăteasa Iulia I cea Războinică / Empress Julia I the Warrior, 1642 - 1651)
Iulia, Împĕrăteasa Românilor / Julia, Empress of the Romanians
Ιούλια, Βασιλεύς Αὐτοκράτωρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων / Ioulia, Basileus Autokrator (Emperor) of the Hellenes
Iulia, Imperatrix Romae / Iulia, Empress of Rome
Iulia, Orientis Imperatrix / Iulia, Empress of the Orient

She was the granddaughter of Emperor Mihai I and became the first in the Line of Succession after the death of her father, Crown Prince Nicolae, Emperor Mihai's oldest son.

Iulia I did not marry and did not have any children. She lead the Romanian Army directly from the battlefields during her entire decade-long reign and fell heroically in battle.


3. Empress Maria I (Împĕrăteasa Maria I cea Mare / Empress Mary I the Great, 1651 - 1723)
Maria, Împĕrăteasa Românilor / Mary, Empress of the Romanians
Μαρια, Βασιλεύς Αὐτοκράτωρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων / Maria, Basileus Autokrator (Emperor) of the Hellenes
Maria, Orientis Imperatrix / Maria, Empress of the Orient

Princess Maria was born in Prague on 25 September 1627 during the Great Powers Conference of 1626 - 1627 which was attended by her parents, Emperor Mihai I of Romania and Princess Christine of France (Empress Cristina of Romania).

On 29 September 1647, Crown Princess Maria (20 years old) married Prince Frederick of Germany (18 years old), the younger brother of the future Emperor Karl Augustus of Germany.

Because Iulia I died childless and Queen Flora of Sarmatia had renounced her rights to the Romanian Throne by marrying King Sigismund III of Sarmatia, Maria inherited her niece's thrones on 26 November 1651.

Maria I was crowned Empress of Romania on 25 December 1651 in Michaelia Iulia and Empress of Greece and of the Orient in Constantinople on 29 May 1653.
The date was important as it marked the 200th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans, the City being only recently reverted to Christendom.

Maria I had five children who reached adulthood:

- Princess Alexandra (1648 - 1665), future Queen Alessandra of Italy (1664 - 1665)***;
- Crown Prince Mihai (1650 - 1721), predeceased his mother failing thus to become Emperor;
- Prince Cezar (1652 - 1699), artillerist, matematician, general;
- Prince Traian (1655 - 1733), natural scientist, astronomer;
- Princess Cristina (1660 - 1752), future Queen Christina of Scandinavia (1679 - 1704)***.

*** = More information about the two Queens will be provided in the chapters about Italy and Scandinavia.

Because of the numerous affairs of her husband, Maria and Frederick became estranged and it is widely believed that at least Princess Cristina was not Frederick daughter.
Of course, the supposed indiscretions of an Empress Regnant were not important since any children would have been obviously hers and thus of Imperial blood regardless of who the actual father was.

Both Empress Mother Cristina and Prince Consort Frederick died in the same year, 1680.

Maria died on 1 November 1723, at the age of 96, predeceased by three of her children, including the Crown Prince, but surrounded by dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Princes and Princesses of Romania overfilling the previously dangerously short Succession Line.

Maria I was not named the Great because of military victories or territorial growth of the country but rather due to the fact that during her very long reign (72 years) the Romanians became more numerous, more prosperous, more healthy and more educated, living safer and hapier lifes in an increasingly modern, stable, powerful and democratic country.


Crown Prince Mihai (20 years old) married Princess Mila of Slovakia (13 years old) on 13 July 1670.

Princess Mila was the only daughter of Prince Albert of Slovakia and the marriage had been practically imposed by Romania in order to finally merge Slovakia into the Empire.

At first, the Crown Prince was not interested in his child bride but, in the end, they managed to have no less than eight children (including two pairs of twins):

- Prince Mihai (1673 - 1725), general, future Emperor Mihai II (1723 - 1725);
- Princess Adriana (1675 - 1756), musician;
- Princess Letiția (1675 - 1757), painter;
- Princess Caterina (1676 - 1743), writer, Queen Catherine of Georgia (1699 - 1743)****;
- Prince Alexandru (1678 - 1750), admiral, inventor;
- Prince Vlad (1680 - 1711), balloonist;
- Princess Gabriela (1688 - 1761), politician, Queen Gabrielle of Armenia (1705 - 1707)****;
- Princess Mihaela (1688 - 1733), poet.

**** = More information about the two Queens will be provided in the chapter about the Member States of the Empire of the Orient.

After the death of Prince Albert, Mila became Princess Regnant of Slovakia (1688 - 1726) and, after her death, Slovakia was included in the Dynastic Union of the Orient, Romania and Greece.


4. Emperor Mihai II (Împĕratul Mihai II / Emperor Michael II, 1723 - 1725)
Mihai, Împĕratul Românilor / Michael, Emperor of the Romanians
Μιχαήλ, Βασιλεύς Αὐτοκράτωρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων / Michael, Basileus Autokrator (Emperor) of the Hellenes
Mihai, Orientis Imperator / Michael, Emperor of the Orient

On 20 January 1697, Mihai II (24 years old) married his third cousin once removed, Princess Sylwia of Sarmatia (22 years old), Queen Flora's great-granddaughter.

Their happy marriage produced 6 children:

- Princess Cristina (1697 - 1772), future Queen Christine of France (1715 - 1740);
- Princess Raluca (1700 - 1766), poet;
- Princess Claudia (1701 - 1789), scientist;
- Crown Prince Mihai (1703 - 1725), future Emperor Mihai III (1725);
- Princess Melania (1707 - 1730);
- Prince Liviu (1710 - 1777), polymath, inventor.

Because Mihai II's father predeceased his grandmother, Empress Maria I, Mihai II acceded to the Thrones on the day of Maria I's death, 1 November 1723.

After reigning for less than two years, Emperor Mihai II died of pneumonia on 5 August 1725.


5. Emperor Mihai III (Împĕratul Mihai III / Emperor Michael III, 1725)
Mihai, Împĕratul Românilor / Michael, Emperor of the Romanians
Μιχαήλ, Βασιλεύς Αὐτοκράτωρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων / Michael, Basileus Autokrator (Emperor) of the Hellenes
Mihai, Orientis Imperator / Michael, Emperor of the Orient

In 1724, Crown Prince Mihai became hopelessly besotted with Theodora Zinca, a 16 years old gorgeous Romanian redhead from an old Wallachian Boyar Family.

The Imperial Family was displeased because Theodora was not Royal but a mere Boyar and, since the Revolution of 1644, from a legal point of view the Boyars had been considered commoners.
While Empress Silvia was at least partially supportive, the Emperor forbid them to ever see each other again.

A few weeks later, it became apparent that the Crown Prince had taken advantage of Theodora as she was already pregnant.
The Emperor attempted to pay the Zincas for their silence but, somehow, rumours about the Crown Prince's indiscretion started to circulate.
The Crown Prince threatened to elope with his lover and renounce his dynastic rights, although that was not really necessary as, strangely enough, the Romanian Law did not specify anything on that matter.

The final straw that broke the Emperor's will was a monumental work published by the Biology Department of the Academy of Romania in which it was clearly stated that the lack of fresh blood is responsible for a decrease in fitness and general susceptibility to various diseases.
Finally, faced with both a potential scandal and a reasonable scientific backing for his change of mind, the Emperor relented and allowed the young couple to marry.

Mihai III (20 years old) and Theodora Zinca (16 years old) got married on 10 September 1724, probably the very last Sunday in which a carefully tailored wedding dress could still conceal Theodora's growing womb.

On 31 January 1725, Theodora gave birth to the fruit of their secret love, a fragile baby girl quickly baptized Cleopatra.

On 5 August 1725, Emperor Mihai II died and Mihai III acceded to the Thrones of the Realms.
One week later, on the occasion of the National Day of Romania, he and his beautiful wife were crowned Emperor Mihai III and Empress Theodora in the Imperial Square of Michaelia Iulia.

From the cheering crowds, one man slowly inched forwards, pulled a gun and shot the Emperor in the stomach.
The masses ripped the killer apart before the police had any chance to interrogate him.
The National Day of the Romanians was turned into yet another day of mourning.

Neither the identity nor the motive of the killer could have been identified.
While the general opinion of the historians is that is was a senseless act of a madman, conspiracy theories abound to this day.

One immediate result of the assassination was an important increase in the security measures around the Imperial Family and other important State Officials.

On the same day, the six months old Crown Princess Cleopatra was pronounced Empress of Romania, Greece, and the Orient.
The Senate refused to give the Regency to Empress Mother Theodora as would have been customary and nominated Empress Grandmother Sylvia instead.

After having lost both her son and her grandson in a single week, Mila, Princess of Slovakia and Empress Great-Grandmother of the Realms, fell ill and died less than six months later, on 3 January 1726.


6. Empress Cleopatra I (1725 - 1XXX)
Cleopatra, Empress of Romania, Greece, Slovakia and the Orient#
# = Although the titles were combined, the four Crowns remained separate, at least in theory.

Born in January 1725, Cleopatra lost her father and became the Empress of almost forty million people before her first birthday.



Notes:

1. Because Cleopatra's extremely long reign will extend to the second interval of our historical periodization, I am going to stop here, before spilling any more spoilers.

2. The TL has not reached 1725 yet. This chapter had only discussed one of many subjects of importance (The Romanian Imperial Family). The following chapters will discuss different subjects (e.g. Religion) during the same time period (The Century of Peace, 1653 - 17XX).

3. As I became stuck with another TL (which was initially intended to be a TLIAW, but my love for details completely derailed it and turned it into another full-fledged TL), I will have to try and write them in parallel, that is around one update per week for each of them. Thank you for your understanding.

4. I suppose that a full upgrade to the Family Tree of the Romanian Imperial Family is badly needed.
I am going to update it and post the new Family Tree as soon as possible.

 

[Positively Indecent]

A fascinating glimpse into the future there.

 

[Zagan]

Family Tree of the House of Romania
(version 3)​

Note: The Family Tree will be upgraded as the story progresses. New versions will be usually available once or twice a century.

Legend:
Double Border: Present in the Succession Line during all or part of their lives;
Red Border: Emperor / Empress Reignant of Romania (and other realms);
Multiple Connections: Multiple (less important) Issue grouped together in one box for simplicity;
Blue Background: Males;
Pink Background: Females;
Grey Background: Multiple Issue, some males, other females.
.

 

[Sir Omega]

-snip-

Will every male Romanian Emperor be a Mihai? In a few hundred Years there may be a, say, His Imperial Majesty, [random name], the Mihai of Romania, Mihai being the modern equivalent for Cesar .

 

[Zagan]

Will every male Romanian Emperor be a Mihai? In a few hundred Years there may be a, say, His Imperial Majesty, [random name], the Mihai of Romania, Mihai being the modern equivalent for Cesar .

In OTL, France had 18 Louis...

 

[fluttersky]

Interesting that they're calling Empress Cleopatra "Cleopatra I". Given the importance of the Egyptian Cleopatra in the Romanian national consciousness, I'd have expected that the new Empress would be called "Cleopatra II".

It's also interesting that within the span of two years we went from a 96-year-old Empress to her great-great-granddaughter, a newborn Empress! Nearly 100 years age gap there.

one last thing: here's my rough prediction of Romania's borders by the 21st century. Obviously don't want any comment from the author on this, as the future of TLs should always be a surprise!

Spoiler

Yes, this would all be Romania proper, not colonies. Indians would be, according to the Romanian propaganda, the descendants of the *Greco-Bactrians and *Indo-Greeks, and thus descended from Thracians, who were of course Romanian. Romania's just the revival of the great empire of Alexander the Great.

Can they really assimilate the whole Indian subcontinent like this? I wouldn't rule it out. After all, it's not like a united "Indian" identity exists at this time. Assimilating Persia and Arabia would probably be more difficult for religious reasons, though.

Greece, Armenia, etc may or may not still be in personal union with Romania.

 

[Zagan]

1. Interesting that they're calling Empress Cleopatra "Cleopatra I". Given the importance of the Egyptian Cleopatra in the Romanian national consciousness, I'd have expected that the new Empress would be called "Cleopatra II".

2. It's also interesting that within the span of two years we went from a 96-year-old Empress to her great-great-granddaughter, a newborn Empress! Nearly 100 years age gap there.

3. One last thing: here's my rough prediction of Romania's borders by the 21st century. Obviously don't want any comment from the author on this, as the future of TLs should always be a surprise!

Spoiler

[MAP]

Yes, this would all be Romania proper, not colonies. Indians would be, according to the Romanian propaganda, the descendants of the *Greco-Bactrians and *Indo-Greeks, and thus descended from Thracians, who were of course Romanian. Romania's just the revival of the great empire of Alexander the Great.

Can they really assimilate the whole Indian subcontinent like this? I wouldn't rule it out. After all, it's not like a united "Indian" identity exists at this time. Assimilating Persia and Arabia would probably be more difficult for religious reasons, though.

Greece, Armenia, etc may or may not still be in personal union with Romania.

1. In OTL Greece there were talks to number King Constantine I of Greece as Constantine XII in continuity with the Byzantine (Roman) Empire.
In the end, they did not and settled on Constantine I because the Byzantine (Roman) Empire and the modern Kingdom of Greece, although related, are obviously not the same State.

The same thinking prevailed in TTL Romania: "The Ancient Empires of the Macedonians (one of our ancestor peoples), including the Ptolemaic Egypt, are related to the modern Empire of the Orient (fancy name for the Romanian Empire) but are not identical States."


2. Yes it's interesting. But do you know what is even more interesting? That I did not specifically choose that way. I only fed some rough data in a statistical software written by me for this purpose and the software produced these birth and death dates, number and sex of children, etc.
I prefer to work that way in order to avoid human bias as much as possible. The program knows (input by me) a lot of things, like average life spans for male and female royalty in TTL Romania, average number of children, average marriage age, average childbearing age, etc. The rest is some random numbers (which I may tweak further a little for increasing effect).

Besides literature, history and cartography, I have lots of other hobbies like software programming, chess, sciences, etc.


3. No spoilers. I just want to say that your ideas (which may or may be not correct) are very interesting and in the spirit of TTL.

Thanks.

 

[Bogdan13]

You mean that it is possible to assimilate so many cultures in some way ,like indians, persians arabs ?I can't see how you can plausibly assimilate persians or arabs .Is there anyone with more knowledge on the subject to explain?

 

[Zagan]

You mean that it is possible to assimilate so many cultures in some way ,like indians, persians arabs ?I can't see how you can plausibly assimilate persians or arabs .Is there anyone with more knowledge on the subject to explain?

It is not my idea, so I cannot possibly defend it. Please ask @fluttersky, preferably in a P.M.
Thanks.

 

[fluttersky]

You mean that it is possible to assimilate so many cultures in some way ,like indians, persians arabs ?I can't see how you can plausibly assimilate persians or arabs .Is there anyone with more knowledge on the subject to explain?

As Zagan said, it was my idea and not his. I'm not certain that it is possible at all; it's just an idea that I had. We do not want any spoilers from Zagan.

The way I would propose assimilation of those peoples is:
*propaganda about their "shared cultural legacy" under Alexander the Great;
*heavy anti-Islamic sentiment to attract non-Muslim groups to their ideas;
*ethnic cleansing of Muslims (expulsion to Africa) and/or settlement of the region with Romanian veterans;
*propaganda stating that Hinduism is merely a branch of Christianity that has been corrupted by isolation from Europe and driven to heresy, (identifying Brahma with God the Father, Vishnu with God the Son, Shiva with the Holy Ghost, and the Trimurti as the oneness of God); Hindus encouraged to "readopt the original and true form of their religion" (i.e. Orthodox Christianity).
*And once again, anti-Islam propaganda! Make friends with non-Muslims via a shared enemy (Islam).

This may of course be completely unrelated to the way the thread actually ends up. It's complete and utter speculation, and should not be mistaken for canon.

 

[Bogdan13]

Sorry i just asked if that would be possible i didn't address the question to someone specifically ,or criticized anyone,just curios.But i should have specified i was referring to what you said @fluttersky and asked you so sorry.

 

[Bogdan13]

As Zagan said, it was my idea and not his. I'm not certain that it is possible at all; it's just an idea that I had. We do not want any spoilers from Zagan.

The way I would propose assimilation of those peoples is:
*propaganda about their "shared cultural legacy" under Alexander the Great;
*heavy anti-Islamic sentiment to attract non-Muslim groups to their ideas;
*ethnic cleansing of Muslims (expulsion to Africa) and/or settlement of the region with Romanian veterans;
*propaganda stating that Hinduism is merely a branch of Christianity that has been corrupted by isolation from Europe and driven to heresy, (identifying Brahma with God the Father, Vishnu with God the Son, Shiva with the Holy Ghost, and the Trimurti as the oneness of God); Hindus encouraged to "readopt the original and true form of their religion" (i.e. Orthodox Christianity).
*And once again, anti-Islam propaganda! Make friends with non-Muslims via a shared enemy (Islam).

This may of course be completely unrelated to the way the thread actually ends up. It's complete and utter speculation, and should not be mistaken for canon.

Just an idea.Probably if a christian country ( romania ) will destroy mecca and medina and with that temple ,and make islam more divided and easier to control and change would help.Religious conversion is the first step everywhere and through that you can change their culture and in time assimilate them. I was only thinking that their identity would be too well established but maybe in 18 and 19 century is still possibly ,hardly but maybe possible in those areas if enlightenment won't reach them in time.Possibly destroying mecca and medina at some point is still necessary to make conversion of muslims easier in time if @Zagan hopes to assimilate turks. But i doubt that he intends to keep more territory by 21st century than the european one ,and maybe turkey.Not as part of Romania at least.

 

[Zagan]

As Zagan said, it was my idea and not his. I'm not certain that it is possible at all; it's just an idea that I had. We do not want any spoilers from Zagan.

The way I would propose assimilation of those peoples is:
*propaganda about their "shared cultural legacy" under Alexander the Great;
*heavy anti-Islamic sentiment to attract non-Muslim groups to their ideas;
*ethnic cleansing of Muslims (expulsion to Africa) and/or settlement of the region with Romanian veterans;
*propaganda stating that Hinduism is merely a branch of Christianity that has been corrupted by isolation from Europe and driven to heresy, (identifying Brahma with God the Father, Vishnu with God the Son, Shiva with the Holy Ghost, and the Trimurti as the oneness of God); Hindus encouraged to "readopt the original and true form of their religion" (i.e. Orthodox Christianity).
*And once again, anti-Islam propaganda! Make friends with non-Muslims via a shared enemy (Islam).

This may of course be completely unrelated to the way the thread actually ends up. It's complete and utter speculation, and should not be mistaken for canon.

- Anti-Islamic propaganda is already done in TTL.
- Ethnic cleansing of Muslim is already done in TTL (not to Africa though).
- Can neither confirm nor deny if Romania will expand in the direction of India.

Sorry i just asked if that would be possible i didn't address the question to someone specifically ,or criticized anyone,just curios.But i should have specified i was referring to what you said @fluttersky and asked you so sorry.

You don't need to appologize. You have every right to ask any question in a civilized manner (just like you did).
I appologize to you if my answer seemed a little too blunt. I can assure you that this was no my intention, but on the Internet we lack the valuable input of non-verbal communication.

Just an idea.Probably if a christian country ( romania ) will destroy mecca and medina and with that temple ,and make islam more divided and easier to control and change would help.Religious conversion is the first step everywhere and through that you can change their culture and in time assimilate them. I was only thinking that their identity would be too well established but maybe in 18 and 19 century is still possibly ,hardly but maybe possible in those areas if enlightenment won't reach them in time.Possibly destroying mecca and medina at some point is still necessary to make conversion of muslims easier in time if @Zagan hopes to assimilate turks. But i doubt that he intends to keep more territory by 21st century than the european one ,and maybe turkey.Not as part of Romania at least.

Well, Iulia wanted to destroy Mecca and Medina and was quite close to actually succeeding. But alas, she's dead now. Maybe in the future of TTL...

I have already hinted somewhere that some Muslims from Anatolia are already "rediscovering" their Greek origins, thus becoming Christians again after several generation of being Muslim (for convenience or faith, nobody will know).

The last distinction is important here. The Holy Land, for example, belongs to Romania (it is a Colony) but it is not an integral part of Romania like Transylvania (an Internal Province).

Thank you all for your comments and feel free to keep posting.

 

[telynk]

2. Yes it's interesting. But do you know what is even more interesting? That I did not specifically choose that way. I only fed some rough data in a statistical software written by me for this purpose and the software produced these birth and death dates, number and sex of children, etc.
I prefer to work that way in order to avoid human bias as much as possible. The program knows (input by me) a lot of things, like average life spans for male and female royalty in TTL Romania, average number of children, average marriage age, average childbearing age, etc. The rest is some random numbers (which I may tweak further a little for increasing effect).

Is the program you wrote something that's easy to share? I sometimes get the same feeling that I introduce too much human bias into my own family trees.... Just thinking it's something I could possibly use for my own TL....