Rise of Austria Mk II

Extracted from Heaven's Fall - The Roman Revolution


The Roman Revolution had been brewing for a long time in Italy, for several reasons. The first was the absolute tyranny of the Kingdom of God, the second was the mismanagement of finances by Pope Alexander IX (who succeeded Celestinus XIX), and the third was the utter corruption of many bodies and offices in the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, the Kingdom's military had severely decayed since the 1880s.

All this conspired to turn the Vatican Bread Riot of 1905 into the Roman Revolution. The mob was close to Saint Peter's Basilica when the Swiss Guard marched in and attacked them, but were trampled under the sheer numbers of rioters, who advanced toward the Basilica. They set large areas of it alight, the College of Cardinals being burned to the ground.

In this excited state, mobs throughout Italy rose up to crush the forces of the Kingdom of God. A small group, a Neo-Roman secret society, declared the Second Roman Republic - the mob flocked to their banner.
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The Flag of the Second Roman Republic

As the Kingdom of God disintegrated, the Roman Republic was born. Ruled by a First Consul instead of a hated Pope (Alessio Romano, founder of the Second Roman Republic, was the original First Consul), whose powers were limited by the rather grandiose Lex Magna (Great Law in Latin, roughly equivalent to Constitution) the people accepted its rule whole-heartedly.

The Second Roman Republic would last till the Present Day.
 
Extracted from Weapons of War

The invention that changed 20th Century warfare forever was the Landkreuzer, invented by the German engineer Julius Liebknecht in 1911. It was essentially an armoured, fully-enclosed wagon with several machine guns and two cannons, powered and driven by an internal combustion engine. It was slow, and infernally hot. But it could break through any line of defence, any trench. It made the strategy of Blitzkrieg, a lightning-fast war, possible, and brought manoeuvre to the forefront of warfare forever.


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A Landkreuzer Mark III

The second was the Sturmgewehr 13, firstmanufactured by Sternberg Rifles Gmbh. in 1913. It was a semi-machine gun, the first of its kind, and proved popular among soldiers.

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A Sturmgewehr 13


Both weapons woul;d prove useful for the Second Great War, which began in 1915...
 
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