The Union Forever: A TL

[Lalli]

Gabriel Hanotaux (1853 - 1944)

Albert Auguste Gabriel Hanotaux was born in Beaurevoir, department of Aisne, Northern France in November 19 1853. He studied history and foreign diplomacy in University of Paris. In 1878 him became secretary in French Foreign Ministry. He rose quickly in the ministry and even emperor Napoleon IV noticed his skills. Already during his early career Hanotaux wrote several essays to magasines where he wrote about history of France and stated that France must take its rightful place on world politics. In 1885 he attended to commission which made close alliance between France and Ottoman Empire.

In 1887 Napoleon IV appointed Hanotaux as minister of foreign affairs. One of his first notable missions was Panama Treaty with Colombia on 1890, which gave for Imperial Isthmus Company full rights over Panama region and so it was able to begin construction of Panama Canal. In 1890's Hanotaux too succesfully negotiated to France large areas from Africa to France and formed closer relationships with Empires of Brazil and Japan.

In 1898 Napoleon IV appointed Hantoaux as ambassador to Vienna. In september 1907 begun Bavarian Crisis and Hanotaux pressured Austrian emperor Maximilian I send troops protect Bavarian monarchy. Relucantlelly the emperor accepted that, altough he was sure that Austria-Hungary would face multifront war. And like history soon showed, this led quickly to Great War and Austria was on war against almost all of its neighbors. In 1908 Entente knocked Italy out and Hanotaux participated to negotiations in Milan where for Italy had given harsh peace terms. But Hanotaux warned Napoleon IV and Maximilian I that there might be new war against Italy on near future, perhaps Italy even re-join to Great War. But his warnings were mostly ignored. In 1909 Hanotaux's correspondence with Napoleon IV in 1891 was revealed. In these letters men were planning new Franco-Austrian world order. Hanotaux was pretty frustrated about that. He knew that this gives great excuse for United Kingdom and United States enter to the war. And soon France noticed being in war against UK and USA. On Spring 1910 Hanotaux saw Austria-Hungary having its last moments so he decided evacuated French embassy through neutral Switzerland to France. On Autumn Hanutaux begun to make evacuation plans for Bonapartes and creating Bonapartist base to soil of friendly Spain. Yet at end of November he tried talk Napoleon IV into fleeing to Madrid but the emperor made clearly that he will not be fleeing and he not surrend to Coalition alive. But he agreed to evucuate his grandson Napoléon Éugene Louis (1906 - 1982) and emperor's daughter-in-law to Madrid.

In December 1 1910 Hanotaux arrived to Madrid. Only two days later he heard news about Napoleon and his heir's deaths. Soon after this he declared Napoleon IV's grandson as claimant for imperial throne as Napoleon V. After the Great War Hanotaux demand that him should be allowed participate to Peace Congress of Brussels but any nation didn't accept his demand and stated that they negotiate with government of the Third French Republic, not represtant of former French Empire. New government of France too stated that Hanotaux and Bonaparte males are not ever allowed return to France. Hanotaux too lost his citizenship. Hanotaux anyway acted as leader of Bonapartist faction and referred himself as prime minister of French Empire in-exile. Hanotaux too wrote some books about French history and defended acts of France. During his last years Hanotaux begun lean towards Corpocratism but but supported still restoration of Bonapartes. Hanotaux died in Madrid in 1944. Despite his pleas he is not allowed bury to France. During Spanish Civil War Bonapartists with support of Carlists tranferred Hanotaux's remnants to Las Palmas de Canaria.

 

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Slamet Wahyu (1911-1992)

President Slamet Wahyu in 1972

President and Bapak Bangsa Slamet Wahyu in military uniform in 1990

Slamet Wahyu was born in Surabaya on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies on February 15, 1911. A stubborn and often troublesome child, Wahyu was educated at a Dutch boarding school in rural Java from 1917 to 1929. After reaching adulthood, Wahyu served in the Dutch colonial army from 1929 to 1932. After his military service, Wahyu moved to the colonial capital of Batavia (modern-day Djakarta) to study to become a medical doctor. After four years of study, including sojourns in Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and London, Wahyu finally gained his medical doctorate in 1937 at the age of 26. For the next decade, Wahyu settled down and established a moderately successful medical practice in Batavia. A practicing and devout Sunni Muslim throughout his life, Wahyu made his pilgrimage or hajj to Mecca in 1939.

Throughout the 1940s, the Indonesian independence movement had been growing in earnest. Numerous Indonesian nationalist and regionalist organizations and clubs had sprung up throughout the Dutch East Indies. Throughout the early 1940s, Dr. Wahyu started to become more and more aware of the pro-independence and nationalist organizations in the Dutch East Indies. On May 6, 1943, the day that Wahyu would later state was the day that changed his life forever, the 32-year old Dr. Slamet Wahyu attended a meeting of the Javanese People’s Union in Batavia and was almost instantly inspired by the idea of a free and unified Indonesian nation-state. Over the next few weeks, what he heard and saw at the aforementioned meeting continued to stay in his mind. By the summer of 1943, Dr. Wahyu convinced himself that he would now dedicate his life to the cause of a free and independent Indonesia. In July, 1943, he officially joined the Javanese People’s Union and began to write, edit and disseminate pro-independence and anti-colonial pamphlets, newspapers, books and other propaganda. Over the next few years and while still running his medical practice, Dr. Wahyu continued to do as such. In 1947 however, Dutch colonial authorities raided the headquarters of the Javanese People’s Union and arrested most of its members, Dr. Wahyu included. He then had his medical doctorate revoked and spent the next six years in jail from 1947 to 1953. After being released from prison, Wahyu moved to Tokyo in an effort to cultivate support for the cause of Indonesian independence amongst the corporatist and anti-Western colonialist government of Japan. Wahyu himself was very impressed with Japanese culture and the corporatist government of Japan. While not a corpratist, he sympathized with the efficiency and strength of the Japanese government and saw Japan as a liberator of Asian people from European colonialism and imperialism. Wahyu returned to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies in 1956. He then rejoined the Javanese Peoples Union and then moved to his old hometown of Surabaya, where he continued to remain politically active.

On March 27, 1960, Wahyu, among numerous other Indonesian nationalists, established the Indonesian Congress Party (ICP) in Batavia through the amalgamation of several pro-independence groups. In July, 1960, the Empire of Japan became the first foreign government to formally voice its support for the ICP. Under the charismatic Wahyu, the ICP would become the largest and best organized independence organization in the Dutch East Indies within only a year’s time. The swift and meteoric rise of the ICP worried many Dutch colonial officials that some kind of conflict in the Dutch East Indies was on the horizon.

On the afternoon of July 19, 1962, Dutch colonial soldiers opened fire on pro-independence demonstrators in Batavia, leaving twenty-two dead and over ninety wounded. Two days later, on July 21, 1962, Slamet Wahyu and his Indonesian Congress Party, capitalizing on public outrage over the Batavia massacre, issued a declaration of independence for the Republic of Indonesia. In response, Dutch King William IV (1901-1990) and Prime Minister Manfred Sevriens (1908-1997) quickly requested the deployment of additional troops from both the Dutch East Indies and the Metropolitan Netherlands to suppress the rebellion to which the States-General reluctantly consented. While other European colonial powers such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal largely sided with the Dutch, with Germany even providing military advisors, the Corporatist Empire of Japan immediately recognized Wahyu’s government and began sending supplies and munitions to the ICP. Wahyu himself was still sympathetic to the Japanese government.

After six years of brutal jungle, urban and guerilla warfare, on September 12, 1968, the Dutch government decided to open negotiations with the Indonesian Congress Party. The two parties, including Wahyu, began meeting in the Swiss city of Geneva to negotiate an end to the war. While the ICP and their allied militias had made some gains on Java and Sumatra, disagreement over the fate of Indonesia’s eastern islands prohibited a settlement from being reached, as Wahyu would accept nothing less than a complete Dutch withdrawal from the islands of Indonesia. As such, negations and the war would drag on into the subsequent year, as both sides tried desperately to gain the upper hand. In the Netherlands, public opinion was turning against the war with an increasing amount of anti-war protests, despite an increase of aid from the German Empire. On June 29, 1969, news of the Lahat massacre, a massacre of no less than 724 civilians by Dutch soldiers that took place on June 12, 1969, forced the collapse of Prime Minister Manfred Sevriens’s government leading to the rise of a new ruling collation under the anti-imperialist Christian-Progressive Party under Sylvester Rietveld (1915-2006). After more than seven years of fighting, the war in the Dutch East Indies came to an abrupt end with the signing of the Treaty of Geneva on September 17, 1969. At the negotiations in Geneva it was agreed that the Netherlands would end its centuries of colonialism in the region and cede authority to an interim government following elections in December. The first Indonesian elections were held on December 16, 1969. As was to be expected, the Indonesian Congress Party (ICP) won the elections in a landslide. The next day, on December 17, 1969, the Netherlands officially recognized the independence of the Republic of Indonesia and Wahyu was proclaimed the interim President of Indonesia. With that, 366 years of Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia had come to an end. Just a few weeks later, Wahyu has hastily inaugurated as the first President of Indonesia on New Year’s Day, January 1, 1970.

Wahyu's presidency saw the increased industrialization and urbanization of Indonesia, a limited redistribution of wealth and land to the impoverished rural population, the establishment of new trade deals, the restoration of ancient Indonesian ruins and monuments, the establishment of new museums, a renaissance in Indonesian art, cinema and culture, the growth and reformation of the Indonesian military with help from Japanese, Indian, Persian, British and Australian military advisers, the funding of overseas nationalist and pro-independence movements in Malaya, British Borneo, Sri Lanka and Sub-Saharan Africa, among other things. Wahyu also successfully kept his country neutral in the Asia-Pacific War, and in doing so traded with both the Allied and Corpratists powers for the economic benefit of Indonesia. In 1985, he granted himself the title “Father of the Nation” (Bapak Bangsa), a title that no other Indonesian was and is ever allowed to hold.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, President Wahyu’s health began to seriously decline. At an Independence Day rally in 1989, President Wahyu collapsed on stage due to a heart attack and had to be taken to a nearby hospital. Throughout 1990 and 1991, Wahyu made less and less public appearances, much to the consternation of much of the Indonesian populace. Finally, after a long and eventful twenty-two year Presidency, Wahyu died of cardiac arrest on March 31, 1992 at the age of 81. A massive funeral was held just over two weeks later on April 15, 1992. He was then buried in a large, pre-built mausoleum in the heart of Djakarta.

As the founding father and first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Slamet Wahyu left a mixed legacy. Without a doubt, his leadership was pivotal for Indonesia in winning its independence from the Dutch Empire, among the other aforementioned accomplishments. On the other hand, Indonesia under his presidency was far from a perfect democracy, as elections were only held every ten years and Wahyu won in a landslide both the elections of 1979 and 1989. In addition, the Indonesian Congress Party consistently maintained a near complete control over Indonesian politics. The government also supported a number of Javanese-centric policies, which alienated many non-Javanese and emboldened numerous separatist and secessionist movements in Aceh, Bali, Borneo, and Papua, which is ironic considering Indonesian support for nationalist and pro-independence movements abroad. Corruption was also a problem within numerous levels of the government, including within the Indonesian Congress Party. Nevertheless, even to this day, Wahyu is still beloved by the Indonesian people as the father of their nation. His birthday, February 15, is a national holiday in Indonesia.

 

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Carlos I (1863-1916)

Carlos I was born on October 15, 1863 in the Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon, Portugal. His father was King Luis I of Portugal (1838-1890) and his mother was Queen Maria Pia of Savoy (1847-1914), the daughter of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1820-1885) who through her was his grandfather. Throughout his formative years and his teenage years, the young Carlos, Prince Royal had been given an intense and rigorous education. Throughout the late 1870s and early 1880s, he traveled to Spain, France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary. At different times in 1884, 1885 and 1887 he served as regent of Portugal while his father King Luis I was travelling throughout Europe. Throughout these years, he was preparing to rule the Kingdom of Portugal as a constitutional monarch like Queen Victoria and not an autocrat like Napoleon IV or his Iberian counterpart Carlos VII. In 1888, he married Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1860-1925), who converted to Roman Catholicism in order to make the marriage amicable for all parties involved. He had two children, Miguel, Prince Royal (1889-1903) and Infante Francisco Jose (1892-1893), the latter of whom died infancy. After the death of his father King Luis I on December 11, 1890, Carlos, Prince Royal was crowned King Carlos I of Portugal.

In 1891, a series of colonial treaties were signed with the United Kingdom and the Second French Empire. These treaties established the borders between the Portuguese and British colonies and the Portuguese and French colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa. On March 4, 1894, the 500th anniversary of the birthday of Prince Henry the Navigator was celebrated throughout the major Portuguese cities. However, Carlos’ reign was not all perfect. On July 17, 1896, the Portuguese government declared bankruptcy and as a result industrial disturbances, workers strikes, and riots by radical socialists and republicans occurred all across Portugal throughout the subsequent months. Beginning in August, 1896, radical socialist and republican rioters were forcefully repressed by government soldiers, with many being killed and arrested. Numerous radical socialist and republican groups that advocated for revolution against the monarchy were also outlawed. In February, 1897, a law was passed by the Portuguese government that illegalized all trade unions that were not state-owned or that would submit to being state-owned. The government was severely criticized in the press for these actions, but still allowed for freedom of the press. The economy of Portugal continued to remain in a recession throughout 1897 and into 1898, until the economy gradually recovered with the help of loans from British, Spanish and French banking firms. By the new century, economic prosperity had mostly returned to Portugal. However, the aforementioned recession led to an increase in Portuguese emigration overseas, be it to the United States of America, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, among other places. The aforementioned recession also led to an increase in Portuguese emigration to the overseas colonies, particularly Angola and Moçambique.

Prior to and throughout his reign, King Carlos I was an avid and enthusiastic patron of the arts. The King was even a painter himself, and most of his surviving paintings are showcased in the Palace of Ajuda and numerous art museums in Portugal. In 1900, he personally attended the funeral of the great Portuguese poet João de Deus (1830-1900). King Carlos I was also an avid outdoors-man and a lover of nature. He was a sporadic hunter and he took a great interesting in camping, gardening, marine biology and maritime exploration. In 1897, he became the first king of Portugal to visit the African colonies and to go on a safari and African hunting trip.

In 1907, the Great War broke out. Throughout the war, King Carlos I and his governments followed the lead of their historic ally of Great Britain and maintained pro-Triple Alliance neutrality. There were simply no territorial or economic benefits to joining either alliance. After Great Britain entered the war on the side of the Allies in 1909, some men in the government wanted Portugal to join the Allies, but the Portuguese government was trading with both sides and did not want to break their economic ties with the Entente.

In April, 1916, King Carlos I returned to Portuguese West Africa/Portuguese Angola. Throughout that month, Carlos went on quite a few safaris. However, towards the beginning of May, Carlos became seriously ill. Some weeks later, Carlos I died of malaria in his hotel room in Luanda at the age of 52 on May 16, 1916. His only son who did not die in infancy, Miguel, Prince Royal, died of tuberculosis in 1903 at the age of fourteen. As a result, his younger brother, Infante Luis, Duke of Porto succeeded him as King of Portugal as King Luis II (1866-1919). However, the new king Luis II did not have any children. This led to the Portuguese succession crisis of 1916. In October, 1916, the crisis was finally resolved. The Portuguese government of Prime Minister Boaventura Nunes (1869-1960) stated that if Luis II could not produce an heir before his death the Portuguese throne would pass to the Miguelist claimant to the Portuguese throne Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, who was the eldest son of the late Miguel, Duke of Braganza (1853-1913). Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu was the future King Ferdinand III of Portugal (1882-1949).

 

[Lalli]

Hussein ibn Ali (1853 or 1854 - 1931)

Hussein ibn Ali was born to Ali ibn Muhammad, sharif of Mecca in Constantinople in 1853 or 1854. He belonged to old Hashemite house and was descendant of Prophet Muhammad. Hashemites were rulers of Mecca since early 13th century and vassals of Ottomans since 16th century. Most of his childhood Hussein anyway lived in Mecca. Already on young age he educated with Islamic doctrines and Sharia law. On young age he too became familiar with politics and learned about nature of desert and lifestyle of nomadic people. In 1873 Hussein's father Ali ibn Muhammad died and two years later Hussein ibn Ali was named as pasha on Ottoman army. In 1901 him became sharif and emir of Mecca.

Just some years before break out of the Great War Turkish nationalism was rising in Ottoman Empire and Hussein ibn Ali became bit suspicious about intentions of Ottomans. But his oldest son Hassan ibn Hussein (1877 - 1948) advised him that him should wait right moment and then begin search support of other Arab tribes. When Ottomans joined to the Great War in 1907, Hussein sent his son Hassan search Arab allies. He too sent emissaries to Berlin and London asking aid. In 1908 Hussein ibn Ali was able to rise rebel flag and it was pretty succesful. Arabs too got important help from Prussian and British officers captain Theophil Schoenfeld (1872 - 1944) and major Kian Hawkins (1870 - 1960). By Spring of 1910 all Ottoman forces were expelled from Hejaz. Later on same year Hussein declared himself as sultan of Arabia despite that he hadn't yet got whole the peninsula under his control. When Ottomans surrended, he too declared himself as caliph, stating that him has bigger justification for the title than Ottomans, who even weren't any relationship with Prophet Muhammad.

Despite that Hussein ibn Ali would had wanted unite all Arabs under Ottomans as one kingdom, it failed. Brits and Russians were able to capture Mesopotamia, but Brits failed with Levantine so whole idea about united Arab kingdom wasn't realistic. And even Brits and Germans didn't support that. But Brits allowed Hussein to take most of Arabian Peninsula and agreed that Hussein's second son Aqil will becomes king of Mesopotamia. And Hussein too got much of western military equipments and other stuff which would help modernise his kingdom so Hussein acceded to sign Treaty of Brussels.

But sultan of Arabia and caliph of Islam had one big problem to deal. Sauds and ultra-conservative Wahhabites caused gigantic headache for Hashemites. Sauds were already fought against Ottomans since 18th century and now they turned their sight toward Hejaz. Fortunately Hashemites had much of western support and weapons. Them had too several British and German military advisors. War against Sultanate of Nejd under Sauds was long and brutal but finally in 1919 Hashemite forces led by Hassan ibn Hussein captured Riyadh, capital of Nejd and caused much of damage for the city. Last emir of Nejd and some of his sons and other male Saudis were beheaded. This effectively ended power of Sauds. Wahhabites were too dismantled altough there was still enough of Wahhabites to cause problems for Hashemites on coming decades.

During his reign Arabia begun to develope modern nation altough it remained in many arya pretty backward and all power was still on hands of sultan. Several new roads were built and electric usage increased. In 1924 railroad construction was finished between Jeddah and Dammam which connected Red Sea and Gulf of Persia. Ties with European nations increased too, speciality with Germany.

Hussein ibn Ali died in his palace in Jeddah on 1931. To his funeral attended several ambassadors from many European Mid-Eastern nations. Prior of his death Arabia had changed greatly from that what it was only couple decades ago. The country was modernised and developed greatly but it was still partially backward and there was still much of poverty. There was still big contrast between quiet developed west coast and rest of Arabia.

 

[Lalli]

Hassan ibn Hussein (1877 - 1948)

Hassan ibn Hussein was first son of future sultan of Arabia, Hussein ibn Ali. He was intrested about Western things when he was teenager. He read much of western culture and several books of European military commanders from Julius Caesar to Giuseppe Garibaldi. Hassan too became familiar with nationalism. He entered to politics of Ottoman Empire at young age and was elected on 1901 to Ottoman parliament. But he anyway remained suspicious with democracy rest of his life. It is anyway unclear got he spark to revolt against Ottomans in Constantinople or somewhere else.

On beginning of the Great War he left Constantinople and returned to Mecca as advisor of his father. Him had vital role on Arab Revolt. He was good negotiator and was able to create great alliance with other tribes. He too created close relationships with Brits and speciality with Germans. Him became lifetime friend of Theophil Schoenfeld and Kian Hawkins who gave markable aid to Arab rebels. In 1910 Hussein ibn Ali declared himself as sultan of Arabia and caliph of Islam and Hassan became heir of his father.

As crown prince Hassan ibn Hussein led war against Sultanate of Nejd. After nine years lasted war he captured Riyadh, capital of Nejd and defeated Sauds, which weakened Wahhabites but they remained still long time as serious problem. In 1920 him became governor of new-founded province of Al-Kharj (roughly OTL Province of Riyadh). As governor he continued to put down several Wahhabite groups. In 1926 him became foreign minister. As foreign minister he created closer relationships with United Kingdom and Germany.

In 1931 sultan Hussein ibn Ali died and so Hassan ibn Hussein became sultan and caliph. His reign didn't begin easily. Firstly Yemeni tribes, which are mostly Shias, begun revolt when they expected that power transition wouldn't be very smooth. In 1932 there was attentant against sultan's life by Wahhabite group and sultan was injured. He anyway survived from attack but never recovered fully. Him had deal with Yemeni and Wahhabite revolts several years. In 1934 in province of Al-Dammam was found oil and this got much of attention. Hassan was anyway able to negotiate pretty good treaties about using of oil reserves and sharing oil revenues with British, German and American oil companies. This helped boost economy of Arabia. On end of 1930's and early 1940's he supported Syrian rebels on Ottoman Civil War. He hoped that he could put Hashemite monarch to Syria but Syrians were deeply republicans so it didn't work. But Arabia anyway created good relationships with Republic of Greater Syria. On early 1940's him had to help his brother and king of Mesopotamia Aqil I put down Shia revolt in Southern Mesopotamia. The sultan died on 1948 from lymphoma in Jeddah.

 

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Lucia I (1870-1950)

Lucia I was born as Princess Lucia in Rome, Italy on April 24, 1870. He father was Prince Umberto, the future King Umberto I of Italy (1844-1908) and her mother was Princess Mathilde of Austria, the future Queen Mathilde of Italy (1849-1922). She was the only child of King Umberto II of Italy. Growing up, Princess Lucia was educated throughout Italy by a number of private governesses, and she was brought up to admire and to learn about and study Italian culture and history. She also learned the languages of Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, German and English. Her first major public appearance was at the funeral of her grandfather King Victor Emmanuel II in Rome on September 29, 1885. Throughout her life, Lucia was a devout Roman Catholic. During her time as a princess, beginning in the early 1890s, she saw to the establishment of numerous Roman Catholic orphanages and charities, mostly in the impoverished rural regions of southern Italy, and these institutions helped to alleviate poverty for many average Italians. She also wanted to see a solution to the Pope being “a prisoner in the Vatican”, but such a solution never came to pass during her future reign. On June 29, 1895, she married Archduke Rudolf Ludwig (1868-1929) a son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (1833-1894) and the nephew of Emperor Maximillian I of Austria-Hungary (1832-1922). As a result, Archduke Rudolf Ludwig became Prince Rodolfo Luigi of Italy. He was also the future Prince Consort Rodolfo Luigi of Italy. The couple was always happily married and never had any children. In 1898, the Italian government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Zanardelli (1826-1904) eliminated male preference in the line of succession to the Italian throne. As a result, Princess Lucia became the heir to the Italian throne. As a further result, the new heir Princess Lucia became very unpopular amongst the more conservative and reactionary members of the Italian government and nobility, all of whom wanted to see Lucia’s cousin Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Aosta (1871-1962) continue to be the heir to the Italian throne.

On October 3, 1907, the Great War broke out. Five days later, on October 8, 1907, the Kingdom of Italy honored its defensive alliance with the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire and declared war on the Second French Empire. Three days later, on October 11th, 1907, the French 6th Army launched Opération Rivoli, the invasion of the Kingdom of Italy. The Italian Army was caught completely unprepared. In spite of this, for the first month and a half of the war Princess Lucia worked as a war nurse on the frontlines of battle. This earned her a lot of praise from much of the Italian populace. However, she was also unpopular among much of the Italian populace for her outspoken pacifist views. Meanwhile, the Great War continued to go on. On October 15, 1907, Genoa was shelled by the French Navy. On October 23, 1907, the Italian army successfully repulsed an Austro-Hungarian attack on the Isonzo River. However, just two days later, Turin fell to the French armies on October 25, 1907. Some weeks, later, the climactic Battle of Novara began on November 4, 1907. In spite of a valiant Italian defense, the French completed their encirclement of Novara on December 19, 1907. General Luigi Cadorna (1850-1924) held the city until January 3, 1908 when he was forced to surrender to the French armies. On January 15, 1908, Milan then fell to the French. With that, two major north Italian cities, Turin and Milan, were occupied by the Second French Empire.

On January 19th, 1908, King Umberto I of Italy was assassinated at the age of 63 by a radical socialist named Giancarlo Rossetto (1886-1908). This assassination threw the Italian government of Prime Minister Paolo Boselli (1838-1927) into chaos. Meanwhile, the dead king’s only child, the increasingly unpopular 37 year-old Princess Lucia, was installed as Queen Lucia I of Italy. Unlike her father, Queen Lucia I heeded the advice of her defeatist ministers and on January 24, 1908 requested an armistice from the Entente Powers. Four days later, on the afternoon of January 28, 1908, the Kingdom of Italy officially withdrew from the Great War. The Treaty of Milan was signed the following week on February 5, 1908. A French “zone of perpetual occupation” was established north of the Tanaro and Po Rivers and included the regions of Piedmont, Lombardy and the Aosta Valley. As a result, France all but officially annexed northern Italy. The regions of Veneto and Friuli–Venezia Giulia were annexed by Austria-Hungry. The aforementioned areas included many of the most important industrial centers in Italy such as Turin, Milan, and Venice. Finally, severe restrictions were placed on the future size of the Italian army and navy.

On the home front, many Italians from all walks of life felt betrayed by the armistice, citing Italian successes on the Isonzo front and the heroic performance by the Italian armies at Novara as reasons against the surrender to the Entente Powers. Many Italians also felt deeply betrayed by the Savoyard monarchy for signing the Treaty of Milan and in doing so signing away the northern provinces to the Entente Powers. As a result, many Italians began to lose faith in the Italian monarchy and the House of Savoy. Over the next few months, the political situation in Rome became increasingly unstable. Many politicians began to look for an alternative to Queen Lucia I and the House of Savoy. It was in this volatile political climate that on May 16, 1908, Queen Lucia I was overthrown by a popularly backed military coup led by General Brancaleone Lucchesi (1864-1943). As a result, Lucia and the rest of the House of Savoy were forced to flee the country, and they fled by sea to Barcelona, Spain, as Lucia’s cousin Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Aosta was the son-in-law of the Spanish king Carlos VII (1848-1908). On May 20, 1908, the Italian parliament abolished the monarchy and the Republic of Italy was established. After forty-seven years, the Kingdom of Italy had ceased to exist. The Republic of Italy would eventually re-join the war on the side of the Allied victors.

Lucia I spent the rest of her life in exile. She lived in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain for the first few years of her exile. Desiring to live in a smaller town, Lucia I and her immediate family moved to Girona, Catalonia, Spain in 1912. After the suppression of the communist Hungarian Revolution, King Francis II of Hungary (1867-1940) offered his brother Prince Rodolfo Luigi and his sister-in-law Queen Lucia I to move to the Kingdom of Hungary. The couple eventually moved to Budapest, Hungary in the summer of 1920 and began to live a in large villa on the outskirts of the city. Her husband Rodolfo Luigi died of cancer in Budapest on July 24, 1929, leaving Lucia I devastated on and off for several months. In an effort to alleviate her depression, she moved to A Coruña, Galicia, Spain to live with her cousins. She lived there from 1929 to 1937. During this time, she also spent many vacations with her cousins in Portugal and the French Riviera. In 1937, she returned to Budapest, then she moved around Hungary for many years, after which she finally settled down in a large villa outside the town of Kaposvár in 1941. After nine years, Queen Lucia I, the final monarch of Italy, died in her home in Kaposvár, Kingdom of Hungary on June 26, 1950 at the age of 80. She was buried in a local cemetery. She died childless, so the pretender to the Italian throne became her cousin, Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Aosta, who became known to Italian monarchists as King Charles Emmanuel V.

In the immediate years after her death, most historians, particularly Italian historians, have had a very negative view of Queen Lucia I, with most seeing her as an ineffective, incompetent and apathetic monarch and a woman who would have been much more suited to being a nun or philanthropist than the monarch of a nation. However, in recent years some historians have begun to see Queen Lucia I in a more positive light, with many seeing her, in the words of Italian historian Matteo D'Alessio (1930-1997), as “a pious, kind and caring person who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and whose heart always tried to be in the right place.” In 2013, the Italian and Hungarian governments allowed her body to be exhumed from Hungary and to be reburied in Italy. That same year, she was reburied in a private cemetery outside of Rome owned by the House of Savoy.

 

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Luis II (1866-1919)

Luis II was born as Infante Dom Luis, Duke of Porto on May 2, 1866 in the Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon, Portugal. His father was King Luis I of Portugal (1838-1890) and his mother was Queen Maria Pia of Savoy (1847-1914), the daughter of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1820-1885) who through her was his grandfather. His older brother and only sibling was Carlos, Prince Royal, the future King Carlos I of Portugal (1863-1916). The young Infante Luis, Duke of Porto was, like his older brother, the beneficiary of an intense and rigorous education. Throughout the late 1870s and early 1880s, he traveled along with his older brother to Spain, France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary. Starting in 1884, the eighteen year-old Infante Lius served in the infantry of the Portuguese Army. Throughout his many years of military service, Infante Luis, Duke of Porto served in numerous different locations, including Metropolitan Portugal, Angola, Moçambique, Goa and Macau. At the relatively young age of twenty-nine, the Duke of Porto was appointed to the rank of general in 1895. From 1896 to 1898, he served as the head of the Portuguese forces in Moçambique. All in all, the Duke of Porto was remembered as a strict yet competent and hard-working officer and general.

After returning to Portugal in 1898, the Duke of Porto retired from the Portuguese military after an eventful fourteen-year career, though he continued to hold the rank of general until his ascension to the throne. He also continued to wear his military uniform during military parades and other such special events. In 1900, the Duke was in a romantic relationship with and sought marriage to Archduchess Sophia Mathilde of Austria (1864-1932), the youngest child of the ill-fated Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1866). However, such a marriage never came to pass as the relationship between the two gradually deteriorated by 1903, as the two barely had anything in common with each other and failed to get along consistently. Throughout his life and after his death, many alleged that the Duke of Porto and future King Luis II was a homosexual, citing his introverted personality, his unsuccessful relationship with Archduchess Sophia Mathilde of Austria and numerous rumors of romantic affairs with both wealthy and average Portuguese men. His sexuality is still in dispute, but most historians believe that he was a bisexual, as rumors of affairs with both wealthy and average Portuguese women also circulated. The Duke of Porto served as the Portuguese ambassador to Great Britain, the centuries old ally of Portugal, from 1903 to 1906. A few years later, during the last years of the Great War, Dom Luis served as a military attaché to the British army and observed many of the new and innovative wartime developments in the British military.

Throughout most of his adult life, the Duke of Porto had the reputation of a somewhat introverted, yet also serious, humble, warm and friendly man. Throughout the 1900s, he helped to establish numerous orphanages, both religious and otherwise, throughout metropolitan Portugal and the colonies, particularly Angola and Moçambique. He was also a proud patron of the arts and sciences, and he donated a lot of money to numerous museums, universities and cultural institutions throughout metropolitan Portugal. In his personal life, the Infante, Duke and future King was an avid collector and modeler of military figurines, with a particular interest in military figurines of the Napoleonic Wars. He was also an avid reader and an avid collector of books, especially novels and works of history. He also collected African tribal art, an interest that carried over from his military service in the colonies. After his death in 1919, his collections were all donated to numerous museums across Portugal, including the Royal Portuguese Museum in Lisbon.

On May 16, 1916, Carlos I died of malaria in Luanda. Carlos I’s only son who did not die in infancy, Miguel, Prince Royal, died of tuberculosis in 1903 at the age of fourteen. As a result, the 50 year-old Infante Luis, Duke of Porto succeeded his older brother as King of Portugal as King Luis II. The fact that King Luis II did not have any children led to the Portuguese succession crisis of 1916. In October, 1916, the crisis was finally resolved. The Portuguese government of Prime Minister Boaventura Nunes (1869-1960) stated that if Luis II could not produce an heir before his death the Portuguese throne would pass to the Miguelist claimant to the Portuguese throne Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, who was the eldest son of the late Miguel, Duke of Braganza (1853-1913). Throughout his brief, three year reign, King Luis II oversaw the continued industrialization of Portugal, the introduction of new British-inspired reforms in the Portuguese military, an increase in emigration overseas and to the African colonies of Angola and Moçamque, Portugal’s participation in the first Olympic games in 1918, an increase in funding for colonial infrastructure and in an increase in funding for education both in metropolitan Portugal and the colonies. After a brief and mostly uneventful reign, King Luis II of Portugal died of throat cancer on June 23, 1919 at the age of 53. He was succeeded as King of Portugal by his 36 year-old distant relative and the Miguelist claimant to the throne of Portugal, Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, who succeeded him as King Ferdinand III (1882-1949).

 

[Lalli]

Kings of Mesopotamia

Aqil I (1879 - 1959)

Aqil ibn Hussein was born to future sultan of Arabia and caliph Hussein ibn Ali in Mecca in 1879. Him had older brother whom became later sultan of Arabia and caliph. Like his big brother Aqil too became familiar with Arab nationalism on young age. In 1905 he was elected to city council of Jeddah. When Arab Revolt break out on 1908 Aqil ibn Hussein begun led Arab coalition. He too acted as important advisor for European allies of Arabs. On June 1909 Arab rebels captured Jeddah and Aqil became mayor of the city.

After the Great War Aqil demanded that Mesopotamia should make its own kingdom under Hashemites when it was clear that they can't unite all Arab lands of Ottoman Empire. Brits agreed and they put Aqil to Mesopotamian throne but the country was only semi-independent and Brits had much of power in the new kingdom.

Aqil I got very troublesome nation. The country was poor and very underdeveloped. Mesopotamians were Shia majority who were long time been opressed by Sunnis and they lacked any kind of nationalist feelings and so they even didn't care about existence of the kingdom and speciality king who was Sunni. So first acts of new king was give constitution which gave full religion liberty and made all religions equal and created soem kind of parliament altough it allowed for king much of political power. And regarding religion government and military forces were dominated by Sunnis which caused much of problems. Another important act was to call teachers, engineers and military advisors from other nations. During 1910's and 1920's the country begun to develope. Asphalt roads, railroads, and new buildings were constructed, many big cities got electric lights, and education level increased. But developing was slow and the country had still several problems. Shias and Sunnis hated each others and Shias disliked idea that they are ruled by Sunni monarch who is puppet of Brits. National border didn't mean much if anything for goat shepherds of border regions. They passed border from and to Kurdistan, Ottoman Empire and Arabia like there wouldn't had been border all. With Arabia was easy to deal problem but this caused some small problems with Ottomans and Kurdistan.

On 1930's Shia militarism was rising and there was many serious violent incidents in southern cities. Aqil I needed help of Arabia and United Kingdom to put these down. On 1950's Mesopotamia was still pretty poor but on much better condition as it was during last years of Ottoman regime and early years of the kingdom. Brits too begun to give more independence for local government. King Aqil I died in Baghdad in 1959 at age of 80 and was succeeded by his oldest son, Feisal I.

Feisal I (1904 - 1970)

Feisal ibn Aqil was oldest son of Aqil ibn Hussein, future king of Mesopotamia. On his early childhood he lived under Ottoman regime and witnessed Arab Revolt. At age of seven him became crown prince of new-founded Kingdom of Mesopotamia. In 1924 he was sent to United Kingdom where he educated law, administration and joined to British infranty and served in Indo-Afghan border region on 1930's. Finally he got rank of major in 1942 and returned to his home country where he helped put Shia and Wahhabist militansts down. In 1945 him became war minister of Mesopotamia.

In 1959 king Aqil I died at age of 80 and Feisal became king of Mesopotamia. Feisal tried continue his father's politics but Mesopotamia was very divided between different factions and during his reign Faisal faced several problems caused by extremist Shias, extremist Sunnis, Arab nationalists, which was too very divided faction. Corpocratism too got some influence in the country. Nationalists and several conservative groups too hated Feisal's close relationships with Brits. On 1960's Shias begun demand larger autonomy for southern provinces and more rights. There was several violent incidents speciality in Basra and Karbala. In 1970 against advise of his ministers the king went to Karbala where he gave speech where he stated that Mesopotamia is unitary nation under Sunni monarch and any Shia resistance will be crushed. His pretty pro-Sunni speech caused frustration. When the king was leaving Karbala on August 8, several Shia militants attacked against the king and his bodyguards. Shia militants shot the king with assault rifles.

Aqil II (1928 - 1988)

Aqil was born to future king Feisal I in 1928 in Baghdad. Like his father, he too got his education in United Kingdom. When he was crown prince, he served in several different offices around Mesopotamia. Prince life before kingship was quiet uneventful altough he participated crushing of some Shia revolts in Southern Mesopotamia.

In 1970 Aqil's father Feisal I was assassinated in Karbala by Shia militants and Aqil became king. Aqil II, who was already pretty anti-Shia, got good excuse send army to south crush any Shia revolt. One of his first acts was too dissolution of parliament and suspendre constituiton. He quickly took all power to his hands. But despite such backsteps, he continued several other reforms on social and educational issues. He too continued several building projects. He too supported European and American archaeologist excavations on ruins of ancient cities. But on 1970's relationships with Persia were too worsening. When Persia declared war to India in 1978, Aqil II pondered invading of Persia but his advisors stated that it would be very unwise and they would be against Brits too.

During 1980's situation in Mesopotamia was worsening. Shias were very oppressed and there was much of bad blood between two major religious groups. There were too some border incidents with Persia which almost led to war. Royal Security Police led by king's brother prince Khalid (1929 - 1988) arrested, tortured, and sometimes killed several Shia leaders and many of notable liberal/anti-monarchist Sunni politicians. Situation was worsening and in 1987 around of Mesopotamia was serious riots. Some international experts even warned that Mesopotamia might be slipping to civil war. In 1988 February happened military coup and Aqil II and several of other members of his family and members of his government were ousted and arrested. This caused chaos in Mesopotamia causing spiking of oil prices and leading to world wide recession. The king, prince Khalid and some other high-ranked officials were executed couple weeks after the coup and so ended 77 years lasted monarchy in Mesopotamia. Many of Mesopotamian Hashemites fled to Jeddah.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Alright guys, I think this is not only the longest The Union Forever biography I've ever written, but also the longest one ever written period. It took me three days to write, but it was totally worth it and its also completely appropriate for the 159th birthday of the bad-ass that was Teddy Roosevelt. So without further ado....

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1927)

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York City, New York, United States of America. His father was Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (1831-1876) and his mother was Martha Bulloch "Mittie" Roosevelt (1835-1889). His siblings were Anna Roosevelt (1855-1930), Elliott Bulloch Roosevelt (1860-1905) and Corinne Roosevelt (1861-1934). He was of Dutch, Scottish, Scots-Irish, English, German, Welsh and French ancestry. As a child, Roosevelt was wracked by sickliness and poor health and he suffered from a debilitating form of asthma. Nevertheless, he was an energetic and curious child. As a child, the young Roosevelt went on numerous family trips in Europe to France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Great Britain. He and his family also traveled outside of Europe to Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Palestine and Constantinople. All of these vacations would later shape the adult Teddy Roosevelt’s cosmopolitan and internationalist views. It was also during these vacations that the young Roosevelt gradually discovered the benefits of physical exercise, these benefits being that exercise could both minimize his asthma and bolster his own confidence at the same time.

Growing up, the young Teddy Roosevelt was educated by numerous private tutors. On September 27, 1876, one month before his eighteenth birthday, he began his studies at Harvard University. While at Harvard, Roosevelt took up numerous physical activities such as boxing and rowing, among others. He was also a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society, the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and the prestigious Porcellian Club. He was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate, the literary magazine of the university. Two months after starting his studies at Harvard, on November 16, 1876, his father Theodore Roosevelt Sr. died at the age of 45 of a gastrointestinal tumor that caused him great pain and prevented him from eating. The 18 year-old Theodore Jr. was immediately informed and then took a train from Cambridge, Massachusetts to New York City to attend his father’s funeral. The young Roosevelt was devastated for months, but before long the young Teddy returned with enthusiasm to his physical activities.

On September 12, 1877, the Spanish-American War broke out. As a proud American patriot, and after much serious thought, the young Roosevelt decided to temporarily abandon his studies at Harvard and enlist in the United State Army to fight in the war. After enlisting in the United States Army, Roosevelt was sent to Tampa, Florida to undergo a period of training. He served in the 56th U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the 1st Brigade under former Confederate Brigadier-General James Longstreet (1821-1896). In February and March 1878, Roosevelt fought in the siege of Santiago. Roosevelt subsequently fought bravely and boldy in Stuart and Custer’s Overland Campaign, and he then fought in the Battle of Havana throughout May and June of 1878. The young Roosevelt, not even a man of twenty, became known for his heroism under enemy fire during both the overland campaign and the Battle of Havana. It should also be noted that the young Roosevelt managed to fight in all of the aforementioned engagements without being seriously injured.

After the end of the Spanish-American War on July 25, 1878, Roosevelt returned home to New York City. On September 27, 1878, he began to re-attend Harvard. After he returned to Harvard, Roosevelt was celebrated by his fellow students and undergraduates as a brave and patriotic war hero. On his 22nd birthday on October 27, 1880, Roosevelt married the 19 year-old Alice Hathaway Lee (1861-1883) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The couple would have one child, Anna Emily Roosevelt (October 14, 1883-December 29, 1969). After three more years of intense and enthusiastic study, Roosevelt finally graduated from Harvard in June, 1881. He then attended Columbia Law School from September, 1881 to June, 1882.

In 1882, Roosevelt was elected to be a member of the New York State Assembly. Roosevelt continued to serve in the New York State Assembly throughout 1883 and 1884. Throughout his time in the New York State Assembly, Roosevelt was known for tackling corruption in the politics of New York State, and successfully supported civil service reform in the government of New York. However, not everything would go well for the young Teddy Roosevelt. On October 14, 1883, Roosevelt’s wife Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt died in childbirth at the age of twenty-two. Roosevelt was absolutely devastated by the death of his beloved wife, and he wrote in his dairy; “Today, in spite of new joy, the light has gone out of my life.” His newborn daughter Anna Emily Roosevelt was then raised by his older sister Bamie Roosevelt. Roosevelt regained custody of Anna Emily in 1889, shortly after his remarriage. After the 1884 presidential election, still saddened by the death of his wife, Roosevelt moved out west to the Montana Territory to live life as a cowboy, and while doing so learned to horseback ride western style, rope and hunt wildlife. Throughout his time in Montana, Roosevelt earned the respect of a large number of authentic cowboys. In the subsequent years, Roosevelt wrote a number of magazine articles and books about frontier life. His time in the west also instilled in Roosevelt a desire to address the interests of Americans in the western United States, and he successfully led efforts to address the problems of overgrazing, to coordinate conservation efforts, among other things. After the uniquely severe winter of 1886–1887 wiped out his cattle, Roosevelt returned to New York in March, 1887.

After his return to New York, Roosevelt began to romantically court Edith Kermit Carow, an old childhood and family friend. On August 25, 1888, while on a vacation in England, Roosevelt re-married and married Edith Kermit Carow (1861-1945) in a ceremony at Wroxton Abbey, the residence of William North, 11th Baron North (1836-1935), in Oxfordshire, England. The couple had five children, Theodore Roosevelt III (July 26, 1889-December 1, 1955), Robert John Roosevelt (August 20, 1890-July 22, 1960), Victoria Roosevelt (February 21, 1893-June 4, 1977), Quentin Roosevelt (September 1, 1895-October 7, 1952) and Thomas Kermit Roosevelt (May 4, 1896-September 2, 1985). Theodore and Edith Roosevelt returned to the United States of America in April, 1889. Not that long after his return to the United States, his mother Martha Bulloch "Mittie" Roosevelt died of typhoid fever at the age of 54 on October 1, 1889. Much like with the death of his father almost thirteen years previously, Roosevelt was devastated by the death of his mother, but thanks to emotional support from his new wife Eidth, Roosevelt gradually recovered both emotionally and spiritually. In 1890, the 32 year-old Roosevelt ran for Mayor of New York City under the banner of the Republican Party, but he lost the election to the Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt (1822-1901). Roosevelt then served as President of the New York City Board of Police Commissioners from 1892 and 1894. In 1895, Roosevelt was was elected Governor of New York and he served as such from January 1, 1896 to December 31, 1899. Roosevelt, still a highly popular politician in New York State, then decided to live a life of semi-retirement.

Roosevelt’s life of semi-retirement came to an end in 1901. On March 4, 1901, Robert Todd Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United States of America. Soon afterwards, Theodore Roosevelt was nominated by President Lincoln to the post of Secretary of War. His time as Secretary of War was most noticeable for the massive, world-wide and industrial conflict that was the Great War. Other events transpired as well. On December 2, 1904, Secretary of War Roosevelt attended the celebrations of the Napoleonic Centennial in Paris, France. These celebrations were in honor of the 100th anniversary of Napoleon I’s coronation in 1804 and the 52nd anniversary of the Bonaparte Restoration under Napoleon III in 1852. While many foreign observers were very impressed by the ceremony, Roosevelt himself declared that the ceremony was “nothing more than a who’s who of royalist trash” and the “vain pretentions of mediocrity pretending to be a great conqueror.” In 1908, during the early months of the Great War, the Lincoln administration began increasing America’s readiness for war. Secretary of War Roosevelt, along with Secretary of State William McKinley (1843-1925), both staunch Francophobes, also began making plans to put pressure on the Second French Empire to end the war. At the 1908 Republican National Convention held in Nashville, Tennessee, Secretary of War Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was being promoted as a possible presidential nominee by hawkish elements within the Republican Party. In spite of this, Lincoln was eventually re-nominated by the Republican Party. President Lincoln was re-inaugurated on March 4, 1909, and after a cabinet reshuffle, Theodore Roosevelt was retained as Secretary of War. After the United States of America entered the Great War on the side of the Alliance on March 8, 1909, Secretary of War Theodore Roosevelt made the conquest of all of the French colonies in the Americas the primary goal of the US Navy and US Marine Corp’s during the early days of American involvement in the war. All of the French colonies in the Americas were taken over by the United States by the middle of May, 1909. The Great War finally ended with the December Revolution and the death of Emperor Napoleon IV in December, 1910 and with the signing of the Treaty of Brussels on October 12, 1911, the last event of which Secretary of War Roosevelt, along with many other American statesmen, proudly attended.

At the 1912 Republican National Convention held in Kansas City, Missouri, in spite of considerable pressure from certain sectors of the Republican Party and the general public, President Lincoln stuck with his pledge not to seek a fourth term. The contest for the Republican nomination quickly became a race between Vice President Andrew Johnson Jr. (1852-1932) and Secretary of War Theodore Roosevelt after Secretary of State William McKinley refused to run for the nomination on the grounds of old age and poor health. Vice President Johnson was a moderate Republican who was largely in favor of the status quo. On the other hand, Secretary of War Roosevelt was an ardent supporter of more controversial issues such as African-American civil rights and the democratic integration of America’s newly won overseas territories. Roosevelt eventually won the nomination and declared in a rousing acceptance speech that “This party, the party of Lincoln, will always stand for free trade, free men, and a free world!” The moderate Senator Jacob R. Alexander (1866-1945) of Oregon was selected to be the Vice Presidential nominee and Roosevelt’s running-mate in an effort to balance the ticket. In the election, Roosevelt and Alexander ran against the Democratic ticket of Governor Judson Harmon (1846-1929) of Ohio and Senator Oscar W. Underwood (1862-1930) of Alabama, who ran on largely the same protectionist, isolationist, and segregationist platform that the Democratic Party had been running on for decades. On Election Day, November, 5, 1912, Secretary of War Roosevelt beat Governor Harmon by a wide margin. On March 4th, 1913, Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 23rd President of the United States of America.

The administration of President Theodore Roosevelt lasted from 1913 to 1921 and saw numerous things such as the re-opening of the formerly-French Panama Canal on September 5, 1913, the purchase of Panama from Colombia on August 15, 1914, the passage of the 15th Amendment which granted suffrage to women and ethnic minorities on April 12, 1915, the continued economic growth, prosperity and industrialization of the United States of America, the establishment of new natural parks and wildlife refuges, the establishment of programs to help veterans, America’s participation in the first Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece in 1918, the growth in popularity of American sports, the growth of the American film industry, the First Transatlantic Flight in December, 1920, among others things. In the 1916 presidential election, the incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt and the incumbent Vice President Jacob R. Alexander ran against the Democratic challengers Senator James B. Clark (1850-1920) of Missouri and Governor Eugene Foss (1858-1935) of Massachusetts, On Election Day, November 7, 1916, President Roosevelt easily won the election and a second term as President of the United States of America. It was also during his time in office that he stated that the new President of France Marcel Ames (1868-1942) was “the Rock of Liberty”, which became a famous nickname for the new French president.

At the 1920 Republican National Convention held in New York City, in spite of the desires of some Republicans, President Roosevelt had definitively chosen not to seek a third term as President, citing his increasingly poor health and desire to retire from political life. As a result, former General Leonard Wood (1860-1921) became the Republican presidential nominee and eventual 24th President of the United States of America. Sadly, Wood was assassinated less than a year into his term, and this was an assassination which former President Roosevelt referred to as “this cowardly and most un-American act.” Theodore Roosevelt spent most of the rest of his life in a quiet, peaceful and mostly private retirement at his home of Sagamore Hill in Cove Neck, New York. He watched numerous new films, read numerous books, and wrote his memoirs, which were published posthumously in 1930. In June, 1922, Roosevelt began a lengthy tour of Europe, a tour which included Ireland, Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. After over a year of touring Europe, Roosevelt returned to the United States in July, 1923. Roosevelt then went on the Smithsonian–Roosevelt African Expedition from March, 1924 to March, 1925. After that, Roosevelt permanently returned to living quietly at his home of Sagamore Hill in Cove Neck, New York.

On his 69th birthday on October 27, 1927, Roosevelt had a dinner with his wife and adult sons and daughters at Sagamore Hill in Cove Neck, New York. At the celebration, Roosevelt was in high spirts, but he was also in noticeably poor health. In the late afternoon of November 8, 1927, Roosevelt was suffering from serious chest pains. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. Herbert McAuliffe (1873-1950), Roosevelt went into his study to continue working on his memoirs. After several hours, he then went to bed at about 11:00 PM. After waking up the next day on November 9, 1927 at about 8:00 AM, Roosevelt suffered from more chest pains and called for Dr. McAuliffe. Throughout his being treated in his bedroom by Dr. McAuliffe, at about 9:30 AM, Roosevelt then died of a heart attack in his bed at the age of 69. On November 15, 1927, he was given a large state funeral in New York City on the orders of President Harold K. Abercrombie (1874-1948). He was then buried in Youngs Memorial Cemetery on a hill overlooking Oyster Bay.

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt’s legacy was a largely positive and memorable one. He was seen as a strong leader, a friendly, amicable and magnanimous man, a progressive and an altruistic president and a president that continued the internationalist and progressive domestic agendas of his mentor President Robert Todd Lincoln. He also ensured that the Republican Party would continue to hold onto to power for a number of more years. In the words of American historian Rodger Pereira; “Roosevelt was the embodiment of a strong and ruggedly individualistic yet progressive and goodhearted man and the living embodiment of the new 20th century United States of America.”

 

[Lalli]

Shane Bayard (1893 - 1971)

Shane Bayard was born in Wilmington, Delaware to Delawarean politician family. Already on young age he was intrested about movies and on his childhood he went often with his friends to watch movies to local theater. On 1910's he studied business in University of Delaware. He decided go to entertaimnent business altough some of his family members suspected that being very good idea. But these suspictions didn't stop Bayard.

In 1918 he talked his father, then governor of Delaware, Peter W. Bayard (1867-1948) to borrow him 95000 dollars. Shane promised that he will change that as even bigger money. Then Bayard moved with his some friends to San Diego, California. On 1910's the city was growing center of American film industry. There Bayard bough old, abandoned industry hall and repaired that. In 1920 he founded Dreamworld Film Company (DFC), which became on later decades one of most notable American film companies. Bayard was sure that it will bcome markable company and reminded that even Roman Empire begun from small village. He made several short animation films. In 1924 he married Margareth Kingsley (1895 - 1979) and they got three children, Walter (1927 - 2010), Edward (1929 - 2014) and Emily (1932 - 2020). Real breakthrough happened in 1926 when he released 47 minutes lasting animation film Ricky Raccoon and Tom Turkey. It made only 33 years old Shane Bayard one of most famous film producters. He could now buy even more halls making his movies and hire more people.

On end of 1920's Bayard was one of few movie producters who survived from transition from mute film to sound film. He too begun make longer animation movies and already in 1932 at age of forty he was one of wealthiest movie producters. On 1930's he too tried to make three movies based to Danish children's author Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales but these weren't very succesful. Bayard, who wanted do something else too like animation, got offer in 1941. Many producters were refused about making film version of pre-civil war classic Harriet Beecher Stowe's Ucnle Tom's Cabin. Despite that even usually optimistic Bayard suspected could movie be very succesful, decided to try the movie adaptation. It was Bayard's first non-animation movie and compared to his earlier works, it had darker tone and was too his longest movie by then. Uncle Tom's Cabin was anyway very succeful movie and brought to Bayard his first Griffith Awards winning four Griffiths.

On 1940's Bayard continued succesfully and begun to make adventure movies and some of them included some fantasy elements. Bayard didn't comment much of politics but he was quiet symphatic with civil right issues. He continued making movies on 1950's. On 1957 he released one of longest running animatin TV series Ricky Raccoon and Friends (1957 - 1993). Several years Bayard wrote and produced the series.

By end of Bayard's Dreamworld Film Company was one of largest movie companies in United States. But despite that DFC was very succesful, Bayard wanted expand that to other areas. Movie industry just wasn't anymore enough. He noted already on mid-50's that there is good niche market, amusement park business. Bayard begun search good place where to place such basing to his movie franchise. Finally in 1959 first Dreamworld Amusement Park was opened in St. Louis, Missouri. During later decades other ones were opened around the United States and outside of the country to Mexico City, Paris, Rome, Berlin, and Tokyo. Bayard got some critics about being greedy business man without deeper intention and his parks being just attempts to escape of reality. Bayard defended criticism saying that he wants offer entertaiment for people and claimed criticians being just jealous when they weren't able to create such career as he had. Bayard too reminded that he had donated much of money to charity. His company had too gave workplace for hunders of people and indirectly probably thousands of people have got workplace.

On 1950's and 1960's Bayard produced some nature documents. But he got some critics that these humanised animals and these weren't always very accurate. In 1964 Bayard begun product TV series Adventures of Alistair Morel based to Arthur Conan Doyle's books. The series continued always to 1980. Bayard had donated money to charity always from 1930's and one of his most notably charity acts was donating 2.5 millions dollars to children's hospital in San Diego in 1966 which later was named as Bayard Children's Hospital. In 1968 Bayard retired from leadership of Dreamworld Film Company leaving his place to his oldest son Walter. Shane Bayard died to cardiac arrest in San Diegon hospital in 1971 at age of 78.

Bayard had big influence to American popular culture. Altough he has got criticism about production of only just mass entertaimnent, his influence to movie industry is undeniable. He had too helped many other directors and actors create career. But Bayard was too able to crush someone career if he disliked person. In 1999 Harper's Weekly listed him as one of most influential people of 20th century.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Much of the information in this bio comes from Mac Gregor's Country Profile on the Kingdom of Serbia, which is linked to here. However, I re-worded a lot of the aforementioned information and added a lot of my own info to make this biography my own.

Milos I (1922-1995)

King Milos I of Serbia and Montenegro, known as King Milos I of Serbia from 1983 to 1995, was born as Prince Milos in Belgrade, Serbia on July 22, 1922. He was the eldest son of King Mirko I of Montenegro/Crown Prince Mirko of Serbia, the future King Mirko I of Serbia (1879-1968), and Queen Katarina of Montenegro/Princess Katarina of Serbia, the future Queen Katarina of Serbia (1895-1984). As a child, Prince Milos was educated at numerous different schools in Belgrade, Cetinje, St. Petersburg and Athens. The young Prince Milos then served in the Serbian infantry from 1945 to 1953, by which point he had achieved the rank of general. During his time as Crown Prince of Serbia and Montenegro, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Milos served as the Serbian ambassador to numerous European nations, such as the Russian Empire, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia. King Mirko I died at the age of 89 on June 24, 1968. Crown Prince Milos succeeded his father as King Milos I of Serbia.

King Milos had a long and eventful 27-year-long reign as King of Serbia. Throughout the 1970s, King Milos ordered an ambitious buildup of the Royal Serbian Navy, including the missile frigate St. Sava, launched and commissioned in 1974. During the 1980s, King Milos and the ruling conservative National Serbian People’s Party of Prime Minister Dmitar Jovanović (1926-2015), largely in response to an increasing amount of anti-government, pro-democracy and ethno-nationalist protests, intensified the government’s persecution of political dissidents and ethnic and religious minorities. Numerous left-wing, reformist and ethnic-based political parties were also banned. These actions led to widespread condemnation from the international community and soured relations with the neighboring nations of Albania and Croatia, as well as the other members of the German-led Association of European States. This increased level of persecution continued into the 1990s, and the continued repression of dissidents and ethnic minorities led to an increased level of emigration of ethnic-Serbs opposed to King Milos and the NSPP and Serbian ethnic minorities overseas, particularly to the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, among other nations. On July 1, 1983, King Milos I officially merged the Principality of Montenegro into the Kingdom of Serbia. The title "Prince of Montenegro" was bestowed onto his heir Crown Prince Nikola. The title “Prince of Montenegro” became analogous to the title “Prince of Wales” in the United Kingdom. Fifteen months later, the Queen Mother Katarina died at the age of 89, the same age that her husband died, on October 13, 1984, and the Kingdom of Serbia went into a state of national mourning for several weeks. During the late 1980s and 1990s, King Milos and his governments focused on improving and building up the infrastructure of the Kingdom of Serbia, with a particular focus on roads, railroads and buildings within rural towns and villages.

King Milos I died of a pulmonary embolism on October 29, 1995 at the age of 73. On the day of his death, numerous individuals of the Serbian diaspora celebrated and burned his image in effigy. A massive funeral was held in Belgrade on November 3, 1995 and was televised live over the Serbian state-owned news networks. He was succeeded by his 46 year-old son Nikola, Prince of Montenegro as King Nikola I of Serbia (1949- ). King Milos I left a mixed legacy. While he built up the Serbian Navy and continued to improve the infrastructure of his nation, he also intensified the government’s persecution of political dissidents and ethnic and religious minorities and committed numerous human rights abuses, such as restricting freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association and the right to a fair trial. All in all, he will always be remembered as a domineering and repressive leader.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Ferdinand III (1882-1949)

King Ferdinand III in 1920

King Ferdinand III in 1940

King Ferdinand III of Portugal was born as Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu on September 28, 1882 in Prague, Austria, Austria-Hungary, now in the Kingdom of Bohemia. His father was the Miguelist pretender to the Portuguese throne Miguel, Duke of Brazanga (1853-1913) and his mother was Princess Elisabeth of Thurn and Taxis (1860-1919). Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu was also the eldest child of the aforementioned couple. His immediate family was close friends with and related by marriage to the House of Habsburg and the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Maximilian I, in spite of the emperor’s more liberal political views. Growing up, Ferdinand was raised and educated throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was brought up with conservative views. Growing up, Ferdinand was also educated by numerous Austrian, Czech, Hungarian, Slovak, Slovene and expatriate Portuguese private tutors. Although he had never been to Portugal, as he was not allowed to do so, the young Ferdinand identified strongly with his ancestral homeland and the nation which he always felt entitled to rule. The young Ferdinand was also dismissive of liberal democracy and thought that monarchs should always take a political role in constitutional monarchies. He held various ideologies such as republicanism, communism, socialism and anarchism in contempt and he believed staunchly that only conservatism and monarchism could lead any nation to greatness.

Upon reaching adulthood in 1900, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and pursue a career in the Austro-Hungarian Army. He served in a cavalry regiment of the Austrian Imperial-Royal Landwehr from 1900 to 1904. He then served as a cavalry officer in the Austro-Hungarian Common Army from 1904 to 1906. On October 8, 1905, he married Infanta Maria Josephina (1885-1960), the youngest daughter of King Carlos VII of Spain (1848-1908). After the Great War broke out in 1907, Miguel, Duke of Braganza, Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu and the rest of the immediate family relocated to the neutral Kingdom of Spain and moved to the city of Oviedo.

On December 2, 1913, Miguel, Duke of Braganza died of a brain tumor at the age of 60. As a result, the 31 year-old Duke of Viseu became the Miguelist claimant to the Portuguese throne. In spite of this, the Duke was not at all optimistic about reclaiming the Portuguese throne. In 1916, his distant relative King Carlos I of Portugal died of malaria after an Angolan safari. As neither Carlos I nor the new king Luis II had any offspring and heir to the throne, a succession crisis began within the Kingdom of Portugal. Almost immediately after the crisis began, the Conservative Prime Minister Boaventura Nunes proposed the following solution; to have Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, the Miguelist claimant to the Portuguese throne, become next in line to the Portuguese throne and the future King of Portugal. Many of the liberal members of parliament were outraged, with some even stating that they would rather see a Portuguese republic than a Miguelist on the Portuguese throne. Many members of the Progressive-Liberal Party and the Progressive Party defected to the Portuguese Republican Party led by MP Teófilo Braga (1843-1926). The Liberal-Conservative Party was split on the issue, with a small number of MPs defecting to the Portuguese Republican Party. Many MPs who were adamant against a Miguelist on the Portuguese throne held back the vote in parliament for several months. After elections were held in September, 1916, many republican MPs lost their seats. This led to some other Republican MPs returning to their original parties and becoming open to compromise. Eventually, on October 12, 1916, it was agreed upon that if Luis II could not produce an heir before his death than the Portuguese throne would pass to the Miguelist claimant to the Portuguese throne Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu. In November, 1916, the Duke of Viseu and his immediate family were allowed to return to Portugal, and the family then moved to the town of Coimbra.

On June 23, 1919, after the death of King Luis II of Portugal, Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu became King Ferdinand III of Portugal. The new King and his family moved into the Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon during the following week. The new king's coronation was held on October 28, 1919. Soon after his coronation, King Ferdinand III and the Conservative Prime Minister Horácio da Costa (1870-1954) passed the Anti-Treason Act of 1920, a law which made illegal any actions against the Portuguese monarchy and the House of Braganza. Numerous members of the Portuguese Republican Party were subsequently arrested for their role in the succession crisis of 1916. These members of the Portuguese Republican Party were given a choice between imprisonment, leaving the country or swearing an oath of loyalty to King Ferdinand III and the House of Braganza, with most deciding to leave the country. In 1922, the Portuguese Republican Party was officially outlawed.

The reign of King Ferdinand III of Portugal lasted for thirty years and saw numerous developments, such as the increased industrialization and urbanization of metropolitan Portugal, an increase in ties between the Portuguese monarchy and government and the Roman Catholic Church, the establishment of new Catholic institutions throughout Portugal and her empire, the encouragement of emigration from Portugal and abroad to the Portuguese African colonies, the increased buildup and continued reformation of the Portuguese Army, a massive and ambitious reformation and buildup of the Portuguese Navy, the passing of new conscription laws, among other things. Throughout his reign, while Portugal never became an absolute monarchy, King Ferdinand III took a much more active role in parliamentary politics than either of his last two predecessors, and the Kingdom of Portugal went in a much more conservative direction under King Ferdinand III and the mostly right-wing and center-right Prime Ministers who served during his reign.

In spite of being a devout Catholic, the Duke and later King Ferdinand was known for being a womanizer and a lady’s man, and even after he became King of Portugal, he still continued to be a womanizer. He was also known in certain circles for his extramarital affairs with numerous women, such as the Brazilian socialite and actress Camilla Guterres (1896-1970), Emilia Johnson (1890-1985), an American socialite and the daughter of California Senator William Johnson (1868-1950), among others. He even allegedly had an affair with his sister-in-law Infanta Elena Sophia (1877-1973), the wife of the future pretender to the Italian throne Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Aosta (1871-1962).

After a thirty year reign, King Ferdinand III died of heart failure in his apartment in Coimbra, Portugal on December 22, 1949 at the age of 67. He was given a state funeral in Lisbon on December 30, 1949. His eldest son John, Prince Royal became King John VII of Portugal (1907-1953).

 

[traveller76]

Sharma Preeti (1921-2004)

Biographical information
Sharma Lilavati Preeti was born in Bombay, Bombay State the daughter of stage actors. Her acting ability would be discovered while she was a student at the Huzurpaga HHCP High School in Pune. She took to acting professionally after completing her secondary education. She would meet and marry her husband Rohan 1943 while working for the United Bank of India and would continue acting until the birth of their first child, Roshan in 1947. Giving up acting she would become a full-time wife and mother to three children. Sharma and her husband would join the Hindu People's Party in 1971 as a form of protest against the National Unity Party. It would not be until the Pacific War when her life would change with the death of Roshan in 1978 and a second son, Punit in 1979. The stress of the war would affect the health of Rohan who died of heart failure in 1980. One of the numerous 'women in white' (white is the color of mourning) of post-war India, Sharma would become of the loudest voices in the political landscape for women and orphans. While Prime Minister Gotam Varghese announced he would not run for re-election due to health reasons all the major parties rushed to find a suitable candidate. Sharma was already known by many voters for her interviews in magazines, newspapers, television, and radio and was seen by many in the Party as a way to win voters. She would be elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vile Parle in the 1984 elections and was expected to act a figurehead for the HPP. However, the nation and Sharma would have different plans.

Becoming the Prime Minister and the first four years (1984-1988)
Sharma's new popularity and mass media platform would lead her to call for a reorganization of the HPP. Citing numerous incidents of corruption, abuse of both male and female party workers and a narrow electoral victory she would lead a revolt and replacement of many of the more traditional members of the party high command. With a solid base of supporters in the Legislature, she would be elected the first female Prime Minister of India. She would then assemble a cabinet from all sections of society and focus on 'human issues' such as aid for veterans, widows and orphans and repair and expansion of physical infrastructure. She would pioneer free school lunches, the promotion of the dairy industry, reforestation and environmental cleanup. India would become more involved in electronics and computers along with a focus on light industry. Using her stage and political training Sharma would address the nation on radio and television monthly and answer questions sent to her office.

The Second Term (1988-1992)
The HPP would win a comfortable majority in the 1988 elections however Sharma would face a more organized opposition both in the Legislature and in the streets. Nationalists would protest her policies and refusal to endorse Hindu values while liberals and secularists thought she did little for ethnic and religious minorities. While the size of Armed Forces was limited by post-war treaties her government would create and train a large internal security and intelligence apparatus. The country would focus more on what would become 'soft power' using business and cultural ties to promote India abroad. Despite the economic growth and improvement in national health, the HPP found itself dogged by corruption scandals starting in 1990. In 1992 Sharma would announce her retirement from politics. "I am proud to have served my country and I encourage everyone to continue my example. Together we shall make India strong." Sharma would become an 'Elder Stateswoman' and would be voted one of the most popular leaders in 2000. The Economist would call her 'A force of stability in a chaotic post-war India. She became the Captain who steered the ship of state in stormy seas.'

Retirement and death
With Sharma would continue to be a patron of the arts until her death in 2004 due to a long illness. She would donate her wealth and property to the National Women's Initiative to create college scholarships for young women. She is survived by her daughter Varsha, Doctor in Arts and Humanities.

OOC: The picture is of actress Reema Lagoo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reema_Lagoo

 

[Lalli]

Ryota Hayashi (1911 - 1980)

Ryota Hayashi was born in Kanakawa, Ishikawa prefecture in 1911. His family was descended from small samurai-class family. Hayashi's father Toshiro Hayashi (1884 - 1921) was veteran of Russo-Japanese war. Toshiro Hayashi couldn't accept defeat of Japan on the war and he alcoholised. Finally he commited suicide in 1921 when Ryota Hayashi was only ten years old. Alcoholism of his father had big influence to young Ryota's mind. But he was anyway very succeful in school. At teenager he helped his uncle with his house construction business.

In 1930 he was listening Katsuo Akiyama's (1869 - 1951), leader of newly founded Kobushi Party, speech in Osaka. This gave for Hayashi spark join to the party. Hayashi became soon famous name in Kobushi Party due his furious speeches. He was too very effective and loyal worker of the party. Even Akiyama noticed his skills and even said that this young man will reach high positions and make great things for Japan. On 1933 general election Hayashi was elected to Japanese Diet. In 1935 Hayashi became leader of Kobushi Youth Organisation. Hayashi never married and stated that he will work for the party and Yamato people. Him haven't time for family. And he indeed worked much for the party. He was in his office already on early morning and was about last who went home. When Kobushi Party gained full control on 1941 general election and Akiyama became prime minister, Hayashi rose to war ministry. There he helped to make several reforms on Japanese army.

Hayashi became on end of 1940's one of leading persons of hard-line wing of the party. Tatsuo Shimoji (1898 - 1970) became prime minister after Akiyama's death. He was quiet moderate on his politics and this led to frost relationships between Shimoji and Hayashi. One of first acts of Shimoji was increasing rights of minorities. Altough minorities didn't became equal with ethnic Japaneses, this annoyed greatly nationalist Hayashi. He saw that being threat to intrests for Japan and demand that government should continue nipponisation of minorities. During Second Sino-Japanese War (1953 - 1954) Hayashi demanded more money to military despite that Japan was victorious on the war. He too warned that China might try third time rise against Japan and stated that peace terms were too soft for China. In 1955 Hayashi seeked office of minister of war but failed. During 1950's and 1960's Hayashi was annoyed that Japanese army was too underfinanced despite several calls for increasing of military budget. In 1968 in Southeast Asia broke Laotian War where Japan gave markable military aid for its ally Empire of Vietnam. But Hayashi demanded direct intervention stating that now it is right moment increase Japanese influence on the region.

In 1970 prime minister Tatsuo Shmoji died suddenly while sleeping. This caused power struggle between moderate and hard-line factions. Hard-liner Hayashi finally won his moderate opponent stating that now Japan must be more active on foreign issues and give more money to army. Hayashi begun immediately prepare intervention to Laotian War. On May 1971 Japan entered to war declaring war to Siam. On early 1972 Japan and its allies defeated Siam and the country was humiliated totally. Japan too expanded its influence in Southeast Asia. This was one of first major victories of Hayashi and helped him to secure his office. Domesitcally Hayashi begun immediately increase military budget and begun hard nipponisation politics, speciality in Korea, Taiwan and Hainan. In Kobushi Party he begun purges against moderates and most of centrists and many of them were sent to minor offices to remote prefectures, minor offices to foreign non-important countries, or even fired them from the party. In 1973 he got two new victories on foreign issues. On September Hayashi signed military alliance with India called as Calcutta Compact. Two months later he signed Antarctic Treaty which gave slice from the continent for Japan.

On 1970's main rival of Japan and India United Kingdom was releasing several of its colonies but it had too possesed nuclear weapon while Japan had just beginning its own nuclear program. In 1976 begun Asia-Pacific War. War went firstly quiet well, altough Hayashi's big worry was that China and USA might intervene. So he hoped that war against United Kingdom would be over soon. Things anyway begun went badly for Japan on early 1977 when China declared war to the Compact. Relationships with United States too became even worse than what it was earlier due some serious incidents where Americans were killed. During 1978 things began to be against Japanese cause. Japan had retreat from many occupied areas and in Japan begun rise internal opposition against Hayashi. Some Japaneses begun demand peace and there was several resistance movements in Korea, Taiwan and Hainan. During 1979 situation was taking hellish direction for Hayashi and Japan. Indochina was lost on early 1979 and India surrended on June at same year. Opposition was rising even on Hayahi's own party. But even worse news was coming. Only one week after fall of India United States, with which Japan had bad relationships through the war, declared war to Japan. By end of the year Allies gained more ground from Empire of Japan. Hayashi became increasingly mentally instable. Usually calm man got on last half of 1979 and early 1980 several tantrums. He too begun drunk much and stated that japan never will surrend again and there is millions and millions of loyal Japaneses. Any democracy can't stand such war. Hayashi became too very paranoid. He saw all who suggested peace as enemy. On early 1980 Allies reached main islands. Japan had lost Korea, Hainan, Taiwan and several Pacific islands. Even most of Kobushi members knew now that war was lost. So several members begun plan removing Hayashi from his office. On April 18 Supreme Council of Corpocrats voted for non-confidence clause to Hayashi and on next day emperor Nobuhito (1908 - 1995) asked publically resignation of the prime minister. Hayashi tried coup and take emperor into "protective custody". But this failed and finally after some streetfighting Hayashi was besieged to headquarter of Kobushi Party on 22 April. Hayashi commited suicide on his office shooting himself to head with his pistol. Hayashi's body was later cremated and ash scattered to Tokyo Bay

On modern day Hayashi is seen as militaristic leader who ruined his country going to long, unwinable war. In Japan he is seen as person who ruined Japanese great power status and is practically credited only by extreme right wing.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Carlos VIII (1872-1933)

King Carlos VIII was born as Carlos de Borbón y de Borbón-Parma on August 26, 1872 in Interlaken, Switzerland. He was the eldest child of Carlos, Duke of Madrid, the future King Carlos VII of Spain (1848-1908) and Princess Margherita of Bourbon-Parma, the future Queen Margherita of Spain (1847-1890). Carlos also had two younger sisters, Infanta Elena Sophia (1877-1973), the future wife of Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Aosta and Infanta Maria Josephina (1885-1960), the future Queen of Portugal and wife of King Ferdinand III of Portugal. He was also the Legitimist claimant to the French throne as King Charles XII. As a small child, Carlos and his family lived throughout Switzerland. In 1878, he and his family moved to Paris, France. In 1879, when Carlos was not even seven years old, the Third Carlist War broke out. While his father served as a general in the Carlist Armies in Spain, the young Carlos lived with his mother in a large and spacious house in Paris, France. In Paris, he was raised by his mother and a series of governesses. As a child, Carlos was educated by Jesuit priests at the Collège de Vaugirard in Paris. In 1881, the family moved to Brighton, England and the young Carlos was then educated at Beaumont College in Old Windsor in England.

In 1882, the Third Carlist War ended in a Carlist victory. As a result, in January, 1883, the family moved from Brighton, England to the El Escorial palace outside of Madrid. This was the first time that the young Carlos had been to his ancestral homeland of Spain and he was instantly captivated by the nation. Growing up in Spain, Prince Carlos was educated by numerous private tutors, some of whom where Jesuits. The young Prince was thoroughly educated in the history and culture of Spain and in the Roman Catholic faith. He was also taught the languages of Latin, Greek, French, German, English and Portuguese. On September 1, 1884, he was officially made the heir to Spanish throne as Carlos, Prince of Asturias. In 1888, at the age of sixteen, Carlos, Prince of Asturias left Europe for the first time and visited British India with a royal Spanish entourage. He then traveled to Palestine and Egypt and returned to Spain in 1889. While he was absent from Spain, on June 20, 1889, his grandfather Juan, Count of Montizón died of coronary artery disease in Madrid, a fact that he would not be made aware of until his return to Spain some months later.

Seeking a level of military expertise and more adventures overseas, Carlos, Prince of Asturias served in the French Foreign Legion from 1890 to 1892. On August 25, 1894, Carlos, Prince of Asturias married Princess Henriette of Belgium (1871-1953), a daughter of King Leopold II of Belgium (1835-1907). The couple had one daughter and one son; Infanta Carolina (1898-1977) and Alfonso, Prince of Asturias (1900-1928). In 1895, Prince Carlos received a commission in the Spanish Army, and he served in the Spanish army, both in metropolitan Spain and in the colony of Spanish Sahara, from 1895 to 1900. He then served as the Spanish ambassador to the Russian Empire from 1902 to 1904, during which he learned to speak the Russian and Polish languages. After his return to Spain, he settled down to into a life of comfort and lived in numerous different private residences throughout the country and took up numerous personal pursuits, such as reading, painting, poetry and hunting.

On October 16, 1908, King Carlos VII died in the El Escorial Palace. As a result, the 36 year-old Carlos, Prince of Asturias became King Carlos VIII of Spain. His coronation, a lavish ceremony, took place in Madrid on March 6, 1909. His reign lasted for almost twenty-five years and saw the continued industrialization and urbanization of Spain, the establishment of new catholic schools, monasteries, fraternities, charities and other catholic institutions throughout Spain, a large-scale reformation of the Spanish military with the help of American, British, German and Russian military advisers, a reformation and buildup of the Spanish navies in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, new conscription laws, the outlawing of communist, socialist, anti-monarchist, republican and corporatist political parties in Spain after the passing of 1924 Anti-Sedition Laws, a strengthening of diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Portugal, the German Empire and the Republic of France, among other things.

On July 19, 1928, King Carlos VIII’s only son Alfonso, Prince of Asturias died of a congenital heart defect at the age of 28, leaving Carlos III devastated and living as a recluse for several months. It was hoped by some of the Spanish nobility that was more sympathetic to liberalism that the Cambridge-educated Prince of Asturias could have taken the Kingdom of Spain in a more liberal direction and perhaps even establish a dynastic union between the Legitimist and Carlist branches of the Spanish House of Bourbon. In the end, such a thing did not come to pass.

King Carlos VIII died of a heart attack while on vacation in the Andalusian city of Malaga on May 6, 1933 at the age of 60. His funeral was held in Madrid on May 15, 1933. He had no surviving male heir. As a result, his uncle, the 83 year-old Infante Alfonso Carlos, became King Jaime III of Spain (1849-1934), although he would only reign for a total of fifteen months.

Jaime III (1849-1934)

King Jaime III was born in London on September 12, 1849 as Alfonso Carlos, Infante of Spain, Duke of San Jaime. He was also the Legitimist claimant to the throne of France as King Jacques I. He was the second oldest son of Juan, Count of Montizón (1822-1889) and of his wife Archduchess Maria Beatrix of Austria-Este (1824-1910). His uncle Infante Carlos, Count of Montemolin was the Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne. After their parents separated, Alfonso Carlos and his older brother Carlos, the future King Carlos VII of Spain (1848-1908) moved with their mother to Modena. While in Modena, his maternal uncle Francis V, Duke of Modena (1819-1875) educated both him and his brother Carlos.

In 1868, the young Alfonso Carlos, as a devout Catholic, joined the Papal Zouaves to fight for the Papal States against the armies of the Kingdom of Italy. In 1869, he was promoted by the Papal military to the rank of lieutenant. In September, 1870, he fought in the Papal armies during the Capture of Rome. After the battle had ended, Alfonso Carlos, refusing to give up his sword that belonged to his grandfather Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, fled from Rome and escaped to Marseille aboard an Imperial French naval ship. After that, he moved to Davos, Switzerland to live with the rest of his immediate family. On May 10, 1871, Infante Alfonso Carlos married Infanta Maria das Neves of Portugal (1852-1940), the daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal (1802-1872), in the Bavarian town of Kleinheubach. The couple had two sons and three daughters; Infante Juan, the future King Juan III (1884-1943), Infanta Carla Maria (1885-1973), Infanta Mercedes (1887-1961), Infante Carlos, the future King Carlos IX (1892-1978), and Infanta Christina (1893-1980).

On May 28, 1879, the Third Carlist War broke out. Soon afterwards, Infante Alfonso Carlos joined the Carlist armies of his older brother Carlos, Duke of Madrid. Alfonso Carlos was subsequently appointed by his older brother to be a general of the Royal Army of Catalonia. As a general, Alfonso distinguished himself at the Battle of Alpens in August, 1880 and at the siege of Cuenca in August, 1881, among other engagements. After the end of the Third Carlist War in 1882, Alfonso Carlos moved to Madrid, where he and his wife brought a large and lavish villa, settled down and remained in constant contact with his brother, the new King Carlos VII.

Infante Alfonso Carlos spent the next five decades of his life in numerous different ways. He rejoined the Spanish Army and served as a general in said army from 1885 to 1888. During the 1880s and 1890s, Alfonso devoted himself to the abolition of dueling, and he wrote a book and several articles on the topic. The Infante used his wide contacts with the royal families of Europe to support with his own money the establishment of anti-duelling organizations in his home country of Spain, Prussia, France, Bavaria, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Belgium and Portugal. He was even president of the largest anti-dueling organization in Spain. He also served as ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1895 to 1898, ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1900 to 1902, ambassador to the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1902 to 1904 and ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden-Norway from 1904 to 1906. During the Great War, Aflonso Carlos established numerous shelters and hospitals in northern Spain to assist French war refuges that fled south into Spain towards the end of the Great War. He then served as colonial governor of the Spanish Sahara, the last Spanish overseas colony, from 1913 to 1920. He then settled into a life of retirement throughout numerous private residences in Spain that would last for over a decade.

On May 6, 1933, his beloved nephew King Carlos VIII of Spain died without a surviving male heir. As a result, the elderly 83 year-old Infante Alfonso Carlos became King Jaime III of Spain. Fortunately, Infante Alfonso Carlos had his own sons, so the succession of the Spanish throne was not in any doubt. While some members of the Spanish nobility wanted him to adopt either the royal name of Alfonso Carlos I or the royal name of Alfonso XIII, he decided to adopt the royal name of Jaime III in honor of his former ducal title of St. Jaime. His coronation took place in Madrid on July 1, 1933. All in all, the reign of King Jaime III was largely a continuation of the reign of his nephew King Carlos VIII. King Jaime III of Spain died in the El Escorial Palace on August 9, 1934 at the age of 84, his reign having lasted for only fifteen months and three days. His funeral took place in Madrid on August 15, 1934. He was succeeded as King of Spain by his eldest son Carlos, Prince of Asturias as King Carlos VIII (1884-1943).

 

[Lalli]

Napoleon IV (1856 - 1910)

Napoleon IV was emperor Napoleon III (1808 - 1875) and empress Eugéniede de Montijo's (1826 - 1920) only child. Already before his emperorship future emperor got pretty good education. Napoleon III died in 1875 from complications of bladder stone surgeon. So only 19 years old Imperial Prince became emperor Napoleon IV. He was quickly surrounded by nationalist, imperialist and militarist advisors.

In 1877 Napoleon IV married archduchess Gisela (1856 - 1932), daughter of late emperor Francis Joseph I (1830 - 1866) and niece of then emperor of Austria-Hungary Maximilian I (1832 - 1922). This helped make Entente Impérial which was created between France and Austria-Hungary in 1869 becoming stronger. Marriage producted one child, Lucién Napoléon (1879 - 1910).

Napoleon IV got almost absolute power over government and army during 1880's. There was much of build-up of French army and navy. Napoleon IV too enlargened influence of France over the world. France purchased Philippines and other Spanish Pacific colonies, created large colonial empire to Africa and Napoleon IV took Ottoman Empire and some Southern American nations under his influence. He created too good relationships with Japan.

But this all too created much of tense over the Europe and by early years of 20th century tensions have risen very high and big European conflict seemed unavoidable. Finally in 1907 the Great War broke out due escalated Bavarian Crisis. Napoleon IV pressured National Assembly declare war to Prussia. Soon after this Russia and Italy declared war to France. Napoleon IV participated much to war leading. Him had now almost total power on military issues. The war went firstly quiet well. France had strong foothold in Rheinland and Italy had knocked out on early 1908. But war quickly changed as trench warfare in Prussia. This caused rising of opposition against Napoleon. Napoleon's only worry was United Kingdom and United States. He tried keep them out of the war but knew that there might be war against at least UK. In 1909 correspondence between Napoleon and Gabriel Hanotaux (1853 - 1944) was leaked to British and American press and eventually to their governments. These letter described Napoleon IV's dream about French world domination. This caused declaration of war from United Kingdom and United States. This soon caused opposition call peace but Napoleon IV didn't accept such demands and stated that France will fight. War luck was going greatly against France. During 1910 Allies captured small Southern German kingdoms. Then fell Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire. France was totally alone. Troops of Coalition entered to France. Napoleon IV anyway decided continue war. He ordered all troops going against enemy. He too begun fortify Paris. But opposition demand loudly peace but Napoleon took hard meassures against them. He too allowed many of members of imperial faimily and Bonapartist politicians flee to Madrid, Spain. But defeatism was strong. Soldiers had lost their fighting will and deserting and mutinies were common despite several public executions. There was too serious shortage of food and medicine. Finally on November 1910 around France broke out violent riots and in many cities was demonstrations. This all escalated as December Revolution where Napoleon IV and his heir were killed. Only few days later France surrended and Great Warwas over.

In modern day Napoleon IV is commonly seen as major guilt to disastrous Great War. Most of historians in France and other countries see Napoleon's politics being direct cause for the war and fall of French Empire. Only small groups of French right-wingers see him as great patriot who tried stop rising Prussia and make France real world power which could had challenge United Kingdom.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Francis II (1867-1932)

King Francis II of Hungary was born on July 22, 1867 as Archduke Francis in the Austrian city of Graz. He was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (1833-1894) and Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1843-1871). Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria was also the younger brother of both the ill-fated Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1866) and the then-current Austro-Hungarian Emperor Maximillian I (1832-1922). As a child, he was raised and educated to be a man of culture and was educated in the fields of history, literature and music. He was also taught in the languages of Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, French, Spanish, Italian and Latin.

In 1885, the eighteen year old Archduke Francis gained a commission in the Austrian Imperial-Royal Landwehr. He served in the Austrian Landwehr from 1885 to 1889. In 1888, at the age of 21, he married Juliska Lakatos (1870-1969), a Hungarian common woman and the daughter of a wealthy family. While some members of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine opposed the marriage, his parents reluctantly consented. Thus, Juliska Lakatos then became Archduchess Julia. He then served in the Royal Hungarian Honvéd from 1889 to 1893. After ten years out of the army and after continuing to take up numerous intellectual pursuits, he served in the Common Army from 1903. He was promoted to the rank of general in 1906. During the Great War, Archduke Francis served as a general in the Austro-Hungarian Common Army and served on the Eastern Front seeing action against the Russians. In April, 1910, he was injured in his ribs by a Russian bullet during the Waag River Offensive. He spent some time convalescing in an army hospital outside of the Hungarian city of Győr until the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After that, he and his wife retired to his private apartment in Budapest. He then began preparing to leave the country and move to Madrid, Spain by the end of the year.

On July 3, 1910, one day after the climactic Battle of Vienna, Emperor Maximillian II abdicated from the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His eldest son Archduke Joseph (1865-1943) was proclaimed by some Hapsburg royalists to be Emperor Joseph I, but he personally refused the title and office. As a result, the Kingdom of Hungary declared independence under Prime Minister Sándor Wekerle (1848-1920) and declared a vacant regency for a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Thus, the Kingdom of Hungary was restored as a fully independent nation after almost 370 years of foreign dominance, and after 43 years, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist. Prime Minister Werkle also signed an armistice with the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Romania, the Kingdom of Serbia (all of which occupied Hungarian land) and the other Allied Powers. Prime Minister Werkle also agreed to negotiate the terms of the end of the war with the Allied nations in the Swiss city of Bern. On July 5, 1910, new provisional republics were declared in Slovakia and Croatia, and both of these republics were immediately at war with the new Kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian-Croatian War (July-September, 1910) was mostly just a series of skirmishes, while the Hungarian-Slovak War (July-September, 1910), had a quite a few battles. After pressure was put on Hungary by the Allies to recognize the independence of Croatia and Slovakia, Hungary signed an armistice with Croatia and Slovakia on October 15, 1910. After months of intense negotiations, the Treaty of Bern was finally signed on December 29, 1910. The Treaty officially established the new borders between Hungary and Russia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and German-occupied Austria. Hungary also recognized the independence of Bohemia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. Finally, Archduke Francis, a nephew of the last Austro-Hungarian Emperor Maximilian I, was installed as King of Hungary under the royal name of King Francis II. Two months previously, on October 22, 1910, Archduke Francis, still preparing to leave the country, received a letter from the Allied and Hungarian delegations requesting him to take up the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary. He immediately replied and happily accepted. In addition, he officially renounced all of his claims to the throne of Austria and all of the previous royal titles of the Hapsburg emperors. His wife also became Queen Julia of Hungary. Two months later, the coronation of King Francis II took place in Budapest on February 1, 1911.

The new kingdom of Hungary was beset by numerous problems, such as poverty, inflation, unemployment, homelessness, among other things. On November 5, 1915, the first elections in the Kingdom of Hungary were held. The Hungarian Communist Party led by Robi Vencel Ignacz (1873-1916) won the election, narrowly defeating the center-left Hungarian People’s Liberal Party led by Károly Bárdossy (1871-1943). In spite of this, King Francis II refused to have the Hungarian Communist Party in the new Hungarian government. As a result, on February 7, 1916, the paramilitary wing of the Hungarian Communist Party, led by Robi Vencel Ignacz, marched on Budapest and seized the city. Francis II and the royalist government of Prime Minister Wekerle fled to Vienna in the German Empire. A government-in-exile for the Kingdom of Hungary was immediately established in Vienna. The Hungarian Socialist Republic was officially declared on February 9, 1916, but it was never recognized by any other nation.

From February to August, 1916, German and Hungarian royalist troops mobilized in Bavaria and Austria and Russian troops mobilized in Poland and Ukraine. German and Hungarian royalist troops invaded Hungary on August 1, 1916. Russian troops invaded Hungary a week later on August 8, 1916. Over three months later, on November 29, 1916, Hungarian monarchist, German and Russian forces first entered Budapest and captured the city after several days of fighting on December 9, 1916. Later on that same day, King Francis II was reinstated as King of Hungary. On December 10, 1916, Ignacz was lynched by an anti-communist mob, and his corpse was burned and what was left of him was thrown unceremoniously into the Danube.

King Francis II of Hungary was proud of his Austrian and ethnic German heritage, although he had an immense love and admiration for the Hungarian nation, people and culture, an admiration that he gradually gained during and after his time in the Royal Hungarian Honvéd. All in all, Francis II loved his adoptive homeland and nation of Hungary, and he began to identify more with Hungary than with Austria and Germany throughout his later years. In 1928, he stated that; “I am a German by birth, and a proud German and a prouder Hungarian by choice.” King Francis II also believed in the ideals of a constitutional monarchy but with the monarch taking a more active role in government, and he was also very dismissive towards the ideals of pure democracy and republicanism.

Throughout his reign, the Kingdom of Hungary under Francis II drew closer diplomatically to the German Empire, a foreign policy continued by his successors. King Francis II, who was proud of his German heritage and highly grateful to Germany for their assistance in suppressing the Hungarian communist revolution, saw the German Empire as a natural ally of the Kingdom of Hungary, as both nations had similar forms of government, similar religious traditions, among other reasons. The reign of Francis II also saw a series of population transfers of ethnic Magyars and other peoples between Hungary and their neighbors of Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Germany, the increased industrialization of Hungary, the building of new roads and public works projects, a Russo-German-led reformation of the Hungarian Army, social welfare policies molded after those in the German Empire, the establishment of the Hungarian Royal Air Force, the establishment of numerous new Hungarian cultural institutions and the outlawing of both far-left and far-right political parties within Hungary.

King Francis II died of a clogged artery while staying at a hotel in Szeged on September 3, 1932. He was 73 years of age. His funeral was held in Budapest nine days later on September 12, 1932. His eldest son succeeded him as King Leopold III of Hungary (1889-1968).

 

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Mirko I (1879-1968)

Crown Prince Mirko, circa 1915

Mirko I, circa 1950

Mirko I, circa 1965

King Mirko I of Serbia and Montenegro was born as Prince Mirko of Montenegro on June 21, 1879 in Cetinje, Montenegro. He was the eldest son of King Nikola I of Montenegro (1841-1928). Growing up, the young Prince Mirko was educated by a number of private tutors and in different boarding schools in Cetinje, Belgrade, Rome, Athens and Constantinople. During his formative years, Prince Mirko was raised to be a man of culture and a man of the arts. He was also raised to be the next Prince of Montenegro. During the Great War, Prince Mirko joined the Montenegrin Army as an infantry officer and saw action against the armies of the Ottoman Empire. After the end of the Great War, Prince Mirko was promoted to the rank of general. He then continued to serve in the Montenegrin Army until 1916. On February 15, 1912, the Kingdom of Montenegro was established, and Prince Mirko of Montenegro became Crown Prince Mirko of Montenegro.

On August 28, 1920, the 41 year-old Crown Prince Mirko married the 25 year-old Princes Katarina of Serbia (1895-1984), the only surviving child of King Alexander I of Serbia (1876-1947), at a large ceremony in Belgrade. As a result, Prince Mirko became the heir to the Serbian throne. In spite of the sixteen year age difference between the couple, theirs was a happy and harmonious marriage free of scandal, and they were much beloved as a couple by the people of both Serbia and Montenegro.

King Nikola I of Montenegro died of natural causes at the age of 87 on November 1, 1928. As a result, the 49 year-old Crown Prince Mirko of Montenegro became King Mirko I of Montenegro. His reign as king of Montenegro was marked most prominently by an immense increase in both diplomatic and economic ties between the Kingdom of Montenegro and the Kingdom of Serbia. On December 28, 1947, King Alexander I of Serbia died of an aneurism at the age of 71, and he was succeeded as King of Serbia by his 68 year-old son-in-law King Mirko I of Montenegro as King Mirko I of Serbia and Montenegro, thus establishing a personal union between Serbia and Montenegro as the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro under the new House of Petrovic-Njegos-Obrenovic. While still technically independent, Montenegro became, in practice, little more than a Serbian province.

Once on the Serbian throne, King Mirko I began promoting a Pan-Slavic ideology on the Kingdom of Serbia and on its different governments. As a result, he and his Prime Ministers encouraged a greater cooperation and togetherness between the Slavic nations of Europe, especially with the Russian Empire, a new superpower on the world stage and the nation that was seen by many as the protector of the all other Slavic nations. On June 28, 1952, Serbia and the Russian Empire signed a mutual protection pact known as the Treaty of Lvov, a treaty which was a significant precursor to the Orthodox Council. Throughout his reign, King Mirko I continued to cement closer ties between Serbia and Russia, as well as Serbia’s Slavic neighbors of Bulgaria and Croatia. Beginning in the early 1960s, King Mirko I also began to increase ties between Serbia and its fellow Orthodox kingdoms of Greece and Romania. On December 12, 1963, the Kingdom of Serbia became one of the five founding members of the Orthodox Council, an alliance and international organization of ultra-conservative, Orthodox Christian and mostly Slavic nations, with the signing of the Orthodox Council Charter in St. Petersburg. King Mirko I, despite being 84 years-old and somewhat frail, even personally attended the signing of the Orthodox Council Charter, although it was against the wishes of his personal physician Dr. Jakov Vuković (1917-2001).

King Mirko I died of a heart attack in a private hospital in Belgrade at the age of 89 on June 24, 1968. His funeral, a massive mourning, was held in Belgrade on July 1, 1968. He was succeeded as King of Serbia and Montenegro by his eldest son Crown Prince Milos as King Milos I of Serbia of Montenegro (1922-1995).

 

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Brancaleone Lucchesi (1864-1943)

President and Generalissimo Brancaleone Lucchesi in 1910

President Brancaleone Lucchesi in 1925

Brancaleone Lucchesi in 1942

Brancaleone Lucchesi was born in Alessandria, Piedmont in the Kingdom of Italy on September 9, 1864, and was born into a middle class family. Throughout his childhood, Lucchesi was educated by private tutors and was a great admirer of the House of Savoy, the Roman Empire, the Italian Renaissance, Italian unification and the Italian military. In 1883, at the age of nineteen, Lucchesi, against the wishes of his father who wanted him to be a lawyer, ran away from home and joined the Royal Italian Army. Lucceshi served in the infantry of the Royal Italian Army from 1883 to 1889, and was stationed all throughout the kingdom. In 1889, the 25 year-old Lucceshi returned home to his parents in Alessandria. He and his parents reconciled, and he presented them with some money from a stipend he received from the Italian military for his six years of military service.

Over the next two years, Lucchesi attended the University of Turin, although he never finished his studies in classism and never earned a degree. Somewhat ironically given future events, Lucchesi served in the French Foreign Legion from 1892 to 1895. While in the Foreign Legion, he studied the languages of French, Spanish and Arabic. It was also during his time in the Foreign Legion that Lucchesi experienced first-hand the culture of Napoleonic France. He very much disliked the chauvinism and autocratic nature of the Second French Empire, and as a result he first began to have some republican sympathies, although he was still loyal to the Italian House of Savoy. After returning to Italy, Lucchesi settled down in Rome and took up numerous intellectual pursuits such as reading books on history and politics, reading and writing poetry and writing articles for numerous different newspapers in Rome. In 1898, Lucchesi rejoined the Royal Italian Army, and he was promoted to the rank of general in 1902. He then served as a military attaché to the Kingdom of Prussia from 1903 to 1905, and was highly impressed with the kingdom’s military prowess.

On October 3, 1907, the Great War broke out. Five days later, on October 8, 1907, the Kingdom of Italy honored its defensive alliance with the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire and declared war on the Second French Empire. Three days later, on October 11, 1907, the French 6th Army launched Opération Rivoli, the invasion of the Kingdom of Italy. The Italian Army was caught completely unprepared. Some weeks later, General Brancaleone Lucchesi saw action against the Austro-Hungarians during the Battle of the Isonzo River on October 23, 1907, and he contributed significantly to the Italian victory in said battle. General Lucchesi then saw action against the French armies invading northern Italy and saw action during the disastrous Battle of Novara. On January 19th, 1908, King Umberto I of Italy was assassinated at the age of 63 by a radical socialist named Giancarlo Rossetto (1886-1908). This assassination threw the Italian government of Prime Minister Paolo Boselli (1838-1927) into chaos. Meanwhile, the dead king’s only child, the increasingly unpopular 37 year-old Princess Lucia, was installed as Queen Lucia I of Italy (1870-1950). On January 24, 1908, Queen Lucia I requested an armistice from the Entente Powers. Four days later, on the afternoon of January 28, 1908, the Kingdom of Italy officially withdrew from the Great War. After the armistice, General Lucchesi had successfully led his army corps south to safety from Lombardy to Emilia-Romagna. The Treaty of Milan was signed the following week on February 5, 1908. A French “zone of perpetual occupation” was established north of the Tanaro and Po Rivers and included the regions of Piedmont, Lombardy and the Aosta Valley. As a result, France all but officially annexed northern Italy. The regions of Veneto and Friuli–Venezia Giulia were annexed by Austria-Hungry. The aforementioned areas included many of the most important industrial centers in Italy such as Turin, Milan, and Venice. Finally, severe restrictions were placed on the future size of the Italian army and navy. This began a period in Italian history known as La Tregua or “The Truce.” General Lucchesi was absolutely outraged by what he saw as the absolute cowardice of Queen Lucia I, the House of Savoy and so much of the Italian government. He began to hate the House of Savoy that he once held in such admiration. He hated the corruption, favoritism and disorganization of the Italian government, bureaucracy and army, as well as the pro-Northern Italian bias in the Royal Italian Army, in spite of his being a Northern Italian and Piedmontese himself. He also became an ardent republican and openly spoke out against the cowardice of the House of Savoy and the defeatist Italian government and defeatist ministers. Many average Italians felt the exact same way.

Over the next few months, the political situation in Rome became increasingly unstable, and many politicians began to look for an alternative to Queen Lucia I and the House of Savoy. On May 16, 1908, Queen Lucia I was overthrown by a popularly backed military coup led by General Brancaleone Lucchesi. As a result, Lucia I and the rest of the House of Savoy were forced to flee the country, and they fled to Barcelona, Spain. The pro-royalist Italian Prime Minister Antonio Salandra (1853-1928) was also forced to flee the country, and he fled to Locarno, Switzerland. After pledging his allegiance to General Lucchesi, the former Italian Foreign Minister Tommaso Tittoni (1855-1935) was installed as interim Prime Minister of Italy. On May 20, 1908, the Italian parliament abolished the monarchy and the Republic of Italy was proclaimed. That same day, Lucchesi declared himself the provisional President of the new Republic of Italy. After forty-seven years, the Kingdom of Italy had ceased to exist. On May 31, 1908, the Italian Republican Army was officially established. From 1908 to 1912, the Republic of Italy, while a de-jure representative democracy and republic, was a de-facto military dictatorship under President and Generalissimo Lucchesi. However, Lucchesi promised a return to electoral democracy after the end of the war, a promise that he eventually kept, much like the Roman statesman Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. It should also be noted that during this time most of the day to day running of the country was done by Prime Minister Tittoni, with Lucchesi having final say on most matters. As war waged on in Europe, Italy rearmed and retrained its army, an uneasy task considering that the most industrialized regions of Italy were under enemy occupation. On June 20, 1908, the Italian military was put under the command of interim President and self-proclaimed Generalissimo Brancaleone Lucchesi. Lucchesi, an increasingly popular figure, would use his corps as the nucleus to rebuild the new Italian Army, and he himself was an enormous asset in recruiting troops and bolstering the morale of the Italian people. Lucchesi also did all that he could to clandestinely aid the Italian guerrillas fighting the Entente in northern Italy. During La Tregua, these guerrillas exacted an increasingly severe toll on the Franco-Austro-Hungarian occupiers.

By April, 1910, the Italian army had mostly regained its pre-war strength. As a result of Entente defeats in Egypt, Germany and Hungary, Generalissimo Lucchesi and the Italian government were finally convinced that the time was right to rejoin the Coalition. On May 5, 1910, the Republic of Italy declared war on the Entente powers with Generalissimo Lucchesi making his famous statement “May Emperors tremble at sounds of freemen no longer slaves breaking their chains!” By the end of the war on December 7, 1910, all of northern Italy had been recaptured by the Italian armies. With the signing of the Treaty of Brussels on October 12, 1911, the Republic of Italy regained all of the northern Italian land lost through the Treaty of Milan and annexed all of the majority Italian-speaking regions of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, the French protectorate of Tunisia and the colony of French Libya. As a result of the enormous wartime damages suffered by Italy, President Lucchesi desired for Italy to acquire more “Italia Irrendenta” territories from France such as Corsica, Savoy and Provence, or if not all of Provence, at least the region of Nice. At the end of the treaty negotiations, France retained Savoy and Provence but was forced to offer Corsica a referendum on whether the people of Corsica wished to join Italy, become independent or remain a part of France. The referendum was held on June 12, 1912, with most Corsicans voting to remain a part of France. Lucchesi also desired for Italy to acquire Dalmatia, but the British and Americans protested due to the fact that the Provisional State of Croatia already occupied the region. Over the subsequent years, most of the Italians in Croatian Dalmatia immigrated to Italy, Italian North Africa, the United States, Canada, Latin America and Australia.

Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Brussels, the center-right Democratic Republican Party was established in Rome by President Lucchesi on November 20, 1911. In the Italian general election of 1912, held on March 24 1912, Lucchesi was elected President of Italy and defeated in a landslide the Radical Party candidate Ettore Sacchi (1851-1925) and the Socialist Party candidate Costantino Lazzari (1857-1927). Lucchesi was inaugurated on April 8, 1912 and immediately gave up all of his wartime emergency powers. Thus, parliamentary democracy officially returned to Italy. Lucchesi served as President of Italy from 1912 to 1916 and again from 1922 to 1928. In the years after the 1912 election, the formerly clean-shaven Lucchesi grew a mustache and beard, earning him the unofficial nickname “il barbuto.”

Throughout Lucchesi’s two presidential terms, Italy was a stable and vibrant democracy. In the Italian general election of 1916, as result of the continued homelessness, poverty and unemployment of many Italian veterans, Lucchesi lost the election to the center-left People’s Party candidate Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (1860-1956). For the next six years, Lucchesi lived a life of semi-retirement in a number of private residences throughout Southern Italy and Sicily. In the Italian general election of 1922, Lucchesi was reelected and defeated the People’s Party candidate Matteo Luciano (1872-1956) and the Socialist Party candidate Giovanni Bacci (1857-1930). In his foreign policy, President Lucchesi kept Italy’s wartime diplomatic ties to the German Empire (although this would be abandoned by his successors), and started building ties with other republican nations such as France, the United States, Brazil and Argentina, the last three nations of which contained a large diaspora of Italians. Italy was also friendly towards the British Empire, as Britain was the main naval power in the Mediterranean Sea and a nation that it was in the best interests of Italy to be on good terms with and not to antagonize. Lucchesi, as well as other Italian presidents, also encouraged nearly 100,000 Italian citizens to immigrate to the colony of Italian North Africa. While this led to some skirmishes with Arab and Berber nomads in the desert interior, the Italian Republican Army was always able to squash resistance. His presidencies also saw the beginning of the Italian Miracle, the beginning of the increasing industrialization of Italy, including Southern Italy, the establishment of state-owned housing for veterans, factory workers and the poor and the construction of new roads and infrastructure in the impoverished regions of Italy.

After suffering from a serious heart attack, Lucchesi retired from the Presidency on September 20, 1928. His successor was his former Prime Minister Alessandro Decicco (1875-1959). Afterwards, he bought a large villa outside of Livorno in Tuscany and throughout the next decade and a half lived a mostly private and quiet life of retirement. He wrote numerous works of nonfiction, mostly on Ancient Roman, Italian, European and Military history. He also wrote his autobiography, La Mia Vita, which was published posthumously in 1944. After some years of failing health, Brancaleone Lucchesi, a man larger than life to so many Italians, died of a heart attack in his villa outside of Livorno on the morning of November 6, 1943. He was 79 years old. On his deathbed, he was accompanied by numerous private caretakers and nurses. On November 22, 1943, he was given a massive state funeral in Rome. He was then interned in a private mausoleum outside of Rome.

In the over seven decades since his death, Brancaleone Lucchesi was and still is greatly admired by Italians and foreigners alike for what was his forceful personality, strong leadership, military and strategic genius, benevolence to the people and nation of Italy and undying commitment to republicanism and democracy. During his lifetime and after his death, many in Italy called him “the Italian Julius Caesar” and “the Italian Cincinnatus.” His birthday, September 9th, is a national holiday in Italy and was even celebrated by much of the Italian diaspora in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, among other places, for a number of years.

 

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Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1887)

Abraham Lincoln was born to poor farmer family in Hardin County, Kentucky. Already as young man him had several different workplaces. In 1834 he was elected as non-partisan to Congress of Illinois. He was already in 1830's abolitionist but he didn't support full civil rights for blacks. In 1836 he was educated as lawyer. Later he moved to Springfield, new capital of Illinois. There he met Mary Todd (1818 - 1890) and they married in 1842. They got four children: Robert Todd Lincoln (1843 - 1924), Edward Baker Lincoln (1846 - 1850), Willie Lincoln (1850 - 1862), and Tad Lincoln (1853 - 1867). In 1846 Abraham Lincoln was elected to US Representative House as member of Whig Party. Lincoln was quiet active in politics. In 1856 Whig Party dissolved and Lincoln joined to anti-slavery Republican Party. In 1860 Lincoln was elected as president of the United States. This led eventually to civil war in Spring 1861.

Lincoln took soon active role in war leadership. First year of the war didn't go very well for Union but during second year of the war things were going much better. Notable boost for battle morale of Unionists was capturing of CSA capital Richmond in June 6, 1862. Lincoln declared that this is beginning of end for CSA and believed that South not last long. Lincoln was in early stage of the war quiet relucant handle slavery issue due fear of upsetting of border states. But recent successes in Virginia and Tennessee he could take steps towards re-integration of South and abolishment of slavery. In September 1 he gave "Proclamation for Emancipation and Restoration of the Union, PERU". With this proclamation Lincoln gave plan to re-unite the country and emancipate slaves. Finally in July 4, 1863 CSA collapsed and its leadership surrended. Lincoln stated soon after end of the war that this is most important Independence Day since signing of the independence declaration and this day will be remembered several generations. Soon after this Lincoln was able to commit peaceful re-integration of Southern states. But already in end of 1863 Lincoln faced another challenge. Southern neighbor Mexico was in war against France and France was able to occupy almost whole the country. Lincoln couldn't stand that some European nation so arrogantly violate Monroe Doctrine so he deployed thousands of soldiers to Mexican border and begun naval blockade. This enforced emperor Napoleon III think another time and so soon Mexico and France signed peace treaty and France withdraw from Mexico.

In 1864 Lincoln seemed being extremely popular due his victories over Southern rebels and France. So he was easily re-elected to second term. By end 1865 rest of southern states were re-admitted to Union but occupation army was still there protecting freed former slaves. In 1867 Congress finally passed 13th amendment which prohibited slavery. Lincoln too supported expansion of white and black settlements to western territories. In 1867 United States purchased Alaska from Russia. During Lincoln's second term was begun construction of transcontinental railroad. It was completed in 1868.

Despite that Lincoln's popularity was bit waned he was still very respected president altough it is impossible to know his popularity rate when first official poll was held in 1940's. But it is still believed by many historians that Lincoln could had won third term. But Lincoln decired that not run third term. Reasons for Lincoln's refusal are unclear but probably he wanted to honor George Washington's precedent and probably Lincoln's own and his wife Mary's declining health might had affected to decision.

One of last acts of president Lincoln was travelling with train to San Francisco, California and so he was first US president who saw Pacific Ocean. After his presidency Lincolns moved to Springfireld, Illinois. There Abraham Lincoln wrote his memoirs. Lincoln was still pretty active in political issues rest of his life. Lincoln gave his strong support for American-Spanish War. In years 1874 - 1875 Lincolns travelled to Europe and they visited in London, Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Praque, Vienna, Rome, Jerusalem and Alexandria. Abraham Lincoln died in his Springfield home in July 4, 1887 at age of 78. His funeral was real mass event and probably largest presidential funeral by then. In 1892 remnants of Abraham and Mary Lincoln and their sons Edward, Willie and Tad were interned to Lincoln Mausoleum, nearby of Springfield which later became one of most markable landmarks in United States.

Lincoln was already highly respected during his lifetime but he got even greater reputation by mid-1950's and currently Lincoln is one of most famous US presidents even outside of the country. Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln and great-great-grandson Abraham Lincoln IV have too acted as presidents of United States.