I want Ben Shapiro to appear in the Pinnacle Future, and if Obama appears, for them to be political allies.

Also, will a certain current leader appear?
I think Napo has said there will be less parallelism and less otl people going forward after Steele and Oswald. Obama existence might be entirely negates too due to his mixed background and the RU’s displeasure at Pinnacle Bloodlines being mixed
 
KAISER SHAPIRO
DESTROYS GODLESS ILLUMINATI WITH FACTS AND LOGIC
Not what I originally meant but I’m okay with this.


I think Napo has said there will be less parallelism and less otl people going forward after Steele and Oswald. Obama existence might be entirely negates too due to his mixed background and the RU’s displeasure at Pinnacle Bloodlines being mixed
I hope he doesn’t abandon the otl people too much. That’s one of the things that makes this timeline so fun. Seeing Madness! Versions of historical people.
 
I feel like actually bringing in Obama or Shapiro or Trump would most likely cross the line into current politics and thus would not be considered ok by admins.
I agree. They would all be low hanging fruit anyway. The only exception would be JEB! His family predates the original dissolution of the Union so that would actually make sense unlike the others.
 
THE GREAT EUROPEAN SCHISM: RISE OF THE NEW HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

THE GREAT EUROPEAN SCHISM:
THE RISE OF THE NEW HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

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Banner of Adolf von Braunau's New Holy Roman Empire, founded on the principles of Evolist Supercatholicism

The Old World was experiencing a tumultuous period of uncertainty, the worst since the Great World War. The Great Depression was raging on since the 1931 assassination of the Hapsburg family and the subsequent economic chaos that followed. Queen Ingrid of the Kingdom of Austria-Hungary was the only surviving child of Crown Prince Johann, and she was less than ten years old in 1934 when her own Reichsminister, Adolf von Braunau, would commit treason against her with the help of none other than the Holy Father, the controlling and egotistical Pope Peter II. The conspiracy to remove the child queen stretched back several years, to the fateful 1932 meeting of von Braunau and Peter II. Many in the media credited Reichsminister von Braunau as the "shadow monarch" and "defacto regent," but the real matters of import were largely handled by Julius Evola, the "Official Advisor to the Prime Minister." The Italian author of Deus Vult was one of the most influential men in the world, and he saw the rule of Ingrid as the last dying gasps of an ancient family line which had sold out to the Bonapartists long ago. The nearest cousin of Queen Ingrid, Duke Hans von Hapsburg, accused von Braunau and Evola of plotting against the Queen following dark rumors in the Royal Court. Hans aspired to marry his son Friedrich, Ingrid's second cousin, to the Queen. He used Ingrid as a tool and demanded the ouster of Count von Braunau and the arrest of Evola for treason. When the general strike of the armed forces occurred in April of 1934 in support of the Father of Supercatholicism and the Prime Minister, it was clear to all that it was make-or-break for the Supercatholic movement.

The loyalty of the troops to von Braunau was nearly unquestionable. In October of 1933, the Tsardom of Ruthenia fell behind on its reparation payments for the final time. Without consulting the Queen or the Hapsburgs, the Reichsminister and the Parliament declared war on Ruthenia. Not only was the Tsardom a starving backwater, it had increasingly alienated itself from the League of Tsars in a weak attempt by the feeble-minded Tsar Alexi to prevent war with the Illuminists in Poland and Ukraine. Now devoid of any real allies and with nowhere to turn for money to pay the bills, it was a target for Austria-Hungary. The war was over in a matter of months in one of the speediest conflicts of the last two centuries. By February, 1934, the Austro-Hungarian Royal Airforce had bombed almost all static fortifications along the border and decimated the entrenched Ruthenian troops, encountering only meager resistance from the almost nonexistant Ruthenian Airforce. Rather than fighting a stand-up ground war, the carpet-bombing campaign succeeded in leveling Stanislau, the Ruthenian capital, and the final Austro-Hungarian land invasion sent the Tsar fleeing to the Viceroyalty of Constantinople, begging for help. There, rather than risk upsetting their old enemies, the League of Tsars voted to arrest the Tsar and the surviving members of his government and hand them over to Vienna, as they had supposedly caused the war in the first place by not keeping up on their payments. According to the 1914 treaty, if reparations were not steadily payed, military force could be used. The Illuminists bristled at this turn of events but held their troops back, not desiring to fight a war over the nearly-useless backwater meatshield of a country that the Tsardom had become.

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Ruthenian troops take cover as Austro-Hungarian planes bomb their position (January, 1934)

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Civilians take cover in Stanislau, capital of Ruthenia, during a Hapsburg bombing, circa 1934

On April 24, 1934, two days into the strike of the armed forces, it became clear that the army and most of the people no longer viewed the Hapsburgs as credible rulers. Gone was the good-will they had had for the Queen's grandmother and father. The surviving members of the family clearly cared only for themselves while the people starved or festered in unemployment lines, even despite the steady flow of gold and goods from conquered Ruthenia. While the commoner was just trying to scrape by, Hans was throwing lavish balls for his friends and carrying on with friends from Europa who were just as lackadaisical with their time and money, and Ingrid spent most of her time, like most children, playing tea party with her dolls and servants. Much like the French Revolution well over a century prior, it became clear to the world that revolution was on the horizon. April 28 would be the fateful day. After being ordered out of the Royal Palace in Vienna a week prior by Hans and the Household Guard, von Braunau was ready to make his move. He took to the radiowaves to address the people and the armed forces from a hotel on the other side of town:

"People of Austria! Soldiers and patriots! Today is the day we embark on a crusade for God. The inept royal family of this realm has abused their power for the final time. Seven days ago, the little girl that currently sits the throne ordered me to vacate my office, carrying out the orders of her foppish and deceitful cousin Hans von Hapsburg. I obeyed the royal command, on my honor as a gentleman. They then arrested Julius Evola, my right-hand man and one of the most brilliant Catholic minds currently alive. This is, quite simply, an insult to injury. As your Prime Minister, I attempted to help the people, to show them the love of Christ and to ease their suffering in such a perilous time. I led them through the Ruthenian conflict and into victory, taking what was ours by right. The people are still hurting, financially, spiritually, even physically, as the traitors in the Schönbrunn Palace live the high life, partying with their allies from the decadent Europa, an Empire which has rejected the rising tide of true Christianity, a movement which this nation has embraced wholeheartedly and of its own accord. The Hapsburgs no longer hear you, People of Austria! The Hapsburgs no longer care for you, my countrymen! But, surely as God does reign in Heaven, so too does the Holy Father, Pope Peter II, reign in Rome, and he DOES hears you. And he seeks to bestow infinite blessings upon you. The Pope has asked me, in this time of upheaval and disruption, to demand the ousting of the Hapsburgs from the throne of Austria. But we do not stand alone. To the contrary, we stand united with our brothers in the Bund! In Hungary! In Italy! In all the realms where the true faith reigns in the hearts of the people! In the name of God the Father, God the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Pope, let us take what is ours once more! Let this be the start of a True Crusade! Let us forge a new path, united under the banner of a New Empire, the Second Reich!"

The reaction was immediate. The people joined the military in the streets outside Schönbrunn and demanded the Hapsburgs leave. In a rare moment of self-control, the Supercatholics refused to become violent against the Hapsburgs, but simply asked them to leave. After all, it was quite clear they would not be ruling anything anymore, and Ingrid was a mere child. For two days the Royal Family, secured by their Household Guards, tried to decide what to do. Hans von Hapsburg used their one remaining phone line to contact Napoleon V to beg for assistance. Caesar was infuriated at what was unfolding but was uncertain of how to handle it. Quite simply, he offered his Hapsburg cousins safe harbor in Paris, rather than launch an invasion of an only-recently emancipated nation. On May 1, 1934, the Flight of the Hapsburgs began. Surrounded on all sides by cheering rebels, the ancient dynasty rolled out of the palace in several armored cars, heading straight for the Vienna Airport. All along the route to the airport throngs of citizens watched with glee as the last remnant of Bonapartist rule was purged from their kingdom. Ingrid, Hans, and their assorted cousins and minions boarded a custom silver 1932 passenger plane, painted in the yellow and gold livery of their family, double-headed eagled festooned on the wings, and took off for Paris. Von Braunau, with Evola at his side once more, rode triumphantly through the crowds on the back of a white stallion, waving his cap and shaking hands the entire way to the Palace. The Hapsburg banner was ripped down and the red and white tricolor was hoisted to the joy of thousands. The Days of May had begun.

All over Europe, streets were alive with protestors, rebels, and rioters. In the Bund, High King Rupprecht followed orders from the Pope and dispatched Chancellor Goering to Vienna to meet with the new government. In Italy, the Bonaparte King Giovanni found himself facing exuberant and emboldened Supercatholic mobs led by Pompeo Salvato and Crescente Galla, who demanded that the Bonapartes leave Italia once and for all. In Hungary, crowds gathered to sing old songs of the Crusades and days of yore, celebrating a rebirth of European culture without Bonaparte control. The Continental system, after a century of success, was finally breaking down. And Napoleon V could do nothing as the economy of Europa plunged into an abyss and trade broke down by the day. But the worst was yet to come. On Jun 12, 1934, in a grand ceremony in Vienna, Count von Braunau was crowned Emperor (Kaiser) Adolf of the New Holy Roman Empire, Defender of the Faith (a title stolen from Caesar). Hungary, the Rheinbund, the rebel government of Italy, and Austria were to merge into this Second Reich to face the perils of the future together, in a bond not from politics or family dynasties but through their shared radical Catholic faith.

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Emperor Adolf of the New Holy Roman Empire

As parties raged on through the night in Rome and Vienna, Italy was on fire. The Italian Civil War had begun. Fearing all-out war, which they would almost certainly lose, Europa was forced to limit military involvement in the affair as the King, Giovanni, struggled to maintain his control. His grandfather, Carlo II, had united Italy and saw it through the devastating days of the Great World War, but he was not such a brilliant mind. The sheer momentum of the Supercatholic onslaught was pulverizing his forces, many of whom were deserting in favor of their loyalty to the Pope, who had declared him illegitimate. In fact, Jun 20 saw Pope Peter II excommunicate the entire Bonaparte family. This was the final straw for some members of the Church, especially those living in Europa. Signs and banners depicting Peter as the Antichrist became widespread. Effigies were burned in Paris and Madrid. Even in the Republican Union, some feared the sudden rise of the charismatic and manipulative Peter II as a sign of the End Times. Reverend-Colonel Billy Sunday himself said in the summer of '34 that:

"I believe Peter II may well be the very same Antichrist prophesied by the Bible and the Books of Manifest Destiny. It takes little imagination to see Adolf as the Beast and Evola as the False Prophet. The Whore of Babylon could be the coming-together of the Catholic realms into this New Holy Roman Empire. As true Fundamentalist Christians, we need to be on our guard for the Final Battle. But believe you me, if anyone can survive Armageddon bring about the New World Order it's some God-fearin', Bible-thumpin' damnyankees from the Republican Union."
The excommunication of the Bonapartes was a final match to set fire to whole of Europe. Lines were drawn, families were torn apart, and allies became enemies. The Great Schism of 1934 had arrived. All over Europa, Catholic churches saw government agents and police at their doors, arresting those deemed to be in league with the Pope. In October, Napoleon V met with rebelling members of the Church hierarchy in the ancient and historic city of Avignon, France, to discuss how to better combat the rise of the "Devil-Pope." Multiple cardinals viewed Peter as a scheming snake, not to be trusted, and they gladly threw their lot in with the bookish and reasonable Caesar. Together, they announced a the Second Avignon Papacy, voting to anoint Rafael Ramirez, a Spanish-born Cardinal, as the new Anti-Pope, Valentine II. The first thing on the agenda of the new Anti-Pope was to excommunicate Pope Peter II, von Braunau, and Evola. The Church in Rome then declared, not shockingly, that the Second Avignon Papacy was heretical, excommunicated everyone involved, and declared those excommunicated by Valentine II to be servants of God. One Parisian journalist said of the situation at the time, "He excommunicates him, then gets excommunicated right back. Personally, I worry I'll be double-reverse excommunicated and then be entirely unsure of the state of my soul altogether."

To be sure, the Avignon Papacy was a puppet and tool of Napoleon V, but it was created in the aftermath of increasing losses in Italy against the Supercatholic rebellion and increased uncertainty in the future of Europa. He accomplished his goal of uniting his people one last time in the face of adversity. Napoleon V, at least in his home country, was becoming very well regarded and was highly respected as a considerate, caring Caesar, likely the most compassionate for his people since Napoleon I, and his stirring speeches and radio broadcasts kept the morale of the country high in the face of economic disaster. In the summer of 1935, Europan volunteer brigades stormed the coast of Sicily, where loyalty to Peter II was at its shakiest, and liberated the island. Whereas the boot went solidly Supercatholic and joined the New Holy Roman Empire, Sicily became the Protectorate of Sicily, and the "emergency revolutionary government" asked Caesar to reign as Lord Protector. If they tried to retake Sicily now, the NHRE would almost certainly face total war. And now that the Avignon Papacy was up and running and the people were uniting under Caesar against the totalitarian rule of Emperor Adolf I, the time for a tidal wave assault on Paris was gone. Now all that Vienna and Rome could do was dig in. In the north, King Giovanni still held out with a group of loyalists in Liguria, but in the winter of 1935, they finally pulled out and headed to Avignon. The borders were stabilizing, people were deciding where they stood, and the whole world watched with bated breath to see if someone would finally start the Second Great World War....

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Map of the World in 1936
 
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Well, I am interested in what Supercatholicism looks like in practice. I imagine the NHRE is essentially a Catholic version of Saudi Arabia.
 
"You get a Pope! And you get a Pope! Everyone gets a Pope!"

Deeply intrigued to see how this plays out. I suspect that whoever wins, the Illuminists will be the real victors, able to snatch up territory while their enemies bleed themselves dry against each other. Part of me is hoping that with all this dramatic build up and people preparing for doomsday, it all falls flat like a damp squib with something like Adolf gets shot by a scorned lover before true war can come.
 
So my prediction about Mussolini overthrowing the monarky came true? Nice.

Also could anyone stop the Habsburg from commiting incest please?
 
oh boy~ I can't wait to see how fucked over the RU is going to be by the canal blowing up and how they'll take advantage of Europa killing herself (Again).
 
So i just realised that with annexation of Ruthenia, the kingdom of Bohemia is stuck between Goering's Bund and von Braunau's Reich.
Add the fact it has no allies and i am pretty sure it is going to be this TL's version of Poland
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