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Art by Nerisa Buela and based on 'Congrès de Paris' by Edouard Louis Dubufe.

The sergal species is the creation of Mick Ono and Kiki-UMA and are part of the Vilous setting.

This is an alternate history based off of a modded Paradox mega-campaign, so it's not going to be very realistic or academic, but I nevertheless endeavor to make it somewhat believable and interesting.

Content Warning: Religious Violence, Colonialism, Imperialism.

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The Congress of Riga is a biennial meeting of representatives of the ten most powerful nations of the world, as determined by Sagaria and Sweden. Here in the capital of Sagaria they discuss matters of international importance and settle disputes. This year, things got a little heated due to Sagaria’s intervention in Japan’s war of aggression against Korea. The Japanese representative is upset that his nation is prevented from pursuing its own imperial ambitions. The Sagarian representative on the other hand cares little for his arguments, as her country wants to uphold peace and stability in the region.

Representative and respective country, from left to right:

Valentina Spyros, Republic of Romania
Although the Roman Empire fell in the west during the Late Antiquity, it survived and flourished in the east. It was a major power for most of the Middle Ages, up until the sack of Constantinople in 1164 AD during the disastrous Third Crusade, which caused the Empire to shatter into a number of successor states.

For two and a half centuries, these states vied for supremacy, with some even converting to Catholicism. The Catholic Empire of Thrace rose to power in the early 15th century and gradually conquered the other Roman successor states. In the eyes of its people, the Roman Empire had been restored. Despite this, the new Roman Emperors were only recognized by the Patriarch of Constantinople, but because the Eastern Orthodox Church had by that time shrunk into a minor branch of the Christian faith, the Patriarch’s recognition held little weight. The other European countries would, at best, refer to the Empire simply as “Romania.”

However, as the Roman Empire conquered southern Italy in the late 17th century, it began to exercise a much greater degree of influence over the Papacy. This was in sharp contrast to the declining Holy Roman Empire, which had little to no influence in Italy. Because of this, Emperor Nikomedes II was able to pressure Pope Nicolaus VIII to declare him to be the one true Roman Emperor in 1698 AD.

The Roman Emperors only enjoyed this legitimacy up until 1759 AD, when the Republic of Sagaria deposed them and established the Republic of Romania as a sister republic. Since then, the Republic of Romania has risen to become the third most powerful nation in the world, with a strong economy and highly developed industry.

Francesco Martaci, Papal States
The Papal States originally consisted of only a few territories in Italy, but it came to be expanded to a great extent due to the crusades. This was because the Sagarian leaders who led each and every crusade would more often than not donate the conquered lands to the Pope. The Papal States struggled to rule such a vast territory at first, with several regions breaking off to become independent. However, as these regions were subsequently reconquered in the crusades that followed, the Papal States had ample opportunities to learn from its mistakes and adapt.

As of 1842 AD, the Papal States is one of the most unique nations in the world, being a democratic theocracy with a government consisting of legislative, executive, judicial, and religious subdivisions. The Pope serves as the head of state and holds the power to veto the other branches of government, while the Curia serves as the main administrative body of the religious branch of the government. The Pope appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the National Assembly to form the Council of Ministers, which serves at the principal executive body of the country. The legislative branch of the Papal States is made up of the Senate and the National Assembly, the members of whom are elected by direct and universal suffrage. The High Court is the main body of the judicial branch of government and is composed of 15 judges, 5 of which are appointed by the Pope, 5 of which are elected by the Senate, and 5 of which are elected by the National Assembly. As the Papal State comprises northern Italy, the Iberian peninsula, and most of North Africa, the country is divided into 380 regions, and each region elects one senator and two representatives, and maintains its own lower court.

Despite being a theocratic nation, the Papal States is surprisingly accepting of other religions. This attitude originated from the Middle Ages when they learned the hard way that forced mass conversions more often than not lead to revolts. Instead, the Papal States enacted a policy of tolerance and played the long game by gradually converting their muslim subjects. By the time of the Enlightenment, this policy of begrudging tolerance had evolved into one of acceptance. Although the majority of the population in Iberia and North Africa are Catholic as of 1842 AD, these areas still have sizeable muslim minorities. As such, a modest number of senators and representatives from these regions are muslim.

Gilbert Belmont, Republic of Burgundy
Burgundy and France have been rivals for almost a thousand years, following the dissolution of the Frankish Empire. Like many other European countries, Burgundy was turned into a sister republic of Sagaria as a result of the Revolutionary Wars. Even so, it has prospered, and as of 1842 AD, it is the fourth strongest industrial economy in the world.

Ferena Nardan Talafar, Republic of Sagaria
While the Mercantile Clans had brought wealth to Sagaria and spurred on the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, their greed had thoroughly corrupted almost all levels of government. The property reforms that they had pushed through in 1689 AD enabled them to buy up property from other clans, which effectively stripped the populations of those clans of their traditional rights and forced many of them to move to the cities where they lived in squalor in the slums. The dramatic increase in agricultural productivity that began in the 17th century had also resulted in a rapid population growth, with the population in Sagaria proper having gone from 33.8 million in 1650 AD to 60.4 million in 1750 AD. Despite the increase in food production, a rapidly growing population inevitably resulted in rising food prices, which in turn caused unrest. The growing resentment within the general population was also reflected within the military as well, making it increasingly difficult for the Mercantile Clans to maintain their control over it as they had in the past. To further exacerbate things, the early 18th century saw the spread of revolutionary ideas of equality and a society guided by reason rather than greed. All of this culminated in the Great Revolution of 1750 AD.

Having lost control of both the government and the military, the Mercantile Clans were wiped out and their property was seized. The Queen was beheaded and the Sagarian Republic was declared. However, because the Sagarian people had suffered under the tyranny of a plutocracy, most of the businesses and industries were nationalized by this new Republic and managed by the Central Planning Committee for the good of the citizenry and society as a whole. While the Central Planning Committee was initially a modestly successful institution, the invention of the difference engine in 1795 AD and the analytical engine in 1810 AD, gradually allowed it to perform its tasks much more effectively, and the Committee has since created an infrastructure that has become the envy of the world and turned Sagaria into an industrial, economic, and scientific superpower.

As of 1842 AD, the Republic of Sagaria is the master of Europe, having established sister republics throughout most of the continent, which it exercises varying degrees of influence over. And with a complex and extensive network of analytical engines, the Central Planning Committee coordinates with its sister republics and Sweden to manage the global economy.

Lovisa Seppänen, Republic of Rusland
Rusland began as a tiny Finno-Norse kingdom on the Baltic coast in the High Middle Ages. As Rusland grew and expanded eastward, it attracted a large number of Sagarian immigrants, and as a result its culture evolved into a fusion of Finnish, Norse, and Sagarian.

Historically, Rusland has maintained a good relationship with Sagaria and a rivalry with the Scandinavian countries, particularly with Sweden. The Revolutionary Wars saw Rusland lose its Finnish territories to the Swedish Republic, and later be turned into a sister republic by Sagaria.

As of 1842 AD, Rusland is a minor power with a modest industrialized economy.

Edgar Von Brandt, Republic of Germany
The Holy Roman Empire, once the foremost power in Europe, was slowly reduced to a small collection of states due to the territorial expansion of Sagaria, Burgundy, and Romania. By the late 17th century, the Holy Roman Emperors lost their legitimacy as the successors of the Roman Empire when Pope Nicolaus VIII declared the ruler of Romania to be the one true Emperor of the Romans. Sagaria dealt the final death blow during the Revolutionary Wars, when it dismantled the Holy Roman Empire and established the Republic of Germany as a sister republic in its place.

However, this turned out to be a boon to the Germans, as the Sagarians effectively turned a loose collection of feudal realms into a unitary state with a strong, centralized government. This in turn allowed the German Republic to develop into the fifth strongest industrial economy in the world.

Jacques Fabron, Republic of France
France never recovered from the Sagarian-French war of 1021 AD, which caused its great Kingdom to shatter into several feuding realms. Although France was eventually able to reunite its northern and western territories, the rising power of Burgundy prevented it from fully restoring its former greatness.

During the Early Modern era, France attempted to establish a few colonies in Sicalia (the New World), only to see them conquered by the Swedes. Like so many other European countries, France was turned into a sister republic by Sagaria during the Revolutionary Wars.

As of 1842 AD, the French Republic is a minor power with a slowly developing industrial economy. Being an agricultural powerhouse, France’s economy is largely reliant on the export of agricultural produce.

Eleanor Surrey, Kingdom of Mercia
Sergals began to emigrate out of Sagaria in the High Middle Ages as Christian rulers throughout Europe offered them land in exchange for military service. These sergals ended up adopting the culture of their new homes, and some even became part of the nobility. The best example of this are the sergals of Mercia.

The Duchy of Mercia split off from the Kingdom of England in 1418 AD, and although England managed to retake the Mercian heartland, the independent Duchy survived in Lincolnshire, an area heavily populated by sergals. Mercia itself was ruled by a sergal Duke named James Anashiff, who had served as a vassal of King Henry III of England before rebelling in response to his acts of tyranny.

Despite its small size, England was never able to fully reconquer Mercia due to the fierce resistance of the local sergal population. Over the course of the following centuries, Mercia grew into a kingdom and eventually conquered England, forcing the English court and nobility to flee to one of their last remaining colonies—Mechicko.

Although sergals are a minority in Mercia, they make up the royal family as well as roughly one third of the nobility. It is one of the few European monarchies to have survived the Revolutionary Wars, which is almost entirely due to the fact that Mercia is a parliamentary monarchy, and thus Sagaria could not justify a war to spread democracy against it.

As of 1842 AD, the Kingdom of Mercia is a prosperous nation and the sixth strongest industrial economy in the world, largely thanks to its abundant coal and iron deposits. Mercia is also a potent naval power, but as it has no colonies to provide it with resources, it is heavily dependent on trade.

Satohito Takeda, Empire of Japan
While the Mercantile Clans of Sagaria focused on colonization and resource production in India and the East Indies, they went for a different approach in East Asia. This was mostly because the trade goods they wanted to acquire there were manufactured goods, such as processed silk cloth, porcelain, and lacquerware, the production of which were more or less dependent on the countries in that region. As such, the Mercantile Clans deemed trade to be much more preferable to conquest. They colonized Taiwan in 1514 AD, purchased Jeju Island from Korea the following year, and acquired the Kuril Islands in 1547 AD. The Mercantile Clans used these islands as ports and outposts for their trade in East Asia.

The Mercantile Clans found some success in negotiating suitable trade agreements with China and Korea, but as Japan was in the middle of the Sengoku period at the time, they saw an opportunity to strongly influence the archipelago for their own benefit. They aided the unification of Japan in 1553 AD under the Oda Shogunate in exchange for a trade exclusivity deal that forbade Japan from trading with any other Christian country. While the Oda Shogunate honored this deal, the sergals had unintentionally also sparked an interest in the outside world, and so it sent envoys and established embassies in Sicalia, West Asia, North Africa, and Europe.

Japan gradually adopted Western science and technology, but the late 18th century saw a major shift in politics. Having learned that Sagaria was deposing monarchs all over Europe and replacing them with republics terrified the Japanese government, who feared that Sagaria might do the same in Asia. Sweeping reforms followed, transforming Japan into a parliamentary monarchy, and promoting rapid industrialization so that the country could be on par with the European powers.

As of 1842 AD, Japan is the seventh most powerful industrial economy in the world, and it is building a colonial empire of its own, having conquered the easternmost parts of Siberia, as well as parts of Manchuria. Unfortunately, this has earned the ire of Sagaria, who wants there to be peace and stability in the region.

Birgitta Lundqvist, Republic of Sweden
Sweden has been a good friend and ally to Sagaria ever since the latter liberated their country from the invading Burtas during the First Crusade. Their relationship was further strengthened in the 16th century after Sweden found an abundance of silver in the Peruvian mountains in their South Sicalian colony of Silvermark. This attracted the attention of the Mercantile Clans of Sagaria, who relied on bullion for their trade with China, and they made a deal which stipulated that Sweden would sell 80% of all silver and gold extracted from their Sicalian colonies to Sagaria, and in exchange Sweden would be allowed to purchase trade goods and hire mercenaries from Sagaria at a reduced price. This was hugely beneficial for both parties and made them incredibly rich.

Sweden used this wealth to further their colonial and imperial ambitions, and by the turn of the 19th century, it owned the entirety of South Sicalia and most of North Sicalia. Sweden began to industrialize shortly after Sagaria, but the rapid transformation of a mostly rural society to an industrial urban one ended up causing unrest. This was further exacerbated by the King passing reforms to increase the power and authority of the crown.

Following the successful revolution in Sagaria, the leaders of the new Republic turned their attention to Sweden and began to provide support to Swedish revolutionaries. The Swedish monarchy was overthrown on July 5, 1754 AD and replaced with a republic. The Republic of Sweden had its hands full for the first couple of decades, as not only did it have to stamp out the remaining monarchist, but following the abolition of slavery several parts of its Sicalian colonies rose up in revolt.

As of 1842 AD, the Republic of Sweden is second only to Sagaria in terms of economy and industry, but its colonial empire is much larger. While Sagaria established sister republics, Sweden conquered all of Scandinavia and much of Sicalia. Thankfully, Sagaria and Sweden have maintained their good relationship through all these years, with the two superpowers viewing each other as equals.

If you want to learn more about this world, you can find my ongoing AAR of it here