The Swiss Civil War had just ended, the Spanish Civil War was about to begin, the Russians were embroiled in endless internal strife, and several powers in the northern lands were stirring restlessly.
Summer came, and the torrential rains arrived as expected.
Central Europe became a vast sea of water. Floodwaters burst from their banks across North Germany, running rampant through cities and countryside. Countless fields were submerged, homes swept away, and people left homeless.
Prussia, Berlin.
Floodwaters swallowed the streets, and the rudimentary water-recycling system collapsed outright. Filth overflowed everywhere, and when the waters receded, Cholera broke out once more.
Besides Prussia, the states of Bavaria and Saxony were also struck. Germany had an extensive network of waterways, so digging canals was an economical and profitable business.
But excessive development soon damaged the structure of the original water network. Then, with technological progress, humanity's ability to exploit the land grew enormously. Many lakes and marshes that had once stored water were drained for farmland, further damaging the original ecology and its ability to withstand disasters.
The result was a great collapse when the torrential rains came. Floodwaters burst from their banks, inundating dozens of towns in North Germany. Countless buildings were swept away, and people were left homeless.
But the most terrifying part was that the floods had also destroyed the farmland. There was no time to replant and harvest, so this year was destined to be a year of famine.
Moreover, great disasters were always followed by great epidemics. Once the floodwaters surged into the cities, they carried out all the filth from the rivers and urban drainage systems.
It was also difficult to clear away the plants and animals that had died in the flooding. The result was a widespread epidemic, especially Cholera, that terrifying disease, which