Recaps

As economic collapse sparked unrest across Europe, Franz led the Continental Alliance in a currency-backed rescue and forced Japan to end its war with Spain. Spain then became embroiled in colonial rebellions and sought a massive loan from the Holy Roman Empire, while Britain worked to undermine the Alliance.

• Franz ordered mediation in the Japanese-Spanish War and advanced Karl’s plan for the Ring Railway as the Vienna market reeled from the crash.
• Unrest spread across Europe, and Franz used colonial labor-dispatch companies and a Continental Alliance summit to address unemployment and mounting bankruptcies.
• The Alliance announced a 1.2-billion-Divine-Shield rescue, pegged member currencies to the Divine Shield, and ordered Japan to withdraw from the Philippines.
• Japan and Spain signed a ceasefire on November 11, 1894, while Japan later attacked the Beiyang Fleet and Spain faced a British-backed Cuban rebellion.
• Franz ordered the Central Asian Railway opened before 1900, and Britain resumed support for Cuban rebels while seeking to draw Spain away from the Continental Alliance.
• Antonio approved recruiting mercenaries and sought foreign loans as Spain’s wars drained its finances and rebellions threatened its colonies.
• At the Vienna parade, Schlieffen and Mackensen considered Prussia’s weakened position, while Junior learned that financiers had offered Spain a risky loan.
• Junior offered Morocco to Wessenberg in exchange for help, then pursued a Holy Roman Empire loan of seventy million Divine Shields and demanded an early first installment from the financiers.

As Russia crushed French resistance, the Holy Roman Empire let France and Russia weaken each other while supporting the Russian Army and approving the Siberian Railway. Britain shifted its strategy toward opposing Russia, while Franz advanced plans for imperial reform and prepared Friedrich and Peter for greater responsibility.

• Rivera built an international investment scheme around Appel Commercial Bank, while Spain negotiated a major loan and Franz’s military parade displayed the Holy Roman Empire’s strength.
• Britain debated how to build an air force and weaken the Russo-Austrian Alliance, while Russia’s occupation of France provoked rebellion and international condemnation.
• Franz exposed French arms smuggling and allowed Russia to bear the public burden of suppressing France, even as Russian reprisals and French resistance escalated into war.
• Franz declined to intervene for France or Spain, let Russia and France exhaust each other, and focused on preparing Friedrich to lead reforms and Peter to govern Central America.
• Nicholas II faced the Heden Square disaster and growing demands for autonomy, while he approved the Siberian Railway and plans to conscript French laborers.
• Friedrich rejected Carlos’s request to stop Russia and ordered supplies for the Russian Army, as Vienna accepted Russia’s railway plans and Britain resolved to redirect its efforts against Russia.

The Holy Roman Empire pursued Morocco, naval modernization, and economic preparations while Britain struggled with decline and Russia maneuvered in the Far East. The arc ended with a massacre at the Russian Embassy in Tokyo, leaving Japan under pressure to prepare for war as Russia weighed its response.

• Antonio recruited French mercenaries willing to immigrate to Spain and arranged for the rest to return to France, while Nicholas II demanded an end to French resistance.
• Friedrich weighed naval expansion against its cost and the risk of provoking Britain, and Franz approved the All-Big-Gun Battleship program.
• Wessenberg and Spain signed the Morocco Sovereignty Transaction Agreement, and armed groups rushed into the region as Friedrich faced pressure over its spoils.
• Nicholas II delayed action against Britain despite Russian enthusiasm for the southern strategy, while Franz named the new battleship Rome and used it to encourage British naval rearmament.
• Franz left Friedrich to choose a new cabinet and sent his sons to govern overseas colonies, while Russia declared war on the Far Eastern Empire to justify withdrawing troops from France.
• Campbell’s government struggled with Britain’s industrial decline and debates over tariffs, while Friedrich approved restrictive American access to the Panama Canal and Franz warned that Russia’s railway could enable an eastward advance.
• Nicholas II grew wary of Britain’s role in the Far East as anti-Russian protests spread in Japan and anti-Japanese sentiment rose in Russia.
• A gunshot triggered an assault on the Russian Embassy district in Tokyo, where dozens of Russian staff were killed, and Emperor Meiji ordered arrests and an investigation as Japan’s leaders debated preparing for war.

Japan’s handling of the Russian Embassy killings drew foreign intervention, while the Russo-Japanese War pulled the Holy Roman Empire and Britain toward confrontation. As Russia’s supply lines faltered, the Empire arranged covert arms shipments through the Far Eastern Empire and began drawing the Shanxi Merchants into the trade.

• Jose announced that all forty-seven Russian Embassy staff had died, and the legations demanded control of the investigation as British and Holy Roman Empire fleets approached Japan.
• Japan yielded the Russian Embassy case to the International Court, and Li Bo'an and the Chinese students sought Chairman Liu’s help to free Decheng.
• Kazuo Tanaka accepted sole responsibility for the killings, while the court gave Wang Decheng and thirty-three others symbolic community-service sentences.
• William approved the creation of South Seas University, and Li Bo'an urged Japanese students facing harassment to prepare for its entrance examinations.
• After Japan severed diplomatic relations with Russia and attacked Russian forces, Franz backed Russia with loans, warships, and supplies while preparing the Holy Roman Empire for a confrontation with Britain.
• Britain investigated the Empire’s naval buildup and passed a major military-spending bill, but its dock shortages and industrial weaknesses threatened its shipbuilding plans.
• Russia’s railway delays and dwindling supplies led Nicholas II to ask Vienna to coordinate arms shipments through the Far Eastern Empire, and Franz agreed while warning Russia to protect local residents.
• Franz proposed making Bru mayor of Veracruz and ordered scrutiny of suspicious strategic-goods orders, while Chairman Wang revealed that Sir Louis had offered the Shanxi Merchants a role in supplying Russia.