The Burning Thirties

In 1825, the world enjoyed something it hadn't known in quite some time: five years of peace. Nobody knew it then (such is the way of historiography), but the Great Realignment was over. It was a changed world.

In France, the succession war was finished, with the Bourguignons victorious; the new family in Paris was making overtures to ouverture, and the Guisards reduced to honoring a pretender in Rome and eulogizing their bygone Catholic dystopia. Across the Channel, England-Scotland was binding its wounds and making itself presentable as "the Union of the English and Scottish Empires." The Low Countries were draining their shattered polders with the power of the first general-purpose steam engines. South of the Pyrenees, the Crown of All Spains was dusting itself off, living in a world where Seville - great Seville, eternal Seville, Seville the glorious, Najm al-Umma - was gone, as dead as Pomerania. It was a changed world.

In the New World, Cabralia was rebuilding and recovering, slowly but surely, from the trauma of Baltazar's mutiny, calling their elder statesman Kaspar back to its Principal Palace. Mexico was très-mignon, as they say: a mestiza was styling herself "Grand Princess" in her own right, and the Pope was telling the crowns of Europe to greet their sister in Christ as an equal, and wasn't it adorable? And she even had her pet Moor, who was doing everything he could to give her plebeian husband no reason to annex his mainland claims and spank him back to Cuba. It was a changed world.

And at the end of what would subsequently be remembered as "the Five Years' Peace," the year turned to 1830, and that world went to hell again. The revolutionary wave that followed has gone down in history as the Burning Thirties.

A very brief outline of the Burning Thirties

I'm not totally sure about how this plays out, but here's an overview of what I know for certain happens:

• France has a Guisard revolt, which ends with the death of the Most Christian Prince and, thus, the inevitable direct-line extinction a generation later. This goes nowhere, but it's an important thing to frame the rest of what's going on.
  
• The Prussian Revolt. Shit hits the fan, and for the second time in a generation, the annexed lands of Poland-Ruthenia rebel again. This time, organized much better, it succeeds.
• The House of Sansinger consolidates. Kaspar Sansinger becomes one of Oskar's in-laws, setting the stage for Cabralia to turn into a monarchy like Mexico. This, in turn, leads to two other wars:
• The Baltazarist War, which ends with the breakaway of Balthasaria and sets in motion the rise of the CRC; and
• The Axamallan Revolt, which ends in the breakaway of Hispano-Baltic Texas.
• The Tsar of Russia dies [details?], leaving Evgeny IV on the throne under a mediocre regency.

And although I'm not certain about it, I think Yusuf I dies too, which sets in motion a brief power struggle that ends with his right-hand man enthroning a weak caliph [who?], setting the stage for the rise of the Cordovero political dynasty.

A preliminary timeline of the Burning Thirties

As I've said before, all of this is really tentative, but here's a basic outline of the Burning Thirties. Taking it from the top, in 1830...

• Kaspar Sansinger's wife [who?] dies in childbirth, and he starts a long grieving process.
• A Sodalite bishop in Poland-Ruthenia makes some inflammatory statements about Master Günther, causing an outrage among the Pommerdüütsch. [details?]

In 1831...

• Kaspar meets Teresa Maria's daughter [who?], a pretty young thing who's single and available. Discreetly, he starts asking questions.
• Late in the year, the Polish-Ruthenian king [who?] dies. As the interregnum drags into its second month, with the country under the Archbishop of Gniezno [who?], a number of German szlachta start pushing for their likely heads of state to force an apology of the affair.

In 1832...

• Early in 1832, Poland-Ruthenia crowns a new king [who?]. Feeling the need to establish his authority, he flatly refuses any of the Güntherite demands.
• Later in the year, riots in Torun break out. Orders to suppress them are flatly ignored, and the Pomeranian Revolt formally begins.

In 1833...

• Kaspar Sansinger marries Teresa Maria's pretty young thing [details?] in a fairly lavish wedding. On the return voyage, O Gran Princessa falls ill, succumbing several months later. [details?] The Privy Council appoints her husband Oskar regent as their son Carlos comes of age.

In 1834...

• Kaspar's new wife bears him a son [who?], who is announced in Mexico as "the Grand Prince's son." Arguments flare up about what's meant by this, with Kaspar trying to navigate a middle ground that won't involve being deposed or having to surrender his titles.
  
• The Pomeranian Revolt triggers a third-wave diaspora, both Prussian and Polish supporters, who polarize opinions in both Mexican Axamalla and Cabralia.
• The Baltazarist War begins: And rapidly escalates out of control. It's at this point that Mexico provides military assistance (maybe token, maybe not) for Kaspar Sansinger.
• Late in the year, seeing Poland-Ruthenia occupied on its western front, Russia launches an offensive on the Right-Bank Ukraine.

In 1835...

• The Pomeranian Revolt ends: The Treaty of Meissen [details?] is signed. Just over 75 years after the Reductions, Pomerania exists as a nation once again.
• Oskar Sansinger, looking for a royal wife for his son Carlos, finds one (against all odds) in Rome: a daughter of the Guise pretender. The marriage arrangements start being made.

In 1837...

• The engagement of Carlos and the Princess de Guise is announced, driving os Pomeranos first to drink, then to conspiracy.
• At Carlos's wedding, Gen. Adler (chosen by lot from the ranks of os Pomeranos) presents a non-negotiable list of demands, which are flatly refused. On returning to Çagra Axamal, os Pomeranos order their forces to disregard any subsequent orders from the capital, and the Axamallan Revolt begins.

In 1838...

• The Axamallan Revolt ends.

In 1839...

• After nearly six years of grueling struggle, the Baltazarist War ends. The Confederation of Balthasaria celebrates its independence, and Kaspar Sansinger dies a broken man.

The consequences of the Burning Thirties

The single biggest beneficiary of the Burning Thirties was the UCNA. In 1829, it was a struggling state, and Yusuf I was constantly backpedaling lest Mexico find an excuse to invade him and end the UCNA once and for all; ten years later, Mexico's more formidable military leaders had just spanked it and formed an awesomely convenient buffer state, leaving Carlos I with a mess at home and the UCNA under Don Musa and his impressive political machine.

Single biggest screw of the Burning Thirties? Probably Cabralia. Gone were any dreams of maximismo. Gone was its bargaining power on the world stage. Gone. All gone. (More than that, its alliance with Mexico has all too often been a millstone around its neck. All Kaspar's doing.)