History of the World XI - 11 o'clock, one hour before doomsday! [Story Thread]

[Robert]

Speech of Martin van Buren, minutes before the start of the Jihad

"ALL INFIDELS WILL BURN!
They will BURN!
BURN like CANDLES in the wind!
The Wrath of ALLAH is upon them!"

all people on the great square of Jefferson cheered!
"Let them burn like candles in the wind"

[Beta]

The Palace in Rome

Julian (Chief Senator Elect): Gaius, this latest declaration from van Buren of America? The jihad's still on!!?? Are we a target? I thought we declared peace.

Gauis (Principal Advisor): Sir, I regret to admit I have no idea what is going on. It was a declaration from America to the world. we have heard nothing directed to or at Rome, so I do not know where we stand.

Julian: Well damn. This IS a mess. And the military?

Gaius: They are standing by - and ready to meet any threat directed at us, sir.

Julian: Good. Keep them on high alert. And tell me Gaius, are these Americans as deranged as they seem?

Gaius: I wish I knew, sir. I wish I knew.

[Robert]

Official Statement from Martin van Buren, President of the United Islamitic Towns of America
Currently the UIToA are officially at war with The Netherlands and Ethiopia.
We hope we can figure out the state of war with the other states in a peacefull way, since we still believe that we can agree on the terms of Islam.

Those nations that are officially at peace with the UIToA don't need to fear for new declarations of war. We hope we can agree on the terms of Islam soon though.
As the president of the UIToA and as the Great Prophet of Islam, I promise that those nations who'll convert to Islam will be supported by the Islamitic nations.

Islam is the religion of peace.
When the world together worships Allah, we can heal the world from all it's pain!

end of declaration.

[Robert]

Official statement from the UIToA
The United Islamitic Towns of America officially state that the United Towns never declared war to any civilization, except The Netherlands.

All other nations that are at war with the United Towns declared war upon the Towns after The Towns declared war upon the Dutch.

Therefor The United Islamitic Towns of America are willing to discuss peace with all nations involved.

End of statement.

[Robert]

Just for the record:

[deity]

Re: Earlier

Originally posted by Beta
In the office of the Chief Senator Elect in the Palace in Rome

Julian: Why Rome? Our isolationist foreign policy approach has ensured that we have been pretty much silent on the diplomatic front.

Joao laughed out loud!

The Americans declared war on the Dutch alone.

But Rome and many other nations had defensive pacts with the Dutch and it is therefore the Romans who declared war on America, my friend.

[Beta]

The Palace in Rome

Chief Senator Elect's Office .... secret chamber accessed between the book cases on the east wall....

Gaius: Sir, this is the man I told you about - Trajan Polo. He is just back from Portugal.

Trajan: Sir, this is for you - direct from their office ...

Julian reads the document ....

Joao laughed out loud!

"The Americans declared war on the Dutch alone.

But Rome and many other nations had defensive pacts with the Dutch and it is therefore the Romans who declared war on America, my friend."

Julian (with brow furrowed): Gaius, is this what happened, or are the Portuguese as delusional as the Americans.

Gaius: It would appear to be fact, sir. I checked with Foreign Affairs and they say that is what was expected of the treaty and the defensive pact.

Julian (now turning red in the face): And you mean I was not even consulted? And I need to find out about this from our intelligence people. At this point, I really do not care as to who declared war with whom. What I care about is Roman independence! Dammit. So - who issued the Roman declaration of war anyway? Foreign Affairs? The Military? The Dutch?

Gaius: It would seem that our embassy in Holland contacted the embassy in America directly - and they issued the declaration.

Julian: The same idiot who then declared peace?

Gaius: Um, yes sir.

Julian: This is too much. Who runs the nation anyway - the Senate or the Foreign Affairs office? I have had it with that office. Get the senior officials in here now, and contact Senators Polusia and Cabrera to join us. We have some changes which need to be made. And Trajan, thank you my good man. When do you return to Portugal?

Trajan: Immediately, sir.

Julian: Keep your head down and your ears open. Those Portuguese make me uneasy. Almost as much as our own Foreign Affairs.

[Beta]

XV Appian Way - Foreign Affairs Office of Rome

Caecelius - Chief of Foreign Affairs: Did you see this summons?

Reinius - Director of Foreign Policy: Indeed. They were delivered to you, and to me, and to Marius - the Ambassadorial Lead - but he is visiting the Incan Empire right now. What do we do?

Caecelius: Not much we can do. The Chief Senator Elect summons us and we go.

Reinius: But today?

Caecelius: So it seems.

Reinius: This is truly frustrating. The Roman Senate and its illustrious ellected chief have spent the last 250 years with their heads in the sand. They love to go to military parades, and oversee the chariot races, and one senator from my grandfathers era even went so far as to get involved in the Chichen Itza project. But not a word on the economy, and not a word on foreign affairs. Hades fire, but it is just as well that the 500 year old Foreign Affiars Act left trade and diplomacy up to us professionals. Where would Rome be now if the Senators took charge?? (a chuckle)

Caecelius: I share your sentiment, my friend, but change is afoot I believe. First there is this "islamic" wind blowing around the world, disturbing the international status quo. And secondly, I sense that this Julian Osso is not like his predecessors. For one, he has smarts. I give him that. And second, he does not bother with the 'trappings' of his position; he is more concerned about Rome, and its place in the world. That is both refreshing and disturbing at the same time.

Reinius: Yes, I suspect you are right. The timing of this summons relative to the business with America cannot be coincident.

Caecelius: No, I am sure that is what is behind it as well. But the declaration of war was legally correct, and consistent with the Dutch-Roman Self Defence Act.( a laugh) The only problem is that not one of our current Senators today, let alone Osso, was yet born when this was signed. It has been the traditional responsibility of Foreign Affairs to monitor and and trigger this treaty as necessary.

Reinius: By the way, any word from our Ambassador to America.

Caecelius: None. He was locked up tight in the palace upon his return, and my sources tell me that he is now safely 'reassigned' to work on a naval vessel.

Reinius: Marius will be furious when he sees what the Senate have done.

Caecelius: Indeed! As am I. Well, we better be on our way. Oh, but before we go, let me dictate some quick letters to the Chief of Economics and Cities, the Marshal of the Army, Lead Admiral of the Navy, and what the Hades, the Head Buddhist Priest as well. They had better be aware of what we are dealing with here, and we may need their help if our meeting does not go well. What are OSSO and the Senate thinking anyway?

[arvcran]

The Incas still dream to be better than they are ...
But ... the troubles around the world are like a virtual thorn in their spirit to thrive towards betterness (new word).

To the Romans:

Our most ancient and friendly Romans have been subjected to the"Jihad" know also to the incas as the troubles in the world. We are very concerned that our long and trusted friends are affected by the Jihad. Our diplomats are in conversation as to how best deal with the uncertainties and possible events that need to be planned for.

To the Dutch the distant Giant civilization awed by the incas:

Our royal marriage has long been a stable tie between our green minded mentalities to invent and discover new things. This relationship is close to the hearts of the Incan peoples and is also a source of stress as it is threatened by the Jihad. You are the targeted. Our essense is with your plight to defend your right and to stamp out the Jihad.

To Byzanthium our spiritual mentor and guide to the way of life, peace, and right of all living beings:

We need to embark on a thourough philosophical and investigative research on why the Americans are on this Jihad. Perhaps they are simply confused or not seeing that the needs of the world CIVs are similar to theirs!
The Americans are breeding important peoples so surely they are someone to rationalize with.

To the creative minded Ethiopians who improved our knowlege of fish long ago whence our fishing expidition of the world brought many new friends to the Incas:

Perhaps you can join in discussion with Byzanthium to fullfill the quest of the puzzle of "Jihad". To rid the Americans of what the Incas call an illness (troubles of the world). To help the Americans breath life as they deserve to be able to.

To the Impressive Russians:

We are concerned that your people have fallen to the illness! Were not the Dutch helping you in your defence.

To the Native Americans (the children of Incas) we continue to assist you in the knowledge to defend your selves - a right of all.

To the inspiring Portuguese masters of civil expansion:

The Incas are puzzled - no perplexed, a better word ... our past attempts to trade knowledge has lead us to silence amongst each other - perhaps we need to open communications so that we can at least understand why the portugese 'feel' the need to Jihad.

To the mighty Germans:

What of the Germans? There might is great ... the Incas must learn more of the Germans ... surely they are more than might!

To the great Northern English ... little is know of these intelligent and robust peoples are they aware of the 'troubles of the world?

And finally ... to the Americans those who could be so much more if not for the 'illness'. Do you understand that you are ill? This madness is the source of your potential disaster as the world peoples will implode on you - we must understand what the source of the madness is, so that your people can eat without the fear that their land will be taken away from them.

An insight into the communications and positions of thought (or perspective or understanding) of the Incan people

[deity]

To Hyanuc (?) of the Inca,

Please note from previous communications that the Portuguese called off the jihad several years ago. 'Joao the Pom' has returned from exile and has taken over the Portuguese.

He is maintaining the Islamic religion for now but as a Christian and with close ties to England he plans to encourage the practice of Christendom. A more tolerant society will ensue. Note that Christianity and Islam is wide spread across all of the Norhern nations on the mainland.

All military production is being phased out and talks are in progress with the Americans to maintain friendly relations.

Yours truly,

'Joao the Pom'

[deity]

To ToxoXI of Rome,

cc Martin van Buren of America

The Islamic alliance is now one of peace with policies of peaceful co-existence of religions sprouting forth.

As the new leader of Portugal I'd like to suggest a more robust relationship with Rome - one of trans-Romanic Ocean trading, tourism and migration.

You and you entourage are cordially invited to Lisbon to meet with me and discuss these matters if you so wish.

I believe we can embark upon some technology trading and in cooperation with the Americans form a trading pact.

It is possible that both America and the Portuguse have temporarily lost contact with up to three surrounding nations - Germany, England and Russia.

With this in mind I implore you to consider our requests.

I need confirmation but I suspect we may have some technologies on offer that you may need and we are prepared to offer them as a gift to start a mutual cooperation program.

Yours truly,

'Joao the Pom'

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

A Changing of the Guard....

All of Ethiopia was poised on a knife-edge, waiting for the war they all thought was inevitable. Portugal, America & Germany had been building forces along the border for the last 12 months-& Ethiopia, Nederlands & Byzantia were doing the same.

Then, something unexpected occured. News reached the King that, without warning, the former ruler of Portugal-"Joao the Pom"-had returned from exile & led a coup detat to remove the current Monarch.

The result was almost immediate: Within days, envoys from Portugal were arriving in New Gondar & Aksum to deliver a message of peace & understanding to the people of Ethiopia. America, too, had apparently had a changing of the guard-with the more moderate Dan Quayle overthrowing the militant Martin Van Buren.

Unfortunately, negotiations with the Portugese & American empires had barely begun when King Zara Yaquob VI died. Although very old, some distrustful folk always suspected foul play, in order to facilitate negotiations. Whatever the truth of the matter, the ERC held an emergency meeting where they elected the eldest son-Mabombo Seke-to the throne.

Mabombo Seke I was a very different ruler to his father. He was the first member of the Royal Family to go to the newly established University of Gondar, where he gained a PhD in Economics & Sociology. It was here that he also became a committed pacifist-a philosophy he put into practice almost immediately. Part of that philosophy involved fast tracking peace negotiations with all the Islamic States, & tearing up the laws banning the practice of Islam in Ethiopia.

He also used his "Executive Powers" to dissolve the current council, & held immediate elections for a new council. Seke was a very powerful speaker, & used his influence to ensure a less Reactionary Council was elected (though he was also secretly working on a bill which would change the nature of government for all time). This approach worked perfectly, & all the Nationalists & Religious Zealots were purged from the Council.

One of the first bills the new council recieved for approval was one close to Seke's heart-a bill which removed almost all remaining vestiges of government control from the economy. The Bill passed with almost unanimous approval, & soon Tradespeople across the country were using these newfound freedoms to open up whole new business opportunities with other nations.

What intrigued Seke most was how some tradespeople in the same industry started to band together for mutual profit-making. This coincided well with what his doctorate postulated, & he was on the verge of putting out a book which would explain this practice in greater detail-in the hopes that even more tradespeople would adopt it.

As if things weren't already bright enough, the sign of the New Dawn in Ethiopia became even more apparent when prospectors discovered gold in the rivers & hills around New Gondar, this led to a massive population explosion as people from across the nation-& from foreign lands-came to seek their fortunes. Also, in Aksum, a Priest apparently cured a man of madness just outside the City Walls. The site of this Miracle soon became a lure to Pilgrims across the nation.

Unfortunately, amidst the peace & prosperity, there was some bad news. Military units returning to The Nederlands apparently staged a military coup-overthrowing the civilian government with whom the Ethiopian Government had worked so well. This new government was angry with the peace negotiations begun by their predecessors, & went on a campaign of ruthless expansionism.

The Pacifistic Seke was horrified at the deeds performed by this brutal new regime, & immediately disavowed itself of these actions-particularly after the city of Atlanta was razed-driving hundreds of thousands of families into exile. Dutch aggression had, in fact, caused several million deaths already across America-& destroyed vital infrastructure in the process-which led to even more uneccessary deaths. Though unwilling to start a new conflict, Seke froze relations with The Nederlands & both closed the embassy in Aksum & withdrew Ethiopian diplomats back to the Capital.

Though major hostilities between America & The Dutch halted not long after the destruction of Atlanta, true peace remained elusive between these now bitter enemies. The All-Mother, however, made her displeasure at the Dutch people readily apparent-plaguing them with a whole host of natural disasters. Seke I could only hope that such divine retribution would force the Dutch people to overthrow the military junta that now ruled their nation.

Aside from this one blight on the horizon, however, things were looking very bright for the people of Ethiopia. Trade was running at a cracking pace, & Seke's "Treatise on Business Co-Operation" (known as Corporation in the book) provided an excellent model for future management of businesses. With such a bright future ahead, Seke I felt ready to unleash his next series of reforms upon the nation....

[Robert]

The Ascending of Martin van Buren

Martin van Buren was speaking to the crowd in Jefferson.
"Today is the day that the Jihad will bring forth it's fruits!
The armies of Islam are at the gates of Ethiopia and The Netherlands. Now Russia and England have converted to Islam, and Ethiopia and The Dutch are also ready to obey the most high one, we can see the future! The future of Islam will bring peace upon Earth. Our children and grandchildren will live in peace and obey Allah!

Therefor we must continue our war today! Death to those who reject the blessing of Islam. ooc: (seriously, the CIA must be keeping an eye on this thread ) Therefor we must send all our children to the fronts of war! We must fight with all we have, to serve Allah!

Then suddenly the gates of heaven opened up and a chariot on fire came down from heaven, Martin van Buren boarded the Chariot, and ascended to heaven. Leaving the crowd alone.

Nobody said a word.
Nobody knew what to do.

Then a messenger entered the great square and yelled: "Where is Martin van Buren, I have news for him"
Nobody answered..........
Then he asked again: "Does none of all those thousands of people here know where Martin van Buren is?"
silence..........

Then Dan Quale, an ordinary civilian of Jefferson, stepped forward and said: "Martin van Buren is not among us anymore, give the message to me, for I am the new leader of the Americans.
Nobody protested, so Dan Quale got the message. He heard the message and said to the people:

People of Jefferson, civilians of the United Towns of America, I just got word from the Germans, who abandoned the battled, and the Portugese trone is now seated by someone who's not a Muslim himself. Martin van Buren ascended to heaven, and left us alone. We are all by ourselves now.

"What do we do?" someone from the crowd asked.
"Let's end this war now" Dan Quale said.

"Nooooooo" someone else yelled, named Ali, Martin told us we should continue the war and be victorious! Allah is on our side!

We have no army, we have no friends, we have no prophet, we have no hope. Dan Quale answered.
Then Dan Quale climbed the stairs of the palace, still nobody rejected his claim, and said: "From now on we will be known once again as "The United Towns of America", we will live in peace with other religions, and all hostilities against other nations.

Send word to our enemies that we want peace.
Fortunately we never harmed our enemies, never took one of their cities, killed any of their civilians, otherwise their revenge would be what we deserved.

But we took nothing from them, and I am sure that the peacefull Dutch will have no reason to get angry at us.

Tell the Russians that they are free.
Send word to the Germans and the Portugese that we abandon this Jihad as well.

Then Dan Quale, the new King of the United Towns, entered his palace, and since nobody objected, the new ruler of America was a fact.

[Robert]

The days of Dan Quale

Immediately Dan Quale started to send out messengers to all nations on earth, to tell them about the new, peacefull governament of the United Towns of America.
Soon they returned, one by one they were happy to sign peace with the United Towns.

Only the Dutch messenger did not accept peace at once.
The close friends of the Dutch, the Incans and the Ethiopians, wanted to wait the final decision of the Dutch, but shared their intention to have peace once again.

While the Dutch and the American diplomats were debating the terms of peace shocking news came to Dan Quale.

The city of Hawaii was token by the Dutch!
Angered Dan Quale lifted from his seat and said angry to the dutch: "So, here you are, debating peace, while your men have orders to invade our cities?"
"We don't know about this invasion, the dutch messenger claimed. Maybe our naval fleet wasn't told in time to abort all actions!"

Dan Quale, a man of peace, accepted this explanation, and expected Hawaii to be turned back into American hands soon.
There was no reason to send the many islamitic troops at the Dutch/Ethiopian border back to the battle fields.

Though the Dutch didn't return Hawaii to America, which prompted Dan Quale to mobilise his troops.
Many american troops marched to Hawaii, to reclaim the city. The city was about to fall, when the Dutch suddenly gave Hawaii over to the Romans.

The Americans and the Romans had signed a peace treathy not that long ago. And Since Dan Quale wanted to honor that peace agreement, he couldn't invade the city anymore.
Rome claimed that there was still peace between America and Rome, though refused to hand back Hawaii to America.

Things became more complicated.
Dan Quale was worried about the entire situation.
"Never did we took any city from our enemies, neither did we destroy any of their buildings or kill any of their civilians, but now they took Hawaii. Many buildings were destroyed and people are killed."

And he pondered further:
"What to do now? If I declare public war on the Romans, the world war may continue, though in fact the Roman posession of Hawaii is an act of War!, those treacherous Romans! Signing peace while sneaky invading America under the Dutch banner!"

While these diplomatic matters were discussed between messengers of The United Towns, The Netherlands and Rome a man simply called: "Ali" spoke to the people on the great Square of Jefferson:

"Dear people of the United Islamitic Towns of America,
Martin van Buren and Muhammed brought peace and wellfare to our nation! They ordered us to spread this to all of the Earth! They were prophets of Allah!
Now this infidel, Dan Quale, took the crown of the United Islamitic Towns, forsaked the will of Allah, and left the path of the Great Prophets of Islam!

And now we see what happens if we forsake the words of Allah! We lost Hawaii straight away!
Allah is angry! He will punish us! We must get rid of Dan Quale, since he's not chosen to seat on the trown of Martin van Buren!
He has no rights by birth, neither rights from Allah, nor did any of us ask him to take the trone."

Many people followed Ali, though not enough to trouble Dan Quales attempts to establish peace.

[Robert]

The Massacre of Atlanta

During the negotiations about peace and the issue of Hawaii between the Dutch, the Romans and the Americans, a new message came to Dan Quale.

"Sir, the Dutch have invaded Atlanta from the German border. They have killed all citizen, hudreds of thousands have been killed! All buildings were destroyed. Nobody was left alive....."

Dan Quale was shocked.
He turned his eyes on the Dutch messenger.
He didn't knew what to do.....

Then suddenly the door was opened by force.
Ali entered, many men followed him.
"You are not capable to lead our nation! In the name of Allah, die!"
The men grabbed Dan Quale and killed him.
The Dutch and the Roman messengers were killed as well.

Ali claimed the trone of the United Islamitic Towns of America.
Re-installed Islam as the state religion and enabled the Theocracy and Nationhood.
Many men and boys were drafted into the army.

The Jihad had started again, with only one goal this time: get the Dutch on their knees.

The Romans saw that things started to get evil and quickly returned Hawaii to the Americans.
The army of Ali liberated the other cities that were conquered by the Dutch in the meanwhile. Atlanta was rebuild, and the Americans were after the Dutch.

Wrath upon the Dutch, for they killed innocent citizen!
The Dutch will pay for Atlanta.