The Kingdom of Greece following the Balkan War entered the beginning of the their golden age their economy grew in leaps and bounds as the Balkans knitted themselves tighter together with economic binds. As King George aged more and more power passed to the Parliament of the Kingdom and the government began to pass certain measures most notably in late 1915 the capital of the Kingdom of Greece was officially moved to Constantinople and King George and the Duke of Sparta led the first Orthodox mass in the Hagia Sophia in four hundred years sanctifying the city as the capital in the eyes of some of the more royalist members of Greek society.

Yet no man or age can live forever and King George I of Greece died on the 30th of March 1918 fifty-five years to the day he arrived in Greece and many historians state that the Golden age of the Kingdom of Greece ended that day. The government entered into preparations for the coronation of Crown Prince Constantine as King of the Hellenes, yet he refused and instead supported that he be crowned as Basilius of the Second Byzantine Empire which many supporters of the Megali idea saw as the opportunity to show the world that they had truly thrown off the oppression of the Turks. The government agreed to support the idea in return for the monarchy ceding most of their power to the new Byzantine parliament and Constantine agreed to the government's proposal. The government of Greece began to prepare for the restoration of the Byzantine Empire and their new diplomatic relations with the rest of the world.

As the sun rose over Constantinople on the 29th of May 1919 the end of a nation began. Marching through the centre of the city the renamed Imperial Guard marched surrounding Constantine XII as he marched in purple robes flanked by four bishops of the Greek Orthodox church praying aloud. When they reached the Hagia Sophia the Imperial Guard lowered the Greek flag and arose the flag of the Second Byzantine Empire while their emperor was crowned. Inside the church the attending monarchs of Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Rumania, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Arabia, and the United Kingdom alongside the presidents of France and Turkey. The patriarch of Constantinople Meletius IV commenced the blessing of Constantine XII and then the young Emperor sat upon the newly carved throne of Byzantium and was draped in a newly made coronational robes. The blade of Osman and the Ottoman imperial banner were cast down at his feet to show his nations triumph over the conquerors of the First Byzantine Empire and then the crown was placed upon his head loosely modelled off the Russian Imperial Crown it was made of a dome engraved with 'I am the servant of the Lord and shall preserve his realm on earth.' In Greek while at the top of the arch a proud two headed eagle stood wing outstretched. Meletius IV proclaimed him as Basilius Constantine XII of the Rhomans, Lord of Hellenes and shield of the Faith.

-Extract from Alan Bullock's book The Glücksburg Emperors: George I to Constantine XII

As large parts of France seethed over the treaty of Scapa Flow and what many saw as abandoning what they called Alsace-Lorraine to the Germans in return for nothing. Many of the protestors believed that if not for the United Kingdom threating to intervene the French could have crushed the Germans before Christmas and returned home. This shows the delusion that the French population had ingrained in their beliefs. The Franco-Prussian war had been such a brutal defeat that the entire population was focused upon reconquering Alsace-Lorraine no matter of Germanies allies joined the war Austria-Hungary could do nothing against the mighty armies of France's ally of Russia and Italy would be swept aside and they would march through Rome much like Louis-Alexandre Berthier had in 1798.

Compared to the actual nations that they would have fought against the French delusions are terrifyingly insane the Hapsburg Empire had entered into a vital period of reforms with the army entering a massive period of restructuring as officers were forced to learn the four major languages of the Empire. While their previously horrific railway system had been set to the Austrian standard connecting the empire together under the banner of the House of Hapsburg. The Italians had been in a war more recently then the French and the Regio Marina had proved it is worth to Victor Emmanuelle II and at the battle of the Gulf of Sidra. While certain souces have revealed that the Italian government was leaning towards neutrality if a war did break out, they were more then willing to reconquer Nice and Savoy from the French.

The largest effect of the August crisis by far was the divided French Right-Wing united once more under the banner of the Motherland party and swept into victory in the 1916 elections promising to make France strong to carve her own path into the future free from the influences of Perfidious Albion or the dastardly Boche. To counter this the British and the Germans jointly transferred a diplomatic letter to the new president Raymond Poincaré explicitly stating that if the French stopped to obey the treaty of Scapa Flow the United Kingdom and Germany would declare war. While the French gnashed their teeth, they knew that there was nothing that they could do to even threaten the United Kingdom and Germany united against them. Yet despite their inability to have vengeance the French commenced one of the largest military build-ups in human history mandatory conscription was introduced from 18 to 28 every male citizen had to serve in the French military which would prove useful in the coming war.

-Extract from IBU documentary Scapa Flow the treaty that shaped the world.

As the Russian Empire purged her enemies within her borders distaste began to rise with the Tsar from the few remaining intellectuals in Russia and the many that had fled to the west began to plot on how to free Russia from her bondage under Tsar Nicholas II. The resistance evolved into two major forces those that supported the establishment of a republic in Russia though the exact from the republic would have taken was forming a point of division. The other group supported the strengthening of the Duma over the Tsar establishing a constitutional monarchy under either under Nicholas's son Alexi as Alexander IV or his exiled brother Grand Duke Michael as Michael II.

While it seemed that the resistance groups had a long time to wait before they could act a single event threw all of their plans into catastrophe. On the 18th of May 1920 Nicholas II was watching a military parade in the heart of Moscow with his family at his side when a Ukrainian Anarchist named Viktor Belash who had attempted to migrate to New Windsor but had been apprehended by the Okhrana. He had managed to escape before he was executed and fled north securing a gun and he decided to take his vengeance on the government. As Nicholas II waved at the crowd Belash manoeuvred forward and shot the Tsar three times in the chest before he was taken down by the Okhrana. He would die in custody beaten to death by his torturers but that did not change what he had done the Tsar was dead and the end of the Empire as Nicholas II knew it had come.

As the world stared in shock at what had happened in Moscow the Russian overseas resistance saw and grabbed the chance with both hands. In Kiev forces rose up in the name of the Russian Republic routing the Imperial forces from central Ukraine long enough for the Republican resistance forces to arrive in Ukraine and take control over the new republic. In Saint Petersburg, the liberal members of the Duma passed a series of laws declaring the new Tsar to be Michael II that a new constitution would be drafted, and Russia would transition to a constitutional monarchy. All the while in Moscow the Tsars young son was crowned as Alexander IV while the military and conservative members of the Duma secured control. The Russian civil war had begun a war that would stain the fields of Russia red with the blood of her people.

- Extract from Ayn Rand's book A thunder in the east: Russia under Nicholas II

As Emperor Meiji of Japan aged, he slowly began to transfer more power over to the Imperial Parliament as he knew that his heir was not strong enough to rule as he had since the restoration. Though recently diplomatic messages have come to light suggesting that the United Kingdom may have been pressuring the Emperor to begin liberalization, but these are unconfirmed rumours as of writing this book. When Meiji died in July 1912 his son Emperor Taisho ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne his reign would see the beginning of Japanese democracy as the weak Emperor transferred more and more power to the Imperial Parliament founding the democracy that flourishes to this day.

The military had long been a power in Japanese politics and took until the rule of the Showa Emperor for the military to lose all the power they held in government, yet the Taisho era weakened their power. The Russo-Japanese war had proved a decisive victory for the Japanese securing Korea and Port Arthur for their rising empire yet now where could they turn to the north the Russian Empire seemed to be strengthening despite their defeat. The vast stretches of the Pacific were controlled by the Americans, British and Germans while Indonesia and Indochina were controlled by the Dutch and the French respectively yet to the West just across from their new puppet of Korea China was in the midst of collapse with a rising Republic in the south, the Qing holding out in the north and warlords rising across the countryside. The Imperial Japanese Navy and Army agreed for once the Middle Kingdom represented the best hope for expansion and so they began to plot. The Sun had begun ti rise in the east and it has not yet set on this world on the many among the stars.

-Extract from Billy Brag's book The Rising Sun in the east: Japan following the Stargate