Okay, let's be honest... you can tell by the chapter cover that this one's going to be a ride... unless you're a Fanfiction reader, in which case, you should go check out the chapter cover on Deviantart or Author's Tea.
So this chapter really focuses on Bali, and oh man, this is the chapter where Bali obtains their first rival. I gotta admit, I'm pretty damn scared to see what this rival nation does in the future, but I can thankfully say that Bali is safe for Chapter 5. Will Chapter 6 bring Bali and this rival nation into a horrid war? I don't know, but if it does, it'll be a big one...
About half the chapter, believe it or not, takes us into a single war between Bali and this new rival, so prepare for that. The other half focuses on Europe as extreme tension arises once again, and by 1895... the worst case scenario occurs that may very well lead to a nightmare in Europe, as it did in real life...
Enjoy the final chapter ending in the 19th century, by the end of Chapter 6, we will have officially entered the 20th century. And boy, will that be something...
Chapter 5 – Sovietism
By May of 1884, Bali had entered an age of much success—prosperous achievements that even some of the greatest powers of the world wished for. Nevertheless, Bali was still a long distance away from becoming one of the greats. By now, there was no doubting Bali's legitimacy as a country. Much of Bali's success came with the intense gamble the Socialist Faction had taken. By constructing railroads and factories all over Borneo, industry had become one of the greatest aspects of the country. Each factory had about 30-50 workers, with many more citizens educating themselves in machinery so that they too could land a job in one of Bali's many facilities. With a working super railway and efficient factories, Bali's economy had fired like a bullet to the point where foreign countries took out loans from Balinese banks.
Along with industry, forts had been constructed everywhere to ensure the continuing prosperity of the common Balinese worker. The forts were all made from stone and safely protected Balinese interests from potential future attacks.
The literacy of the Balinese population continued to increase. Since 1860, the overall literacy had increased from about 10% to 19%, this meant that nearly a quarter of the total population could read, but alas, the Balinese remained for the most part an illiterate people. At this rate, however, it could be expected that the population would be more than 50% literate by the first quarter of the 20th century.
Finally, Bali enjoyed yet another advancement through these years. Each and every war galleon had officially been deconstructed by the Balinese navy in place of four commerce raiders. The commerce raider was a steamship disguised as a common unarmed merchant vessel, however, in actuality, the ship possessed great weaponry. This officially put a close to the chapter of history where Bali used warships with sails. The troop transports, however, retained sails. This was something to be fixed shortly.
By May of 1884, the Socialist Faction of Bali could look upon their progress brightly. The workers united were bringing Bali fame and fortune, and their neighbors were clearly envious. It was on this day, however, that peace had finally been broken. Just across from Balinese Borneo was the Philippines, now independent from Spain. Throughout the month of May, there had been continuing unrest within the island nation. With the introduction of communism from the United States, the Philippines had an alarming rise of communists and socialists alike within their borders. Nevertheless, the Filipino population remained strongly on the side of traditional conservatism.
The Socialist Faction saw this unrest as an opportunity like no other. It was only now that the Philippines would have their guard down in case of a communist revolution. This was the perfect time, despite the superior strength of the Philippines, to create a new invasion. On May 23, 1884, the president of the Socialist Faction convened with his fellow socialist congressmen. It was ultimately agreed on that war should be considered against the Filipino government in a bid to annex Mindanao—or southern Philippines—into Bali's country. This would weaken a potential threat and bring about more land for the Balinese to work in. The justification used for this war was that they were 'liberating' oppressed Filipino socialists from the monarchy's grasp.
October 18 saw the end of sailing ships altogether within the Balinese navy. Troop transports were now comprised of steamer ships that could carry about the same amount of troops that a clipper transport could, however, these ships possessed better weaponry and speed. War with the Philippines would be an excellent test for these ships.
As suspected by the Socialist Faction, on March 23, 1885, a potential nightmare became reality for the Filipinos. After months of heavy unrest, constant rebellions, and brutality against the police; the monarchy controlling the Philippines had collapsed at long last. In place of this monarchy came regular socialist led anarchy, then finally, a new type of government altogether. Flags nationwide had changed from blue, white, and red to a solid red block of fabric bearing a soviet insignia in the corner. It was on this date that the world's very first communist dictatorship had formed, coincidentally, right next to Bali.
The first order of business for the newly led communist dictatorship was to confiscate the weaponry of the population—a weapon ban. This would ensure a future where the Filipinos are unable to rise up and overthrow the soviet government. The premier of this new government was hostile, pro-military, and anti-Balinese. It was only ironic that the Filipino government send the Socialist Faction of Bali a threat. If Bali refused to cede Northern Borneo to the Filipinos, war would be enacted. The irony of the situation was that Bali had already been preparing for war, the fact that they would now be fighting a tyrannical dictatorship only helped the Socialist Faction come up with justification for war.
Rather than sending the Philippines a response to their demand, Bali sent their new ships over to the Philippines in the form of a blockade, then sent a declaration of war with their demands on October 3rd. Immediately following the war declaration, Balinese troops landed in the hills of Mindanao and proceeded on with their occupation. The Balinese navy in the meantime blockaded many islands to ensure that no enemy armies make their way down to Mindanao.
On the same day that Bali declared war on the soviet Philippines, in Europe, Germany and Austria-Hungary found themselves fighting Italy—of whom had stayed quiet and innocent to this very day. The general thinking behind Germany's decision to press war was that a unified Italy was too peaceful and lacking in support during times of crisis. Thus, the plan to liberate a second Italy was declared—the revival of the 'Italian Republic'.
By December 14, 1885, the war Italy found itself in had taken a turn for the worst. The Germans and Austrians quickly swallowed all of northern Italy with immense armies to the point where the Italian banks went bankrupt. Even Bali had suddenly found Italy declaring that they couldn't pay back the loan they took. This offered Bali just reason to test war, but of course, they wouldn't. Austria-Hungary only made things worse by demanding part of northern Italy. Regardless, Italy would fight on until March 1st of 1886, where they would be forced to accept surrender. In the end, the Italian Republic had returned to Europe in the form of an island. The Italian island of Sardegna was all Italy offered the reborn Italian Republic.
May 30 brought about great success to the Balinese in their risky war with a communist Philippines. 12,000 Balinese soldiers—3,000 of which were artillery—had occupied half of Mindanao and were prepared for their first battle with the Filipinos. The Balinese moved into the Davao jungle to combat 3,000 Filipino soldiers of the New People's Army.
The Balinese marched through the jungle without any issues, and on June 8 set up a line adjacent to the 3,000 Filipinos. Immediately off the bat, a strong amount of 1,050 Filipino soldiers had immediately perished as the Balinese unleashed an artillery array upon them. After this, the 12,000+ Balinese army crossed the small river keeping the two armies apart and initiated their attack on the 1st Zanboonga infantry.
The battle lasted for three days. June 9, one Balinese infantry brigade moved back near the artillery batteries to open up for another destructive attack. Combined with the shooting of rifles, this day ended with 900+ Filipinos dying. By the morning of June 10, only 392 Filipinos remained fighting, but stood their ground until the very end. On June 11, all 3,000+ of the 1st Zanboonga infantry had perished, while only 386 Balinese riflemen had died. Following this battle, the occupation of west Mindanao continued.
Word of the Balinese great success against the New People's Army of the Philippines brought about a new controversial debate: Should Bali expand their war goal by adding Visayas—the center islands of the Philippines—to their demands. Unless the communist nation could demonstrate a better defense, there was no reason why the Socialist Faction would shoot down such a proposal for expansion. Still, the government hadn't made it official that they would be annexing 66% of the Philippines. As it stood, this was a debate, and Bali would still aim for conquering 33%.
It was finally in May of 1887 that the New People's Army mustered together a massive total of 45,000 conscript infantry for battle against Bali's 12,000 invasion force. Statistically, Bali would stand no chance against this army. Fortunately, Bali had a navy powerful enough to keep the massive army from leaving the northern islands. For the time, Bali could resume their invasion without fear of attack. This would be the case unless the Philippines could acquire warships and break the blockade.
The debate to conquer Visayas along with Mindanao had been concluded as soon as the Balinese completed their occupation of Mindanao. On January 29, 1888, new orders were given to Bali's 12,000 strong army. Rather than defending Mindanao from the New People's Army, they would move across islands and begin to occupy the islands of Visayas. If successful, Bali could walk away with 66% of the Filipino in their grasp. This would, respectively, bring Bali close to becoming an empire.
On February 20, 1888, the second battle of the war had commenced. About 11,000 soldiers (the artillery batteries had fallen behind) entered battle with 2,000+ Filipino soldiers on the island of Tacloban. The battle was swift, and unfortunately, left 633 Balinese soldiers dead, but a victory nevertheless. The challenge of staying alive in this scenario was that the soldiers had to cross not a river, but a body of water in order to fight. This left twice as many soldiers dead on Bali's part than the first battle.
August 20, 1888, brought about an interesting event, possibly of positive interest to the new communist dictatorship of the Philippines. On this date, Hawaii had declared itself a communist dictatorship and used the Philippines' government as the basis for their political structure. This established two communist dictatorships in the world, both of which would certainly be allies. This was concerning to not only Bali, but respectively, the United States as well—a nation of capitalism, the enemy of communism.
Following Hawaii's conversion into a proletarian dictatorship, the USA had finally gotten itself invested into Bali's war. U.S. president Grover Cleveland would praise Bali's war against the communist Filipino nation, deeming it as more so a war against oppression, than that of imperialism. Despite the misinterpretation, Bali would nod its head and go on to look at the war in this same light. As far as anyone else knew, Bali was merely liberating the Filipinos and bringing them Balinese democracy—and nothing else.
Already, success was being found in Visayas as well. The island of Tacloban had been successfully seized, and so, the 11,000+ Balinese army moved into the island of Cebu—which was unprotected by enemy troops. The New People's Army had a set of 3,000+ soldiers waiting on a neighboring island, which was of little concern to the 11,000 soldiers of Bali. Little did they know, the Philippines had a secret card to play in the coming months that would greatly disturb the war effort for Bali.
May of 1889 brought about some surprising news for the entire world, an inevitable event that could have certainly come sooner. On this month, it was widely recognized that the large island nation of Japan had westernized. The nation adopted industry, a modern military, modern clothing, and had even adopted the most modern form of transportation. For Bali, this could either be a good or bad thing. If possible, the Socialist Faction would rather see an alliance between the Japanese and Balinese than a rivalry. One thing was for certain, the Balinese mustn't ever see a Filipino-Japanese alliance, or this could easily bring about an end to Bali.
The Balinese navy had been demonstrating great things during this war with the Philippines. Things would only get better with the technological discovery of ironclads. While Bali lacked the type of ports needed to host such a ship type, the blueprints needed to create such a war machine had indeed came. The ironclad was, essentially, the earliest form of a battleship. Made of metal and fitted with cannons, if Bali could successfully bring these ships into their navy, they would surely have naval dominance over their neighbors—perhaps even one as powerful as the Netherlands.
Undoubtedly, the war between Bali and the Philippines was long. There were only two battles up to this point, both of which combined only resulted in the loss of about 900+ Balinese riflemen. As it would appear, the communist dictatorship would soon find itself without 66% of the land it currently owns, and Bali would transform into a set of three regions.
Just as all seemed fit for Bali, a tragedy had unfolded. On the night of June 23rd, 1889, the three commerce raiding ships of the Balinese navy had suddenly been attacked by three Filipino commerce raiders. Getting the initial attack put the Balinese navy in a major disadvantage, and thus, all three ships were forced to flee or risk sinking in battle. This officially broke the blockade that was keeping 49,000+ Filipino soldiers out of Visayas. The Balinese government was immediately informed of the breach and that an army four times the size of Bali's would soon; firstly, kill all 11,000+ Balinese men occupying the nation. Secondly, liberate everything they had taken. Within months, all of Bali's progress could be for nothing.
There was a bright light, however, but it'd require careful lying. The Balinese knew of the 49,000+ soldiers that the New People's Army possessed, but the communist government didn't have an estimate on Bali's troop amount. Thus, Bali for a time had the advantage of mystery on their side. Quickly, the Socialist Faction approached the Filipino government and offered a deal. If the Filipino government would surrender now, they'd scratch off the demand for Visayas and revert back to their original demand: Taking Mindanao—33% of the whole nation.
This was a risky offer for peace, simply because if the Filipino government declined, they'd discover that the Balinese military was lacking, then proceed to turn the tide of the war and, indeed, conquer Borneo. Very miraculously, though, the communist dictatorship took the safe route and accepted the sole term for peace—thus ending the war effective immediately on June 23rd. Despite having the much larger army, the Philippines lost to Bali and ceded Mindanao. In the end, Bali failed to conquer Visayas, but still managed to walk off with their original war goal.
The months following peace would not bring good terms between the two governments, however. From here on out, Bali would consider the communist Filipino dictatorship as their one major rival and biggest threat. Likewise, the Philippines would label Bali as a major threat and deem them as a natural enemy—one that would suffer one day. The New People's Army would quickly continue growing in hopes of one day taking Mindanao back from Bali. An age of fierce rivalry had ensued. A socialist democracy versus a communist dictatorship.
While one major war ended, a much bigger war started elsewhere. In Europe, a massive war had started respectively labeled as the 'German-Franco War'. This was a war between two alliances. France, Switzerland, the Ottoman Empire, the Empire of Mexico, Argentina, and the Russian Empire. Opposing this alliance was Germany, Morocco, Brazil, the Italian Republic, and Denmark. This war was started over the French liberation of Elaß-Lothringen—disputed land between Germany and France. On Germany's side was Kaiser Wilhelm II, who would defend against French President Marie François Sadi Carnot—the attacker.
The German military would quickly take Russian controlled Poland by storm, then Switzerland. The Swiss were most often a neutral nation in conflicts, and thus, were not prepared for a German invasion. The country was doomed to fall in this war as a result. As for the Russian Empire, they fought bitterly against Wilhelm II's German armada, but would ultimately struggle to keep control over the situation—mostly due to not being ready. France and Germany would clash blades quite evenly.
During the German-Franco War, a recently damaged Italy would find itself in great trouble. Still facing bankruptcy, a damaged military, and a disgruntled population, the Italian nation would be destined to become the very first major communist dictatorship. The Italian monarchy would fall, and thus, the People's Republic of Italy would come to be. This would normally be of immense concern to Europe, however, the German-Franco War was too distracting. This would give the People's Republic of Italy time to develop.
On January 26, 1890, Switzerland would manage to slip away from the German-Franco War by offering Germany transit rights. This was very treasonous of their alliance with France, as the transit rights would allow German troops to enter France from Switzerland. This was, in fact, a tragedy for the French effort, as German soldiers would pour into the French mainland in thousands. France would immediately find its military line collapsing, meanwhile, the Russian Empire would find itself close to defeat, as German soldiers begin their occupation of Russian Belarus and Ukraine.
War would continue to go badly for France and the Russian Empire, and eventually, a strong France would soon find itself getting walked over by the jackboots of thousands of German infantrymen. Before reaching Paris, Kaiser Wilhelm II would deliver the ultimate humiliation in the form of a peace offer. Just for the good laugh, Wilhelm II would offer a simple peace treaty—no gains or losses. The implication was that neither France nor Russia had anything that Germany wanted, at the time. And so, the German-Franco War, technically, ended in a truce—but Germany walked off with the prestige. A war that cost the lives of nearly a million men was nothing but a joke to the Kaiser.
Following this tough war, a crisis would occur against the Russian Empire, delivered by Austria-Hungary. A challenge demanding Poland's independence would yet again come to the Russian table, and Tsar Alexander III of Russia wouldn't have it. Through brilliant arguments on the Russian side of the debate, Alexander III had won over the support of Belgium and France. With France once again offering their support to the Russians in a potential war, Alexander III turned the table and very hostilely threatened to start a war over Bohemian independence—as Austria-Hungary controlled Bohemia. This threat enlisted the attention of a 70 year old Queen Victoria, who then proceeded to side with Austria-Hungary. Fearing that the British Empire's large navy could greatly damage the war effort, the crisis had ended with a truce on November 25, 1890.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, Bali and the Philippines had their official first round of diplomatic talks on December 9 of 1890. The president of Bali had taken a trip to Manila, Philippines for a round table discussion with the communist dictatorship. The intention was to, simply, ease any tension between the two nations, but backfired greatly. One comment led to another comment, and ultimately, both sides of the table ended up ending the discussion on worse terms than ever. This further boiled tensions between the two nations, if not nearly slam them back into war. Even so, this day marked the end of the final war occurring in Egypt. From June 1st, 1890, the entire world would be at peace for a 5 whole years.
It was in June 30 of 1890 that Queen Victoria receive her latest hit—basically a routine happening at this point. As expected, the success of New Zealand as an independent nation led Australia to finally offer their threat for independence. Without questioning the Australian government, Victoria did as she did with all colonies—she allowed Australia to exist independently as a vassal of the British Empire. This was of major significance to Bali, of course, given the geographic location of the two nations. For Bali, this was either a new partner or potential enemy. Fate would pave either path for the two nations.
The race for Japan's respect would persist between Bali and the Philippines. Japan was a nation of great military power and tradition, but it had no relational stance on Bali nor the Philippines. This meant that an alliance with either of the two was very possible depending on many factors. Bali got the first tally in the race for friendship on September 30, 1891, when a large loan of 30,356 guilders was taken out of Bali by Japan. This was a perk Bali had over the Philippines—money. With this large loan came the first piece of positive influence Bali had over Japan, the fact that Bali could buy Japan out of issues. Of course, this all depended on whether or not Japan could keep up with their loans. If not, a complete backfire could arise that leaves Japan allying with the Philippines out of fear of Bali. For the time, however, the loan would be seen as a sign of partnership between the two nations.
More than a year later, the world had been relieved to find a dodged bullet. The People's Republic of Italy, despite having tried to ban civilian weaponry, had been overthrown 2 years after forming. Thus, a more lenient non-communist dictatorship had restored Italy. As a result, Hawaii and the Philippines would remain the only communist dictatorships—for the time being.
1893 would bring about even more prosperous advancements to the Balinese. Firstly, in February of 1893, the Balinese would make an amazing technological breakthrough that not even some of the greatest of world powers had come up with. The concept and completed blueprint for a battleship. This would be a ship like no other, a warship fitted with the most powerful weaponry available, the greatest armor welded within factories, and a size that would leave any admiral or captain trembling in their boots. The only drawback would be the immense cost to build a warship of such capability. Not even one as prosperous as Bali could simply pull out a battleship upon requisitioning, they would need larger ports and more money.
The second and most amazing discovery would arrive in Borneo. For long, many had believed central Borneo to contain little to nothing in terms of natural resources. Little did anyone know, underneath this seemingly useless land, remained an ocean of oil. Now it was official that any country in the world would lick their lips to Bali's image. Even an ally like the United States would immediately find itself wanted Bali's oil. This was indeed a discovery of incredible value, as it would make an already striving economy even more powerful. On the darker side of things, this gave the communist regime of the Philippines more incentive to plot an invasion—something that was destined to happen again eventually.
In January of 1894, to add on to Tsar Alexander III's already existing migraine, England, still independent from the British Empire, decided to start up the very common and controversial crisis of freeing Poland. By now there was no doubting that the Russian Empire would never hear the end of this crisis. Not only did the people of Poland demand independence, but now all neighbors of the Russian Empire demanded this as well. It was only a matter of time before France, a long time ally, would join in on the demands. But for now France remained a faithful ally and thus sided with Alexander III immediately.
February 6, 1894, amidst the crisis, many countries worldwide—including Bali—were surprised to find the Ottoman Empire refusing to pay back their loans. First there was confusion, many countries believing this to be plain aggression, but then the surprising reality came to be that the Ottoman Empire had gone bankrupt. Following the bankruptcy came both a Bulgarian and Iraqi uprising that the empire struggled to withstand against. Despite so many countries around the world having just reason to declare war on the Ottoman Empire, all countries sit and wait to see if the empire will collapse on itself. It's likely that both Bulgaria and Iraq will soon find independence from the empire, but only time would tell.
The crisis for Poland, again, ended up resolved with a truce on part of Queen Victoria siding with England. The crisis did, however, come very close to resulting in war. Citizens all across Europe would celebrate yet another avoidance of war, but little did they know, in exactly one year, they'd see the worst war history had ever seen...
June 25, 1894, marked a significant day for both Balinese and Filipinos. On this day, the peace treaty between the socialist democracy and communist dictatorship had expired. It was now legal to declare war on each other yet again. Unsurprising to many, both countries immediately mobilized on the day of the treaty's expiration. 21,000+ Balinese soldiers were immediately drawn up to Mindanao, and likewise, 59,000+ soldiers of the New People's Army arrived in the islands of Visayas. The only thing keeping the two countries out of war was the fairly sized navy of Bali that was on standby between the two regions of islands. If these ships were to disappear for even a day, undoubtedly, the Philippines would invade the following day.
Bali and the Philippines were on the brink of war, and unfortunately, nothing could possibly prolong the massive war from starting if these Balinese ships were to let their guard down. The 2nd Balinese-Filipino War would be one like no other if it were to occur, and it could potentially bring about the end to Bali's success if they let the Filipinos into Borneo. But on the other hand, if the Balinese employed brilliant strategy, there could be a completely different turnout that results in the Philippines losing more land. Bali had the benefit of a large navy, while the Philippines had a large army. It was anyone's game.
The 2nd Balinese-Filipino War would be nothing in contrast to the war occurring in Europe, that June. For it was on June 6th, 1895, that Germany and France found themselves at war yet again. But this time, there were many more participants in the war, more lethal weaponry, and higher stakes.
This could only, respectively, be called 'World War I'... and undoubtedly, millions would die...
To be continued...