The British Empire is one of the playable factions in Leviathans.
History[]
A perennial rival to the French Republic, the British Empire also found itself against the German Empire at times, and most fatefully, warring against the Russian Empire.
The Great Sky Race[]
In 1887, the British became aware that the French were working on an "aether flyer". The E Committee was formed to create a British version, and after some missteps (one fatal), the first Leviathan flew. The French laid claim to being first, and brought the Ganymède in secret to the Greater Britain Exhibition of 1890. After its unveiling, Jackie Fisher brought the armed HML Leviathan over the exhibition grounds in answer. Thus began the Great Sky Race.[1][2][3][4][5]
While France began building a fleet of these new leviathans, Britain at first hesitated--or rather, the Royal Navy did. It was not until the embarrassment of the 1891 Naval Review, where France had a flying contingent and Britain had none, that the Empire truly began to compete in this arms race.[6][7]
Colonial Land Grab[]
The Empire's leviathans played an important role in British ambitions in Africa. The HML Inflexible helped put down the Mahdist State in the Sudan, [8][9] while the HML Achilles faced the Dunquerque during the Fashoda Incident.[10][11]
The Second Boer War saw the leviathans used but little, until the trial of Harry Morant and the Australian Mutiny, when the HML Scylla fired on Australian rioters. This led to the Federated States of Australia declaring independence from the Empire, though ultimately they were coaxed into rescinding it.[12][13]
Before the Storm[]
The Fashoda Incident led to an attempt to create a lasting peace between the two nations. It failed.[14] The Salisbury Doctrine, set forth in 1903, declared that the skies above the English Channel belonged to the Empire, and began near-constant skirmishing short of war with the French.[15][16]
The Fashoda Incident was not the end of conflict between the British and French in Africa, but rather the beginning. In 1910, the Jean Bart was intercepted by the HML Leviathan over the Great Pyramid in Egypt, leading to a draw.[17][18][19] Entire squadrons fought each other further south, around Cameroon. [20]
France was not the only foe: in 1909, the Empire, along with the Scandinavian Union, sought to blockade the Skagerrak in response to the Kiel Declaration by the German Empire. The Germans broke the blockade, with the HML Suffolk blasted out of the sky in a single volley.[21][22]
More serious than any battle in the air was the death of Czar Nicholas II and most of his family in 1911. British assassins were blamed, though the Empire denied it.[23][24]
The Empire did manage to secure a treaty of non-aggression with Germany.[25]
The Great War and the Northern War[]
When the Great War broke out, the Empire declared neutrality at first.[26] When the Russian Empire invaded the Scandinavian Union, however, the British were drawn into the Northern War, although they remained neutral in the conflict on the main continent.[27]
Historical Notes[]
One of the most discussed aspects of Leviathans is how odd it seems to modern sensibilities that the British Empire is not allied to the French Republic. Talvin wrote a blog post discussing this very point.
References[]
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, pp. 22-25
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, "Timeline", pp. 9-10
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, pp. 87-89
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, pp. 68-69
- ↑ Grand Revelation of Leviathans at the Great Exhibition!
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, pp. 10-11, 28
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, pp. 68,89
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, pp. 15, 29
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, pp. 70,90
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, pp. 17, 38
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, pp. 70, 120
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, pp. 19, 30
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, pp. 71, 91
- ↑ Failure of the Entente
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, pp. 20, 38, 88
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, p. 71
- ↑ He Who Merits It
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, p. 21
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, pp. 73, 122
- ↑ Audacieux
- ↑ Leviathans Gazetteer, pp. 21, 56, 90, 94
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, p. 73
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, pp. 74, 80, 92
- ↑ Czar Nicholas II Laid To Rest
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, p. 92
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, p. 75
- ↑ Leviathans Core Rulebook, p. 93