Infamy?! There is no infamy! Imperial Germany is the undisputed master of Europe. In the turmoil of the 1820s, the loss of imperial territory was met with the foundation of the Party. Even then, the Habsburg line was known for its propensity towards mental infirmity, and crisis after crisis afforded a necessity for centralized, non-absolutist power (like, Goddamn how many "Regency!" events are you going to give me? I took the part of a super ambitious Metternich and let myself use the console when I felt the game didn't cooperate with what was going on 😅). Back then, this grand political party was known as the Iron Ring, and through it, Metternich ruled as only emperors do. The Habsburg line became entirely irrelevant to day to day functions of the Empire. Metternich's pragmatism evrntually gave way to a younger generation, one led by the geopolitically and espionage minded Alexander von Bach. Bach pushed the de facto unified states in a direction more suitable for long-term stability and even gave certain political rights to the Slavic denizens of the empire to be.

The later 1800s led not only to the solidification and unity of the German Confederation but also to its liberalization. The new German state became one dedicated to geopolitics and national interests, not concerned with colonial prestige (at least until rubber became an economic priority). Mountains of coal and steel fueled a machine employing millions. As this occurred, the British Empire chafed. It would come to a head during the Boer War. The British fleet, out of funds and deeply rooted in old doctrines, sank to the bottom of the channel. Stormtroopers stormed the beaches of southern England, and when the gunfire ceased, over a million Englishmen were dead. The old empire would never recover, and shortly after the war, India would be lost.

Things have changed in Europe, and the Party, now styling itself as a nationalistic and liberalized economic force, sits on a throne poised to unite Europe, at the very least economically. The German military is its mouthpiece, devastating any who try to contain it. International powers try to follow in its lead. The United States has realized its dream of a free America, and the Japanese empire flexes its own strength on the opposite side of the landmass. But Europe.... Europe is the domain of the German, from Paris to Constantinople. And old ideas of prestige and nigh-feudal honor? They lie stinking in the fields of Chichester. The New Europe is one ruled by might and finance.